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Category Archives: Business Acumen
Don’t Believe the Hype
“The world is changing faster than ever before.” “We need to adapt to the change or we will get run over by it.” “The paradigm has shifted and the world will never be the same.” “Robotics and AI (Artificial Intelligence) will … Continue reading
The Whys of Business
Internet entrepreneur, Simon Sinek, has a popular TED talk on asking why. His primary advice in building a successful company is that: People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Unfortunately, while I admire Mr. Sinek, … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Communication, Leadership
Tagged Business Acumen, Business Leadership, Communication, Why
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Optimize the Overall Business
As business leaders, we strive to have each of our areas improve its efficiency and effectiveness. Accounting, Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Operations, Project Management, Customer Service – each of these parts of the business needs to be as effective as possible. Likewise, … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Leadership, Perform / Execution
Tagged Communication, Focus, Management, Productivity, Project Management, Success
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Think Twice and Do Once
Every Do-It-Yourselfer knows the carpenter’s advice: Measure twice cut once. In successful businesses, a similar recommendation holds true: Think twice and do once. To so many of us, immediate action appears to be essential: We are just doing it! We … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Improve / Turnaround, Perform / Execution
Tagged Focus, Productivity, Project Management
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Remind…Don’t Teach
A fundamental task of a leader is to train and develop his or her team. This often involves coaching and teaching the team on the strategic, operational and leadership skills that are required for them to reach the next level. … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Communication, Leadership
Tagged Communication, Learning, Training
1 Comment
8 Ways To Be As Smart As We Can Be
To do our best in business, we need to be as smart as we can be. Alas, I do not have any tremendous insight or magic elixir to make myself or anyone else be smarter. Sorry. What I do have … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Improve / Turnaround, Personal Success
Tagged Focus, Innovation, Management, Productivity, Success, Teaching
2 Comments
Never Split the Difference – Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
Following up on my blog from August 2017, Negotiation – An Overview, I summarize the excellent book, Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It, from former FBI negotiator, Chris Voss. I highly recommend that you read … Continue reading
5 Steps to Creating a Unique Strategic Vision
Today, companies struggle to consistently increase sales and profits faster than the overall market. In too many cases, these companies lack a unique strategic vision that would differentiate the company and its products and services from the competition. Instead, their … Continue reading
Operations – The Five Daily Fundamentals
Most companies still provide a tangible product or service. This means that companies need to have operations employing people to produce the product, deliver the product, or provide the service. These operations are essential to great customer service and building … Continue reading
What Does a Buyer Want?
I recently interviewed a professional buyer at a customer company who was looking to move into a sales role for our company. I asked how she would use her current experience as a buyer to be a better salesperson. Her … Continue reading
Don’t Upsell…Right Sell
“Would you like to supersize your order?” As I wrote previously (“Do You Want Fries With That?” – An Opportunity for Profitable Growth), upselling can bring additional value to our customers, create additional sales and profits, and cement our relationships … Continue reading
Lead With Questions
As leaders, we often have an employee come to us with an issue or problem. As “make it happen” managers, we then focus on getting the problem solved and getting it done as quickly as possible. Thus, we take charge, … Continue reading
Get to the Front Lines
Undercover Boss has become a hit TV series by showing big corporate bosses going undercover and discovering the reality of the work lives of their employees. As leaders, we do not need to go undercover; we just need to get … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Leadership, Team / People
Tagged Accountability, Business Leadership, Business Transformation, Business Turnarounds, Change, Customer Satisfaction, Do the Right Thing, Employee Engagement, Face Reality, Human Resources, Integrity, Sales and Marketing, Sales Coaching, Winning Teamwork
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Go Where the Growth Is
In today’s low growth world, B2B companies need to be looking for those market segments and niches that are growing faster than the overall economy. ‘Going where the growth is’ offers our companies the promise of increasing sales to growing … Continue reading
Business Success by the Numbers
What numbers lead to business success? 0 – As in 0 /0 (zero injuries and zero accidents). In any company, the safety of employees and customers each and every day should be of highest concern. 1 – As in … Continue reading
An Open Letter From Your B2B Customer
Dear Mr. or Ms. Sales Manager, I am writing to remind you that I need you. You and your salespeople provide products and services that I need to help me succeed in my business. Unfortunately, many of your salespeople do … Continue reading
Be Easy to Do Business With
In a previous blog, Lessons from a Customer, I related my experience in dealing with 106 companies while I moved from Arizona to California. My conclusion was that most companies provide inadequate customer service and make it too difficult to … Continue reading
Do We Spend Enough Time Selling? – The Cost of Chaos
We have and need salespeople in order to sell, that is, in order to move deals forward. But, how much time do our salespeople really spend selling each week? Rick McPartlin, the CEO of The Revenue Game (and someone with … Continue reading
Determining the ROI of Product Development
This is a guest blog by K. Armen Miamidian, a time-tested CFO for successful mid-market companies. What’s Pumping Your Profits: An Internal Look at the ROI of Product Development? When are expenses not just costs? Why do risky assumptions become … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Growth and Strategy, Sales and Marketing
Tagged Financial Analysis, Product Development, ROI
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David M. Shedd - Move Your Company Forward 