Tag Archives: The Different Company

by | 19 October 2012 · 1:27 pm

7 ways to make customers love you! Hmmm… is it really this simple?

The greatest compliment anyone can receive in the business world is “I just love working with you.” That’s especially true when that compliment comes from customers, because it means that you’ll be getting their business time and time again, they’ll spend more money with you and tell everyone they know how great you are.

Happy customers keep coming back!

Geoffrey James – writer of the Sales Source column on Inc.com – says that if we follow seven simple rules, we’ll have customers buying from us again and again and again. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Which begs the question: if it’s really that simple, then why aren’t all businesses following these rules? And, can any business afford not to?

Here are the seven rules for getting customers to love you, along with my take on each. Let me know what you think. Are there any others? Enjoy!

Continue reading →

8 Comments

Filed under Business

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | 18 April 2012 · 5:36 pm

Important people doing important stuff that no-one else could possibly understand? No, I don’t think so.

Hmmm … see the similarity here?

So, Dear Reader, what do skyscrapers, space shuttles and soothsayers have in common?

Well, mention delivering change or project management and every organisation you talk to has a horror story to tell.

Many would even have you believe that it’s some sophisticated, difficult and dangerous black art practised by highly educated and well-trained soothsayers carrying project charters, GANTT charts and detailed schedules. They’re all building skyscrapers, launching space shuttles and merging banks.

Run away! Run away now!

Yet successful project and change management is really not difficult.

In truth, delivering change is a simple and largely predictable process and successful change is the intelligent application of that process – no matter how tough or complex the project seems.

Continue reading →

7 Comments

Filed under Business, The Different Company

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 3 April 2012 · 11:01 pm

Chanting naked in the bush… err, maybe not

Stop. Take stock. Move forward.

How long has it been since you stopped and took a couple of deep breaths, pondered your navel, and performed a stock-take on life? Can you still locate your navel? See anything below it?

I know I haven’t done such a stock-take for more than a decade and, I’m sure, probably far longer. If you take a look at my work history (http://au.linkedin.com/in/marktipping) you’ll see I’ve been self-employed, either as a contractor or a business owner, for basically the past 18 years. And that’s been a whole heap of work.

Like many, I’ve ridden the feast vs famine tides. I’ve lived a life that, on reflection, was far more in tactical mode than strategic – get the next contract, find someone to deliver an outcome, keep paying the bills, and try to steal a few days here and there to call a holiday. All the while knowing there was so much more to do and so little spare capacity to deliver it.

Heck, I planned to take six months off in 2001 after my first daughter was born, but my good mate Stocko had me at a seminar on the Gold Coast the day I left work – only to then spend the next six months, not with my new daughter, but working on creating a new business. Then factor in my life’s other noises: an acrimonious relationship with the ex; two pre-teen daughters; and, step-fatherhood. There’s a lot of sh*t going on!

Continue reading →

4 Comments

Filed under Business, Everything else, Philanthropy, The Different Company, Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 15 March 2012 · 2:31 pm

Forget good to great. This is the best stuff I’ve read in a long time – what makes an employee truly remarkable.

Look for people to work with who aren’t just great, they’re remarkable.

This is a great article covering what makes an employee truly remarkable. And I reckon for employee you could substitute “business consultant”, too.

I wish I’d written it myself, but as I didn’t, the next best I can do is reproduce it, and praise Jeff Haden for his insights. You’ll find a link to his business at the bottom.

Remarkable people? These are the people The Different Co will employ. These are the people we want to work with. If you haven’t got enough of these people around you helping you then perhaps you should call us. +613 9077 5372.

Dammit, these are the people we are! Enjoy.

8 Qualities of Remarkable Employees

Great employees are reliable, dependable, proactive, diligent, great leaders and great followers: they possess a wide range of easily-defined – but hard to find – qualities.

Continue reading →

4 Comments

Filed under Business, The Different Company

Tagged as , , , ,