Newly Released White Papers

Marketing & Sales Check-Ups

Medical insurers have found that the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) approach to health care has helped to reduce claim costs because it focuses on illness prevention. By implementing a policy of regularly scheduled health check-ups, the focus of both doctor and patient moves from curing illness to preventing it. All involved parties benefit. A useful product manufacturing process must be monitored for continuous improvement. The same is true in Customer Manufacturing. This paper explains how to get started.

Process Improvement Tools: Flow Charts & Process Maps

There are many process improvement tools available to help companies manage and improve their business processes. New ones are created regularly, and many are adapted or modified. Quality guru Ichiro Ishikawa taught that 90% of all business process problems can be solved with the Seven Tools of Quality. We concur. In addition, if you could actually solve 90% of your business process problems, you’d be a lot further ahead than you are today. This paper addresses one of those tools, The Flow Chart or Process Map.

Sales Forced Automation

Has your company recognized the need to become more customer-centric? To think outside-in instead of inside-out? Many companies have made that decision, at least by words. The proof comes from deeds or actions. For a number of these companies one of the first steps in their attempt to change is the belief that software tools are necessary to make this transition viable. While this may be true, it is not necessarily the best first step.

What is a Good Lead?

The Marketing/Sales disconnect continues unabated. This paper looks at specific issues causing the disconnect in the business-to-business world, with recommendations to close the divide.

When Culture Turns Deadly

An organization's culture and its sacred cows ("sacred cows" are always a reflection of some culture-dictated mandatory behavior) are often put to the test in times of crisis. A crisis can be any type of “black swan,” that is, a totally unexpected event that can hurt. The British Petroleum case is a good example of what happens when things go terribly wrong, and exposed their flawed culture to the public eye as never before.