Why They Don’t Know What You Expect Glenn had just finished describing his year-end performance review process and how each person had reacted. He paused and said: “I’m so frustrated! After all these years of working together, many of the people who met with me still don’t understand what I expect from them.” Performance review discussions are more than grading exercises – they are unique opportunities to have substantive, one-on-one dialogue with each person who …
Defining Success “Customers pay only for what is of use to them and gives them value.” Peter Drucker – Management Expert“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar – Business Performance Expert “The customer defines what product or service is fit for use.” J.M. Juran – Quality Expert “Understand what’s important to customers.” Andy Fromm – President, Service Management Group “Delivering a …
Defeating Commoditization Tom was concerned that his business was becoming increasingly commoditized. More and more often, his customers were specifying what they wanted, as if they were reading from a product bulletin. Tom’s sales team was generating quotes in response to these requests. There was little dialogue with the customer beyond responding with price and delivery, or reacting to some competitor’s quote. I asked Tom: “What makes your business unique…what offering do you own? Why …
Carve Out Time to Concentrate on Performance The forces of distraction keep growing stronger and each is competing for your attention. Do you find it increasingly difficult to pull away and focus on the needs of your business? Phone calls, emails, text messages and browsing for the answer you must have right now keeps you rooted in the here and now. Our technology makes it easy to react to these forces, so our ability to …
“Where Are The Orders?” “Why aren’t we converting more of our quotes? Our biggest investment last year is failing…I’m concerned.”Last year, Sam’s company launched a new product that they were convinced was a winner. But after six months of losing more orders than they were winning, Sam’s frustration is peaked and his team is discouraged. The new product was developed with customer input and has the potential to produce unique benefits for their customers. But …
Assess These Three Points The best thing about each new year is that we get another opportunity to begin anew. We get a fresh start, and expectations are high. How can you make the best of this new beginning? Consider these three points: 1. Assess direction: Revisit your vision/mission statement(s) – is your chosen direction still valid? On what will you focus in 2013 – what key 3 goals do you want to achieve this …
Shared Resolutions It’s that time of year when we reflect on the past and envision the future. Here are my favorite business resolutions for 2013, shared to inspire you to create your own resolutions for the New Year.“Start every day with strategic clarity by spending 10 minutes reviewing what one-to-five things you want to achieve this year, what your strategic priorities are for achieving them, and (most importantly) what businesses, activities and opportunities you have …
Seeking More High Touch To Balance Our High Tech Last week at this time, we were first learning about the heartbreaking violence committed against innocent children and their teachers. This horrific news follows other terrible stories of carnage that have occurred during the past several weeks. What a season of joy and peace it has been! In last week’s blog, we explored the issue of balancing our business responsibilities with our personal core values. This …
Balancing Business Needs with Personal Values After completing our business development strategy meeting with his team, the CEO grabbed me and said, “Let’s get a coffee.” As we settled into his office, he mentioned that the year had been a good one, albeit very challenging, and he was ready for a break. “There’s still so much uncertainty out there – the competition, tax law, new regulations – we can’t get a break and I’m tired. …
Making Time to Set Direction “I’m so busy running the business that I don’t have time to think longer term.”So began a recent client meeting. It’s been an exceptionally challenging time to run a business. The day-to-day struggles are all-consuming; to survive, you keep your head down and focus on achieving essential short term results. But as a leader, you are also responsible for ensuring the long term sustainability of your business. In every company, …
