Workforce Development: Associations s
Michigan universities and associations are stepping up workforce development efforts to ensure that businesses are able to find talent that will help the companies thrive in Michigan.
Dr. Paul Clyde, President, William Davidson Institute
With its staff of about 35 people, plus 19 Research Fellows, WDI partners with 50+ organizations around the world to create and apply sustainable business models in the private sector to support emerging market economies, thereby improving the health and welfare of citizens in those economies.
Associations | Business Model Innovation | Corporate Strategy | Customer Strategy Review | Entrepreneurialism
Customer-Driven Strategy
At age 52, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is worth $66.5 billion and recently surpassed Warren Buffet as the third richest person in the world. His fortunes have come largely from Amazon, which he founded in 1994. Today, Amazon has revenues of over $200 billion and is currently one of the largest retailers in the world despite having no physical stores. At the center of this growth is Bezos’ relentless focus on customer strategy.
Oxford Companies Growing by Leaps and Bounds
One of the largest commercial real estate transactions on record in Ann Arbor was completed in what many have called the “deal of the year.” In a $103M deal, Oxford Companies led a group of investors in the acquisition of a portfolio from McMullen Realty Co. For a comparison, the University of Michigan bought the Pfizer property for $108M.
Oh, by the Way Sales
A very successful sales professional explained that while many of his competitors interact with prospects or customers every 2-3 months or so, he spends a great deal of time engaging customers and prospects in-person and over the phone. He often reaches out just to touch base and perhaps help an engineer on a design question that may or may not be directly related to my friend’s particular part. Very often at some point an idea comes up in conversation that turns into a sale.
The University of Michigan and the MARS Rover
On August 5, 2012 at 10:32 p.m. Pacific Time the world watched NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory broadcast the landing of Mars rover “Curiosity.” Three years later, that amazing device continues to deliver breakthrough analysis, such as showing that water once flowed on Mars, and demonstrating that Mars could have been habitable at one time. The Curiosity rover has been a great success, and the University of Michigan has played an important role in this success.
Local Residential Real Estate Market
The Ann Arbor area residential real estate market is on the rise . . . mostly. Many of the key metrics show a positive change. The Ann Arbor Area Board of REALTORS® provides a monthly report on key residential real estate listings and sales. According to the June report, the number of 2013 YTD listings was up 22% year-over- year for the same period, jumping from 684 listings in June ’12 to 835 in June ’13.
Don’t Seek a Queen Strategy
A common mistake among novice chess players is to bring out the queen early in the game. But this often leads to a loss. In our client work, we often see a similar phenomenon in competitive strategy. Executives get lured into bringing out their queen without developing all of their pieces.
Sometimes the Best Metrics May Be Counterintuitive
There is no shortage of customer experience metrics today: digital data feeds, customer profile data, cross-channel performance, operational data, etc. The trick seems to be in fully understanding and focusing in on the key sets of metrics that really matter to build and sustain customer lifetime value across all channels.
Why Your Customer Service Team Should Be Upselling
Customer service representatives have a tough job. They must represent the face of the company to customers while being internally monitored and measured via a myriad of metrics: first call resolution, call length, and percent of transfers, to name a few. Fortunately, when done well, upselling customers and ensuring customer satisfaction go hand in hand.
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