Many business owners wonder if generosity is a smart business decision. There is an ongoing debate about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for business. CSR is usually associated with big companies. Regardless of the size, your business can incorporate CSR in its business model. It is an act of generosity. Companies embrace social responsibility not only […]
In many cases, sales have a bad reputation. You know the snake oil peddler and the used car salesman. The emphasis is not solving a customer’s problem but rather making a sale. Repel sales with these 5 selling tricks: 1. Use deception to get an appointment or make a sale. Even though you succeed, what […]
Companies frequently state integrity as one of their values in doing business. Sounds good but what does it really mean? Merriam-Webster defines integrity, a noun, as the following: Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code. The state of being unimpaired; soundness. The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness. It is […]
Defining the values of an organization is the conventional wisdom today. Increasingly it is becoming more common for organizations to state values in their literature, collateral and marketing material. However, are they living it? Does it confound when you have an experience that seems contrary to the stated values of an organization? For example, “respect” […]
Remember the Girl Scout classic, “Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold.” Applied to business, classic winning strategies are 1) to attract new business and 2) to keep happy customers. Offer what your prospect needs and what you can deliver profitably. Ask questions and listen carefully to your […]
On April 13, 1970, Apollo 13 crew experienced a sharp bang and a vibration followed by warning lights. "Houston, we've had a problem," reported Jack Swigert to NASA ground control. About 200,000 miles from Earth, oxygen tank #2 had exploded and caused tank #1 to fail, leaving astronauts Swigert, Lovell and Haise without the normal […]
The old Scottish prayer ”From ghosties and ghoulies and long leggety beasties and things that go bump in the night, good Lord deliver us” is a petition for protection. In our complex world today, mediocrity and status-quo are what go bump in the night. These are the ghosties and ghoulies in today’s world. How recently […]