Reinvent Your Business — Even When It's Working
By Jay Forte Friday Jun 4, 2010For a reminder that, no matter how successful your business is, you need to rethink your services or products constantly, check out Dyson's innovative reinvention of its classic products.
Manager's Dilemma: When Employee Funk Is Killing Your Business
By Jay Forte Thursday Jun 3, 2010In this week's Manager's Dilemma, I look at the problem of low employee morale and what you as a manager can do to boost it before your overall business suffers.
Secrets to Spying on Your Competition
By Eric Reyes Thursday Jun 3, 2010Snooping on your rivals. Getting the inside dope on your competitors isn't easy, but Christopher Steiner at Forbes.com suggests at least 6 ways you can do it on the cheap and without breaking the law. For example, retailers often hold morning staff meetings on the store floor at opening — making it easy for a rival to eavesdrop. Customer service representatives also make for great sources of information once their buttered up.
How to Hire the Perfect Sales Rep
By Barry Deutsch Thursday Jun 3, 2010In more than a decade of talking to CEOs and senior executives about their hiring challenges, I've discovered that sales pros are the most difficult hire for many small and midsized companies. About 50% of the executives I meet with struggle with hiring outstanding sales professionals. What makes it so difficult to hire this type of employee?
Now's the Time to Grow Your Business
By Bruce Phillips Thursday Jun 3, 2010It seems to me that the economy has hit a transition, a cusp, an inflection point. Call it what you will, but is the ”Great Recession” really over? Even if you don't think so, now may be the right time to grow your small business
How to Succeed in Social Media? Follow This Model by (No Joke) One Domino's Franchisee
By Gini Dietrich Wednesday Jun 2, 2010In the past year, Domino’s has gone from zero social media presence to one of the best case studies on the web…and it’s all due to one Chicago franchisee, Ramon DeLeon.
Manager's Dilemma Solved: When Employees Say, 'Not My Job'
By Jay Forte Wednesday Jun 2, 2010In last week's Manager's Dilemma, I presented that you are the CEO of a plumbing-supply business, One morning you walk through the parking lot, picking up cups and other trash while your employees inside watch. When you confront your employees and ask why when they see the trash and do not pick it up, they offer “picking up trash is not part of their job description.” Okay, freeze time. What do you do? My suggestion:
When Star Performers Quit, It's Rarely About Money
By Ira Wolfe Wednesday Jun 2, 2010The recession has led to a rather interesting differentiation between employees who change jobs voluntarily and those employees who are poached. It’s the poaching of employees that employers need to fear the most.
What Makes Today's Successful Leaders Stand Out
By Jay Forte Wednesday Jun 2, 2010There was a time when great leaders where stoic, analytical and distant. They were able to separate their feelings from what they had to do to stay in control. They were impersonal and non-emotional. This represented strength. Then the world changed. Today’s best leaders are those who activate the emotional connection and emotional investment of their people. They don’t do this by remaining distant from their people. They do it by being more human and more emotional with their people.
Small Business Lessons from the Gulf Oil Spill
By Kevin Beaver Wednesday Jun 2, 2010A recent word of the day by Merriam-Webster — disaster — is fitting given the oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. Apparently 'disaster' has its roots in the belief that the positions of stars influence the fate of humans.