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Casual Articles - How to Avoid the Curse of Complacency
With all its glitz and glamour, many people believe that working in advertising is all fun and games. Nothing could be father from the truth as advertising agency people are some of the hardest working professionals around. At its very core, advertising is still a business and a very competitive business at that. Now, if despite that knowledge, you still think that advertising is a good place of employment, then read on to get a better idea of how the advertising world works.Basically, advertising serves the function of promoting goods and services through the mass media, which includes television, radio and print, mainly newspapers and magazines. Advertising also uses other non-traditional media to do its work such as outdoor advertising and through organizing special promotional events. In a marketplace that is cluttered with all sorts of products, it is advertising that manufacturers rely on to make them stand out from the clutter. This is where the advertising agency comes into play
2. Are you trying to be all things to all people? The o
Internationalization is actually localization on a large scale. While localization means to adapt a particular service to be more accessible to a single foreign culture, internationalization means to make it accessible to almost any culture in the world. Actually, internationalization and globalization go hand in hand. Globalization is the expansion of an activity throughout the world, and internationalization is the way to achieve it.The term 'internationalization' is spoken generally in the context of software and websites. Software and websites are no longer the property of a single nation; they are becoming more and more universal. Users all over the world access the Internet, and the Internet in general, can make the whole world a single global community. This is the reason why many companies are spending billions of dollars on internationalizing their websites and software.The first aspect of internationalization is to effectively change the original language to several oth
For many years I was the President and Owner of my family’s chain of wine stores. I remember times when things were great, and could hardly imagine things could be different. Only, things were slowly changing, unbeknownst to me For starters, Costco arrived with a flourish on the wine and spirit scene. As the number one seller of wine in the U.S., Costco has had a profound impact on the fortunes of independent retailers. At the same time, costs were going up across the board. For example, our insurance premiums (post 9/11) went through the roof. Other expense categories like real estate taxes, health insurance and workers compensation premiums were all rising. It became more difficult to run the business the way we had in the past.
We fought through our “complacency” stage. You can also, but you have to ask the right questions and seek answers you don’t necessarily want. Read the following eight questions, and start protecting your company from the evils of complacence. Part of “Hitting the Grand Slam” with your customers and associates is asking the tough questions. The results are always a continuing healthy business, robust profits, and happy employees.
1. Are your gross margins going up or down? What goes down doesn’t necessarily go back up. When your margins fall, you may be unwittingly training your customers to expect that pricing structure. You then run the risk of having alienated or disappointed customers when you try to raise prices again. Keep your margins as constant as you can, unless, of course, keeping them low will force you out of business. That only helps your competitors. Remember, your customers are creatures of habit. They don’t like change; they want things to be the same.
2. Are you trying to be all things to all people? The ol
Millions of Un-Sung Heroes are born every minute! They are found everywhere—on street corners, in our homes, offices, and communities—wherever there are people in need of rescue. These special people, whose positive actions and initiatives are performed to benefit others, are not famous or in the news for what they are doing; but their efforts affect, enrich and touch countless lives.Every business has these Un-Sung Heroes. They are the receptionists, secretaries, and administrative professionals we rely on daily to keep the wheels of corporate America turning.The role of the office professional has changed significantly as reliance on technology and office automation has increased. Downsizing or organizational restructuring has led secretaries and administrative assistants to assume a wider range of new responsibilities that were once the property of management and senior professional staff.How to Identify the Un-Sung Heroes in Your Office<
For many years I was the President and Owner of my family’s chain of wine stores. I remember times when things were great, and could hardly imagine things could be different. Only, things were slowly changing, unbeknownst to me For starters, Costco arrived with a flourish on the wine and spirit scene. As the number one seller of wine in the U.S., Costco has had a profound impact on the fortunes of independent retailers. At the same time, costs were going up across the board. For example, our insurance premiums (post 9/11) went through the roof. Other expense categories like real estate taxes, health insurance and workers compensation premiums were all rising. It became more difficult to run the business the way we had in the past.
We fought through our “complacency” stage. You can also, but you have to ask the right questions and seek answers you don’t necessarily want. Read the following eight questions, and start protecting your company from the evils of complacence. Part of “Hitting the Grand Slam” with your customers and associates is asking the tough questions. The results are always a continuing healthy business, robust profits, and happy employees.
1. Are your gross margins going up or down? What goes down doesn’t necessarily go back up. When your margins fall, you may be unwittingly training your customers to expect that pricing structure. You then run the risk of having alienated or disappointed customers when you try to raise prices again. Keep your margins as constant as you can, unless, of course, keeping them low will force you out of business. That only helps your competitors. Remember, your customers are creatures of habit. They don’t like change; they want things to be the same.
2. Are you trying to be all things to all people? The o
The SKINNY on NewspapersUsing the paper is considered gospel by many people in business. Use it wisely and it can be a good tool.Remember, newspapers are passive, non intrusive media. They tend to reach only buyers who are looking for the product. They are poor at reaching prospects before the need arises.Think about it, there are few times you have been driven to go to a store to buy a product you never heard of because you saw an ad in the paper. You had to have an earlier impression about the product for the newspaper ad to point you to the location to buy it.There are 4 ways to use the newspaper for advertising.1) Display advertising from one column wide by 2 inches high to a full two pages, display ads can be so numerous the news stories have to be cut so both can live on the page.There is usually no protection. Competiting store ads can be next to each other (next time you see the paper look for tire store ads on the same page).
We fought through our “complacency” stage. You can also, but you have to ask the right questions and seek answers you don’t necessarily want. Read the following eight questions, and start protecting your company from the evils of complacence. Part of “Hitting the Grand Slam” with your customers and associates is asking the tough questions. The results are always a continuing healthy business, robust profits, and happy employees.
1. Are your gross margins going up or down? What goes down doesn’t necessarily go back up. When your margins fall, you may be unwittingly training your customers to expect that pricing structure. You then run the risk of having alienated or disappointed customers when you try to raise prices again. Keep your margins as constant as you can, unless, of course, keeping them low will force you out of business. That only helps your competitors. Remember, your customers are creatures of habit. They don’t like change; they want things to be the same.
2. Are you trying to be all things to all people? The o
For the most part, 80% of what goes on in an interview is routine and predictable. There are hundreds of books out there on what to ask and what you'll be asked. In addition to the standard questions, you need to decide what questions you are most afraid the interviewer will ask you so you can prepare and practice answers to those questions now.A common interview agenda that looks something like this:1. Introduction2. Walking to the interview room3. Small talk4. The interviewer may give you a brief description of the position/overview of the company (depends on the interviewer)5. The interview then asks:* Tell me about yourself * Job highlights/work experience * Achievements * Strengths and weaknesses * Maybe education * Maybe outside interests - community service6. The interviewer may ask you if you have any questions7. The interviewer should let you know a little more about where they are in the intervi
1. Are your gross margins going up or down? What goes down doesn’t necessarily go back up. When your margins fall, you may be unwittingly training your customers to expect that pricing structure. You then run the risk of having alienated or disappointed customers when you try to raise prices again. Keep your margins as constant as you can, unless, of course, keeping them low will force you out of business. That only helps your competitors. Remember, your customers are creatures of habit. They don’t like change; they want things to be the same.
2. Are you trying to be all things to all people? The o
Many Industry analysts who study the on-going push-pull between Multi-National Conglomerates and their Labor Unions understand the history behind organized labor. Many believe that in the 1930’s that labor unions were needed and until up into the 1970’s most everything was unionized especially on the East Coast.In looking at the unions in the 1980s and 1990s we see how Unions hampered companies and thus made them un-competitive. This caused companies to reduce in size, which meant they needed fewer workers, the exact opposite of what the Unions had wished for.One intellectual recently stated on this issue; “I still believe something has to be done about the unions, if you could trust corporate America to do the right thing by their employees I'd say unions be damned. But who would monitor corporate America?”This is an interesting comment in that Corporate America is so utterly over regulated and must defend itself from a barrage of attacks from things like Sarbaines Oxley
2. Are you trying to be all things to all people? The old adage when a business closes its doors is, “We were busy until the very end!” If you are really busy, but aren’t making any money, then your prices are may be too low. My favorite ads are the ones that say “Price, Service, and Selection.” We used to say that, but in this day and age, it’s extremely difficult to run a business that way. Pick 2 out of the 3 and get to work. Are your prices higher than your competitors? Better be beating their profit margin with service and/or selection.
3. Do your associates still like coming to work? What is the mood from within your company? Convene a focus group or have an informal internet survey. There are more and more inexpensive ways to get your associates opinions, if you want them. Maintain an environment where your associates feel they can speak freely. Take the top three things your associates don’t like about your company and fix them. At the very least, use the good times to throw some value their way. Do your marketing materials say something like, “Our employees are our best asset”? Let them feel valued!
4. How does your store look? Is it time for some renovations or general upkeep? What has wear and tear done to your facilities? Don’t look at this yourself. Have someone else give you an honest assessment because they will spot things that you either won’t see or won’t admit seeing! Throw a fresh coat of paint up every once in a while. Customers will enjoy that, and your associates will as well. Are your bathrooms clean? Don’t lose sight of the little details. The other day my wife was out grocery shopping with our son Ben, when suddenly, as 4-year olds do, he announced the need for a bathroom. The woman’s bathroom was occupied so they ventured into the men’s. It was disgusting, and this was from a small chain known all over for its excellent customer service. When I teach companies how to “Hit th
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