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Use the 80/20 Rule to Guide Your Business

The 80/20 Rule is traditionally known as the Pareto Principle, named for Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923). Pareto discovered a recurring phenomenon that appeared in many aspects of life, from land ownership to broader economics: put simply, this principle states that 80% of results come from 20% of effort. This…
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Collective Intelligence

A common feeling among small-business owners is that they’re all alone. After all, each one faces competition for customers, supplies, and employees. This is further magnified in a time of inflation, supply-chain headaches, and widespread understaffing. While this sense of isolation can apply to larger corporations, it’s an even stronger…
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Quality, Competence, and Consistency

Do customers trust your business? Can they be confident that when they purchase something from you, they’re going to get what they expect every time? Do they know that your employees are going to do their jobs well to facilitate that experience? Every business owner wants to believe the answers…
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The Agony of Waiting on Hold

If you haven’t said it yourself, you’ve likely heard someone else say, “Can’t I just talk to an actual person?” Phone trees can be miserable with their confusing options, long hold times, sometimes shrill hold music, and other annoyances. Despite the increase in web-based retail and customer service, over-the-phone service…
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Communication Is Key Part 4

In parts one, two, and three of this series, we’ve taken a look at the different types of communication that happens within a business. This has included the top-down edicts from leadership to subordinates, the bottom-up disclosures from subordinates to leadership, and the interpersonal talk between peers and teams. All…
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Use Your Reputation to Recruit

The numbers for the Great Resignation continue to shock everyone. As cited by The Motley Fool, “Since the start of the pandemic, 20% of workers have changed careers,” and a further “46% of employees are considering a career change.” We’ve seen especially high turnover months during this time, including August…
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Good Habits vs Natural Gifts

We’ve all heard of someone described as a natural-born salesperson: that man or woman who seems to have an uncanny mix of empathy, conviction, improvisational skill, and cunning—that knack for relating to people, projecting confidence, possessing the ability to think on his or her feet, and strong judgement. They seem…
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How Does Shopper Recruitment Work?

One of the questions that sometimes comes up with our new clients is how we at The Brandt Group find mystery shoppers to perform all our audits. Is mystery shopping a vocation? Do mystery shoppers attend classes, receive special training, and earn certifications? What does it even take to become…
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Lessons from Amazon

In this week’s blog, we’re going to cover Shep Hyken’s recent video, *How Amazon Sets the Standard for Every Business.” Before we even get going, consider how evocative that title is. It’s easy to imagine that there are a lot of business owners out there thinking that they don’t compete…
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