training | The Barefoot Spirit

3 Overused Tactics of Poor Customer Service

“GO AWAY!”

by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey | Business Blog

We hope it’s an individual and not a company-wide problem. It could be poor hiring or poor training that results in certain counterproductive tactics that account executives and customer service representatives in big companies increasingly use. It seems to occur when...

5 Ways to Grow and Build Trust

by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey | Business Blog

First published on Entrepreneur.com on 11/12/2017 From your creditors to your employees, good business relationships are built on trust. Can the people who depend on you, confidently rely on you to treat them fairly? Once you have proven your dependability, they will...

Is a Knowledge-Hungry Crowd Finally Ready for Wisdom?

IT’S NOT HOW? IT’S WHY?

by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey | Business Blog

Is your email flooded with marketers pandering to your thirst for quick knowledge to “solve” the immediate problem at hand. Is your news feed is packed with ads promising six digits in six months, and all from your phone! “Just follow this process,” they say, “and you...

Build Trust with Timely Status Reports

“THANKS FOR GETTING BACK TO ME!”

by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey | Business Blog

There’s a new phenomenon happening that we never saw ten years ago. It is a best practice that somehow got dropped from the up-bringing, educational and training processes. In today’s workplace, we see employees keeping vital information to themselves and not...

Small Business Creates the Most Jobs and Does Most of the Training

LESSON #1: AIM, DON’T BLAME!

by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey | Business Blog

Last week was National Small Business Week. Every year at this time the North Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of North Florida celebrates with an awards luncheon singling out small business owners in their region who are outstanding. This...