Berkonomics

MARCH 7, 2011

Many companies have made the mistake of using the forecast to plan and executive hiring of new employees so that they could be trained and up to speed when the demand arrives. There are periods in any economy or industry segment when growth seems steady and there are few warning flags ahead.

Training 159

Training Layoffs Demand Resource 159

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

Having the best solution is a good start these days, but a solution alone is no longer enough to keep customer attention and loyalty. Start with feedback from real customers, set measurable objectives, and make sure rewards and incentives are tempered by customer experiences, rather than only internal thresholds.

Customer 106

Customer Custom Startup Competition 106

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

In the initial phases of any new market you’re developing a product (hopefully with a minimal set of features), getting feedback from customers, refining your product based on user feedback and then re-launching your product. Rinse & repeat. It seemed to be purely speculative. I was a victim of this kind of thinking. He was tech.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Most leaders agree that poor customer service is a business killer today, in terms of lost customers, reduced profits, and low morale. Yet the average perception of customer experience has not improved. You have to start with hiring only people who are willing and able to make serious customer service happen.

Startup 154

Startup Training Customer Custom 154

Berkonomics

MAY 2, 2013

These include ensuring the continued health of the organization, setting the moral compass for your stakeholders, providing for succession by training and documenting, leading the effort in compliance of regulations and safety needs, and … elimination of all possible bottlenecks that impede the efficiency of your organization.

Organization 222

Organization Demand Satisfaction Training 222

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2023

Today’s customers demand more than a good product; they expect a great customer experience. A few companies are leading the way, including Apple with their iPad and iPhone, offering irresistible stores with friendly experts, elegant packaging, and customer service that never ends.

Design 105

Design Customer Custom Product 105

socalTECH

DECEMBER 5, 2014

Most controllers out there now are timers, which basically do not react to water demand. Instead, we run a model in the cloud based on the weather and calculate actual water demand, and we adjust the schedule on a daily basis. Manrique Brenes: I am a actually formally trained in water resources management.

Demand 258

Demand Startup Southern California Marketing 258

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 9, 2020

There could be more demand for electric vehicles post COVID-19 crisis, believes Energica founder Livia Cevolini. One of those is greater demand for EVs after the pandemic. Before the health crisis shutdown most of Italy, Energica had already seen larger demand for its high-performance e-motos, with a price range of $17,000 to $23,000.

Technical Review 277

Technical Review Competition Demand Sales 277

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

It’s when the noise stops and you can actually get customer attention, press articles and VC meetings. People attending marquee conferences with rock bands, prominent speakers, Gartner Group prognosticators and lots of other happy customers. Did they do a major training program? It’s when the game slows.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2013

Most leaders agree that poor customer service is a business killer today, in terms of lost customers, reduced profits, and low morale. Yet the average perception of customer experience continues to decline. You have to start with hiring only people who are willing and able to make serious customer service happen.

Customer 92

Customer Custom Startup Services 92

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2017

Have you ever noticed that some of your business owner friends get all the bad customers, and yours all seem fairly reasonable? I’m always amazed that, in my role as a business advisor, bad customers somehow seem to gang up on certain businesses. Being unreasonably demanding of others. Or is it the other way around?

Customer 89

Customer Custom Demand Pricing 89

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2014

There is more and more evidence that a more human-centered or heart-centered leadership yields the best results with your team and with customers in the long run. Demand for coaching, counseling, and discipline training is high. The most-used workplace training programs are really about matters of the heart.

Demand 92

Demand Entrepreneur Startup Training 92

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2012

She got you to offer free storage and discounted training. They’ll push you on your uptime SLA, they’ll push for harsher penalties for non-compliance, they demand security reviews … heck – if you’re small enough they’ll push for “ source code deposits.” ” That can be brutal.

Development Team Review 293

Development Team Review Software Review Pricing Startup 293

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

You need a faster and more flexible on-demand hiring strategy, based on the current gig-economy of remote freelancers, contract personnel, and specialists. Freelancers and consultants have to demonstrate results, without training and mentoring, so they can help you more quickly and probably at a lower total cost.

Competition 168

Competition Startup Demand Training 168

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2019

After working in business at all levels, and consulting to entrepreneurs for years, I’m still surprised to see so many situations where things that should be easy are painful to customers, and lead to customers hating your business. Get out and meet your customers to learn what turns them on these days.

Customer 83

Customer Custom Demand Examples 83

Berkonomics

APRIL 21, 2010

The insight became clearer as I was hired again and again to pick up the pieces of failed programming efforts by other software companies in this then young industry. A developer would take on a new customer, customize programs as needed, and install perhaps an 80% completed system upon the customer’s brand new minicomputer system.

Resource 168

Resource Customer Custom Software 168

socalTECH

MAY 28, 2015

Los Angeles-based HelloTech (www.hellotech.com) wants to be the service that you refer all of your friends and family to, instead--by offering up low cost, on-demand, in-home technical support. First and foremost, it's an on-demand, in -home technical support service. I think the big challenge is going to be customer acquisition.

Demand 100

Demand Technical Support Startup Seed Funding 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2022

As an entrepreneur, it’s never too early to set the culture you need for a thriving business, as well as thriving employees, customers, partners, and vendors. Start with only the very best people, demand excellence, and train them to stay ahead of the pack. Reframe selling as an activity that improves customer’s lives.

Training 127

Training Customer Custom Social Media 127

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2013

I was selling products to Live Nation, Demand Media, Kelly Blue Book, Rovi, and the Screen Actors Guild. That's great training for the startup world. We provide full service, digital distribution and video-on-demand to iTunes, NetFlix, Hulu, Comcast, cable VOD, Time Warner, Cox, Dish Network, and AT&T.

Hollywood 256

Hollywood CTO Hire Social Media Platform 256

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Many entrepreneurs I have mentored make big mistakes in this area, by hiring low-cost friends and family, with minimal skills or training, and expecting them to have the same work ethic , passion, and business knowledge as the founder. Direct customer-facing non-technical roles should be the last ones outsourced. with experience.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

It was a stock option incentive related “expense” but I bet you didn’t know that because in an era where we only read the headlines — they must be a train wreck losing billions. Do 20% of the customers make 80% of the revenue or do the top 3 customers represent 80% of the revenue. See appendix if you want to know more on this.)

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

socalTECH

OCTOBER 26, 2015

Los Angeles is the capital of on-demand apps, for just about anything you want. One of those areas that combines LA's passion for on-demand apps, and its active lifestyle, is Fitspot (www.fitspotapp.com), which brings athletic trainers to you or your local fitness center. Ninety percent of our customers are on packages.

Training 100

Training Startup Orange County Malibu 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 28, 2020

As an entrepreneur, it’s never too early to set the culture you need for a thriving business, as well as thriving employees, customers, partners, and vendors. Start with only the very best people, demand excellence, and train them to stay ahead of the pack. Reframe selling as an activity that improves customer’s lives.

Startup 122

Startup Training Customer Custom 122

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2021

Every one of you business leaders I know struggles with the competing demands of finding and keeping employees motivated and satisfied, versus building and enforcing a set of repeatable processes that work. Leaders who focus on team communication are also more successful in dealing with partners and customers.

Satisfaction 154

Satisfaction Demand Resource Competition 154

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2022

Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Create an environment that unleashes these competencies and trains and pushes them to the fore. Doing good opens the door to a broader customer base. Customer loyalty and trust go up for companies with a purpose culture.

Organization 143

Organization Startup Pricing Customer 143

Berkonomics

MARCH 26, 2020

These include ensuring the continued health of the organization, setting the moral compass for your stakeholders, providing for succession by training and documenting, leading the effort in compliance of regulations and safety needs, and … elimination of all possible bottlenecks that impede the efficiency of your organization.

Organization 156

Organization Demand Satisfaction Training 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2022

If you aren’t yet adapting to the market and your customers, you are falling behind. I define business agility for my consulting clients as the ability to change your business rapidly to meet customer and environmental changes, with minimal organizational disruption and cost. Demand and reward speedy analysis and execution.

Competition 148

Competition Metrics Demand Customer 148

socalTECH

APRIL 13, 2021

The NSF determined eight to ten years ago that the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants they were funding to academic teams, to commercialize technology, they were losing, because not many academics had the background to understand how to go out and source customers, and did not know how to run a startup.

Marina Del Rey 150

Marina Del Rey Startup USC Incubator 150

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2022

In my experience, there will always be growth challenges that you can’t predict, including new technologies, economic downturns, and political changes, but I’m talking here about changes in the market that every good business leader should anticipate, including the following: Your targeted customer segment has a limit.

Marketing 110

Marketing Pricing Startup Customer 110

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2022

You may think it’s great that demand exceeds your supply chain, but customers only remember it as a loss of your credibility, and will tell others. Proactive customer communication should be your first recourse, followed by cost and service concessions. Hire the best, and provide necessary training and tools.

Startup 134

Startup Training Tool Demand 134

socalTECH

APRIL 25, 2013

Consumers have been trained by Google on instant search, and see the value of it, because we all know that instant search gets us where we want to go, faster. Who are the customers for your technology? I''ve been doing startups for awhile now, focused on data analytics, and customer relationship management, in the internet context.

Technology 216

Technology Google Commerce Southern California 216

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2009

We Create Demand for California's Technology Companies. Custom Insurance Programs for Technology Companies. Helping entrepreneurs succeed. Binary Pulse Technology Marketing (www.binarypulse.com). The City of Glendale (www.thinkglendale.com). Need office or Tech Space? Think Glendale. Deloitte (www.deloitte.com/us/technology).

Southern California 133

Southern California IP Orange County Glendale 133

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2022

There is more and more evidence that a more human-centered or heart-centered leadership yields the best results with your team and with customers in the long run. Demand for coaching, counseling, and discipline training is high. The most-used workplace training programs are really about matters of the heart.

Training 142

Training Coach Startup Entrepreneur 142

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

Most leaders agree that poor customer service is a business killer today, in terms of lost customers, reduced profits, and low morale. Yet the average perception of customer experience has not improved. You have to start with hiring only people who are willing and able to make serious customer service happen.

Competition 99

Competition Services Startup Training 99

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2014

As an entrepreneur, it’s never too early to set the culture you need for a thriving business, as well as thriving employees, customers, partners, and vendors. Start with only the very best people, demand excellence, and train them to stay ahead of the pack. Reframe selling as an activity that improves customer’s lives.

Training 108

Training Customer Custom Social Media 108

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2010

Here they’re already carrying a bag with products from many vendors so while there at the customer they just have to mention your product and budda bing. They will not sell on their own – they require even more training and nurturing than your in-house sales reps would. You need to stimulate demand. Not necessarily.

Startup 293

Startup Sales Marketing Product 293

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

There is nothing more pure than building a product, putting it out in the world and seeing paying customers using your product and in some cases loving it. As companies get this initial customer feedback on their product they start to have to ask harder questions about unit economics: How much does it cost us to acquire a new customer?

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286