If you listen to NPR’s Planet Money, you’ll have heard the economics term shrinkflation. Shrinkflation is when the price of stuff stays the same, but the amount you get goes down. They’ve now coined another new economics term: skimpflation.
Are Your Customers Sticky?
A CNBC Survey reported that 30% of small business owners shut down during the pandemic, 10% of those have yet to reopen. Some businesses run in circles shouting, “The sky is falling!”, while others hunker down, adapt, modify, and update their organizations to this new world.
Customer Conversations Every CEO Needs to Have Part II
Last week was about preparing for a thorough and honest face-to-face with your customers. We talked about the importance of doing a comprehensive customer evaluation prior to a visit. It’s important to know the good, the bad, and the ugly before sitting down with them.
When will things go back to “normal”?
Last week, two family members traveled to England and Wales. There was a lot of up-front work; the UK makes visitors submit information into a Locator Form (validation of vaccinations including a negative test result within 72 hours of arriving in England). However, their arrival in England was the fastest, most painless arrival ever to a foreign country! Scan your
How to Put Magic into Your Business
David Blaine has always been fascinated by magic. As a kid, he practiced magic tricks over and over until he could do them perfectly.
Stop! Let the ducks pass!
It had been a busy day. Joan had been running since early morning; it was now late afternoon. She was anxious to get home. She whipped onto the parkway and almost ran into a parked car. Ahead of her, three cars were stopped in the middle of the road. In a hurry to pass, she swung around the car in
How Do You Talk About Price Increases?
How to pass price increases on to customers is a prevalent topic in Roundtable meetings lately. The price of everything seems to be increasing.
Should You Take A Stand?
I live in a small community. As I drive down the country roads, it’s not hard to see who my neighbors support; signs and slogans still dot front yards.
Do You “Post & Pray?”
Recently, an Executive Roundtable Member joked that the best method he knew of for finding new employees is “posting and praying.”
Born with one eyebrow arched?
In the book Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell explores why we are so ready to believe people we don’t know. In the chapter on Bernie Madoff, he describes an interview between SEC investigator Peter Lamore and Madoff. Madoff explained that “essentially he could see around corners; he had an infallible ‘gut feel’ for when to get out of the markets just