Word: lipmans
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...toward doing things right. Managers who neglect even the smallest screening procedure have their bonuses docked. While executives routinely job-jump among the biggest guard outfits, Memphis- based Guardsmark refuses to hire anyone who has ever worked for a rival. "I don't want their bad habits," says Ira Lipman, the firm's president and owner...
...Lipman says that by showering his guards with benefits that are rare in the trade -- life and health insurance, college-tuition aid and at least two weeks of paid vacation -- he has kept annual turnover to around 57%, vs. 200% to 300% for the industry. Not surprisingly, Guardsmark guards don't come cheap: typically $16 per billable man-hour, more than twice the industry average. "My impression is that Guardsmark's screening and supervisory standards are better than the competition's," says Robert McCrie, the security business's leading newsletter publisher. "That also prevents it from becoming the largest company...
...largest, but it does stand out. Lipman not only sets a higher standard; he also runs a campaign to upgrade the entire industry -- placing ads, writing editorials, lobbying for bills. That prompts some of his rivals to accuse him of self-promotion. "Sure the industry is furious with me," concedes Lipman. "I'm a thorn in their side...
...that former boyfriend or that pest of a salesman, the owner can direct the phone to generate a recorded message -- some version of "I'm sorry, the party you have dialed is not accepting your call at this time" -- whenever someone on the list tries to get through. Jeffrey Lipman, 35, a pharmacist in Harrisburg, Pa., has combined call blocking with another feature, known as distinctive ringing, which signals calls from selected numbers by trilling with a special tone. Now he can be sure to take calls from local hospitals and nursing homes -- his biggest customers -- while screening out those...
While fighting off lawsuits from the outside, accountants are also facing increasingly intense competition within their industry. Reason: merger mania has shrunk the pool of potential clients for major accounting firms. As a result, the genteel rules that once governed C.P.A. competition have gone by the boards. Says Jerome Lipman, head of his own Chicago accounting firm: "In the past, the theory was that if you had your green eyeshade on and worked at your desk, you'd get more business. That's not true anymore. You have to aggressively go after it now." Client stealing has become more common...