Dumb Ideas Happen Quickly!

From: Gregg Wallick
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2015 5:37 AM
To: Bill Kent
Subject: RE: latest Doctor Dumb blog

 Dear D.D.

I have been thinking about doing a roll-up of roofing companies with a group of venture capitalist. Would you like to invest with me?

D.D. Jr.
Dumb Ideas Happen Quickly!

Mr. Wallick,

This is a totally brilliant idea; you can be both rich and famous FAST, maybe even with your picture on the front page of Forbes or Fortune magazine.

No worries about those venture capitalists; they are all nice people and will be there for you if anything bad happens!

My check is in the mail to you shortly!

DBK

Strategies in the New Economy

On December 11^th, we had the privilege to sit through a new-age economics class by professional Vistage speaker, Mr. Sam Bowers. He presented his thoughts on the new market dynamics faced by companies both now and in the future. His key points focused on the necessary paradigm shift we must all experience in order to gain and maintain competitive advantage in this new business world.  

After a four-hour lecture, our employees walked out motivated and excited to incorporate the following five points into their 2016 business strategy:

1.       Accept commoditization – In an economy where the seller’s power has been transferred to the consumer, it’s imperative to remain competitive by looking at your product and figuring out how to continue to provide that service or product in a better, faster, and cheaper fashion than your competition.

2.       Yours costs are not fixed – Customer driven pressure will force you to lower your costs and selling prices. Every company needs to become a negotiating company that defends profit rather than a sales company that defends price at the expense of profit. In fact, price is a useless number; the only number that matters is profit.

3.       Sales people are obsolete – A company without sales people would make for a stagnant business in the old world, but in today’s day-in-age, our customers are educated and knowledgeable. They’ve done their research online, they’ve read reviews on the company through social media outlets and they know exactly what they want. When a customer contacts a business, they’re not looking for information, they’re looking for the best price point they can find. In order to survive in this new economy, your company has to find itself on this new “bid list” and this can be done through effective marketing. 

4.       Marketing is key – The culture of instant gratification has taken over the business world, resulting in companies having to be available 24/7, while also taking on a non-interruption approach to promoting their products or services. Consumers do not want to be bothered by sales calls at any point in time. When looking for a particular product or service, they will come to you. The key is making yourself visible and available to them so that your company can make it to their “bid list.” This can be done through excellent online presence, i.e. social media platforms, websites and blogs. Mastering non-interruption marketing will help your company get on the “bid list” 100% of the time.

5.       Added Value is no longer valuable – Added value comes from the idea of not giving into price pressure. Your company may pride itself on excellent customer service, however, in today’s age, no one really cares. They’re on the hunt for the cheapest price they can find, and they know that they can find your same services and products elsewhere; it’s no longer about providing superior quality at a higher price – it’s about offering a product or service that is “good enough” and at the price point your consumer is looking for, circling back to the idea that every company needs to figure out how to do what they do in a better, faster and cheaper manner. 

What are your thoughts on this new business philosophy? Do you agree? Disagree? We’d love to hear from you. -- Dr. Bill Kent