Category Archives: Marketing and Sales

Good Customers Can Be Bad

When can good customers be bad? What could be wrong with a customer who buys a lot, pays promptly, and never has a service problem? They might be buying too much. No matter how strong or comfortable a sales relationship is, … Continue reading

Posted in Building Value, Entrepreneurship, Exit Planning, Marketing and Sales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The New Information Direction: Push Over Pull

Ever since we started using computers in virtually every business, we’ve been putting data into them. Unfortunately, the issue has been getting information back out. In the middle 1980’s I ran a manufacturing company together with a couple of Australians. They thought … Continue reading

Posted in Management, Marketing and Sales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Help Your Friends, Not Your Competitors’

I hear it all too often. “A customer just called us for a quote. They have always done business with our competitor. We’re going to give them our best deal, and see if we can take their business.” Before you … Continue reading

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Small Businesses Fantasies: Service

As an evangelist for small business, I am the consumer equivalent of the locally-grown food movement. I spend as much of my discretionary income as possible with the owned-and-operated businesses in my area. As a consultant and coach to owners, I also … Continue reading

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Time to Grow Up

Young industries no longer have the time to grow up. The cycle of maturation has long been accepted as  a fact of life when a new concept becomes a business. There are a few pioneers (defined here in Texas as … Continue reading

Posted in Marketing and Sales, Thoughts and Opinions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments