Coughlin’s Law: Bury the Dead
People leave, let’s get over it. Gone are the days when a man arrives for work in the factory two days after his high school graduation and leaves forty years later with a gold watch. The American career path hasn’t included this scenario since before Lyndon Johnson took office. [...]
Filed in Business Situations, Leadership Observations, Management Training No Responses yet
Are You Venting or Just Making Excuses?
A colleague recently posted a rant about the quality of the leads she was handling on an automotive industry social network. As a part of her diatribe on her most recent batch of Internet sales leads, she gave some great examples of just how bad the leads really [...]
Filed in Business Situations, Sales Management One Response so far
Quick, Read This Email… Now!
Today I received another in a long line of email messages from a certain vendor touting their newest and greatest product improvement. This email, like all of its predecessors, arrived in my Outlook inbox as a message of High Importance. Because I receive just one in five hundred messages marked [...]
Filed in Business Situations, Digression, Sales Management One Response so far
You’re Not Ready for Social Networking
A colleague who operates a retail franchise asked me my thoughts about incorporating social networking into his Internet sales efforts. Currently, he tracks about 35% of his sales directly to customers who first contacted his store via the Internet.
As I explained to my colleague (without trying to sound like [...]
Filed in Business Situations, Digression No Responses yet
How Do You Deal With a New Boss?
One of our regular readers – and someone who asked our advice very early on in the legacy that has become AskTheManager.com – AngelCakes from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan recently provided us with both an update on her management career and a new dilemma.
When we first heard from AC, [...]
Filed in Business Situations, Leadership Development, Management Training No Responses yet
Sometimes You Have to be a Prick to Those Outside of Your Company
I just received the March 2009 purchase report from one of our company’s 50+ vendors who provide such recaps. This particular vendor chose to name the file MyCompanyMarch.xls. By “MyCompanyMarch,” I mean he put the name of my company and the month in [...]
Filed in Business Situations, Digression, Leadership Observations, Management Training No Responses yet
If You Want the Swindlers, Get Their Accountants
“If you want the Mafia, get their lawyers,” explains Mitchell McDeere, formerly of Bendini, Lambert and Locke.
I think we’re missing the real villains in the Bernard Madoff affair. Madoff, in case you’ve been under a rock for the last few months, is the 70-year old investment fund [...]
Filed in Business Situations, Digression One Response so far
Too Much Technology…
When working to help an underperforming business unit (in my real job) grow their revenues, I always discover instances where the unit has purchased some widget, gadget or other magic bullet designed to help them sell more.
Although well-meaning, the manager who made this purchase generally believed against all his or her own [...]
Filed in Business Situations, Leadership Observations, Management Training, Sales Management 3 Comments so far
