INSIGHTS & JOY

A business newsletter with Pizzazz!

"We help leaders become better marketers
using a holistic business approach!"

May 2006

Questions to ponder before your summer vacation...

Whether you are a manufacturer, distributor, or professional service provider, there are some basic questions you should ask yourself on a frequent basis. "Innovate or evaporate" appears to be the order of the day! How will you answer my ten questions today? How will your answers change by New Year's eve? It will pay you a dividend to think about it before taking your summer vacation.

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IN THIS ISSUE

Ten basic business questions to ponder

Smiles make the day!

$ Million Marketing Tips

Amazing Facts!

Marketing Facets - The Market Focused Guide to Company Analysis

Ten basic business questions to ponder

Whether you are a manufacturer, distributor, or professional service provider, there are some basic questions you should ask yourself on a frequent basis. Many of the questions focus on customers and prospects. Your understanding of customer needs and your relationships with those you serve dramatically affect the future of your company. Other questions concern margins and control of fixed expenses.

Your firm's profitability and break even point are influenced by three factors. Business size and business type does not matter, the interaction of these three factors determine a firm's profitability...or the lack thereof.

a)   Your level of sales and revenue
b)   Your margin in excess of all variable costs (e.g. materials, direct labor wages and fringes, production energy, production supplies, sales commissions, freight in and out, etc.)
c)   Your level of fixed expenses (e.g. rent, insurance, telephone, licenses, sales and administrative salaries and fringes, dues, office supplies, security, etc.)

I believe that any serious thinking about the future direction of a firm must include the following lines of inquiry and realistic answers to these questions.

1. How will our customer's and prospect's needs change in the next two years?

2. Ignoring cost, how can we add more value to our overall offerings? Are there some ways we enhance our offerings with little or no added cost?

3. Can we drill deeper to serve added needs for our existing clients, where our relationship is already established?

4. How can we increase our success in gaining new clients?

5. How can we enhance our after-sale service and build stronger customer relationships?

6. Should we explore alliances with complementary service and product providers?

7. Should we explore geographic expansion or additional distribution channels?

8. How can we improve our recruiting, hiring, retention, and employee productivity? Should we re-deploy our existing staff?

9. Should we attempt to revise arrangements with key suppliers? Would supplier consolidation mean better purchase agreements with fewer suppliers?

10. Have we recently reviewed each significant fixed expense category carefully? Can any be reduced or eliminated?

Innovation and new technology may open up options for you in some or all of the above areas that did not exist a few years ago. The Internet is now ubiquitous, but people develop new ways to employ the Internet all the time. Examples include blogs, CRM software, My Space, Skype, webinars, and the explosion of electronic publishing. eBay, and now, eBay storefront service firms are increasingly popular methods of finding buyers for unneeded items and excess inventory.

Even our government has the idea. Today, a Medicare recipient can go to www.medicare.gov and compare costs and coverage's of the myriad supplemental and prescription drug plans at his or her desk! Standing in line at the Social Security office is no longer required if you are Internet savvy. Just pick your plan and order it on-line from the government's web site.

"Innovate or evaporate" appears to be the order of the day! How will you answer the ten questions today? How will your answers change by New Year's eve? Think about it.

Smiles make the day!
Secrets...

What we need is more people raising beans and fewer people spilling them!

If there's anything harder than breaking a bad habit, it's trying not to tell everybody how you did it.

Some people keep secrets like politicians keep promises.

Secrets are such a burden. That's why we're so anxious to have others help us carry them!

A secret? That's what is revealed to only one person at a time.

On a Pentagon desk..."The secrecy of my job does not permit me to know what I am doing."

That 'little bird' that often tells secrets is most likely to be a stool pigeon!

Well, most people can keep a secret; it's the folks they tell it to who can't keep their mouths shut.

A man who has no secrets from his wife either has no secrets or no wife!

Some people have two ideas about secrets. They are either not worth keeping, or they are too good to hold.

It's a great kindness to entrust someone with a secret. They'll feel so important while telling it to their friends!

$ Million Marketing Tips

TIP: Customers repeatedly buy where they feel comfortable. That means relationships and trust are important decision points. 'No hassle' spells repeat business.

TIP: Brand names help customers become familiar with you and your offering. Branding is a good start toward improved marketing!

Amazing Facts!

1. In Africa, ostriches are used to herd sheep.

2. The average American eats 87 hot dogs each year.

3. The Bible is the most shoplifted book in the United States!

4. About 60% of your body weight is water.

5. Honey never spoils!

6. Before 1796, Tennessee was known as "Franklin."

7. Lions and tigers cannot purr but cougars can.

8. The tomato, a fruit, has a lot more flavor at room temperature than when chilled.

9. The first state to require license plates on cars was New York, in 1901. That state has been taxing everything in sight ever since!

10. Disney World generates more than 56 tons of trash per day.

Marketing Facets - The Market-focused Guide to Company Analysis

Marketing Facets - The Market-focused Guide to Company Analysis. Marketing Facets is a practical resource for those involved in determining the current health of a company and gauging its future prospects. I designed my 103-page guidebook to be a supplement to other evaluation procedures and information normally gathered during a thorough due diligence or business valuation process. The workbook takes a holistic approach, assembling facts and management assumptions in key areas to help analysts form and support conclusions.

Marketing Facets is a valuable resource to private investment fund managers, individual investors, venture capital specialists, investment banks, and valuation specialists. Marketing Facets can also serve as a guide for C-level executives who wish to perform their own company analysis as part of normal business planning, or in advance of efforts to refinance, acquire or divest.

Marketing Facets is available in electronic form via the Internet, on CD/ROM, or in print with a ring binder.
> Electronic in MS Word .doc or Adobe .pdf format via the Internet @ $79.95
> CD/ROM format @ $85.95 including U.S. shipping and handling
> Ring binder version and CD/ROM combo @ $99.95 including U.S. shipping and handling

Consulting is also available. Please contact me for additional information.
Telephone: 972.931.7993 Fax 972.931.0542 rpmorgan@morganmarketingsolutions.com.

P.S. Ninety-five percent of our engagements originate as a referral from helpful people like you! If you know someone who:

> Wants to develop a more productive marketing program, or

> Needs help building and implementing an effective operational business plan,

I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss the situation with you.

Our ideal client is a business owner or CEO between 30 and 60+ years old. Usually with a financial, engineering, or production background. Who is often impatient, and interested in improving company performance. Comes alive when you ask, "How's business?" He, or she, is practical but also enjoys the finer things in life. So, you may see my ideal client driving a Lexus or SUV to Neiman Marcus...and to Sam's Club. Who do you know that fits this description?

A client speaks: "Your introduction of strategic planning, action plans, and implementation guidelines was the point where our planning took on a professional approach. Operations, marketing, finance, and personnel all were beneficiaries of the planning process you provided." Ben Johnson, Johnson Diversified Enterprises, Inc.

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Richard P. Morgan CMC
Morgan Marketing Solutions, Inc.
Two Galleria Tower, Suite 10008
13455 Noel Road, Dallas, TX 75240-6620

Telephone 972.931.7993 fax 972.931.0542
email rpmorgan@morganmarketingsolutions.com
www.morganmarketingsolutions.com

Author, Marketing Facets - The Market-focused Guide to Company Analysis

"We help leaders become better marketers using a holistic business approach!"

CMC (Certified Management Consultant) is a mark awarded by the Institute of Management Consultants USA, and represents evidence of the highest standards of consulting and adherence to the ethical canons of the profession. Less than 1% of all consultants have achieved this level of performance and dedication. For more information go to: www.imcusa.org