I talked to a close friend who spent 20 minutes in the camera store the other day trying to find someone help him. (Good thing he’s the honest type, not given to “helping himself.”) During his wait, and while growing increasingly frustrated, he noticed the company mission statement on the wall by the door to [...]
I have been working with a company recently that is looking for a key middle manager. To say that the response to the ads was tremendous would be an understatement. They’ve received hundreds of resumes from people in all walks of life — attorneys, executives, secretaries, longshoremen, and everything in between. While the response has [...]
06 Feb
Posted by awebb as Customer Service, Management, Public Relations
Well, I finally did it. After almost 20 years of using the Day Timer time management system instead of Franklin, I made the switch — which probably isn’t remarkable until you know the circumstances. I love Day Timers format. I’ve used it forever and I prefer it. Always have, always will. I have never cared [...]
I got an interesting call today from an old friend. After the usual pleasantries, he said, “I need a name.” He explained that he was getting ready to do some business in Mexico, and he wanted to see if I remembered the name of a man we did business with there in the early ’90′s. [...]
If you want to see how not to kick off your new business, you need to look at Innodyn aircraft engines. I first became acquainted with Innodyn in 2004 when they offered a turbo shaft airplane engine for the cost of a piston engine. For those of you who aren’t pilots, that means the engine [...]
29 Oct
Posted by awebb as Leadership, Management, Public Relations, Uncategorized
Yesterday I wrote about how a CEO of a small to medium sized business created a culture wherein they treated each other (and all those with whom they did business) as family. I talked about loyalty and how the things this company did generated loyalty. I don’t think I can leave this topic without sharing [...]
The places I shop, I frequent regularly (the lumber yard, the hardware store, the sporting goods store, the atv store.) What I’ve noticed is they all have something in common; when I enter, they call me by name. Now, I’m not sure whether they do that because I’m in there all the time, or whether [...]
26 Aug
Posted by awebb as Customer Service, Management, Public Relations
Over the last couple of weeks, I have had to call three different service centers, all of which asked for some information before letting me talk to a real, living, breathing human being. I dutifully and faithfully entered my phone number, account number, etc. only to have the living, breathing (supposedly) human being ask me [...]
Can you state in 20 words what you do (in your business) and who you do it for? If you can't, you should really consider tightening your focus. If you can say, “We sell widgets to aircraft manufacturers that are used for navigation in general aviation aircraft,” or something similar, you know who you are [...]
When I have a bad experience I usually share it. By the same token, when I have a good experience I also want to share. A little over a week ago I decided to build an island for the kitchen (I build furniture as therapy in my spare time.) I wanted big turned legs for [...]