Traditional, annual performance reviews don’t work and here’s why. Employees need consistent and constant input and suggestions when it comes to their responsibilities and performance. Having someone under perform for a year is a disservice to that employee, the firm as a whole and even yourself as a leader who is accountable for the overall performance and contributions of your …
Be honest, compete on value, not price
Honest and transparent approach will go a long way in customer acquisition and more importantly, customer retention. When it comes to your services and products it is important to be honest, sincere and transparent with respect to your strategy, cost and pricing that they may need to incur. Be honest with your clients and tell them the truth, tell them …
Attract the best talent, then do your best to retain them
Talented people are hard to find and they are even more difficult to retain long term. They have options and they know it. Having this in mind, it is important to invest in people ahead of anything else. Get the best folks you can and focus on quality over quantity. Once a team is built, then shift your focus towards …
It’s OK to say NO to your clients
Matching your skills and passions with market needs if the best way to ensure longevity, relevancy and revenue. On that quest, at times, you will come across those you should part with at the earliest opportunity. Strangely enough, sometimes those folks include some of your your current and prospective clients. Being paid for a product or service is the name …
Be a leader, not a decision maker
Leadership is earned, not given and as such you need to justify your privilege to lead others. Your title alone is not enough to make you a leader. Your position as a CEO, CIO, CFO, CMO, President, Vice President…gives you an opportunity to make decisions, not necessarily lead people forward. To lead others you must win their hearts and minds, …
Resources follow vision
Complaining about the lack of resources is utterly useless and here’s why. I am yet to meet an organization that has too many amazing people, too much money or too many great ideas, knowledge, technology…and so on. That doesn’t exist, accept it, internalize it and move forward. Instead of complaining, act on delivering value to the entire organization and making …
A taste of your own medicine
A taste of your own medicine is just what one may need at times. I say this with respect to the experience your clients go through with your services or products. Use your services, call your IT Service Desk (aka. Help Desk) and use your products in your daily life as that will clearly show you what your customers are …
Overwhelmed? Breathe and move one step at a time
24 hours in a day don’t seem like enough for most folks nowadays. We have families, friends, businesses, schools, hobbies, sports…to attend to and they are all competing for our time and attention. At times, this can be stress inducing and result in feeling overwhelmed, feeling like you can’t get anything done. Well, when you feel this way (ideally BEFORE …
Customer service: How to answer a phone
How should one answer the phone? Besides saying “hello” and being polite, it is essential to embody to quality you want your customers to experience in everything you do, even when answering calls. Once you have answered the phone, focus all of your attention on that client, don’t do other things and don’t put them on hold (unless you really …
Build a great team, they are your reflection
The quality of your team, their performance and contributions are directly related to you as a leader. In a sense, they are a reflection of you. You set standards, expectations and instill values across your team and as such you need to use caution in the initial selection process. Furthermore, you need to provide them resources they need to be …