BQF Innovation

Chuck Frey and Rennee Hopkins Callahan have put together an impressive report.  They recently contacted a diverse collection of innovation experts and practitioners to learn more about the strategies they recommend for maintaining innovation during these challenging times.  Respondents include some of the best and brightest innovation authors, bloggers, consultants, and practitioners.

You can download the full report here:

http://www.innovationtools.com/reports/recession.asp

Here are some of the key themes in the report:

1. Start scenario planning now.
2. Redouble your focus on customer needs.
3. Strengthen the positioning of your products and services using market innovation.
4. Prune your innovation portfolio.
5. Look for opportunities to inexpensively test new ideas.
6. Embrace open-source innovation.
7. Look for creative ways to extend your current products.
8. Take a fresh look at your supplier relationships.
9. Conduct a disruptive threat assessment.
10. Innovation is not restriced to products, services and business models.

It is packed with good advice so please download a copy.

Paul Sloane

Here is an interesting article on the BBC site featuring Martha Lane Fox.   She addresses the question how can we survive a global downturn?  And she quotes Frank Lloyd  Wright’s marvellous words, ‘An idea is salvation by imagination.’

She says, ‘All the headlines talk of businesses cutting enormous numbers of jobs and scaling back investments.  Although much of this is sensible, new ideas must be supported and there are still opportunities to be found. Web businesses are growing and the move from offline to online is continuing apace.  The web gives power to customers in times where value becomes so important, as they can compare prices, build their own packages or get a depth of information that is impossible through other channels.

The web shakes up normal business models and any company ignoring this shift does so at its own peril. For me, a pound invested online is far more effective than one spent offline in this harsh consumer climate where you need to be able to track impact carefully.  Making the most of these opportunities requires some flair and some risk taking.’

She adds, ‘I always challenge my team to think ‘yes’ before they think ‘no’ to a new idea.’  Great advice from an internet advocate!

Paul Sloane

In a downturn everyone is involved in sales.  I chaired the Successful Selling Conference in Birmingham last week and we had a fantastic line-up of speakers on sales and motivation.  The Sales Guru, Neil Rackham, who conceived the Spin method in the 1970s, was one of the presenters. He asked what are the three most common mistakes that sales people make in a recession.  His answers and a summary of his advice were:

1. Chasing too much business. Sales people tend to chase and bid for every piece of business but it is better with B to B sales to focus on the ones you can win and ignore those where your chances are slim. Qualify harder in tough times.

2. Negotiating too early in the sales cycle. Don’t start with special offers on price. Leave any price or terms negotiation until very late in the process.

3. Assuming price is the main decision criterion. In a recession safety is often the most important consideration - even though the prospect will say it is price. You must reassure the client that yours is a safe, dependable solution first.

There was plenty more great stuff including talks from Larry Winget, Marc Woods, Debra Searle, Allan Pease, Mike Southon and Tom Devine. You can see a review of the day on Modern Selling.

Paul Sloane

We tend to think of innovation as a tool for inventing and marketing new products and services.  This is certainly its main thrust.  However, as Jeffrey Baumgartner points out in this article on Innovation Tools, you can use innovation for streamlining business processes, eliminating steps, reducing waste and cutting out costs.  When times are tough we should use what he calls reductive innovation to examine and improve every aspect of our business.  As well as asking ‘How can we delight customers?’ or ‘How can we double sales?’ We should ask questions like, ‘How can we eliminate costs?’ and ‘How can we use less energy?’  Then we use the same creativity techniques for cost cutting as for new product ideas.

Paul Sloane