BACKGROUND

Most business leaders can pinpoint problems causing inefficiencies that lead to underperforming or declining sales. Too often, however, they try to solve those problems on a bug-fix basis. But quick fixes create a false sense of accomplishment. The need to be busy and productive prevents us from taking a better look at the big picture and underlying challenges. The fundamental issues dragging performance down are not identified, and the correct core adjustments in strategy and perspective are not made.

Another weak point hides behind KPIs. You don't lead KPIs, which are outcomes – you lead activities related to phenomena that you need to understand to influence them and change the outcomes with the actions. Therefore, understanding key phenomena is imperative. 

Shifting from quickly fixing bugs to understanding critical business phenomena and applying this understanding to adjusting your company's strategy is like finding a new perspective to manage your company more successfully.

Finding this new perspective is a superpower that changes how you see customers, markets, and your future. For most managers, that means replacing old tools, practices, and approaches to discover new insights. Working this way improves your capability to marry effective strategy with actions that immediately improve your operational efficiency.

This change does not happen by looking at standard departmental financial reports. You also need a fresh perspective on data and how to use data purposefully. Data needs to be aggregated from various sources and enriched with external data to discover new insights and instruments for genuine change.

Logical Creativity: Making the Most of What You Already Have

Growing and becoming more profitable does not have to be a fool's errand, constantly looking for something new and shiny. The fastest route to profitable growth is to make the most of what you already have.

There are five proven paths to organic growth, all of which we will cover later in the book:

1. Upselling: selling more products and services customers are already using
2. Cross-selling: Selling new services or product innovations to entice existing customers
3. Customer acquisition: appealing to new customers
4. Improving retention: serving your customers better to avoid losing them
5. Pricing power: finding ways to higher prices and higher profit margin

All these growth paths interlink to create an optimum.

Evidence shows that when you collaborate with your customers with a broad portfolio, their annual billing grows disproportionally, which means that 1+1 > 2. Discovering why your customers choose wider adoption of offerings and what value they gain from doing so also gives insights about improving retention, differentiating your value from the competition, and opening avenues for pricing power. Innovations in value proposition and the creation of solutions from existing offerings can be a source of competitive advantage, another fruit of Logical Creativity.

180ops: From Data to Answers

My colleagues and I have made it our mission to create a tool that aggregates relevant data inside and outside the company, analyzes it with the appropriate algorithms, and delivers the answers to solve the growth equation and create a shared view of the markets, risks, and possibilities. We call this tool, a commercial management OS, 180ops – an AI-powered revenue accelerator that gives large and mid-cap B2B companies answers to 4 key questions: what to sell, to whom, when and why.

180ops is about unity, collaboration, and synergies instead of different KPIs and turf wars. It is not a new ERP or CRM – its role is to aggregate data from different internal and external sources and deliver meaningful answers.

The primary question it answers is: "Where is the growth?" which is about connecting portfolios with markets. To make the answers more actionable, we also need answers to more advanced questions: "Why these companies? What makes them opportunities or risks right now?" which takes us to the timing-related question "When" and the resource allocation-related question "How."

These answers create a bridge between strategic decision-making and day-to-day operational management. Our big, bold value promise is to help our customers succeed by providing them with a new perspective, a single source of truth, a platform that defines priorities, and a narrative that brings everyone together.

This new commercial management approach is fundamentally different due to its outside-in and bottom-up logic. Instead of anxiety and confusion, it gives you clarity, energy, and empowerment. It delivers a sense of purpose and meaning for the company and its employees. It gives you a shared language and perception and accelerates collaboration. Get ready for a new perspective and enhanced growth.

THE BOOK

Path to Growth and Profitability concentrateS on 180 perception shift to bottom-up and outside-in intelligence and how it influences decision making and bring people together behind shared view for strategy and operations. Take the "Red Pill" and discover your Path to Growth.

I hope you enjoy the book!

Toni Keskinen, author, co-founder of 180ops

The book is available in Amazon

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