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Change Management Doesn’t Have To Be Scary
Business owners are constantly bombarded with terminology and buzzwords. Although you probably feel a need to keep up with the latest trends, you also may find that many of these ideas induce more anxiety than relief. One example is change management. This term is used to describe the philosophies and processes an organization uses to manage change. Putting change management…Read More -
Targeting and Converting your Company’s Sales Prospects
Companies tend to spend considerable time and resources training and upskilling their sales staff on how to handle existing customers. And this is, no doubt, a critical task. But don’t overlook the vast pool of individuals or entities that want to buy from you but just don’t know it yet. We’re talking about prospects. Identifying and winning over a…Read More -
How to Attract Business Support for Your Nonprofit by Greg Wingfield
I recently read a blog post by Latasha Doyle of GuideStar that interested me greatly. The topic was how to best build a partnership with a for-profit entity. She wrote about four specific opportunities for engagement: sales, social responsibility, employee satisfaction, and marketing. Below is a recap of the article with a few thoughts of my own added in for…Read More -
Be Vigilant About Your Business Credit Score
Most people know they’ll face financial difficulties with a subpar personal credit score. Your business credit score is important for the same reason. Various reporting agencies use proprietary algorithms along with other data associated with your employer identification number to calculate this score. Important factors include your bill-payment history, annual revenues and entity choice. Be sure to build a strong…Read More -
The 3 Essential Qualities of An Effective Sales Leader
Over the course of the past 25 years, I have had the opportunity to work alongside, coach and develop dozens of sales leaders across a wide array of industries and business challenges. Some of those leaders achieved outstanding results despite many personal flaws, while others have continuously struggled despite possessing some of the stronger “leadership” personality traits I have witnessed.…Read More -
How to Develop Your Greatest Asset
So many factors go into making a company successful, but few are more important than developing the right talent internally. It’s interesting that this factor is often overlooked — or at a minimum — underappreciated. Even if you have a team of seasoned leaders, there are significant benefits to continually training, coaching, motivating, and mentoring employees who can be the…Read More -
Is Your Business Prepared With A Turnaround Strategy?
To prepare for the worst, every business owner should outline a general business turnaround strategy. It should begin with a keen awareness of warning signs such as poor key performance indicators and a rapid increase in debt and employee turnover. The turnaround will likely involve five steps: 1) assessment of the decline by external advisors, 2) re-evaluation of management and…Read More -
M&A Deal is Done, Now What? Time to Integrate the Sales Force
So, you’ve closed on an M&A deal and you’re going to make this new asset part of your existing organization. Diligence revealed that this addition to your business will support your strategic goals and the integrated company will produce value beyond the acquisition cost. Now what? Presumably you’ve read the abundance of literature reporting M&A failure rates between 70% and…Read More -
Financial Statements Tell Your Business’ Story, Inside and Out
As a business evolves, it will encounter the need to build credibility with outside parties, such as investors and lenders, and to make well-informed strategic decisions. In short, financial statements are a necessity. Typical components are an income statement, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement. Also frequently included: a retained earnings/equity statement and a notes section. Financial statements…Read More -
3 Ways to Be a Better Community Partner
Many business leaders I speak with want their organizations to become more civic minded. We also know that engaging employees in the process can be a be win-win for everyone; I discussed this in my article “Magic 8 Ball Says YES To Volunteerism and Employee Engagement.” If your business longs to get more involved in the community, here are…Read More -
How to Select a CPA
Smart business owners know that a good CPA is a valued business partnership. Very often we are asked “How do I select a CPA?” The basic answer comes in three steps. 1) Define your company’s requirements for a CPA firm. 2) Interview and conduct due diligence on several firms. 3) Combine the results of your due diligence with your gut…Read More