How Come American Sign Language is Not Universal? How come I never heard of this?
There are over 300 sign languages in the world. There are different symbols for different characteristics for the various sign languages.
Jack Mencini of Maximum Value Partners, as co-host of Dirty Secrets of Small Business asks: “How come I never heard of this before?”
Answer- The American Sign Language organization has a marketing challenge much like many small businesses and the awareness of this is somewhat non-existent.
It comes down to three components to market effectively for small business and organizations:
Definition of a target audience or the customer (make the message aware), create the message for the customer and deliver it through channels.
Whether it be your small business or a large company or a non-profit organization that does not have tremendous awareness, there needs to be a effective marketing plan to target specific audience, create awareness and determine how to get the message points out through placement, promotion, public relations, advertising, social media, events, telemarketing and even direct marketing.
For more information, visit www.DirtySecretsofSmallBusiness.com
On Dirty Secrets of Small Business, this week’s success story revolves around a father, who is the small business owner, looking to retire and have his son take over the business.
The son was more methodical than the father. The son was also very contemplative on his process to get things done. Part of the challenge for this transition was that the son was not as verbally communicative as the father. From a leadership standpoint, the son’s and father’s styles were very different.
To add to the challenge, the staff working in the business had been around for awhile and a lot of the working people saw the son as the kid who had been there for years and now he is to become the leader, their boss, the one making the decisions that will affect them on a daily basis. A very difficult transition for a team of people to change perception of the boss’s kid to the kid now the boss.
The son was very good at the products and services, but did not have any experience in the leadership role. Maximum Value Partners were there to help coach the son with the day to day transition and help the staff see the son, the kid, as now the adult and the leader taking over for the dad.
To be truly effective, there is a process and Jack Mencini and Adam Sonnhalter, small business coaches with Maximum Value Partners, got involved and knew it wasn’t going to happen over night .
Over several years they coached both the dad and the son through losing clients and maintain profitability. It was a good training ground to address the challenges and keep the business going. The timing of a few years also underscores the importance to take time for transition.
If you allow time for this transition from the leadership hand over from father to son to happen over time and have a process, the outcome is much more successful for the leaders and the employees.
Some great lessons from this success story: The dad, the owner, knew to get started early for this transition, the son embraced a leadership style and over time with challenges that came about with even losing clients, they worked to maintain profitability.
If you are looking to transition your business over time, contact Jack and Adam through email: info@maximumvp.com