Employee | The Barefoot Spirit

Terms That Can Hurt Your Business and Undo Your Good Will

“IT’S ALL ABOUT ME!”

by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey | Business Blog

You won’t get too much argument against the proposition that an excellent customer experience results in return customers, loyalty, and even advocacy. But few owners are aware that the terms their own people use can sour their hard earned customers on an otherwise...

Base Compensation on Sales, Growth, and Profitability

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey | Business Blog, Sales

Brian Tracy once said that most employee behavioral problems are caused by compensation systems. In short, you get what you pay for. Nowhere is this more critical than in how you compensate your sales team. For years we paid our salespeople a commission based on sales...

Integrity Trumps Everything

YOUR WORD IS YOUR BOND

by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey | Business Blog, Education, Entrepreneurship

We can’t have a cop on every corner or a regulator in every office. At some point we must rely on the people we hire, do business with, and buy products or services from. When we cannot depend on on these people, we look to terminate the relationship and search for...

At What Age Should Entrepreneurial Thinking Be Taught?

A VALID ALTERNATIVE

by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey | Article, Business Blog, Education, Entrepreneurship, Event

Should we be teaching the mindset necessary for successful entrepreneurship beginning much earlier than college? By postponing the consideration of self-employment until after high school are educational institutions actually discouraging their students from...

Advance in Your Job by Checking Your Own Work

YOUR BOSS IS NOT A SAFETY NET

by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey | Article, Business Blog, Education

The more your boss trusts you, the faster you become indispensable. They want to rely on you to do your job right, and that means relatively free of errors. Sure, there are bosses that want to micromanage everything you do. Those bosses are actually preventing their...