Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2023

Customer-facing services, like call centers, should rarely be outsourced. You can’t isolate your customers from language idiosyncrasies and culture issues, per reduced customer engagement highlighted a while back by the The Globe and Mail. But customers are not looking yet another homogeneous product or service, so be careful.

Software Review 114

Software Review Technical Review Outsource Development Outsource 114

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2022

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. It could be a product quality problem, or a major customer complaint on Twitter. Even the most experienced executives write down what they need to say, and practice for every event.

Media 118

Media Tips Social Media Startup 118

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Hiring requirements must be anticipated and implemented with the same precision and tracking as manufacturing volumes, sales leads, and customer service. Crisis mode hires too often get done without due consideration for strategic fit, training requirements, and cultural considerations. It won’t happen by default.

Organization 104

Organization Satisfaction Entrepreneur Screening 104

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about The Silent Benefits of PR in which I pointed out that most young companies I encounter don’t fully grasp the benefits of PR because they are less measurable than product milestones or customer acquisition analyses (like CAC/LTV). In a startup this is a mistake.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

For example, both need to provide exemplary customer service, build customer loyalty, and provide real value for a competitive price. If you can’t quantify or document your service for repeatability and new employee training, you will kill yourself trying to grow the business. The customer experience is more than the service.

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

In the evangelical phase you’re working through these with customers on the fly. In the evangelical phase you’re working through these with customers on the fly. But they want to establish a baseline in the customer’s mind of the value they will get by using your product. It is tacit knowledge.

Sales 289

Sales Startup Training Pricing 289

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

I think many board members (including VCs) were trained 10+ years ago when life was very different and their advice often comes from an outdated lens. I will add to this as I write more in the coming weeks on the topic. So while you get the benefits of recruiting, being on VC radars and customer legitimacy there are also downsides.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2022

Beyond the fear, many really don’t get the value of being willing and able to communicate effectively with team members, investors, customers, and a myriad of other support people, both one-on-one and one-to-many. As your company grows, you have to host customer seminars.

Marketing 113

Marketing Entrepreneur Custom Customer 113

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2022

You have to enjoy working with people -- partners, customers, investors and more -- as well as products to start a business. The ultimate best teacher is failure, but a less painful one is getting related work experience and training. That’s why I believe the process of writing down your plan is more valuable than the result.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Mentor Ideas Writing 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2020

Hiring requirements must be anticipated and implemented with the same precision and tracking as manufacturing volumes, sales leads, and customer service. Crisis mode hires too often get done without due consideration for strategic fit, training requirements, and cultural considerations. It won’t happen by default.

Organization 135

Organization Satisfaction Entrepreneur Screening 135

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

The best of you train yourselves to show emotions sparingly and strategically, while the rest are convinced that emotions cannot be controlled , and are a function of culture and genetics. Write down your top 5 core values and review them often. Pressure and emotion in business is often an indication of core value conflicts.

Coach 137

Coach Training Satisfaction Mentor 137

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2019

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. It could be a product quality problem, or a major customer complaint on Twitter. Even the most experienced executives write down what they need to say, and practice for every event.

Press 96

Press Entrepreneur Social Media Training 96

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2020

Customer-facing services, like call centers, should rarely be outsourced. You can’t isolate your customers from language idiosyncrasies and culture issues, per reduced customer engagement highlighted a while back by the The Globe and Mail. But customers are not looking yet another homogeneous product or service, so be careful.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

For example, both need to provide exemplary customer service, build customer loyalty, and provide real value for a competitive price. If you can’t quantify or document your service for repeatability and new employee training, you will kill yourself trying to grow the business. The customer experience is more than the service.

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?” Education and training roadblocks. What other roadblocks exist?

Startup 94

Startup Resource Training Ideas 94

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2011

Journalists write stories that have an appeal to readers whether the accusations have merit or not. Understand the Gravity of the Situation for Your Customers. The obvious starting points to think to yourself are: Has something happened that fundamentally affects my customers or partners? Get Media Training.

Startup 329

Startup Press Training Media 329

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2016

For example, both need to provide exemplary customer service, build customer loyalty, and provide real value for a competitive price. If you can’t quantify or document your service for repeatability and new employee training, you will kill yourself trying to grow the business. The customer experience is more than the service.

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2011

But, with the economy turning south in 2008, lots of those customers went out of business. In the meantime, Groupon came along, and our media customers started to lose advertising. We realized that no one had built a Groupon-like platform, so we built one because our customer asked for it. That's where Deal Current was born.

Platform 263

Platform Training Software Review Advertising 263

InfoChachkie

MARCH 20, 2012

We are trained to treat conversations like tennis matches, each person lobbing the conversation back and forth, with few thoughtful pauses between each volley. On the playing field is talking to customers. "I hear so many people say, ‘I’m going to write this plan and its going to go as planned.’

Tool 272

Tool Startup Writing Santa Barbara 272

InfoChachkie

JUNE 16, 2016

Custom Wharton Degree. The material was essentially a rehash of my four years of undergrad business training. As I turned away, somewhat shocked with the ease with which I had customized my curriculum, he stopped me and asked, “I can understand why you want to take Squash, but can I ask why you are enrolling in Farsi?”.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Class Course Writing 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2019

You have to enjoy working with people -- partners, customers, investors and more -- as well as products to start a business. The ultimate best teacher is failure, but a less painful one is getting related work experience and training. That’s why I believe the process of writing down your plan is more valuable than the result.

Entrepreneur 135

Entrepreneur Mentor Ideas Writing 135

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2009

This can often happen when there is a good product built but no real customer adoption yet. We hired a head of technology, a head of customer service, a head of marketing, a head of strategy (which no startup should ever hire) a CFO and, ugh, 33 developers. This is what happened to me. He was to head up UK operations.

Startup 299

Startup Venture Capital Technical Review Training 299

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

In an era, where every single streaming music service seems to be the same thingindistinguishable from each otherhow do they differentiate and create customer loyalty? million paying customers when Cricket sold to AT&T. They understand their customers, and know how to build incredible, deeply emotional relationships with them.

Startup 113

Startup Artificial Inteligence Content Platform 113

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

I had never had any sales training so everything we did for the first couple of years was instinctual. I’ve started writing up some of those sales & marketing lessons and I plan to continue to build that section out over time. We focused together on improving our sales methodology, our training and our comp plans.

Sales 316

Sales Startup Pricing Custom 316

socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2012

But, they could not write, and did not know what to write from the travel perspective. Every one of those writers has a byline and a bio, and are paid twice a week at a pretty decent rate for that writing or assignment. They couldn't find enough people to write the content they needed, at the quality they need.

Demand 240

Demand Media eHow Content 240

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2014

You can definitely train yourself to be a problem solver, if you haven’t already. It’s a key skill for success in every business role, from accountant to customer support. Put the decision in writing to prevent ambiguity. It’s critical to train everyone in your team on these principles, if you want an effective business.

Startup 101

Startup Satisfaction Training Entrepreneur 101

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2019

You find that you need to be near major customers, or employee transportation hubs, where rents are higher than you ever anticipated. Salary costs go up rapidly, as people require training, bonuses, expense reimbursals, and an office with a requisite support team and supplies. Unanticipated pivots, quality write-offs, and shrinkage.

Startup 105

Startup Software Review Technical Review Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

Writing specialists. Whether you are in manufacturing or software, you need experienced writers who can document your latest technology, write patents, and efficiently manage the multitude of data formats required by printing companies and advertisers. Information specialists. Software specialists. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Services Search Engine Optimization Startup 106

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

In addition, like an entrepreneur with a new business, you have to factor in all the indirect costs previously covered by employers, including training, health care, and time off for vacations. As a business, you should always be looking for your next customer, as well as satisfying your current one. Develop the courage to move on.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

In an era, where every single streaming music service seems to be the same thingindistinguishable from each otherhow do they differentiate and create customer loyalty? million paying customers when Cricket sold to AT&T. They understand their customers, and know how to build incredible, deeply emotional relationships with them.

Startup 100

Startup Content Platform Artificial Inteligence 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 1, 2015

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?” Education and training roadblocks. What other roadblocks exist?

Startup 109

Startup Resource Training Ideas 109

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2014

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. It could be a product quality problem, or a major customer complaint on Twitter. Even the most experienced executives write down what they need to say, and practice for every event. Marty Zwilling.

Press 105

Press Social Media Startup Training 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2013

You can definitely train yourself to be a problem solver, if you haven’t already. It’s a key skill for success in every business role, from accountant to customer support. Put the decision in writing to prevent ambiguity. It’s critical to train everyone on your team on these principles, if you want an effective business.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Training Custom 107

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2012

You can definitely train yourself to be a problem solver, if you haven’t already. It’s a key skill for success in every business role, from accountant to customer support. Put the decision in writing to prevent ambiguity. It’s critical to train everyone on your team on these principles, if you want an effective business.

Tips 116

Tips Satisfaction Training Entrepreneur 116

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?” Education and training roadblocks. What other roadblocks exist?

Startup 57

Startup Resource Training Ideas 57