INSIGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES

Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba once said, “You should learn from your competitor, but never copy. Copy and you die.” As the Chinese consumer healthcare market continues to rocket forward, what can we learn from them?  For my dollar — or yuan — quite a bit.

Blais Pascal famously wrote, “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.” Like Pascal,most salespeople have an inability to keep to the point. My research shows that over 75% of all customer presentations are too long, disjointed, irrelevant or are simply boring. A national retail executive once shared with me: “Most sales presentation put me to sleep or create a trance-like state. They rarely capture my attention.” Do you want to be perceived as valuable and distinct? Get to the point.

Space, the final frontier. 

For mass retailers, it might just be. With real estate costs and competitive issues combining to put the squeeze on expansion, many merchants are looking for other ways to increase their product selection and give consumers an easier way to choose merchandise. They also are looking for additional ways to give their staff a more efficient and effective place to work. 

According to the Greeting Card Association, sales of the greeting card category — which they estimate to be between $7 and $8 billion — have held steady the past few years. 

This week I was reminded by my two great nieces that we need to be setting goals and looking into the future. Living in the present or only perpetuating the status quo will not fuel growth and reinvention.

When you look in the near and not-so-near future, do you think your company will be in the same industry? In this rapidly shifting business environment, that’s a question that must be asked. Companies and industries are in constant change. To remain competitive and relevant you must imagine a new future.

Author Robert C. Gallagher once observed that “Change is inevitable—except from a vending machine.” The same can be said about the global (and U.S.) regulatory landscape. U.S. brand owners are often intimidated and bypass global opportunities because the regulatory challenge is daunting.

Well, it is possible to keep the change and profit.

A few rules of the road: