When things are going really well, we think we’re really something. We describe it as being in a groove, smooth and steady, in a rhythm or “working like a well-oiled machine”. In electrical engineering, steady state describes the “normalcy” of a current or signal after it settles down shortly after being powered up. Sometimes, normal […]

Most of us who use computers in our work do so because they relieve us of tedious work or eliminate slow, inefficient or error-prone techniques for producing our work, even if we do have fuss with drivers and hardware failures once in a while. In the newspaper business, I doubt anyone wants to return to […]

It’s Saturday morning, so the ritual of before-anyone-else-rises reading, writing and coffee is, as no one ever really says to anyone else, “on like Donkey Kong”. After closing out a couple of chapters and heading to the laptop to write, I happen to see a piece in the news about a local who is heading […]

You look at those prices for cloud services and think you’re getting a deal. Fact is, you are. You’re hiring a professional staff to run your systems in a very-high-quality environment and paying little for it. But are you using these cloud services in a way that protects your business? A Forbes analysis of the […]

I usually write my column a week or so in advance but this can’t wait. You need to read it now and determine if it affects you, your business or your clients. On July 12th 2012, Yahoo confirmed that a large number of passwords originating at its Associated Content site were leaked. If you ever […]

“Them”, meaning “your staff”. Are they using your policies and training as a shield to protect your business, or are they using them as tools and leverage to protect your customers and your brand? There’s a big difference between the two. An example is this story involving a repeatedly broken-down U-Haul truck, whose details quickly […]

Do you have problems with too many sales turning into refunds? Or almost-sales turning into no-sales? Do your demonstration projects frequently fail to reach the buying stage? Does return-friendly Costco look like a tough return desk negotiator compared to you? Do people frequently add things to their shopping cart while on your website but decide […]

Have you ever noticed how careful we are as business owners to take good care for our expensive business equipment? Like…robots. Robots get their hydraulic fluid changed, hydraulic lines pressure checked, wear points examined, worn parts replaced, firmware updated, tolerances tested, configurations checked and their overall performance checked. When a robot doesn’t measure up, it […]

Think about the connections that you have with your clients. Are they simple, long-lasting and personal? Or are they laborious, fragile and distant? If your customers have to deal with a laborious or impersonal process for *anything*, just stop it. Now. People have enough complexity and hassles in their lives. They need more simple, hassle-free […]

The easy question sometimes plays the role of the hardest question. We’ll see… What system (paper, software, methodology, whatever) do you use to manage ToDos, Goals and Priorities on an annual, monthly, weekly and daily basis? That question is part of a critical “intake” interview for new customers because managers, CEOs and company officers usually […]

If I had a dime for every time someone got on my case because my blog (much less my business) has no logo, I’d have a lot of dimes. It isn’t because I don’t want one. It’s that logo selection is TOUGH. Selecting a logo isn’t like deciding what kind of salad dressing to have. […]

Is your business in trouble? Do things seem desperate? Or are you simply in a stagnant funk? What are you doing about it? Are you paralyzed in fear and/or over analyzing everything and as a result, taking action on nothing? Here are a few things to think about that might help give your mindset, energy […]

One of the more common things you’ll see from a business that’s differentiating themselves using things other than price is their use of a unique selling proposition (USP) and in the strongest cases, a “core story” that backs it up. You’ve probably heard USP described before. Domino’s Pizza’s USP is a well-known example: “Fresh, Hot […]

Are you wasting those carefully planned advertising investments? The most expensive investment we can make is one that’s wasted. You’ve studied, sifted and listened intently to figure out the perfect message for a certain group of people interested in what you make or do. As you hoped, it resonates with just the right people at […]

In part two of this series, we figured out that the buying signals customers (and prospects) send us are sometimes subtle, if not almost invisible. One good example is the sometimes joyous, sometimes annoying as all get out process of buying a car. Question: How does the salesperson know when their prospect has gotten past […]