Decisions, Decisions You can’t be all things to all people. Selecting the right client(s) and right project(s) will result in a profitable business. The opposite is also true – painfully true! Consuming your time with the wrong client(s) prevents you from being able to take the right client(s) and project(s). This is known as “Opportunity Cost”. Ask These Questions Does ...
Service Pre-Authorization
Is Your Service Profitable? As I meet with integrators it is usually a struggle for most to make money on their projects. For those that have actually cleared that first profit hurdle it is almost always countered by a severe lack of profitability on their service offering. In nearly all cases integrators are literally bleeding profitability on the service side ...
Episode 64: Corporate Culture by Design
In this episode Tom’s guest is Marilyn Sanford, a serial entrepreneur and a CEDIA Fellow. Tom and Marilyn discuss corporate culture and its importance.
What Comes First? Your Priorities Say A Lot!
A Fly On The Wall I sat in a group discussion of integrators; it was interesting to be a fly on that wall. As various owner/operators shared about their business it struck me how often the priorities that were stated were conflicting and what it said about their company culture (even if they didn’t realize it). While it often takes ...
Episode 58: Software Drives Knowledge
In this episode Tom’s guest is Marilyn Sanford, a serial entrepreneur and a CEDIA Fellow. Tom and Marilyn discuss the importance of software in the industry.
Service Plans – Things to Consider
I have watched as integrators overcomplicate the process of creating a service plan. Answering a few key questions will help to define the framework of your offering and be better able to price it accurately. Keep it simple! Seriously, one page, plain English, one price point (% of System Price), and non-optional. General Timing: Days/Hours of Operation Response Times: Acknowledgement ...
How To: Efficient Meetings
Some companies don’t meet enough while others meet too much. Others meet an appropriate amount but don’t have a defined set of rules to make sure the time is well spent and effective. Now you do! Should we meet at all? Info Pushed AT People = Don’t Meet = Memo! Reason: IDS: Identify/Discuss/Solve (EOS Traction) Need: Agenda, Shared Ahead, ...
Abundance vs. Scarcity
Several years ago, as I began a more formal process of networking, I sat down to a coffee with a person who would quickly prove to be insufferable. In very short order it was clear to me that, for a variety of reasons, I would not be referring any business to this individual. But there I was, trapped. I sat, ...
Being A Pro
What qualities would someone have to have for you to consider them a professional, or pro, in the consumer electronics industry? A quick Google search of “professional defined” reveals a very low bar: “Competent, Skillful, Assured ... Engaged in a specified activity as one’s main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.” Really!? That’s all it takes? As the former ...
Measuring Client Feedback
What Gets Measured Gets Done! It would be comforting to believe that we, as business owners and employees, are trying to delight our customers. But are we? If I asked you to measure how delighted your customers actually are, how would you go about it? Do you know when things went well or, more importantly, when they didn’t? If you aren’t surveying ...
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