Why Not?

It has been some time since Lynnda and I left Nova Scotia in early March to found our new part time location here in Florida. Since then, I understand that there have been eight separate snowfalls and lots of weather reinforcement of our decision to come to the sun. We will live in Nova Scotia for much of the year, and here in South Florida for a few months. We are hopeful that while we inhabit the Oyster Pond, the weather will have followed us north!

I have decided to start this new blog spot that will focus on the business side of Blueknowser, especially the marketing and sales arenas... and how M & S impacts (and is impacted by) the various functions of business. Examples of those functions are the customer, corporate finance, human resources, manufacturing, engineering, service, regulatory affairs, operations, and many others.

The http://www.bruce-ross.blogspot.com reflects my decision to spend most of my consulting time in marketing and sales situations. I have decided to focus on the medical device and consumables arenas. This will allow me to lean on my 30+ years in the healthcare industry, working for North American businesses with responsibilities spanning the globe. I have participated in marketing and sales as a salesperson, marketing manager, VP Marketing and Sales, GM, COO and President... in private and public, large and small companies. In other words, I have seen it from inside, outside, over and under...

I believe that business success begins with strong marketing functions and seamless interaction with the sales channels and with the customer... in one direction... and with the management and executive functions of the company in the other direction. It seems to me that any disconnect in communications among these functions will begin (and sustain) the downward spiral of success potentials. I strongly believe that it is the management function of marketing and sales, in its role as communicator/facilitator, that creates the environment for success.

I also believe that marketing and sales people perform better just after management gets better. A manifestation of this clue to better performance is the millions of wasted dollars that go into the training of sales forces, sales force automation and so on. If management does not know how to be excellent in its pivotal functions, it probably can/will not reinforce sales training. It will not persist in driving compliance and ultimately the training will go to waste.

I will write this blog knowing full well, that while I had several job postings over my career that went well, most of them could have been significantly better had I better implementated the functions of management training. Further, it was often my inability to communicate what were perhaps important ideals or strategies that 'limited my successes'.

Reflection is a powerful tool! Having the time to reflect, during my retirement, has allowed me to put many things into perspective that I could not fathom when I was working those 30+ years. While I may still not have it right, I hope that these future blog thoughts will open new doors of refection and consideration for the reader(s).