Author: media

Author: Cam Wayland – Channel Dynamics

In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country. He had observed that 80 percent of the property in Italy was owned by 20 percent of the people. It was Quality Management Pioneer Dr Joseph Juran however who suggested the principle within his field and then made the assumption that it could be applied to broader concepts. His theory was that 80 percent of the results of any situation are due to 20 percent of the contributors.

This idea is often applied today to data such as sales figures i.e. 80 percent of the sales results come from 20 percent of the clients. Given Juran’s broader application and development of the 80/20 rule it is argued that Pareto’s Principle has actually been inaccurately attributed to Pareto rather than Juran. Despite the possible misnaming of this rule, Pareto’s Principle can be a very effective tool to help you manage yourself and the channel effectively.

What It Means

The 80/20 Rule means that in anything a few (20 percent) are vital and many (80 percent) are trivial. In Pareto’s case, it meant 20 percent of the people owned 80 percent of the wealth. In Juran’s initial work, he identified 20 percent of the defects causing 80 percent of the problems.

Project Managers know that 20 percent of the work (the first 10 percent and the last 10 percent) consumes 80 percent of your time and resources. You can apply the 80/20 Rule to almost anything, from the science of management to the physical world

Within the context of a channel program, you can look at the channel partners who are generating the majority of the sales results and you will find that the same principle applies. That is, twenty percent of your partners will be generating 80 percent of your sales results. The challenge is how you manage your portfolio of partners to ensure you “don’t have all of your eggs in one basket”. You need to ensure you decrease your risk, while still having the time to manage your internal and program resources wisely across the most appropriate partners.

Here is what people forget about with regards to the Pareto Principle. You know 80 percent of your channel sales will come from 20 percent of your channel partners. However, 20 percent of your channel partners will also cause 80 percent of your problems. The principle works both ways.

How It Can Help You

The value of the Pareto Principle for a channel manager is that it reminds you to focus your resources on the 20 percent of the channel partners that really matter. That is those 20 percent that can or should produce 80 percent of your results. Identify and focus on these partners. If something in your schedule or program has to slip, if something isn’t going to get done, make sure it’s not going to affect the focused 20 percent.

With that said, focusing entirely on your top 20% of partners is not practical in the real world. The business environment and circumstances change over time and you should not overlook those partners that have the potential to be in your top 20%. By also working with these partners the result will be that you will have a larger number of partners making up your top 20%, as your partner base as a whole grows and becomes more diverse. Doing this will therefore eliminate some of the risk of just strictly sticking to the Pareto Principle concept.

Helping a partner with potential become a significant contributor is a better use of your time and resources than helping an already great one become slightly more productive and terrific. Apply the Pareto Principle to how you manage the channel, but use it wisely. Don’t just “work smart”, work smart on the right things with the right partners and you will get the results you are looking for.

Best Practice Channel Management Ideas Using the Pareto Principle

1. Define what the characteristics (beyond revenue) of the top 20% should be i.e. What makes a key account, is it the most profitable, key location, the largest, most potential, etc.
2. Review your partner’s results and rank them monthly. Know who the top 20% are and who the remaining 80% are. Make sure you know why they are the top (or focus) 20% and re-prioritise quarterly at a minimum.
3. Ensure you are measuring all of the required information to get the full picture, not just the good news or sales results.
4. Ensure you are not only focusing on the existing top 20%. Implement KPI’s as part of any incentive scheme to help groom those partners with potential to move into the top 20%.
5. Align your channel support programs in the same manner. 80% of your resources should focus on 20% of the channel in order to provide more “bang for your buck”.
6. Implement a quarterly review mechanism to professionally remove those partners that are not supporting you and have no further potential to move into the top 20%. If this is not done you will not have the required resources to grow your channel profitably.

The 80/20 rule is both useful and diverse, and particularly applicable to channel partner management. Using it wisely as outlined above will enable you to focus and assign your channel resources appropriately in order to yield the best sales results for your company. The principle can also be used to reduce your business risk through continually growing and developing partners that could be in your top 20%. Business environments are dynamic and reviews of partner’s direction and performance should always be ongoing.

The last two years have been the hottest in our history, according to the Australian Climate Council.

The Climate Council report finds the last 24 months are shaping up to be the hottest in Australia’s recorded history, further evidence that climate change is already influencing our weather.

“We have just had an abnormally warm autumn, off the back of another very hot ‘angry summer’,” says Climate Councillor Professor Will Steffen.

“The past two-year period has delivered the hottest average temperature we have ever recorded in Australia.”

“Climate change is here, it’s happening, and Australians are already feeling its impact,” says Steffen.

The findings are contained in the Climate Council’s latest seasonal analysis report, Abnormal Autumn, released by Professor Steffen on Monday 2^nd June.

The report outlines weather records, including the recent “warm wave” in May, and says it is likely the country will experience an El Niño event in the second half of the year, with the potential to exacerbate the climate-change driven warming trend.

“El Niño events usually make life tougher in rural Australia, often triggering drought, water restrictions, extreme heat and increased bushfire risk. When it comes on top of two years of climate change-related record warmth, you have to be concerned,” says Steffen.

The Climate Council’s report highlights the records that were broken in May 2014.

Sydney had 19 consecutive days of 22 °C or above from 10 to 28 May. That is 10 days longer than the previous record.

Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide also broke records for number of consecutive days of 20 °C or above.  Sydney had 28 days, Melbourne 13 days and Adelaide 16 days.

The ultimate stair climb challenge, Stadium Stomp GABBA presented by health.com.au, will be held for the first time at the GABBA on Sunday 22 June, 2014.

Stadium Stomp GABBA presents a unique fitness challenge. It is not a competition or a race, but a personal test of stamina and concentration.

Taking stair climbing and endurance events to a whole new level, Stadium Stomp GABBA provides entrants with the one-off opportunity to take on the 5,000 plus steps on seating Levels 2 and 4 of the GABBA and raise money for a nominated charity at the same time.

We encourage all our participants to fundraise for a charity of their choice or our preferred charity is the Mater Foundation. Fundraising is not mandatory but a great way to make every step count.

Participants climb up, down and around the stairs within the GABBA’s stadium bays, traversing literally thousands of stairs along the way before running a full lap of the ground to finish.

Participants will see the GABBA in a whole new light and be amongst the first to stair climb this Brisbane icon. Queensland has never seen anything like this!

How it works

Stadium Stomp GABBA is open to all levels of fitness. There will be rest stops along the way, drink stations scattered throughout the course and music to keep participants pumped and going.

The course will comprise two laps of Level 4 and one lap of Level 2 before running a full lap of the oval to finish.

It’s approximately 5,000 steps and will take anywhere from 40 minutes to 90 minutes to complete depending on fitness levels.

Staggered start times from 7am to 12 noon will ensure the stairs won’t become too congested.

Who can enter?

Anyone 14 years and older can enter Stadium Stomp GABBA as individuals or in teams. You can form your own team or join a team that has already entered and is looking for more members.

There are training tips and four and six-week exercise programs at www.stadiumstomp.com.au to make sure entrants are prepared for the stair climb challenge that awaits.

There will also be a designated spectators’ viewing area so friends and family can watch the action at no charge.

Given the wide-spread concerns about the development of Montague Road, the Draft City Plan and the lack of community engagement, Westender gave Aldi the opportunity to discuss in detail its engagement with community and plans for its site, now under construction. They have provided the following.

ALDI Australia is eager to bring the ALDI difference to West End and provide local residents with our Smarter Shopping offering: a convenient in-store experience with a clearly defined product range of the highest quality products at permanently low prices. When looking to open a new store in an area, ALDI works closely with local councils, community and residential groups and other businesses to ensure the presence of the store has a positive impact on the community.

A car park will also be built on site which will provide 74 spaces.

The new ALDI store will offer rewarding career opportunities to 20 residents, both in full and part-time positions, from the local community.

Westender publishes the following official council response to the tree disappearance at 108 Boundary St, West End

Environment, Parks and Sustainability Chairman Matthew Bourke said based on a request from one of the property owners, an arborist had assessed the tree earlier this year and recommended that it be removed.

“Urban trees provide benefits that are important to our city’s liveability and our subtropical landscape character, so their removal is not taken lightly,” Cr Bourke.

“However we must also respect the rights of adjacent property owners and that for every person concerned about the removal of a tree, there’s someone else worried it may fall on their property and cause serious damage.

“Council seeks to retain significant trees wherever possible, but in this case removal was the responsible course of action given its restricted location and the history of its neighbouring trees.

“The first of the neighbouring trees fell against the nearby building during a storm in November 2012, and the second tree was uprooted and landed on the road during the Australia Day storm event in 2013.”

After the WETA meeting held on 14th May, 2014 at which a representative from the Brisbane City Council was present, a communication was sent out advising that a consensus was reached regarding the Graffiti-Street Art in the West End area and it was being investigated to see where this could be introduced to West End.

We would like to advise that no decision was made on the night.  It was agreed that further discussions will be held with the Brisbane City Council to discuss this matter further before any decisions are made.

Helen Thompson, Secretary, West End Trader’s Association

Read Westender’s reporting of the discussion that was not a decision.