Getting tired of losing the pricing war to your competitors?  I had Kevin McArdle of McArdle Business Advisors in to speak to my boards in April.  His topic - Competing on Value.  In the presentation, he gave us tools in order to change the conversation so customers can see us in a different light.

If you'd like to be part of this conversation, please give me a call at 763-551-4777.

Mark Komen.  Owner,  TAB Minneapolis North/Central

As your business grows and key staff is hired, monitoring your staff’s day-to-day activities can be a challenge. Tracking staff decisions takes time, which can be increasingly scarce. To manage staff efficiently and make them more accountable, require each staff member to write and distribute a weekly letter that summarizes, on one page, the past week’s accomplishments, as well as plans for the upcoming week. The letter should be printed, not emailed, and a hard copy distributed to the entire staff, not just you, by the end of business each Friday.

The suggested format is…

During a recent Board meeting a topic of discussion was customer acquisition and retention. One member suggested acquiring new customers may mean reaching out to them several times using a variety of different marketing tactics. Another member shared her tactic: she sends out small boxes of chocolates with a note that simply states the name of her business and her website.

While it is important to be creative when reaching out to potential customers, equally as important is to develop a plan to stay in touch with current customers…

I recently realized that we have a long-standing company practice of throwing going-away parties for employees who are leaving. But I wondered, why weren’t we spending as much time and money welcoming new employees? Now, in addition to making sure new employees are effectively on-boarded with the orientation, tools and training they need to be successful, I make sure they are welcomed to the organization with as much enthusiasm as departing employees receive. In addition, I write a press release announcing the recent hire of each new employee. (I have noticed employees posting these in their work areas.) Incidentally, the press releases also increase traffic to our website.

There are three elements needed to determine the viability of a new market or business opportunity:

1. Market – Are you currently in this market?
2. Customer Base – Does the customer base have enough size/depth to support the new opportunity and sales effort?
3. Relationships – Do you or your organization have enough solid relationships in the target market to jump-start or support the added cost of the new opportunity?

As a rule, at least two of these elements must be present for your expansion to succeed.

A non-solicitation agreement ensures that anyone who leaves the company is not able to solicit your current customers. When you present to an employee such an agreement, you can say, "By signing this, you will be protecting your job by ensuring that anyone who leaves will not be taking any of our customers."