John Hesch

Creating Passionate Users has a good article about how do you thank your loyal users?

So, how are you thanking your users? How are the companies you do business with rewarding or at least acknowledging you for your loyalty? Next time you think about how to thank your users, see if there’s a way to do something else for them, in the context of showing your appreciation. See if you what you do for them makes them have more fun.

I know I tend to get so busy that I ignore the important things. Like recognizing the people who matter most.

On a similar subject, I was thinking the other day that even if a customer has a poor experience with your company, you can overcome it by acknowledging the problem, apologizing and offering to make it right. Nothing makes me more upset than to encounter a sales associate or company representative who doesn’t care about me. When something goes wrong, I just want someone to care, and try to rectify it. Even if there is no way to fix the problem, if the associate shows me that they tried, I’m fine with it. Customer service all boils down to, do unto others…

Good article in Fast Company called Four Leaders You Need To Know.

They may not be CNBC regulars, but this fab four represent what’s needed today: CEOs with vision who also aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.

Management Craft: Tip of the Day - #15

Be Happy for Other People

Do you ever feel envy or jealousy? I think we all do from time to time. I have to fight this myself. Envy and jealousy come from a scarcity mindset, which tells us if they have success/luck/happiness, we won’t (or will have less). We may feel we deserve success more than the other person.

When our mind is preoccupied with being jealous or envious, it is unavailable to make good things happen.

On the flip side, when we can feel genuine happiness for others, we are open to possibility for ourselves.

The more we link other people’s good fortunes to frustrations about our lack of success, the more we hurt our chances for forward movement.

Be happy - really - for other people. In doing so we are able to learn, grow, and be ready for opportunity when it knocks.

Here they are, your 100% guaranteed sales and marketing predications for 2005:

1. Those of you who make marketing a top priority will do better than those who don’t - regardless of design or development talent.

2. Those of you who target a defined niche market will do better…

The basics of sales and marketing but it’s good to be reminded from time to time.

Originally from SitePoint’s Selling Web Design Services Blog: Down To Business

Middle Managers and Leaders: Ensure Team Members Know What You Expect

As a middle manager, you can immediately improve the focus and productivity of team members by ensuring that they know what is expected of them. When high impact middle managers (that’s what I call the best middle managers) talk to their employees, they go beyond discussing obvious expectations. They ensure that each person has a good understanding of how they can best contribute to the company.

John Sinski, one of my old managers and mentors, taught me the importance of ensuring that employees knew what was expected of them. Most managers do alright providing generic expectations like what time to show up for work or job responsibilities but few go beyond the basics.

Management craft lists some of these more effective expectations.

Expectations about how this person should contribute to identifying and solving problems
Expectations about how this person will represent their function and the company
Expectations about generating new ideas and improving results
Expectations about how this employee should analyze and manage organizational resources. (For example, staff, finances, equipment).
Expectation about how this person will manage employees
Expectations about the business relationships this person should maintain and develop
Expectations about deadlines, execution, and results
Expectations about judgment and decisions
Expectations about meeting preparedness and participation
Expectations about planning and communicating work
Expectations of how this person needs to improve his or her performance.