Reading Time: 2 min There are times when we’re meeting with a potential client that we can tell they’ve been burned badly by a marketing agency in the past. They’re defensive, questioning, and unwilling to share much about their situation — and for good reason! If they’ve had a bad experience before, it can be tough to trust another […]
Business
Back to Pipedrive
Reading Time: 3 min When it comes to business, having a proper CRM and pipeline is crucial. Knowing who your current leads are, what stage they’re in, and when to respond is vitally important. Many people track that kind of info in something like an Excel spreadsheet, and that’s really not bad. Simply having a place for that data […]
A key for when you should fire a client
Reading Time: < 1 min Over the years, we’ve fired perhaps a half-dozen clients at GreenMellen. Most of those were for a wonderful reason — they grew too large for us to adequately support, so we passed them along to other local agencies that were much larger than us and could serve their needs. A few times, though, we let […]
Bring me problems
Reading Time: < 1 min A common leadership adage is to say to staff “don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions”. At first glance, it’s a wise thing to request. Digging deeper, though, I’m not so sure. I see two ways this thinking doesn’t always work. Solve It Together First is the issue of trying to have one person come […]
Do you need Powerpoint?
Reading Time: 2 min While slide decks can be a useful tool in some presentations, Steve Jobs was famously against them. When having staff present him with their arguments for or against certainly decisions, he famously believed that: People who know what they’re talking about don’t need Powerpoint If you need to make an argument about an upcoming direction, […]
Don’t have all of the answers; have all of the questions
Reading Time: < 1 min At the end of most episodes of Seth Godin’s Akimbo podcast, they run an ad for the altMBA that includes a great line from T.K. Coleman that includes the quip that “there is no great thought leader who can outthink the internet“. While I personally work hard to have many answers available in my head, […]
Speed shouldn’t be a measure for untimed roles
Reading Time: < 1 min At the time of this writing, we’re looking to hire a new Web Support Manager at GreenMellen. We’re taking candidates through a fairly typical interview process, but speed is not a major factor in this. We certainly want to respond quickly to our clients, but if someone doesn’t have an answer to a question right […]
Friendly versus ruthless rivalries
Reading Time: 2 min There are many kinds of rivalries in the world, from business to athletics to “yard of the month”, and they can be a good thing. In a recent episode of the WorkLife podcast, host Adam Grant gave the example of Ohio State and Michigan in football — when one succeeds, as Ohio State has been […]
How not to grow a business
Reading Time: 3 min I was talking to some new business owners yesterday that were working to get things off the ground, and they asked about failures that we’ve seen over the years. Successes can be great to study, but failures are often great learning opportunities. While things at GreenMellen have gone pretty well (we’ve made it nearly 12 […]
The customer is always right in matters of taste
Reading Time: 2 min The idea of “the customer is always right” goes back to the early 1900’s. Among others who coined the phrase was hotelier Cesar Ritz, who said “If a diner complains about a dish or the wine, immediately remove it and replace it, no questions asked.” It’s not necessarily a bad policy, but can have a […]