In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, a predictable wave is washing over the Northeast. People are helping each other clean up, clear out and rebuild. The worst brings out the best in us, and acts of kindness are popping up all over. Kindness smooths the way for families to get back on their feet. Kindness [...]
Pull out your business plan and take a look at your mission, your vision and your goals for this year. How’s it going? What? No plan? No problem. Just consider how last year went and that’s what will probably happen this year. Only a little worse. Or maybe a little better. This year is moving [...]
Bueller? Your meetings don’t have to devolve into gripe sessions, and a waste of billable hours. You can do better. A tight, short, focused meeting can be an opportunity to communicate, to get on the same page, to teach something and learn something. If you don’t have an agenda for [...]
When I first visited CCA Davis Correctional, what struck me is how much the guys “inside” look like everyone else “outside.” For some, being incarcerated is the only way to keep society safe. For others, once they’ve served their sentence, they should be free and welcome to reenter society. But…would you hire an ex-con? Probably [...]
Crisis shouldn’t be the spur, but better late than never. A Wall Street Journal article from a couple of summers ago caught my eye. Titled “Customer Service as a Growth Engine,” the article described efforts by large organizations such as Walgreen’s, Comcast, American Express and others to pay “more attention to customer service in an [...]
The Hunger Game’s ravenous fans are flocking to theaters this week. The story has been told before (1984, Fahrenheit 451, The Running Man, The Giver among many others) and the appeal is timeless. The question – is mindless entertainment a substitute for human connection? – is worth asking. The Games are distracting. That’s the point. [...]
You know I’m a big reader. I love books of all shapes, lengths and genres. However, I am too old to tolerate a bad book. I’ve no time for it. So, let me save you some time. Here are a few sure-fire business book recommendations guaranteed to make you wiser, richer and better looking. Well, [...]
“We aren’t using the ‘S’ word at our company anymore,” my friend announced, in response to my “How’s biz?” greeting. “Really? Why not?” I asked. “My service plumbers are offended by the ‘S’ word. I wouldn’t use the ‘S’ word even if I stepped right in it.” “How do you pull that off?” I pressed. [...]
These tips are just a BASIC outline. This will get you started for a creating effective conversations, systems and training at your company. The best plan is to prevent customer and public relation challenges by doing a great job and communicating effectively. Communication Rescue is about turning an unhappy customer into a happy customer…and keeping [...]
You know, you have to TRAIN your employees. Right? Training is a funny word. It gets used a lot, especially by frustrated business owners. But few people know what it means. Does it mean “motivating”? Does it mean “confidence building”? Does it mean hitting employees with a newspaper or dangling a carrot? One of Funk & [...]
