How you chunk up

daily commute time  

reveals the real you!

Ever wonder what you can learn about others based on how they spend their work commute time?

As unorthodox an HR assessment tool as it may seem, it’s probably as effective as any other. How a person commutes to work (i.e., by what means and process) indicates, after all, a little something of each of the following career attributes:

1. time and stress management skills
2. concentration and organization skills
3. entrepreneurship
4. motivation and prioritizing skills
5. sense of initiative and responsiveness

The first pair of these itemized attributes (time and stress management skills) signals a person’s ability to adhere to a schedule while juggling interferences, interruptions, and delays. It also offers some clue about tolerance levels associated with the daily barrage of pin-pricks and nit-picks (and occasional flair-ups) of fellow-commuters.

Yes, there are still carpool goof-balls who jam an unsuspecting neighbor between them in the backseat and proceed to laugh as they spill coffee on the sandwiched lap at every pothole.

Yes, there’s always a sprawling snoring (and probably drooling) sleeper to awaken and/or climb over who’s commandeering two (or three with luggage) rush hour train (or subway or bus) seats — always, of course, when there are no other seats available.

What’s a poor commuter to do? Standing for an hour of jerks (both kinds) and bounces is not usually a great option for starting the day, especially when the time window was planned for laptop or paperwork. And please don’t start with defensive comments from “business class” express trains or some limo drivers union. We’re talking real life here. 

The second pair of attributes (concentration and organization skills) assumes the first pair can be readily met and dispensed with. It’s almost always easier to concentrate and be organized when you’re on schedule and able to fend off anger, annoyance, and upset!

Then there are also some who thrive at concentrating and being organized in chaos and turmoil. (A terrific qualifier for government job applicants!)

Next is, aaah yes, entrepreneurship! First of all, most of these folks only commute a flight or two of stairs in their bathrobes. Hey, there has to be some trade-off with corporatesville, right? And if any of these types are not officially running a basement or garage or kitchen table operation already, they are planning the moment of great escape, and aren’t reading this anyway.

Motivation and priority issues surface as various commuters face the grueling daily ritual of “Commuter Mental Block.”  Not sure about that? Just stand back and watch how many smiles disembark commuter vehicles balanced atop those suits and skirts as they enter work zones and re-enter home zones.

You’ll get volumes of information to match up with Maslow’s Hierarchy theory of motivation and a truckload of clues about those with strong prioritizing interests.

Responsive individuals with a sense of initiative rarely keep commuting . . . except perhaps a bathrobe-clad flight or two. These are the innovators, the catalysts for change, the emerging entrepreneurs who will gladly move to live on the edge of their venturesome ideas. They are the people who happily leap from the daily traffic battles and 9 to 5 status quo monotony to take their chances with their own self control. For the rest: Don’t give up your day job!    

www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You. God Bless America.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Female Business Owners

Excel Over Men

 in All But Logic

and Hardsell!

(Yes, this is an “opinion piece,”

but it’s based on 35 years of experience!)

Let’s face up to it, guys! Women are better at almost every part of owning and running a business than we are. They are generally more creative, better money managers, and more personable and charming.

These last two attributes of course give them — if you’ll pardon the expression — a leg up on us with respect to customer service and employee relations . . . not to mention investor solicitations!

Bottom line is that, unlike men (thankfully), women business owners don’t typically put their egos on the line with every decision they make. Every business deal does not have life-threatening implications and repercussions.

Female business owners and managers (as opposed to probably 99% of their male counterparts) don’t analyze issues to death.

They take things in stride. They may cry more. And perhaps they can’t lift as many heavy cartons as some men, but they are more inclined to take action than talk about it.

 Men: If you’re married more than 20 years,

you know what it’s like to work for a woman.

And some of us have actually had female employers. I’ve had a few. One was the shining star of the New York Madison Avenue advertising agency world, and she commandeered respect with every workday breath. Her self-discipline, creative spirit, and enthusiasm were contagious.

Do women make better salespeople? I think that depends on the products or services being sold. Women, it seems to me, have a tendency to not go for the jugular in making whatever might constitute a hard-nosed sales approach. Is that a plus? I guess it depends on how hard your nose is. Q. Are women sometimes illogical? A. Does a bear…? 

Okay, so yes, they might have a couple of faults . . . uh, compared maybe with a few dozen faults chalked up on the macho side of the scale? Right. I do in fact know about the Men are from Mars stuff, but I’ve learned that while women may cross up other women on occasion, they tend to be much more authentic human beings than men most of the time.

If the way one man treats another is consistently honest and straightforward, there’s a good chance at some point the the good guy will get screwed in some business deal.

If that same Boy Scout-type dude treats a woman in business with honesty and straightforwardness, he’s likely to be treated with consistent respect in return.

I might add here that most men in business impress me as not knowing how to express empathy (or care much about it) because they are consumed with acting strong and tough and making sales and making operations work. “Your 15 year-old dog died this morning? Sorry about that. Would you please be sure to get that report on my desk by noon?”

Women, on the other hand, I believe, unhesitatingly put themselves in other’s shoes, and aren’t afraid to interrupt plans and schedules to offer counsel as needed. (I’m not talking about holding hands and spending the day with a troubled employee, watching TV and eating bonbons).  I’m talking here about taking some time out to help make a difference for someone.

Does empathy make women better businesspeople? Probably, because it undoubtedly makes them better leaders. And:

 Business success is all about successful leadership,

regardless of how you’re packaged!

302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

You have a business tale

to tell, but no time to

  tell it?. . . or write it? 

     So what’s your story, Boss?

     Is it long or short? Simple? Complicated? Fictional? Factual? Happy or sad? Burning hot? Icy cold? Based on true firsthand experience,  or imaginary, hand-me-down sagas? A story of family or of strangers? Neighborhoods or distant travels?

     Is it manufacturing or retail or distributorship based? B to B or B to C? A story of tourism or industry? A professional practice story? A legal or medical story? A growth or failure story? A partnership or separation story? What is it all about?

     You can and probably already do tell your story in chunks — in website pages, email messages, news releases, brochures, newsletters and interview answers. Or you can tell it (or major parts of it) all in one place that can then BE chunked up.

You can accomplish this with more complete, more comprehensive forays into the land of literature — a series of feature articles, ebooks, position (“white”) papers, booklets, specialty magazines, ongoing blog posts, and full-length books are some examples of what other successful business leaders are now doing.

     There are armies of talented organizations, groups, businesses and individuals standing in line, ready to pounce on filling any and all of the challenging opportunities for exposure — and enhancing credibility and reputation — that are noted above.

     They work on commission. They work on fees. They work on incentives. You can do it cheap or expensive, or somewhere in between.

     You will –as with most things in life — get what you pay for. If you’re happy with your neighbor’s 16 year-old being your webmaster and your new MBA assistant writing your sales and marketing pieces, you will no doubt take comfort in their efforts to represent what’s in your head!

Reminds me of the old Kawasaki Motorcycle helmet ad — “If your head is worth $29.95, buy a $29.95 helmet!”  

     Here are half a dozen thought-provokers:

1) Don’t give up on your business story idea, whatever it is. Instead, start to bullet-point it on index cards or a pocket pad or your laptop.

2) When you know what it is that you seek for your main message, start to scout around for someone with a track-record for the kind of writing you want.

3) Window shop. Check out Bing and Google. Do a little homework.

4) When you find the right person to represent your interests, that individual may also very well have ties to or a relationship with some print-on-demand book publisher-printer types, and be able to steer you in the most appropriate and economical directions. These days, you can print just a few (or even just one book!) copies and be able to order more with a phone call or email.

5) Specialized magazines are also readily available and can be produced as you wish, and individually and personally addressed as you wish.

6) Blog posts can be written in your “voice” so they sound like they’re coming from you (while you spend your time doing other things!) Regular blog posts, incidentally serve to activate your website which draws the attention of search engine spiders and lifts your search engine rankings.  

     Got an idea you’d just like to toss out to see if it could work? Give me a call. No consult fee for blog visitors.

www.TWWsells.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You. God Bless America and Our Troops.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

 The bigger they are,

the harder YOU fall

 …but the little guys

can cripple you too!

Here’s the inside scoop on “outside” marketing experts . . . 35 years’ worth of experience and considered judgment for you to chew and digest:

WEBSITE DESIGNERS who claim to have the gift of marketing genius have nada. If they’re older than 14 to start with — even 30-something — they are still probably 14 mentally; and odds are they haven’t a clue about marketing, but have learned to sound convincing about it. Exceptions? Sure. Check my blogroll.

AD AGENCIES know less than website designers. They are heavily invested in winning themselves awards and cornering clients into excessive payments. They have no down-in-the-trenches sense of how to make sales, nor do they particularly care as long as the next big client stands ready on the horizon.

•      They are particularly skilled at song and dance “dog and pony shows” that tell clients how great it’s going to be but that accomplish nothing to write home about, as long as the next big client stands ready on the horizon.
•      If you’re looking for artsy or funny or insulting or dramatic ads and commercials that have high impact but make no sales, go to an ad agency. And the bigger the agency, the more it will cost you and the least likely you’ll get the results you seek.

PR FIRMS do have a pretty good camaraderie with numerous media people and can be effective — depending on whether you pay them $10,000 a month or $15,000 a month — at wining and dining and schmoozing editors, writers, and sometimes publishers into considering coverage for the news releases they write and submit for you.

•      And they certainly know how to play the news release format game, but they rarely if ever are able to capture the essence of your business message and bring about action because they almost universally seem to think they know more about your business than you do. So what comes out is mundane, meaningless babble.
•      Make them write three test releases and explain why the words in them are the best words and who and when they would submit them to and why.

MARKETING GROUPS will tell you they’ve got you covered, yet only a minuscule number actually realize that marketing is the umbrella and that the functions under that umbrella include sales, advertising, promotion, packaging, pricing, merchandising, PR (public relations), industry and investor relations, customer service, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), website design and development, email and social media promotional activities, employee alumni associations, buzz (word-of-mouth) marketing, and on and on.

•      Ask them HOW they “cover” you and see how many of these avenues are mentioned.  

MEDIA. Would you have a guy from the slaughterhouse prepare your meals?

SBA SCORE COUNSELORS. SCORE is Senior Corps of Retired Executives. A lot of the world’s nicest, most well-intentioned people in this organization that provides FREE consulting.

•      Unfortunately, like the federal government they represent, they are completely out of touch with the realities of day-to-day business management, and may as well be on Jupiter for the marketing guidance they provide. Time is money. Don’t waste your time.

     What’s left? Independent consultants and project managers. Probably these folks represent your best choice, but only if you’re careful in your selection. Some of them are just as crooked as many of the others.

     ASK QUESTIONS. Ask for explanations about HOW a candidate thinks about what she or he claims to have accomplished. Ask for examples. Ask why something that worked well worked well and why something that didn’t, didn’t. How confidentially do they offer information? Who are a couple of client types they can suggest for you to contact to confirm.

     Beware of self-proclaimed “experts”

with cookie-cutter solutions!

# # #  

302.933.0116  Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

“Out of the mouths of babes

oft times come gems.”

–A present day reality from the Bible

When did you last ask a child in your life— your own or someone else’s — for an opinion on, observation of, or response to your three longest-standing business problems?

Why do you imagine business owners and managers rush to the judgment that children are incapable of contributing meaningful business solution thinking to chronic business problems? “Because,” you might offer, “children lack experience.” Well, this is certainly true. It’s more likely than not, however, that the solutions to nagging problems will not come from having been there and done that.

You don’t need an MBA or to be on the cusp of retirement in order to render a (generally most productive) simplistic approach to business problem-solving.

Like most things in life that adults tend to over-complicate, common sense typically dictates the best approach.

Children are literal fountains of uninhibited common sense.

I heard a radio commercial this week for a home-building company owned by a gentleman named Robert Pittie. The 12 year-old with me who heard the same message started laughing hysterically. It took me a few seconds to catch up because I was preoccupied driving, but when calm finally prevailed, I too near busted a gut as I figured out the lamebrain message (delivered of course with total sincerity):

“When you want a home that lasts,

call Pittie Full Construction Services.”

(Uh, I don’t think so.)

Mr. Pittie might have spared himself the embarrassment had he first tried the words on a child. Most of us, in fact, could probably benefit by the kinds of regular booster shots of childlike innocence, simplicity, and authenticity that routinely roll off the tongues of 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 and 13 year-olds. They don’t pull punches. They tell it like it is.

Kids are not controlled by paychecks, promotions and compensation plans (though a little ice cream or some Silly Bands can make for worthy incentives). They are free-thinkers. They are joyful. The more you show them active listening by asking questions and withholding judgments — even taking notes — the more likely they are to spark a new idea or ignite a productive old one you forgot. 

Besides, when you force yourself to take the time out to spend these minutes together, you are reinforcing not only the relationship with this child (or group of children . . .  assuming you think you can handle a focus group discussion!), and you are building self-esteem.

And nothing in the universe bears the fruits of self-confidence and a successful life’s journey like helping a younster to feel good about him or herself. How to start: “Gweneth, can you help me out with something? My company is trying to figure out how to make better jewelry (vacuum cleaners/dogbones/bookkeeping services/customer relations . . . whatever), and you seem to have good ideas.”

To top it all off, you’ll find that just the exercise of having to explain what you do in simple terms and examples, can bring you the answers you’re looking for all by itself. Some small business owners who make presentations like this to neighborhood schools report they get as much value from the experience as the students.    

www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

God Bless America and God Bless America’s Troops.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

 What Sport

Is Your Business?

    Does your on-the-job behavior match the thinking of a baseball player?  Are you always anticipating the next pitch, and what you’ll do if the ball goes here, and what you’ll do if the ball goes there, and what you’ll do if the signals change . . . or the winds change . . . or your superstitious teammates don’t change the shirts they’ve worn for the last three games? 

     Nothing wrong with thinking like a baseball player unless the company or industry you’re in is Armenian or Finnish . . . or simply doesn’t leave you time to think.  Maybe the company or industry that you’re trying to represent as the star left fielder, is busy playing hockey or fast-break basketball? 

     Circumstances like these make for tough going, when trying to get your glove to get in the game!  

     Worse, you could be a serious golfer in the middle of a football game (keep the first aid squad phone numbers handy!).  Let’s face it, you can’t play soccer on a tennis court or water polo on a ski slope (Yikes!  Now that would be cold, and you’d never want to miss the ball and have to chase after it, especially in a bathing suit!). 

     So, what’s the message?  If your work situation is unhappy, or giving you headaches, knots in your stomach, or other stress-provoked ailments like lower back pain (or, really, just about anything you can think of . . . uh huh, including those two merciless extremes: diarrhea and constipation), step back from the action (no pun intended), and take some deep breaths [See Archives post: “Are you breathing?”  take some deep breaths]

     Then, ask yourself if you’re “playing the same game” as everyone else, and especially of course, the boss!  Entrepreneurs (and male, female, black, white, purple, orange, MBA or otherwise, makes no difference) rarely survive corporate life because they march to a different drummer.  Regardless of money earned, most would prefer to be an individual performer than to be any team player. 

     Conversely, not many corporate types succeed with business startups.  Often, because they fail to realize that they must now pay the expense account submissions, turn out the lights, take out the trash, skip lunch and work far past the luxurious 9-5 weekdays they’re used to.  [See Archives post: “TO ENTREPRENEUR OR NOT TO ENTREPRENEUR?”  

     Maybe you need to examine the environment you work in more carefully and consider if it’s really the match for your skills and interests and personality that it once appeared to be.  We do change, you know.  And, yes indeed, old dogs can learn new tricks. 

     But before you decide to toss your corporate cookies out the window to become a deep sea fisherman or fisherwoman , think again! The grass . . . yes, it does look greener over there. Where? Maybe anywhere. In fact, these days, EVERYthing is greener!  It’s getting hard to tell which came first —  environmentalists or St. Patrick?!

 931.854.0474       Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

The check’s in the

                         

mail. I’ll get back   

                              

to you Friday. 

                                                         

I’ll send you that

                                

update the minute

                           

it comes in. As soon

                                       

as we get an invoice.

                                                                  

When shipment

                                       

arrives. But I never  

                                                                        

got your note. Your

                               

email must have

                         

gotten lost in  

                            

Cyberspace. Oh,

                          

that?That was a

                     

“warning”?

                                                                                                                             

     You’ve heard it all, right? Maybe you’ve even said some of it yourself. But when your intentions are genuine and sincere, nothing can be more frustrating than hearing a pile of excuses . . . from a customer, a prospect, a supplier, an investor, an employee, a boss.

     So, what’s the magic answer? It’s somewhere within yourself. You may not be able to control the attitudes that give birth to replies like these, but you can control your own attitude. You, in fact, are the only one who can.

     And by controlling your own response to the excuses you hear, you are cultivating an opportunity for yourself to set a true leadership example. By setting an example, you:  

A) Keep your emotions out of the fray and

B) May actually influence the offender to re-visit her or his initial behavior or verbal representation of it, and reconsider a better, more productive, higher integrity avenue.

     Perhaps you’re not Henry Ford or Bill Gates or Mary Kay, and the idea of changing the world is not on your breakfast plate, but — as a small business owner or manager or entrepreneur — you are in an extraordinarily unique position to make a difference for yourself, for your family, and for those you work with, simply by choosing to respond instead of react.

Besides, if you never react,

you can never over-react!

     People offer excuses to cover their own feelings of inadequacy. Most of the time, you can probably count on excuses being not so much intentionally dishonorable as a shortcoming of the person who’s offering them up in the self-esteem category. Some people who feel they can’t get positive recognition will opt instead for negative recognition because it’s at least some recognition.

     Humans crave recognition. And some recognition always beats indifference.

The opposite of love is not hate.

It’s indifference!

     When you hear excuses, appreciate the insecurities behind them. When it’s possible to overlook them, do it and then make a point of offering (genuine) appreciation for instances of getting a job done without a presentation of reasons why it didn’t get done.

     Offer more encouragement than you might usually provide. Be kinder than you might usually be (because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle). Appreciate differences in perso0nalities and behaviors and help others to grasp the choosing behavior idea through your examples.

     Excuses are a way of life, but they are not always intentional or dishonorable. When you give the benefit of doubt to others, you may get bit in the butt a few times, but you’ll be serving the important purpose of minimizing anxieties and demonstrating productive leadership traits most of the time.

     The captain who keeps an even keel and balanced ship through stormy seas marks every journey with success.

 302.933.0116    Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

God Bless America and America’s Troops.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

It’s not your consultant’s job

to come up with your budget

unless that’s the assignment.

     Just because you’re the boss doesn’t mean that the consultants you hire are going to work for you personally (unless you’re a celebrity or worse, a political candidate!). Their allegiance is to your company or the project you assign, but that doesn’t make them thumbtacks you can press into any passing piece of cork.

     In other words, the reason for going “outside” is to get an informed fresh perspective on whatever your focus is, down the road or at the moment . . . and consultants provide an objective sounding board; they are not part of your company “politics.”

YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. YES.

     Sure, there are “Yes Men” in the ranks. They are as proportionally present in the consulting field as in any other.

     Part of your job is to sort through them, and appreciate the differences in their backgrounds as well as the similarities of strategy they may use to attack your business problems. Once you’ve settled on compatibility and track-record issues, you may want to consider:

First and foremost in every consultant’s mind is the same concern that would be front and center in yours . . . 

How much will this assignment pay and on what basis?

     Consultants charge hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually . . . and project fees. Some allow flexible terms and may accept partial payment with a performance incentive. Others are very cut and dried, or unyielding and regimented about what and how they charge. Lawyers, as most of us know, charge for every hiccup.

     Some charge fees that are all-inclusive. Others may charge additional fees for “Rush” service, “Full” service, “Specialized” service, or “On-Call” service. Some fees may have a timeline attached, or a project benchmark or specific goal defined. All are legitimate. Only you can determine what will work best for your situation.

The worst thing you can ask of a prospective consultant — and it’s done relentlessly — is to come up with a budget before agreeing to any engagement of services.

BUDGETS ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, NOT THE CONSULTANT’S!

If you want to go window shopping, do it on Bing or Google. Don’t make prospects jump through hoops and expect a solid work relationship as a result.

     Most consultants in my experience are happy to do what they can within the framework of your budget, but to ask them to set your budget for you is neither realistic nor fair, and puts an anchor around the neck of your goal pursuits!   

     When you want exceptional input from a consultant, provide an exceptional compensation package. Consultants are not for Scotch-Tape and rubber-banding problems quicker and cheaper than you think your staff is capable of. Consultants are for problem-solving that you and your people cannot afford the time to address, or lack the experience or expertise to bring to the table.

     Consultants are for accelerating business progress at a quicker rate than you and your people are capable of doing on your own, given existing limitations of time, money and know-how. This is not to suggest handling consultants with loose reins. You need to give them — up front — a tight but reasonable timetable, and it behooves you to also itemize specific deliverables you seek.

     The period of engagement and renewable options need to be established and clearly defined, and a meaningful communication and reporting system needs to be in place from the outset. 

 www.TWWsells.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You. God Bless America and America’s Troops. “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]  Make today a GREAT Day!

Not getting quality

from consultants?

  This may be why…

     Right off the top, if it’s not a life-or-death surgical, ocean oil leak, or rocket science need to fill, stop with the panic attacks about finding a consultant with industry-specific experience.

     What you need is to find a consultant who can get the job done. Period.

• Give me a guy, for example, who sells railroad cars full of French fries and I’ll teach him what I need him to know about representing my fine linens products (or my precision computer parts, or my insurance policies). And he’ll do better at it than a fine linens (or microchip) manufacturing (or insurance) expert.
• As another example, show me someone who maintains an efficient warehouse operation, and I’ll show her how to manage a shipping schedule better than the head of any trucking company.

     Why? Because sales and organizational skills are lot harder, more time-consuming, and more expensive to teach than the ins and outs of your business.

     Learning how you manufacture and package and sell your products and services is easy. Learning how to think and act like a sales or traffic management pro is not easy because it’s often an issue of attitude.

When you’re outsourcing projects and looking for consultants who can get the job done, don’t be making yourself crazy trying to find someone who has extensive experience in your industry or profession.

     Look instead for someone who has extensive experience in her or his consulting specialty. A good solid marketing person or writer or web designer or trainer or coach, for instance, doesn’t need to have ANY expertise in your specific business or professional practice in order to help you produce a significant difference in sales, sales leads, CRM, or staff development.

The same principles and dynamics that work for selling hot dogs also work for selling precision parts, accounting and legal services, heart transplant specialists, or (aaah, entrepreneurship!) “Silly Bands.”

     The art and insight of writing an effective news release, advertising campaign, or website, doesn’t change in the slightest.

     The target markets change; the media selections change; the technical details change. But benefits are still what need to be emphasized.

     All products and services are purchased because an emotional buying motive is triggered — not because a laundry list of rational features has been presented. Skilled marketing consultants know how to plan and create and activate emotional buying motive triggers that get results.

     Your job is to teach them your business, be a sounding board for their recommendations, and help bring about action.

     You can follow the advice of headhunters and placement services and counselors and job trainers all you want, and puppy-dog behind every leader in your industry or profession, but I’ll put my money on you finding the best outsource consulting service teams and individuals based on your own instincts and your own judge of character and chemistry. It got you here. It works.

Trust yourself.

     The minute you’re able to find people who can fill the role(s) you have in mind, who have a track-record of success in many diverse fields, don’t hesitate to engage her/him/them simply because you think your candy company is so unique that only someone who is a candy business expert can appreciate you and your business enough to do justice to it. A sweet idea, but unrealistic. 

Informed fresh perspectives don’t

    come from clones or ostriches.    

 www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You. God Bless America and America’s Troops. “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]  Make today a GREAT Day!

The face of your business

is second only to the guts!

The first person(s) to encounter your business visitors, customers, clients, patients, prospects, sales reps, suppliers and vendors, delivery people, and solicitors in person and on the phone is(are) “the face of your business.”

Exercise caution in not underestimating the value of this position. It comes second only to your own and the operational guts of your business. However genuine each individual projects him or herself in that role directly equates with what outsiders will think of you and your business. Gum-chewing, short-skirted bimbettes may not always be in your best-image interests. ;<)

You get only one chance at a first impression and one chance with each encounter after that to maintain it, so why nickle and dime your selection, placement, and nurturing process for anyone who will serve as your business face?

If yours is a start-up or home-based business, that individual could be you, or your spouse or other relative.

Most of what follows still applies.

Many business owners and managers find it hard to avoid the temptation to tangle up business face job responsibilities with cost-cutting leftovers from someone else’s task pile. Multi-tasking is useful, but be careful about keeping the workload balanced. Being the face of the business is a primary responsibility that requires an authentic and engaging personality as criteria one.

For some of the same kinds of match-up reasons that –for example– MacDonald’s prefers farmers for franchisees (because of their regimented approach to seasonality and discipline in maintaining consistency) — or that many popular restaurants prefer actors and actors for food-service people because they have a stage presence which typically renders them less inhibited, more outgoing and more entertaining (which can make the difference in upgrade meal and beverage orders, and customer add-ons as well).

Recruiting  process questions to keep

on your front burner and to be able to

answer affirmatively and assertively:

• Does this person have an inherent interest in other people?
• Does this person appear to withhold judgment of others?
• Is this person engaging without being overbearing?
• Is his or her tone of voice consistently calm, pleasant, and respectful?
• Any evidence of this person being patronizing or condescending?
• Has this person a natural instinct to be helpful? (Subtly dropping something near him or her gives you a scenario to assess)
• Does this person’s host or hostess skills transcend turmoil situations? (Creating one during an interview will provide some clue)
• Can this person stay on track with time schedules? (Ask candidates to sort out some typical priorities)
• Does the person you’re considering evidence a good memory for names, faces, and voices? (Are visit #1 intros remembered on visit #2?)
• Does he/she offer to find help that can’t be immediately provided?
• Is the candidate gracious and polite under fire? (This may be hard to determine without considerable contrivance)
• Do you think the person you’re considering will readily acknowledge those waiting in line or on the phone and report delays?

Selecting candidates who excel at these personal skills is almost always a “best bet” situation because business-related skills can be taught, and human interaction skills usually cannot. In other words, changing some one’s knowledge base is easier than changing some one’s personality. For the face of your business, be less caught up in the resume and more focused on the person. Others will be.

302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

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