“Treat with utmost respect your power of forming opinions, for this power alone guards you against making assumptions that are contrary to nature and judgments that overthrow the rule of reason. “ ~Marcus Aurelius Asking your customers about your business is so important for each and every business. If you are selling a product or […]
Make Sure There is Demand for Your Product or Service
“Nobody ever lost money taking a profit.” -Bernard Baruch Basic marketing 101 demands that before you introduce any new product or start a business selling a new product, you need to make sure that there is a solid demand for the product. While this sounds so elementary, we continually have entrepreneurs and inventors that just […]
Risk and Return
I was lucky to be able to be a jump judge recently at the Red Hills Horse Trials in Tallahassee. The horse trials consist of many difficult jumps that horse and rider have to make over without any errors like refusing to jump or stopping before jumping. My job in the afternoon was to sit […]
Make Sure Every Detail of Customer Service is Evaluated
“Look through your customer’s eyes. Are you the solution provider or part of the problem?” ~Marlene Blaszczyk My significant other, Ellie, just had knee replacement surgery. The procedure went incredibly well, but we needed to have a walker for her when she returned home from the hospital to ensure she did not fall. It just […]
You Can Deal with a Problem Employee
“The tougher the job, the greater the reward”. -George Allen Problem employees are the bane to every manager. By problem employee, I am normally referring to an employee whose behavior is significantly affecting the morale and the operations of the entire business. For some reason, every organization seems to have an employee or employees that […]
Key Things to Consider Before Opening a Business
“The basic rule of free enterprise: You must give in order to get!” ~Scott Alexander So many people want to open their own businesses. I think that is wonderful since so many of the big businesses in today’s economy are not serving their customers well. If you are looking at starting a new business, the […]
Customers Are Not Always Right
Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. ~ Bill Gates I am not sure who was the first to say, “The customer is always right,” but I think they were flat wrong. Sure, you want to please your customers, but there are going to be times when you will not be able […]
Get Your Employees Engaged in Your Business
There are only three measurements that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organization’s overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow. ~Jack Welch Having staff engagement is so important for every business. It is critical for your profitability and customer service. Highly engaged employees are more committed to your business, […]
The Importance of Pipelines
I am the world’s worst salesman, therefore, I must make it easy for people to buy. ~F. W. Woolworth An entrepreneur had developed a product, and he was doing incredibly well. He was able to afford a great house and employ his entire family, all at very healthy salaries. His business was doing so well […]
Expand Sales by Going to Your Existing Customers First
“If we can keep our competitors focused on us while we stay focused on the customer, ultimately we’ll turn out all right.” ~Jeff Bezos So many business owners think they must reach for new customers if they want to expand sales. However, new customers require a lot of time and expense to acquire. A better […]