directedfocus

"Chasing the thin blue line" is a comment oft used in the marathon runner's vocabulory.

The blue line, originally green, is used to measure the actual distance of the marathon event and as a guide for the runners.

Do you and your business have a "blue line"?

We've heard a lot about the "wisdom of crowds", mostly in relation to Internet sites that let their readers make key decisions.

Is this a good thing? Won't there always be lapses in judgment both individually and collectively.

I recently came across a photo of a sheep going the opposite way amongst a flock of sheep, walking towards a cliff, saying “scuze-moi” as she pushes through the crowd.

It's getting more expensive to do business.

And whether you face direct challenges like spiraling costs for transportation and raw materials, or simply feel the secondary effects, you might find yourself taking a deep breath as you decide whether or not raise your prices.

It makes a lot of sense to drag out the quantitative methods and dig deep to determine the value of individual customers or customer groups and give perks and privileges to high-value customers.

A company can either try to turn low-value customers into high-value ones, or simply fire them. Nicely or even Donald Trump style, if that befits you.

When the pressure is on with change, interest rates, energy costs, economic down turns, the easy things, the squeaky wheel is what gets attention.

The real issue ... what's not squeeking is where the money can be saved.