So I’m presenting to a group of young entrepreneurs. Full of ambition, eager to learn, they’re ready to grab onto anything that might help them conquer the world.

I’m talking about building your personal brand and always bringing your “A” game. I give an example that everyone knows:

If you’ve ever been to a Bruce Springsteen concert – three-plus hours of uncompromising energy – you know that he’s given it his all. And he’s known for giving it his all at every concert in every city, night after night.

Blank stares. Silence.

Hmmm, seems like a reserved group. Maybe I can goad them into responding.

Let’s see a show of hands: How many of you have been to a Bruce Springsteen concert?

No hands go up. More blank stares.

Ooooooo, I get it … albeit not as soon as I wish I did!

An uncomfortable lesson about what not to do: Don’t assume you know your audience, whether it’s your customers, your employees or a group of people at a presentation!

Challenge your thinking: What is their frame of reference? Which of your assumptions about them might be wrong?

Your thoughts?

Michael

A few months back Fortune magazine published an article about how over the past few years McDonald’s has been losing market share, losing sales, and losing its identity. (http://fortune.com/2014/11/12/can-mcdonalds-get-its-mojo-back/).

Of course, many factors are at play. However, a prime culprit seems to be that McDonalds has lost sight of its competitive value equation – what customers experience compared to what they pay, at McDonald’s versus its competitors.

Some of the value attributes weighted in McDonald’s favor – like fast and convenient – have been losing ground in relative importance to other attributes such as fresh and healthy. Not good news, especially considering Nation’s Restaurant News recently published customer research that placed McDonald’s food quality last among hamburger chains.

In a recent debacle, McDonald’s released “Mighty Wings”. Market taste testing suggested these Hong Kong-style, spicy wings would be a hit. Yet the release crashed, leaving McDonald’s with 10 million pounds of unsold chicken! What happened? Customers apparently balked at the high price point … because McDonald’s failed to make clear that what customers were getting was giant wings. McDonald’s assumed customers would understand the value. Customers assumed they would pay more for less.

And with a menu that has increased fourfold over the past 10 years to over 120 items, what is it exactly that McDonald’s stands for?

What does this mean for you? 1) Identify your distinct customer segments. 2) Determine the attributes that drive value for each segment, and the relative weighting of those attributes. 3) Establish your competitive position based on the value attributes you can best deliver on. 4) Repeat the process regularly to stay relevant in an ever-changing market.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Once upon a time companies would create “5-year strategic plans”, go away and work on them, and then come back five years later to start again. Today things change way too quickly – technology, markets, competition – to wait five years before revising your strategy.

Reconstruct
It makes good sense to go through an annual strategic exercise, generally the last 4 months of the fiscal year, to reassess the market landscape, macro landscape (e.g., economic, technological and social factors) and internal landscape, and then reconstruct your strategy as needed. Many mid-size companies do this. Good, but it’s not enough.

Recalibrate
Even within a year, things can change. Working with clients I’ve found it useful to conduct one or two “Recalibration” meetings that segment the fiscal year. What do they look like? Full day sessions at which the top management team questions their previous assumptions and evaluates new data to: 1) determine implications for the existing strategic framework, and 2) identify and prioritize changes and actions to be undertaken.

Real-Time
The third trigger for revising strategy is a real-time major event. The loss of a key customer, the economy goes into free-fall, or the release of a game-changing competitor product, are all examples. When this happens the top management team needs to meet asap to, again, determine the implications, and identify and prioritize critical changes and next steps.

Strategy is a living process that should be both planned and adaptive. How often should you consider revising it? Annually, within the fiscal year, and as circumstances demand. That will keep your strategy real and relevant.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Business is booming and you’re growing at a healthy clip. Great. Buuuuut … is it scalable and is it sustainable?

Think about your business model. You have people (with their various capabilities and traits), processes, organizational structure, and infrastructure (such as facilities and equipment).

1) Which part of your business model is the limiting factor to continued growth?

2) How much more business would it take to cause your current model to fail?

3) What steps and lead times are required to prevent failure?

4) What would the business model of a top performing company twice your size look like?

5) What changes to your model are required to become that top-performing company?

These questions should provoke your thinking about how to manage growth. No, they won’t help you design the perfect organization, but they will help you intentionally design your organization.

Don’t let today’s successes blind you to tomorrow’s challenges. More than a few businesses have grown themselves to death. Model your growth to manage your growth.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Last week we looked at the traits of mid-market companies that consistently grow (according to Inc. magazine’s “Build 100” research). This week: what do those companies worry about?

Tellingly, the top external factor they worry about is not the economy, rising health care costs or other macro factors. It’s rising competition. These consistently growing companies are competitively focused and don’t spend time wringing their hands about things completely outside of their control.

The top internal factor that concerns them is training future supervisors and managers. Successful growth depends on employees who can deliver the brand experience. Which in turn depends on managers who can select, engage and develop the right employees.

Finally, what is the potential event they most fear? Not a security breach, not expanding too quickly … but the loss of a key employee. These companies know that having the right people is absolutely critical to success. They need to get and keep the right people.

Rising competition. Training future supervisors and managers. Losing a key employee. Are you worrying about these enough?

Your thoughts?

Michael

Inc. magazine looked at over 100,000 mid-market companies (85-999 employees) to determine which ones had sustained growth from 2007 – 2012 (remember those years?). Of the almost 1,500 companies that qualified they chose to examine a representative sample of 100 – a group they called the “Build 100.”

What are the traits of those companies that stood out? More than anything else, CEOs identified customer service as their company’s top strength. In a world of interminable call wait times, and where finding a service employee is equivalent to a sasquatch sighting, successful companies realize that, yes, service does count.

What do these companies consider the most vital part of their business? It’s not the topics that dominate magazine covers – big data, design, or a flexible workplace. It’s branding – establishing and consistently conveying the integrity of a coherent, compelling brand.

Finally, what do they say sums up the secret to their success? Top answer: execution – the ability to get stuff done. Second: innovation. No other answer even came close. When you can get the right stuff done and get the right new stuff done, you’ve got a good chance to be successful.

Provide exceptional service. Convey a coherent and compelling brand. Execute. That’s what makes mid-market companies successful. What’s your next step?

Your thoughts?

Michael

As someone who flies well over 100,000 miles per year, it was refreshing to read the comments of Jeff Smisek, CEO of United Airlines, my preferred carrier.

Air Travel is an experience. Our job is to make sure our customers have the best experience possible. Ultimately, physical assets like planes or facilities or clubs can get competed away. Loyalty, however, is much harder to compete against.

The battle is for hearts, the hearts of your customers. How they feel when they engage you. The feelings you evoke by showing you care, by going above and beyond, by improvising to find a solution. By creating an experience.

All of us are heartened when a service employee truly cares and takes pride in helping us. And we become more loyal if we consistently have that experience.

Yes, shiny new planes may impress in the short term. But for the long term, it’s the experience.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Jake Burton Carpenter founded Burton snowboards in 1977. In his first year he sold 300 snowboards. Today his company has five international offices, employs almost a thousand people, and snowboarding has grown from a fringe activity to an Olympic sport.

You don’t become the industry leader and maintain that position without having great products. So what one assumption does Burton feel is safe to make about his products?

“I learned the hard way that you cannot presume anything is going to work well. You have to think through every possible failure and test the hell out of products. Our mantra is to assume the product will fail – and then make sure it doesn’t.”

Assume it will fail. Then make sure it doesn’t. Good is never good enough. Institute the ongoing drive for better.

Your thoughts?

Michael

How do you differentiate your organization? How can you stand out as unique? You want to be number one yet there’s only one who can be number one.

Consider this: Only one person was the first person to climb Mt. Everest – Sir Edmund Hillary. No one knows, for example, who was the 40^th person, the 64^th person or the 1490^th person to climb Everest.

However the first woman to climb Everest was Junko Tabei (#40 overall). The first to summit without supplemental oxygen were Peter Habeler and Reinhold Messner (#64, #65). And the first blind climber to climb Mt. Everest was Erik Weihenmayer (#1490).

The lesson: There can only be one number one in any category. Yet there are an infinite number of categories. Your challenge is to define the customer-relevant category in which you are or can be number one. And then fight to sustain it.

Yes, you can be number one.

Your thoughts?

Michael

It’s tough to knowingly put your revenues at risk. To release a product you know will cut into the sales of an existing product. Why would anyone do that?

Because if you don’t someone else will. Apple CEO Tim Cook loves cannibalization — as long as it’s self-inflicted.

“We know iPad is cannibalizing the Mac, but that doesn’t worry us. On iPad in particular, we have the mother of all opportunities because the Windows market is much larger than the Mac market. It’s clear it’s already cannibalizing some. I’ve said for years now that I believe the tablet market will be larger than the PC market at some point, and I still believe that.”

Of course it‚Äôs a gamble. That‚Äôs business. But cannibalization isn‚Äôt wrong, simply because competitive advantages don’t last forever. In fact the only safe assumption to make in business is that any competitive advantage you have will be copied, leap-frogged or made obsolete. Cannibalization may be what keeps you ahead of the curve.

Bon appétit!

Your thoughts?

Michael

I was attending a pre-conference social event. As an icebreaker they set up a fun competition between tables: Which table could correctly answer the most trivia questions?

One question provided a quote and then asked which famous business person said it. The options: Jeff Bezos, Jack Welch, Steve Jobs, or Warren Buffet. At which point one of the younger people at our table asked, “Who’s Jack Welch?”

Hmmm.

So I don’t make any false assumptions about my readership … Jack Welch is the former CEO of GE who between 1981 and 2001 grew the value of the company by 4000%. He was lionized by many as the standard-bearer for CEOs.

But … Welch retired 13 years ago. His legacy is receding into history. For anyone under 35 – that is, for any millennial – the name “Jack Welch” is all but meaningless.

The point? To connect with your audience you must first know your audience and then use examples and stories that are relevant to them. Your frames of reference may be different from theirs.

Don’t start with you. Start with them.

Your thoughts?

Michael

It’s not an uncommon story. Up-and-coming business has a better concept / model / product, connects with customers, develops a following, expands rapidly, and becomes the shining star in its field.

Then loses its way.

It’s happened to many and it happened to Starbucks. How? To Howard Schulz, who masterminded Starbucks meteoric growth, stepped down as CEO in 2000, and then returned in 2008 to reinvigorate the company, the answer is clear.

Success covers up mistakes. Profits hide many sins. A sense of entitlement starts to develop. And companies get conservative. They “play defense instead of trying to score.”

Schulz’s approach since returning to Starbucks has been to counter conservatism by placing big bets on big opportunities, investing in management training, turfing deadwood executives, streamlining operations, and refocusing the culture on Starbucks values. It’s worked.

Keep the edge. Cultivate a healthy dissatisfaction. Apply positive pressure.

Don’t be a fallen angel.

Your thoughts?

Michael