Have participants sit in a circle and face each other. Each player must state three truthful facts and one lie about themselves. The lie should seem realistic. Go around the circle and have each person share his or her three facts and one lie (in a random order). Other players must guess which “fact” is […]
Read More Truth and Lies – Free Team Building GameUsing flip chart paper, draw the outline of a bus. Instruct the group to add components to the bus and explain what it stands for and how they can relate that to the team. Give one example and then let them go. Break team into groups of four or five. Allow 20 minutes for the […]
Read More The Team Bus – Free Team Building GameWorld-class customer service isn’t as challenging as people think, but many companies don’t understand how greatly it affects their profits. To make delivering customer service easier, here are 5 tips for ensuring your company is top of the class when it comes to serving your customers. Plan in Advance Don’t wait until you have a […]
Read More 5 Tips for Delivering World-Class Customer ServiceSmall business owners are great at creating products and services. This is because entrepreneurs are “idea people” at their core. Some are even great at developing an initial customer base. Unfortunately, many business owners don’t know the crucial ins and outs of business management. Track the following 7 metrics and you will have a much […]
Read More Seven Statistics You Need to Track in Your BusinessNo matter how great your customer service is, there will always be challenging situations that arise. It’s just a part of running any kind of business. You need to be prepared so that you know how to deal with these situations before they occur. They should never be dealt with on-the-fly. Challenging situations could involve […]
Read More How to Handle Customer Service ChallengesStrong core values are the glue that holds together a business and allows it to thrive in day-to-day circumstances and stay true to its unique mission. They lie at the heart of its business model and affect every area of its operation. It’s no exaggeration to say that they can be the key to whether […]
Read More The What & Why of Core Business ValuesEveryone has to give live presentations at some point in their career. For most, it’s a painful experience. But, if you can pull off a good live presentation, this is a skill that can bring you many benefits. Good public speakers are good because they prepare and practice. It’s not something you’re necessarily born with, […]
Read More Public Speaking – the Painless WayAt some point in your professional life, you may find yourself being interviewed. It’s a wonderful opportunity that puffs up your ego. Finally, someone wants to know what you think! But if you’ve never been interviewed before, you may not realize there’s a bit of preparation involved. You may also find yourself nervous when the […]
Read More Tips on Being InterviewedThere’s more to networking than shaking hands and exchanging business cards. Done right, networking helps you forge long-lasting and profitable business relationships. Here are some useful tips: Have a plan. Make a commitment to yourself to connect with a specific number of people. Three to five people is realistic. Make sure the contacts are “new” […]
Read More Business Networking EtiquetteLeadership is probably one of the most talked about business concepts, but the least understood. Leadership is about getting things done and helping people reach their potential. Some organizations do a poor job helping people reach their potential. One reason for this is old-fashioned leadership techniques or “leadership mythology.” A myth is something that is […]
Read More Leadership MythsMost of us at some point have attended a meeting that drones on and on; the meeting where everyone sits fiddling with his or her smart phone; the meeting that Darren hijacks; or the meeting where almost everyone in the room is wondering the same thing: Why am I here? Meetings fill an increasing […]
Read More 13 Tips to Ensure Effective MeetingsListening is, without a doubt, the most important business skill you should master. It’s crucial to success in any situation, whether it be a group meeting, an interview, giving or receiving feedback, or handling customer complaints. You must understand fully what the other party says, the way it’s said, the motivation behind it, and the […]
Read More Listening – The Most Important Communication SkillFew companies realize the importance of customer service. It can literally make or break your business. Even if you offer the best products at the lowest price, your unresponsive or incompetent handling of customers can ruin you. Here are a few of the reasons excellent customer service is critical to your business success. Your Current […]
Read More Why Customer Service Can Make or Break Your BusinessExit interviews are interviews conducted with departing employees, just before they leave. Employees who voluntarily leave the organisation are sources of valuable information who can provide honest feedback and will help identify your organisations weaknesses. The primary aim of the exit interview is to learn reasons for the person’s departure, on the basis that criticism […]
Read More Exit InterviewsToday’s smart phones are capable of performing a wide variety of tasks across a broad spectrum of interests. For example, it’s easy to make sure an important deposit hits your account or to check delivery status on your inventory. It will be important to find the smart phone apps relevant to your industry and check […]
Read More How to Use a Smart Phone to Run Your BusinessThe “Mobilegeddon” is upon us. At least, that’s according to Google, which announced that as of April 21, 2015, it had made a drastic update to its algorithms, which now rank sites that are mobile-friendly higher than those that aren’t. This change was dubbed “Mobilegeddon” by some techie pundit somewhere, and the moniker spread far […]
Read More The Mobilegeddon Is at HandBecoming a successful salesperson involves a lot of work. You have to be a technician who understands the specifications of the product you sell as well as the engineers who designed it. You have to be a psychologist who can read and understand a customer’s needs and wants better than the customer themselves. You have […]
Read More Three Things That Will Cause You to Lose a SaleAn introductory activity that gets participants listening to one another. And in doing so, finding out about each other’s values. Participants form two circles, one inside the other. As the circles rotate in opposite directions, participants are faced with different colleagues who ask and respond to a series of questions. Pre-Work Make a note of […]
Read More Team Building: Circle of QuestionsIt is important that whether for business or personal use that you follow the basics of email etiquette. Follow these simple email etiquette rules to create effective emails: Start Your Message with a Greeting Much like a face-to-face conversation, email messages should start with a proper greeting. Send to Appropriate Recipients Email messages are often […]
Read More 10 Email Etiquette TipsThere’s a dizzying array of social media sites out there, from giants like Facebook to small, niche-oriented sites you could hardly find if you didn’t know them. It’s impossible to create and manage a profile on every site on which your target market hangs out. Instead, you need to choose the most effective and most […]
Read More How to Decide Which Social Media Channels to UseA blog is a type of social media site that every single business should take advantage of. Blogs offer you a way to inform your customers and engage them. Your customers can read your posts, comment, and communicate directly with your company. It also helps your website’s SEO by providing a constant stream of fresh […]
Read More Consider Starting a Company BlogYou always hear marketers saying that the best email newsletter content is content that engages the audience. What exactly does this term ‘engage’ mean? It essentially means that your readers do more than simply read your content. When content engages, it gets the reader involved and urges them to take some kind of action. That’s […]
Read More How to Create Email Content that EngagesNo matter how open your lines of communication are, it’s inevitable that communication will sometimes go wrong. It may seem absolutely impossible to reach the other party, as if everything you say is misunderstood and twisted around to be an attack (or vice versa). There are ground rules to communicating in a conflict and, if […]
Read More When Words Collide – Communicating in a Conflict1. Communicate openly, clearly and consistently with your people, your peers and your own manager. 2. Encourage and practice frequent 2-way communication taking care to be a good listener and show that you value the opinions of your people 3. Set a good example and be a great role model 4. Ask people for their […]
Read More 20 Tips for New Line ManagersOnly the foolhardy and reckless forge ahead with a business idea before estimating if it will really be profitable. Once you have looked at all the details involved in implementing your business idea, you need to do an estimate of your breakeven point and return on investment (ROI). The breakeven point tells you how much […]
Read More How to Determine If Your Business Plan Will Be ProfitableWhen most people think of writing a business plan, they envision a long, extensively detailed document with masses of data and financial forecasts. While that may be the requirement for people seeking outside funding, a business plan doesn’t have to be that complicated to be effective. It provides the blueprint for how you intend to […]
Read More What is a Business Plan and Why Do You Need One?There is a real difference between a good referral that’s going to help you reach your business goals and a weak referral that’s not. Referrals are all about quality, not quantity, and you need to understand this qualitative difference in order to carry out a successful referral program. Referrals Are about Relationships The foundation of […]
Read More What Is a Quality Referral?
Whether you have an online store or an offline brick and mortar shop, pay attention to who is visiting and know as much about them as possible. If you’re offline, watch your customers shop, talk to them and get to know them as well as possible. For an online store, pay attention to your metrics […]
Read More Know Your CustomersOffers in email marketing often have a due date. They say that this offer is only good until a certain date, so act now. But if the offer is for a service or digital product, why is there scarcity? Can’t an unlimited number of digital files be downloaded? There are two reasons why we use […]
Read More Why Email Marketers Use Scarcity to Sell
