Oh, Shift! How to Woo Customers Back to Your Business
Rebuilding sales is critical to business survival. COVID-19 has shifted the marketplace and the playing field. Be aware of the changes, and the adjustments necessary to build business now.
Six Quick Questions to Jumpstart Your 2019 Strategic Plan
Don’t get left behind; take ten minutes now and jumpstart your 2019 strategic plan. Strategic planning can seem overwhelming. There’s no time today, and tomorrow never comes. You blink, and it’s the beginning of April. The first quarter is history, and you’re living day to day and minute to minute, hoping that the year will…
Create a Strategic Plan to “Wow!” Your Customers
There are many approaches you can take to create a strategic plan. You may elect to focus on your ultimate business goals, or past experience; or you can base your plan on a SWOT analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. An alternative option is to focus on your customer. The core premise of this…
6 Tips for Implementing a Breakthrough Idea
Implementing a breakthrough idea can be the pinnacle of achievement, or the train wreck of the century. You’ve explored and analyzed, checked the marketplace and competition, pulled ideas from other industries and thought way out of the box. Or perhaps a bolt of lightning struck you with a transcendent “Wow!” moment during your morning shower.…
Capitalize on Emerging Trends: Strategic Planning for 2019
Is your 2019 strategic plan positioning you to capitalize on emerging trends? Are you set to ride the waves of change, or are you at risk for being swamped in the undertow? Have you accounted for dynamic changes in your industry, and the marketplace, and the world? And have you compensated for their impact on…
Creating New Products and Finding New Ideas: 5 Quick Tips
What is the trick? How adept are you at creating new products and finding new ideas? Nothing is more dead than yesterday’s hot item. Customers are attracted to novelty. The blockbuster movie premiere, the newest restaurant on the block or the latest viral dance craze capture the media and lock in our attention. Technology, interests…
How Not to Improve Employee Morale
It may be a rude awakening, or a creeping uneasiness, but at some point, you and other leaders in your organization may decide to make a concerted effort to improve employee morale. You may have been caught blindsided. You may have issued a survey with the expectation of stellar feedback, only to be caught in…
Firing a Customer: Strategies and Options
Whether you’re corporate or entrepreneurial, firing a customer can create an emotional roller coaster. More than likely, the soon-to-be ex-customer has been a source of frustration, discord, anger and financial loss. You know everyone will breathe easier, but you can still dread the showdown. The problem customer might represent a major account, responsible for a…
How to Create Marketing “Wow!”
Does your business create marketing “Wow!”? Are you constantly thinking about new ways to delight your customers? Do you have an edge? Competition in every field is fierce. Even if you dominate your market, there are always others ready to enter, offering something new and enticing to your steady customers. Your predictable, dependable product suddenly…
5 Key Questions to Jumpstart Strategic Planning
The fourth quarter is here, fall is in the air, and in the business world, it’s time to jumpstart strategic planning for the new year. Do not permit yourself to be lulled into complacency. Yes, the weather is still balmy at times, and yes, the trees still hold some fall color. But year end is…