Seeding, Cultivating and Growing a Passionate and Caring Workforce

Roberta LewissmartPRENEUR Blog Series

The Best Way To Be a Better Leader is to Fail I have many stories of success and failure in growing employees and instilling passion and loyalty in a work culture.  The best way to be a better leader is to fail.  Failure teaches you a lot if you are open to learning and changing your ways.  Yes, you can ...

Creating a Workplace Culture that Retains and Attracts Top Talent – at Every Level

Roberta LewissmartPRENEUR Blog Series

People Are Your Greatest Asset The most essential part of managing and growing any business is the importance of employees within the organization. People are the greatest asset in a business, period.  If ownership and leadership do not understand the meaning and value of each person, the problem starts at the top.   I was offended whenever I heard someone in ...

Managing and Motivating a Talented and Driven Sales Team Isn’t Easy

Roberta LewissmartPRENEUR Blog Series

Managing and motivating a seasoned sales force isn’t an easy feat by any means.  The more successful a salesperson becomes, the more difficult it becomes to motivate and get them to participate in regular programs and incentives.  In fact, the top performers are the salespeople you'll need to spend the most time managing.  The top sales performers are typically the ...

Creative Compensation and Incentive Plans are Important for Productivity and Profits

Roberta LewissmartPRENEUR Blog Series

Money Does Not Equal Motivation I learned early in my retail sales management career that money and other motivational incentives do not motivate all people the same.  In fact, what motivates one person does not necessarily motivate the next.  The reason for creating incentive plans and bonuses is to raise productivity, shorten downtime, increase billable hours, increase profits, and stimulate ...

The Buck Stops Here!

Roberta LewissmartPRENEUR Blog Series

Listening to, Hearing and Empowering Your Managers Growing A Business In my past, I grew within a specialty retail business from an accounting clerk upward, to accounting manager, office manager, general manager, vice president, and then to the organization’s president within a twenty-year period. During my tenure, our staff count went from around thirty to over two hundred.  I learned ...

Beyond Grassroots and Word-of-mouth Sales & Marketing Strategy

Roberta LewissmartPRENEUR Blog Series

Most small business owners start building their businesses with word-of-mouth referrals. As they immediately step on the monthly sales treadmill, they are constantly working to exceed the previous month's sales or previous year's comp numbers, quickly recognizing that there is little time for planning.  While the ongoing, all-consuming process of managing what I deem “business already sold” to completion, open ...