Dorsey & Company Strategic Consultants to Management

09/09/2026

As 2027 planning begins, the instinct is often to add something new: new campaigns, new tools, new channels, new activity.

New effort may be right. But if the current system is already leaking value, more activity may only create more motion.

The pattern is familiar. According to a June Gartner Marketing Survey, awareness and conversion account for 62.6% of total media spend, while loyalty and retention are now less than 15%. The CMO Survey reports acquisition budgets are 26% larger than retention budgets, even though retention is outperforming acquisition.

The point is not to stop pursuing new demand.

It is to ask what current customers, prospects, employees, systems, handoffs, and data already reveal before adding more.

That is the idea behind our recent article, Build Learning Into the Path.

Dormant value sits in many places Most organizations have a delivery system. Fewer have a learning system built into it. That’s why improvement often arrives late, fragmented, or aimed at the wrong problem. The first article in this three-part series made the point that results tell leaders what h...

08/11/2026

https://www.dorsey-co.com/build-learning-into-the-path/

Dormant value sits in many places Most organizations have a delivery system. Fewer have a learning system built into it. That’s why improvement often arrives late, fragmented, or aimed at the wrong problem. The first article in this three-part series made the point that results tell leaders what h...

08/10/2026

Trust remains one of hospitality's biggest competitive advantages. The Hotel Management study shows that more than the lowest price, travelers value confidence: clear communication, transparent pricing, and booking experiences that meet expectations. Every touchpoint in hospitality can build — or erode — trust. Hospitality marketing leaders: how do you balance guest expectations for a positive experience with the rise of AI-driven and digital self-serve booking tools?

According to travel technology company Travelport’s Traveler Confidence Survey, U.S. consumers are looking for greater clarity, transparency and certainty as they research and book travel. | According to Travelport’s Traveler Confidence Survey, there is a gap between what travelers expect from A...

07/10/2026

https://www.dorsey-co.com/finding-causes-and-solutions-results-cannot-show/

Results come late. By the time sales miss expectations, donations slow, applications stall, visits drop, margins tighten, or referrals weaken, the causes have already moved through the organization’s market, message, people, process, expectations, hand-offs and delivery. The question isn’t what ...

06/08/2026

https://www.dorsey-co.com/the-result-is-not-the-diagnosis/

The case for standardizing a continuous improvement process in your organization – no matter the size In recent articles this spring, we argued that results often change after behavior, conditions, and operating performance have already shifted. The next, more important question is what leadership...

05/28/2026

https://www.dorsey-co.com/when-deposit-growth-masks-a-change-in-what-is-being-built/

Part IV of the 5-part DorseyReports series: Before the Numbers Change, Behavior Changes Each part stands alone and contributes to a broader examination of how changing market conditions influence results across sectors. Additional articles in this series are available on our website. Deposit growth....

05/18/2026

Donor continuity, participation and support structure often shifts before leadership fully recognizes what is changing underneath the results. Read on to learn how organizations can navigate those changes.

How shifts already documented in the sector are reshaping what nonprofits can sustain Part V of the 5-part DorseyReports series: Before the Numbers Change, Behavior Changes Each part stands alone and contributes to a broader examination of how changing market conditions influence results across sect...

04/22/2026

Recycling feels good.

When we sort, rinse and put our containers in the right bin, we may wipe our hands with the sense that we’re contributing to something bigger than ourselves. At the individual level, it works.
But markets don’t run on intent. They run on demand.

Since today is Earth Day, we thought we’d insert some hard reminders of the consumer recycling industry. If no one wants your output, your “product” is just inventory. Or worse, a cost center.

That’s the part most “feel-good” efforts miss.

Recycling didn’t break because people stopped caring. It broke because the system was built around a single, concentrated buyer (like China, a former market for recycled plastics). When that demand disappeared, the economics followed.

Three competitive truths show up quickly:

1) Build demand as intentionally as you build supply
It’s not enough to produce something “good.” You need a clear, durable reason someone needs it.
FOR EXAMPLE: A grocer launches a private label “sustainable” line without securing shelf velocity

2) Diversify who values your output
If one buyer disappearing can collapse your model, you don’t have scale; you have concentration risk.
FOR EXAMPLE: A community bank leans heavily on one commercial segment, but rate shifts hit and loan growth evaporates overnight.

3) Design for market fit, not just mission alignment
Impact that can’t sustain itself economically eventually becomes dependent, constrained or irrelevant.
FOR EXAMPLE: A foundation funds a food access program without aligning to how people actually shop.

The lesson here using recycling as an example? It’s a great idea but confirm the demand or you’re working on a guess.

Question:
Where in your model are you assuming demand, rather than actively building and diversifying it?

04/21/2026

https://www.dorsey-co.com/what-the-demand-you-attract-reveals/

Part II of the 5-part DorseyReports series: Before the Numbers Change, Behavior Changes Each part stands alone and contributes to a broader examination of how changing market conditions influence results across sectors. Additional articles in this series are available on our website. Demand is often...