Yes, you heard correctly. REI’s CEO, Jerry Stritzke announced that they will be closing their 143 stores and paying their employees to head outside! So, what do you think? Why every other retailer is fighting for customers to come into their stores on Black Friday (some even opening on Thanksgiving) by offering deep discounts and […]
For decades businesses have been drawn to the creation of a SWOT analysis that forces leaders to look at their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. But, in our experience, the SWOT limits an organization to really be strategic and focus them to only look inside their own organizations and often leaving them blind to trends […]
Top Benefits of a Customer Oriented Business Companies have a choice to be oriented towards running their operations or towards market innovation. When I am asked to evaluate a company’s organizational design, it is the first thing I look for since it often the foundation for how decisions are made throughout the company. Although many […]
Creating an exceptional customer experience is the cornerstone of any business that wants to build and grow to unbelievable heights. This is the single best branding element that organizations have within their control that will have an immediate impact on the sustainability of the business. To create an exceptional customer experience, every action, word, marketing […]
Life comes at us in many different directions. Sometimes in is in waves of happiness and other times is can leave us gasping for air as the wind is knocked out of our lungs. How do we respond when that happens? For me, this last year has been a doozy. My beloved Yorkie, Max, became […]
In the last few years, there has been a profound change in customer’s behavior and buying patterns. Today’s buyers are educated and enabled by the internet to research and compare real time prices and reviews of your products and services. They have in essence, taken control of the sales process. In fact, in most industries, […]
The strategic planning process is the single most important event your leadership team can take on each year. But the strategic planning process isn’t a single, one time event. It is a fluid process that requires commitment, dedication and consistent review. So make strategic planning a habit within your organizations. Something that is critical to […]
We are often faced with decisions and sometimes those decisions can paralyze us with fear. How do we respond when this happens? We summer at the NJ shore where the ocean is a beautiful, wild creature just a short walk away. One summer, we invited friends from the Midwest to visit and it was such […]
Have you ever sat in a poorly run meeting where it feels that nothing was accomplished? And because of these poor meetings, everyone runs for the hills with all the excuses when somebody wants to “hold a meeting”. Believe it our not, there are well structured and effective meetings in corporate america, you can read […]
Today is a day of pure joy and peace. I am sitting in my beautiful garden and the temperature is 72 degrees with a nice, gentle wind and I am at complete peace. I have been working on two very exciting projects and one is getting very close to launching and I am going to […]
