The Agile Scaleup

Fix Sales; VOC Key; Marc Rosen; Mar 28 Webinar

It’s about creating a sales machine! Do you have one?
                                                Justin Roff-Marsh, author The Machine

…you’ve seen the company chase shiny objects and try to come out with a ‘big bang’ solution. This time we’ve got to fix the foundation.
                                                Marc Rosen, CEO JC Penney

Fix Sales Now – March 28 Webinar, 11am ET
Join Justin Roff-Marsh, author of The Machine: A Radical Approach to the Design of the Sales Function, March 28, 11am ET. More info below.

Spring Equinox – Be Ambitious
I’m warming up to the idea that this week of March (northern hemisphere) feels more like the beginning of a New Year than Jan 1. A new moon, spring is here, and the days are longer – it’s time to be ambitious coming out of hibernation – I know I’m on fire!

12 Months of Success in 9 Months – Sell, Sell, Sell, Rest
What if you could accomplish in 9 months what it normally takes 12 (March 21 – Dec 21) – then hibernate and recharge your batteries Dec 21 – March 21. For three quarters “sell, sell, sell” then take the last quarter to let systems (and yourself) catch up. Think about it – something we can learn from nature. Doug Harrison did this with his firm – you can, too! It’s time to plant and grow.

Fix Sales Now – Start with the Voice of the Customer (VOC)
In asking many CEOs “what is their key constraint right now,” it’s sales/revenue. Customers are being more careful spending money – and pushing back hard on the price increases of 2022. To accelerate your sales success, start with the Voice of the Customer (VOC). It’s time to get back intimate with your clients – to visit them. Find out what are their constraints right now (likely different than the past) and then reposition your value proposition to be of help. We’ve listened and you want us to help you scale the valuation of your business.

Voice of Employees – JC Penney is Back and Hugely Profitable
After filing chapter 11, JC Penney brought in Marc Rosen as CEO in 2021. This Fortune article details how Rosen has taken Penney’s back to its fundamentals and is focused on better serving the existing 50 million customers they have. To start the turnaround, when Rosen became CEO, he set about meeting as many store-level workers and middle managers as possible. 2023 is about getting the fundamentals right and better serving your existing customers (which means talking to them and your employees!). They fixed sales now!!

2-Minute Video – Voice of Customer
Rock Habits #5 and #6 are about gathering firsthand customer and employee intel. Scaling Up Coach Mark Roberts is an expert in garnering the VOC. Watch Mark’s 2-minute video and then glance thru his list of 17 benefits of VOC – the main one being a real boost in revenue. Fix sales now!

Sales Improvement Is Not Driven by Sales Department!!
This is the message of Mark Roberts (above) and Justin Roff-Marsh, best-selling author of The Machine: A Radical Approach to the Design of the Sales Function. Join us for a Live FREE Training on March 28th with Justin to discover why the standard sales model guarantees diminishing returns. Justin will share how a simple shift design of your organization's front-of-house can lead to a huge spike in sales from motivated buyers.

I'm confident this revolutionary process will transform your business! Save your seat here! And fix sales now!!

Order a box of 20 Scaling Up and Mastering the Rockefeller Habits books
Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Get the box of 20 Scaling Up books here and the box of 20 MRH books here for less!

EDUCATION: 
Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course

Have you considered becoming a Certified Scaling Up Coach?
Learn more about what it takes to certify and what being a coach is like. Pop into our Coach Office Hours to talk with our coach certification coordinator and a certified Scaling Up Coach. Learn More & Register for Office Hours here >

Planning to Exit?
It’s the most critical decision a business owner will make in their lifetime – and over my 40 years of helping firms, I’ve seen owners taken advantage of time and time again – leaving tens of millions on the table. You’re up against sophisticated buyers who have done hundreds of acquisitions – whereas this is often your first rodeo. And these buyers have a formula for ripping you off – and it works. Seeking help, owners find the big M&A firms, especially those specializing in your industry, are more beholden to the buyers than the sellers (they will tell you otherwise). They are not your friend in the process, just another transaction. Email me to get a white paper on what to avoid when exiting [email protected].

SCALING UP WORKSHOPS:
Engage your team with interactive workshops to optimize your company’s performance.
(list of workshops below)

Bengaluru/Hyderabad/India – Mar 29, 2023 (Virtual)
Barcelona, Spain – Mar 30, 2023 (Virtual)
Scottsdale, Az – Apr 4, 2023 (In-Person)
Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Apr 6, 2023 (In-Person)
Barcelona, Spain – Apr 13, 2023 (Virtual)
Toronto, Canada – Apr 13, 2023 (Virtual)
Auckland, New Zealand – Apr 18, 2023 (In-Person)
Boulder, CO – Apr 20, 2023 (In-Person)
Grand Rapids, MI – Apr 20, 2023 (In-Person)
Nashville, TN – Apr 20, 2023 (Virtual)
Dallas, TX – May 3 & 4, 2023 (2 Day) (In-Person)
Brisbane, Australia – May 10, 2023 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - May 11, 2023 (Virtual)
Sydney, Australia – May 11 & 12, 2023 (2-Day In-Person)
Amsterdam, The Netherlands – May 16, 2023 (In-Person)
Nashville, TN – May 18, 2023 (In-Person)
Melbourne, Australia - Jun 6, 2023 (In-Person)
Nashville, TN – Jun 8, 2023 (Virtual)
Toronto, Canada – Jun 8, 2023 (Virtual)
Birmingham, UK – Jun 22, 2023 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada – Jul 6, 2023 (Virtual)
Houston, TX – Jul 11, 2023 (In-Person)
Sydney, Australia – Jul 20, 2023 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada – Aug 10, 2023 (Virtual)
Melbourne, Australia - Sep 5, 2023 (In-Person)
Grand Rapids, MI – Sep 12, 2023 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada – Sep 14, 2023 (Virtual)
Brisbane, Australia – Oct 10, 2023 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Oct 12, 2023 (Virtual)
Sydney, Australia – Nov 2, 2023 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Nov 9, 2023 (Virtual)
Grand Rapids, MI – Nov 9, 2023 (In-Person)
Melbourne, Australia - Nov 14, 2023 (In-Person)
Dallas, TX – Dec 6, 2023 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Dec 7, 2023 (Virtual)

COACHING:
Does it feel as if your business has hit a wall? If you don't see a clear path forward, it's a good time to bring in a coach.  All of our Scaling Up Certified Coaches™ are masters at guiding you and your leadership team through the implementation of the Scaling Up Performance. Our promise is a custom diagnostic approach from Day 1, including how we match you with a coach. We even have a team member dedicated to helping you find the perfect Scaling Up Certified Coach.™ Schedule a complimentary, personal follow-up. Or check out our FAQs. Additional questions can be sent to [email protected]

Better Book Club –
What's your team reading? Increase your books read per team member. Easy, Proven, and in the Cloud at http://www.BetterBookClub.com.

Your Brand as Marketing Powerhouse with a Forbes Books Content Partnership
If you want to be “top of mind” with your audience, then you need a strategy to build your authority in your field. Investing in media services with your personal brand can help you grow your audience and distinguish you as a trusted authority because you are educating, not selling. Learn how your brand can work harder for your business with a free brand audit.

TECHNOLOGY:
Scaling Up Scoreboard Integrated with Salesforce, Slack, and Zapier (allowing it to connect with 1000s of systems), use Scoreboard to provide your team (working remotely even more important!) a real-time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

Did you miss previous insights? - read here

Follow Verne on Instagram: @scalingup2.0

Follow Verne on Twitter: @agilescaleup

Connect with Verne on LinkedIn: Verne Harnish

Read Verne's Insights on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SX13YI

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

Godin/Rie Smackdown

"...keeping you great" Ten Minutes with the Growth Guy

HEADLINES: (Emergence vs. Divergence vs. Convergence)

Laura Ries/Seth Godin "Smackdown" -- the "iPhone failure" piece last week generated a lot of response, including a note from Seth Godin, the world's top marketing guru. He's made a prediction, including number of units sold, that the iPhone will be a success and has challenged other marketing gurus to a wager -- he specifically highlights Laura Ries' comments. Here's   a link to Seth's blog and Laura's counter blog

iPhone will end up being an excellent PDA -- but you'll still need to carry at least two devices! -- In the "for what it's worth" category, my response to the iPhone debate is under DETAILS below -- convergence loses once again. And I share my prediction on which company I think might be the real winner in all this iPhone mania.
 
YouTube -- 1-800-GOT-JUNK's Daily Standup Meeting video -- if you want to see a successful daily huddle, here's a link. It's been a key tool for driving their rapid growth. "If you want to move faster, pulse faster."
 
"If the answers are yes, don't ask...just do it!!" -- Randy Nelson, co-founder of NSTAR Global Services (www.nstarglobalservices.com), which provides staffing solutions to the semiconductor industry, has empowered employees to makes decisions based on "if the answers are yes" to five questions:

 

1. Is it right for the customer?
 
2. Is it right for NSTAR?
 
3. Is it ethical?
 
4. Is it something for which you're willing to be accountable?
 
5. Is it consistent with NSTAR's basic beliefs and values?

BTW, this is the kind of rules-based approach that creates "Emergent Systems" of management -- more about this breakthrough approach to managing a company at the Growth Summit in Vegas -- thus Emergence wins over Convergence and Divergence!

Multi-tasking debate -- Michael Caito, CEO, Restaurants-on-the-Run, encouraged me to look at this recent Inc. article that seems to contradict the assertion that we can't multi-task.

Multi-tasking surgeons! -- My response: "It's not that we don't have to multi-task a lot of the time, it's just that we also all need some focus time. I know people that essentially get no uninterrupted time --   that's what is bad. Give your priorities 30 -- 60 minutes per day of uninterrupted time (hey, you don't want your surgeon multi-tasking on the job!) and then you can multi-task your heart out the rest of the time." FYI, Michael let me know that he's implemented a "15-30 minute ‘most important thing first' routine himself."

Rockin' 2007 -- Mark Lancaster, CEO of Employment   Group, sent me some photos of their latest quarterly theme, where the executive team is representing a different band each quarter. Check out these "KISS" photos. The key to a successful quarterly theme is having a question you pose to the organization every day. Notes Lancaster "we accomplished our 5 priorities for Q1, achieved 105 percent of our Critical Number and continue to recruit and develop ‘A' players with the focus of our daily question ‘How many ‘A' players have you hung out with or talked to this week?'"

DETAILS:

Here are my thoughts on the iPhone debate:

 

• I was having drinks with Bert Quigg in Vancouver last night (Quigg has become THE premier high-end residential builder in Canada with his latest billion dollar plus project just underway) and discussing the Godin/Ries Smackdown when he pulled out both his Trio and Motorola Razor. I asked him why he carried both and he said because the PDA phone is just too hard to dial (as I found), isn't as good a phone to hear and be heard, etc. -- and his contacts are in both. At our Sales Summit, several companies acknowledged that their sales people carry both as well for the same reasons.
 
• The PDA really needs a bigger screen which the iPhone has but the phone needs to be smaller -- that's the divergence. Therefore, I think the iPhone will actually be a just a smaller computer while the phone functions are moving more to the Plantronic-type ear devices which will communicate with the PDA (yes, I've adopted the Cyborg-look myself courtesy of a gift from Mike Faith, CEO of Headsets.com) -- so we'll still have two devices requiring two chargers, not one! That's Laura Ries' point!
 
• Most PDA/phone people find the Bluetooth devices necessary so they can be looking things up on the PDA (and doing email) while talking on the phone. And these Bluetooth headsets are becoming as inexpensive and feature rich as phones.
 
• Thus, two devices -- phone and PDA!!!
 
• BTW, same with camera phones -- just a fad. Laura Ries pointed out that fads are typified by rabid and rapid sales that then fall off, whereas solid technologies have more of a traditional exponential ramping in sales. Case in point, Mike Faith, CEO of Headsets.com, wanted to take a photo with Laura Ries -- now this is one of the most high tech guys I know and he has a camera phone -- but he brought out his small digital camera to take the photo. Each device does its job the best and what makes for a great phone by definition doesn't make a great camera -- in fact, my wife has a camera PDA yet LOVES her high end, full size Canon M20 -- she takes 500 times (literally) the photos than she does from even her small digital camera.
 
• Conclusion: iPhone is poorly named, it will do well initially and morph quickly into a handheld Mac, and the Headsets.com and Plantronics of the world will be the "phone" distributor and manufacturers of choice. And like high end stereo equipment, we'll own and use a separate camera, PDA, and phone -- three devices from three separate companies to do three distinct jobs.
   

April 2 Deadline

"...keeping you great" Ten Minutes with the Growth Guy

HEADLINES: (Sales and Marketing Summit update)

URGENT -- April 2 hotel deadline -- for those participating in the Sales and Marketing Summit in Atlanta April 24 - 25, the deadline for getting the conference rate for the hotel is next Monday, April 2. Here's the hotel information: Marriott Atlanta Airport 1 (800) 228-9290 call for reservations -- ask for "Gazelles Sales and Marketing Summit" $169 room rate single/double -- again, cut-off date is April 2.

Always new program -- I've been asked by many if the Sales and Marketing Summit will be repeated. The plan is to host it each spring. However, it will be an entirely new program each year. The idea is to expose   you to the very best thought leaders each year and if you miss a year, you miss that group of thought leaders (like Dr. Victoria Medvec, the Jim Collins of Complex Negotiation!). This year's program is listed under DETAILS below.

What about CFO, COO, HR, etc -- topics this year include Negotiations (everything you do in   business); Customer Service (all execs must encourage and practice); Branding (everything you do effects branding, including how you send out invoices); Sales (need I say more -- we had all better be selling all the time); and Marketing (getting people and money often more key than getting customers). The idea is for you to bring the executive team and have a learning experience together -- from the very top thinkers in each of these subject areas.

GE's execs at Crotonville monthly -- the best companies know you have to "keep executives great!" It doesn't happen by accident. The idea of the Summits is to provide a consistent, high quality, executive education experience twice a year -- providing you the same kind of educational rhythm we advocate in other aspects of your business. We want to be your "outsourced corporate university" and for you to feel there isn't a better executive education option twice a year.

YPO, EO, Vistage, Inner Circle and other CEO group participants -- the other key idea behind the Summits   is to provide an educational experience for the rest of the team equivalent to the kind of education we're privileged to receive via our CEO organizations. We need the team aligned and learning together.

Discounts -- the 10k program -- many of you see the significant discount our 10k members receive -- $1250/seat vs. the $1495 (3 or more) or $1695 individual. Our regular attendees simply commit to bringing at least four execs to each of the Summits -- that's it! Pre-paying $5k each six months guarantees the best seats. And you can use the 10k seats to get discounts on the DVD products and other workshops. We want to reward loyalty and consistency.

Consistent scheduling -- many firms have asked for advanced dates of the Summits -- they want to build their planning cycles around the education, particularly the fall Growth Summits. We're standardizing on the Tuesday-Wednesday closest to April 22 for the spring and the Tuesday-Wednesday closest to October 22 in the fall (Oct 23 -- 24, Vegas, 2007). Three weeks into new quarters, you should have some breathing room post the previous quarter. And a Tuesday-Wednesday lets you be in the office on Monday and back for Thursday-Friday.

Breadth plus depth -- the Summits are meant to provide your team a way to survey the very latest   in business thinking -- "you don't know what you don't know -- the most dangerous situation". The sessions are two to four hours so the presenters have time to provide depth. However, we recognize that it takes months to take something really deep -- it's why we're also structuring programs like the Doug Hall "Eureka! Winning Way" process introduced at the last Summit to help your team go deep with Doug's innovation process. The Summits give you a healthy depth and taste -- then you can pick where you want to dive even deeper.

Education is never urgent -- I'm doing what I do because education is THE key competitive weapon   -- knowledge truly is power -- and the hundreds of emails I receive regularly of the impact the education has had on your business are a testament to the impact -- like those that have been transformed by Marcus Buckingham and Doug Hall presentations at the last Summit.

DETAILS:

2 Days. Five Key Topics. 8 Speakers

Featuring...

Dr. Victoria Husted Medvec
Getting the Deal You Want: Maximizing Your Success
in Complex Negotiations
 
Adeline Barry Davee Professor of Management and Organizations, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
 
Whoever names price first loses – right? Wrong. This and many other myths about high stakes negotiations have been challenged by the pioneering work of Dr. Medvec. Her ten steps for maximizing success in complex negotiations, especially where the relationship must be maintained after the sale, has brought her acclaim among top M&A and FORTUNE 500 firms. Growth firms spend a great deal of their time negotiating deals – mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, and key contracts all capture the attention of top executives. How do you construct the best possible deal? How can you negotiate   effectively and secure value for your company while simultaneously building the relationship with the other side? This seminar will help you to improve your effectiveness in all types of negotiations. This will be a highly interactive seminar where you will have the opportunity to share your own negotiating challenges and create strategies for critical upcoming negotiations. Through her consulting, Professor Medvec has helped many executives and sales leaders achieve incredible success in high-stakes negotiations. In this session, she will highlight the ten tactics that have led to her clients’ success and teach you how to use these strategies. 
 
John DiJulius, www.johndijulius.com
Creating World Class Customer Service
 
President, John DiJulius consulting • Founder and CEO,
John Roberts Hair Studios and Spas
Author of: Secret Service: Hidden Systems That Deliver Unforgettable Customer Service.
 
Customer Service is back with a vengeance. It’s the key growth concept for 2007 – because word-of-mouth marketing can make or break your business. John DiJulius has literally written the book on creating a world-class service experience. Take your business to the next level using the same proven strategies he has used to grow his John Roberts Hair Studio and Spa to an award winning, $4 million business. DiJulius will share: The 10 non-negotiable principles of customer service vital to growing your business; strategies to identify what customers really want – not what you think they want; and ways to “walk your talk” 24/7, to exceed expectations during every customer contact. John’s dynamic, insightful session will give you the tools you need to deliver service so superior, it makes price irrelevant.

Laura Ries, www.ries.com
Exploiting Divergence to Achieve Market Dominance
 
President, Ries & Ries
Co-author of: The Fall of Advertising and The Rise of PR and The Origin of Brands.
 
What’s the most effective way to create a new brand in today’s marketplace? Laura Ries, together with her father, partner and co-author, renowned marketing strategist Al Ries, made the marketing world sit up and take notice with a startling answer to that question. Their controversial work, The Origin of Brands, forms the heart of Laura’s riveting presentation. Using thought-provoking logic and impassioned delivery, Laura Ries will reveal: How to push beyond gaining mere market share, to creating profitable, new markets; the five immutable branding laws you must use to focus your business and increase your profits; ways to narrow the scope of your business – for surprising revenue gains; and what best-practices branding shares in common with the pioneering work of Charles Darwin. After this lively, informative session, you’ll see why Ries has established herself as a go-to voice on marketing matters for Fox News Channel, CNBC, CNN and ABC World News Tonight.

Randy Schwantz, www.thewedge.net
Driving Organic Growth with The Wedge Sales Culture
 
Founder, President & CEO, The Wedge Group™
Author of The Wedge: How to Stop Selling and Start Winning and How to Get Your Competition Fired
(Without Saying Anything Bad About Them) 
 
In demand as a speaker, coach and consultant, Randy Schwantz has taken the sales training world by storm with The Wedge®, his innovative selling system based on winning business away from incumbent vendors. He has coached hundreds of companies and thousands of sales professionals in the US and Canada to take sales growth to a higher level. In a lively, colorful style unique to this West Texas native, Schwantz will reveal why conventional sales methods fail to cut it in today’s complex market. Boost your firm’s sales – and profits – by understanding: the 3 relevant players in every single sales scenario; how to generate more revenue from top clients; and ways to unseat incumbent suppliers (without resorting to criticism). Randy Schwantz will equip you with the best practices and actionable tools you need to achieve increased sales in a forward-thinking, growth environment.

Erik Darmstetter, www.salesby5.com
Innovative Sales Growth Strategies
 
Founder and CEO, Sales by 5 • Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year • San
Antonio Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” 
 
What’s a truly new idea worth to your business? Chances are it’s pricelesswhen you want to sell more, increase profits and dominate your market. Erik Darmstetter shatters the ceiling of tried and true with his innovative and creative take on growing your small or mid-market company. Erik will share:   Surefire, new ways to turn “warm leads” into hot sales; how to forge an unbeatable service team ready to exceed customer expectations – even in the face of increased demand; and how re-branding and “secret shopping” could catapult your business growth by as much as 200%. Gain critical insights that will turbo-charge the power of every sales and marketing strategy in your arsenal.  
 
Cameron Herold, www.1800gotjunk.com
Turning Junk into Profit
 
COO, 1-800-GOT-JUNK? 
 
Cameron Herold needs no introduction. As one of the principle architects of the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? brand, Herold is COO of company now known as “the FEDEX of junk removal.” His unique understanding of brand marketing and PR has helped grow this entrepreneurial venture into the $119 million company   it is today. Herold has overseen the company’s exponential growth from a modest, Vancouver-based business to one with a presence in nearly every major North American city. A sought-after speaker among entrepreneurs worldwide, his high-energy approach to growing a business is contagious. Herold’s innovative strategies have received attention from Associated Press, Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Fortune and many others. 
 
Dave Kurlan, www.objectivemanagement.com
Raising Expectations, Elevating Performance
 
Founder, Objective Management Group, Inc.
Author of: Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling: How to Become a Sales
Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball.  
 
In today’s uncertain economy, can your sales people step up? If not, you risk losing market share, profits and hard-won growth. With more than 30 years of experience in all facets of sales training, management and consulting, Dave Kurlan knows how to identify and coach sales superstars. His eye-opening presentation reveals exactly what it takes to build a top-flight sales team who will grow your company’s profits. In this engaging, interactive session, Kurlan will shed new light on: Hiring sales professionals who can overcome the increased resistance in today’s marketplace; how the hidden strengths and weaknesses of your salespeople influence profit; and ways to accurately predict future sales revenue, once your A team is in place. Leave with tools you can integrate immediately – at any size business, in any industry. 
 
Verne Harnish, www.gazelles.com
Marketing Savvy for Fast-Growth Firms
 
CEO of Gazelles, Inc. • Founder, Young Entrepreneurs
Organization (YEO)
Author of: Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the
Value of Your Fast Growth Firm 
 
Sales and Marketing are not one in the same. Sadly, many fast-growth companies ignore marketing strategy entirely, in favor of immediate – and sometimes overwhelming – sales demands. It’s a shortsighted error you can’t afford to make. To grab and keep new customers continuously, a dedicated marketing effort is crucial. Based on insights from many of the world’s top marketing experts, Verne will share ways to launch a powerful marketing effort that yields long-term success. Discover: The key approach Regis McKenna used to drive marketing during meteoric expansion at Apple, Intel, and Genentech; how to distinguish key sales metrics from key marketing metrics; and must-have technologies that will turbo-charge your marketing process. An engaging, dynamic speaker, Verne will offer a use-it-on-Monday plan for enhancing marketing strategy in your fast-growth environment.

Best Website

"...keeping you great" Ten Minutes with the Growth Guy

HEADLINES:

Growth Summit Update -- Fred Reichheld, author of the best selling book "The Ultimate Question", will keynote the Growth Summit in Las Vegas. His Net Promoter Score (NPS) is changing the way companies think about customer satisfaction.

Outstanding Website Design -- check out Caroline Caskey's Identigene website, the leaders in DNA   testing. What catches your eye FIRST is the bold brand promise backed with a guarantee of "3 Days or Free." They state clearly their "only ones" position in the marketplace. The contact info and hours is top left, making it easy for the customer to contact them. The "What's wrong with a $99 test" is going right at their competitors. And their "Get SECURE answers to your questions, ONLINE" box in the lower right shows a clear understanding of the customers sensitivities while providing clear answers to the top four common questions. Best use of web real estate I've seen on a site.

Identigene's "Test" Site -- it's obvious a great deal of research and thought has gone into their site, so I asked Caroline how she did this. The key is that they have a private labeled site which they use to play around with pricing and other changes to see what impact those changes make. Noted Caroline "Identigene's site converts far more clients than the private label site, even when the test site offers much lower pricing. It's been interesting to see what works." LESSON -- be your own competitor. Set up a competitive site with an unrelated URL and see what you can learn by tweaking layout, offerings, etc.

10 Website Domain Name Strategies -- speaking of websites, Eric Shannon, President of LatPro, Inc,   the leading job board for Hispanic and bilingual professionals, has written a very concise 10 commandments for getting the right domain names (and getting   plenty of them) -- the key is creating a moat around your existing domain name by getting names that are slightly misspelled and making sure you have domain names that mirror your brand promise and product/service names. Notes Eric "this   is the kind of knowledge that can make a 20 fold difference in your outcome. I learned it the hard way: LATE!" Here's a link to his 10 commandments

5 Million Contacts and Email Addresses -- this might be old news for many of you, but Steven Krane, President of Therasage pointed me to www.jigsaw.com, an online database of over 5 million contacts complete with email addresses. I've looked up several of you and surprised to find many of you in this "world's largest rolodex." Founded by Jim Fowler, a veteran sales executive, in a previous life he was owner and operator of Lookout Pass, a ski resort in Idaho, and served in the US Navy as a Diving and Salvage Officer!

Best and Worst Customer Service Stories Needed -- for a FORTUNE Small Business cover story on customer service, Justin Martin plans to include a sidebar on "Service Highlights and Lowlights." This will feature CEOs describing their best and worst service experiences from a consumer perspective.   You can discuss notable experiences, good or bad, with an airline, restaurant, bank, you name it. There's no need to identify the company that furnished the experience, though you can if you like. March 21 deadline email [email protected]

Best Place to Work in Dallas-Forth Worth 2007 -- congratulations to Tony Hartl and Planet Tan for this latest recognition. With 10 locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, they count among their spokes persons the infamous Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks. And Tony runs a very Rockefeller Habits-disciplined organization, while having a loads of outrageous fun -- the two can co-exist!!