Archive for 2007
How Price-Per-Application Can Lead to Mutual Self Destruction
Selling software as a service and pricing it on a per-application has become the vogue thing to do for many good reasons. Yet, sometimes, it serves neither buyer nor seller. In fact, it can lead to mutual self destruction. Sometimes, just sometimes, software sales should transfer reseller rights to the direct customer. In most markets,…
Read MoreTop 6 – June 2007
Revenue Capturing People like stories. They are believable and engender trust. Open you coat a little and capture their trust. Poorly imitable promotions need a time window of exclusivity. Promotions don’t just tout price, they build or leverage the brand position. Know your points of differential advantage and leverage them in your promotions. Sometimes, counterintuitive…
Read MoreO’Coineen: A Case Study in Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is not for the faint hearted. It ain’t for the fool hardy either. Somewhere between the caution and boldness lies success. Recently, I met a character, Enda O’Coineen, who gave me a copy of his book, The Unsinkable Entrepreneur. Between the man and his book, one gains an insight into some of the aspects…
Read MoreEntrepreneurial Insights
For those looking for insight into how to become a successful entrepreneur, Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge (A FREE Website and on-line weekly newsletter loaded with wonderful information) provides excellent insight in what and what not to do. Ideas From Those Who ‘Made It’ A March 21, 2005 article entitled “Lessons of Successful Entrepreneurs” offers…
Read MoreA New Way to Segment B-T-B Markets – Put Your Product to Work
A group of four academicians and innovation consultants have come up with a new twist on segmentation. Rather than analyze the traditional segmentation dimensions like customer demographics or product characteristics, this team views the product as being “hired” by the customer to do a job. Members of the team are: Clayton M. Christensen, the often…
Read MoreThe Sales, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship Imperative
Five years on, the Wiglaf Journal continues to pursue its mission to uncover, codify, and reveal winning practices in sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship. It is time to explain the motivation. Lifeblood Responsibility Revenue is the lifeblood of a business. Without it, the business will die. Short-term financing in the form of personal investments, government grants,…
Read MoreTop 6 – May 2007
Succeeding as an Entrepreneur Just get on with it. Hope, Vision, Action, Perseverance, and Luck, are, in that order, the route to long-term success in sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship.. Entrepreneurship often requires touching the boundaries, but that isn’t the same as crossing them. Entrepreneurs are often forced to address questionable issues. If you think that…
Read MoreIntellectual Property: Overlapping Types
Many people are familiar with patents, trademarks and copyrights, yet still do not appreciate the distinctions between these various types of intellectual property or “IP” protection. This short article discusses the major types of IP and shows how different aspects of a product can be protected by different types of IP at the same time.…
Read MoreIs GM Really Focused on Value or Low Prices?
Is GM reverting to MSRPs and high promotional discounts, or is it serious about its strategy to focus on value? We put this question directly to GM. Claims, Conflicting Developments, and Biting Questions In December 2006, the Wiglaf Journal published a case study on Price Waterfalls. In it, we described how a business can tilt…
Read MoreThe Perils of Hiring Bad Salespeople
Ever thought what it costs a company to hire an inferior sales person? In their new book, “Never Hire a Bad Salesperson Again,” authors Dr. Christopher Croner and Richard Abraham examine that question in a chapter entitled “The High Cost of Low Performance.” In the process, they present an 8-step cost calculator. Step 1 –…
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