Treating Everyone The Same Is Not Fair!

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One much revered principle of people management is that you should treat everyone the same if you want all to feel that they’re being treated fairly. But this approach is unproductive. Equal pay for equal work is a vital management parameter. Employees are constantly watching to see if someone is getting a better deal than they are. Sustaining fairness in compensation is mandatory to building trust and motivation. But once compensation issues are resolved, what …

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“They’re Not All The Same”

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Judy’s company produces a high quality water container serving the recreational market. When I arrived, Judy and her Sales Manager, Bill, were brainstorming about new product concepts for their served market. To achieve their growth goals, they needed to launch a new product that would capitalize on their success and be distinctive enough to appeal to their market. One of their employees had recently told Bill about his friend who was using their key product …

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Are You Headed Down The Rabbit Hole?

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Prevailing wisdom states that the unmet needs of your customers are the most productive source for “New Business Opportunities” or service ideas. Others claim that relying on existing customers for your innovations can lead you to chase those customers “down the rabbit hole” of worthless concepts. Customers are always a valuable source for potential innovations. Your relationship enables the sharing of unmet needs that are typically viable for their served markets – ideas you might …

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Why Have 70% of Workers “Checked Out?”

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A recent Gallup poll finds that 7 out of 10 workers are “actively disengaged” at work – they’ve checked out and are only going through the motions! Customers have more options than ever before. They can acquire materials from numerous places at low prices. Technology advantages are fleeting. Your people can be your sustained competitive advantage – if they are engaged in your business. Most businesses need all hands on deck now.  Engagement is contagious …

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The One Excuse You Must Avoid For Success

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You do many things to make your business successful…provide superior customer service, produce good quality products, build a strong leadership team, engage your employees, promote innovation and more. In the process of juggling all your plans and actions, there’s one factor above all others that will determine your success and it’s the excuse you must avoid. “Lack of focus is the excuse you must avoid.” Business circumstances are ever changing. Knowing what’s important at any …

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Are You Ignoring Tools That Could Help Your Business?

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Last summer I met with the CEO of a small but solid consumer financial services company. He’s a super salesman and has a team of like individuals. We prepared a modest proposal to replace his website with one that reflected his firm’s huge commitment to customer service and flexibility and to help begin to get business online. At the presentation, he told me his firm could not get customers from a website. I had already …

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Defeat The Flawed Proposal Excuse

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Andrew had just received feedback on his proposal from a new prospect when I arrived. He had followed their instructions when submitting his proposal via their Excel spreadsheet, including the requirement to offer one specific price proposal. So he was surprised to learn that his proposal was considered to be too narrow and inflexible. Andrew’s prospect uses an Excel spreadsheet proposal process to make it faster and easier for them to compare the submitted proposals. …

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Is Your Leadership The Excuse?

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When Frank and I first met, he expressed concern that his company’s growth strategy was not achieving its goals because his organization was not acting in a coordinated manner to produce results. Once Frank refined his approach to this challenge, organizational behavior changed and strategy execution improved. Follow the link below to learn how Frank removed the behavior excuse. Leadership and management are not synonymous. Leadership is a mandatory ingredient of transformational change; management is …

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The Three Most Common No-Growth Excuses

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When frustrated by lack of sales growth, business leaders tend to cite one of three excuses. To deal with the three most common no-growth excuses, try the following: “If we don’t offer the lowest price, we don’t get the order.” If you make no effort to learn about your customers’ business, and offer nothing novel or compelling to strengthen their competitive position, then they will focus on getting the lowest price from you.Your customers don’t …

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Three Drivers For No-Excuses Performance

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“Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.” ~Sigmund Freud If work is such a significant part of our lives, why do so many of our employees see their jobs as a burden? Is it possible to build a business on passion and trust instead of fear and stress? Resolving the gap raised by these questions produces no-excuses job performance. A Gallup poll recently discovered the leading determinant of happiness. It isn’t wealth, or …

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