Nilofer Merchant: March 2006 Archives
Here you’ll find a collection of blog entries published during the month of Nilofer Merchant: March 2006.
Great Product Management starts with…
By Nilofer Merchant on March 31, 2006
One of the more common questions I hear from product management teams is based on figuring out why company A is successful and company B is not. Perhaps it’s that company A somehow does a better job of listening to…
Decision-making done right
By Nilofer Merchant on March 30, 2006
THE MISSION: Our mission, should you decide to accept it, is to read this article and think of your own ‘mission impossible’ task of making decisions at your company. You should then comment, and post your memories and experiences. THE…
Why company blogging really makes sense
By Nilofer Merchant on March 30, 2006
In these days where execs get so far removed from consumers that the only time they see them is when they are behind the glass walls of a focus group forum, I think blogging really makes sense. With it,…
Ways benchmarking makes strategies better
By Nilofer Merchant on March 30, 2006
I do benchmarking all the time, but I never think that the application of all that data is a 1-size-fits-all model. Benchmarking can be useful to learn what other companies do well to optimize their business model. The key is…
What makes a good Sales Comp Plan?
By Nilofer Merchant on March 29, 2006
Last week, I worked with a CEO on designing / redesigning his comp plan. He has a set up where the business sells subscriptions and the sales rep gets paid a flat % for first year, as well as a…
Sweat the small stuff, sweat it all
By Nilofer Merchant on March 28, 2006
Last week, I attended a roundtable of CEOs. And one CEO of a well-known and privately held firm provided a showcase of his upcoming rebranding effort. Interestingly, the consumer company had done focus groups and figured out what they needed…
Asking the right questions
By Nilofer Merchant on March 27, 2006
Just finished a call with a prospective client, and it got me thinking about the questions we ask. The CEO was asking great questions about us, and how we work with clients. Finding good people or good talent (aka consultants)…
Genuine vs. Canned Customer Nurturing
By Nilofer Merchant on March 26, 2006
Ever see those banners that say ‘we love our customers’. Do you ever believe them? Customer relationships are more than good intentions. It means setting the intention to pamper good customers and investing in the technology and processes to make…
Community is what we all seek
By Nilofer Merchant on March 25, 2006
Just finished a book, Plainsong, that my stepdaughter lent me. It’s an interesting story of 2 brother farmers, a pregnant high-schooler, two young boys deserted by their mother, and so on. Good book and well written. The richness of the…
Hey what’s that in the corner?
By Nilofer Merchant on March 25, 2006
I had another late night meeting last week, where my firm was involved in helping a company evaluate a decision to an upcoming product launch. Sorry for not being able to provide details; maybe one day. While we presented…
Darn that Ben Franklin
By Nilofer Merchant on March 24, 2006
I’ve been away from posting here lately. My company has a newsletter we publish and I was responsible for doing the intro copy to our collective work. [For those interested, you can check it out at www.rubiconconsulting.com.] I guess I…
Get a Going
By Nilofer Merchant on March 22, 2006
If you hang around me a while, you might hear this very southern voice and phrase “Get a going” come out of my mouth. It usually generates a look because seeing an Indian woman say this with a southern voice…
Cinching creates more value
By Nilofer Merchant on March 20, 2006
I’m always worried about the Valley companies that have too much funding, too much venture capital, too much valuation. In this day of American ‘more is better’ philosophy, you might think me contra-culture (or, worse, old-school) to even mention it….
I thinks, I thinks, and nothing happens
By Nilofer Merchant on March 19, 2006
Putting a book on the shelf, and flipped through to see what I underlined. Yes, I underline books. But that’s why I don’t use the library. I buy the book. My husband, whose mother was a librarian, gets squeamish…
Cher Marcel, no Reason to Call
By Nilofer Merchant on March 18, 2006
It was a tough week. So I tucked myself into bed a bit early on Friday evening and finished reading Jonathan Saffron Foer’s book called “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”. I’m sure you could go to Amazon or Salon to…
Make mine the most expensive way to expand
By Nilofer Merchant on March 15, 2006
A colleague and friend got $30M in VC funding recently. Good times. It was more than he asked for, because the VC wanted to see fast market penetration into several verticals. Market expansion can be done in multiple ways —…
Finding the Core Value Proposition is Key
By Nilofer Merchant on March 14, 2006
I recently got introduced to an up-n-coming PLM (product lifecycle management) software vendor who shall remain nameless. There are several notable vendors already in the PLM space including IBM, PTC, Borland, UGS (a division of EDS) , and about 40…
Reflecting our Culture
By Nilofer Merchant on March 13, 2006
This funky website has words that are being considered for entry into the Merriam-Webster dictionary. This month’s entry has some that spark my interest: metanoia (noun) : a transformative change of heart; especially : a spiritual conversion. Gotta remember that…
Where is this Software World Going?
By Nilofer Merchant on March 11, 2006
I wish I had an answer for the emerging business trends in software, and how they’ll play out. I can’t see the horizon very well but I do have some clouds to gaze at in the meantime. I am interested…
Another Cisco Move
By Nilofer Merchant on March 11, 2006
Cisco made another move to the vertical security space yesterday. They bought a company for $51M and 27 people that provides them video surveillance capabilities. This acquisition maps well to what they’ve done well, meaning buying smaller innovative teams that…
Who wants you to be their Leader?
By Nilofer Merchant on March 10, 2006
The Wall Street Journal Bookmark’s section this morning reviewed a book called “Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?” Besides noting the great title (who came up with that?!), I thought that is a question any executive should ask…
Past the Facade of Degrees, Pedigree, and Bios
By Nilofer Merchant on March 9, 2006
Want to know who someone is, how insightful they are and what they really care about? Then stop listening to their self-promotion pitch inclusive of the mckinsey-harvard pedigree*, or reading those PR-generated bios. Fiction is one thing, and professional…
B2C Marketing Has Its Nuances
By Nilofer Merchant on March 8, 2006
Last weekend I wrote about Cisco entering multiple, disparate markets at the same time. While I thought that vertical strategy appears to be a good fit with the strengths and their customer needs, I thought their consumer play would challenge…
3 questions to a personality profile
By Nilofer Merchant on March 6, 2006
Found this on the web. In 3 questions, it got close. At work, it didn’t mention that I should be in service, or an entrepreneur. Both of which I think is central to who I am. And it neglected to…
Market Entry Moves by Cisco Warrant Review
By Nilofer Merchant on March 4, 2006
For every successful market entry, another 4 fail. I learned that in grad school. One of the few facts that made practical sense, and thus stuck. That metric included every type of company: automotive, pharmaceuticals, financial markets, etc. I…
Unlike ASPs, SaaS is Hotter than it Looks
By Nilofer Merchant on March 2, 2006
I think SaaS (Software as a Service) is potentially the biggest issue facing software firms today. This formerly “ASP” (application service provider) model blipped back in ‘97-‘00. And it seemed to fail. But, in fact, I think the issue…