The Agency/Brokerage Leadership Dilemma
Posted by Sitkins Advisor on Thu, Sep 02, 2010 @ 08:00 AM
People, teams and companies are ALWAYS evolving in stages toward “commoditization” unless intervention occurs. What stage describes you, your team, your company? 
The Commodity Cycle:
Stage 1: Innovation (figuring out what business of tomorrow looks like)
- Unique value proposition
- Creating Intellectual Property
- Delivering the “client experience” (making life better for the client)
Stage 2: Sales & Marketing (one way of going to the marketplace)
- Focus is on brand awareness
- Telling “the story” at a high level of competence
Bottom/top line growing (everybody feels responsible for retaining, obtaining and selling)
Stage 3: Operations (heavy focus on services and clients)
- Very streamlined, make sure plan being executed
- Protecting bottom line on expense side versus growth side
- Start looking negatively at salespeople – need to get them under control
Stage 4: Consolidation (Companies merging, declining numbers)
- How do we consolidate, eliminate offices, eliminate staff
- Acquisitions strategies = method of growth
Growth happens in the Sales & Marketing and the Innovation Stages. What “interventions” are making growth happen in your world?
The Author, Steve Lounsberry, is a Vertical Growth Advisor with Sitkins International. Click here to view his bio.