Landscape Contractor / Design Build Maintain

JUL 2016

LC/DBM provides landscape contractors with Educational, Imaginative and Practical information about their business, their employees, their machines and their projects.

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46 LC DBM I n f o r m a t i o n R e q u e s t # 4 1 0 To help make sounder decisions, the Small Business Administration of- fers the following advice: • Define, as specifically as possible, what the decision is that needs to be made, when it needs to be made, why it is impor- tant and if you are really the one who has to make it. • Write down as many alternatives as you can think of. • Predict the outcome of each alterna- tive and gauge which ones you are more satisfied with. • Cross off those alternatives that most likely will not occur. • Once you have made your decision, get moving on it. Worrying or second- guessing yourself will only cause stress. To deal with angry customers more effectively, law professor and communications specialist Joe Curcillo stresses the need to have the focus and knowledge necessary to take control and get the customer's loyalty back. Three tips towards achieving that goal are: • Do not speak until you have truly listened • Do not defend until you have heard the attack • Focus on areas where you or your customer can improve In situations where legal issues dictate the hiring of attorneys, the SBA maintains that a business has the right to know, and to get in writing, how they will be charged, how much the case is likely to cost, and when they have to pay. Business consultant David Waits asserts that to be an effective leader one must understand and leverage their performance, pres- ence and profitability. Methods to help them do so include: • Investing in themselves and their growth • Understanding the value they bring to those they lead • Recognizing effective actions – not just intentions EXPERTS WEIGH IN Building Better Businesses I n f o r m a t i o n R e q u e s t # 4 4 5

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