Business Tips by Chris Reich
Tips from growing a business to dealing with disputesCreativity Second to Integrity Means…?
About 60% of CEOs polled cited creativity as the most important leadership quality, compared with 52% for integrity and 35% for global thinking. Creative leaders are also more prepared to break with the status quo of industry, enterprise and revenue models, and they...
Why I Still Don’t Give Team-building Seminars
When teams don’t function properly, there are issues at play that run far deeper than a seminar can address. (An already functional team can benefit from team-building)
Don’t Fear Being Imperfect. Fear Being Normal.
No, this post isn't going to be perfect. I'll flub some grammar. Some sentences may not be the best in terms of readability. I'm a very busy guy and unless you're looking for a writer, the tip I'm about to give you will outweigh the erudition.Stop trying to be...
Failure Analysis
I believe it is very important to look closely at why things went wrong when things go wrong. We can learn from our mistakes. But how can you look closely at failure without your desire for 'better' devolving to a blame game?Before answering that question, we have to...
A Bad Plan is Still Better Than No Plan—Usually
What are the goals of your business for the summer months? Have you made a plan or are you just hustling to get through each month?I know what I need to get done tomorrow. I will get those "must complete" items finished no matter how many interruptions come my way.I...
Apology. Quick Tip.
First.Sorry I have not posted for a while. I have been extremely BIZZY. That's the goal, right? So I just haven't had the time to post something worth reading. That is my tip.If you blog, don't post just to post. Have something of value to say. If you can't think of...
Still HR?
As I prepare for the 25th annual HR Symposium in Santa Clara, I am in wonder with what should be considered on the top 10 list of politically incorrect terms, yet survives common usage, namely HR. Human Resources.For all the talk about 'people' being every company's...
The Key to Finding New Customers
That key is to tailor your business to fit the needs of the customers you are seeking. Seems obvious enough but it's not that easy to do.Let's look at a couple of examples. I want to try to overcome the objection that "this doesn't apply to my business." That...
Think of the Possibilities
Orville Wright died in 1948. Neil Armstrong was in his first year of college and already a pilot in 1948.In 5,000 years of human history, man only dreamed of flying.The man who made the first human-controlled flight possible could easily have met the man who would...
SEO: Search Engine Optimization Tips
I get a dozen emails a day from SEO companies guaranteeing to put my website on the first page of search. I've talked with some of these services. They are not cheap and they are extremely risky for your business.Attempts to "game" the system could make your business...
Don’t Ask, Tell
If you are considering a new product launch or other significant change at your business, do not, please do not conduct a survey.Surveys are pretty close to useless.If you ask "would like to see our product in purple?", you will get more positive than negative...
Great Presentation Is…
This is actually a pretty damn good presentation. I have a feeling this young lady will be okay...Pretty damn good. She tells a story. The "slides" don't really matter. She's who she is. And, she's got an app backing the proposal. A+ Warren Buffet should...
2 Rules for Business Survival
When the new visitor lands on your site, can they understand in a flash what it is that you do?This is a reminder for all of us. Regarding our website or business---is the offer clear? Can the site visitor understand what is offered and are they curious enough to take...
Which Path Will America Choose?
I try to encourage creative and fun thinking with my clients. Creativity is so dead at most businesses these days that I hear things like, "I like being creative" when someone 'boldly' tries a new font on a flyer promoting a birthday lunch. Bringing fun into the...
How to Find New Customers
It's what every business wants. New customers. But they are difficult and very expensive to find. Why look for them? Don't bother.Rather than waste time and money looking for new customers, make it as easy as possible for people who are looking for what you offer to...
Why Should Work Be Fun?
There is no reason that everyone at your business can’t be having fun doing their job. In the immortal words of Mary Poppins, “in every job that must done there is an element of fun.”
Rule Number One
The business and its cumbersome rules and procedures have become more important than the customer at most American businesses.It starts at the point of initial contact: "To speak with a sales rep, fill out this form". It's as though the customer must qualify for...
Watch Your Tone!
Every now and then I have to take a few minutes to clean up my email boxes. With 20-30 emails coming in per hour, and 5-20 going out per hour, debris piles up pretty fast. Yesterday, while cleaning out my email 'sent' file, I came across a reply sent to a long time,...