February 16, 2022
YOU’VE GOT MAIL
Ready, set, start!
Last week, Peloton announced that Barry McCarthy, a former Netflix and Spotify executive, would step up as CEO. Following the announcement, Barry sent out an email to the company’s staff outlining his plans to turn around Peloton’s fortunes and “engineer the great comeback story of the post-COVID era.”
Comeback story?
Let’s just say that Peloton has been riding a roller coaster of success and setbacks over the past few years. When the pandemic first started, Peloton became the face of at-home pandemic fitness. And by December 2020, its stock price had multiplied to 8 times the value it held in March.
But with pandemic delivery delays, gym reopenings, and the recall of one of its treadmills due to safety hazards, Peloton saw its stock tank in November 2021. Their quarterly sales had fallen far below expectations, and they had to cut their annual sales projections.
All these problems resulted in Peloton letting go of 2,800 employees. In other words, the company is having a bit of a rough time.
What happens now?
What indeed. There were rumors that certain companies were interested in taking over Peloton, but with the emergence of Barry’s staff memo, they seem incredibly unlikely.
In fact, Barry used the email to highlight his desire to “make Peloton a success.” He addressed the frustrations following the company’s layoffs, the fears of finding a profitable niche in today’s overrun fitness market, and the core values he’s looking to bring to Peloton.
So, success or failure?
It’s still too early to say. Barry has a lot of experience growing massive subscription-based companies, but Peloton has a steep uphill battle to climb.
But what other business leaders can take away from Barry’s message is how to address company turmoil. The new CEO was real about the difficulties the company faces. But he also provided reasons for why he’s one of the best suited to lead the company out of the fire.
The balance of reality and optimism will appease employees for now, but whether Barry will pull off the comeback is another story.
BUILD-A-BRAND
What’s a rebrand?
A rebrand happens when you change anything about your company’s branding — whether it’s your logo, colors, or even your business name. It refreshes your look, helps you reassess your goals, and realigns your company’s purpose.
How to rebrand:
Executing a rebrand can be daunting. But, if you have the proper process in place, changing your brand can be a worthwhile and rewarding project. And we’ve broken it down into 8 easy steps.
Step 1: Answer the “why” before you begin.
Without a focus, goal, or challenge to overcome, there’s no way to know what your rebrand should look like. Some reasons include launching a new product, wanting to differentiate your business from competitors, or simply needing a refresh.
Whatever your reason for rebranding, keep it top of mind for the rest of the process.
Step 2: Research yourself objectively.
Next, figure out the specific details of what your new brand should look like and what the rebrand should stand for. To do that, you’ll need to step back and look at your company as an outsider.
Your answers will help you pinpoint exactly what needs to change about your current brand and what your rebrand should accomplish.
Step 3: Set your goals.
Meaning, decide on the level of change you want to make: a partial rebrand (maybe just changing your logo, font, and colors) or a total rebrand (AKA a complete overhaul). Of course, each option comes with its own set of benefits and challenges.
After you decide which course of action is best for your business, you can grab your team and continue building and launching your new brand.
GREEN THUMB
What’s the word?
When it comes to scaling your business quickly, you need a great team behind you. One that can work independently and deliver high-performance results.
At GrowthForce, an outsourced accounting firm, CEO and founder Stephen King credits the company’s ability to hire and maintain a high functioning staff for their fast-paced growth. And Stephen jumped on the Fastest Growing Companies podcast to share his tips:
Hire for high performance and longevity.
According to Stephen, “when [employees] stay a long time, clients stay a long time.”
Your employee experience bleeds into the customer experience, because it’s your front-line employees who dictate how your customers are treated. Meaning, if you have a happy, engaged, and hard-working team, you’ll also have equally satisfied clients.
Don’t hire solely based on skills.
Think about your best employees and the values they bring to your business. Then, hire people who can bring the same work ethic to your team.
It’s much more important to hire people who align with your company culture. Because you can teach your employees the skills they need to succeed, but you can’t teach them values like accountability.
Recruit like a marketer.
Recruiting is not just an HR function — it’s a marketing function. Your recruits are the most important prospects you’ll ever sell to. You have to sell your opportunity to prospective employees like you’d sell a product to a potential buyer.
Once you have someone interested in joining your company, treat them like the #1 prospect. And give them a preview of your (best) employee experience.
HERE’S MY PITCH
Quick question:
If you could pitch your company or your big idea to anyone, who would it be? Would it be an accomplished venture capitalist? Or a business partner that could totally change the game for you?
Why are you asking me this?
Well, because winning that person over could mean big things for your business! And who knows, you may have a shot at delivering your pitch to them in the future, and you’ll want to make sure you absolutely nail it. That’s why we’re sharing some effective ways to get your big ideas noticed by the right people.
Well, thank you! So, what’s the first tip?
The first tip actually doesn’t have anything to do with your pitch or idea at all. Instead, it’s all about finding your “champion” (and we don’t mean the Rams).
Your “champion” refers to someone who is close to the person you want to get your idea in front of. Think of it as a cheat code for when you don’t have direct access to the person you’re looking to target. This could be the person’s Chief of Staff, Executive Assistant, or Business Partner.
I found my champion. Now what?
Once you identify that champion, instead of directly asking them to deliver the idea, you’ll have to build some trust with them! That means finding a way to help them out with their needs and adding value to their work. That way, when you ask them to relay your idea over to your target, they’ll trust you enough to do the favor.
What about the pitch?
Simple: make it as compelling as possible to the person you want to pitch it to. That means shaping your pitch as a solution to a pain point that your target audience is currently facing. For example, if you’re pitching to a potential business partner and their goal is to expand into a service you currently provide, find a way to show them that partnering with you is the easiest way to do that. That makes them way more likely to listen and agree to the proposal.
TL; DR
