Although many customers are point-of-sale or one-time purchasers of products or services, the path to building a long-term, sustainable business is a process that involves much more than one isolated sales transaction at a time. Ultimate buyer success depends on mastering a four-step progression that leads to repeat business and customer retention. 1. Prospects A…

I was listening to Patrick Lencioni’s podcast, At the Table titled The Power of Nothing. In this episode, Pat and his team discuss the benefits of sitting in silence and organizing your thoughts, and why leaders and employees tend to avoid distraction-free time. One thought caught my ear – Pat talks about how, pre-COVID, he…

I was working with a colleague on developing a Blue Ocean Strategy Canvas. If you are not familiar with the Strategy Canvas, it was developed by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne and is a central diagnostic tool and an action framework that graphically captures, in one simple picture, the current strategic landscape and the future prospects for…

Email campaigns, sometimes referred to as nurturing campaigns, refer to the cultivation and growth of existing, potential, and/or prior prospects in order to create new opportunities and business growth. Although email campaigns have been around for a long time, utilizing proper email approaches during this current pandemic can prove to be a sustainable method of…

It’s pretty easy to be a bad boss but much more difficult to be a great boss. Being a bad boss takes no effort or thought. Contrary, being a great boss does take effort and thought. During any challenging time in business…a depressed economy, faltering sales, increased competition, or even a global pandemic…it is increasingly…

Yes, even small businesses and SMEs have a need to mentor. Mentoring is a relationship that is formed between two individuals…one with more experience, more knowledge, and more expertise and one with less experience, less knowledge, and less expertise in a particular subject, profession, or position. Mentoring is not reserved for any one type of…

Businesses have always had the need for effective leaders. Certainly, many businesses prosper despite not having a strong leader at the helm. The super, successful businesses, however, have really effective leaders. They know how to make the right decisions at the right times. They know how to motivate employees and navigate obstacles. They have a…

Open communication and reasonable expectations are among the attributes of any admirable leader. I’ve been in executive positions for about a decade now. While it’s been an incredibly rewarding experience, I can’t say that I started out as the CEO I am today. In fact, I got off to a pretty …

I’m a fan of reading inspirational and motivational quotes. I often find a great quote and share it with my team at Shepard Presentations, and sometimes with the readers of this column as well. That brings me to Dan Sullivan, creator of the Strategic Coach® program. Dan is a great coach who is full …

The Punk Rock of Business: Applying a Punk Rock Attitude in the Modern Business Era “Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” —Tom …

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about process improvement lately. I think some of my frustration with current process improvement methodologies is that we don’t properly define process. The common process mapping acronym SIPOC (Supplier – Input – Process – Output – Customer) leaves off what I believe is the most important part of…

In this episode, Brian and Craig explore the final side of The Creativity Cube – Collaboration and Conflict.