denise lee yohn: brand as business bites™ / sales

Several weeks ago Bloomberg BusinessWeek published an article about Steve Jobs entitled, The Last Pitchman.  It documented Jobs’ seemingly inexplicable ability to sell practically anything, as evidenced by his glorious pitch for the iPhone 4, a “new” product which the news media had already gotten hold of and detailed weeks before.  I tore the pages out of the magazine as is my habit with content which proffer good fodder for blogposts.

Although the article was fascinating, I struggled with how to make sense of it — until last Sunday when I read a New York Times interview with Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of Box.net.  Levie used to do magic shows as a teen, and he says some of his most important leadership lessons come from the hobby:

“…it’s all about getting in front of people and telling a story, something that people buy into that is hopefully entertaining.  It’s all about capturing people’s imaginations and getting them excited about what’s possible.”

I realized that’s exactly what makes Jobs such an effective pitchman – magic.   (more…)

Consensus Advisors just released their 2009-2010 Retailer Health Ratings (RHRs) report.  The RHRs measure and compare retailers over a five-year period on:

• healthy growth
• asset utilization
• pricing power
• balance sheet strength

The report and webinar were really interesting and so I thought I’d share some of the insights and my reactions. (more…)

T’was the day after Thanksgiving and all through the mall
Shopkeepers and sales staff had prepared for it all

They’d hung their over-sized sale signs and filled all their racks
“Shoppers start your engines,” they suggested, “not a moment to relax.”

Windows were a sea of red posters, red tags, and red decorations too
Promoting not the color of Christmas but the more common sale hue

Advertisers had stuffed local newspapers with flyers and FSIs
Featuring deep discounts, limited quantities, and other special buys

E-tailers stuffed my in-box full of promotional emails
Every subject line was announcing a deal or a sale

The signs of sales desperation were everywhere I looked
Even TV ads eschewed entertainment and went straight for the sales hook

Instead of enjoying shopping and having some holiday fun
Finding the best price seemed to be job number one

Looking for good gifts and their trimmings lost its appeal
Since I wasn’t sure each offer I would find was the absolute best deal

I got tired just thinking about shopping before I headed out the door
All the talk about prices made it seem like a chore

And so I decided to pass on Black Friday and just stay home
In feeling overwhelmed I’m guessing I wasn’t alone.

(the image above is a partial view of all of the FSIs from my local Thanksgiving day newspaper — the stack was almost 2 inches piled high)

Just a heads up I’ll be speaking in the Sales and Marketing Management‘s Virtual Trade Show webcast this Thursday, 10.02.08 at 2:00PT/5:00ET, on “Aligning Your Remote Salesforce.”  My main point (more…)