When it comes to transformational R&D projects, clever project de-risking is only half the battle. The other half is gaining the confidence of the entire leadership team. Few teams do this well. Instead they assemble detailed PowerPoint presentations focused on the project’s good points. Within 3 or 4 slides, they confound everyone except their sponsor, the technology head.
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If you develop new products, the design thinking process can help. All the more so if you’re a B2B innovator: You can upgrade the most important parts of design-thinking in ways consumer goods developers can only wish for. Here’s what you must do differently for B2B-optimized design thinking. Imagine a chemical engineering student taking an ... Read More
We call our bosses “leaders” out of respect for their organizational position. But have they learned how to drive B2B organic growth? In fairness, we provide training to the rank and file so they can develop new skills… but we expect our busy leaders will somehow “pick up” what’s needed. We’ve compiled 30 lessons for business leaders in the e- book, Leader’s Guide to B2B Organic Growth. You can even sign up to receive a 2-minute weekly video lesson for 30 weeks… an executive short-course in leading growth.
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Want to drive rapid, profitable, sustainable growth at your company… and focus on what matters most? This original research taps over 10,000 years of combined experience from 540 B2B professionals. You’ll see which of 24 growth drivers they deemed the most important, and which they were most eager to improve. ... Read More
When you consider B2B vs B2C, which market profession has greater advantages? Business schools offer more B2C courses, consumer research tools abound, and sophisticated marketers at B2C companies like Apple and P&G are held in high esteem. B2B marketers are often engineers or sales reps that were tapped on the shoulder and told to “do ... Read More
While VOC is extremely important, the most overlooked practice in B2B product development today is competitive benchmarking. This should be done in the front-end of innovation using 4 steps: 1) Identify outcomes to benchmark, 2) Identify customers’ alternatives, 3) Identify test methods, and 4) Identify benchmark levels (how good is good enough?) ... Read More
People sometimes ask, “Can’t I develop breakthrough products without talking to customers… like Steve Jobs did?” But they are missing some key distinctions between themselves and Steve Jobs… especially if they are B2B producers. ... Read More
No one likes to be average—another word for mediocre—in something as important as growing their business. Of course, half of all businesses are below average in any given year. And few in the above-average ranks for B2B growth are confident they can stay there year after year. This can change for your business. You can ... Read More
If you are using older voice-of-customer methods (e.g. DFSS or QFD), you’re sub-optimizing. For B2B your methods must achieve 3 goals: 1) collaborate deeply, 2) pre-sell your innovation, and 3) maximize “value capture.” Four B2B approaches are explored here. ... Read More
Your “second objective” after customer insight should be customer engagement. These 9 approaches help: 1) Kill the questionnaire, 2) let customers lead, 3) discuss their “job-to-be-done,” 4) project your notes, 5) focus on customer outcomes, 6) probe… deeply, 7) don’t sell or solve, 8) get quantitative, and 9) use triggers. ... Read More