Rather than let an opportunity sit on the shelf, one of Nova Scotia’s leading winemakers has uncorked a deal too good to pass up.

Veteran food industry and brand expert Carl Sparkes announced Tuesday he’s purchased an undisclosed stake in Jost Winery through his new company, Devonian Coast Wineries Ltd.

Working out of his office at the winery in Malagash, Cumberland County, Sparkes takes the lead as the company’s strategic and business development partner while second-generation owner Hans Christian Jost will redirect his focus to the production side of the business.

“We were looking to partner with someone who had the expertise to take it to the next level,” Jost said Tuesday.

“I’ve always seen myself as a production guy — pushing pencils and driving a desk is not my thing — so in a province that’s blessed with such a wonderful variety, we’re hoping this partnership can maybe help us lead the charge across the country.”

Sparkes was previously managing director of the Atlantic division of Boardroom Metrics Inc. He said Tuesday he will retain an advisory role with the national firm.

Originally from Newfoundland, Sparkes has more than 20 years of experience in the food industry, including a lead role in three initiatives that took regional brands to the national level.

As president of the bakery and pasta division at Canada Bread, Sparkes ushered Olivieri Fresh Pasta from a boutique brand in 1995 to a leader in its category in under two years.

His LinkedIn profile states he has an interest in all things ocean, food and wine.

Sparkes has long been a student of the industry, having visited more than 200 wineries worldwide. He said Tuesday that owning a seaside farm is a childhood dream realized.

The similarities between the food and wine industry will serve Sparkes and the Jost brand well, Jost said.

“This is a long-term plan. We’re hopeful we can hook into the energies of some of our local competitors.

“If someone of his calibre is willing and wanting to invest in the Nova Scotia wine industry, I think that shows a lot of confidence in a latent industry.”

With 16 wineries and counting in the province, Sparkes accepts the task of promoting the Jost brand and the Nova Scotia wine industry as a welcome challenge.

He said the Jost brand punches well above its weight in a crowded market.

“This is not a business that needs me in terms of helping it continue on the growth pattern it’s been on,” Sparkes said.

“There are literally hundreds of acres of vineyards that are independently owned that frankly wouldn’t exist without the Jost family and the Jost brand. There’s an untold story with respect to this brand and its heritage here in Nova Scotia.”

Founded in 1983 by Hans Wilhelm Jost, Jost Vineyards is the largest and oldest winery in Nova Scotia. Jost operates two wineries, its own vineyards and has several grape-growing partners throughout the province.

Jost products are available throughout the Maritimes and in Manitoba and Alberta.

As seen on thechronicleherald.ca – source

Buddha perhaps said it more eloquently when he said – “Life is a Problem” and we all know – “you have to taste the sour to appreciate the sweet”.

So the fact is – we all get demotivated from time to time, maybe even to the point where if it persists we’re mildly depressed and sometimes this is with really good reason.

Just acknowledging this fact can, in itself be useful. You’re not a “loser” for feeling below par from time to time – life isn’t always “a box of chocolates” as Forest Gump said.

I believe that each person has to develop- their own “fix” when things don’t go our way.

Here’s my Top 5  list of “fixes”  (in no particular order) that I have for keeping me motivated  when I’m below par – what’s yours?

1.  Rewards to Feed the Soul

Having something that “feeds the soul” after the work is done is essential

In my case – I admit it – I’m a “golf junky”! I even play indoors in the winter. If I play well – there is nothing better! If I play badly – I’ve had a four and a half hour work-out and the pleasure of taking-in some great scenery. I’m lucky my club enjoys some of the best scenery imaginable as it courses its way along the Rouge River.

My wife loves to garden – she has the most amazing green fingers and it shows in our beautiful garden.

If you’re married it helps to have complimentary pastimes. I like to golf – my wife likes to garden – so absolutely no resentment about each of us following our own pleasures.

2.  A good Workout

Nothing beats a good workout!

I still own one of those “Nordic Track” self-powered “workout bikes”.  30 or 45 minutes on that old machine at least once per week with some really loud music [currently Adele] – looking into my garden – works wonders for getting all those little “happy endorphins” movin & shakin!

It’s like “cleansing the soul” – I sometimes even have a “genius attack” – a new idea comes to me – as my mind shifts to new things.

I must admit I don’t particularly like working-out – but do enjoy the results – particularly when the machine tells me I’ve burnt-up +400 calories and this allows me to enjoy some additional indulgence at dinner!

3.  Simple Rituals – 3 cups of tea and a good stiff gin and tonic with a twist of lemon

Familiar rituals can provide a sense of continuity and comfort.

My day starts with 3 cups of tea with my wife and our dog Tanzie.  After 30 minutes sipping tea and chatting to my wife I’m ready to go to work.

My work day ends with a stiff gin and tonic – watching the 6 O’clock BBC news before supper. I wouldn’t miss these 2 “book-ends” for anything – especially the gin and tonic!

4.  “KBO – Keep Buggering-On”

Winston Churchill coined this turn of phrase. It is truly a great piece of advice.

Thinking about what you have to do and doing nothing  – procrastinating is a totally toxic road to follow.

You may not know exactly where your efforts will take you or have the certainty even if they will  work – but if you have  a “to do list” and you work at it with guts and discipline   – you’re in with a chance to compete and at worst – you tried and failed – but gave it your best shot!

5.  Preparation

Being well prepared for anything is a great stress reducer. It might be an important  presentation, a tough sales call, a crucial conversation or a job interview. Betting against  “Murphy’s Law” well in advance of the actual event – puts you in control, increases the probability of success and allows you to relax – or at least get your stress level to a controllable level.

Mohammed Ali – was always the epitome of “cool” when he fought – but it didn’t come easy.

Ali used to say – “First I run on the road – before I dance under the lights”.

Not so long ago, Brand building and protection was very easy to manage, things were simplified at a retail level, customer interactions were limited to brick and mortar stores, catalogues and toll free telephone lines. Brand messaging was easy to control and keep on target.

The value of a good Brand can be targeted – individuals will work quickly to profit from your Brand loyalty, these activities will undermine marketing and projected revenue.

Despite the hazards, the future is bright!  Listed below are a few strategies that can be implemented to ward off exploitation.

See the Big Picture – preventing and responding to a problem can’t begin until you have a clear understanding of how, why and where your Brand is at risk.

Stand by your Brand – Take the time required to monitor for Brand violations – don’t wait for trouble to happen, be proactive.

Defense = Offense – Be proactive in Brand prevention – if your Brand is on the move and evolving, violation will become more difficult.

Own it – A Brand with a single, global view will have a far better chance of avoiding violation. If your Brand is scattered, enforcement and protection will become very difficult.

Control your Channels – Know where you’ve placed your Brand at all times. Be aggressive concerning Brand guidelines, don’t fear enforcement.

Let the word out – Clamp down on false usage of your Brand – and do so publicly. Demonstrating your commitment to your Brand will send a very positive message to your employees, customers and shareholders.

Listen – Some of the most important messages will come from you customers, employees and shareholders – reach out and get the news

The sooner an organization has a functional Brand protection policy in place, a strong message is sent to the marketplace. Stakeholders will see this as valuable tool to ensure Brand and revenue protection.

A risk score is built to predict the likelihood of an account going into delinquency within a specified time frame (often a 2 year time-frame).  It will find the “bad accounts in a larger group of predominately “good” accounts.   There are differing definitions of “bad” but most commonly used is “an account that goes ever 90 + days delinquent”.

A collection score is built to predict the likelihood that an account will cure or will make any type of payment at all.  In contrast to risk scores, collection scores are built to find a small number of “goods” in a larger “bad” population. A very valuable tool to help drill down into a “bad” population and find opportunities for collections.

Why should you use collection scores?  There are a number of reasons.

The main reason is to segment your accounts and prioritize to target debtors you need to contact.   A large number of debtors will self-cure, meaning they will bring an account up to date without any contact from the credit granter.  Why waste valuable resources on these accounts?   With collection scores, you can make informed decisions on where to dedicate time and human resources.

Collection scores can also be used to develop a structured and quantitative approach to outsourcing your delinquent accounts to agencies on a post charge-off basis.  Oftentimes, agency assignments are made on an ad-hoc basis without any evidence to support why agencies should receive certain type of delinquent accounts.

Using collection scores to develop and monitor a risk-based pricing approach to this function leads to higher dollars collected and lower commission rates, in turn leading to an increased return to credit granters.

Lastly  – use collection scores to value a portfolio that you may be looking to acquire.  If allowed during the purchase and/or bidding process, collection scores can be a valuable tool in helping to estimate a purchase price and develop a business case.

 To get the most out of collection scores:

• Do understand the difference between collection scores and other types of risk scores
• Use collection scores to reduce your roll rates and ultimately, bad debt losses
• Use collection scores to value a portfolio
• Create a risk-based approach to outsourcing collections with collection scores
• Do consider doing a validation to determine which collection score performs better on your portfolio (30-day, 90-day, 150-day, 180-day models, etc.)

1.  Showing Genuine Appreciation

The other day after a “get to know you lunch” with a “fellow traveler” who I had arranged to meet for the first time, I received  a “thank you” note in follow-up.

Why was I impressed? Because the card was thoughtfully hand written and came in the post.  All these things made it “stand-out” as opposed to the rushed perfunctory “thank you” sent by e-mail.

The email “thank you” is a lot better than nothing – but the hand written note lifted-it to another level

This brings me to my next related point

2. Flattery

As the best-selling author and researcher  Robert Cialdini  noted in his  book “Influence”  – “we are all phenomenal suckers for flattery – we tend as a rule to believe the praise and to like those who provide it”.

My new friend mentioned earlier – also made good use of this in his hand written note, complimenting me on something, not something particularly impressive – but it seemed genuine.

Was I “seduced” by his compliment?  “Seduction” may be a stretch, but it did make me like him just a little bit more!

3. Praise – catching others doing something right

This third point builds on the previous points – the power of praise.

Kenneth Blanchard in his best seller “The one minute manager” – said as managers we should try to catch those working with us doing something right.

In respect to praise  - Blanchard said it works best when:

• We praise people immediately
• Tell people what they did right – be specific
• Tell people how good you feel about what they did right, and how it helps the organization & other people who work there
• Encourage them to do more of the same!

Conclusion

So there you have it – 3 easy habits anyone can apply. You just need to have the right “mind-set” and  be alert  to apply – appreciation, flattery and praise, habits that can significantly improve your “likability” and influence with others no matter who.

• Build versus buy: is your firm experienced enough to get into a market as the barriers to entry are low?  If that barrier is low enough chances are building it with some outside help may be more advantageous as low barriers suggest an established market with limited innovation potential.  However, if there are high barriers to entry perhaps an acquisition makes sense.
• The ‘flexibility factor’: Many large companies choose to buy firms as their flexibility is hamstrung by quarterly reporting and excessive overhead to sustain current business operations.  If you are a private company with a solid business plan and access to enough customers who provide you with the domain expertise to innovate, you may have the opportunity to go it alone and perhaps get acquired yourself.  If you are an established company with growing revenue in established markets and there is a need to import non-traditional approaches to access new markets then an acquisition makes sense.  Flexibility is not only determined by the weight of your overhead, but decision making culture, the level of conservatism in the markets you are going after and most importantly, flexibility of capital which will fund the potential acquisition.
• The Joint Venture:  This may be good for your firm if you do not have the capital but find a willing party to buy into your business plan and share the risk in accessing new markets.  The obvious pros are not having to carry all the risk, trying out the partner for a potential future acquisition, access to expertise and patents which your partner may already have.  The cons are you may be educating future competition should the relationship terminate and if the firm is a potential acquisition the success of the JV will add revenue to their operations hence increasing the valuation.
• Acquiring IP:  This is a risky one.  The best patents are those that have already been successfully defended.  If you have experts who can assess the value that is only half the battle, you still need to acquire, productize market and sell the result of that IP which occupies much time and capital.

 
These are just a few of the myriad of factors one must consider before considering an acquisition.  The best advice comes from those who have done it (successfully) before and surrounding yourself with some outside help to address all the pros and cons just makes good business sense and in most cases gives you a moment for pause to really think about if it is right for you.

In simple English, our strategy should answer the question “so what makes you different from your competition?”

Once you have your strategy figured-out your, success in executing your strategy is heavily influenced by your ability to be Focused and Disciplined.

Let’s take a closer look at why our strategy often comes up short

Two traps seem to stand-out in my mind. What are they?

1.  We lose sight of the things that our customers really care about.

What do our customers really care about?

Studies show there are probably 5 things that your customers really care about. 
What are they?

• Speed and Timeliness – When I want a product or service can you can deliver when I want it?
• Ease of doing business – When I want to “sign-on” with you  or switch providers do you make it as easy as possible? D o you then continue to make it easy to do business on an on-going basis?
• Expertise – Do you know your stuff and understand my issues and problems?
• Effective solutions – Do you get what was promised and perhaps more & is the price/value equation  balanced?
• Customer Intimacy – Do you really care about me and make me feel special or am I just a number?

In “positioning” your company we can often sound too much like the competition, if we talk about things such  as our “product leadership”, “great service”, “top quality” or “operational excellence”.  These are all over-used and not specific enough, almost clichéd.

2.  We think that more is better – in reality less can be better

 Effective strategy is as much about what you will not do, as it is about what you will do. A narrow focus of services and markets can often be much more effective than trying to be all things to all people.

Two Great Examples of Differentiation

 I have recently been impressed with 2 very successful customers of mine, who are great examples of focus and giving their customers what they care about…

The highly successful Recruiting company – Recognized by Profit Magazine

During the last few years the recruiting industry has gone through significant contraction as the economy has slowed. This particular company in marked contrast, last year enjoyed a + 50 % increase in sales, off an already impressive base. The company has been recognized by Profit Magazine as one the fastest growing entrepreneurial companies in Canada.

How come?  Obviously to enjoy growth like this – you have to have all your fundamentals in good working order. But what struck me about the owner of this company was the narrow focus of customers that she targeted. In setting her company’s strategy she did not try to be a recruiting agency for all industries, but picked a very narrow niche in the distribution industry. This narrow focus has meant that her company is recognized as the “go to company” in that industry segment. This applies not only by those looking for work but also by the clients. Bottom line they have lots of candidates to choose from and a high market penetration in their chosen vertical. Another key differentiator is their commitment to the candidates they place. They refuse to do business with companies known not to treat their people well. That’s a good example of a value driven strategy making a huge difference.

The highly successful Insurance Agent

In this case the highly successful insurance agent with over 500 clients again built his business by being very focused. He could have sold a full range of insurance products but chose instead to only sell liability insurance. He also targeted only one industry to service – the recruitment industry. He chose this industry because he had previously worked as a recruiter in a “former life”. He therefore had enormous credibility selling himself as an “expert”. Previously having worked as a recruiter meant he understood the liabilities specific to the industry. Selling only liability insurance meant that he had clout with the underwriter and could assure his clients his rates were as good as any. His renewals run at an unheard of 99%! How come?   By good client service of course,  but the real differentiator was the fact that he made it incredibly easy for his clients to renew their policies. His process was this simple. He phoned his clients 3 months before the renewal date and asked them 5 simple questions about the business. If nothing significant had changed in response to these questions – he would tell his clients that there would be a small annual increase. He would then do all the tedious renewal “paper work” for his clients – only requiring a simple signature. A great example of “making it easy” to do business.

Why Listen?

There are numerous reasons for listening especially when you are starting out. You might want to determine your target audience persona, who are the influencers on your chosen topic and how are they contributing value. From this initial exercise you can develop the keywords and trends that relate to your goal for being on Twitter and determine how you can feed your target audience fresh content.

If you are using twitter for business purposes listening can help with specific market research, you can keep track of your competitors, find out industry news quickly and even evaluate suppliers.

Twitter Search

There is a surprising amount of information that can be discovered using the native Twitter search tool. Plain text queries can turn up lots of valuable information about what people are talking about right now. But wait there’s more!

Many people when they first start out using Twitter search abandon it after a few searches because frankly, it is frustrating with the ‘quick’ search ending up with too many results. The volume isn’t just the problem, it is the fact that it is hard to find what you are looking for. There is, however, an extremely under-used capability which lets you go even deeper than just plain text queries.

After you have done an initial search query and you get your results there is a drop-down menu (top right of search results) that lets you move to advanced search. Here’s where you can now start searching Twitter like a pro.

You can add or take away words or phrases in a search or include hashtags. You can select a language or accounts you want to include that have either tweeted, were the recipients of tweets or were simply mentioned in a tweet. If you are looking for geo-targeted data, you can type in a location and select a distance within a 1000 mile radius down to 1 mile.

You can also do Twitter advanced searches by using operators within the standard search box. Remember, once you execute a search you can save it for future listening.

#Hashtag

Another great way of using the twitter search function is to use Hashtags. Hashtags are words or phrases prefixed with the symbol #.  Using a hashtag, you can check out chats and discussions on things that are of interest to you (keywords, topics etc.). A great listening tool is Hashtags.org. a stats site that evaluates each hashtag and provides you with usable data based on how popular it is and when it’s used most often.

Lists

Twitter lists are a great way to monitor and listen to different groups of people.  You can create private lists which no-one else can see. Twitter lists are a way of staying current of what’s going on in your market, keeping track of your customers, competitors and key influencers. Twitter lists allow you to ‘listen in’ to key people without even needing to follow them.

Take a day off of tweeting and just listen to the amazing real-time stream of information Twitter provides. Notice people. Who catches your eye? Who and what do you seem to pay attention to?

Using the Power of the Twitter Listening can help make your twitter experience more successful.

In my next blog, I will examine developing a social media strategy.

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We can also have just as much presence as most start-ups and mid-size companies and products.  Start thinking about what face you want to show to the world and how you want to position yourself and your brand.

Discover your brand

Brand discovery is about figuring out what makes you different or your “point of difference”. That description is part of your brand, especially if you feel those attributed pertain to you. To know if you’ve discovered your brand, you need to make this equation equal:

Your self-impression = How people perceive you

What makes you different, important and relative to your audience. Once this uncovered, your marketing plan can be developed and executed.

Create your brand

Now that you have discovered your point of difference, the sum of all the marketing material you should develop for your brand is called a Personal Branding Toolkit. This kit consists of the following elements that you can use to highlight your brand and allow people to easily view what you’re about:

1. Business card: The card should contain, your personal brand statement as well as your contact information and corporate logo if necessary.
2. Resume/cover letter/references document: These are typical documents that you need. Be sure to prioritize each document with information custom to the target audience.
3. Elevator Pitch: This may be the most important statement you create, in 20 seconds you need to be to define yourself and convey why that’s important plus how it equals results – first impressions matter.
4. Blog/website: You need to own yourname.com or a website that aligns with your name in some fashion. Those who blog will have a stronger asset than those who don’t because blogs rank higher in search engines and lend more to your expertise and interest areas over time.
5. LinkedIn profile: A LinkedIn profile is a combination of a resume, cover letter, references document and a moving and living database of your network. Use it to create your own personal advertising, to search for jobs or meet new people.
6. Facebook profile: Over 160 million people have profiles, but almost none of them have branded themselves properly using this medium. Be sure to include a Facebook  picture of just you, use discretion when posting anything to Facebook.
7. Twitter profile: Your Twitter profile should be carved out of your Facebook picture and used in your LinkedIn profile. You need to use a distinct background, fill out your profile and include a link to either your blog or LinkedIn profile.
8. Video resume: A video resume is a short video of you talking about why you are the best for a specific job opportunity. You get about a minute or so to communicate your brand and are able to send the link, once you upload it to YouTube, to hiring managers.
9. Wardrobe: Your personal style is tangible and is extremely important for standing out from the crowd. Select clothing that best represents you because it will be viewable through your pictures/avatars online, as well as when you meet people in reality.

What’s next?

After you spend the time on these parts of your personal branding toolkit, it’s time to showcase it to the world, especially your target audience. Don’t be fooled by the myth that if you build it, they will come. Unless you’re the luckiest person on earth, you’ll have to actually communicate everything you’ve created to others.

In addition to the standard LinkedIn search tool, here are some listening tactics that you should be looking at to help you keep up with the enormous amount of information coming at you on LinkedIn.

One of the hidden gems of LinkedIn is the Signal feature. It is located under the News tab of the LinkedIn tool bar. The key to this feature is not the quality of information but rather the quantity of filters that you can apply to narrow you search results and cut through the noise. This feature allows you to monitor LinkedIn’s Updates for any keywords or search terms you desire and to navigate the status stream more specifically than what you can do on your home page. You can pinpoint conversations/shares/status updates based upon key words, location, etc.

LinkedIn Answers is a great place to discover conversations around questions and answers. You can find a wealth of information on what people need help with and what they are talking about. Go to the LinkedIn toolbar and click “More” to find “Answers.” On the Answers page, you’ll find navigation on the right hand side where you can view, ask and/or answer questions by category.  When you are a category, you can refine your search further to pinpoint the more relevant expertise.

All the way at the bottom of that right navigation field is the little orange RSS symbol. Subscribing to a feed allows you to get all questions in that category and/or subcategory fed directly to you. You can subscribe to as many categories as you want.

LinkedIn Groups come in many shapes and sizes and they are great places to tap into all sorts of information. There are currently over 1.2 million groups, all run by LinkedIn members delivering a huge variety of content and focus areas. You can access Groups through the main search tool on the LinkedIn tool bar. However, the search function for the groups section on LinkedIn has just been improved. Access to the new Group Search function can be found via this link. With this new feature, there is more information displayed about the Group in the results page. Some additional filters, also allow you to pin point your search. In all cases, you can also see the main players and participants in each of these areas and hence have the opportunity to follow them in turn which again provides a way to listen to what is going on.

Another great source for listening content is LinkedIn Today. This feature gives you key stories in the areas that you are interested in, based on the information that you have in your profile. It essentially gives you your own personal online newspaper. It also has its own tool bar where you can view stories on numerous topics.  It’s how those stories are ranked which gives you the real listening ability (the stories are ranked according to the number of times people have shared them). You can also view who is actually sharing the headlines.

Using the above tools you can not only connect with “people in the know” via LinkedIn, but in most cases you can connect with them on other social media sites that they frequent based on the information that is shown on their profiles.

As you can see LinkedIn is truly a powerful listening engine. Developing a routine of listening with LinkedIn can provide great thought starters for your engagement strategies on not only LinkedIn but other social media sites.

In my next blog, I will examine some specific listening tactics for Twitter.

Follow @BoKnowsMarkting

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