In manufacturing, the only route to success is to manage costs, reduce waste, and increase efficiencies. From a waste point-of-view, here are six tips to successfully reduce waste which will not only reduce costs but it also improve customer service. Stop doing those activities that no one uses anymore [...]
It is interesting to sit back and watch as companies spend millions of dollars on strategy formulation, just to achieve minimal results due to poor execution. Yet, the process repeats constantly - more money is dumped into strategy formulation, 3 ring binders, fancy Power Point slides, etc. On the [...]
Manufacturers can no longer count on customer loyalty, but they can expect customers continued demands for quality products and service. Quality has seemingly fallen out of favor in terms of the number of articles and attention in industry circles; however, it remains a bedrock principle for customer service and [...]
Exceptional customer service and customer relations can make or break your business. A few tips to improve your customer service include: Focus on providing value - know what your customers' value (service, price, features, lead time, etc). How can you be better than everyone else in providing your customer's [...]
I was asked to give a speech in January of 2008 on trends and opportunities of 2008. While researching for the speech, I reviewed the last several months of Wall Street Journal alerts and other trends, and the overall story was downright scary - oil continues to push to [...]
As complicated as most companies seem to make it, the critical factors in software selection boil down to a select few: Understand your business - what are the critical functional requirements? Don't worry about everything required in every module to run your business. Instead, take a step back and [...]
Meant to protect investors and increase transparency in corporate accounting, implementing the Sarbanes Oxley Act takes some organizational introspection. The 2002 Sarbanes Oxley legislation (new, enhanced standards for all U.S. public companies) was established in response to high-profile financial scandals (Enron etc) in order to protect shareholders and the [...]
In my experience, processes are discussed and debated expertly; however, many times, they fail in execution. It isn't that the process is faulty; instead, it is process discipline and consistency that fails. So, I've included a few tips to successfully implement processes: Communicate and clarify - many times, it [...]
Customer collaboration is always a good idea; however, leveraging customer collaboration during challenging economic times can be one of the keys to success. Pick up the phone - some of the largest successes I've seen result from simple yet critical conversations. It can be as simple as calling a [...]
Clearly, one of the keys to thriving in the current recession is to be ahead of the competition in terms of sales: Remember value - don't focus solely on price. Focus on value, defined in terms of value perceived by your customer. Differentiate yourself with customer service - providing [...]
