Allegra Network

Those that do not follow these credit fundamentals will find that the bad customers will drift their way over time. I believe in a firm policy that any accounts that go beyond 90 days should immediately be placed on COD.

Congratulations go out to The Print Shop (Wisconsin Rapids, WI) for achieving the best overall loyalty rating—99 percent of its customers stated they were “Very Likely” to recommend the company to colleagues and friends based on its third-quarter performance.

I have found that businesses that stay in that 5-10 percent debt range, over time, do a pretty good job of keeping the business healthy and produce good profitability and cash flow at the same time.

USPS to Close - What if that was an actual news headline? I think there’s little for us to worry about as long as we get better at understanding and selling more cross-channel ways for delivering marketing messages...and can make money doing it.

It’s overdue, but still not too late to reinvent your company, reinvest in it and reengineer how you do things. We need to go to the very core of what we do and, most likely, reinvent our business model.

Strongly financed, well-managed companies with a good business plan can and will always survive. They can also thrive by recognizing that getting a larger slice of a pie that is shrinking can be a fine growth strategy.

The top 10 percent achieved an over 91 percent print buyer loyalty score, the top third over 85 percent loyalty, average performers were in the 76-85 percent range, and the bottom third performers under 76 percent.

It’s not unusual to see owners lose some of the passion they once had for their businesses, even to the point of wanting out. Peter admitted that it had happened to him at one point. He stopped and asked himself, If I wasn't doing this, what would I be doing?

Where is the common sense of upper management or the owner when considering entering the marketing services arena? Why would you go after this type of work in direct competition with agencies if they’re a critical part of your business?

The latest figures from the Department of Commerce show the Consumer Price Index averaging 5.7 percent for the past six months and 8.5 percent for the last three. Even if you instituted a price increase on Jan. 1, it might be time to consider another.