CEO's Notebook

CEOs give advice on retaining valuable employees, improving customer service, improving morale in a stressful workplace, and improving cold-call results.

Tweet

How can I hang on to valuable employees?
It helps if employees think they can build a career at your company. That's why Daniel Maude, CEO of Beacon Application Services, a $10-million computer consultancy in Framingham, Mass., assigns each of his workers to two different managers: a day-to-day project manager and an overall career manager. Project management and career strategies are two entirely different worlds, says Maude. "If you're on a project, you're only worried about the next project," he says. "The challenge is to connect them together for employees to plan the future of their careers." The career manager helps employees assess their job satisfaction as well as plan their career direction and supplemental training. "Consultants like to do different things," says Maude, "but consulting firms like them to keep doing what makes money. You have to balance producing revenues with expanding employee skills in appropriate directions." --Christopher Caggiano

Benchmark
How Entrepreneurs Stay Motivated
When the going gets tough, the tough improve their businesses. That's the implication of a survey of 435 CEOs from the 1997 Inc. 500, the nation's fastest-growing privately held companies. We asked these entrepreneurs to select their favorite technique for staying motivated. "Finding a new challenge inside the business" was by far the most popular answer. --Martha E. Mangelsdorf

Source: 1997 Inc. 500 survey.

What can I do to improve customer service?
One possibility: start before customers have even used your product or service. At the Little Nell Hotel, in Aspen, Colo., concierges routinely telephone guests at least two weeks before they arrive, so the concierges can answer questions, offer transportation from the airport, and make reservations for meals or recreation. In addition to improving individuals' stays, the policy acquaints newer employees at the $35-million hotel with its returning guests--who make up 70% of its customer base, according to Jane Stapleton, executive assistant to the general manager. --Alessandra Bianchi

We really know our business. How do we advertise that?
Neil Rosenblum, owner of three Manhattan Pet Stop stores, has found a way to publicize his staff's expertise. At the company's Upper East Side location, employees have begun posting a sandwich-board sign that displays a pet-care "Tip of the Day" outside the store to catch the attention of passersby. The tips have ranged from advice about how often to feed your pet to a recipe for a remedy for skunk scent. The Pet Stop began posting the tips in mid-1997. So far, the company has been able to rely on the collective knowledge of its 15 employees to generate tips. --A. B.

How can I reduce the expense of opening a new office?
Bret Lamperes, president of Dandelion Moving & Storage, in Fort Collins, Colo., cut costs by teaming up with a company in a complementary business. Dandelion, which had $850,000 in sales in its last fiscal year, was on a tight budget when it expanded into nearby Greeley, Colo. "It was at a weird time--the middle of winter--which is really a slow season," Lamperes says. "But we wanted to establish a presence and get ready for the summer." So he worked out a temporary space-sharing deal with a local company that provides a type of storage that Dandelion doesn't offer. In return for five months of free office space, Dandelion agreed to refer business to the other company. --C. C.

How can we get employees to focus on serving customers?
Infinity Graphics, a $20-million printing company in Enfield, Conn., wants its workers to know how important its key customers are. So in its monthly newsletter, distributed to all 120 employees, Infinity publishes a chart that details the company's top 10 customers for the month, along with the amount each contributed that month in dollar sales and as a percentage of total sales. "At plantwide meetings I'll talk about which accounts I'm trying to grow and why," says chief operating officer Clint Humphrey. "We want employees to take an active role in the business." --Susan Greco

 1 | 2  NEXT