By Rob Basso on
10/24/2011 8:41 AM
Many of my company’s large competitors are public companies that have been in the market for more than 25 years. They blazed a trail for smaller service providers and always appear to be on the cutting edge (or even bleeding edge) of what clients want in a payroll service provider. They have massive marketing budgets and equally large funds for training programs aimed at churning out highly-polished salespeople through a cookie-cutter machine. Each newly-minted salesperson appears better groomed than the previous one produced by this highly industrialized training mechanism. However, I’m not envious and I certainly don’t covet this sterile approach...
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By Rob Basso on
9/29/2011 11:42 AM
I was fired from a few jobs as a teenager. Fortunately, I also never had a problem getting a job. It was clear I was not the easiest employee to deal with. In my youth, I thought I knew better than my supervisors, the owners or basically anyone else in charge. One summer, when working in the kitchen of a pizzeria, I attempted to tell the pizza maker — with his 10 years of experience — how to do something better than the way he was doing it. He did not appreciate my input and tried to smack me with a spatula. Luckily he missed, but we did get into a shoving match right there in the kitchen...
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By Rob Basso on
8/18/2011 1:01 PM
Your first anniversary, the first steps your one-year-old took, the signing of your first home mortgage, your first kiss. These are all milestones we celebrate throughout our lives - but why? Is it our constant need for a sign of progress or our love of celebration? Could it simply be the human condition we move forward in our lives in search of some sort of meaning and affirmation of our accomplishments? Milestones, goals, or hurdles we overcome exist in every society across the globe and they seem to appear to be more ambitious as the universe gets older...
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By Rob Basso on
8/8/2011 9:30 AM
Your glowing red tie that everyone can see from across a busy city street, the gleaming white smile, the perfectly pressed suit or designer pumps, the fancy name badge you always wear to try and stand out, the robust strides you take when you enter a room that creates an air of confidence are just not enough to build your personal brand anymore. There will certainly always be a place for the Fuller Brush salesperson approach and some may be fooled by pomp and circumstance, but today’s buyers are savvier than ever and they want substance...
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By Rob Basso on
7/27/2011 1:54 PM
Having a business not only survive but thrive in this environment may seem overwhelming. There is so much going on to keep up with, including the new jobs programs that are supposed to help small business owners, the uncertainly of income taxes, the erratic stock market, a new balance of power in Washington and the European economic crisis...
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