Surviving the Restaurant Industry Decline

Even though most of the country has returned to normal, putting the pandemic in the rearview mirror, there’s no doubt that there is still lingering fallout from the lockdowns. One of the hardest-hit industries has been restaurants, many of which were forced to lay off most of their staff and…
VIEW FULL POST

Great Customer Experience Means Consistency

At first blush, many of us think that delivering great customer experiences means going above and beyond for our customers. But delivering over-the-top experiences should be a rarity because they exhaust your business’s resources and the energies of your employees. In other words, businesses should only bend over backwards in…
VIEW FULL POST

Overcoming Passive Aggressiveness

We’ve all dealt with passive aggressiveness—that is, a hostile attitude combined with the avoidance of direct communication, like when someone is upset about something but won’t admit to it. Honestly, most of us ourselves have been, at times, passive aggressive with others. And yet most of us would also agree…
VIEW FULL POST

A Photogenic Experience

Have you ever heard the expression, “Do it for the ‘gram?” According to UrbanDictionary.com, a website devoted to cataloging modern slang, it is a saying that is “used by people, mainly teens, who use Instagram a lot.” That definition goes back to 2013, positively ancient history by Internet standards, but…
VIEW FULL POST

First and Last Impressions

Emotion plays a significant role in the relationship between a business and its customers, coloring every moment from when they walk through the door to when they use leave again. Happiness and satisfaction, frustration and disappointment: nothing impacts customer-retention rates more than these feelings. And good interactions lead to more…
VIEW FULL POST

Extinct by Instinct

As a counterpoint to last week’s blog on analysis paralysis, let’s talk about the other extreme end of the spectrum: extinct by instinct. This is the result of making a choice without due consideration. This kind of recklessness can result in an unforced error that can be detrimental (or even…
VIEW FULL POST

Analysis Paralysis

We are sometimes our own worst enemies, the obstacles to our own success. We self-sabotage without even realizing it when we think we’re just being thorough. In the process of decision-making, be it in life or business, we can fall victim to something called analysis paralysis. What is that? You…
VIEW FULL POST

Stay on Offense

We’re in the middle of the NFL playoffs, so the timing seems appropriate to talk about the importance of offense. Not football offense, of course, but business. And like a playoff, your business is playing for the right to play again next week. Win or go home. Succeed or go…
VIEW FULL POST

From Vision to Fruition

Every business owner should have a vision for what his or her company should ideally be. That vision should include expectations like offering a superior customer experience with high-quality products and services. But how do you do this? Think of your vision as a goal, what you hope your business…
VIEW FULL POST