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Recent Articles from David Sneed
New captains: Don’t rock the boat
Has there ever been a new CEO who kept the firm in situ? Of course not, it’s hardly possible. He’d alter the gears in the smoothest ticking clock the moment he came aboard. The only point of having power is to wield it. At least that’s how it seems to work in practice. But in theory, isn’t the opp...
The 3 percent scam
We’re going to go to the barber shop. And the hardware store, and the dry cleaner, and the local pizza joint—and we’re going to swipe 3 percent of that guy’s sales. It may not sound like much, but consider how many stores are within 20 miles of you. Three percent of all those sales equals a pretty...
The world’s smartest advertising
We got a mailer at our house a couple months ago from a stand-alone ER center in Arvada. If we came in to say hello, the ad said, they would give us a 72-piece first aid kit. It was on the way to my daughter’s school, so I stopped. I go through Band-Aids like a second-grader through scotch tape, s...
The world’s most loyal customers
I was at a movie theater the other day, and a young guy ahead of me got $2 off his ticket for showing his VA card. So guess what I did? As an ex-Marine, I saved $2, too, that’s what. And you’re looking at a guy who feels guilty grabbing a free doughnut because someone else might need it more. Soun...
Guess who’s engaged?
After asking the Internet, I learned that ‘engaged employees’ are those staff members who feel good about the company they work for. And ‘engaging’ them reminds ‘em to like their job without a bump in pay. I think I get it. We renamed “happy workers” because fresh phrasing is fun. The real issue h...
Why the fence was backward
I know fences and fence-speak. She’s a nurse, and doesn’t know a knot from an owl hole. Usually, I meet the customer at the start of a job to review the details. This particular lady couldn’t meet though, so we skipped the stage where I point to something nearby and say, “Like that.” Now, you mig...
SEO for TECBOs
But unlike phone books, the internet isn’t alphabetical. If it were, I’d be the proud owner of AAAAAAAAAAAAAAlpine Fence Company. It doesn’t work that way. What really happens is more like a popularity contest with the ‘votes’ coming in the form of a backlink. Look at my tagline at the bottom of...
The perfect pitch
Life is all about having ideas—and getting others to buy into them. Sales and marketing are things we do daily whether it’s getting little Charlene to eat her spinach, asking the boss for a raise, or convincing a Greek general that a large wooden horse will be just the thing to bring down Troy. Al...
Time to start swinging
Think about today. Not the future. Not the past. But the now. Go ask that cutie out: she doesn’t know someone turned you down last week. And then go start your new business. Last year wasn’t the right time for eggplant ice cream, but your salmon cupcakes might just make it. Forget the failures and...
A closer look at the history of a famous tax
Some people like to say Americans have always hated taxes, and they give as proof the night of Dec. 16, 1773, when patriots threw some crates of tea into Boston […]
The value of silence
Now this seems simple and hardly worth mentioning – at first. But it’s really the bacon double genius-burger of customer-handling advice. Let them vent. Listen – but don’t try to fix anything. Maybe they just had a fight with their dry cleaner or got a traffic ticket on the way over to meet with y...
Following the leader
My future sandwich was just inches away, calling my nose in delizioso Italiano. The clock on the wall read 9:01. Dang it! But I checked my phone again as a precaution and saw it switch to 9 p.m. I knew I made in time—but it wasn’t looking good for yours truly. A vigorous debate followed, but thei...
