Business Success Center

Proven programs that grow great businesses for great people who care.

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Business Growth & Development Through Business Orienteering™

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Image by Jamie Rood.

Image by Jamie Rood.

Business development is key to the health and success of every business. What is a Business Orienteering™ system? How can it help you grow your business? It’s a business development system that focuses on vision and knowing how to “play the game”.

The concept of Business Orienteering™ is derived from the game of “Orienteering”, a sport of navigation using a map and compass. It started in Sweden and is now used by Boy Scout troops, social studies and math teachers worldwide. It’s often called the “thinking sport” because it involves map reading and decision-making in addition to a great workout. The goal is to get to all the places indicated on the map faster than others who are competing. [Read more…]

Want a Mentor? Look around you.

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Business Success Center prospects tell us in their initial meeting they want a “Mentor” to advise and guide them to solve a specific problem or achieve a specific goal.

I completely understand. I’ve had several wonderful mentors. My godmother, Northwestern University professor Alvina Krause, had “teas”. At these salons, I learned the fine art of  conversation. My grandmother taught me the importance of family. My mother  helped me find my voice and be comfortable being myself. She always said, “We grew up together”. Maybe so, but she was my guide.

There were important male mentors, too. My brother Bill (aka WC Triplett, II) has worked for Presidents and Senators, Tibet and Tienanmen, written best sellers and significant treaties. He showed me how important it is to get involved. Ed Van De Vort gave me confidence because he believed everyone was capable. [Read more…]

Being Able to Visualize is a Mixed Blessing

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Posts can be very personal. This one is.

Visualizing the needs & concerns Egyptian small business owners, their families and their employees like this man. Photo by Julie Gomoll.

Visualizing the needs & concerns Egyptian small business owners, their families and their employees like this man. Photo by Julie Gomoll.

I have a friend, Rasha, who is from Egypt and who has family there. My thoughts are with her and the wonderful people I met through the eyes, words, and pictures of another friend, Julie Gomoll.

Sometimes we say, “I can’t imagine” what it’s like. But I think business owners and other creatives can imagine in huge detail. [Read more…]

10 Ways You Can Be a Platinum Customer™

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Upper Crust Bakery — Austin's finest!

Upper Crust Bakery — Austin’s finest!

I love Upper Crust Bakery on Burnet Road in Austin. Great birthday cakes, eclairs and great service. They always know what I want and make me feel special. A few weeks ago, one of their terrific staff told me I was a great customer. Wow!

That got me thinking. What can customers do to give great “business service”? This would help businesses have better sales and create more Platinum Customers™. It’s just what our economy needs: all of us to play a positive role and take responsibility. [Read more…]

How can you have a breakthrough in business every day?

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Breakthroughs call for fireworks. Photo from Flickr.com by Beverly & Pack.

Breakthroughs call for fireworks. Photo from Flickr.com by Beverly & Pack.c

There’s nothing better than to have a “Eureka” moment when you own a business. You struggle and come at the problem from different angles and all of a sudden there’s a “flash” and a “pop” and it all fits nicely in place.

When this happens to you, do you:

  1. Breathe a sigh of relief?
  2. Jump for joy?
  3. Clap your hands?
  4. Slap the back of the nearest “ole fella” whether you know them or not, whether they have played any part in this or not?
  5. Just go back to slugging it out on the next problem?

I hope you do 1-4 because breakthroughs, no matter how small, deserve a “hurrah”. [Read more…]

4 Traits Make Sure You Have the Right Customers

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Pennies-group-from-http-www.flickr.comphotossjsharktank4630355374-

A penny saved and earned. Photo by ssjsharktank.

Everyone wants and needs sales to have a profitable and successful business. But, sales from the wrong customers can kill a business.  If you doubt me, read Angel Customers and Demon Customers by Larry Selden and Geoffrey Colvin.

What should you look for? Basically, there are two options:

  • Low hanging fruit — the most responsive, easiest sale, shortest sales cycle
  • High value  —  the most lucrative, harder sale, longer, requires more thorough sales process so longer sales cycle

How do you decide who is right and who is wrong? [Read more…]

Business Owners Should Celebrate April 1st

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Being a bit silly is OK.

Being a bit silly is OK. Business Foolery good for small businesses who carry the weight of family, employees, and community. Photo by Kenski 1970.

It’s April 1, April Fool’s Day, a day to be silly and cut loose. A must for those of us carrying the weight of being the nation’s economic engine because we own a small business. I could get into talking about “running out of gas”, “not running on all cylinders”, “breaking down”…but I will resist the temptation.

This is also a special day for me. It’s the day my business partner and husband proposed 28 years ago. He may have been hedging his bets, but I fooled him. I said “yes”.

So this post is dedicated to Daniel’s wonderful sense of humor and the recognition that all work and no play makes every business owner pretty dull and likely to end up at 45th St & Lamar in Austin, Texas, aka Austin State Hospital, formerly the insane asylum. [Read more…]

Why Go for Platinum Profile Customers™

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Proud to be green. Here’s my paperless slide presentation, “Does Your Business Need Glasses”,  from RISE Austin 2010. It presents what we believe is a better way to get better sales by using niche marketing that focuses on Platinum Profile Customers™. The goal of this system is to  make positioning, pricing, and sales procedures more approachable for independent businesses.

The slide presentation also includes details on the Business Success Center’s sales process that all customers go through, the “Buyer’s Purchasing Continuum™”. The Continuum starts with their decision to look for something to meet their needs and desires.  After a few steps, they buy. But, it doesn’t end there. The last step occurs after they buy when they either rejoice about their decision or experience buyer’s remorse. Knowing exactly how your Platinum Profile Customers™ do this allows you to focus your sales and marketing efforts.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs will want to follow the prioritized action items suggested. These will help avoid mistakes and expand sales opportunities. This is primarily of value to those already in business although it has ideas that startups can incorporate.

Using these ideas results in:

  • Better sales and lower costs
  • Collateral is more effective
  • Shorter sales cycle [Read more…]

Selective Marketing

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Below is a presentation I gave at a local Austin meetup. It deals with how to use sales and marketing strategies and processes to save money and increase sales.

3 Older Business Books That Inspire

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Periodically, it’s good to go through your business library and free-cycle what no longer inspires you. Passing them along to others means I don’t have to feel badly about getting rid of books. Instead I think of them as getting a new home.

Here are three that I would not part with no matter what year it is or how old they they are. So instead of giving them away, I want to encourage you to add them to your library or go to the library and check them out. [Read more…]