Monthly Archives: July 2009

Sales People Want New Products to Sell and Other Myths

Posted on July 29, 2009 by

In my experience if you ask sales people what they need to increase their sales they answer with one (or more) of these three items: 1. Lower prices 2. More leads (or floor traffic or its equivalent) 3. New products … Continue reading →

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Value is always the name of the game

Posted on July 28, 2009 by

The San Jose Mercury News ran an article today on opening a business during a recession. The writer did a good job of profiling various businesses, especially retail businesses, that open during a recession and the thinking behind how and why … Continue reading →

Posted in Pricing, recession, retail | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Proof … and not just from me!

Posted on July 27, 2009 by

In my book, The Secret To Selling More, I stress the importance of knowing what customers can buy from your company they can’t buy elsewhere (or at least don’t think they can). I use examples of cars versus driving machines, … Continue reading →

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Kicking butt in the downturn

Posted on July 23, 2009 by

W.W. Grainger Inc. last Wednesday reported an 18% drop in second-quarter profit but said it was able to carve out market-share gains even as the economy is showing no signs of a rebound. Apple® announced financial results for its fiscal 2009 third … Continue reading →

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Starbucks and customer service ratings

Posted on July 22, 2009 by

My local Starbucks posted their customer service ratings. The scores indicate that they need to process people a bit quicker and clean the store up a bit. I agree. Overall their scores were in the 50s-80s. I notice similar scores … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobile Industry, customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, customer service, retail | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jobs leaving California

Posted on July 20, 2009 by

Off on a short tangent today, just because I can’t stand it. Novellus, a leading semiconductor equipment company, announced that it was moving jobs out of California due to “… costs in California [being] historically higher.” In addition, the CEO … Continue reading →

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Seven Steps To Value Acceleration (Part 5)

Posted on July 17, 2009 by

When Ralph and I published our book Value Acceleration, we were asked for ideas on the steps to take to get Value Acceleration for your company. We came up with seven. We will post them here over the next several of … Continue reading →

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