Articles
Customer Focused?
Is Your Business Customer Focused or Trying to Be All Things to All People? I love the single-cup beverage systems. When I want something to drink, I don’t have to boil an entire pot of water, coffee or tea. I can choose my drink of preference, pop in the single cup,...
Five Critical Steps to Maximize Resource Flexibility
Companies of all sizes have historically relied upon their workforce to provide the flexibility necessary to compete. Unfortunately, compensation and benefit costs have created a dilemma - business can’t afford to commit to full-time, permanent employees. While...
Looking Inside the Gig Economy with GigSalad CEO/Founder Mark Steiner
If you are in the music industry or other creative endeavors (e.g., acting, speaking), then you have been living in a gig economy [1] for your entire career. Gigs have been around for centuries. However, the gig has come to a new level of visibility in recent years...
Business Concept – Validating Your Idea
Crazy Ideas and Business Concept Many highly successful businesses have been started on ideas other people thought were crazy. Many unsuccessful businesses were started as "sure things." How do you know before you start if your idea is worthwhile? How do you...
Real Customer Service – Going Off Script
There is nothing and I mean nothing that frustrates me, ticks me off, and causes me to stop using a product faster than dealing with the people on the “customer service” lines of businesses. I don’t know about you, but whenever I have an issue and call one of those...
10 Elements of Successful Businesses
While every business has elements that are unique to it. Every successful business shares common characteristics with other successful businesses. Concept The first element of a successful business is a clear concept of what the business is and does. This concept is...
Colors and Crayons – Drawing the Big Picture to Communicate Key Points
Have you ever tried to tell your boss what he/she needs to know and only what they need to know to make informed decisions? Is it hard to identify how to present the information —identifying status, convey the constraints and opportunities, and get the “right”...
Customer Service – Keeping Commitments and Valuing Each Customer
This week a service provider demonstrated to me how important I was to her and her business. Let me share the story. I arrived for my appointment 20 minutes early and made myself comfortable on a bench outside her office suite. I could see through the glass wall that...
Open Door, Closed Mind: Listening Well and Making Informed Decisions
Have you ever worked for someone that proudly stated they had an "open door" policy? Was their door really open to new ideas, feedback, information, and issues? Or was the door physically open but the mind closed? Perhaps you work for someone that has an open door...
Networking: Relationship Building, Not Hard Pitch Selling
I have a developing list of bad behaviors in networking. It seems after every event I can add either an entirely new “don’t” or an innovative variant of the core list. Chumming – Method of “baiting” the water to entice sharks to take the bait and encourage feeding...
