Air pollution lawsuit: Federal and state lawyers sue Midwest Generation over Illinois power plant emissions -- chicagotribune.com
Posted using ShareThis
Friday, August 28, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Put me in coach….
I had fallen away from most sports in my life for many years including my boyhood favorite, baseball, because of a busy career and a new family. But as the family grew, my love of America’s game was rekindled by what would be the highlight of the last 7 years of my life, Little League baseball.
Youth sports offer parents, family and friends the opportunity to see sports the way they were intended, as a game. But I was fortunate to coach and manage my son’s teams for those years in a community where Positive Coaching was taught to all managers and coaches and parents were there to support the teams, not criticize the volunteers and coaches. I know that it’s not true everywhere and that’s unfortunate.
I was often asked why I devoted the time to coach and manage Little League; my answer was always the same; because it provided the most enjoyment I could ever image and the greatest father-son time I could ever ask for. I would never say that I wasn’t disappointed in a loss, there were many heartbreakers over the years, but I never let it be the meaning of the game. Talking to a group of teary eyed 8 year olds after a last inning loss is one of the toughest conversations you will ever have, but I would do it again for the chance to talk to them again about wining, loosing and sportsmanship. This was likely my son’s last year of organized baseball and therefore the end of my participation and I am generally poignant.
If you truly enjoy a sport, get involved in coaching a youth sport. Teaching a child to love a sport as you did is an enriching experience. Do it for your own child and it’s a win-win.
The season is over for local area Little League baseball but as I think of volunteerism in the future, I am reminded of the eager young faces, the sense of accomplishment from a freshly soiled uniform and the exuberant smile of a first hit.
Put me in coach, I’m ready to play!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IWRYMoBT68
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Twitter babble…
I have tried to grasp the value of Twitter for business and marketing, but I will admit that I am not of the techno generation despite being in the second largest group of Twitter users. However, a recent study by Pear Analytics validated my opinion of the site; it found that 40.55% of all tweets were pointless babble.
But what makes me doubt Twitter is where its long term value lies with the next generation of users. I have commented often that today’s middle and high school students (13-17) will represent a generation that does its communicating (of all types) and purchasing (m-commerce) from their mobile phones, not from a computer. Technology is advancing as rapidly as they are and they are in lock step with every change. But from an informal survey of local high schools students (one very close to me), Twitter is as popular as a bad hair style; “pointless” to many. Now the NY Times writer Claire Cain Miller has confirmed the same thing.
See: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html
In just a few years this age group (13-17) that represents just 8% of Twitter users (www.quantcast.com) will enter the user group 18-34 that represents the largest segment of Twitter users at 43%. What does this mean for Twitter?
We as business people cannot under estimate the value of good communication in today’s world, but is Twitter the answer. We are a society that thrives on the 10 second sound bite, have we now denigrated to the one-liner. With the death of Senator Edward Kennedy today we are reminded of what many value in thier political candidates, sometimes more than where they stand on issues; that they are great speakers. Let's start talking again.
The eMarketer article
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007238
Thursday, August 20, 2009
How do you buy on-line?
The internet has become a bigger part of everyone’s life. Can you imagine your life without it? Our home internet connection went out for 2 days recently and I never saw such disarray under one roof. Mad dashes to the library for homework, a day spent sipping Starbucks and huddling in the corner behind my laptop.
There are 1.5 billion people on the internet around the world today and the U.S is not the largest market, its China. As large as we may think on-line sales are e-commerce sales currently only account for 3.5% of the total retail sales in the U.S. In spite of the volume and pervasive nature of Amazon, on-line sales remain vastly underdeveloped and consumables are almost lost in the measures.
How do you view on-line purchases? What makes you buy? What stops you? What product categories do you regularly purchase and why? There are countless studies and white papers but I wanted to hear from some real people about their on-line purchases.
Care to give me your on-line habits?
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The 800lb gorilla in the room….
We have all heard about this primate of epic proportions. OK now all sales executives look at him and say hello! His name is “TS” - trade spending and he has been keeping many of you awake at night and chasing the sheep away as well.
“TS” is the second line on your P & L statement just below cost of goods and it is the one measure on this financial statement whose savings and improvements go directly to bottom line profit. But for many CPG companies today it remains the number one nemesis. I can bet it’s yours as well.
After leaps in technology, advanced data research and countless white papers; why does trade spending remain a problem for so many companies? At issue are corporate cultures and antiquated systems and processes that perpetuate bad practices instead of creating avenues of improvement.
In the current structure of many sales organizations there is little, if any, incentive for the field sales managers to improve on their trade spending return. More often, there are directives in place that force sales managers to spend all the trade funds they have because the company regularly reduces trade budgets the next year. If they can show they required the funds to make their sales budget, they are more likely to get the same amount the next year.
I spent 14 years as a buyer for the retailer in Chicago and I can tell you stories of trade spending waste that continues today. Every year heading into the fiscal year ends of CPG companies, retailers would see a flood of ad money and slotting fees in a mad dash to spend it all before the fiscal year end. It was “money for nothing” and we were more than willing to buttress our bottom lines with your foolishness. And yes, it still happens today.
But what about incenting sales managers with trade spending improvements by rewarding them with a percentage of the savings? How fast do you think a sales manager would find a way to pay less in slotting or get an ad fee reduced if they knew a portion of that would come to them as a bonus? World record speed!
How do you make it fair and equitable across a large organization? By putting the savings in a pool and spreading the savings across the organization but recognizing the individuals for the significant impact they had on the company. If your region shows no improvements during the period, you are ineligible for the pool. In this process you will benefit from the creation of a more productive sales team, better negotiators and give them a sense of ownership in the company.
Right now sales leaders have no idea what can be done with their trade budgets, because they have never tried. Once you see the improvements that can be made you will uncover the real best practices you have been searching for. What would a 5% or 10% improvement be worth to you this year? Would it be worth giving half to the sales team?
In subsequent years you can leave the incentive in place. The improvements may not be as large as year one, but the best practices will be in place and you will maintain the level of performance within your team. But best of all, you will benefit from the improvements forever.
In today’s economy gives leaders ample incentive to think outside the box to find improvements in any facet of the business the can. Why not start with the biggest of all?
I find it hard to understand why trade spending has remained such an issue. Maybe too many of you have become friends with “TS”.
“TS” is the second line on your P & L statement just below cost of goods and it is the one measure on this financial statement whose savings and improvements go directly to bottom line profit. But for many CPG companies today it remains the number one nemesis. I can bet it’s yours as well.
After leaps in technology, advanced data research and countless white papers; why does trade spending remain a problem for so many companies? At issue are corporate cultures and antiquated systems and processes that perpetuate bad practices instead of creating avenues of improvement.
In the current structure of many sales organizations there is little, if any, incentive for the field sales managers to improve on their trade spending return. More often, there are directives in place that force sales managers to spend all the trade funds they have because the company regularly reduces trade budgets the next year. If they can show they required the funds to make their sales budget, they are more likely to get the same amount the next year.
I spent 14 years as a buyer for the retailer in Chicago and I can tell you stories of trade spending waste that continues today. Every year heading into the fiscal year ends of CPG companies, retailers would see a flood of ad money and slotting fees in a mad dash to spend it all before the fiscal year end. It was “money for nothing” and we were more than willing to buttress our bottom lines with your foolishness. And yes, it still happens today.
But what about incenting sales managers with trade spending improvements by rewarding them with a percentage of the savings? How fast do you think a sales manager would find a way to pay less in slotting or get an ad fee reduced if they knew a portion of that would come to them as a bonus? World record speed!
How do you make it fair and equitable across a large organization? By putting the savings in a pool and spreading the savings across the organization but recognizing the individuals for the significant impact they had on the company. If your region shows no improvements during the period, you are ineligible for the pool. In this process you will benefit from the creation of a more productive sales team, better negotiators and give them a sense of ownership in the company.
Right now sales leaders have no idea what can be done with their trade budgets, because they have never tried. Once you see the improvements that can be made you will uncover the real best practices you have been searching for. What would a 5% or 10% improvement be worth to you this year? Would it be worth giving half to the sales team?
In subsequent years you can leave the incentive in place. The improvements may not be as large as year one, but the best practices will be in place and you will maintain the level of performance within your team. But best of all, you will benefit from the improvements forever.
In today’s economy gives leaders ample incentive to think outside the box to find improvements in any facet of the business the can. Why not start with the biggest of all?
I find it hard to understand why trade spending has remained such an issue. Maybe too many of you have become friends with “TS”.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Time to take a step back
The state of the U.S. economy has hit the green industry as hard as any other, but to some degree, for a lot of different reasons. There are many green products companies that have outstanding quality products at affordable prices to appeal to the recessionary consumer. One of my favorites True Body Products bar soap comes in a 3 pack for just $5.49; a great value to anyone. The issue for True Body and others is that they have to endure an extra step in the supply chain to make it to your retail shelf; a natural or specialty distributor. This step can add as much as 50% to the cost of a typical product, a crippling increase that ruins any marketing plan. This fact has held back many companies and impacted the industry in many ways.
I spoke recently with a businessman in China about the U.S. green industry; his comments said a lot about the industry. This businessman, an experienced retailer and industry professional internationally was taken aback by what he saw as a vastly underdeveloped green industry in the food, drug and mass channels in the U.S. His perception from what he had seen in the world wide press about the green industry that it would have been fully embraced in every channel, but not so.
At issue are the food, drug and mass channels limited acceptance of green products because of their limited perceived potential for growth at national brand levels and their use of the category as a profit generator. Green brands do not have the brand equity or the financial resources to overcome these issues and have a chance at success.
Green companies need to take back control of their own brands. Pull out that dog eared business plan and give it a once over again. You need to reassess your mission, goals and strategies you originally set down for your brand. Every opportunity for retail distribution has to be assessed for its potential and long term profitability, not simply for ACV distribution. If it doesn’t look profitable on paper, it will not magically get better on the shelf.
Success can be found for natural and organic brands without becoming the next mega-brand. Know your limitations and manage your resources for maximum profitability.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)