Archive for April 2005
Customers don’t want excuses, they want solutions
When a customer calls and has a question, a concern, a complaint, or needs an answer, the first words out of your mouth set the tone for both the transaction and the future of the …
Read MoreProtecting the most vulnerable
As the tragedy that befalls too many children hit home in Iowa last week with the abduction, sexual assault and murder of 10-year-old Jetseta Gage of Cedar Rapids, some of the reactions were typical and …
Read MoreIt’s a question-rich, answer-free kind of city
On the surface, Greater Des Moines seems like a fairly straightforward place. A place where people dream of selling more insurance and hope to be mistaken for someone who lives on a coast. Any coast.…
Read MoreJob offers go to those with classic skills
Job seekers have found a significant upswing in the employment market over the past 12 months. Recruiting traffic at university career centers and postings on Internet job boards have increased markedly. Through this growth, it’s …
Read MoreMay I ask you a question?
Are you making a marketing mistake that could cost your business thousands of dollars a month?
Pretty compelling, isn’t it? Questions have a unique power. They open our minds – even if we don’t really …
Somerset takes on life its own
Somerset seems to be a nice big slice of Americana – parks, trails, picture-perfect homes, well-manicured lawns, Friday evening gatherings and a corner pub – which feeds into its slogan: “A Better Way of Life.”…
Read MoreNow playing: A deluge of corporate data
At the Varsity Theater in Ames, you have to pay your way in to see “Be Cool,” “The Merchant of Venice” or “House of Flying Daggers.” A few doors west on Lincoln Way at the …
Read MoreBig box market driving commercial real estate
Greater Des Moines put another 775,000 square feet of retail space into use in 2004, according to an annual commercial real estate market survey conducted by CB Richard Ellis/Hubbell Commercial and Frandson, Knapp & Associates. …
Read MoreRevitalization boosted by University project
The University Place Lofts and Rowhouses has served as an opportunity for the project’s developers to stretch their imaginations, and for neighborhood groups to inject life back into the community.
“We just thought that we …
Banks ramp up services to Latino customers
One story that always brings a smile to Diana Gonzales Pauley’s face concerns how a little Hispanic boy was inspired to open a savings account a few years ago.
“After we gave gave the father …