Business Corner

A healthy economy is an economy where competition and free trade exist without restriction, regulation and with the minimal interference from State and its regulatory bodies.
Economist’s demand that free trade must exist and the economy left to the forces of supply and demand, all noble and well intended if you are not on the receiving or bankrupt end of the supply and demand curve.
Competition in all economies is very healthy and stimulates the economy and its consumerism activities; the consumer is making the final choice through their purchase decision, as a small business owner it is imperative that the consumer buying decision remains with your business outlet.
Price is the minor criteria on a consumers mind when making a purchase, so price wars are not the route to ponder when faced with competition, consumer’s rate “trust” as the most critical criteria when making a purchase decision.
Service Standards
Business enterprises that offer the same or similar products have only one discernible difference that they can offer the consumer, the quality of their customer service, the engagement, compassion, empathy, professionalism, and friendliness found in their service. Train your frontline personnel at least quarterly on customer service and communication techniques. If it is the only value-add to your product, it is then, a matter of life and death for your business.
Customer is King, Engage the Customer
The environment we create in our business is it an environment where the customer is king? Business owners are, loathe to create “kingdoms” for their customer, ergonomics, ambience, design, lighting and flows play the most important role in creating a kingdom for your customer using your premises.
Communication
Are we communicating with our customer?
Entrepreneurs who focus inwards will always answer yes; yet, the communication chain has many links to it in the communication process.
An example of communication links are;
1. Prices clearly displayed
2. Telephone number clearly visible and legible
3. All marketing media correctly laid out using AIDA principles and inviting the consumer to the business.
4. In store promotion, visible professional and informative
5. Is the marketing message contiguous with the product and service quality?
6. Guarantees in place, consumers choose peace of mind before price.
7. Regular updates via e-mail, SMS or information brochures, and pamphlets are important to the consumer.
8. Do not sell mud as chocolate the consumer has a sound knowledge base and education with a large range of consumer products.
9. Be honest, candid, and original in your communication.
Productivity
Check productivity level optimization for your business at least quarterly, the fundamental equation for productivity is output divided by input. One cannot compete with your productivity levels higher than the national average or your industry standard.
Complete Package
Dealing with competition requires that an entrepreneur participate on all levels with the customer engagement and experience criteria.
Look at your business, as a consumer would, never be complacent, add value to the consumers experience and life. Make friends with your customers they will eventually become like family.
There are numerous criteria comprising the complete customer experience, create a list, and work toward revolutionizing your customer service.
My passion for business and art is unmatched, having spent most of my life rescuing businesses that were bound for imminent failure, Business success is elementary, often clouded by human emotion and prejudice..

Finding a good job any time can be tough. But, let’s face it, finding any job in a bad economy can be a very serious challenge. There are lots of questions like:
• Who is hiring?
• Are they a good company to work for?
• How stable are they?
• Have they fired or laid off any employees in the recent past?
• What type of salary do they offer?
• Is the salary and/or benefits package competitive?
• What positions are they looking to fill?
• Am I qualified?
And this could go on and on and on. And unfortunately, for most of us, there might not be very many concrete answers. You might just be taking a shot in the dark, rolling the dice, trying your luck or any number of old, used up cliches. The bottom line is, finding a good job, no matter what the current economic client is, can be a very tricky endeavor indeed.
Fortunately, there are several industries that somehow seem to be almost impervious to the economic client and good, strong candidates with the right experience, credentials and skill sets are always in demand. Take for instance the field of IT (Information Technology). Throughout the ups and down of the latest economic roller coaster, this field constantly shows growth and the right candidate applying for the right position is almost assured a position. Also consider the medical field. No matter what the economy does, people are going to always get sick and many will require medical attention. This fact makes the medical field another almost sure-fire bet.
Another field that doesn’t appear to suffer much ill effect from the state of the economy is the communications field. Granted, it too may have suffered somewhat from the current state of the economy but, the bottom line is, there are quite a few companies out there that are searching for the right candidate to fill that one opening that is open and requires just the right person, with just the right skills in order to keep the company moving forward.
So that brings us right back to where we were before. The plethora of questions that a potential employee has. And, let’s not forget, the potential employer has their own set of questions that they need answered, as well. So, the big questions is… How does the right employee and the right employer go about finding one another?
Fortunately, in the world of executive communication positions, there are executive search firms that make it their business to find the right employee and match them with the right employer and create a bonafide win win situation for all parties involved. If you are an employer looking for that special executive candidate that has all of the right skills, experience, tools, desire and energy or an executive candidate that is looking for the right company that will treat you with honor and respect, give you a challenge, help you to further your career and will definitely compensate a stellar candidate when they see one…. then you both need a quality, tried and true executive search firm and in the DC Metro area, that would most certainly be the Travaille Executive Search Firm.
Travaille has been in business since 1972 and they specialize in bringing together the right candidate and the right employer. Their years of dedication and service to the Communications industry have made them one of the front runners in sizing up the talent and making sure that the employee and employer get exactly what they want and need, even if neither initially knows exactly what that is. Their years of experience, attention to detail and unwavering dedication to optimal customer service, has given them a supremely unique ability to find the exact right square, round or oblong peg to slide seamlessly into the hole presented by the employers’ current needs. And since they serve all of the major metropolitan areas, including Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, Chicago, New York, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, you can be sure that there is position with a great firm that is challenging and rewarding in just the right area to suit your needs.