By Kostas Panagias, on July 27th, 2010%
You can use it to do amazing things and get a sound competitive advantage in sales and marketing
You spent several hundreds of Euros (or dollars) in the latest Smartphone model; perhaps an iPhone, a Blackberry, a HTC (like me!), etc. You have huge touch screens, lots of apps, fancy graphics and interfaces and you showoff. Admit it! One of the reasons of that purchase was just for showing off.
But you can certainly use your latest gadget to help you with your work. I mean REAL help. It’s way more than sending emails and having your contacts organized. Those are for kids. You can do great things and perhaps the most important application installed in your Smartphone is excel (for Windows Mobile or similar products for other platforms).
I will concentrate mainly in sales administration and help, but certainly you can use it for other things too (such as marketing functions, production functions, etc.). After all, we are all salesmen!
Let’s start!
Continue reading You and your Smartphone!
By Kostas Panagias, on July 11th, 2010%
Fnac exited the market of Greece this weekend. The company has decided that Greece is not an interesting market for them anymore.
5.8 million Euros are the losses of Fnac in Greece since it’s started its operation 5 years ago. Their concept (hi-tech & culture) was unique at that time and the company was very ambitious at . . . → Read More: Fnac stops its operation in Greece
By Kostas Panagias, on June 20th, 2010%
All those years I’ve been yelling for production. I’ve always been the “industrial” guy. When I was in the University most of my peers where dreaming of starting up a fast food or a cafeteria. This was the easy way to profits. Big gross margins, great profitability, low risk and easy business. But pizzas and coffees . . . → Read More: Some thoughts on Production
By Kostas Panagias, on May 27th, 2010%
Is what you preach consistent with what you do? It’s not an unusual phenomenon for firms to pitch other things in their communication mix and do other. Have you checked it lately?
You should also not promise things you can’t (or don’t want) to commit to. That makes your audience and customers fly away! You are better . . . → Read More: Consistency and Promises
By Kostas Panagias, on May 20th, 2010%
The following case is very common in many consumer electronics retailers in Greece:
There are products that are outdated and still remain in the store’s shelves. These products, have been purchased expensively by the retailer and usually have high retail prices as well. As a consequence, people won’t buy them (because they are old, expensive and new . . . → Read More: Mind the Opportunity Cost…
By Kostas Panagias, on May 17th, 2010%
Average Price Index (API) is a very simple, easy to use yet powerful and very useful business tool. In an enterprise which produces only one product, the API is of course the price of that product. API is thus used when we have more than one product, particularly a range of products (for example one brand’s range of products). It is calculated by dividing the total revenue or value of those products by the number of items sold or produced. For example: 140.000 Euros in LCD TVs / 250 items = 560 (API), that means that the average price of a TV set is 560 Euros.
How is this metric used in businesses?
Continue reading Average Price Index
By Kostas Panagias, on May 5th, 2010%
You can always learn from the bottom line employees. There is always a story to be told. Every day. Managers should always remember that. Ask your stuff what’s the story of the day. Even those trivial events can broaden your wit; even if you don’t learn something new, you can always realize how your employees think. . . . → Read More: Below are the answers…
By Kostas Panagias, on May 4th, 2008%
When I was a student I was planning of working as a regular line manager in a multinational or big Greek company. My dream was to thrive in a competitive environment and advance in top management.
In the last 2 years however this attitude of mine has completely changed. I now crave to start my own company . . . → Read More: Blur Career Path
By Kostas Panagias, on April 10th, 2008%
A proper stock management in retail stores and in wholesalers is something that can play a major role in the development of a product category and in the whole economy in general.
Just imagine this: Many retailers find hard to sell the old and outdated models (bad stock) so that wholesalers have to wait before they . . . → Read More: Stock Management
By Kostas Panagias, on April 6th, 2008%
If you are into management (in every managerial position) or in the path to becoming a manager and you take your career serious you cannot afford not to listen to “Manager Tools” Podcast! This podcast is really awesome; you will listen many practical advices and learn a lot of stuff about real management in practise. There . . . → Read More: Must listen business podcast!
