All companies generate information from the day-to-day operations. The question is: how can businesses organize and use this data to drive success? This workshop will walk you through the steps of how to use data to inform strategy and make decisions.
This workshop will walk you through the steps of how to use data to inform strategy and make decisions.
Tuesday, January 14th, 2020 12:00PM – 1:30PM
Featuring:
Sari Kern
Sari is the founder and CEO of S Kern Consulting, a business strategy consulting firm which focuses on using data to drive business decision-making. Her diversified career as an entrepreneurial and strategic operations executive has touched various industries and markets such as healthcare, health-tech, clinical research, strategic consulting, nursing, leadership, visual arts, scuba diving and poker. Sari’s experience and approach give her an edge when it comes to discovering and interpreting information to develop comprehensive and evidence-based strategic business plans.
In addition to her consulting experience, Sari has worked on the corporate side of companies of various growth stages and industries, developing strategic corporate plans, financial projection models for boards and investors, and developing and growing new verticals.
Sari earned her MBA from the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University. While pursuing her degree and since, she has delivered impressive tangible and measurable results for various companies in competitive markets focused on strategy, finance, budgeting, marketing, change management, and competitive landscape analysis.
SAM Preccelerator
1316 3rd Street Promenade, Suite 107
Santa Monica CA 90401
*You must register with your name & email to attend this event.
How many of you watch television news daily? Listen to news radio as you commute? Read your local daily newspaper? Or the Wall Street Journal?
Have you ever wondered how the stories on people and companies got there? About 75 percent are planted by public relations people. That’s public relations at work, getting companies such as yours exposure by strategically designing what you have to talk about in either a newsworthy or public service fashion. In fact, at The Blaine Group, we often say that nearly everyone can become famous overnight.
Keep this in mind as you contemplate and prioritize the possibilities. And, to borrow a phrase from one motivational speaker, “plan your work, then work your plan.”
Now that you’ve determined what you are going to do, who is going to do it?
Some of the most effective early-stage public relations campaigns have been handled by the president’s assistant. He or she is someone who knows the company, its customers and goals and has regular access to you. And, if that person is also articulate and writes well, it is logical for some public relations activities to be added to his or her job description. In fact, this may be the only way a new business can afford a public relations effort early on. However, it is important to realize that with limited staff available only part-time for communications tasks, the targeted outlets and anticipated outcome must be minimized.
Implementing a public relations campaign requires an extraordinary amount of time. Gear your expectations accordingly. And, in a situation such as the above, prioritization is particularly critical.
Then too, assuming the president’s assistant has no professional public relations background, he or she will need to acquire some media “savvy.” This includes:
Developing a broad-based knowledge of business hot topics;
Framing a story in terms of the trend it represents;
Understanding both the targeted outlet and your market;
Knowing how to pitch the piece in several different ways;
Offering exclusives;
Being aware of conflicts;
Persevering, even after several rejections, while accepting “no” gracefully;
Following AP style and double-checking facts, phone numbers, etc.;
Knowing what is and what is not generally accepted practice;
Following through on commitments in a timely fashion; and
Establishing a reputation for credibility and honesty.
When your company has expanded and its communications needs are greater than those that can be handled by the president’s assistant on a part-time basis, the next step is to add an experienced full-time public relations staff person or persons, retain an outside agency, or both.
A number of factors should be considered in the equation. Here are several possible scenarios.
If trade publications are the only media important to your company, one professional who has specialized in your industry and knows the editors are your best bet. Then too, his or her specialized knowledge will be useful in writing brochures, collateral materials, and copy, etc.
If penetrating one marketplace is critical to your success, whether it be the hospitality industry, financial services, car dealerships, retail stores, etc., who has the proven expertise to do the job? This could be an individual or an agency.
If a mix of trade and general-interest publications plus financial public relations and investor relations is required, is there any singular person who can provide the diverse support you need? And, if so, can you afford him or her?
The more expansive and sophisticated your communications activities become, the more you’ll benefit from the combined expertise of a number of professionals. Then too, it is at this stage that the campaign truly needs to be managed. Will you feel confident assigning that responsibility to an agency that is offsite, to people you see only periodically? Or, would you prefer to have a solid generalist on staff, someone with whom you can meet whenever you choose, to oversee the agency’s effort? One is not necessarily better than the other. It is truly a matter of personal style and preference.
Should you decide to retain an agency, here are some questions to ask:
Have you ever worked on an account in this field before? (There is both pro and con on this.)
Is our account conflictual with any other account in the agency?
Please provide references we can check.
Who are your clients?
With whom in the agency will we be working? (Sometimes the person who makes the presentation is not the person who will service your account. You must have a rapport with your contact.)
How will you position our product/service?
In accessing the company, look for open and honest answers. Look for distinguished clients, a successful track record, strong creative concepts, a talented staff, energy, enthusiasm, flexibility, and ambition.
Also look at how the agency plans to correlate your public relations and advertising activities. When they are cohesively planned and utilize the same theme, they cross-index and cross-collateralize and provide maximum visibility for minimal expenditure.
As far as budget appropriation is concerned, agencies work in several ways: an hourly fee, a per-project fee, or a monthly retainer. Ask for a quotation and get several estimates. Plan to spend more on a new product/service launch than on an established one. Do appropriate an amount annually for public relations; stealing from another budget does not serve any area of the company well.
About the Author Devon Blaine is experienced in all facets of the communications industry. Formerly an actress, model, and stunt driver, she founded the agency in 1975. Besides designing communications campaigns that help businesses maximize their success, she has long been active in numerous entrepreneurial organizations, thus earning a reputation as “the entrepreneur’s entrepreneur.” She has incorporated the knowledge gained from these ventures into the philosophy of The Blaine Group. The agency has an award-winning track record in serving the public relations needs of fast-track emerging-growth companies and major corporations alike.
She was three times president of the Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA), a founding board member and a past president of the Los Angeles chapter of (NAWBO) National Association of Women Business Owners. Devon also serves as a mentor for the Stubbs Alderton & Markiles Precelerator, the South Bay Entrepreneurial Center, and the Innovation Incubator at Cal State University Dominguez Hills.
About The Blaine Group, Inc.
The Blaine Group specializes in developing and implementing public relations campaigns and marketing strategies as comprehensive communications campaigns or as stand-alone entities. The firm represents many authors and fast-track, emerging-growth companies. It also handles investor relations and financial public relations activities for its publicly-traded clients. The Blaine Group is located at 8665 Wilshire Blvd., Suite #301, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. The telephone number is 310.360.1499 Visit www.blainegroupinc.com.
Stubbs Alderton & Markiles and the Preccelerator Program are proud to announce the launch of their Startup Superhero Video Series – featuring SA&M Attorneys, Preccelerator Mentors, and entrepreneurs on topics specific to entrepreneurship and lessons learned throughout the journey.
This week we’re featuring Preccelerator Mentor Sue Funkhouser on “Navigating Corporate Culture.”
Sue Funkhouser is a management consultant and coach at Pinwheel Performance. For 15 years, she has helped companies from Fortune 500, Startups and Non-Profits to improve organizational performance. Sue’s passion is helping founders grow their companies by developing leaders, teams and company culture. She mentors entrepreneurs and facilitates team and culture workshops at the SAM Preccelerator and Cross Campus. Sue also speaks to groups such as Young President’s Organization and has authored an e-booklet, Steering Company Culture during Growth. Connect with her on Twitter and Linked-In.
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Speaker: Sue Funkhouser
Moderator: Heidi Hubbeling
Sue: My background is that I for the last 12 years have been working with company’s leaders on their own leadership style, team effectiveness, and looking at the organization because culture is an organization as a whole. I have Master’s degree from Pepperdine University, the business school and that really taught me how to look at organization through a system’s lens and how does everything work together and that is how I approach my own work.
Heidi: You ‘ve been really beneficial to a lot of companies and we know that corporate culture can be a trigger for great success for a company long term or can be a trigger for failure. It’s one of those foundational items that these startup companies need to know, so why is corporate culture so important?
Sue: It’s your competitive advantage and it’s been proven in the marketplace. There’s research that shows that if you have an effective, greater company culture, you will get greater financial returns. You can look up Money Magazine’s research that shows that there is a 23% financial more return based on having a healthy effect of culture. There’s others if you want to know. Besides the financial research, it is something that can’t be replicated, something that can’t be duplicated not one culture is the same as the next. Your products and your capabilities can be copied, but your company’s culture can’t. The last thing is it acts as a magnet, you want to attract your people so if you have a healthy company culture you’re going to attract your top people as well as retain them.
Heidi: One of things that is a bedrock in company culture is the value systems of the company. How do you work with organization’ to develop your value system?
Sue: Its always helpful to provide a framework for people to look at so, I developed an acronym called WE ARE. Imagine a license plate called WE ARE and its we embody, so what is as a group we embody, and then articulate your values, reinforce your values and evaluate. I want to say one thing about the “we embody” so you have a culture no matter what and you want to find out as a collective what is most important here. I ask founders to please never take a piece of paper with words on it and say, “oh we are this, this and this” ask questions and stories about when have you made the most difficult decisions and what’s been most important. What have you weighed? That’s a way to draw that out. I have processes for each part of the we are, but I think that’s an important way to what do you embody? How do you articulate that value? How do you enforce it? Then later how do you evaluate it?
Heidi: Very important for companies building out that foundation for the long-term strategy of their company. I think that is a very powerful tool. What is some advice you give to companies wanting to build high performing teams?
Sue: One of the things, that I first like to talk to founders about is to understand that teams develop, much like individuals do. There are normal developmental stages for teams. Sometimes, they complain it’s like “this, this, this”, but its natural. Teams form and the they’ll storm and they must settle down and work on how they norm with each other and then they to perform. I remember I was working with a leader and they were prescribing this stuff and I explained that they were just storming. They’re trying to figure out how to work together and you need that if you’re going to get them to perform. That’s the first thing I tell people is to just know that its normal and you need it. Another thing I have found that a lot of people think its interpersonal. That all the problems are personal. As soon as we start working around what is your purpose or mission, what are the role clarities? What are the expectations of each other? A lot of that strife goes away.
Heidi: As a company grows, what do founders struggle with most?
Sue: There’s a lot to struggle. One common theme is about letting go. In a couple of ways, first in kind of a cognitive sense, leaders as they grow, have to let go of control and they have to move from being a technician to a strategist. I was talking to late David Goldberg, the former CEO of Survey Monkey and he said in his first venture when they went from 20 to 50 employees the hardest thing was to let go of the reigns. That’s one thing. The most heart wrenching thing that employers find is that they must let go of their early employees. What happens is as a company grows, some employees can’t scale their capabilities. You may try to develop them and move them around and eventually they just can’t or for a scaling company they don’t fit they’re just not interested in. It is so heart wrenching, every founder I talk to mentions that a person has been with them since day 1, but the fact of the matter is that if you do not let them go, there’s going to be some repercussions. One example, I was working with a company in New York and the CEO, heart of Gold, but when I interviewed his team they mentioned that for two years they had been shuffling people around every single department. The high performers said they didn’t have time to babysit, they’re getting in the way and he just had to cut it. It impedes performance and from what edmunds.com has told me is that you know in your gut. It’s hard but, you have got to do what is right for the company. What I advise people to do is how they let their early people go is do it in a way that shows that you care. You do care! Call-up your buddies and say, “I know this person they’re really good at this, would you meet with that person because you might know someone or you might have an opportunity”. Then go with that person and say “here is a list of 5 people that I have talked to, they’re ready for you and ready to take your call”.
Heidi: Very difficult, but very impactful advice, I think that’s a tough situation when that company gets to that stage of growth. The way that you respond, also affects your company culture overall and it’s a testament.
Sue: Those stories will ripple.
Heidi: You’ve been a mentor of the program for a couple of years now, what is the biggest give back to you, what do you enjoy most!
Sue: I love coming in here and thank you for having me. I just met with this new company whom I have never met before and we were supposed to meet for 20 minutes and we met for like an hour and half. I mean it was fabulous! What I love is that I learn so much. I get to meet with hot entrepreneurs that want to unleash stuff in the world and I get to learn about the new technology, I get my things opened. Just our interactions and the ability in such a short-time even though we expanded it to have fun, to get to know each other, but to have an impact and help them prepare for something, it so great. Thank you so much.
derton & Markiles and the Preccelerator Program are proud to announce the launch of their Startup Superhero Video Series – featuring SA&M Attorneys, Preccelerator Mentors, and entrepreneurs on topics specific to entrepreneurship and lessons learned throughout the journey.