Insights on Creating Profitable Growth

By Dave Kuhlman
April 22, 2013

"...In the professions, we learn on the job, we learn from the things we discover how to do well, and from the discomfort of suspecting we could have done things better. The most useful feedback is linked to the work, it is specific, and it is actionable..."

By Garrett Sheridan and Donncha Carroll

April 15, 2013

Have you ever thought that you might have too many customers (don’t say this out loud)? Maybe a better way to ask the question is: does your company have too many marginally profitable customers and too few resources to serve them all effectively? Problems with sales deployment have clear symptoms: excessive “windshield time,” sales people bumping into each other in the field, not enough time with high value customers, etc. Every go-to-market strategy claims to focus on the right resources spending more “quality time” with the right customers and prospects. But over time even the best model will deteriorate because markets, accounts and sales people are constantly changing. When this deterioration sets in, it’s often easier for companies to continue sending the sales force into the field in predictable but increasingly inefficient ways, particularly since the commonly assumed alternative – blowing everything up and starting from scratch -- seems too daunting.

By Juan Pablo González and Kate Richardson
March 14, 2013

The recent election of Pope Francis to lead the Roman Catholic Church got us thinking about the high stakes (and sometimes secretive nature) of succession planning in nonprofit organizations. Often, the Executive Director or CEO is the public “face” of the organization, in addition to being its chief executive.

By Kate Richardson

February 13, 2013