At a local deli counter I frequent, the job description (if there is any) appears to be:

1. Keep the deli counter clean.
2. Unpack and store everything neatly.
3. See what the customers want.
4. Take their money.

So, while I grow impatient waiting for someone to take my order, or my money, clerks are unpacking and cleaning up, all the while avoiding making eye contact with me like a car thief avoids the gaze of a local traffic cop. The reasons I am avoided by the deli clerk aren't my ragged clothes and poor hygiene… well, not only those. The prime reason is that these employees see their jobs as completing a number of specific tasks without regard to priority.

When this happens, and it often does, we blame the workers, but the real fault lies with management for not explaining priorities in a way that is both understandable and easily accomplished. Moreover, we often see these errors in others, but fail to recognize them in our own shops. As both a business consultant shopping for clients and as a vendor in a former life, I've known shopping from both sides of the isle. Consistently over the years, I've noticed that those who object to poor treatment by others, are like some NBA basketball players. They want good treatment and respect, but they don't realize it when the size 14 shoe is on the other foot.

Want to improve customer relations, build consumer loyalty and increase sales? Use my Golden Rule Job Description, which works everywhere, not just at that deli:

1. Serve customers as courteously and promptly as YOU would like to be served.
2. See that the shopping area is as clean and inviting as your mother would approve of.
3. Make sure everything is neatly packed and stacked.

See the difference? In the new deli job description the work is exactly the same, but the job orientation has shifted to customer service instead of checking off tasks. This reorientation applies to ALL service businesses: retail, wholesale, sales support, law offices, motor vehicle bureaus, bank tellers, school principals offices, you name it. I guaranty that it applies to your business and if you try it, you'll make more money.

How to get more upside, with less downside

You walk into the office one sunny, Monday morning and find this great opportunity waiting for you. You're a can-do action kind of guy or gal, so you pounce on it. Carpe Diem. Seize the day. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You go to lunch feeling like another master of the universe, secure in your ability to make quick decisive moves. Ahhh, pride.

A month later, sun has given way to clouds. The deal is in the toilet. You've lost your investment and, worse, you staff had been taken off other projects to do this one, so momentum has dropped to zero and cash flow isn't looking too good either. So what went wrong and how can you keep it from happening again?

What usually goes wrong is that many optimistic entrepreneurs tend to overweight upside potential without adequately considering the proverbial worst case scenario. Yet, only when you know how bad it can really get can you fully evaluate the risk reward ratio of your actions. When you consider the worst and then decide to push on, that means that you are fully willing to take the risks and, at least, you won't be shocked if it all goes south.

Risk analysis is best applied in the insurance industry, but it applies to all aspects of life. If more people applied the downside risk test, this one test, Aids would disappear along with lung cancer, high automobile fatalities and most Oliver Stone movies.

Financial pundits now claim that the economy is on the rebound and will grow throughout the new year. I don't really care, because, regardless of what the economy is doing, every day I see there are companies outpacing the market, while others, in the same competitive marketplace, are getting their clocks cleaned. Don't take my word for it. Look up any day in the past ten years on the internet. Check the Dow. On any day of any year, some companies will have set new highs for the year and some will have sunk to new lows.

This occurs every day, regardless of local news reports, regardless of what the economy is doing, regardless of what investor confidence, shopper confidence, or Donald Rumsfeld's confidence is.

Why? Because, if you operate on a margin of 10% falling to the bottom line, it only takes the cost of one bad deal to neutralize the accrued benefits of ten good ones and some managers toss away all their great work on a few deals with unacceptable downside risk.

Tip for the day: Downside risk analysis and a little judicious self control will save you from wiping out your many good deals with an occasional stinker.