What does it mean when people talk about “customer profitability”? In short, it indicates the ratio of effort-to-profit for each customer. Customers who demand more time and attention (or resources) are typically not as profitable as customers who need less. Customers who freely give high praise on social media are more profitable than customers with smaller social media footprints. Customer profitability is also dependent on the relationship you build with them. So, how do y

I’ve been working on a new e-commerce business for the past few weeks. E-commerce is new to me. Not that I don’t use it on a regular basis but synching up my target demographics to the sales channel ended up being a little more convoluted than I thought. Let’s get one thing out in the open before we dig in to the specifics. I did not open this business strictly to make quick money. If that were the case, then choosing the sales channel would have been a no-brainer. I would ha

I’m on a road trip to Napa Valley. This is my first vacation in six years so I’m really excited. I passed a dairy farm along the way and was bowled over by the scent. The next time I meet a dairy farmer I’m going to give them a big hug. I get to enjoy cheese and ice cream because they do the hard, unappreciated work. This translates over to any work environment. There are things we all hate to do. I hate sweeping so I really appreciate the janitors who keep the office lookin

I went to a new hair stylist to have my hair trimmed a few years ago. By the time she was finished, my hair was at least four inches shorter and I had a very visible chunk cut out of my bangs. The biggest issue was that I specifically said I only needed a trim (less than 2 inches) and emphasized that I didn’t want bangs. I finally told her to stop trying to “fix it” and went to speak to the owner who said, “Well, she’s only been a hair stylist for a few weeks.” OMG! It will c

Think of some of the problems your company faced last year. Who solved them? You might think it was the CEO, CFO, or VP, but it was probably an employee close to the problem or a group of employees working in concert to fix an issue. Leadership often publicize the fix and some even name the people who came up with the solution but, at the end of the day, leadership rarely “comes up” with the solution. There are three steps you can take to help your employees fix issues before

Put people first, connect customer expectations to product and service design, give employees the right tools, show everyone in the organization how deeply they affect the mission, and empower your team to innovate and lead. These are the building blocks for an innovative and successful company. ~ Amy Beall What does it mean to ‘lead from the front’? Leading from the front means you model the behavior you want to see in those around you. It doesn’t necessarily mean your team