Negotiating a business deal, whether as a buyer or a seller, can be a rewarding experience, but too often people approach the table with a distinct sense of trepidation. Viewing negotiating as a form of conflict is highly negative, and approaching any situation in this way will invariably lead to poor results. The art of successful negotiation is something which only a few select people involved in business seem to be born with, but which the rest of us have to work very hard at developing.
Many entrepreneurs and new business owners find themselves thrust into negotiations with little training, and despite having high hopes for making a success in the world of business, find that almost everyone else outmanoeuvres them and appears to win. This can corroborate any prior misgivings that negotiation is about conflict, and that it must necessarily result in a winner and a loser. So for those who have not been blessed with an innate ability to negotiate effectively, what are the best tips to bear in mind?
The truth is that effective negotiating should never result in any one party feeling that they have lost, and if this is the case, then the full responsibility for this must lie with that party. If you have ever felt that you have lost out on a deal, then the blame lies with your preparation. It is important that you adequately prepare yourself for future encounters, and correct the assumptions and improve your tactics.
The most crucial point always to bear in mind is that to negotiate a deal, a contract or a purchase, it is essential that you make sure that both you and the other party feel as though you have gained something from the discussions. Trying to win will often result in you simply losing the contract entirely. However, how can you ensure that the other party is going to feel as though they have won, without you backing down any more than you want to?
The answer is preparation. The more you prepare, the better you will be when the time comes to negotiating. The old adage that knowledge is power couldn't be truer when it comes to discussing a business deal or trade. If you have a very good understanding of the other party's needs and concerns, then you can work towards trying to meet them, without backing down on those aspects of the deal which are important to you.
The negotiation should never be entirely based on price. The art of haggling is usually centred on price, although even here there are aspects of the deal brought into play which do not hinge entirely on the price. There are very often other issues besides the financial ones which will help you to meet the client's needs better. For example, if you happen to know that the client needs to move quickly, then you can bring deadlines forward, and offer to produce the products or deliver the service quicker than your competitors. This extra level of service will be worth a premium, meaning you might not have to budge on price.
Other possibilities might also include extra levels of service; bundled packages with extra items included free or cash backs when certain quantities are ordered over a period of time. Naturally, these issues will depend upon the nature of the business and of the deal, but there are many aspects that can be brought into play besides the basic price. Think about what you are offering. Is it simply a standard product which could be picked up anywhere for the same price? What levels of service are you willing to include in the deal?
Another good tip for those people new to business negotiations that are anxious about the proceedings is to let the other party do the talking first. The more you stay quiet and allow the other person to start, perhaps prompted by your occasional questions such as 'what are your primary concerns?' the more you will be able to learn about what it is that they are really after. This allows you to adapt your offer to meet their needs whilst retaining the parts of the deal you wish to protect.
There is really no need for business owners to be afraid of negotiation. Approach it positively as a discussion about both parties' requirements and listen carefully to the other party's needs. Learn all you can about the other party, and your rivals, and be prepared to do more listening than talking. Consider aspects of the deal other than those concerning price alone and you are likely to make successful deals more often.
Naz Daud is the founder of CityLocal. This Franchise Opportunity is for people who would like to work from home and be their own boss.
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So, just how much would it cost to open a coffee shop? Maybe you have been thinking about running a coffee shop as a small business a chance to break free from the stresses and strains of working for someone else and economic uncertainly. There are set ups out there which are thriving today despite opening in a challenging climate.
So what are the costs? Well, there is the cost of renting/leasing a property, the costs of interior design, hiring or buying your coffee machines, coffee mugs, getting a logo and so on. It sounds a scary check list, the kind of thing that would make you think HOW MUCH would it cost to open a coffee shop? Too much!
However, if that list on its own looks daunting then there is some hope. Some of the slickest coffee house entrepreneurs have managed to start up a shop for less than $US25,000. There are ways to cut costs - sharp negotiation on leases, maybe even persuading manufacturers to provide you with free equipment, or doing reciprocal deals with other local businesses.
These start up costs also need to be balanced out by the fact that there is good profit to be made in selling high quality coffees to people in a welcoming environment. People are prepared to pay a premium for the kind of coffee they cannot get at home and for a pleasant surroundings and environment.
So how much would it cost to open a coffee shop? With the right advice and guidance, a sum that won't break the bank!
For proven coffee shop start up plans this guide will help you on the way to an affordable dream of running a coffee shop
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They say it's almost impossible to call the top of the business cycle or the bottom of a recession. Usually, it is six months after the fact until anyone knows for sure that a recession is occurring or that a recession has ended. This is because often recessions test themselves at the bottom and may go lower and it's hard to say where the bottom is while you are in it.
Of course, the same thing goes for the top of the business cycle. No one knows for sure when we hit the apex because sometimes it goes down a little bit and then goes back up. So, when I was recently asked if it is time to start a business yet, and if this recession was over, I said it depends while addressing a college class of MBA students. The reality of the question is quite interesting; because it depends on which type of business they will be entering, and which industry.
Different industry sectors expand and contract at different times based on a multitude of variables. This is not a time that I would start an airline, an auto manufacturing company, a home residential construction company, or a bank that makes home loans, but I might start a service company of some type. I might start a wholesale company that sells to "first to recover" type of industry and to the public. So it really depends.
One thing I can tell you is there is a lot of money to be made when you buy everything at the lowest possible prices, right now everything is inexpensive, that means the equipment that will be needed to run a new business, the land or the buildings that the business will be located at, and even hiring top talent; it won't get any cheaper than it is now and that's always a consideration.
Any good stockbroker will tell you the way to make money in stocks is to "Buy low and sell high!" So I'd like you to consider that if you're thinking about getting into a business. Now might actually be a very good choice and good timing. Please consider all this.
Lance Winslow is a retired franchisor - Lance Winslow's Bio. Lance Winslow is formerly the CEO of WashGuys family of franchises for instance one of Lance Winslow's favorite companies on the team; http://www.windowwashguys.com/links.shtml/.
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If you want to promote the events, full color ticket printing can do the job. These kinds of trendy items are available out there in cheap price rates. You can make use of them for a wide variety of purposes such as music concerts, dance shows, sports events, dramatic performances, school dances, fund raising and campaigning. All you need is match up with best printing company to fulfill your modern day business needs in style.
First of all, people use raffles in order to boost their fund raising efforts. One of the remarkable features of these kinds of printed items is that they can be purchased in economical price rates. Today, a lot of philanthropic organizations are using raffles in order to enhance their endowment campaigns. In this way, they are adopting custom size tickets printing to get done their printing requirements efficiently.
Secondly, lots of educational institutes are exercising them to perk up their alumni events. It includes schools, colleges and universities. These institutions are using coupons with the aim of promoting fun events for instance music, fashion, playoffs, dramas, theaters and comedian shows. On the other hand, stacks of sports industries are utilizing receipts printing with the purpose of boosting athletic events such as football, hockey, cricket, volleyball, basketball, bodybuilding and marathon.
Then, tons of music companies are bringing into play these vouchers for propagating the music events all over the world. For that reason, numerous famous musicians are playing a vital role in promoting the music concerts worldwide. Therefore, their song albums are getting sold day by day. More, these musicians have captured a mammoth amount of public just because of elegant tickets printing.
Last but not least, they can play a big role in your horticultural shows including colorful flowers, fresh vegetables, noticeable plants and hygienic fruits. More to the point, they cab be used in some other events like birthdays, parties, formal dinners, convention centers, arenas, gold clubs, shuttles, airlines, ferries and travel groups.
I have been writing articles for last few months and found it an interesting activity. I love to think about different hot topics and write about them. sticker printing
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1. Define and redefine your value proposition. You may feel like you are forced to simply reduce your price because of the competitors pricing. This means that you have been leading with price and not value. You must redefine and re-communicate your value to prospects and customers. If you obtain and keep business on price alone, you will suffer margin loss and eventually you will lose the business on price as easily as you obtained it. If you can tie your product or service to an Operational or Maintenance savings, now is the time to do it and produce a method for measuring the savings.
2. Create trades to maintain current business and obtain new. We are in a recession, business owners are looking for every way to get a deal. However if you concede to every request for price reduction, then you will suffer margin loss and a reduction in sales. Instead, this is a great opportunity to offer a "trade". Instead of reducing price alone, look for other areas of business that you currently do not have. Ask to supply them in that area or sell a capital piece of equipment (at cost) in trade for a price reduction. They will feel as if they are receiving a great deal and have thus created a win-win situation.
3. Back to the Basics. Getting back to the basics of sales calls skills and methodologies always reinforces and refreshes your sales team. Sometimes we assume that we are performing the basics in a sales call when in fact we are not.
This is detrimental to sales success and is an easy way to increase productivity. It is amazing how much your sales team has an effect on your revenue, irregardless of your product. For example, I went to several mattress stores shopping a new mattress with my wife the other day. I very much liked a particular mattress at one store, but the salesman just kept firing technical details at me about elasticity and foam recovery rate...who cares! The key is, some people will care, some people won't, and you can't get there unless you ask questions.
4. Create a Follow Up System. If you are not actively collecting feedback from your current customers, then start! Feedback is not only great way to ensure aid in keeping customers, but it allows you to engage in penetration sales with those existing customers. Many times these feedback systems result in the customer expressing an additional need or problem. Is a problem a problem?....No, a problem is an opportunity for increased sales!
5. Persistence. Don't laugh. The same reason that you got the sale yesterday is even more of a reason now. Your competitors are going out of business or downsizing, one at a time. Your competition may be spending less time at an account because of the reduced value, or being stretched...Time to Strike! Timing is critical and the only way to capitalize is persistence. Get there before the other guy that is still in business does!
Patrick Rogers is a Certified Business Coach and is the Founder and President of Corparise.com, Corparise Business and Sales Coaching Network. Please visit http://www.corparise.com for more information about Corparise's business and sales coaching programs.
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One of the most frequently asked questions direct marketers get is "What's a good response rate?" or "What should my response be?" The response rate is the number of responses divided by the number of pieces sent out, expressed as a percent. If you mail 100 postcards and 10 people buy products or respond, that's a 10% response.
So what's a good response rate? Is it 2%, which is often what you'll hear quoted? 5%? 10%?
It's actually all of these...and none of these.
Response Is Only Part of the Picture
Response is actually only a part of the picture, one piece of a jigsaw puzzle that when fully assembled becomes your marketing program. The rate tells you how many people responses. For simplicity's sake, we'll assume that for our example, respondents equal sales.
Looking at our example above, let's assume that 100 direct mail packages were sent out for by Company A for their Wondrous Widget, and 100 direct mail packages were sent out by Company B for their Gorgeous Gadget. Let's compare their full direct marketing financials, assuming the same response rate. You'll see why response rate is only part of the story after glancing at their numbers. Assume that "Costs" includes the wholesale cost of each item, plus the cost of the marketing piece, postage, shipping, call center, etc.
Company A: Wondrous Widget
Mailings Sent: 100
Responses/Sales: 10
Retail Price: $20.00
Costs: $7.50 per piece
Gross Profit: $200.00
Total Costs: $75.00
Net Profits: $125.00
Company B: Gorgeous Gadget
Mailings Sent: 100
Responses/Sales: 10
Retail Price: $10.00
Costs: $7.50 per piece
Gross Profit: $100.00
Total Costs: $75.00
Net Profit: $25.00
Now do you see why the response rate is only part of the picture? If you looked at only the response rates for both companies, you'd assume they did equally as well. And you'd be half right. They both attracted the same number of sales - but at what cost? Both spent $7.50 per item to create, sell and fulfill the item. Assuming that Gorgeous Gadgets and Wondrous Widgets look and function similarly, with a price that's half of what the Wondrous Widget sells for, Gorgeous Gadget would have needed to sell five times more Gadgets to make the same profit as Wondrous Widgets. At this rate, they'll need to significantly tweak their marketing to drive response up.
Leverage Points to Increase Profits
Direct marketers speak about key leverage points to increase profits, and from our Gadgets and Widgets example above you can clearly see the leverage points. Leverage points are aspects of product sales and marketing that can be changed to impact profits.
Key leverage points include:
* Item costs: how much did it cost you to make or buy the item? Can you lower this?
* Marketing costs: how can you get a better response rate at a lower marketing cost?
* Price: can you charge more?
* Response: is there anything you can do raise response? Change the offer, adjust the wording, and change the graphic design or some other item that will raise response without raising costs?
Financial Analysis is Key to Direct Marketing Success
The real key to direct marketing isn't response or any one piece of financial or response data. It's analyzing the whole campaign, and many aspects of the campaign.
If you go to your doctor complaining that you feel tired all the time, he's going to do several things. He might ask you for a complete medical history and talk to you about your lifestyle: what you're eating, how many hours of sleep you get, your work, your exercise routine. He may order urinalysis and blood work to review your body's chemistry. In the office, he may look into your eyes and ears, listen to your heart, and take your temperature. You'd call a doctor who just took your temperature then sent you on your way a quack or incompetent.
The same goes for anyone who throws out response rates as "good" or "bad". The only way you can say a response rate is good or bad is if you know all the facts - the previous history of the marketing campaign, so you have a benchmark, and all the other bits and pieces of data that gives you a complete pictures of the sales health of any marketing piece or campaign. If you're at an established company and you know that the January catalog needs to achieve a 2% response rate, the historical response rate is about 2%, and this year's catalog generated a 3% response rate - all things equal, you could certainly say that 3% is a 'good' response rate. But to say that ALL catalogs, regardless of what they are selling or how much it costs to sell the item, should achieve a 3% response rate is ludicrous.
The next time someone ask, "What should the response rate be?" pull out the Wondrous Widgets and Gorgeous Gadgets example. Which company would you like to be?
After a successful 20 year career as a marketing executive, Jeanne Grunert traded in the glamor of New York City and perks like a Starbucks on every corner to move to rural Virginia and open Seven Oaks Consulting. Seven Oaks Consulting helps clients acquire, retain and create loyal customers through direct and online marketing solutions. We pinpoint low-cost, high-yield strategies for clients with no baloney - just simple, practical marketing advice that works. Get a copy of Jeanne's free E Book, "What is Direct Marketing?" by calling Seven Oaks at (434) 574-6253 or visit the website at http://www.sevenoaksconsulting.com
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It is a normal part of life and many times it is a prerequisite for creativity. When Conflicts exists so do two more points of View. When you resolve conflict with a win-win attitude, a much more creative solution is developed. There usually are two approaches to conflict management, simply, win-win or win-lose. Win-Win is a collaborative solution between you and your customer that is based on mis-information and mistrust. Although conflict can be difficult to deal with, it is essential. Quickly and positively resolving conflict will always create a stronger connection with your customers, and after you satisfy disgruntled customers, they are in a better frame of mind to become loyal customers. Customer interactions are always experiences that generate an emotional response.
The intensity of the emotion will depend on the situation. However, it is easy to identify the emotional state by simply watching your customer's body language. Emotions provide clues as to you, the service provider, and how the customer will relax. The customer's emotional state is, however, only one-half of the equation. What about your emotional state. Your emotions have an incredible influence on the success of every service encounter. If you come to a service interaction with a negative attitude. This will hinder your way to handle the outcome. However, if you come to the plate with a positive attitude no matter what happened to you on your way to work, you will far better prepared to help your customer.
You will be appropriately focused on his or her agenda with a positive emotional outlook.
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Lawn Care marketing efforts should focus on your area of expertise. Every Landscape and Lawn Care business owner needs to identify what makes them special and unique while they work to market in a specific niche. Marketing your services in a menu format (i.e. simply listing the many things you do), does not give you any advantage over your competition.
In fact, you may do nothing more than confuse your potential customers. With lawn care marketing materials that focus on listing services, you leave yourself open for misinterpretation. How will your potential customer know if you can fulfill their specific need and do it well? Jack of all trades business owners may find that potential customers are not sure if you can deliver quality services?
Instead, take the time to focus on a specific service that is both relevant to your experience and in demand in your region. If you have several of these services due to size or experience, then work to develop unique marketing campaigns around each service. This way, you will be able to attract customers who want to work with an expert.
There are three steps to developing expertise status:
Step 1: Discover a Cash Rich Market
Ask yourself what services you perform the most jobs of and which services you like to perform. This information will help you determine what you would like to be perceived as an expert in if you don't already know. Focus all of your lawn care marketing messages on these services and use your marketing efforts to gain customers and leads that need these specific services.
Step 2: Develop a Strong Message
Once you have decided on what to market, it is time to develop a powerful message around these services. Focus on how your service and company is different than the competition. Tell your current, past and potential customers why they should work with you instead of your competition. Focus on a unique benefit that they receive from working with you. Finally, include this message in all of your lawn care marketing efforts.
Step 3: Determine Your Media
Decide on the best form of media to deliver your message. Every market and service has certain forms of media that work better than others. Research what media will best help you accomplish your goals. Determine your budget and choose your media method for lawn care marketing.
People like to work with experts. It makes them feel good to know that they are working with the best. The more you focus on one particular area of service, the more successful you will be. And then, you can market additional services to your current, past and potential customers - anyone who has used or shown interest in using your services. This is how experts build their services. This approach also allows for experts to develop long-term, mutually satisfying relationships with their customers beginning with their lawn care marketing.
The author of this article, amy leigh, is a marketing expert dedicated to helping Landscape & Lawn Care Business owners thrive in any economy. Learn the secrets of successful lawn care marketing today.
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Leaflet printing is done by businesses with the intent of announcing their competencies and offerings to their potential customers. Leaflets are also called as pamphlets - they are like booklets without the binding. A leaflet can have one or more pages; they do not have covers. Leaflets can be of different sizes like A5 leaflets. Leaflet printing can be done at publishing houses or at printing presses. They can also be made at home with a good laser printer.
A5 leaflet printing is an inexpensive way to advertise to the world about your business ideas and more. A5 leaflets are very popular and the most commonly used. They are printed as single side or some times as double side. This size is half of A4 size or letter head size. So, it is very easy to hold and read. The A5 leaflets are also convenient to display information in a way that is easy on the eyes - neither too small nor too big. The amount of information A5 leaflets can hold is also substantial which means the content can be elaborate enough to convey information clearly to the readers.
There are many online services to print leaflets of different sizes. In these web sites, leaflet printing is made very easy and quick. Not only that, but A5 leaflets and more are available at very cheap rates. In the online leaflet printing, a typical cycle will be like this - the user can have their art work, designs and content ready and they will have the option to upload these in the form of a file. Then the preference for delivery can be chosen and the invoice details entered. If there are any queries regarding the design and content, the web site will get back for further details. Once all the clarifications are done, the printing work is carried out and the a5 leaflets are delivered. Many of these online leaflet printing services also offer free delivery within a certain location. If the customer is unable to make his own designs, the web site will have numerous templates to choose from. The customer can decide on a template and put in his specific content which can then be given for printing. By using templates, it is easy to ensure that the information for leaflet printing is written and accommodated into the apt size leaflet.
A5 leaflets are a very useful form of advertising a business. For instance, if there is a fragrances business, they can come up with A5 leaflets in which each page will clearly display a product and its details like size, perfume details and cost. In such cases, leaflet printing makes a lot of sense because the A5 leaflets can be distributed to customers visiting the shop or to potential customers through post or through sales people. The customers can look at the leaflets when at leisure and gain an idea about the various products available. As A5 leaflets are small enough, they can be easily stored in small bags too so customers will not be tempted to just throw them away.
Popular flyers are the business cards. Flyers became popular during the 1980s and 1990s. They are constantly evolving and a lot of creativity is coming into play.
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Note: To make our blog more interesting, we will post a free eBook every week so please drop here to download the free eBook.
This is an eBook about A Project Management Primer. With this eBook, you will be able to plan and gain control of the process of implementation of your plan. Of course there are many obstacles in running a project which can be external and internal.
Using the idea in this book, you should be able to plan, control and execute any project. This should be a model that be easy for a whole team to understand and, with a bit of luck, will allow you to deliver your project on time, on target and under budget.
Download the eBook Now: A Project Management Primer
Having a business presence online is no longer just the realm of large corporations. Instead, it is a vital way for small businesses to showcase their products and services and invite prospective customers to learn more. These days, all businesses need a website.
A website is absolutely necessary to let people know what you have to offer, where you are, and how to contact you.
Most people today turn to the internet first when they are looking for a particular service of product. They make their decisions based on the information they find on the websites they visit. If they are indecisive they will return to a favored websites at a later date before making their final decision.
If you have a small business, you might advertise in the yellow pages or online. You may even have a website - but where are your clients looking in order to find you?
One survey recently conducted by a specialist medical practice was designed to identify where most of their clients came from, as the time had come to update the advertising. When reviewing referrals, they discovered that over 60% came via personal recommendation - the rest from their website. 0% came from the hard copy advertising.
Needless to say this year they dropped the conventional avenues of advertising and now solely advertise online. They had people from other countries make appointments for when they were traveling to Australia, where they were located.
This could never have been achieved through conventional advertising, so for a small business having a website is not a luxury but a MUST. Its irrelevant what type of business you have, a website makes you accessible to people all around the world.
Getting your own website does not need to cost a lot of money - great news. These days it is an easy thing to do yourself! The reason is that there is some professional, yet user-friendly website building software.
Your website can be a simple, yet elegant, one page information site, listing your products and services, and, of course, contact details. Or it can be a multimedia masterpiece. The best website building software will be able to grow at the same pace as your skills.
The best software packages will probably not be the most expensive, but will definitely pay for itself with a huge increase in customers.
Don't buy website building software for e-commerce before learning how XSitePro2 has been created with top tools and wizards to set you on the path to making money from your website.
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One of the toughest decisions you'll make in negotiating is what to do once you have proof your counterpart is a liar. Do you cut off all contact, withdrawing on the spot from any current transactions? This isn't always possible, practical, or desirable. Though strictly speaking, you do have a justification to at least call for a pause in the action to determine whether you and your assets are at risk.
And is there a material difference between big lies, ones that misrepresent significant deal points, and little ones that seem irrelevant to the proceedings? For instance, I was dealing with two executives at a company that was a franchised unit of a major services firm. One person revealed information to me about the other, not because I probed for it, but because they volunteered it. A few days later, one of them confessed that they were married to each other, though "for business purposes, we generally keep it a secret."
Apart from the disclosures they made regarding the others' management practices, their marital state was not relevant, until it became clear they lied about it. "Why lie?" I found myself wondering. Did it serve any purpose, except to alert me to the fact that they do lie, that they practice deceit, that they're in the habit of using ruses? Soon thereafter, I chose to sever our relationship, partly because I believe in the "Iceberg Theory." This states, if what you can see is treacherous, what you cannot see, what lies below the surface, is potentially devastating, so steer clear!
One of my law school professors admonished those of us that were studying Mediation with him to consider the sage advice one of his mentors gave him. "99% of legal problems can be avoided if you simply deal with honest people." But wasn't it the Greek philosopher Diogenes who wore out many sandals pounding the cobbles of ancient Athens, lamp in hand, seeking to find "an honest man"? If we only do business with the completely honest, won't we become very lonely negotiators? I believe it is wise to make a few distinctions, for practical purposes. There are three kinds of liars:
(1) Those that do it where something major is at stake and they're pursuing it.
(2) Those that lie about trivial things, out of habit, or seeking some thrill.
(3) Those that exaggerate or negligently misrepresent facts, without checking or supporting them with proof.
I would avoid dealing with the first two, not bothering to accuse them of prevarication or mendacity. Just walk away, if you can't run. With the third, I'd proceed, but carefully, requesting documentation or substantiation for every assertion they make. The adage, "Trust, but verify" is always good advice, especially when you're negotiating!
Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top speaker, negotiation consultant, attorney, TV and radio commentator and the best-selling author of 12 books. He conducts seminars and speaks at convention programs around the world. He can be reached at gary@customersatisfaction.com and followed on Twitter @Bargainer.
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Management is defined in business world as the process of getting people to work together to accomplish the goals of the organizations.
Here's how you can become an effective manager:
1. Know your people. As a manager you need to understand the strengths and the weaknesses of your people. You need to know what they are good at and how they can possibly contribute to the success of your organization. Through this, you can easily delegate tasks to the right people to increase efficiency and productivity.
2. Improve your workforce. After identifying the areas of opportunities of your people, you should go ahead and recommend training programs and seminars to help them convert these weaknesses to strengths. If they are not really communicating well with one another for example, you can offer them training programs to enhance their communication skills.
3. Goal setting. Make sure that you involve your people when setting the goals for your organization. These people are most likely to feel accountable and they'll most likely to push themselves to do better if they know that they are part of the entire process.
4. Meetings. Set up regular meetings where you can discuss not only the goals but also your expectations from your work force. You can also use this time to address concerns and to answer burning questions.
5. People skills. As a manager, it's very important that you know how to work effectively with your people. You must be friendly and warm all throughout. Employees must not think twice in approaching you and they must feel confident in sharing their ideas with you.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed a brand new free guide.
Download it free here: Internet Marketing
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Click here: Article Writing Guide
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Sean Mize teaches coaches, consultants, and small business owners how to package their knowledge and sell it in high priced coaching, consulting, and online class packages, and is an expert at using articles like this to drive traffic to his website, and has taught hundreds of clients his secrets. Sean says "If you have an existing marketable service or skill that you can teach others, I can teach you to package it into a high-priced class or coaching program, guaranteed"
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Even managers need some training from time to time so they can be prepared for challenges that they will face in regards to supervising people and managing projects. Most management trainings include workshops and courses that teach managers how to be more effective and more efficient in their jobs.
Whether you are an in-house management trainer or an independent trainer, I am pretty sure that you'll benefit from this article. In here, I'll discuss the things that you need to do to make sure that your trainees will get the most out of your programs. Here's what you need to do:
1. Schedule. Managers have duties and responsibilities. So as not to affect their day-to-day activities, pick a schedule that will compliment their work hours. For example, you can conduct trainings every Saturdays. You can give these people 1-3 hours seminars once a week. This is usually enough to teach these people skills and help them become more effective on what they do.
2. Training curriculum. Your management training curriculum must include guidance on how to motivate employees and how to communicate effectively. You must also include seminars on managing business meetings, holding team building activities, problem-solving, handling complaints, enhancing delegation skills, collaboration, and change management. Additional management training courses about emotional intelligence, diversity, and ethics are also necessary.
3. Active listening. As a trainer, it's very important that you listen to your trainees all throughout your program so you'll easily know their learning needs and demands. I recommend that you set up regular one-on-one meetings with them to figure out their areas of opportunities. The more you know about these people, the higher your chances of effectively helping them out.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed a brand new free guide.
Download it free here: Internet Marketing
Do you want to learn how to use articles like this to drive targeted traffic to your site?
Click here: Article Writing Guide
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Sean Mize teaches coaches, consultants, and small business owners how to package their knowledge and sell it in high priced coaching, consulting, and online class packages, and is an expert at using articles like this to drive traffic to his website, and has taught hundreds of clients his secrets. Sean says "If you have an existing marketable service or skill that you can teach others, I can teach you to package it into a high-priced class or coaching program, guaranteed"
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With the recession taking hold, maintaining best practice in relocation presents an even larger challenge than usual. Interestingly, there appears to be little reduction globally in the use of international assignments, but there were signs of a downturn in the number of inbound assignments to the United Kingdom.
Strategic implications for policy
The force on international assignment policy of this trend has not yet been felt, but it seems that greater importance should be paid to sustaining outbound mobility. There is evidence of more project-based moves, suggesting that key skills are not available locally, and thus highly-skilled expatriates are in demand - with consequent strengthening of their bargaining power in terms of their requests for appropriate remuneration and benefits. There is also a rise in temporary moves - as exemplified by commuter assignments. This implies that attention needs also to be paid at the strategic level within policy, to ensure that remuneration, benefits and support services are tailored to this form of 'flexpatriation'.
A key area of debate regarding policy design and review lies at the strategic level. More attention should be paid to this in the current climate. This will entail consideration of strategic focus - where is the organisation going, and how does it plan to get there?
Expat assignments are expensive. The average cost of employing an expatriate is three times home country costs. If there is no downward trend in expatriate usage, careful attention needs to be paid to cost-benefit analyses. Costs can be minimised through careful planning - particularly in terms of tax efficiency - through the timing of assignments and the delivery of benefits in the most tax-efficient manner. Financial planning is also about ensuring return on investment (ROI). Key performance indicators (KPIs) need to be set out for each assignment, with steps taken to monitor and measure throughout. ROI also hinges on taking a perspective on talent and managing it effectively throughout the expatriate cycle.
A Global Mobility policy should encompass all aspects of the expatriate cycle, right trhough from selection to repatriation. Unfortunately, any hope of ROI in talent and recouping the costs of an expatriate assignment can all too easily be thrown away through poor repatriation management. This is an aspect of the cycle that need not involve expensive allowances, and the provision of tailored support and communication prior to return can pay dividends.
For further information about international assignments and expatriate assignment policy, please visit Re:locate Magazine at http://www.relocatemagazine.com/index.php/articles-by-category/38-relocation/696-international-policy-design-and-review
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A few weeks ago I almost became a financial disaster as I put my faith on a bank that has had my credit card business for seven years. We never missed any payments and many times paid more than the minimum required. Between two cards that we held for our business they recruited us with glad handing us as such good customers that they found they could give us a generous line of credit for our brick and mortar business. It was like manna from heaven and would give us the opportunity to not have to struggle if we wanted to buy new equipment, pay for a strong public relations program and increase our business by establishing online stores to sell products related to our business.
The economy went into recession and banks were scrambling for whatever they scramble for and received millions and billions of dollars from our government to bail themselves out. Besides their bailout money they have turned to their customers to help bail them out even more. This bank gave us a whopping $40,000.00 line of credit and with one letter in the mail they wiped the slate clean by disbanding their credit card division, increased interest rates and claim they do not have any authority to negotiate any new terms or interest rates. This a fairly large bank in the northeastern part of our great country and you know that there will be many people facing the same thing. If this happens to you consult a reputable debt resolution service to help you out and their fees are fair.
Any bank customer that has an equity loan on your home, business or assets, beware, as you will find your self with out a credit line. We have been customers of this bank for 30 years, stayed with them through many mergers and even through the last one where they were merged into another larger bank through government negotiations with bailout funds. Banks do not know what customer loyalty is on their part and here is what happens and has happened to us many loyal customers to this bank that have equity loans. Banks crunch numbers through an electronic program that develops for them, your market or loan value to arrive at you loan equity.
This program is very arbitrary and no consideration of you as a customer. At the time of our loan application our loan value was set at the mid $200 to $300k level. This gave us a credit line of $105k plus. We used some of the line to purchase our brick and mortar business, made all our payments on time and the loan was about 5 years old. We had an open line of over half of the $110k. Again, without any notice or warning that letter comes and states that the bank has re-valued your property and your equity line is now $3,000.00 instead of $55,000.00. The bank states, "If you want to question our numbers please complete this form and we will be charged $200.00-$700.00 for the bank to take a second look." This decision is so arbitrary and does not give any consideration to the county appraisal which is almost $40,000.00 higher than their computerized program.
So here we are, at the whim of a couple banks and two letters we lost a line of credit of about $90,000.00. Now add up the thousand of customers these two banks did the same thing to and you know why the small business person finds it hard to survive. Our business has supported 6 families for 7 years. If this happens to you please write to your congressman as they need to know what goes on behind the scenes, not just the billions they have loaned these banks.
Dean Greenstreet - Pen Name John Patters
http://www.internetbiznovice.com
This site develops an opportunity to start your own on line business.
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1. Affordable office space
There are many affordable places to start a business. If you chose an up and coming place to base your business at then your overheads will be less. Many technology business for instance can work from anywhere because the majority of their services can be provided over the internet.
2. Gain expertise from experts
Business mentoring is absolutely key to the success of the entrepreneur. You don't know everything and so need experts around you to aid you. A common mistake that young businesses make is trying to do everything. They secret is to kind other people to compliment your own weaknesses.
3. Networking events
Network events allow you to find work and other businesses to compliment your work. Valuable leads can be found at both the free business networking events and the more specialized fee based business events.
4. Cashflow is key
You've heard about profitable businesses going under right. This is because they ran out of cash. They had got enough leads and business but could do the job because their cashflow can dry. This is because they didn't plan properly.
5. Planning
You've heard of a business plan. Well, you need one. The business plan isn't a static document either. It changes throughout a businesses life cycle. If you fail to plan you plan to fail.
6. Pricing
Your price must reflect your experience. As your experience grows so will your earnings. At first work may be scarce but try not to deviate from the specialization. It is ok to do the odd job which is not par of your specialization but stay focused on your business plan.
7. Marketing
You must get word out that your product or service exists. But more importantly you must use your available resources informing the right people that your product or service exists. This is where market research comes into it.
8. Sales
So you've started to get interest in your services but you're having difficulty closing that sale. Are you asking the right questions? Don't push too hard. Make friends with them. Ask them about there business. Find out what they want.
9. Quality
Do a good job and deliver your product to a high standard and your customers will refer their associates to you. Do a bad job of inferior quality and your ex-customers will tell their associates not to use you.
10. Get paid
If you don't get paid then your Cashflow will suffer (see 4), if should be part of your business plan (see 5) to maintain your cashflow. If you don't get paid then you will fail.
For more information visit http://www.enterprisingbarnsley.co.uk.
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Are you guilty of taking on more than you handle? Are you involved in activities that are not the best use of your time and talents? Do you have a problem saying "No" to many of the demands thrown at you? Do you have trouble accepting help from others? Are there areas in your life that could use a helping hand?
If you've ever studied temperaments and personality types, then you learned that the Melancholic personality is highly creative and often a perfectionist--being very particular about what they want and how they want it. Well, I happen to be a melancholic personality type. The downside of being a perfectionist is that we find it hard to delegate many of the 'balls' we juggle on a daily basis. That perfectionism can create the notion that, if we don't do a thing, then it won't get done right. But in trying to juggle all of the demands in your life, some things will inevitably fall to the floor and through the cracks. We have to learn to delegate some of our responsibilities--in our careers and personal lives.
Quite often the reason people don't offer to help us is because they assume that, by our actions, we have it all under control-- we don't need any help. It's not something that we always do consciously; it may simply be ingrained from within. Whether you've studied the different personality types or not, no doubt you can identify with this pattern if it fits you.
Just recently I began creating a new program that my company will be offering soon, which only added to my heap of responsibilities. Rather than reverting to my old pattern of trying to do it all, I hired a couple of professionals to handle some of the load. I explained to each of them the concept and turned the work over to their ingenuity. It relieved me of the stress of having to do it all and the comfort of producing a high-quality program in a limited amount of time.
Perhaps you have a penchant of trying to do it all. If so, understand that it's a habit you'll need to make a conscious effort to overcome. Old habits do die hard but can, and should, be done for your own well-being and effectiveness. Here are a few keys to help break the habit of over-extending yourself:
Acknowledge that you need help. Recognize that you can't do it all.
Write down the tasks you wish to delegate. This exercise will you help set your priorities.
Delegate. Assign responsibilities to family, co-workers, employees and hired professionals.
Set a daily agenda to keep focus. Writing down your activities helps in setting boundaries.
Accept help from others. Drop the guilt and accept the good gestures extended to you.
Know your limits. Keep yourself at the top of your priorities and everything else will fall in place.
Over-committing yourself can lead to undue stress and burnout. It's okay to ask for help. Learn to delegate responsibilities so that you can maintain a level of balance in your life and effectiveness in your career. Once you experience the physical and mental liberation of delegating specific responsibilities, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner!
Rebecca McClain is a life enrichment and business development coach. She is the founder and CEO of Life Treasures, LLC. As an entrepreneur, author, speaker and coach she inspires people all across the nation and internationally. Visit her website to receive a complimentary ebook, "Ten Secrets You Must Adopt to See Your Dream Fulfilled." http://www.rebeccamcclain.com
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The simple question is that where and why things can go wrong and how to prevent that from happening?
In software development industry there was a joke something like that client can only ever choose two solution three features; lower cost, performance and reliability. Unfortunately though, the joke has become quite normal and routine requirement of clients.
There was a report called "The Chaos Report" published from Standish Group in 1995 regarding IT project failures. According to the report, 31% of all software projects are cancelled prior to completion, 53% of them face delays and cost overruns, and only about 16% are ever successful. Moreover, an average software project runs late by 222%, goes over-budget by 189% and delivers only 61% of the required functionality, a worrying statistic, not much has changed to this day. It turns out, thankfully, that this scenario is preventable.
Due to some major issues, a majority of which can be attributed to poor project management. Following are seven of the most serious mistakes and pitfalls that a project manager must avoid in order to give the project and the team a greater chance of success.
Poor Communication
Normally all including me have been a part of several projects where our client requests for something and we give something else. It just because of poor communication. Communication is very important part which holds everything together in place. Good communication ensures that all stakeholders (users), customers, developers, sponsors are on the same point. It is necessary that the project goals are clear, common and well-understood; assumptions are kept at a minimum and that project progress is communicated properly. Everything should on right place such as risks, consistency delays and changes and everything. Importance of communication can not be highlighted.
Project managers must spend their 90% of the time communicating with the team.
Requirement Analysis / Finding / Definition
It is basis on several things such as scope, cost, need, schedule resources and quality. You must heared that the weak foundation is always risky in future. Mostly project managers run away from it try to implement project without any proper requirement investigation. In this kind of process they lost their efforts, time and costs of implementation. Study and senior project management guys proved that spending one week in requirement analysis in initial stages is better than reworking in future.
Inadequate Planning
Detailed and efficient planning is not a easy task, but believe me it is totally rewarding. I am not saying that people do not plan their projects but still we feel that level of planning is insufficient. Often neglect but some managers use same project plan for all project which could be different in approach.
Planning each and every aspect of project in complete detail from beginning to end could only work if one has a crystal ball. In the real world, most projects, by definition are supposed to be progressively elaborated, that is the project unfolds and becomes clearer with time. The suggested solution is such cases is to employ rolling wave planning a technique which recommends performing an approximate high level estimate of the project and detailed estimated of the project and detailed estimates only for the requirements and activities being worked on.
People Management
Team is always great asset for the project managers. They must be fully motivated, focused and organized, the team can even achieve unrealistic targets. It is required to know each member of team in terms of skills, and their best utilization; with proper delegation, empowerment and and enabling environment, the whole could actually be greater than the sum of its parts. Now days human resource management has become very important part of project management.
Acquiescence
Stop it, you can not accept any user request and sponsor directives without a much protest or negotiation. This also involves agreeing to unrealistic demands and deadlines at the outset, despite being aware of the ultimate outcome.Effective and efficient negotiation can lead your project towards success.
Repeating Previous Mistakes
Surprising repetition of ineffective practices and mistakes is the Major reason why project the world over the continue to fail. To be hones, the general things are very well documented but not many seem to benefit from them. Each organization has its own environment, constraints and methodologies and in a number of them, there are no processes to record lessons learned from projects undertaken in the past.
Documentation of lessons learned should be carried out throughout the life of the project and must be consolidated at the end. And if a project fails completely or ends up being canceled, a post-Mort em is crucial.
IT projects today have become a critical part of our infrastructure and lives. There is a lot at stake begin each of them huge investments, organization strategies, careers and reputations. Some level of failure will always be there and is probably essential for progress. however most of the failures that occur are avoidable. These six deadly mistakes are core areas where things can go wrong. Eliminating them may not guarantee success on every project, but it will sure the removal of the biggest possible obstacles.
Syed Waqar Hussain, MCTS
http://www.waqarhussain.net/blog
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Although the expatriate assignment package has been trimmed back in recent years as organisations strive to become more competitive, the contents still provide a number of benefits that aim to encourage employees and their families to relocate abroad.
When employees and their families are asked to relocate abroad, the prospect of living in a foreign country may seem daunting, even overwhelming. The reality of an expatriate lifestyle is far removed from dreams of tax-free income and life by the pool. Setting up one's home and functioning effectively as a family during times of upheaval requires considerable employer support. As we'll see, expatriate policies do typically provide a wide range of benefits to help families settle down, and for employees to become as productive as possible quickly.
In addition to the financial elements that comprise an international relocation package - salary, premiums, incentives (such as mobility premiums, compensation for living in remote locations or other regions deemed 'hardship'), and provision to deal with tax, pensions and social security - there are a host of other elements of support typically made available to the relocating employee and family. These are considered here.
Preparation
Prior to relocating, employees and their partners (and sometimes the children, too) are typically offered a pre-assignment trip to enable them to see first-hand the new location and to decide whether to accept the assignment. The trip may also (or alternatively) be used to look for housing and schooling in the new location. In addition, before the move takes place, employees and their partners are typically offered briefing on their new destination country, cross-cultural training and language training. The aim here is to reduce culture shock and aid the settling-in process. Being able to speak the local language helps employees and family members to reduce barriers in their everyday living and working environments.
Assistance is also generally provided with immigration, in terms of obtaining visas and work permits. Although clearly required as part of the employment process for the employee, this is often extended to help support the spouse, partner and perhaps even older children in their search for work, or to enable them to pursue further education opportunities as appropriate in their new country.
Housing
Living abroad clearly necessitates the provision of suitable accommodation. Housing assistance in the form of home search, assistance with renting (both in terms of costs and in dealing with the formalities and legalities) is therefore also included in the package.
Help with managing the home-country property may also be included in the relocation policy by some employers. This may include assistance with finding and meeting the costs of rental agencies or home management/maintenance services.
Health and stress issues
Health is a major factor when living and working abroad. As a result, employers typically ensure that employees and their family members undergo thorough medicals before the assignment, and also provide health insurance cover while away. Life assurance and other risk benefits are also included, together with emergency evacuation cover.
In dangerous areas, secure housing (usually in a compound) and drivers are provided. In such situations, it may be advisable for the assignment to be undertaken on an unaccompanied basis.
It is important to establish social ties and to network in the new location, and so contributions may be made by employers to the cost of joining social or sports clubs. Building a sense of community is important for expatriates and their families, in terms of reducing stress and fostering a sense of belonging. Building stronger links with locals also helps to reduce culture shock for employees.
Shipping, travel and leave
Shipping of personal and household goods is usually included, with a mix of sea and air freight as appropriate. Storage at home may also be required, particularly if the alternative of furnished accommodation overseas is offered instead. The cost of transporting pets abroad may also be met, although this is less common nowadays, as organisations trim back relocation packages. However, there is usually scope within the disturbance allowance given to employees for them to meet the costs of the odds and ends involved in moving home, and this could cover pet removal (assuming a normal domestic pet of course!).
Although it is not normal practice for employees to ship their cars with them to the overseas location (unless in Europe, where they might choose to drive to their new location from the UK), a car or a car allowance is normally part of the package. Cost of travel to and from the destination location (air fares) are the norm, with payment for home leave typically offered once a year. In remote or more insecure regions, rest and relaxation trips are usually provided, with air fares and hotel costs met.
Education and careers
One of the key barriers to relocation is children's education, and as a result there is usually significant emphasis on the provision of assistance in this regard. School fees may be met in full or in part (depending on cost), and the services of a specialist education consellor used to assist in locating suitable schools. This may be combined with home search during the pre-assignment trip - or carried out within the first few weeks after arrival in the new location. Alternatively, children may remain in the home location and the costs of boarding schools and trips to and from the destination location in the school holidays may be met, in full or in part.
Another critical potential barrier to moving rests with second careers. Increasingly, employers have policies to assist the relocating spouse, including help with job search for him or her, visa applications, interview training, CV preparation, education and retraining assistance via the payment of course fees, and so on.
The international move is usually seen as being career enhancing for the employee - but this should not be taken as a given. As organisations face rapid organisational change, so the expatriate assignment may change from being a preparatory step along a career ladder into a potential career gamble. To combat this problem, and to encourage employees to relocate internationally, career development planning is an essential part of the relocation package - typically including mentoring and sponsorship arrangements. The aim of these initiatives is to keep employees in touch with developments at home, and to ensure that their careers are managed purposefully. Career management arrangements may also potentially be extended to cover spouses, partners and even older children accompanying the employee on the assignment.
Repatriation or localisation
The return home also needs to be managed, and repatriation assistance (including briefing, cultural preparation and job review) should be provided for both the employee and accompanying family members as appropriate. Clearly the costs of returning are met as part of the expatriate allowances and benefits package - air fares, shipping, and so on.
If the assignment is extended and the employee and family remain in the destination location, localisation may be required. Employers do not typically shut off all expatriate benefits - though it is certainly more usual for continuing issues such as housing and schooling to be subject to a phased reduction - although expatriates cannot expect all the elements of their package to remain intact indefinitely. The key rests in clear communication of the outcome of localisation prior to the family going on the assignment.
For more information on relocation issues such as health, travel, housing and education, please visit Re:locate Magazine at http://www.relocatemagazine.com/index.php/international-assignments/370-overcoming-barriers-to-international-relocation
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It is tough everywhere in the retail world so you need to utilize every tool available to be successful. Scheduling, labor hours, staffing, training and mentoring are on top of the list. Mentoring, why is that among the top tools to work with? Certainly there are numerous others that are higher than mentoring.
Mentoring is possibly the most overlooked and underestimated tool available to you every minute of everyday. I have heard the term "Knowledge is power", yes it certainly is so why do we overlook mentoring our teams and sharing the power. The leader that is selfish with their knowledge and experiences is cheating their selves and the people that work with them. If you share this power to develop your team then you will have substantial extra time to work on areas that are problems for you. Surely you plan to use your vacation time, what about the possibility of illness in the family or yourself. How would you feel right now if you had to leave your job for a week or longer, would you be concerned or worried about the job being done properly? If you shared your power and developed a competent team then you have no reason to be concerned. The true measure of a leader is how their team performs during your absence not in your presence.
I challenge you to develop future leaders that you can be proud of when they move to other positions within your organization. Your reputation is being evaluated by the performance level of people after they leave your nest. When they shine so do you, as they will be asked where did you learn to do all of these task and their answer being my former manager taught me. Corporate and District Managers are always looking for managers that can handle increased responsibilities while maintaining outstanding results. When they realize the countless people that you trained that are super stars the rewards will be in your future.
There is tremendous satisfaction and personal pride seeing your team get promoted ahead of others because you were the role model that shared the power to succeed. You will always be held responsible but it's a great feeling to watch your team run the show making professional and logical decisions that they learned from you.
Ron Kirby is a world traveled educational and motivational speaker that has over 37 years of Leadership experiences in Corporate America and the Marine Corps. His passion is speaking on Leadership concerning Business Growth, Personal Development, Innovation, and Educational Experiences. Sergeant Major Kirby served 32 years in the United States Marine Corps deploying to over 40 countries and having the privilege of providing Leadership training in a myriad of cultures. Ron takes great pride in the fact he has contributed to the Leadership and promotion success for countless individuals during both his military and corporate career. Invite Ron to make your next event a smashing success! Contact him by phone at (843) 304-6111 or by email at RBKSR51@HOTMAIL.COM. Read more about his background at http://www.egSebastian.com/RonK
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According to a recent survey recently conducted by Tealeaf, a leading customer experience management company, one key element to surviving an economic downturn is excellent customer service. This is a huge opportunity for companies (like yours) willing to significantly improve their customer service, as this enables you to stand out among your competition.
By providing world class customer service, and listening to what the customer needs and wants, you are more able to satisfy your customer's needs. This allows you to not only retain the loyalty of existing customers, but through positive word-of-mouth, procure new ones without massive spending on marketing and advertising.
This is vital since these same survey results showed that in the online market in particular, 4 out of 10 people stopped doing all business with a company after just one incidence of poor customer service. A favorite expression of mine (I don't know who said it) is you don't get a second chance to make a first impression!
Listening is a major component in customer service. I just finished reading A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink. He reports research from twenty years ago when doctor-patient encounters were videotaped. They found that the doctors interrupted their patients after an average of 21 seconds. A more recent study shows that doctors have improved. It's now 23 seconds before they interrupt (p. 110).
While we can all probably relate and even chuckle, if we move this to the customer service arena, what happens? Customers don't get listened to. And what do customers want? What do we all want? To be treated with dignity and respect, and most of all, to be heard!
It isn't that people don't want to hear what's being said. Oftentimes the intentions are good. We want to do our best job in the shortest time possible. What ends up happening is you listen for the pause to jump in and take the person where you think they want to go (which may or may not be accurate). If you're listening for the pause, you are not listening to the person so you have no idea what they have said and usually they repeat it and actually extend the contact!
In today's world repetitive, routine, 'just the facts, mam' issues can be handled through self service usually efficiently and effectively. Therefore, the more complex, complicated, and accelerated calls are necessitating human contact.
Tools, techniques, common phraseology, and language are just a few requirements for world class customer service.
But are these taught in school? No. These are introduced in customized, live, interactive training sessions delivered in real time. Is this a cost to bear? No. This is about investing in your people. Usually the lowest paid person has the highest responsibility of contact with the current and potential customers. There are KPI (Key Performance Indicators) that can be directly positively impacted by customer service skills training.
What needs to be included? Obviously communication and (pro-active) listening; rapport building, anger diffusion, option offerings, and the like.
After all, we, the people, are who make the difference.
ROSANNE D'AUSILIO, Ph.D., an industrial psychologist, consultant, master trainer, executive coach, customer service expert, and President of Human Technologies Global, Inc., specializes in human performance management, providing needs analyses, instructional design, and customized, live customer service skills trainings. Also offered is agent and facilitator university certification through Purdue University's Center for Customer Driven Quality.
Known as 'the champion for the human,' she authors best sellers "Wake Up Your Call Center: Humanize Your Interaction Hub," 4th ed, "Customer Service and the Human Experience," "Lay Your Cards on the Table: 52 Ways to Stack Your Personal Deck, How to Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch: 101 Insider Tips, and hot off the press How to Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch: ANOTHER 101 Insider Tips, a complimentary 'tips' newsletter on How To Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch! at http://www.HumanTechTips.com, and The Expert's Guide to Customer Service, at http://www.customer-service-expert.com/guide.htm
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It is not your imagination. Business has changed. In fact, life as we know it is different. It started sneaking up on us only a few years ago. What happened?
In "The World is Flat", Thomas Friedman talks about the triple convergence.
1. There are now enough PCs, bandwidth, storage and computing comfort for everyone in the world to be a user.
2. People are learning new skills and ways to use available tools, collaboratively. We have creating a horizontal playing field. Everything and everybody, anywhere, can play.
3. BRIC - Brazil, Russia, India and China. A billion people entering the marketplace ready to do whatever it takes to be successful is very real.
The website facts:
There are 182 million websites as of October 2008.
The US census claims that online sales grew 22% while other retail sales have only grown 3%.
Shop.org claims that $204 billion was sold online in 2008 and that it is expected that $300 billion will be sold online within 5 years.
Small business owners in the US, many of them who are hurting in this economy, have to change the way they market and sell products . People research your product, your company and your competitors online before they buy. If people can't get to know you online, you are at a disadvantage.
You need to answer this question: What are you selling online?
The marketing facts:
It takes 7 touches to put your name and your product together in a prospect's mind.
It takes an average of 29 touches for someone to be ready to buy a product from you.
The more personal your touch, the more effective.
Marketing messages aren't the same as they used to be. We want simple and authentic messages. We are on information overload. We are over stimulated. We are turning them off, changing the channel or hitting delete.
You need to answer this question: How can I authentically touch the lives of my customers?
The social networking facts:
30% of us polled say they read weblogs... or blogs.
150 million people around the world are now actively using Face-book
Linked In hit 36 million members and is adding them at a rate of about one member per second.
We are looking for relationships with others.
You need to answer this question: Who is following me?
Small business owners must meet the triple convergence head on or be left behind.
My name is Ruth Schwartz and I am the owner of for High Performance Advocates. We work with dozens of companies all over the Sierra Foothills develop their people through consulting, workshops and speaking engagements.
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Commercial cleaning companies will be feeling the pinch this quarter as the latest insolvency figures show yet more companies entering insolvency. The problem for the cleaning companies is that they require contracts from offices and shops for their livelihood.
A walk around town centre cannot fail to bring home to you the scale of the current recession that we are going through. Almost one in every eight shop units is now vacant on the high street with major brands going into administration each passing week. As well as the thousands of people entering the unemployment ranks it has a knock on effect on support businesses that exist to service the shops and offices.
If anybody works after hours or before the day officially starts, you may notice a band of cleaners quietly going about their business. Many of us take it for granted that our office bins are emptied and floors hovered. It does not happen by chance, but by commercial cleaning companies that rely on a strong and vibrant economy.
A look through your local directory will show a myriad of these usually small businesses. The closure of a business will have a big effect on a small business that may rely heavily on that one contract.
So it is that I am noticing a small rise in the numbers of these type of businesses that are having to cease to trade, from the sole trader or partnership through to smaller limited companies.
Many of these can simply stop work and try to find alternative employment, for others who may have borrowings and am more complicated a structure a formal solution will be required.
Whatever the size of the problem of you are any business in financial difficulty make sure that you take professional free advice as early as possible.
Information provided by Steve Thatcher of Help With Debt (UK) Limited and total debt solutions company. For all further reading see http://www.helpwithdebtuk.com
For personal contact email sthatcher@helpwithdebtuk.com
For Steve's thoughts see http://steves-debt.blogspot.com
If you have any debt problem whatsoever either personal or corporate make Steve your first call all advice is free. Finally if in the UK and you need a friend to speak to call 01162171406
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If you want to win in business sometimes you just have to go for it and trust yourself, you must accept making mistakes and constantly work on finding ways to capitalize on what you learn along the way and you adjust your business model and marketing campaigns. It is those who get out there and have a close look at the market place that find niches to exploit and places to make money.
Over the years, before early retirement I always had a full size trash can in my office, and I filled it up faster than anyone I've ever met. And I'm not ashamed to say I did, because what I learned over the years is that it is okay to dump plans, modify your strategy and remain agile in the war, we often call "just doing business." One thing I did learn is that:
"Having a Full Size Trash Can in Your Office is Healthy for Your Psyche"
You see, crumpling up a piece of paper, that has a list of things that you need to do or some plans on it and throw it into the trash can is a way to clear your mind and it makes a statement that it's okay. I can live with that I will move forward now. It's very much like cleaning out the trash can on your computer.
When you have e-mails that you want to delete or word-processing files that are in your trash can, you just simply hit delete, and they're gone; you just made that statement that you no longer need those, they are of no value and it is time to move forward.
It also will prevent you from getting in a rut, or going along with the status quo where doing the same thing over and over again even if it's not working,, as well as you think it should. Because if you keep doing it the old way, when it's not working, well, that's just like the definition of insanity. So please consider all this.
Lance Winslow is a retired franchisor - Lance Winslow's Bio. Lance Winslow is formerly the CEO of WashGuys family of franchises for instance one of Lance Winslow's favorite companies on the team; http://www.windowwashguys.com/links.shtml/.
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It has been brought to light that the household or organisation which has not practiced general fire safety guidelines imposed by the UK government is more likely to catch fire as compared to those which have followed. At this juncture, some of you may be wondering what the general fire safety guidelines are. Well, let me enlighten you.
A simple type of fire-fighting equipment which can be used in both households and buildings is the fire bucket. This is so because even the most conventional person will know how to use it. Moreover, it is also very convenient. These fire buckets come with a lid. The purpose of this lid is to prevent dust and other impurities from entering.
In the ever-changing world, even the buckets have been improved. They have not only been improved in terms of physical appeal but also in their contents. Conventional fire buckets are filled with either water or sand. However, buckets these days can be filled with Flamezorb, a non-hazardous composite which smothers combustion. However, they still are only able to hold up to 10 litres or 2 kilograms of contents in them.
The second item in the general fire safety guidelines is to have a well equipped warden. Fire wardens are necessary in any organisation. These personnel are trained to handle any kind of fire accidents which may occur in your organisation. To aid your employees in identifying these wardens, they must be dressed in a striking fire warden vest. Your warden should also be equipped with a fire warden kit. This kit should mainly comprise of a warden sign, a 10w megaphone, an aerosol gas horn and a high visibility LED torch with batteries.
The most crucial item in the general safety guidelines is to have proper documentation of all fire safety activity, including fire drills, fire risk assessment and fire safety equipment maintenance. These documents should be handed to a Fire Officer without hesitation upon command.
As such, it is essential to maintain a fire log book. Your log book should have sections to aid in easy recording of activities. If a log book with the fire regulations is available, that would be ideal.
If a fire has occurred despite following these safety guidelines, there will be no penalty imposed. However, if investigators find that the general safety guidelines were not followed, a penalty may be imposed. I can sense the tension in you now. Stop waiting and go about doing the necessary.
Information on fire fighting equipment and fire extinguishers for home or commercial use
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He shows up every day, five minutes before the workday officially starts and he doesn't leave early. He does his job without any visible deficiencies. He doesn't complain and he appears to be a likable enough person. There's nothing spectacular about him, but you certainly wouldn't call him a problem employee. Not even close.
That's what you know. Here's what you don't know.
He spends approximately half of his day working, if that. The rest of the time, he's on the Internet shopping and sending messages to friends. He's discovered that your company could cut key expenses by over twenty percent without any disruption but he hasn't bothered to tell anyone. He smiles through his teeth when he passes you in the hallway, but when he gets back to his desk he's using your printer and paper to produce another stack of resumes.
He's disengaged.
You didn't see it. You didn't know it. You didn't worry about it, either, because he was meeting minimal expectations. Had he been truly interested in the company and its success, however, he could have saved the business a great deal of money. He even has a few great ideas about how you could improve your sales figures. You've been bankrolling his online social life and his hunt for what comes next. You've missed an opportunity.
So, what can you do about it? If you can't really spot the disengaged worker how are you supposed to counteract the destructiveness of the situation?
You have a few options at your disposal and you should use them.
First, you can do a better job of spotting potential problems. You can conduct research in-house that will reveal a great deal about your employees and how they feel about their jobs. The information may not be perfect, but it will paint a picture that might point out potential shortcomings.
Second, you can fight disengagement by adopting engagement policies that target all workers. These vary from simple things like heightened levels of employee recognition to basic transparency at leadership levels to wellness programs and bonus opportunities. There's a wide variety of mechanisms that one can use to inspire greater levels of overall employee engagement.
You'll hear executives say that they don't have an engagement problem in their company. That sounds good, but you need to wonder how they reached that conclusion. Have they missed opportunities? Where would they be if they created an employee-positive atmosphere. How many disengaged employees pass under the radar?
You can't assume engagement in the absence of evidence of disengagement. Disengaged employees don't wear sweaters emblazoned with a big red "D" to work. Sometimes, they seem just fine. Sure, there are visible cases where someone "checks out", but a lack of engagement is often invisible. Don't confuse that invisibility with a lack of significance, however. Disengagement could be secretly wreaking havoc on your business' potential.
Interested in disengagement?
Check out this site. It focuses on helping companies perfect the human side of business. If you're interested in talent management, discovering and preventing disengagement, building team communication, hiring the right people and matching the right people to the right positions, you don't want to miss this one:
http://www.kabachnick.com
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To sell someone you have to know what prompts them to act and how they think.
Unless you shape your sales ability to meet the buyers viewpoint, you are not going to make the sale. You must sell the person on the benefits of listening to you. Convince the prospect that you are not there to only sell them but to help them satisfy a need ---- be of service to them.
Once you gain a persons confidence his judgement will come next. Once you give a person something that is of value to their business you peak their interest.
Each of us, customers included, possess motives which prompt us to buy. These buying motives which i am going to discuss do not necessarily come from our logical side but from our emotional side.
1- Following The Leader - These business people like to model their buying patterns after leaders in their industry. They tend to go with proven results that put them in the realm of the top echelon in their field.
2- Convenience - Many people like to do their work with the least amount of effort. Do not confuse this with being slipshod or lazy we are talking effort. Saving mental effort has strong appeal. How many times do you hear or use the word convenience. It is a strong emotional motive.
3- Being Noticed - What you offer in a product or service that is better than what is presently being done may help catapult your customer to being noticed in the company or better still being promoted.
4- Being Current - Showing how your product or service will put your customer in step with the latest technology in the field relaxes them and they consider themselves up to date.
5- Relaxation - Point out how having what your presenting will lead to more free time for the decision maker to relax. Make sure you present it as not more time to do nothing but more time to relax and distance themselves from pressure.
Not everything in life or sales is done logically or based on what is proven or known to be fact. This is an attempt to make you aware of the fact that just because something is right or logical a customer does not have to choose that path. We all have emotions and emotions enter into decision making in sales.
Thank You
Joe D'Ambra
http://www.basicsofsales.com
Sales Blogs offering sales tips
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It's summer and very hot outside. Yesterday my air conditioning unit broke. Friday afternoon, 2 PM and this thing just decided to die on me. It was literally just blowing hot air. I checked the basics, but all I could see is that the fan on the outside unit had stopped spinning. I do have a service contract with a local AC repair company and receive preferred treatment on repair calls and when in need of a quick repair job. I also receive 10% off labor and parts. Still, in the end it was a painful and very expensive experience with a price tag of close to $500. Afterwards I spent some time thinking through the entire situation. I do run my own business and I am always trying to analyze the business side of things to see if there is something I can learn and use in my own business. Running an AC or Heating related business is definitely a very interesting idea as for at least 8 months of the year you can dictate how things go and the customer has not much choice to shop around. Why? Read on.
Most often when people call an AC repair business they do not a choice, they need someone who is willing to come out and they make decisions under the pressure of knowing that shopping around might delay the repair for a long time. Their Air Conditioning unit or their furnace is broken and they need help fast as they feel cold or very hot and uncomfortable. As mentioned, they do not have much choice or time to really shop around for better prices. You do not argue too much, when it is 98 degrees outside and 90 degrees inside and all you want is your AC to be running again. You already know that the repair guys are extremely busy and that you will be lucky to get someone out the same day if at all. The businesses know this and accordingly their repair prices always end up to be in the upper range even if the damage does not seem so dramatic.
So, does it eventually make sense for you to start your AC repair and service business? As an example, if you are a talented technician it might be time to stop making money for the man and to start putting your great talents to work for yourself. Or if you know a really good and talented AC repair technician, you can team up - he runs the technical side of things while you take care of business in regards to sales, accounting and all the white-collar items associated with running a business.
Conclusion: This article cannot go into all the details of what is involved in starting an AC repair business, but it is rather an idea igniter. Something that makes you think. Go, and start a business. Now.
AC and HVAC related topics are discussed at the HVAC Estimating Software website.
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There is one business that has prospered during this current economic recession - the home credit repair business. Unlike larger companies, these smaller businesses are often preferred because they stress person-to-person relationships. While some of the principles that such smaller businesses follow for success might not be reproduced on a larger scale, most of them are definitely worth following.
Here are 5 such rules that will be beneficial in all types and sizes of business.
1. Maintain confidentiality - Sure, you've heard it before. However, when it come to home credit repair business many find it difficult to follow this principle. If you wish to succeed concentrate on your efforts on your client's needs; how best to deliver your service; how best to do so on a bargain budget.
This is not a business where you just turn a bad credit report around; this is a business where you need to win the trust of your client. In this business trust is paramount because people will come to you with troubles that are very personal and sensitive in nature.
2. Promise less, deliver more - it's easy to guarantee fast credit repair, reversal of a bad credit report and so on. But, just how proficient are you to do so as a home credit repair business? Even if you were extremely capable and could indeed do wonders, it will be always wiser that you promise less than you could ultimately offer.
Why? Because at the end of the day, you'll have an appreciative client who is delighted with your service. One satisfied client means at least 30-40 direct recommendations for you.
3. Be passionate about your profession - it matters not that you're a small company? You have to put in your best efforts to deliver. You need to project an impression that you completely believe in what you say and for that you need to love what you do.
There is no success without total commitment and passion in this or any business. In order to succeed in the credit repair business you need to not only be one hundred percent a believer, but also love to help people with their financial troubles. Unless you are in love with workbooks and numbers, economics, financial planning, and can counsel about finance management, you can not succeed in such a business.
4. Network, network, network - networking is the best market provider for any home credit repair business. If you wish to see your network grow quickly it's important to build a brand image that signals competence and trustworthiness. People should come to you because they trust you and know that you have the ability to help them.
A person who has a bad credit report will find it very disturbing if they heard that you broke confidentiality. Since your clientele will come initially from close friends, colleagues and family it is very important that you maintain confidentiality in every aspect.
5. Be the best - it does not matter if you choose to remain a small home credit repair business or have a huge expansion plan. The one thing that will differentiate you from the competition always, will be your ambition to be best and its reflection in your actions. People who come to you should be sure that they are getting the best credit repair money can buy.
Jim Eastman is a strong believer in the advantages of being self-employees. If you're interested in starting your own business in credit repair go to http://www.creditrepairbiz.com/credit-repair-business.html for a free email mini-course.
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