Dealing with Difficult People

Jul 9, 2013 | Leadership Development

We've all come across difficult people in our workplace and typically, we've found that the “safest” way to deal with them is to ignore them. However, by ignoring the difficult behaviors of our team members, we are by default condoning their poor behaviors. We are passively accepting their bad behaviors. As professionals, as leaders, we need to stop condoning their behaviors if we want our team members to stop behaving badly. So what do we do? Interact with them assertively. Most...

Are you Valuable or Valued?

Apr 9, 2013 | Sales, Marketing & Customer Service, WBS

We've heard over and over "Add value for your customers!" But what does that mean? According to Webster's Dictionary, VALUE means "Monetary or material worth". Therefore, "Add value for your customers" must mean we have to add some thing (product, service, or other benefit) that adds tangible monetary or material gain for our customers. How do we do that? We need to find out what is valuable - and not merely valued - by our customers. There's a big difference between providing something that...

Why Don’t They…?

Mar 5, 2013 | Sales, Marketing & Customer Service

Have you ever gone into a store and had a heck of a time trying to find what you wanted? You finally had to have someone lead you to it because the store’s signage was poor. Like me, you probably thought, “Why don't they just put up clear signage?” Have you ever tried to reorder from one of your suppliers only to be put through the third degree because they’re updating their Customer Service Management System. Like me, you probably thought, “Why couldn’t they just upload my account history...

Is It Time to Clean House and Simplify Your Business?

Jul 10, 2012 | Leadership Development

“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers” – Gen Colin Powell My husband and I are finishing two construction projects. In the process, we've been digging through boxes we've had in storage to determine which items will work in the new facilities and which won't. In addition to comments of, "Why did we save this?" and "Huh, I'd forgotten we even had this," I've noticed we're asking ourselves things such as: How will this fit in and help us achieve the look and feel we're trying to...

When Frugal Is Costly

May 19, 2011 | Leadership Development

There's no disputing the importance of controlling costs when running a business. However, many business owners actually waste their company's money because they focus on being frugal instead of using the company's money wisely. In recent work sessions with clients, two examples of being "Penny wise and pound foolish" emerged: Having a friend develop and manage the company's website - free! Wonderful. However, the friend isn't an experienced web-designer. He dabbles in designing websites in...