Who purchases your products and services? What do they look like? How do they interact in your marketplace? These are just some of the questions you need to know the answers to when you seek out your ideal customer.  For the small business or niche business, your ideal customer is not everyone that walks through your door.  In fact, even for the larger...

In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal on September 21, 2009, discussed how larger companies like Starbucks and Avon are consolidating the power base into the CEO.  This is done by combining the CEO and COO positions and/or President positions under one person.  In essence the combination of those positions eliminates the #2 person in the...

While we are a bunch of lions here at Von Gehr Consulting Group, we also are pet owners.  Yesterday we had a wonderful customer service experience through email.  Take a look: I had never even heard of your breed of dogs before. Live and learn, huh? I was looking at a couple of web sites on those dogs and I think you’d be best off with...

General Motors (the car company you happen to own a piece of) has announced a new “60 Day Customer Satisfaction or Money Back Guarantee.”  When you have to start giving your product away do you really have a business? Gimmicks and tricks that are used for short term sales blitzes are not sustainable in the long term.  They will, if executed...

Assumptions provide the leader with a foundation to seek the truth behind questions and/or guide them in making decisions. Assumptions are dangerous things. Assumptions may blind them from asking demanding tough questions.  Unchecked assumptions will have a leader reject the answers to their questions.  Assumptions can make a leader miss opportunities to...