In business, it’s not just what you sell that matters, but how and where you sell it. This is your route to market. Yours could be selling direct; via Amazon, online, or over the phone – whatever works for your customer. The right route to market is the one that makes it easy for new customers to find you, and therefore buy from you. Get it wrong and they’ll go to your competitors instead. Today, selling via one channel or sticking to what you’ve always known leaves you in danger of being left behind, missing opportunities and losing market share.

“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” – Richard Branson Anyone who’s ever caught a Virgin train might baulk at the suggestion, but there’s a lot of truth in Branson’s statement. Employees’ determine the success of a business day to day. They also contribute hugely to the value of a business when it comes to selling it.

Without a goal, it’s impossible to score. Businesses survive and thrive by offering value; by solving customers’ problems. Too often, that’s the problem, however. When we begin working with them, most businesses don’t understand their customers’ pain points and – even worse – don’t know who their most valuable customers are. Meanwhile, those with a clear picture of their customers’ needs, concerns and attitudes can find more of their target customers – boosting their sales and empowering their business to survive the marketplace challenges that threaten them and their competitors.

Company culture provokes much discussion: over what it is, and how best to create and encourage it. Best practice often leads us to Google, which rarely seems to be out of the ‘top places to work’ lists, with its free meals, massages and dry cleaning.

This article was previously published on the Vistage website, you can find it here. Marketing has a reputation for being a bit... nebulous. Qualitative. We’ve even heard it described as ‘fluffy’. Your efforts (should) have a tangible impact on the bottom line, but too often business owners find themselves wondering exactly what their marketing team are up to. Marketing can't afford to be vague; it can and should be as accountable as every other department. Marketers should be able to tell you what they're doing and why, and how their efforts are improving results for the business.