Two Things You Must Do to Make Sure Your Good Business Doesn’t Fall Apart
One of the first things I did upon taking on AP as a client, many years ago, was to revamp the customer-service department. Employing models of other customer-service systems I’d established in the past, I replaced most of the staff with better-educated, more articulate, and more conscientious workers … I…
READ MOREKill Your Customers With Kindness
“Sow good services; sweet remembrances will grow them.” – Madame de Stael Killing his customers with kindness has been the policy of PM, a restaurateur in my neighborhood, who has used it to develop a chain of eight or 10 businesses that are very profitable. Sometimes, he sells them and…
READ MORESell First. Ask Questions Later.
“The first blow is half the battle.” – Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774), She Stoops to Conquer Two separate start-up ventures recently profiled in Success magazine illustrate the importance of what I will pompously dub MMFs First Rule of Business: Sell first. Ask questions later. What I am about to say applies…
READ MOREThe Emotion to Pocketbook Connection
“When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bustling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.” – Dale Carnegie To be a successful businessperson, you need to understand the emotions that move people…
READ MOREHow to Quintuple Response Rates with the Reciprocity Rule
“The soil in return for her service / keeps the tree tied to her, / the sky asks nothing and leaves it free.” – Rabindranath Tagore (“Fireflies,” 1928) In “The Psychology of Persuasion”, Robert Cialdini tells the story of a university professor who was interested in how deeply people feel…
READ MORETapping the Hidden Profit Center in Your Company: The “Business Within Your Business”
Your first business is your main one — the one you know you are in. Your second business is the one you automatically qualify to be in as a result of the knowledge you have to possess in order to deliver your main product or service. You can tap…
READ MOREAppeal to Your Customers Heart and Brain in the Right Order
“Man is a mixture of desires that extend beyond his knowledge and often result in action conflicting with rationality.” – Charles A. Lindbergh (“Atlantis,” Autobiography of Values, 1978) The following story illustrates a million-dollar business secret. RP was unsure about whether he should buy another standard SUV or upgrade…
READ MOREAlways Overestimate The Time It Will Take To Complete A Project
Life is always more complicated than it seems like it should be. No matter how sure you are that you can get that report done by next Tuesday, something (or more likely, several things) will intervene to make Monday night a nightmare for you. Be smart. If you have the…
READ MOREWhen You Want Customers to Buy, Tell Them They Cant
“What the eye sees not, the heart craves not.” – Dutch proverb A few years ago, I came across a brochure promoting the services of an independent consultant named Sommers White. It was written entirely in a question-and-answer format — and the first Q & A in the lead…
READ MORECan You Help This Man Straighten Out His Life?
A recent issue of People magazine on the growing world of the unemployed in the United States (something we’ve been talking about in ETR) profiled Larry Schenone. “Eighteen months after losing his job as an engineering manager for a St. Louis defense contractor,” the magazine says, “Schenone has recovered from…
READ MOREHow To Find Customers Who Are 5x More Likely to Purchase
“Seize opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind.” – Bulgarian proverb You have already cultivated a relationship with your customers — you have put in the time and money to get their attention, establish credibility, and close that first sale. That’s by far the most difficult part…
READ MOREWhen It Comes to Productivity: The Old Tricks are Best
“So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.” – Peter Drucker Here is the most important thing I know about management: There is no one right way to run a business. I’ve seen successful businesses built and run by all sorts…
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