Comments for TR Musings

Comment on Small Matters by Thomas Baley

Thomas Baley — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:28:51 +0000

Interesting that this dovetails well with Schumacher’s “Small is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered”, first published in 1975. We used it as a tangential illustration of IT design methodologies of IBM’s Chief Programmer Team and Yourdon and Constantine’s Structured Design and Structured Programming, and others.

Comment on Small Matters by Kevin Sperbeck

Kevin Sperbeck — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:36:25 +0000

I totally agree with this analogy. I have used this same principle of working to pick up the business that the big guys spill both distributors and customers. Then when they realize that their business is slipping, they seek me out to find out how my company can grow their business. I look forward to buying the book to pick uup additional tips for success.

Regards.

Comment on Small Matters by Jim Matorin

Jim Matorin — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 14:53:10 +0000

I am a strong advocate of customer retention, both when selling widgets like food that can be menued numerous ways and for a service business like consulting. Nice post!

Comment on Small Matters by Ken Sull

Ken Sull — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 03:10:53 +0000

Sounds like Freds Frozen Foods and Sysco. I have always felt that working with Independents who have a heart is better in the long run than the mighty 1,2, 3 or is it just one these days. I remember when I had 3M out of 40M for Pete C at Kraft and now that is just a drop in bucket for US FS. The Food Industry has gone so far away from the model you, me and Bud grew up in it is good for you and Bud you stayed ahead of curve. As for me I always go for the homerun and end up striking out but at least they make for some good stories. Had to drop Facebook. My boys are going into US Army and in Military Intelligence so the comments are not always appreciated (they are off color)

Comment on Shine a Light on your Agency by Ken Sull

Ken Sull — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:12:43 +0000

You are remarkable my friend. We should tell a story about how a bunch of fruits, nuts and bats went to Marco Island and celebrated a National Sales Meeting and then saw you at IFMA turn a failure into a Spark Plug. I should hire you to!

Comment on Shine a Light on your Agency by Joan Vieweger

Joan Vieweger — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:18:55 +0000

Thanks for the tips, Tom. Just like the Craftsman counterparts, tools like LinkedIn won’t build or fix anything unless we use them!

Comment on Shine a Light on your Agency by Jim Matorin

Jim Matorin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:56:03 +0000

Interesting stats Tom. Good point, I agree that we all need to work harder to maintain and establish relationships. I am a strong advocate of LI, but to get value from LI takes commitment, commitment takes time and focus. Day to day people are struggling with time and focus in today’s business world. I also have come to the conclusion that not all businesses/people are social, so I take that into consideration. You closing ideas are solid, but again, back to time and commitment, the committee approach is a great suggestion, but thanks to what I have witnessed, all committees/teams start out like a bat out of hell and them lose mo. Takes leadership to make the team approach happen.

Comment on Shine a Light on your Agency by steve scales

steve scales — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:29:10 +0000

Tom– great blog. From my perspective I think at the end of the day we are happy with status quo. Other industries demand more and people respond quicker as a matter of survial. Foodservice tends to wait. While this may not be a popular point of view it is the reality. We have the potential and the talent to be better– what is holding us back??? Steve

Comment on RIM Shot by Drew

Drew — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:02:43 +0000

pretty impressive back history on the mozz sticks

Comment on RIM Shot by Joan Vieweger

Joan Vieweger — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:10:46 +0000

The 8th should be “politely listen and assist your customers when the software update causes repeated freezing of the device.” This weekend experienced the difference between an uber-helpful and patient tech support person at Verizon Wireless, contrasted to the brisk, rude and arrogrant tech support person from RIM. Yes, he solved the problem, but they lost the war. The next device will be an i-phone.