In Business, Image Isn't Everything; It's The Only Thing!Written by Chuck and Sue DeFiore
We have all heard this lament, but how much do we practice it. With all relaxed rules today, do we really present ourselves in best light. It seems all articles I see today are about how old fashioned today's workers find their supervisors or bosses to be in way they dress, policies they implement and old fashioned ways in which they conduct their business.I am of belief, and will continue to believe, that first impression I make is lasting one. Whether it is by phone or in person, I want to present myself in best possible light. But then again, I am from old school, one today's workers are complaining about. Let's look at companies that are still standing. After all hoopla has passed, companies that have used fundamental principles of Business 101 are ones still among us. The Intels, IBMs, Burger Kings, AT&Ts, Sears, Microsofts, Dells, Gateways, etc. I am not advocating living in dark ages. I believe for a company to survive it has to move with times, but basic structure and foundation on which we have built our business - image, courtesy, ethics, customer being right, are cornerstones to running a successful business, whether it is home-based or not. Too many home-based business have taken pajama mentality into all of their business practices. I have called on businesses that have cute messages on their machines, music that is obnoxious, children answering telephone, screaming televisions, radios in background. This does not inspire confidence in me to do business with this person. That is not to say I have not had reservations about companies that have offices outside home. In fact, it was a call placed to one that inspired this article. When I called and spoke to owner of this business, she had no idea on how a particular process worked or what it's cost would be. Wow, it's her business and she doesn't know how it works or what it costs. Guess who I didn't do business with. I am not saying you have to be an expert, but at least know basics and tell me you employ an expert in that area that will be better able to help me, don't hem and haw and tell me you don't have a clue. This does not give me a good impression of you or your company.
| | The Angry and Sometimes Grumpy Children of the 1950'sWritten by Chuck and Sue DeFiore
A bunch of us in our late 40's and early 50's got together other night, and after evening was over I started thinking that many of us born in 1950's are in a crisis stage. People can't understand why we are so angry and grumpy sometimes. This article discusses some of issues we have with society today and might enlighten others (the younger set) as to why we seem so disillusioned, and out of sorts at times.The consensus of group was "is this all there is." We've been working since our teens. A car costs more today than what our parents bought a house for. We work and work and still don't have enough. Food costs have risen astronomically, along with utility costs, insurance costs, and housing costs. We started laughing at one point and said we sound like our grandparents. However, it is a very sad commentary that what took place for our grandparents over numerous decades, has only taken 20 to 30 years to occur for us. The real scary thing is that salaries for many jobs have not changed over that twenty year period, while our expenses have skyrocketed, and increased one hundred fold. We all became nostalgic when we talked about things we used to do to relax. How so many of those things are gone, or we can't afford to do them any longer. Our kids tell us we don't have a clue about school, sex, music, or what's going on in world. Again, laughter abounded with music issues, but became very serious when we talked about scary things kids do today, that we wouldn't even have thought of when we were growing up. Killing teachers, and other students never entered our minds. We had respect for our teachers and those in charge. The next thing we ranted about was our health. For some of us, ravages of time have taken place... eyesight problems, arthritis problems, blood pressure problems, "the barnacles of life". The discussion we had on cost of health care was a lively and volatile one to say least. Many of us who have had major illness problems also went ballistic with regards to social security system, disability system and Medicare system. The majority of us have worked since our teenage years. We were incredulous when it took over a year to get money from social security system, especially when we see people playing system who don't deserve it.
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