It’s no secret that people would rather talk than listen. By using the key words “Listening skills for business” in a recent online search, we discovered there were 14,200,000 responses. On the other hand, when searching under “Speaking skills for business,” there were only 34,700,000 entries. That’s almost a 2:1 ratio. Do you ever wonder
Asking for referrals in the B2C area is a common practice. Asking for referrals by B2B companies is not as common, even though it’s a great way to generate new business. This may be because B2B personnel may not know who or how to ask for referrals. Sources of referrals are everywhere. The most obvious
The business section of any bookstore is full of trendy, flavor-of-the-moment systems and methods to teach business people to become great. In fact, a casual glance at a bookshelf in Barnes & Noble or a scroll through Amazon.com leaves one with the impression that business people must be like survivors of a sunken ocean liner,
Learn to say no. Do you have a hard time saying no? Or have you ever found yourself with more work than time and wondered what happened? You’re not alone. Fortunately, good communication can help you manage your workload avoid these situations. Here’s how: First, take stock of your own abilities. Are you someone who
Annual reports can be useful documents for your stakeholders—if they’re prepared properly. All too often, an annual report is a bland, meaningless collection of buzz words, truisms that apply to any business and vague promises of growth or innovation. To make your annual report a valuable document, here are 10 do’s and don’ts for your
“You can’t measure PR effectiveness, so it’s a waste of money.“ PR, or creating fertile ground for your company to grow, can be difficult in the social media age, when little Suzie’s t-ball game has the same clout as your company’s marketing department. Here are four PR gems that we’ve debunked to help your company
Do you remember a time when you didn’t need a calendar or didn’t need make lists to remind you of what you needed to do, where you needed to be, and when? A time back to high school or even earlier when the demands of life were simpler and far fewer than they are when
A stunning new article on the nation’s sales force by Dan Lyons out on Hubspot reveals what many of us have long suspected: Most salespeople aren’t very good at their jobs. The article quotes Dennis Connelly, of Massachusetts-based sales consultancy Kurlan, as saying, “For lack of a better word, they stink.” Kurlan found that three-quarters
Take a walk through the business section of your local bookstore. You’ll see hundreds of books on how to be more successful. How to do more in less time. How to be a better leader. How to make more money with less effort. How to be happier You’ll see books listing the five secrets of
An article appears in your company’s trade journal that grabs your eye. It’s a story about exactly what your company does, and even features one of your clients. It’s well-written, accurate and factual, but… Why doesn’t the article mention your company? Why didn’t the reporter who wrote the piece call you? After all, your company
In the course of day, the typical businessperson makes dozens of decisions: Grande or venti? The taco truck or Chinese takeout? Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi? Cardio or weights? Yes, the business day is full of choices! But while deciding on your morning coffee, lunch, an afternoon soft drink and your workout may be relatively
Leaders can’t make decisions if they aren’t in touch with the business. Corporate America often has trouble making decisions. Whether it’s Netflix changing their business model, only to change it again almost immediately, or the A&E cable TV channel coming down hard on Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson, only to reverse themselves almost instantly, some companies
MOOCs offer one more avenue for companies to reach new customers What’s a “MOOC”? It’s not the term coined in Martin Scorsese’s film “Mean Streets,” “mook,” meaning “a loser.” Rather, MOOCs are “Massive Open Online Courses,” and they’re offered by universities as ways to both educate students and improve the teaching methodologies used in online
Partner communication at your business can be frustrating. How many times have you thought you communicated expectations clearly to a business partner, only to find when the final product was delivered, it wasn’t at all what you expected? If you’re like most of us, the answer is “too often.” Partner communication requires that hat both
Does your business have a slow season? If your company is like most, there are certain times of year when business really hums, or when there seems to be more work than there are warm bodies to handle it. For example, year-end is a busy time for retailers and companies looking to meet annual goals.
You’re focused on running your company in the world that moves at the speed of an electron, where uncertainty is the only sure thing, and in which a warehouse with a PO box and a website is undercutting your price by 50 percent. With every day a fire that needs putting out, who has time
The trade show booth was stacked four deep with people eager to take advantage of the company’s free giveaways. While they were waiting for their gift, they took some collateral sales and marketing materials, and signed up for the company’s e-newsletter. The booth was a smash success! Then the giveaways ran out, and the mood
Recently, blogger Stu McLaren wrote a post on his blog entitled “Why Do People Buy?” According to McLaren, there are seven reasons: To save time. “The more time you can save someone, the more valuable your product or service becomes. To save money. “People love a good deal. Show that your product or service will
Do you communicate with your customers? I don’t mean in the sense of having a website or an e-newsletter, but real interactive communication. Few companies will answer “no” to this question, but many may say they could do a better job of communicating. And why don’t companies do a better job? There are many explanations.
In business, it’s essential to speak your client’s language—not their spoken tongue, but their “industry speak.” You have to know their business, and know how to speak to both the CEO and the IT department. To show you what I mean, consider this: Have you ever traveled somewhere and not understood the local customs. Take
In my last blog post, I talked about how too much focus on ROI could not only stifle creativity, morale and initiative, but could also give companies a false sense of which elements in their marketing mix were most effective and which weren’t making the grade. This is because every item in your marketing mix
Return on investment…is there another business acronym that receives more attention than the venerable yet often misunderstood, misused and abused ROI? I don’t think so. On the surface, it’s a very intuitive, straight-forward method of determining whether something is worth the expense. From a marketing standpoint, take the net amount of money you made from
Doctors see dozens of patients a day. A quick-lube store may service hundreds of cars on a Tuesday. The local discount department store probably runs thousands through its checkouts on a busy Saturday morning. And a local manufacturer may churn out tens of thousands of units over the course of three shifts. One more patient.
A successful businessperson once said that when it came to company names, he felt the name should say what the company does. His company is called “Conservation Partners,” and they’re just that: partners for people who want to conserve their farmland. Another company had a similar name: “Partners in Financial Planning.” A TV commercial now
