Three Business Acumen Tips to Execute Strategy and Make the Customers Happy

In the first two hours of a typical Advantexe Business Acumen learning solution, we present to participants several different strategic thinking frameworks and tools that help them either choose the strategies of their organizations, or better execute the strategies of the organization that they lead.  Most of the popular strategic frameworks suggest that the core elements of a business strategy start with differentiation.  Amazon chooses to differentiate by being the biggest in the world and driving revenues through volume of products sold.  Emirates Airlines chooses to differentiate by offering incredible service and a deep understanding of the needs of their exclusive customers.  Tesla chooses to be different by innovating the automobile manufacturing process and creating a new market by designing and selling battery powered cars.

5 Tips on Leveraging Business and Financial Acumen Skills in the Strategic Selling Process

It’s a Sales Professional’s best dream and worst nightmare come true all in the same phone call.

For months you have been trying to initiate a dialogue with a key sales prospect and then one day, at the most inopportune time, your phone rings and it’s that prospect!

“Hello, I know we haven’t spoken, but I’ve received your calls and emails.  I have an important question.  Can you tell me how your product can really impact our business performance by increasing revenue, reducing our COGS, improving our margins, and positively impacting our working capital?  You have called me 20 times trying to sell me something, so now I have a need. What can you do to help?”

Review of the Book Leaders Eat Last 

As an expert in the world of talent development, not a week goes by without someone – a client, a participant, a colleague, or the person sitting next to me on the transcontinental flight to London – asking me if I have read the new hot leadership book du jour.  I usually only read about 5 good business books a year but regularly pour through the journals, newspapers, magazines, and our own Advantexe research for the material we use to develop our Business Acumen, Business Leadership, and Strategic Business Selling simulations and learning content.

One of the most ridiculous elements they teach you in leadership development programs is to “Celebrate Successes.”  Inevitably this means an “enlightened” business leader will react to the following scenario:

While facilitating the launch of our new Leading Strategic Execution™ business simulation workshop this week, I asked my group of participants a simple question; “If you Google ‘Strategy Execution,’ how many responses do you get?”