Everyone Makes Mistakes -- Admit It!

When we are wrong, we should admit it quickly and emphatically. - excerpt from Warren Buffet's Management Secrets by Mary Buffet and David Clarke

Delegate

Each and every business is unique. Your employees are better at doing their individual jobs than you are. If we want the business to grow, we must delegate authority. Managers like to be left alone to run "their businesses." And the managers we hire need to be hard working, intelligent, and most important, honest. - Excerpt from Warren Buffet's Management Secrets by Mary Buffet & David Clark

Raving Fans

When a customer complains, you know you're hearing the truth. Listen to him. When a customer is a Raving Fan and is enthusiastic, listen to him too. But when a customer is silent or says 'Fine' with a smile, you have to really perk up your ears. You've got a problem. If nothing else, that customer isn't a Raving Fan. - Excerpt from Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard & Sheldon Bowles

Permission is Not Up to You

Permission doesn't exist to help you (the marketer). It exists to help me (the customer). The moment the messages you send me cease to be anticipated, personal, and relevant, then you cease to exist in my world. -  Excerpt from Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin

Where Does trust Come From?

This is what every marketer wants to know. Without trust, marketers know that there are no sales. Trust means the prospect believes not only that the product being sold will actually solve his problems, but that if for some reason it doesn't, the company will make good on its reputation of performance.- Excerpt from Permission Marketing by Seth Godin

It Doesn’t Hurt to Ask

Actually, it does hurt. It does hurt to ask the wrong way, to ask without preparation, to ask without permission. It hurts because you never get another chance to ask right.

Instead of propositioning everyone within reach of your e-mail box, invest some time and earn the right to ask. Do your homework. Build connections. This makes the risk on your part a lot bigger because you’ve invested more than two minutes. Initiating when you have more to lose is often better than just winging it. – Excerpt from Poke the Box by Seth Godin

I Wonder What Would Happen…

Success-minded people have no trouble at all following proven instructions. We all would be happy to follow a map if the map came with a guarantee. There is no guarantee, though. There are no maps. They’ve all been taken, and their value is not what it used to be, because your competitors have maps, too.

Your opportunity lies in pursuing your curiosity instead. Curiosity can start us down the path to shipping, to bringing things to the world, to examining them, refining them, and repeating the process again. – Excerpt from Poke the Box by Seth Godin