-
Helping business owners grow their companies and transition with confidence, added value and complete control.
Category Archives: Customer Relations
Giving Referrals: Fire and Forget?
We all appreciate getting referrals. There is a feeling of gratification in knowing that someone thinks enough of your work to send a friend or associate your way. Referrals are usually the life’s blood of most small businesses. When I … Continue Reading
Sales: Do You Have Customers or Clients?
Whether you have customers or clients is more than a matter of semantics. Some businesses use the term “clients” in an attempt to class up their image. Attorneys usually have clients. Kentucky Fried Chicken doesn’t, regardless of what they might say. Nordstrom? … Continue Reading
Posted in Customer Relations, Marketing and Sales, Sales
Tagged clients, customer relations, customers, marketing, sales, sales management, small business advice
2 Comments
Is Distribution Dead?
It’s difficult to talk to any owner of a small distribution business without hearing complaints about competition from the Internet. Their criticisms are pretty universal, regardless of the goods being distributed. “Customers call with prices they claim to have found … Continue Reading
Posted in Customer Relations, Marketing and Sales, Sales, Strategy and Planning, Technology
Tagged business strategy, sales management
2 Comments
Is It All About the Money?
If you have more than ten employees, and an outside observer (like me) asks them confidentially to say in one word what their boss cares about the most, what do you think they will answer? We’d like to think that answer … Continue Reading
Proactive, Preventative Sales
Sometimes a topic rises to the top of my long list of candidates because it seems to come up repeatedly. It may be a coincidence (probably is), but a single business ownership issue is raised in multiple coaching sessions or … Continue Reading
Posted in Customer Relations, Marketing and Sales, Sales
Tagged business ownership, sales, sales management
1 Comment
Can You Build Your Business in Half the Time?
I had an unusual coincidence happen last week. Speaking to prospective new members of The Alternative Board (TAB), I wound up with three CPAs in the same meeting. They were from three different smaller firms, and all three identified their current … Continue Reading
Posted in Customer Relations, Marketing, Marketing and Sales, Sales, Strategy and Planning
Tagged management, marketing, promotion, sales management
1 Comment
A Return to the Handshake?
There are five words that strike fear into the heart of every business owner. They are “Let me call my lawyer.” I’m not talking about threats. If I had a nickel for every person who threatens “I’m going to call … Continue Reading
Trimming the Customer Tree
Anyone who has shopped for a live Christmas tree knows the drill. They have some on display, but none look exactly like what you want. You start looking through the trees that are still bundled up. If one looks promising, … Continue Reading
The Man (or Woman) Who Knew Too Much
Most businesses need salespeople. Most salespeople need to know what they are selling. This leaves many owners on the proverbial horns of a dilemma. Should they hire a great salesperson and teach him the business, or should they take someone who … Continue Reading
Credibility in the Lobby
I typically visit over a dozen businesses a week. Only a few have media articles about themselves in the lobby. When I ask the others, they typically answer “Oh sure. We were written up a few years ago. I have … Continue Reading
Posted in Customer Relations, Managing Employees, Marketing
Tagged marketing, media, news, promotion, public relations
Leave a comment
Big Brother is So 2000, but…
Big Brother is Old News This could easily be a post about technology invading our lives. How we are watched and examined and manipulated through out electronic connectedness. But why? If you aren’t aware of the erosion of your privacy … Continue Reading
Posted in Business Perspectives, Customer Relations, Technology
Tagged business planning, sales
Leave a comment
Service Needs to be a Defensible Territory
The UN air strikes against Gaddafi’s forces raise an obvious question. Why Libya? Although we believe Qaddafi is a really bad guy, there are plenty of other players in North Africa and the Middle East that have to rank somewhere … Continue Reading