Comments on: 5+ Things Businesses Don’t Do…That You Should

By: Cresilda @ Virtual Assistant, Inc.

Cresilda @ Virtual Assistant, Inc. — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 11:06:56 +0000

Thanks for sharing this very insightful post. I think the last 3 are often neglected by business owners. Businesses mostly are afraid to try new things out because it may be too risky. But working outside your comfort zone or working in a non-traditional way makes you stand out from your competitors.

By: Stephen Dean

Stephen Dean — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:30:35 +0000

The most successful business persons I know always accept blame… even if an outside observer would say it’s not their fault… because the successful person knows there’s ALWAYS something more they could have done to achieve a positive outcome. Great advice, all 5 points.

By: Martina Iring

Martina Iring — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:50:08 +0000

Heck yes do I ever agree with these points Lisa! The “same old stuff” point resonated with me especially. Stop copying your competitors and sticking with the safe route. Being different and showing your personality is such an important way of standing out and connecting with your customers. And it makes running your business that much more fun :)

By: Gabriele Maidecchi

Gabriele Maidecchi — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:41:08 +0000

About knowing who you are, an extraordinary excercise is ask yourself a simple question: what do you do in life, and what does your company do? It seems rather obvious, but if you can answer to this questions each in one sentence, it means you are on the right track.
Also, I always believed competitors are often so just in your mind. I always bring the example of a marketing firm operating in the same town as mine. Normally, the “local habit” would be to fight to the last man standing in order to bury the other, but we followed the path of cooperating, this opened several interesting new projects with clients who wouldn’t take each of us singularly but agreed to take the best of both worlds. In this light, sometimes your competitors can be a powerful asset to your business. It’s also not very frequent to meet a business competing EXACTLY in your same market, so there’s room for cooperation and being a bit more open-minded.

By: Adriana

Adriana — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 04:54:18 +0000

@Doc. I could not agree more. it is becoming a commodity. I would emphasize in the point about Excel At Customer Service, that companies NEED TO ACTUALLY CALL BACK TO THE CLIENT WHEN THEY PROMISE SO! It is amazing, when I tell the client we will call you, he answers with a voice like saying – yeah right -. Then when I call them as I promised they fall in love with the company and it improves our credibility. They feel they can trust us. They say THANK YOU SOOoooo MUCH FOR CALLING BACK!! hahahahha.

By: Mark Harai

Mark Harai — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 02:14:34 +0000

Interesting Lisa – every tip you’ve recommended is made possible by the first:

“Know Who You Are.”

When you achieve this, it will empower you to do the right things for the right reasons. It’s the only foundation you can build on that will last.

Cheers to you Lisa : )

By: Doc Sheldon

Doc Sheldon — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:44:09 +0000

As usual, Lisa, you’re spot on with this one! If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard someone say, “There’s just no customer service any more!”…
That’s not true, of course, but it is becoming a scarce commodity, it seems. I’ve proven time after time to my staff that good customer service can allow you to overcome many problems. Bad customer service, on the other hand, can tear a company apart, no matter what else they have going for them.
@Michael – I couldn’t agree more, about interactive answering systems. I will NEVER allow one in our offices!

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:22:30 +0000

Adding on to the whole customer service angle, and a personal pet peeve: do away with the IVR (interactive voice response). Please. No matter how big our company grows we’ll always, ALWAYS have a real human pick up within a ring or three. Our customers like it, are quick to thank us for it, and come back to us because of it (amongst other reasons, of course). Business is, after all, all about the customer. Meet their needs -not the other way around.

By: Mike Roberts

Mike Roberts — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:44:29 +0000

Nice article. When I finally hit the lottery and open up that book store, I’ll be coming back to this as a primer to remind me better how to do things. Now if only I could win the lottery… maybe I’d have a better time at winning if I actually played.

By: Sabre

Sabre — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 17:59:55 +0000

Yay! I loved that Peter Shankman article & I love this one too.

On accepting blame:
Customers aren’t stupid and the truth always comes out. You can pick a scapegoat to blame your problem/flub-up on, but you know what it makes you look like? A liar. Cover-ups and pointing the finger just show your customers that your #1 priority is YOU, not THEM. It should be the other way around and *they know that*. ‘Cause when it comes down to it, loyal customers know you have their back and when the ish hits the fan, they will have yours too.

I see too many people think it’s “bad PR” to admit blame and instead just try to sweep it under the rug, but those are PR tactics PRE-social media and it just doesn’t work any more.