Author Alerts:
Get notified by email when new articles are written by Jon Stow!
Jon Stow
Basic PLUS Level Expert Author
Joined EzineArticles on Aug 19, 2009 Why Customer Service is Important Even to Those Who Are Not Customers Yet
Business: Customer Service • Published: March 22, 2010
I telephoned two other local venues to see whether they could accommodate our weekly meetings and to quote a price for breakfast and use of one of their meeting rooms. I stressed this would be regular income every week. Both said that their manager / event organizer would be in touch.
Why Quality is Important - Lessons From BMW
Business: Small Business • Published: March 22, 2010
We need to engage trusted and recommended people to support our businesses, and we need to be the best in our field at what we do. We need to be different from the rest, to have something special as far as our prospects are concerned so that they want to be our clients.
Why We Need to Take an Outside View in Business
Business: Change Management • Published: March 22, 2010
I have the advantage of being an outsider able to look at the whole business rather than being an inside navel-gazer, not able to look very far, and certainly not able to look even at what competitors are doing. I can see a lot more; I have the perspective of distance and height to see the whole picture, and I wish I could persuade them as to what they need to do.
Avoid False Economies in Business - Seeing Value Over Cost
Business: Consulting • Published: December 22, 2009
Sometimes in business we are guilty of not seeing the value of the products and services for which we ourselves are customers. I see people including some of my own clients finding value in one service but penny-pinching over another.
Why a Business Plan is Not Just For the Bank
Business: Small Business • Published: November 3, 2009
I live in a small town. We do not have too many stores in the main street because of the out-of-town shopping including two large supermarkets ten minutes drive away. Small shops selling food items need to move a lot of stock to pay the rents and overheads, and floor space and footfall limit the achievable profit. Business owners tend to come to me for a business plan only when they want my help with raising finance.
Why We Need Need to Respect the Feelings of Our Prospects and Clients
Business: Sales • Published: October 30, 2009
Suppose instead of asking how our prospects feel, we tell them how we think they feel. Suppose we do not listen to their opinions. Suppose we talk down to them. Suppose we bore them with the sound of our own voice and with our perhaps prejudiced opinion.
Responsibility and Leading From the Front
Business: Management • Published: October 5, 2009
About fifteen years ago the small firm for which I worked was taken over by a large international business. I was a department manager in the small firm and became one of several in the larger organization after moving to their office. In my new role I had a staff responsible to me who had come with me from the previous firm and whom I knew well, and I acquired some others, mainly young people studying for their exams.
Networking - The Folly of Hunting Rather Than Farming
Business: Networking • Published: September 24, 2009
Hunting has its place in networking, but mainly amongst job seekers who have a short period to sell themselves. It is no way to get business, though, because people generally want to work with those whom they trust, and you cannot trust someone until you get to know that person.
Networking is a Long Game
Business: Networking • Published: September 10, 2009
I have been in the breakfast networking game for a long time. I started out with BNI, scarcely knowing what it was when I first went. I cannot say that I gained a load of business from BNI, but I stayed a long time.
How to Avoid Giving Free Advice
Business • Published: September 8, 2009
Our doctor friend is not on paid time and because if he stopped to advise anyone he met in the street he would never have a life or any free time. Without his records and surgery resources he might give hurried and poor advice that is detrimental to the patient.