The Valcort Marketing Blog

The Value of Being Creative

For the last three years, we have been exploring Valcort’s 35 Keys to Business Growth--specific practices to advance your business, five each in seven VALCORT disciplines: V—Values and Vision A—Assets and Associations L—Lens on market, customers, and competition C—Creative O—Outreach R—Relationship T—Tracking Here are links to all five articles on...

12 tips for making your vendors partners

When we look at vendor transactions, the language isn’t particularly warm, and it usually doesn’t describe a relationship in which everyone is valued and comes away whole and satisfied. “Companies use vendors to provide services” “Service providers fill customer orders “ Valcort’s #30 Key to Business Growth calls for a...

15 Successes Who Started in Failure 

Failure can be (and often is) the first step to success. Skeptical?  Here are 15 examples of how extremely successful people got off to terribly bad starts. Bill Gates Bill Gates is now one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, but he didn’t earn his fortune in a straight line to success....

Vision and the North Star: Certainty in Uncertain Times

Casting about on the open seas or escaping a hostile force through an unmarked wilderness, your circumstances can change dramatically by the minute. To head confidently in the right direction, you can focus on the North Star for your bearings and to make the decisions that will bring you to...

Valcort’s 35 Keys to Business Growth: Values and Vision

If you are new to The Valcort Group, you may not know that our consulting strategy is easy to find—it’s our name. Valcort is an acronym for the 7 disciplines that drive,  guide, and measure business growth. V-A-L-C-O-R-T V -- Values are the foundation, for the values we hold drive the choices we...

Conversations on Business Growth

35 Keys to Business Growth from The Valcort Group There are many ways to grow a business. And with history as a guide, we’d say there are many more ways to fail. We have ideas on both how to succeed and how to avoid the pitfalls. We start with 35, and you...

Pay attention: The importance of tracking marketing results

Paying attention is important. In many ways. Identity security, for instance. Identify theft affects a staggering 7 percent of the population annually, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, and totals more than $25 billion annually in financial losses to the U.S. economy. Due to its emotional impact and resulting...

The 15 Friendliest Companies in America

We’ve asked around to find the companies with the best customer service, focus, and relationships. There are many companies that do it well, and just as many that don’t get it.  Here’s our list of the best. Amazon.com Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has the highest customer service satisfaction...

Answer the door. Winning the customer inquiry exchange

Successful customer impressions begin at the front door of your business. That front door these days is often an email in-box, a Website inquiry, a cell phone call or text, a Tweet, post or comment. Or it might be someone actually at your front door! Don’t miss the opportunity to make that...