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4 Simple Steps for Preventing Problems – Planning for the “Unexpected” by Jane-Michele Clark Businesses are far more likely to have fewer problems and be more profitable when they have processes in place and everyone actually follows the process. Here are four things to incorporate into your contingency planning. |
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What To Do When the Yoghurt Hits the Fan: 8 Steps for Handling Corporate Crises by Jane-Michele Clark No matter how many preventative measures are taken, things go wrong in every company at some point. How your company responds in a crisis has a direct bearing on how quickly it will recover consumer confidence and sales. |
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10 Steps for Creating Solid Business Strategy by Jane-Michele Clark The key to setting sound business strategy is to first do a thorough review of where you stand in relation to the market and your competitors... and to assess your position in the context of trends evolving in your industry. This article gives you 10 steps to help you create solid vision for the future. |
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Blue Ocean: One of 15 Business Strategy Pillars by Jane-Michele Clark In this article Jane-Michele lists the 15 pillars of developing sound business strategy and answers the question: “What is Blue Ocean Strategy”. The short answer: Companies can realize strong growth and achieve above average profits by carving out a new niche for themselves and creating demand in what may, for a while, be uncontested market space. |
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The Role of Loyalty Programs Today by Jane-Michele Clark Over the years, customer loyalty has become synonymous in some circles with points building programs. Having helped launch and grow more than one major loyalty program, I know that points programs (and their equivalents) can be very effective for at shaping customer behaviour and at locking in the right customers. There are, however, ways to engender long term loyalty that transcend points. This is particularly true for high end hotels, luxury goods and large-ticket items that are purchased infrequently as you will see from the following article. |
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Building Guest Loyalty in Luxury Hotels by Jane-Michele Clark |
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What Women Business Travellers Expect as Hotel Guests by Jane-Michèle Clark Twenty-five years or so ago, when I first started travelling on business, there were very few other women on those early morning air commutes. Today women represent nearly 50% of business travellers, and hotels around the world are trying to determine what will keep women happy. It’s an important question because women are nearly twice as loyal to a hotel as men. |
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What’s changing in Customer Service? The top 5 new things that customers want. by Jane-Michèle Clark We all know that good customer service is paramount to growing a business and increasing profitability. What many managers are failing to realize, however, is that rapid changes in technology have lead to equally rapid changes in the delivery of quality customer service. In addition to the basics we all have heard time and again, there are five new areas of customer service that should be addressed to keep customers happy. This article takes a look at what’s new. |
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10 Tips for Delivering Good Customer Service by Jane-Michele Clark In a time of instant messaging and increasingly automated self-service options, consumers are showing loyalty to companies whose employees treat their customers as individuals, and consistently demonstrate respect and courtesy. Here are 10 Tips for Delivering Good Customer Service in today’s fast-food world. |
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by Jane-Michele Clark This was the question posed by the senior VP of a major North American hotel chain. Our answer: Listen when people talk – really listen. Sounds simple, simplistic even, but the keys to hotel HR happiness include: hearing what people are saying, understanding how to separate the learning kernels from the whining chaff, and learning how to act and re-act to what you hear. |
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When Good Employees Do Bad Things by Jane-Michele Clark Many mangers feel less comfortable disciplining colleagues, than they do about any other aspect of their job. Experts agree that the best way to handle discipline is to engage the at fault employee in a discussion where he or she is required to provide solutions for rectifying what went wrong... and for preventing a recurrence in the future. Here are few questions to ask that can make the job a little easier, and increase the likelihood of a good outcome. |
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How to Motivate Your Employees by Jane-Michele Clark Surprisingly, you’ll find that money doesn’t always talk – or at least not the loudest. Money was # 8 on a list of 10. Input from over 700 companies showed us that employees are most likely to want to give that extra 10% or more when they feel they are an important part of the corporate puzzle – when they feel that what they do does matter. What else beat out money as a motivator? Good communication, appreciation, respect, good examples and role models, belief in the employee, acknowledging progress and not demanding perfection. |
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Employee Satisfaction: Employee Retention by Jane-Michele Clark As little as 5 years ago, “work-life balance” was a concept that met with some resistance and skepticism. Lynne Sanders, President of NYCC (New York Corporate Coaches) recounts the story of her first meeting, in 2000, with the VP Finance from what is now her largest client. (It’s a story this executive shares often, so we’re not telling any tales out of school.) “When I mentioned the term ‘work-life balance’, R.D. scoffed and snarled, ‘If they [employees] can get it together so that their home life is balanced, then it won’t interfere with their work and the problem will take care of itself.’ |
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The Real Cost of “Presenteeism” (i.e. showing up when you’re sick) by Jane-Michele Clark Swallowing slices open your throat, congested sinuses trip hammer in your head and you can hardly croak out your name to answer your office phone. Yet you do, because you have dragged your sorry self into work – even though your bed was calling you back to its comforting sanctuary. |
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Communicating Today - Do’s and Don’ts by Jane-Michele Clark PDAs, cell phones, instant messaging, e-mail – they’re all supposed to make our lives easier, but is being constantly tethered to the outside world all that it’s cracked up to be? Over 75% of people surveyed echoed the sentiment one executive who answered, “No; technology is making us all crazier than ever!” |
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Effective, Persuasive Communication – the 4 Ps (not the ones you are expecting) by Jane-Michèle Clark We’ve all heard that speaking in public terrifies more people than death itself. In one survey, it didn’t even rank that far below torture! Ironically, we all communicate in some way, with someone almost every day – and most of us are born with the skills needed to communicate well. What we lack though, is courage. Many voice and presentation coaches maintain this fear is the result of people not knowing how to present well – or how to make sure their message is well-received. So what do we need to know? |
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by Jane-Michèle Clark Donald Trump spoke in Toronto this past weekend, offering a side not usually seen on “The Apprentice”. I’ve always admired his accomplishments and tenacity – and respected his business acumen. After hearing Trump speak, however, I realized that I also really like him. He was funny, irreverent (perhaps a quality best appreciated by entrepreneurs) and down-to-earth. He wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is – and didn’t worry about the “political correctness” that hamstrings too much of our conversation and writings these days. |
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by Jane-Michele Clark Lately I’ve noticed that making small changes in both my business life and my personal life has led to big results. Even small suggestions to others can have a profound effect. Recently, I had the opportunity to help a few students with two different MBA in-field studies (major projects) and, by looking at their assessment from a different point of view, was able to make relatively small suggestions that led to substantive improvements. |
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7 Secrets for Selling to Women by Jane-Michele Clark With women being responsible for +85% of purchases (either directly or through their influence), particularly in the B2C category, it’s essential that companies learn what makes women tick (in terms of sales, at least – smile). |
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Getting Better Results from “Cold Calling” By Jane-Michèle Clark To get better results from cold calling, stop doing it. Stop it right now. Those of you in sales, or with sales teams to direct are probably thinking, “If only I could.” |
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Messed up? Fess up! (updated June 2010) by Jane-Michèle Clark “If you mess up, ‘fess up.” When things go off the rails (and face it, they often do in business), I believe in telling the truth...and taking accountability. When I said this once, someone added (more than half seriously), “or as much as you can without jeopardizing your relationship with the client”. In my experience, if you’ve been doing a good job for your client, then you will never get into trouble by saying, “We made a mistake. These are the ramifications and this is what we are going to do to make it right.” |
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By Jane-Michèle Clark One way or another fear can wreak more havoc than many other things because it’s devious. It’s truly sneaky, finding myriad manners to manifest itself. A lot of business owners over the years, especially women, in the early days of their new businesses have told me that their self talk is more destructive that just about anything anyone else can do to them. |
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“When You are Going Through Hell, Keep Going.” By Jane-Michèle Clark Finding the courage to continue when times are really tough... |
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Ditch the Mission; Focus on the Vision By Jane-Michele Clark Quick –without looking it up, what’s the mission statement of the company that made the car you drive. What about your underwear? If you’re like most people, you don’t know the answer to either question. Chances are you may not even remember what brand of undies you put on this morning. And the mission statement certainly didn’t affect your purchase decision – or did it? |
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The Melding of Strategic Positioning and Execution (a biographical account) by D. Bruce During his early years in advertising, Norman Lowe became fascinated by the integration of strategic positioning with creative execution. Then, as now, the two were generally kept distinct and separate. However, because this was the heyday of creative revolution, and because strategy had not yet become so rigidly orthodox (except as practiced by the large packaged goods companies), Lowe was able to make incursions into the strategic role later denied "creatives". |
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Life in the Fast Lane: The Media Bash, Act 1. by Norman A. Lowe Curtain rises on a creative department office in a BIG ad agency. Two associate creative directors (i.e. just about any copywriter or art director with more than a few years’ in the biz) are chewing the fat and doing a bit of work between times. |
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Standing out in the Crowd…by getting lady luck on your side by Jane-Michele Clark We all know people who seem to be truly blessed. They get top marks, get promoted easily and have the best social life – all without trying as hard as the rest of us. Or so it seems. |
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Taking Action on Procrastination by Jane-Michele Clark Chronic procrastinators (and if you haven’t admitted to it, maybe that’s something else you are procrastinating about? Smile) often ask me if there is any hope of being able to change this destructive habit. The simple answer is, “Yes, you can become a ‘do it now’ person. Below you will find are a few suggestions from a semi-reformed procrastinator (I, too, am working on changing this habit). |
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