Posts Tagged ‘Business Tips’

Can You Predict Future Revenue?

By MARK RIFFEY - What would you be able to focus on if you weren’t running about the place trying to chase down enough sales to make next week’s payroll?... more

Robots, Rural Small Business and China

By MARK RIFFEY - Would robotics address rural small business challenges like it does in China?... more

What Your Customers Don’t Know

By MARK RIFFEY - What you think they know, what they really know, what they've forgotten. Why Messaging is so important in marketing your business.... more

Winning Against the Chain Store

By MARK RIFFEY - Yesterday, I sat down in a store that’s part of a Montana-based coffee shop chain. I drove past a national coffee chain to reach this place. Why should I drive past them to vist you?... more

The Hardest Part of Helping A Business

By MARK RIFFEY - There are a lot of rewards that come with helping businesses improve beyond what they expected.... more

Sales That Hide From You

By MARK RIFFEY - How do you find hidden sales in your prospect list? How do you know when lead is no longer interested in buying? How do you know when they are ready to buy? ... more

How To Build a Follow Up System

By MARK RIFFEY - It’s important to develop a system of consistently following up with your clients. A system can all but eliminate the cracks.... more

Everyone Can Sell, If you Train Them

By MARK RIFFEY - Sales taining matters--for everyone and on every shift. Here's why--you do the math.... more

A Simple, High-Value Tactic That Many Miss

By MARK RIFFEY - FOLLOW UP: The most common reason that follow up doesn’t happen is that there’s no system to manage it. Without a system those follow up tasks are soon forgotten.... more

What’s Holding Your Business Back?

By MARK RIFFEY - Are sales down? Don't get desperate. Get Facts. When an owner is desperate for business, (at least) two things often take place in an effort to turn things around:... more

Desperate for Business?

By MARK RIFFEY - Are sales down? Don't get desperate. Get Facts. When an owner is desperate for business, (at least) two things often take place in an effort to turn things around:... more

Do You Value Your Clientele?

By MARK RIFFEY - The behavior of our business indicates how we value our clientele. Some businesses value what they do and work hard for every lead. Every client. Every order. Every payment.... more

We Have No Time for Yoga Pants

By MARK RIFFEY - Whether you believe the yoga pants thing was a joke or not, it doesn’t really matter. Helena's work is serious business, and it's personal.... more

Looking to Disrupt a Market?

By MARK RIFFEY - We earn the privilege to stay in our market every day. When we don’t, we often expose opportunity we’ve ignored, provoking someone to disrupt a market.... more

The Pace of Change

By MARK RIFFEY - If things have seemed a bit frenetic in your business lately, you’re not alone. Things are changing faster than ever, including the pace of change.... more

Planning For a Strategic Tradeshow

By MARK RIFFEY - Trade shows aren't vacation. They're strategically important. Plan them that way.... more

Do I Really Need to Exhibit At Trade Shows?

By MARK RIFFEY - Trade shows are focused gatherings of clients, prospects and vendors. Why bother?... more

The Shortcut To Easier Sales

By MARK RIFFEY - The Shortcut to sales starts with a simple question: Who is the ideal person for your product/service? Who's Your Target Audience?... more

How To Make a Good Upsell

By MARK RIFFEY - When someone asks me how to make a good upsell, I suggest that they focus on being helpful.... more

Reinvigorate Your Business For The New Year

By MARK RIFFEY - It's time to get things ramped up for 2015. What can you improve without spending much?... more

Defending Your Business

By MARK RIFFEY - Take an active role in defending your business, because if you don't, few others will.... more

Creating Client Loyalty = Depending on You

By MARK RIFFEY - This time of year is always a good time to remind you of the difference between working on the business vs. working in it.... more

Focused On The Holiday, The Now or The Future

By MARK RIFFEY - This time of year is always a good time to remind you of the difference between working on the business vs. working in it.... more

Your Systems Should Serve All Customers

By MARK RIFFEY - Do your systems serve your internal customers or all of them? These systems don’t often focus on the client’s needs, even though they ultimately serve that client.... more

The Magic Triangle of Small Business

By MARK RIFFEY - The Magic Triangle of Business? Quality, customer service, management. It's that simple.... more

Customers Cost Too Much to Let Them Disappear

By MARK RIFFEY - What happens to the clients who don't come back? Every business loses customers at some point. What separates the successful from the rest is how they act after that.... more

Have You Thanked Them Lately?

By MARK RIFFEY - Can you remember the last time you received a personal, hand written thank you note from someone you do business with? Thanksgiving isn't the only time to be thankful.... more

Are They Talking About You?

By MARK RIFFEY - Are you customers talking about you? They should be. One of the most powerful tools in marketing is the testimonial. Yet they are used so infrequently.... more

Can You Sleep When The Wind Blows?

By MARK RIFFEY - Taking care of business means more than just caring about today.... more

Has Your Client List Heard From You Lately?

By MARK RIFFEY - As we head into retail’s peak shopping season, the big question is “Will my clientele buy…again?” Have you had any contact with them since last November or December?... more

Selling to Everyone

By MARK RIFFEY - Selling isn’t about the shine; it’s about what happens when the shine has worn off.... more

Does Your Business’ Reality Match Theirs?

By MARK RIFFEY - Ever watch any of the business turnaround reality shows on TV? The pattern is the same for most of them – regardless of the type of business. What's the reality at your business?... more

Big Data, Small Business

By MARK RIFFEY - Rather than being overwhelmed by your data, leverage it. You can use data for guidance and decision making. ... more

Mark Riffey on Business: Ask Great Questions

By MARK RIFFEY - I’m always looking for better questions to ask. Good questions educate me about a situation or a mindset someone is in and help me understand where they’re coming from.... more

ROI And Why They Buy

By MARK RIFFEY - If you can't explain the ROI of your stuff to a random person in your prospect's lunch room or warehouse, it's going to get picked to shreds.... more

What Are Your Compelling Reasons?

By MARK RIFFEY - People need compelling reasons to change what they're doing, even if they're not doing anything.... more

Earning Return Business, Part Four: Confidence

By MARK RIFFEY - Your clients' confidence in you is critical to earning return business. Take a pizza for example...... more

Earning Return Business, Part Three: Little Things

By MARK RIFFEY - Getting you to return comes from you getting the little things right, even if you're the only game in town.... more

Earning Return Business, Part Two

By MARK RIFFEY - Not long ago I heard someone say “Excuses are a lie wrapped in a reason.” Training is a critical component to building a team that brings clients back repeatedly.... more

Earning Return Business

By MARK RIFFEY - When you make client service decisions, do you weigh the cost of losing the client?The incremental cost of service is usually tiny compared to losing the client.... more

Consistency is Critical to Repeat and Word-of-Mouth Business

By MARK RIFFEY - What inconsistencies can you address to increase repeat and word of mouth business?... more

Busy Business Owners Have No Time

By MARK RIFFEY - The average CEO says they only spend about 25% of their day doing what they feel is meaningful work. Does that sound like your typical work day?... more

Help Them Produce Their Best Work

By MARK RIFFEY - No matter what business you’re in and what summer does to your workload – summer is a great time to implement improvements that help your staff produce their best work.... more

Business is Personal: Even Black Cats Need a Reason Why

By MARK RIFFEY - I didn’t do a Friday the 13th promo last week. Did you? There are all kind of reasons to do a promotion, but they are more productive if there’s a reason behind them – even if the reason ... more

Choose your Legislature Carefully

By MARK RIFFEY - What does "serve the people" really mean? Primary season is upon us. It's time to pick someone to serve the people's needs, collectively and individually--and that applies to business too.... more

You Aren’t the Business owner You Need to Be

By MARK RIFFEY - Are you preparing yourself so that you're ready to lead the company your business will be in six, nine or 12 months? Are you learning enough to be ready to manage your company's needs?... more

Choose Your Market Or Craft It? Or Both?

By MARK RIFFEY - Sometimes you choose your market, and sometimes it chooses you. Today, we get a little of both.... more

Tourist Season is Coming. Are You Ready?

By MARK RIFFEY - It's almost tourist season. Are you ready? Is your facility ready? Here are some steps to help you make tourist season better than expected:... more

Business Rules of the Road

By MARK RIFFEY - While they vary from person to person, our values are the central driving force in our everyday lives. It's worth considering where your rules come from and how you use them.... more

Customer Relationships – Do Yours Mature and Adapt?

By MARK RIFFEY - Why do our companies, software, processes, communications and systems so infrequently adapt to the state of our customer relationships?... more