Eating the Elephant One Bite at a Time

Coined by Creighton Abrams, a U.S. Army general in the Vietnam War, “eating the elephant one bite at a time” is an expression for tackling any kind of large, difficult, or overwhelming project. In business, the phrase means breaking up a large task into smaller ones.

I discovered that this expression was very applicable to today’s events, as I found myself looking down at my extensive notes from this morning’s meeting.

Ms. Vaidya, Leah, and I met with Kevin Berk, who was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule. Mr. Berk is currently the manager of AZ on the Rocks, social media manager of Pita Jungle, and founder of Service Guru, a new website which collects customer reviews. We talked for two hours about marketing strategy, social media presence, business models, and customer service.

I have broken down a few ideas we discussed about how Marvin Medisoft can potentially improve its business:

A.   Continue to use content as a prime pitch in social media marketing, as opposed to direct advertising.

B.   Expand the actual TPN 2000 software by developing it into a web-based program.

C.   Find a way to get TPN 2000 hospital-approved, so Marvin Medisoft can then reach out directly to advocates like individual nurse practitioners or physicians (there are definitely regulations here).

D.   Ask customers (directly) for testimonials and/or stories of their experiences with TPN 2000 and have them leave professional rates/reviews.

Apart from giving advice on Marvin Medisoft’s marketing goals, Mr. Berk stressed the importance of customer service in all industries of business (and in life!). Whether in the restaurant business or a medical profession, service is not only a strategy, but also a necessity to live up to.

So, all in all, a business lecture and a life lesson all wrapped up in a very helpful and successful meeting! A huge thank you to Mr. Berk for meeting with us!

Hopefully, I don’t bite off more than I can chew…of the elephant, I mean. :)
Mia Lu