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With the economy in turmoil, many mid-career executives face a variety of challenges: new careers, relocation, revised job descriptions and/or self-employment. Most of them will view the waning months of 2009 as dead time. So they will put career transition on the back burner until January. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the key traits of a successful business owner is the ability to get things done. But many people are procrastinators. They say to themselves “why do it today when there is always tomorrow”. But eventually tomorrow has come and gone and still the job isn’t done. In business this means that the tasks that need to be accomplished have only multiplied. And the funny thing about it all is that most people don’t necessarily realize that they are procrastinators in the first place. Read the rest of this entry »
Despite all the rumbling and grumbling about poor customer service, there are always a handful of renegade businesses that somehow find ways to keep their workers fired up and their customers delighted and coming back for more. In these rarified places, highly motivated employees pursue customer delight with a passion; they ignite a flashpoint of contagious enthusiasm that spreads throughout the organization like wildfire. Read the rest of this entry »
“There are no new truths, but only truths that have not been recognized by those who have perceived them without noticing. A truth is something that everybody can be shown to know and to have known, as people say, all along.” - Mary McCarthy, author and critic
I write these words as I sit in the office/study of my “electronic cottage.” One of the reasons I love our home is because it straddles the past and the future. The front of our house looks out upon a typical suburban street with a mixture of split-levels, bungalows, and two story homes. The city bus roars by periodically in a cloud of diesel smoke. Read the rest of this entry »
Business Networking - it’s a buzz word for today, but who wins? If two people network, do they both win? If both of them win, does the customer lose? Ideally, business networking should result in a win-win-win situation. And in most cases, that is what does happen. Individuals or businesses can network to provide enhanced services, faster services, and better talent to clients than either would have working alone. The client can belong to either business, or be shared by both. Clients can be an existing client, or new, or one that both individuals or businesses pitched together to obtain. Read the rest of this entry »
At first glance, big picture thinking and customer focus would seem to be mutually exclusive terms. After all, the first phrase connotes a farsighted, panoramic view of business, while the second implies an intense, laser-beam-like concentration on the customer. Yet as revealed in Magnifying Customer Focus: A Study of Current Trends and Future Possibilities 2006-2016, a global study commissioned by American Management Association and conducted by The Human Resource Institute, the terms are not only compatible, they are inseparable. Read the rest of this entry »
Corporate Culture Defined
A basic definition of organizational culture is the collective way we do things around here. It involves a learned set of behaviors that is common knowledge to all the participants. These behaviors are based on a shared system of meanings which guide our perceptions, understanding of events, and what we pay attention to. As Sun Tzu, a Chinese military general from 3000 BC, indicated in his explanation of strategy, culture forms an integral part of any organizational strategy. Read the rest of this entry »
When we go to work each day, each of us participates in a unique workplace community where we share common values with others while accomplishing certain goals. So why is it some people insist on criticizing others when those people are trying to uphold community standards? Read the rest of this entry »
Companies think that once the sales person agrees to join their company that the goal has been accomplished. The truth is that this is only one more step of the process and there is still much work to be done.
It’s a great day at Newman Industries today! For the last month, they have been actively recruiting a hot candidate to join their sales team. Today, Steven Harmon agreed to join them. They see him as a true rainmaker. The recruiter and sales manager share high-fives. Mission accomplished! Spike the ball in the end zone. The job is done! The competition was fierce for Steven, but Newman Industries won. Read the rest of this entry »
Enticing sales people who are not looking for a job to be receptive to another opportunity is challenging. The key is to figure out which of the two motivators springs them into action. Is it fear or greed?
I was never very good in science class which is probably why I’m not a doctor today. Yet, I remember vividly the exercise on heated atoms. The experiment started with a flask of water and a Bunsen burner. Read the rest of this entry »
Call Center Cafe'
