December 2011

Have2Say

I have heard it so many times.

When you are brought in to tidy up and refocus a half dozen advertising sales departments over a few decades you’re bound to notice some consistencies. This is the best time of year to note and begin to change one such pattern in your own business.

Invariably when I started at each place and began to “nose around” my curiosity would kick in and I would ask something like, “Well, why is it done this way?” As you might expect the answer was almost always the same.

“Because that’s the way we’ve always done it.”

Anytime I heard that, I immediately responded with another question --- “why?”

New Approach4You

Stop for a moment and think about what you are doing in your business before you do it. Does it make sense? Is it the right next step? Is it putting your client or customer or patient first? Then make the determination if it is the best course of action for you and your organization.

The easiest thing to do is what has always been done.

The principle is the same whether it is in regard to your advertising, marketing, operations, production, or paperwork flow. Different may not be good or even better, but evaluating why you are taking a particular course is critical to your company’s growth and development. Wrestle that persistent urge to follow the path of least resistance and simply do things the way you’ve always done them.