The primary role of the board of directors is value addition. Every board member must take self-reflection and, ask “which value do I bring on this company’s board?” At the end of every board meeting, the board chair must always ask his board: which value did we add today? Did members just waste the time and money in sitting allowances or the meeting added value? Which value? Read: Is your board empowering you? Each board member must answer the following: Why do I deserve a sit on this table? What are your specific roles and responsibilities? If you are a…
#WayofTheGuerrilla: Why you need a marketing plan, part 4 of 7
Most of the time I have been with clients, apparently successful but when you actually go deep, understand their financials, you realize they are almost on the drip. Money isn’t on the bank account. Though things could be moving on, the sales are not growing. Cash collections are not happening. The company is in survival mode. As a leader, you must try to avoid such a scenario. The starting point is to set sales targets for all staff. Give everybody in the organization a target to sell. This reminds me of Nile Bank when I was starting my career. By…
#WayoftheGuerrilla marketing; market to many, sell to one, part 5 of 7
Take a closer look at figures 1 and 2. What do you see? In Figure 1, the salesperson is standing before one person. In Figure 2, the salesperson is standing before an audience in a conference room. What do you learn from these? Find a piece of paper and write your thoughts before proceeding. A sale is about closing a deal, exchanging money, or signing a memorandum of understanding. This is best done one-on-one. It is very difficult to sale for many people at the same time. The rule is: to sell to one. Market to many. Why? Marketing is…
#WayoftheGuerrilla for super sales – marketing your services, part 3 of 7
Are you an entrepreneur, professor, accountant or medical doctor? Regardless of your profession or career, where do you spend most of your effort? What choices are you making to create a marketing presence? One of the choices you can’t run away from is being a #WayofTheGuerrilla for your personal branding and marketing. You must be able to market your skills, value offering and or products in an innovative way despite the limitations your profession puts you in. You must be able to innovatively market. To do so, you need: Time You don’t just wake up and begin marketing and selling.…
#WayOfTheGuerrilla: what is your sales focus? Part 2 of 7
The kind of decisions you take can make or fail your business. As an entrepreneur, what is your focus? As a follower of the #WayofTheGuerrilla, for super sales, where do you put your effort? Regardless of business or professionalism, marketing and sales are one is the number one skill you need to develop in your life. When it comes to your career and business, where do you put a lot of strength and focus? PREVIOUSLY: #WayoftheGuerilla: Part 1 of 7 Selling on a shoestring budget Do you focus your business effort on generating sales, or cost–cutting, creating networks or breaking…
#WayofTheGuerrilla selling on a shoestring budget, part 1 of 7
As an entrepreneur or CEO, when it comes to running your business, where do you put a lot of priority? Do you focus on putting money on the table or removing money from the table? Putting money on the table is all about marketing and sales. Removing the money is about internal controls and procedures to minimize fraud and abuse. Both of these things are critical. But what do you focus on as an entrepreneur? For any business, I have got to understand that it is not about the lack of capital that makes businesses to stagnate, it is the…
