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A Sound Argument for Raising Your Prices and More Tips for March

Like how to recruit like a pro, finally knock things off your to-do list, and the magic number of times you need to repeat yourself for staff finally start to pay attention.

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A Sound Argument for Raising Your Prices and More Tips for March
PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO

TAXESCash Protection

If you have what accountants refer to as a “special income event” and the IRS rules allow you to wait until April 15 to pay taxes on it, go buy a Certificate of Deposit that matures on April 10 advises Greg Crabtree, a CPA and author of Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits. This not only gives you time to think how to best use the cash but prevents you from touching that money for any reason until you’ve paid the correct tax on it.

STRATEGYRaise Your Prices

Never be afraid to charge more than anyone else in your category. “The only company that can fund a customer’s hoped-for experience is the company with a fat profit margin,” notes small-business author Roy H. Williams in his MondayMorningMemo newsletter. “The services you get for half-price aren’t the same services you get for full price.” Such thinking echoes a complaint recently made by prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreessen. “We just see over and over again people failing [to raise prices], because they get into a problem called ‘too hungry to eat.’ They don’t charge enough for their product to be able to afford the sales and marketing required to actually get anybody to buy it,” he said. “Is your product any good if people won’t pay more for it?”

A Sound Argument for Raising Your Prices and More Tips for March

PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO

HIRINGRecruit Like a Pro

Professional recruiters calculate the cost of making a bad hire before they begin the process of looking for a new salesperson, says Steve Suggs, author of Can They Sell? Learn to Recruit the Best Salespeople. “The pain of lost revenue is the biggest motivator to improve and change,” he says, adding that lost revenue from bad hiring decisions typically ranges from $50,000 to $500,000. What is your number?

PRODUCTIVITYAppointment With Success

Got a to-do list that just won’t shrink? Try treating each item on the list like a doctor’s appointment that you would never consider skipping. “And if you list not only what you need to do, but when and where you will actually do it, you are much more likely to cross it off that to-do list once and for all,” says social psychologist Heidi Grant Halvorson, associate director of the Motivation Science Center at Columbia University and author of Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals.

A Sound Argument for Raising Your Prices and More Tips for March

PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO

STAFFThe Magic Number 7

How many times do you need to repeat a message to employees before it sticks? Seven, says Patrick Lencioni, a former Bain & Co. consultant and author of 5 Dysfunctions of a Team and The Advantage. You may feel you’re being redundant and even annoying, but “studies show employees won’t believe a leader’s message until they’ve heard it seven times,” says Lencioni. He adds, however, that the important thing to remember about such studies is, whether the magic number is five or 55, “the message is — people are skeptical about what they hear unless they hear it repeatedly over time.” This is especially true as your business grows in size and complexity.

COMMUNICATIONRights and Wrongs

A tip from Kevin Kelly’s Excellent Advice for Living on how to disagree: “Speak confidently as if you are right but listen carefully as if you are wrong.” It’s the second part that is key and which most people have trouble with.

PERFORMANCEDaily Encouragement

A research study in Canada has found that people who receive regular weight-loss advice in the form of emails or tweets dropped more pounds than those who didn’t get the reminders. We figure the same must apply when it comes to good business advice. If you haven’t already, sign up here for INVISION’s Daily Tips: invisionmag.com/bulletins.

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