FINE-TUNE 2018; OR, REAL CHANGE?
If your distributorship is a top 5% performer due to perpetual innovation, keep innovating in 2019. If your financial returns are in a low-level rut with an unchanging, aging sales force – then change your belief system to change your results.
SOME BELIEFS ABOUT BELIEFS
- Shared company beliefs are imperfect models for reality. Like the six blind men groping the elephant, we are adamant about what is, but blind to the bigger reality.
- Beliefs accumulate overtime. Some used to work (perhaps for unseen reasons). But today, do they engage best next-gen prospective employees and customers?
- Core beliefs are often hidden, unspoken, sacred things. All need to be identified, written down, and tested against the current, changing reality. Or, the blind-spots will expand, causing profits and morale to erode.
- Customer, SKU, and Vendor (Net-Profit) analytics reveal new facts, insights, and beliefs.
- Old Beliefs fight any contradicting facts. Who wants to admit being wrong? If our expert egos are challenged, then we invent data-free, self-serving counter-rationalizations. We will cite Old-Belief experts and industry pals who share our Belief-Bubble: “confirmation bias”.
- And, don’t explore or test any new ideas! New enlightenment might pop our Belief-Bubble.
- If you thoroughly examine Old Beliefs, their defensive power wanes. Do you dare?
If yes, here’s an experiment opportunity. Request a free copy of my – “Core (Profitable) Customer Renewal Roadmap” – document (bruce@merrifield.com). Have your management team read it, debate the new suggestions and beliefs, and write down the old, counter-resistant beliefs.
You might then do some explorations and tiny, safe experiments that lead to rut-busting insights and results.
2019 STRATEGY QUESTIONS
- Amazon is teaching (and exponentially empowering) next-gen B2B customers to want 24/7, mobile, Omnichannel buying. AMZ’s end-customer centricity is winning. What are your customer-centric upgrade plans?
- Will you segment your customers into niches that will allow you to out-focus competitors at improving service-value solutions and/or cost-to-serve?
- What are your digital transformation plans to win in the digital, Omnichannels of 2021?
- What are your unique, informational insights that guide the answers to 1-3 above?
- Are your plans scary? If not, are you honestly tweaking the same old activities: a new shade of lipstick for the Old Pig?
Better 2019 strategy and results will come from updated beliefs. How will you test your existing ones?