Around The Table

Bad days. Everyone has them.

Jim went shopping for a high-end, luxury car. He showed up at six dealerships in jeans, driving a compact rental. All sold expensive cars, yet only one showed genuine interest. The manager took all the time Jim needed, was highly knowledgeable, and even told him when he could come back to look at a soon-to-be-released new model.

At a recent Roundtable meeting, David shared his concern regarding an employee who was padding his timecard with overtime hours he wasn’t working. This wasn’t the first time Joe had been caught stealing; the last time it was for taking scrap material. Unfortunately, Joe is the only person who performs a complicated assembly process in the factory. So, David has

Jim spent the better part of a week in Las Vegas at the annual Furniture, Home Décor, and Gift Market. People from all over the world annually attend. Jim spent long days talking to exhibitors and negotiating prices on unique items to fill his store.

A couple of years ago a member came to a Raven roundtable with the following issue: “My Dad is dying from cancer, and I want to be with him. I don’t have anyone trained to run my company while I’m gone. What can I do?”

This is a blog with more questions than answers.

“Where’s the magic?  I’m not feeling it, are my customers? “

My friend, Jean, is in the habit of taking an early morning run every Saturday. Until recently, she used to stop afterward for a leisurely cup of coffee at her neighborhood coffee shop.

Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best. ~St. Jerome

What are your thoughts when you see a messy desk? How about a tidy, organized desk? A University of Minnesota study indicates that people with messy desks are creative and full of new ideas. A clean desk, by contrast, suggests generosity and conventionality.

Remember a time when you worked really hard for something? Maybe it was winning a competition, acing a test, or getting selected for the lead in your class play. You poured countless hours into preparing for victory.

The keynote speaker at our Raven Retreat was Chris Fitzgerald Sheriff of Barron County Wisconsin. His office was the center of operations during the search for Jayme Closs; the 13-year-old who was abducted from her home after her parents were fatally shot. Sheriff Fitzgerald told the gripping story which as everyone knows ended with Jayme breaking out and running for help after 88

What is one word you would choose to define you in 2021?    These are the words chosen by my members to define themselves in 2021. The road is easier together,

What’s the #1 thing you’ll focus on in your planning for 2021? Succession planning. We also need to figure out how to make our business more valuable. ************  Examine the different kinds of memberships and season passes to see if we need to raise prices. We will also look at family memberships; they are increasing. ************  Sales! ************ We’re going

What’s one thing you’ll stop doing when the pandemic is over? I’m going to stop worrying. I feel like worry has set in more and more, every day I battle it. I worry about the numbers. I want to re-evaluate my current situation all the time and be as realistic as I can be about what I can and can’t

What’s one thing you’ve started doing during the pandemic that you’ll continue doing when things return to normal? 1. Customer touches, making a point to be more in contact with them.  We’ll keep that rolling.  We’re doing a better job of that during COVID than we did before.  It’s more of a relationship builder than just calling for the order.I’d

The best boss I ever worked for was so good because …  How does that relate to how you manage people today? 1. I worked as a bar manager in college.  The owner was so good because he cared.  We had some great late-night conversations that went well into the wee hours of the morning.  He was interested and he

What’s Your “Get-Pumped” Song and Who’s The Artist?? Aaron Copeland – Rodeo AC/DC – It’s a long way to the top  AC/DC – Thunderstruck Alan Parson’s Project – Eye in the sky  (1st 90 seconds)  Alicia Keys – Girl on Fire Alicia Keys – No One   Awolnation – SAIL  Billy Joel – Piano Man Colton Dixon – Through all of it David Guetta Ft.

Call one customer before our May meeting and ask, “What is your biggest challenge today or what is your greatest unmet need?” When talking to customers, I haven’t learned anything new, but it has been validating. Amazon makes it easy to return items, so when customers have issues they don’t understand, they just send the item back saying it didn’t.

What outside the box idea could you invest in today that could start generating income within the next 60 days? I’m creative!  I can come up with a million of those outside of the box ideas!  Realistically I should be promoting my coaching services a lot right now.  I could have more webinars and live streaming Q & A’s that

If there was a downturn in the economy, what 3 things in your business could be eliminated and your company would still run effectively? I’ve started the process already. Walk-ins and phone calls have gone down dramatically.  No need for a receptionist, laid her off last Friday. Stopped all non-essential purchases. May need to cut back hours. Consider eliminating someone

Describe your most successful technique for getting customers. We used to do a lot of advertising.  Now we focus on social media.  I think it’s word of mouth and being consistent in the work we do.  We’ve worked a long time on the sympathy business – people who come in say they can always tell which flowers came from our

The question this month: If you had $1 million to take your business as far as you could go, what would you do with the capital? I would split it – invest it in marketing and sales. I also would update the equipment and the employees.  See where it was needed the most, there are things that need to be

Each year I like to create a gift for my round table members. I take the answers to all of the year’s questions and have a book created. Here is 2019 Around The Table Questions and Answers. CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PDF OF 2019 AROUND THE TABLE BOOKLET

 What Will You Congratulate Yourself For A Year From Now? Opening a second location for my new business. I will congratulate myself for huge progress in my wellness quest. For sticking to my personal and professional commitment to growth.

The question this month:  What are you doing in your company that will improve people and the planet for tomorrow? #1 Internally we’re doing a lot of things to grow people:

“The time is ripe for ….?” Leaps forward.  We sit on a lot of ideas in business or personal life and we don’t do them.  We are going into the year 2020, which is really big.  This is about vision clarity.  There will be a big shift in society and how people view things.  There are changes coming.  It’s now

Here are the top three answers from last month’s Around the Table question for September: “What are your customers forcing you to do that makes your company better?”

Here are the top three answers from last month’s Around the Table question for August: “How often have members of your leadership team spoken to a customer in the last 90 days? For what reason?” 

Here are the top three answers for July’s Around the Table Question of the Month: “Do you ever ask your vendors to participate in events at your company? In what ways?” 

Here are the top 4 answers to June’s question, “What are some of the things you do (or can do) to engage the lowest paid employees in your company?” 

Each year I like to create a gift for my round table members. I take the answers to all of the year’s questions and have a book created. Here is 2018 Around The Table Questions and Answers. CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PDF OF 2018 AROUND THE TABLE BOOKLET

Each year I like to create a gift for my round table members. I take the answers to all of the year’s questions and have a book created. Here is 2017 Around The Table Questions and Answers. CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PDF OF 2017 AROUND THE TABLE BOOKLET

Each year I like to create a gift for my round table members. I take the answers to all of the year’s questions and have a book created. Here is 2016 Around The Table Questions and Answers. CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PDF OF 2016 AROUND THE TABLE BOOKLET