Business Tips by Chris Reich
Tips from growing a business to dealing with disputesWhy You Want a Lower Sales Closing Rate
You might think that a 100% closing rate is perfect. 100% is probably impossible so something like 85% should be your goal. Right? No. It depends on what you sell. A grocery store should "close" every potential milk sale. A car sales person can expect to close a...
Are You Grading Your Work?
In spite of institutional education's desire to move away from grading, it works. Grading works with people who are motivated to achieve. Calling it only a letter grade is like calling marriage only a piece of paper. People who do things right know...
THE Most Important Lesson on Teamwork Ever
Do you really want teamwork? Do you need teamwork? Then it's absolutely imperative to remember the first rule of teamwork. If you want agreement on a solution to a problem, you must first reach agreement on the problem itself. When sales are down,...
Why “Fun” at Work Should NOT Be a Goal
It is very important that people have fun at work. Fun improves morale and brings with it a host of real benefits to the business from improved productivity to reduced turnover. But fun should not be a goal of any business. I write often about the...
Do Ethics Matter?
Did you catch the story about the "Wet Seal" chain of clothing stores? They are folding up. That's not the story. When employees asked their managers why new inventory wasn't coming in, they were told the stores were going to be remodeled. Management knew the...
Want to Fix a Business Problem? Start Here
Last year I worked with a number of businesses experiencing problems. Some were huge problems. Recently, I tried to help the local community deal with a problem--- without much success. Even though we all know what to do to fix problems, we often forget...
Two Problems In Negotiation
When teaching presentation I always include a unit on Game Theory. At first, students have a hard time seeing how important some of the concepts are to achieving the desired outcome in a negotiated transaction. Once we explore the concepts in depth, it's...
Sony Has an Ethics Problem
Let’s begin with the idea about making a movie about killing a foreign head of state. We’re not talking about a bit joke involving exploding cigars and Castro. The Interview is an entire movie about killing the leader of North Korea. That’s funny. No, no it isn’t.
When A Deep Hole is NOT a Deep Hole
I have a friend who likes to go exploring in caves. He goes off into the mountains on weekends looking for interesting formations of rock and caves to explore. He called me a couple of weeks ago and was all excited about a big discovery he had...
The Secret of SEO
A couple years ago, if you used your key words properly, your site would rank well. For example, if you sold hammers, and used the word “hammer” in your page title and multiple times throughout your page, you’d get a pretty good ranking. If you added a couple of pictures of hammers, you would have landed on the first page of search for the word hammer.
Do This If You Want to Have Fun at Work
This is a continuation of my series on the importance of fun at work. Fun is important and improves morale and productivity. Go about it in the wrong way, however, and you'll have a mess on your hands. Last night I read an article about how to bring fun to the...
Define Fun at Work!
I often talk about the importance of having fun at work and how important that is. People are interested in the topic (my posts on fun at work get thousands of reads) and it’s time I said more about it.
Why You Need to Understand the Monty Hall Problem
I Am Very Greedy: Raise the Minimum Wage for Me
This may kill my career as a business adviser and educator. What I am about to say is very unpopular with business. This idea is opposed by not only the biggest employer in the United States, but by most of the biggest employers in the United States. The top 3...
The Enemy of Your Business Presentation Is…
Watch this presentation to learn about the real enemy of your next presentation.
Great Presentation Tip: I Promise
Why Your Business Does Not Need 6-Sigma or LEAN
I have seen 6 Sigma implementations attempted at a few businesses and must say it's not a magic pill, silver bullet or golden goose. GE made 6 Sigma famous as the latest and greatest "innovation" to take businesses to "world-class" standards. If you haven't heard of...
Thank You for Pointing Out My Error
Don't you just it love when you spend hours and countless hours or a pile of money building your website only to have some know-it-all take the time to write an email pointing out a spelling error?!!!You should.In fact, that person should be given the velvet rope...