I’ve worked in several closely-held businesses that have a strong culture founded on excellence. In these companies, a key piece of this culture is company pride. In one company I worked with, employees even joked about getting tattooed with the Company’s Pantone color code!
Stop Selling After You’ve Closed the Deal
First, I’m not a salesman, a sales coach or a sales consultant. There are many people who are far more qualified than me to explain the sales process and closing techniques. That acknowledged, I have had two sales experiences over the last few weeks that compel me to write this. In both cases, the salesperson […]
Cavalier about lawsuits? Think again – a defendant’s perspective
Often times during business disagreements, I hear owners and executives say “let them sue us — bring it on!” While that might be our initial response in the middle of a rip-roaring business dispute, trust me — don’t let feelings and emotions drive your actions when lawsuits are involved. Why am I writing this? I have been a […]
Productivity & Execution: Speed Up By Slowing Down
It happens all the time, especially in start-ups and high growth companies. We’re all busy with multiple priorities. We are understaffed. We’re bombarded by media – email, texts, phone calls, maybe even smoke signals. On top of all this, there’s the temptation to chase all the shiny new objects and say “no” to nothing. Unfortunately, […]
Career Growth – Your Three Circles
A while back, I saw a tweet by Michael Hyatt that reminded me of three questions I like to ask employees and colleagues that come to me to discuss their careers. During these conversations, I frequently hear some combination of the following: What is my place in the company? What does my future here look […]
Recruiting Key Employees – The Cost of “Saving Money”
Over the years, I have talked with many CEOs and executives about their business and financial forecasts and how well their teams have accomplished their goals. When the discussion comes around to the organizational chart and employee performance, it is not unusual to hear comments like: “Fred does OK, but we just don’t have the budget […]
Working Capital Management: Free Up Cash in Your Business
Let’s face it – in small business, cash is king. Cash flow allows you to meet payroll, buy inventory, pay down debt and grow your business. In the heat of running a business, it’s easy to focus on revenue growth (not that that’s a bad thing!) and allow significant pockets of cash to lie idle […]
Business to Consumer (B2C) Customer Loyalty – The Tribe
This post is the second in a two part series. This post focuses on business to consumer (B2C) customer loyalty and retention. The other post deals with business to business customer retention (you can find it here). Although there are some similarities between the two, there are also some important differences. In a B2C organization, […]
Business to Business (B2B) Customer Retention – Proven Practices
This post is the first of a two part series. This post focuses on B2B customer retention and loyalty; part two focuses on B2C (business to consumer) relationships (you can find the B2C post here). Although there are similarities between the two, there are also some important nuances. It’s interesting how customer retention often takes […]