Mr. Banker, time to rethink hiring a book of business
The traditional bank practice of hiring a commercial lender who will “bring their book of business” has become a risky proposition. Recently, the Federal Reserve clobbered two bankers with a double whammy: first the bankers got hit with a...
A paean to determination
"Ain’t no” is a tribute to determination. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) According to Wikipedia, "Ain't No..." was written by Nickolas Ashford and Valeri Simpson in 1966. Dusty Springfield wanted the song, but Ashford/Simpson held out for a Motown...
Two Decisioning BGOs
Mistake Number One: Misplaced confidence in what you know. AKA flying by the seat of your pants. I’ve been in hundreds of conferences in which the presenter referred to the “classic mistake General Motors made when they introduced the Chevy Nova into Spain.”...
Undone by a blue Schwinn
In 1955, when I was 9 years old, my father moved the family to Detroit, MI from Asheville, NC. It was a sudden decision. I came home from West Asheville’s Vance Elementary School one Friday afternoon and the following Monday, I was attending class at Burns...
Turning the Right Screw
In 1969 I was an apprentice in the service department of a company sold and serviced typewriters and adding machines. I had an important job. I was the guy who dunked all the machines brought in for service and repair into the gunk tank. The tank was filled with...
My grandfather’s photo should have been in the dictionary beside the word “deliberate.”
My grandfather (the non-Scots/Irish one) was a first-class carpenter. According to family legend, he worked with his father on the construction of the Vanderbilt's dairy barn at the Biltmore House, which would have been around 1901 or so. Later, during the...
Time to get over paper catalogs & manuals?
Addinhe biggest issue with printed sales and service support documents is not the cost. It's the obsolescence factor -- and the uncertainty of the delivery system. Especially product catalogs and service manuals are out date quickly, sometimes before they leave the...
Inexpensive Middleware Juices Up Community Banks’ Biz Customer Experience
A little bit of middleware will go a long way toward making business banking easier, more productive. (Think FINTECH.) For a reasonable cost, even small-ish community banks can create a business customer portal to permit the bank an internet-based exchange with...
Why Us
Rolling on three tracks Track One: We deliver great ideas wrapped up in an enterprise-wide marketing and PR strategy that will make you money, increase your franchise value and enhance your customer experience. Track Two: We organize effective and affordable federal...
What do doctor’s mistakes have to do with marketing?
Some years ago I saved an article from the Wall Street Journal about the biggest mistakes doctors make. I hung on to it because I wanted to write about it. My note got lost and just now resurfaced. So, this comes under the heading of "better late than never." The...