The Circle of Life

| February 21, 2010

From time to time, we’re struck by the loss of someone close to us.  Yesterday a friend of mine passed into eternal life.  Gregg and I got to know each other through business and became friends.  That’s the kind of guy Gregg was.  He had great vision, great dreams and was a true entrepreneur.  He had great energy, an unending smile and great spirit, always.  I never saw him down, even when he faced challenges.

He was a never-ending positive force.  He cared for people, literally in his volunteer work as an EMT.  He loved golf and the freedom that being an entrepreneur provides.

He was a maverick.  Stepping up, making big decisions and forging relationships that required guts.   I’ll miss Gregg.  I’ll also keep his spirit alive.  I’ll take what I learned from him and I’ll internalize his spirit and I’ll share the things I know made Gregg one of the greatest men I’ve known.  This is what I call the Circle of Life.

So today I share with you Gregg’s finest qualities.  Take inventory of his greatness and make these qualities part of your life and share them with others.

Gregg was a great family man.
Gregg was a great husband and father.
Gregg was a vibrant and positive spirit always.
Gregg always had a smile.
Gregg lived his life to help others always.
Gregg was a visionary.
Gregg was fair.
Gregg was trusting.
Gregg appreciated quality and knew quality when he saw it.
Gregg was fun.
Gregg lived life with passion.

I will miss Gregg in person, but I will keep his spirit alive and share his greatness with others.  Celebrate Gregg’s life by helping others capture the quality that Gregg lived every day.  Here’s to you Gregg!

Innovation and Momentum

| February 16, 2010

Maintaining high levels of communication with your team is essential to creating the energy necessary to achieve momentum through innovation.  Company information needs to flow from person to person and top to bottom across all internal company operations.  From financial updates to in-field sales reports and market observations, a steady flow of information in real time creates the opportunity for adapting and shifting of products and service offerings based on market demand and conditions.  This open communications creates conversations between employees on new actions that need to be taken to support the various company functions and meet client needs.  The actions that result create momentum and innovation.

Dealing with the Price Objection

| February 2, 2010

Sooner or later in the life of every salesperson the infamous price objection will rear its ugly head.  The reality is that buyers want to spend as little as possible.  Salespeople want to maintain high maintained margin and don’t want to be viewed as a commodity for which there is no customer loyalty.

So how can you differentiate yourself from the competition and sell your products and services at higher prices?  The answer is:  Add value and service. But before that you have to:

Do your homework. Make sure that you know your product, your market, your competition and the needs of your prospect

That means asking your prospects open ended questions and listening to their responses.  Develop a list of 10-15 questions to get to the root of their needs.  While, on the surface, price may be an objection, it may be overcome by a cast iron guarantee or value added services and support options.

For example, you sell apples for 79 cents each and the store (vendor) down the road sells them for 75 cents. The only difference aside from the price of the apples is that you have a return policy.  If the customer buys an apple from the store down the road to save a couple of pennies and gets a rotten apple, they’re stuck with it.  If they buy the apple from you they can get a new one.  It’s a matter of developing a comfort level.

When selling higher-margin products, you need to educate prospects about what they’re getting for their money and why it’s in their best interest to do business with you.

An additional way to overcome a price objection is to surround the account and become a consultative salesperson.  In other words if a customer has needs that are beyond your capacity to deliver, have the courage to go the extra mile and partner with outside non-competitive sources that can help you get the job done for them.

Remember:  Customers don’t care how much you know until you show them how much you care.

William F. Kendy – TBS

Interior designers create stimulating, productive work environments

| January 29, 2010

How does hiring a professional interior designer impact the appeal of your workspace?  As a designer learns about your corporate culture and mission, he or she will be able to show how design can help achieve corporate goals. A businesslike approach to workplace design means getting key decision-makers to think about how a workplace can reflect the organization’s brand, image and vision.  Interior designers today are actually part designer and part management consultants.

To meet employees’ needs for a stimulating, energizing workplace that enhances productivity, efficiency and satisfaction, integrate interior design into strategic planning.  Hire a professional designer to reflect or help change your company’s culture, environment and work habits.  A designer can help clients turn their offices into tools that will yield long-term benefits including happy employees and ultimately increased profits.

By:  Brenda L. Brady, ASID

BRENDA BRADY DESIGN LLC

http://www.brendabradydesign.com

Design

| January 26, 2010

It wasn’t until I actually worked in a design firm that I started to become more aware of design.  Design is defined as:

1a. To conceive or fashion in the mind; invent: design a good excuse for not attending the conference.b. To formulate a plan for; devise: designed a marketing strategy for the new product.
2. To plan out in systematic, usually graphic form: design a building; design a computer program.
3. To create or contrive for a particular purpose or effect: a game designed to appeal to all ages.
4. To have as a goal or purpose; intend.
5. To create or execute in an artistic or highly skilled manner

When I started learning about design I began to ask questions about how design impacts business.  If I took a little from each definition above, I could say design means,

“To conceive in the mind, to formulate a plan systematically for a particular purpose, with a goal in mind, in a highly skilled manner.”

Then I began to think about how design impacts the customer development process.  In other words, how can an entrepreneur or business owner design a process to increase sales.  So I spoke with my director of research, Fran Ray and he set out to learn what the best minds in the country think about this subject.  His white paper is a bit esoteric, but the impact that design has on business and how leaders set plans and execute them is clearly evident.  Email me if you’d like a copy.

So my curiosity continues.  Soon I’ll share with you, what another designer friend of mine thinks about the business of commercial interior design.