The Internet of Things (IoT) “represents the convergence of the physical and digital worlds. Physical objects are equipped with technology that enables the object to send and receive information via fixed-wire or wireless communications links to the Internet, and to then transmit information in one form or another.”
In 2003 there were an estimated 500 million IoT-connected devices. By 2010 there were 12.5 billion connected devices. Morgan Stanley estimates that there will be 75 billion IoT devices by 2020. Cisco makes a more conservative estimate 50 billion. Whether it is Morgan Stanley or Cisco who proves correct, what is clear is that the number of internet connected devices is growing exponentially.
Consumer convenience is often the focus of the IoT. However, the capabilities of the IoT reach far beyond consumer convenience. The IoT is game-changing for the logistics and supply chain industries. The IoT delivers the visibility and data necessary for supply chain optimization.
One Network Enterprises, a supply chain technology provider, offers this supply chain example:
“[The IoT] refers to data communication among a large range of assets or devices—from your fridge to your oven or, more pertinently, from your inventory to its container, from the container to the carrier, from the pallet to the warehouse. The more your assets can ‘speak’ to one another and share data, the more they can work together to help you improve your processes.”
The IoT has already moved into industrial environments including warehouses and manufacturing plants.
Examples of where the IoT is already having an impact on supply chains include:
Transparency and visibility
Proactive replenishment
Predictive maintenance
Reduction in asset loss
Manufacturing flow management
Product development and commercialization.
Risk management.
Operational efficiency
Improved fleet management
The transparency and end-to-end visibility afforded by the IoT creates new opportunities that supply chain professionals can leverage in order to optimize supply chains and generate value. It is important to look at the potential of the IoT now and not later. The amount of data alone that is generated by the IoT creates a paradigm shift. Companies that embrace the Internet of Things and identify where and how it can play a role for their business will move forward and leave those who do not behind.
The Internet of Things has the potential to change everything.
To learn more about how the Internet of Things has and will continue to impact the supply chain see the full article How the Internet of Things will change your world on Supply Chain Quarterly. The article includes a focus on Internet of things and the warehouse.
Between 1820 and 1930, nearly 4.5 million Irish immigrants made America their home. They brought with them their love for their home country and thus began a centuries-long annual celebration of all things Irish in America.
Today more than 122 million Americans celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day, making the holiday lucky for logistics and supply chain companies. From the delivery of 13 million pints of Guinness beer to pubs across the country to the packaging and transporting of holiday-themed parade and party supplies, it’s clear that green can lead to gold for these companies.
Social lurking doesn’t drive value; engagement drives value.
To realize the benefits and seize the opportunities afforded by social media, companies need to use the information and intelligence gathered through social listening. Another essential component for success: engagement. Engagement is a differentiator. In the absence of engagement you are a lurker. Social lurking doesn’t drive value. You don’t want to be a lurker.
To realize the benefits of social media and social listening you need to actively engage with customers and others via social media.
What is engagement?
Engagement is the act of interfacing with customers and others via your company’s established social media accounts. How can your company engage? Here are some ideas for engagement:
Ask questions
Answer questions
Provide clarification
Weigh in on a discussion/topic
Thank followers for their ideas, suggestions, and feedback
Highlight when/how you have used customer feedback to make changes to a product or service
Simply let people know you are listening to their comments and feedback.
Social listening is the process of monitoring social media to identify and assess what is being said about a company, individual, brand, product, or service. Through social listening you can gain market intelligence and intelligence about how your brand is perceived, and you can drive innovation. Moreover, as Daniel Newman points out, social listening has become an integral part of the entire customer lifestyle.
Reaping the benefits of social listening
To reap the benefits of social listening it is essential that you use the information and intelligence gathered. Tracx offers up a great example of how social listening can guide a merchandisers’ supply chain management. Specifically, how a company can transform social media management by guiding inventory allocation and velocity.
The opportunities the supply chain and logistics industries can realize through social listening are great. Not participating in social listening results in missed opportunities including increased revenue.
At the heart of House of Cards is Frank Underwood (F.U.), a man you hate to love. Notwithstanding Frank’s blatant disregard for morals and ethics, Frank and his house of cards offers up business lessons.
1. Relationships matter
Frank focuses much of his time on forging and nurturing relationships. He understands that relationships matter.
Relationships between individuals and relationships between organizations are what drive success. Develop and nurture relationships.
2. A strong team is essential
Frank’s team is critical to his success. This is not happenstance. Frank has assembled a team comprised of individuals with the right skillset to achieve his goals. He understands that success cannot be achieved without these individuals.
Assembling the right team is critical whether it be at the project or organizational level. A strong team is essential for success.
3. Be proactive
Frank once said: “If you don’t like how the table is set, turn over the table.” Frank does not wait for things to happen, he makes things happen.
If you don’t like how it is going (or not going), do something about it.
4. Stay true to your word
In business as in life it is important to stay true to your word. In Frank’s words: “The nature of promises, Linda, is that they remain immune to changing circumstances.”
5. Knowledge is powerful
“I don’t want to assume, I want to know”
Knowledge is critical to Frank’s success. Frank doesn’t make assumptions, rather he takes the time to learn the facts and to learn how the information he has gathered can best be used.
Do the same. Take the time to learn about what matters to those around you, to your customers, and your industry. Use this knowledge constructively.
6. Emotions matter
Not all decisions are made based on logic. Although often ignored, emotion plays a significant role in business. Understanding and speaking to the emotions of a customer or potential business partner, for example, can be the key to success. Or as Frank puts it: “I should have thought of this before. Appeal to the heart, not the brain.”
7. Change often
Remy Danton, Frank’s former Chief of Staff, gives Frank a watch inscribed with a quote from Winston Churchill: “To improve is to change. To perfect is to change often.”
Change is critical. Without change it is not possible to meet the dynamic needs of customers and of your business. Without change growth opportunities will diminish.
8. Don’t let your weaknesses be your downfall
Don’t let your weaknesses be your downfall. Work at strengthening your weaknesses so that you are not an easy target. As Frank points out: “Even Achilles was only as strong as his heel.”
9. Don’t lose sight of the details
The details often get lost in the big picture. However, it is often the details that are critical to success. As Frank puts it: “Pay attention to the fine print. It’s far more important than the selling price.”
Different marketing efforts produce different customer conversion rates. Here’s what you need to know so you can maximize your marketing efforts.
Deciding where to focus your company’s marketing dollars to attract leads and convert them into customers can be a tricky endeavor. The key to a successful marketing strategy requires evaluation beyond what’s anecdotally “working” to a more evidence-based approach. Here we pull the curtain back to reveal how certain marketing activities stack up against one another when it comes to customer conversion rates.
Tradeshows
While tradeshows continue to be a staple of most marketing departments in the logistics and supply chain industries, the return on investment can be disappointing. Implisit reports the average opportunity to customer conversion rate for all marketing channels to be 48%, but less than 30% of opportunities generated by tradeshow activity are converted into customers. Tradeshows don’t have to be a total bust, though. Turn tradeshow activities into robust lead nurturing campaigns and use social media to keep the conversation going with customers and prospects. Use your company blog to dig deeper into the issues your prospects had and turn their questions into answers addressed in-depth in blog posts. By driving tradeshow activity back to your company blog and social media accounts, you create more intimate, meaningful relationships with prospects that are far more likely to result in customer conversions.
Lead Lists
Conversion rates for lead lists are among the poorest for all marketing activities. In addition to being one of the highest cost per lead marketing approaches, lead lists can damage the credibility of marketers with target prospects and email service providers alike. Akin to a credit score, marketers who use email to reach prospects should protect the credibility and reputation of their email sender score. If you load up emails and blast them out to anyone and everyone like you would a t-shirt gun at a basketball game, your score will suffer and future emails will be less likely to reach their intended recipient. Similarly, sending generic, uninspired emails to unsegmented lists can undermine your efforts to reach high-value prospects. Work smarter with your lead lists by creating highly segmented mini-lists. Send relevant and specific material to each segmented list. Building hyper-focused lead nurturing campaigns and creating real value for 250 leads is much more likely to generate real opportunities than sending 500 leads a groan-inducing, delete-immediately email.
Webinars
On the surface, webinars seem to pack a big punch for marketers. Having a captive audience in front of which to visually promote your services or products is what marketers live for, right? Not exactly. When it comes down to closing deals and winning customers, webinars don’t live up to expectations. In fact, less than one third of webinar-generated opportunities will convert to customers. One reason for such a meager conversion rate is that most marketers tend to hold webinars as a one-off product or service promotion. Trying to produce a speedy sale by presenting and closing with a webinar turns leads cold or worse, closes deals with customers who aren’t a good match for your products or services. Building a solid, lead nurturing webinar strategy can improve your conversion rates for this marketing channel. Creating a webinar funnel and aligning webinar topics to lead positioning within the funnel builds rapport and ensures your company has the attention of the right audience.
Websites
Leads generated via a company’s website not only have a higher than average lead-to-deal conversion rate (1.5%), but also a faster average time to closing. Other marketing channels – email marketing, social media, print – often link back to a company’s website where the actual conversion will take place. Because of this, special attention should be given to the wording of calls to action, the formatting, and the ease of use of your website. Further, a robust, consistent publication and distribution strategy for website content and resources will ensure the return of visitors and increase opportunities for lead and customer conversions.
Social Media
HubSpot reports that social media has a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing, making it a worthwhile marketing activity for many companies. Social media allows for a more personal and nimble engagement with leads and prospects. Optimize your lead and customer conversion rates via social media by aligning content with platform etiquette, encouraging the promotion of your content by making it easy for followers to share your resources, and not limiting your engagement to leads and prospects.
Surprisingly, marketing activities that generate the most leads often don’t produce the best conversion rates. Do you see that reflected in your own marketing efforts? Which marketing channels have proven the most successful for your company?
![A different kind of green for the logistics and supply chain industries: St. Patrick’s Day [Infographic]](https://fronetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/St.-Patricks-Day-supply-chain.jpg)
