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Corp! Magazine Highlights Five Successful, “Bad” Business Practices

Are Bad Business Practices Really Bad?

(July 12, 2010) -- With Best Practices available for everything from accounting to Xeroxing, how is it possible any business employs mediocre or bad processes? The June 10, 2010 issue of Corp! magazine, which seeks to inform, intrigue, and entertain business owners and top level executives by providing features, news and profiles flips the whole notion of best practices on its head by highlighting “bad” business practices that actually work for companies. “Take a break from the quest to do things right and embrace your inner delinquent” says David A. Fields. Managing Director, Ascendant Consulting, LLC of Ridgefield, Connecticut. “There are five “bad” business practices, which, surprisingly enough, will boost your bottom line.”
1. Fire Your Customer! When a small population of your customer base is noted to cause repetitive, costly issues, then fire them and you will enjoy an immediate, sustainable lift in time, morale, and money.
2. Lose the Sale! Sales people are taught to pursue every sale until the lead becomes cold or the prospect feigns death just to avoid one more pitch. The truth is sales people who can recognize a dead end quickly and walk away early are actually more efficient, more effective and more successful.
3. Puff up Expenses! When times are tough, you should tighten the belt, right? Wrong! The economy is still in the doldrums and your competitors aren’t spending, which makes this the perfect time to let that marketing budget get a little out of hand.
4. Raise Your Prices! You will win more customers and a richer bottom line with a price increase. In recessions, more than any other time, customers are looking for value and when you raise your prices two things happen: customers perceive your offerings as higher value (people do believe they get what they pay for) and you give yourself room to leapfrog the competition with your higher features and benefits.
5. Build in More Waste! Experts in Lean methodology have made a fortune helping companies strip out all the waste from their operations, their sales processes and anything else within reach. Eliminating all the waste leaves you with a very brittle, breakable system. Adding waste is a bit more nuanced and challenging to do well than other bad practices; however, if you keep the general rule in mind that a bit of wasted money, time and effort is a good thing, you will enjoy higher profitability and productivity.

You can keep on plodding along with the same “best practices” that got you where you are or you can break out of the pack by challenging those outdated ideas. If making too much profit is a crime you’d be happy to commit, cut loose and become a business delinquent. Counter-intuitive, “bad” practices trade the tried and used-to-be-true for fresh approaches that deliver a higher return on your hard-earned time and money.

David A. Fields is managing director of Ascendant Consulting, LLC and can be contacted at david.fields@ascendantconsulting.com. David has spent over 20 years working with and advising companies from the Fortune 500 to the small-town 5000 on how to grow faster. Author of More Projects, More Revenue and the forthcoming Corporate Civilizations: How Successful Leaders Create Thriving Cultures, Fields is one of Advertising Age magazine’s “Marketing Top 100.” David is also a frequent contributor to national business media and his commentary and strategic insights have appeared in USA Today, CNN Money, Investor’s Business Daily, Philadelphia Inquirer, Advertising Age, BusinessWeek, SmartMoney, Dallas Morning News, Hartford Courant, and numerous other publications.
Corp! Magazine
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Details: 203-438-7236 or info@ascendantconsulting.com

Ascendant Consulting, LLC
Ridgefield, CT 06877
http://www.ascendantconsulting.com

For information or media interviews contact: David Fields at 203-438-7236 or info@ascendantconsulting.com

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