How Small Improvements in Customer Value Compound Over Time Many businesses concentrate almost all their attention on making the first sale. They pay for advertising, build websites, post on social media, answer inquiries, offer promotions, and train employees to convert prospects into customers. Then, once the transaction is complete, the customer receives little structured follow-up….
A full schedule feels like success. The phones are ringing. Employees are moving. Customers are coming through the door. The owner is answering messages, solving problems, filling gaps, and working late into the evening. From the outside, the business looks healthy. But activity and profitability are not the same thing. A service business can be…
Small organizations rarely become chaotic all at once. It usually happens slowly. A missed handoff here. A vague expectation there. A new person trained by whoever happened to be available. A policy everyone “knows” but nobody has written down. A customer complaint handled differently depending on who answers the phone. A meeting that used to…
Most small organizations do not break because they grow too slowly. They break because they grow faster than their systems. That sounds obvious when written plainly, but it is one of the most common problems in small businesses, nonprofits, churches, departments, and volunteer organizations. A leader gets something working through effort, personality, memory, and constant…
While deployed with the US Army in Iraq as a Religious Affairs Specialist, I served as a Brigade Chaplain Assistant. In addition to my responsibilities to lead my Religious Support Teams throughout the theater, I led a regular group of about 5-7 soldiers working on a project. This was not our regular mission, nor was…