The U.S. House Republican tax reform proposal includes a recommendation to adopt a Border Adjustment Tax (BAT). If it passes in any form, it will increase the cost of promotional products significantly. The BAT will have a negative overall impact to the promotional products industry. You must start learning about BAT, and how it is…
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I did it. I went direct. I cut out the distributor. I cut out the supplier. I bought directly from China. It wasn’t bad. In fact, it was quite good. Delivery was three weeks. Product quality was excellent. Service was outstanding. English wasn’t a problem. I’ve already ordered a second time. I bought glasses directly…
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“Department Stores Are Paying the Price for Underestimating Amazon” Department stores have been dabbling in e-commerce for a long time, but failed to recognize the big shift in consumer shopping preferences. Now, they are paying the price by closing stores en masse and shifting more investments into e-commerce. Amazon has such a large lead online…
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Customer shopping expectations are racing ahead at light speed. We are at the point where buying online is often simpler and preferred over talking with a person. When that happens, new value is created and a new buying preferences are formed. To build your business, you must leverage your relationships while participating in the burgeoning…
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If you haven’t started with home automation yet, now is the time. Even if you have, now is the time to add one more thing: Amazon Echo Dot, better known as Alexa. On its own, Amazon Echo Dot ($50) is a great deal. It plays music (although only loud enough for one room), creates shopping…
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I love data. I really do. The more data you have, the better decisions you can make. Unless… Unless you read the data without context and understanding. Consider this example: Your e-commerce vendor is reporting to you that your Google Adwords (the ads that show during a Google search) campaign is doing extremely well and…
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Most salespeople are extremely agile. Extremely agile. Salespeople want to say “yes” to anything. Agility is critical to success in sales. A great process is critical, too, but being flexible to meet each customer’s needs is equally critical. Agility often breaks down once you get past sales. Operation teams often are far less agile by…
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Be bad at something, perhaps a few things. Consider being downright awful at one thing. Why be bad at something? Simply put: So you can be great at the things that matter. Consider Amazon. It isn’t great at “in-person” customer service, even though it is great at customer service. In fact, it offers some of the…
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Every business has metrics, but too many use vanity metrics that make them feel good about what is being done rather than providing insights to be better. For example, we’ve all suffered from the call center that is so focused on wrapping up the call rather than resolving the problem. Why? Because the more calls,…
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I was in San Francisco Aug. 14 (attending PPAI North American Leadership Conference) and watched as nearly everyone seemed to be playing “Pokemon Go.” I was in San Francisco this weekend and other than a few young boys, I saw hardly anyone playing “Pokemon Go”. This isn’t because I wasn’t paying attention. In fact, it…
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