“At this moment, America’s highest economic need is higher ethical standards — standards enforced by strict laws and upheld by responsible business leaders.” George W. Bush, July 9, 2002 When was the last time you saw a corporate statement of values without the word excellence in it? Companies big and small claim a devotion to…
“If you think of vision and mission as an organization’s head and heart, the values it holds are its soul.” V.R. Buzzotta Part One in a Series I started out writing an article on the importance of uncovering our true core values when developing a strategic plan. As I began explaining why values are important…
“You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.” Alvin Toffler The essence of strategic planning is taking the big picture and boiling it all the way down to what needs to be done today. If we don’t have a big…
May 25, 2009 What is your customer service policy for dealing with complaints? Do you make your customers jump through hoops to register a complaint (think cable and telephone companies)? Do you treat each complaint as an attempt by your customer to get something for nothing? Or do you welcome complaints as an opportunity to…
(Originally posted July 28, 2009) I recently signed up for Twitter. I intended to check it out, confirm that it was nothing more than a time dump and close my account. A few weeks later I stand corrected. Based on media coverage I expected to find inane “tweets” (messages) proclaiming trivial personal news like what…
(Originally posted June 26, 2009) Understanding why existing customers buy your products or services is a great start to figuring out how to approach new customers. What is their number one reason for dealing with you? Trust? Product quality? Customer service excellence? What comes second and what comes third? Knowing what it is that excites…
(Originally posted June 24, 2009) This is a story that offers an example of a poor tactic for soliciting new business. As a business manager I would frequently receive appointment requests from potential new vendors. A sales person for a potential vendor called me to offer a foreign currency exchange service. I’ll call him Joe….
(Originally Posted April 29, 2009) I was speaking with a local, successful, small business entrepreneur at an event last night. He was sharing that his business is so slow he may need to find a new line of work. Only recently, his award winning, prestigious company had bookings far into the future but those bookings…
(Originally Posted September 28, 2008) How far could you go in your business or career if you were able to bring your “A” game to work every day? We’ve all had those days when everything clicks. We are able to think well and keep cool under pressure, we speak with confidence, we see problems as…
