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Business

Sarah Worsham / Feb 9, 2009

Want a Competitive Advantage? Look Towards Your Employees

employeearmymilIn these tough economic times we hear about layoffs almost every day on the news.  There’s no denying that sometimes a company has to cut employees to survive for the long run.  However, I think that companies often are quick to cut employees because they are viewed as a cost to the company instead of a valuable resource.

Who has in depth information about your company?  Who is your face to customers?  Who knows how the nuts of bolts of your company works better than anyone?  That’s right.  Your employees.

Want to know how to make your business run efficiently in a recession?  Want to know what new things to try to get customers?  Try talking to your employees.  They probably have some great ideas.  And keeping them involved in your company will make them want to work harder for its success.

(photo by army.mil @ Flickr CC)

Technorati tags: business, employees, human resources, strategy

Sarah Worsham / Feb 6, 2009

Take the Time to Connect with Your Customers

dotserixAfter dropping my daughter off at school this morning, I stopped by the local bagel shop.

“Sausage, egg and cheese on wheat.  Salt bagel, double toasted, extra cream cheese. Coffee refill, please.”

“Do you have a daughter who goes to school?”

“Yes, she’s seven.”

“And your husband has a beard?”

“Yup.”

“Tell him I said hi.  I recognized this bagel must be for him from the extra toasting, extra cream cheese.”

The bagel shop owner took an extra few seconds to connect with me on a more personal level than just saying hi.  Not only did I mention this exchange to my husband, but it also struck me as important enough to blog about.  In this tight economic times, spending a few extra seconds connecting with your customers, remembering an extra little personal detail, can go along way to providing you with good referrals and future business.  All it takes are a few extra seconds and bit of effort to connect the dots.

(photo by erix! @ Flickr CC)

Technorati tags: business, customer service, customer-centric, marketing

Sarah Worsham / Feb 3, 2009

Want to Reach Your Goals? Make Sure They're Attainable

goalcoxyIf you have goals like “Increase profits” or “Make Money” or even “Be Profitable”, you may have a hard time achieving those goals.  Why?  Because they are not clearly defined nor do they have a set time limit.  When setting goals, it’s important that they are short, to the point, and reachable within a certain time.

Setting goals which are actually attainable will make it easier to figure out the tactics you need to implement to reach the goal.  Most of all, these goals are actually useable for management and business purposes and will help align your company to work towards a single endpoint.  Reaching a goal is great for morale, which is important if you want to be able to focus on new goals in the future.

Sometimes businesses get caught up in setting goals which are a bit outside of their reach.  Sometimes “stretch goals”, these goals are sometimes attainable by putting in an amazing amount of effort and having a lot of luck.  Some people think that having goals that are not easily attainable makes people work harder, but usually there is little reward for working so hard and it is not sustainable without burnout – which eventually leads to less productivity.

So intead of setting big lofty goals that no one really understands how to reach, try for smaller, concise goals which have a specific timeline.  For example, “Increase profits by 5% by the end of the first quarter, 2009”.  You’ll set up both yourself and your business for success.

(photo by coxy @ Flickr CC)

Technorati Tags: goals, strategy, business, marketing

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About Sazbean


Sarah Worsham (Sazbean) is a Webgrrl = Solution Architect + Product Management (Computer Engineer * Geek * Digital Strategist)^MBA. All views are her own.

Business + Technical Product Management

My sweet spot is at the intersection between technology and business. I love to manage and develop products, market them, and deep dive into technical issues when needed. Leveraging strategic and creative thinking to problem solving is when I thrive. I have developed and marketed products for a variety of industries and companies, including manufacturing, eCommerce, retail, software, publishing, media, law, accounting, medical, construction, & marketing.

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