162. Your Coach for Mastering E-Skills?

2020 Companies, AmazonBusiness, Big Data, Core Renewal, Distribution Strategy, Index, LIPA, Service Value Innovation Guidelines, WayPoint Analytics

THE AMBITIOUS HAVE COACHES!

Many big-time jocks have personal coaches and analytics services. (Coaches for executives use 360-feedback surveys).

Most pro sports teams now invest in high-speed video, stats, and development coaches – for all players. Veteran starters with contracts often decline the help (why mess with success?), but rookies (and little leaguers) are devouring video-based analysis. The underlying goal is fast-as-possible “mastery”.   

BASIC MASTERY TENETS?  

Some key mastery concepts are:

  1. Put in many hours at practicing your chosen talent path.
  2. Make sure you are practicing the right technique in the right, best way. (Get best coaches, etc.)
  3. Create building-block, unconscious competence habits that require new neuron pathways.  
  4. Love the path and focus on inputs. Have faith that increasing excellence will follow.
  5. Measurably move from 1 to 10 or white belt to black belt degrees.
  6. As mastery increases, so does joy, pride, recognition, and for occupational skills, income.
  7. The more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know. (Beginners often think they are quite good out of ignorance.)     

What happens, though, when established occupational skills must change with technology? Think of a “10” farmer’s skill-set in 1900 v the far fewer “10’s” of today. Will there be fewer, but more e-competent and versatile B2B-channel reps by say 2022?    

’22 E-SELLING CHALLENGES?

Next-gen, digital, B2B buyers value routine sales calls less. For new or complex needs, they prefer their own initial online buying journey, 24/7/365. But, if they get into information overload who will help them to a best, final solution? How will both factories and distributors provide near real-time, e-collaboration for end user needs?    

Getting faster, better quotes for pure commodity re-buys is, however, a different selling/logistics challenge. How soon will AMZ or other disruptors offer an unbundled services for fees, cross-docking model for commodity case/skids goods? Or, will your firm be able to do the same with 3PL-type replenishment contracts with maximum e-integration?  

FUTURE E-UPSKILLING QUESTIONS

  1. Is your company working on seeing and getting to the cloud-ecommerce future first?
  2. What if some veterans don’t want to change? Making good money coasting/harvesting out has appeal.  
  3. Do you have the free cash-flow and courage to change if you are too busy losing money on too many small accounts and orders?
  4. What should you do first, now?  
  5. How can “customer profitability analytics” help answer these questions?

For more, be in touch:   bruce@merrifield.com