Staples had a sale on computer remotes. Regular price $74.99, on sale for $19.99 — a $50.00 savings. I already had one, but at that price, it made sense to get a back-up.

I dropped by on the way home — unfortunately I arrived at 5 minutes past closing time. The doors were open, people were shopping and cash registers were open.

Recently I deposited a cheque from a US client into my US funds account. I then immediately transferred a portion of that deposit into my current account which is in Canadian dollars.

Two interesting things happen.

I like to leaf through catalogs to and tear out the pages on which I like to buy things. I tore out two pages: one to buy a portable table and another item which was a item to cook smores at a campfire. Pretty diverse.

As I was about to order from both companies, I decided to check to see if Amazon sold these items. When I check, they did at a few more dollars than the other catalogs.  However, I purchased from Amazon because:

I recently received duplicate copies of an e- newsletter. The arrived within  minutes of each other and it was obvious they were the identical. It was a computer glitch with the email server that distributed the email that was out of the distributors control. I am sure we have all experienced a similar situation where the tech gremlins seemed to operate with a mind of their own. I simply deleted 1 and continued on with my day.

In these interesting times, you may be trying to figure out how to successfully weather this storm. This marketplace seems to be demanding change so it is a good time to ask tough questions. Let me add a few questions to add to your list.

Several times a year I get a CD from a well-known PR consultant. She is a very aggressive and consistent promoter of her business. She has done a good job making herself well-known in her niche.

But, when I listen to her CD I often resist her message. Not because of its quality. She has a lot of good ideas and advice. What drives me away is the amount of time it takes to introduce her on each CD program.

This is about understanding why customer focus is strategically important, what it means to be truly customer-focused and how to create or improve customer focus in your organization. This article presents a simple business case for the strategic importance of  creating greater customer focus.  Many excerpts are taken from the book, That’s Customer Focus! We hope you find in interesting and helpful.

Most of you will probably recognize this soliloquy from Shakespeare’s Hamlet

A while back Disney introduced their program Give a Day, Get a Disney Day. This is a program where Disney offers a free ticket to one of their theme parks in exchange for volunteering a day to a local organization.

A great idea that has the ability to generate tremendous goodwill for Disney and make a positive impact within local communities.

However, I wonder if they realized the torrent of volunteers they would unleash on unprepared volunteer organizations.

What do a pediatrician’s office, a boutique and a mega communications corporation have in common?

No one wants our business.

Isn’t it comforting to know there are companies out there in this day and time that do not need business. On two consecutive days, during business hours, voice-mail messages were left at our pediatrician’s office and an upscale boutique. Here we are 7 days later and still no return phone calls from anyone.

I have to admit, I don’t read a lot of blogs. There are less than 20 I read on a regular basis. But one blog I watch regularly is written by Guy Kawasaki. I like Guy’s blog partly because you never know what he’s going to write about.

For example, earlier this year, Guy wrote about his trip to Minnesota (which he calls his new adopted state). Since I’m from Minnesota this caught my attention.

Earlier this year I was talking with a business owner about his company’s business planning. He had spent a fair amount of time looking ahead and thinking about the revenue he wanted his company to produce this year. Planning like this is good when it helps us focus on the things that make our business better.

But often, we focus on the wrong things, like revenue.