Earnest Consulting Group

8 Objectives for a Successful Business Conference

February 4, 2025 | Communication, Government

Navigating industry conferences, especially in government contracting, requires a blend of strategic planning, active participation, and timely follow-ups. Here's how to maximize your experience from start to finish. Pre-Conference Planning Ensure Key Buyers are Attending: Research the list of attendees. If the primary buyers of your products or services are present, your attendance becomes even more crucial. Secure Meetings in Advance: Identify people you want to meet or prospects you may want to target and include other team members in this search. Ask other attendees if they would like to meet for coffee at the conference. Having scheduled meetings better…

From the Exciting to the Daily Grind: 7 Ways to Overcome Post-Conference Blues

November 26, 2024 | Communication, Government

Conferences can be electric—especially in a city like New Orleans, where the SAME Small Business Conference was held last week. With over 6000 attendees, you dive into engaging sessions, forge meaningful connections, savor the local cuisine, and leave buzzing with inspiration. But when the last beignet is eaten, and the lanyard comes off, you’re back to reality: catching up on missed work, processing a whirlwind of new ideas, and grappling with a nagging feeling that you’re not doing enough to maximize the experience. On top of all that, the week back was shortened due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Welcome to…

Demonstrating Your Maturity: Communicating Value Through 5 Key Metrics

September 10, 2024 | Communication, Government

In government sales, it's not enough to simply tell contracting officers and program managers what you do — you need to show them the impact of your work with actual, measurable results. Metrics are the proof points that transform your story from just words into a compelling narrative. They demonstrate your value, credibility, and maturity as a business. When you highlight the accurate numbers, you turn an abstract concept into concrete evidence, allowing you to stand out and build trust in your industry. Below, we’ve distilled five key areas where you can effectively communicate your success through metrics to make…

Treat Everyone as Your Customer: An Organizational Paradigm Shift

October 11, 2023 | Business Development, Communication, Self Help

Image taken from Adobe stock The notion of treating everyone as a customer began with me in 2011. Our organization deployed an employee opinion survey, and the business segment results I led were not good. On a 1-5 scale, with five being excellent, our company (more like me) received a 3.8 for “work environment,” which addressed cleanliness, equipment maintenance, having the proper equipment to do their work, and physical conditions (light, climate, and appearance). Since I was directly responsible for all of these items, it sent me a message that I was not adequately giving our employees the environment needed to…

I Don’t Do Mondays! Part III – Mondays are a Mindset

May 27, 2020 | Communication, Leadership, Self Help, Time Management

This is the final post in a three-part series–why I don’t buy into all the negatives associated with Mondays. In Part 1, I shared my tips for prior planning: how a little forethought can help us avoid the Monday blues. In Part 2, I talked about setting boundaries--how to take more control so I can start the week more productively. Today, I’ll cover the importance of mindset: what we can do to reframe the way we think about Mondays. WHY WE GET “A CASE OF THE MONDAYS” Changing our mindset about Mondays begins with understanding why they can be such…

‘Twas The Night Before Christmas – Business Edition

December 14, 2018 | Communication, Employee Recognition, Leadership, Teamwork, Trust

Photo by sea turtle on Flickr ''Twas the night before Christmas, all had left for the holiday break. But I was at the office stirring, for rarely a break did I take. Never resting, always doing. Not having fun, and burnout ensuing. With engagement low, and turnover high, Unless attitudes changed, my dream would surely die. If only my people were loyal and engaged in their responsibilities, And showed behaviors like teamwork, instead of showing their hostilities. For a change, I took a look at myself, and for the first time I did see, That the problem wasn't my employees,…

Did We Respond or React?

October 16, 2018 | Communication, Leadership, Trust

Photo by aaron gilson on Flickr One of Merriam-Webster's definitions for the word "react" is "to act in opposition to a force or influence." One of Merriam-Webster's definitions for the word "respond" is "to say something in return." Given these definitions and some of my experiences, here is what I have learned: Along with the spoken message, reacting involves some type of behavior. It could be defensiveness, manipulation, passive-aggressiveness, or rage. Reacting comes from someone who is either angry or scared or both. Often, that feeling of anger or fear is triggered by the message being heard, and usually, this is…

Every Workplace Needs Standards of Behavior

October 4, 2016 | Communication, Teamwork

Photo by f3nd1 on Flickr During a time of unprecedented growth at our company, we decided that we as the senior leaders must be the ones that drive the culture. WE needed to define the "why" at our company and more importantly define the standards of behavior that help to support the "why". If neither the "why" nor the behaviors were defined by us, they would still be defined by others, but they may not be consistent with the senior leaders values. A company standards of behavior which is created by senior leadership in collaboration with other company employees helps define the values that support…

You’ve Been Promoted To Supervisor. Now What?

May 18, 2016 | Communication, Leadership, Trust

Photo by David Blackwell on Flickr Your boss quit. Management has promoted you to supervisor. Please check out my short video about what to do when you have been promoted from a non-leadership position to your first one as a leader. https://youtu.be/EGu1e84mNYw What would you say in your first conversation with your direct reports after you had been promoted?

Managers Can Apply Nursing Principles To Leadership

May 12, 2016 | Communication, Leadership, Trust

Photo by OnCall team on Flickr Since entering into the healthcare market over a decade ago, more than one person/organization has told me the importance of hourly rounding on patients in the hospital setting. Hourly rounding can address trips to the restroom, pain assessment, and simple needs such as drinks and food. Studies have shown that it reduces patient falls which are very dangerous for patients and very expensive for hospitals. The same can be said too for rounding on employees. Rounding on employees at the very least on a quarterly basis gives employees an opportunity to communicate with their…