How many times have you, or your salespeople, responded to a customer request by saying, “We don’t carry that item?” or, “I’m sorry, but that’s not part of our service package?” The number is critical, and if you don’t know it, then you’re losing profit potential. Sure, you might have stocked an extra item or two...

When a deal is pending, the best negotiators know that the goal isn’t to scoop up everything and leave the other side with little or nothing. The real goal is generally to exchange items of value so that both sides leave satisfied they have protected their basic interests and made a deal that benefits their companies....

Many companies spend a lot of time and money creating mission statements to highlight their products and services and align employees around a common vision. But the fact is that many mission statements fail, becoming nothing more than a wall ornament or a bunch of words tucked into a seldom-read company handbook. For the most part,...

The Employer Shared Responsibility for Employee Health Insurance Coverage affects large employers starting in 2015 due to the health care reform law commonly referred to as Obama Care. This provision was included as a disincentive for large employers considering dropping their current insurance plans once the insurance exchanges began operating as an alternative source of...

Tax season is finally here. The deadline for calendar-year corporations to file a return (or an extension) is Monday, March 16. The deadline for individuals to file their income tax returns (or an extension) is Wednesday, April 15. As businesses and individuals start gathering financial records to give to their tax professionals, they should know how...

Disasters never happen at a good time. But the timing is irrelevant. What counts is that your business can recover quickly with minimal long-term effects. And that means having a disaster recovery program in place so that your company is well-positioned to respond to — and rebound from — a wide range of calamities. The issues your...