Quotes from Joe Calloway

When you say no to the wrong people, it opens up the space for the right people to come in.

Consistency of performance can be the most powerful differentiator of all.

Don't strive to be a leader in your category. Create a different category, and be the only one in it.

You must execute with consistency. Do that, and you become magnetic.

A foundation of values surrounded by those flexible rings of changeable tactics is the strongest basis for stability in business today. You can most successfully change what you're doing and how you do it if you have a clear sense of who you are.

Whatever you've done to become successful, it won't be enough to keep you successful. You have to move on to the next thing or be prepared to lose ground. There's very little maintaining of your position these days. You're either moving forward or backward.

Perception is reality. Certainly I can say that my perception is my reality and your perception is your reality. The challenge is to choose a perception that is most likely to create opportunity.

Pay attention to customers, and you will win them and keep them.

Your brand is owned by your customers and anyone else who has an impression of your company. Your brand resides in the minds of your customers, not in your newspaper ads.

For years, people defined branding as the process of creating an ad campaign or marketing program that conveyed a desirable image to the public. That's fine as far as it goes and these efforts can certainly help the brand. But they don't amount to much when compared to the power of how people actually experience your company. That's your brand.

Buyers of anything are looking for value. They are looking for a way to solve problems or create opportunities. No matter what the buyer says, price is never the only consideration. Value always has and always will be the primary buying factor.

Do great work. Make a better product. Give better service.

Rule 1: Know more about the customer than anyone else. Rule 2: Get closer to the customer than anyone else. Rule 3: Emotionally connect with the customer better than anyone else.

81 percent of U.S. online consumers' purchase decisions are influenced by their friends' social media posts.

Don't copy. Create.

By harnessing the collective intelligence in the room, we can make decisions that are much smarter than those made by individuals.

Every successful company must be on guard against the threat of complacency. You have to create a sense of urgency every day in every thing you do.

If you read what seems to be the current line of thinking among business gurus, you will often see them decry the fallacy of "best practices.

These tend to be in the areas of basic values like integrity, creating mutually beneficial relationships with customers and employees, and providing honest value. What I am saying is don't make assumptions about what will work tomorrow based on what worked yesterday, especially in the area of processes, procedures, strategies, and operations.

Prosperity can be very dangerous for any company. It can lead you to believe that you've cracked the code, or "figured this business out," or that you "know how this business works." No. You know how it used to work. To stop and relax for more than a brief moment is one of the most dangerous things you can do in a marketplace that changes constantly. This doesn't mean that you should run scared or operate your business in a panic mode.

Changing just for the sake of changing can be a more dangerous trap than being stuck in complacency. The graveyard of failed businesses is full of companies that were willing to try anything, whether it made sense or not, just so they could feel that they were "riding the waves of change.