Page 10 - March 2024 SRG Flipbook

10 | April 2024 Slippery Rock Gazette
Training & EducaTion
Take the Guesswork G Out of Profitable Growth
ood strategy is at the core of any Darlene Campagna organization’s success and defines Direct Opinions
what the company needs to do
Looking at your company based on your customers’ perceptions can provide a very different perspective from what you see and experience. Remember, customer percep- tion is your reality. Consider how your busi- ness strategies would change if powered by your customer insights.
Gathering feedback from your customers to assess their needs, expectations and expe- riences is the key. Learning what their chal- lenges and hurdles are will drive your value proposition and enable you to sell more products and services, which is the goal of your strategy. Integrating these insights throughout the business will enable you to prioritize the needs of your customers, ele- vate your brand in the market, drive sales and ultimately achieve your business goals and objectives.
Ensuring that you are making data-driven decisions will take the risk out of your busi- ness strategy and give you confidence in your decision making and goal achieve- ment. This confidence allows your organi- zation to commit fully to a plan or strategy without being overly concerned that the wrong decisions have been made.
Consider these Customer Acceleration® tips that will help you make more money from your customers and make them hap- pier in the process!
If you’d like some help to get started, please reach out to Darlene Campagna at dcampagna@directopinions.com or call 216-867-1165.
to reach its goals and help guide the deci- sion-making process along the way. But running your business on baseless assump- tions or half-truths can point you in the wrong strategic direction. What if your assumptions are wrong? What damage can this do to your business and how long could it set you back from achieving your ultimate goals?
According to a 2023 Gartner article, The 5 Pillars of Successful Strategy Execution, 83 percent of strategies fail due to faulty assumptions about customers, competitors or internal capabilities resulting in unwanted surprises and stalled growth, reaffirming the importance of creating a business strategy built on insights, not assumptions.
Business strategies are full of goals and objectives focused on marketing and sales plans to drive revenue and profitability, gain market share, and beat the competition. Boiled down, it’s all about selling more to your existing customers and successfully converting prospects to buyers.
However, most business strategies are developed without ever getting feedback from customers — those people you are
working so hard to sell to. Assessing your strengths and weaknesses through the eyes of your customers can help identify opportu- nities and threats, which may be very differ- ent from what you believe to be true. Done right, this customer data can best position your business for growth, especially import- ant now considering the tremendous amount of change in the stone fabrication industry since the COVID boom.
Consider how customer insight would drive these most critical elements of your overall growth strategy:
Marketing
• Establish what marketing and advertising channels are most effectively converting prospects to customers.
• Identify your unique differentiators for more effective brand positioning.
• Manage your online reputation by pro- moting elements of positive customer experiences.
Sales
• Understand why your customers choose you over your competition.
• Discover what’s most and least important
in the customer decision-making process and prioritize results to improve close rates.
• Evaluate competitors’ strategies and oper- ations to capitalize on their weaknesses and enhance your unique strengths.
Operations
• Focus on opportunities for process improvement based on customer expec- tations vs. their experiences.
• Conduct root cause analysis for problem resolution, ensuring smooth, consistent experiences.
• Create innovative industry solutions by prioritizing ideas based on factors cus- tomers deem as most important but least satisfied with.
Finance
• Assess how customers measure the suc- cessful execution of a job and what they value more over price.
• Prioritize investments for the greatest ROI based on customer needs, preferences, and opportunities for advancement.
• Quantify issues with underperform- ing areas and teams and execute plans for success and goal achievement.
Training & EducaTion
April ISFA Fabricator Forum
Continued from page 7
Tooling Best Practices for Porcelain and Dekton with BBI Industries CEO Rick Stimac and Vice President of Sales and Marketing Jeff Dykstra will cover which blades, adhe- sives and other tools are ideal for fabricat- ing these kinds of materials and present tips and tricks to improve production processes. Fabricators will weigh in on how they find success with sintered materials, which con- tinue to rise in popularity among consumers.
Taking Your Business from the Stone Age to the Information Age: How to Leverage Artificial Intelligence with Tim Saddoris of
Grand Onyx will cover innovative strategies that harness the power of cutting-edge tech- nology. In this session, discover how easy it is to implement chatbots, recommendation engines and personalized marketing to cre- ate seamless and engaging customer experi- ences, foster loyalty and drive sales. Explore real-world case studies showcasing how AI can automate routine tasks, optimize pro- cesses and minimize costs.
Empowering Your People to Become Problem Solvers with Fabricator Eric Tryon will focus on fostering sustainability in your business by empowering and motivating your
Rick Stimac, BB Industries
Tim Saddoris, Grand Onyx
Eric Tryon
employees to become engaged leaders who further your organization’s success. Drawing upon the lessons he learned over three decades of professional success as an entrepreneur and business owner, Eric is a mentor and consults on leadership training, employee engagement programs and other managerial strategies.
On the second day, ISFA will take the
show on the road for two fabricator shop tours, including The Art of Stone, for a mock OSHA inspection designed to identify com- mon oversights and maintain compliance, and Harkey Tile & Stone, a family-owned company serving the area for more than 80 years.
Please turn to page 11