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Negotiating commercial leases: Put your meeting in writing

Dale Willerton and Jeff Grandfield Retail

For many commercial tenants, negotiating a good lease or lease renewal against an experienced agent or landlord can be a challenge. While an entrepreneur focuses on marketing and managing, savvy real estate agents and brokers are specialized salespeople. Their job is to sell tenants on leasing their location at the highest possible rental rate. Whether you are leasing a new location for the first time or negotiating a lease renewal for your business, here are two money-saving tips.

How and why to create a personal motto

Catherine Iste Business Management, Services & Risk Management

CEOs, high-level executives and recruiters have the shortest attention spans. Yet, some of our most critical professional moments require us to impress members of these groups quickly and profoundly. A personal motto can be a great tool to help us take advantage of those critical junctures in our careers as well as keep us moving forward on our career path. Here are a few tips on how and why to create a personal motto.

The Ten Commandments for customers

Anne Rose Retail

Much ado is made about delivering excellent customer service. You take care of your customers, give them the products and services they desire, go out of your way to treat them respectfully, and diligently work hard to earn their business and loyalty. But do customers have a reciprocal obligation to earn your respect — and service — by treating you equally well? I think there are mutual obligations in the business-customer relationship. Here are my Ten Commandments for customers.

The case for annual board orientation

William D. Pawlucy and Robert C. Harris Association Management

Imagine starting a new job with a gamut of responsibilities, and there is no orientation or manual. Volunteers accept a role but may not understand their duties as trustees and as fiduciaries on behalf of the membership. The best relationship with new directors starts with the statement: "Welcome to the board, here is the leadership manual, which includes everything you’ll need to govern." Yet, some organizations don’t have a manual for the leadership, and many don’t provide board orientation.

9 behaviors of highly promotable people

Hank Boyer Business Management, Services & Risk Management

One of the early career lessons every employee learns is that not all people possess the same degree of talent, work ethic, intellect and persistence. People become promotable when they are characterized by the following types of behaviors. This list is not complete because each employer is different. The nine behaviors listed below are a good start. You need to make it your business within your first year with an employer to learn the specific set of behaviors that your employer most values.

7 keys to a successful project start

Deborah Ike Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Starting a new project involves an assortment of details. Developing the plan, completing a project charter, assigning team members, and much more. As you embark on your next project, consider the following to set a solid foundation for the team to build upon. First of all, a project without clearly defined goals is a recipe for disaster. The team needs to know what a win looks like for this project.

Quick tricks to boost your workday memory

Lisa Mulcahy Business Management, Services & Risk Management

You're meeting with a trusted client — and you blank on her name. You can't remember for the life of you where you put your pager. You forgot to return one email — which started a chain reaction of confusion among your colleagues regarding tomorrow's presentation. We've all made a memory-related work mistake or two — it happens when you've got lots on your plate. Here's some good news: there are fast and easy strategies you can employ to effectively jog your memory in the moment, helping you to remember everything you need, no matter how busy your workday is.

After the algorithm update, what Facebook content performs best?

Emma Fitzpatrick Marketing

Earlier this year, a small survey found for the first time the number of Americans using Facebook fell. Facebook’s Q2 earnings report confirmed that wasn’t a blip on the radar. It may be the new normal. The number of Canadians and Americans logging onto Facebook each month plateaued and remained at 241 million monthly users for all of 2018. In Europe, Facebook actually lost one million users. Ouch. While Facebook has its share of problems, this appears to be a larger, marketwide issue.

How will AI impact your business?

Shawn Smajstrla Science & Technology

Is your business ready for AI? Artificial intelligence has become common conversation in business media as we seem destined to eliminate the fiction part of science fiction. A Deloitte survey of what it calls "aggressive adopters of cognitive technology" revealed three-quarters expect AI to "substantially transform" their organizations within three years. But AI isn’t a one-tech-fits-all solution. It’s an array of systems, processes, tools and algorithms — all still developing rapidly.

Uncertainty reigns: Iran, the US and oil sanctions

Seth Sandronsky Natural Resources

After President Trump pulled the U.S. out of a nuclear pact with Iran in May, the White House is now threatening Iran with oil sanctions that would take effect in early November. What is at stake in and out of the U.S.? And how would this affect the European Union, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, which remain in the Iran pact? A brief look back can be instructive, according to Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council in Washington, D.C.

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