Business Tips by Chris Reich

Every business experiences this except the business without customers. The customer wants a "favor". Can you reduce the shipping charge? Can you expedite this one time without charging me extra? Can you include the widget at no extra charge just this once? Can we have...

Do you know who this guy is? Believe it or not, he's got the solutions to many of the big problems at your business. He's the guy closest to the problem. He's dealing with the problem every day. He might be dealing with your customers every day too.   I've seen...

Your server will ask that question about 5 minutes into your meal. "How is everything?" Sometimes they will be slightly more open and ask, "Is everything okay here?" Nice of them to check back so soon after delivery.   Once in a rare while you'll be asked, "how's...

Here's an excerpt from a story in today's news: Hundreds of Indian rail passengers got more than they had bargained for when the driver of their train asked them to get out and push.   It took more than half an hour to move the stalled electric train 12 feet...

I've been hammering this theme for months and feel like a voice in the wilderness. FOCUS.   You MUST focus on what you do. What is the purpose of your business and what is your role in that purpose? The answer to that question must be your FOCUS.   Yes, you...

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...

Yes! It's possible to stop the biggest distraction of your entire day.   How would you like to: Get more work done Make fewer errors Work with less stress Have fewer interruptions Keep your mind in better focus on a work task All are possible and easy...

We've all seen this. Many of us have done it ourselves. An idea comes up at a meeting and the boss says something like, "let me play the Devil's advocate for a moment" and then proceeds to start picking at the idea. Some people, adverse to the term "Devil's advocate"...

Would you rather spend the next three hours in Conference Room B or The Alpine Room? It probably doesn’t matter to you what the cornballs who actually put stuff in the ”suggestion box“ decided to name the conference rooms. You know it’s just another meeting. Sometimes...

Want to build solid relationships with your customers? Go spend time with them at their business. Go see what their days look like!

Least Rewarding Jobs   ”The most satisfying jobs are mostly professions, especially those involving caring for, teaching and protecting others and creative pursuits,“ said Tom Smith, director of the General Social Survey (GSS) at the National Opinion...

Did the pilot do the right thing? Could this have been handled differently? Better?   This very interesting business "situation excercise" was in today's news. The story follows and you can draw your own conclusions.   I applaud the pilot. He did...

No matter how hard you try, how much you invest in improvements, how efficient you are, you cannot save time. Businesses waste a lot of money and effort and add a lot of stress to their people trying to save time.