Make Customers Your #1 Priority

| March 4, 2009

To maintain on going relationships with clients/customers requires a consistent program that delivers value and meaningful actions. If you are not working at strengthening those relationships you are making it easier for your competitors to insert themselves into your market place. So what values (that require specific behaviors for them to be visible) and actions are you taking to facilitate a memorable customer service process?

We frequent the same restaurants and fast food establishments because we get what we want consistently. When they don’t deliver, we move on elsewhere. A few years ago my favorite coffee chain introduced a new … Read More

Customer Relationship Management

| July 13, 2007

Over that last few weeks several articles and books have crossed my desk that deal with the relationships we develop with customers. Of all the ways to keep a business growing, increasing the frequency of interactions we have with clients is probably one of the most important. We would all love to boast a long list of loyal customers; when we increase the effectiveness of all of our business practices, the list increases.

To sustain profitability and customer loyalty, offering discounts or cutting prices may bring in new customers, but keeping them requires a different level of customer service. Good … Read More

Business Relationships that Work

| May 16, 2007

Business is all about relationships. In the rush to get something done, small business owners often find themselves with less then perfect outcomes. Too often I hear the complaints and laments of clients because doing business with a vendor, independent contractor or performing the work themselves required accountability on both sides but somehow got overlooked. Relationships are built on trust, trust is built when commitments are fulfilled to the satisfaction of all parties. Creating the agreements that go with the commitments is a fundamental skill. Unfortunately, most people have never learned how to articulate their desired results.

Recently a client … Read More

How Do You Set Priorities?

| April 14, 2007

As a business owner, it’s easy to get caught up in the bustle of day-to-day
business. In the drive to make sure you will reach your monthly financial
goal, it can be tempting to spend a significant portion of your time fighting
the myriad fires that crop up every day. Instead, take the time to step
back and set “laser-sharp” priorities to focus on what’s really
important – and keep yourself from spending time on what’s not.

When you have set goals for the business the priorities should be unmistakably
clear and specific, you know what to focus on and, … Read More

Give Your Marketing Pull

| February 10, 2007

There are hundreds of books and articles too numerous to begin to count that deal with ways to get attention for your business. Most are predicated on delivering a message that speaks to your prospects’ needs. The difficulty for small business owners is to be able to use the internet to deliver that message, without chasing away other prospects. On line advertising is moving away from just display ads and into a more interactive (pull) model.

Have you seen some of the car company TV ads that direct you to go to
their web site and click on the car … Read More

The Greatest Revolution

| January 3, 2007

2007 can be a year you accomplish your greatest DREAMS. Fulfillment of those DREAMS demands well defined Goals and specific daily, monthly and yearly plans. In your planning and Goal setting process there is a need for tools to activate you and bring about the focus and behavior changes so necessary to effect the results you want.

For centuries one of the most powerful tools that people have used to reconstruct their mental belief systems is the tool of Visualization. You focus your energy and simply create a mental image of the goal you wish to attain. You experience the … Read More

Marketing on Your Home Turf

| November 2, 2006

A recent B2B Expo was quite an eye opener. Many companies paid $800 to $1000 to create awareness and showcase their product/services. My observation was that few exhibitors got a return on their investment; not because of the attendance but because of poor understanding on the part of the booth “staffers” on how to engage their audience. Sitting behind a table, failing to qualify booth visitors or even ask for their business cards, were some of the negative comments I heard from colleagues who attended looking to do business with the exhibitors.

Trade shows open doors and pave the road … Read More

Survive and Thrive

| October 4, 2006

To quote an old advertisement for financial software we agree that, “Of all the hats we wear as a small business owner, the accounting fedora itches the most.” We all market our time – so I hope all of you have put those 2005 taxes to bed and are focusing your time on the high priority, high pay off areas of your business in particular, making a profit. At the heart of maintaining a profit is your accounting system. (Ugh, Ugh). Most people get confused and frustrated with their finances and the major cause of the confusion is lack of … Read More

Wake Your Sleeping Giant

| July 3, 2006

Summer has arrived, the excitement of vacation looms large – BUT, as your Business Development Specialist I must ask, are you at the mid point for your 2006 Goals and Objectives? How many of you after these several months working day and night to achieve those goals you set in January to create a new service, introduce a new product or even design a new business model – all at once find all the drive that brought the initial motivation and excitement has melted away, the steam has run out, the place you are in is comfortable and the dream … Read More

All About Internet Marketing

| May 2, 2006

By Debra Simpson

People opt for internet advertising methods because practically half of the world’s population knows HTML. If you have your own business, you have to decide on what internet advertising method works for you. Ask yourself what are you going to avail yourself of the expensive internet advertising methods or the cheap ones? Others will pipe in “expensive!” immediately, but they don’t know cheap internet advertising method attracts great benefits as well.

Here’s the lowdown and a comparative look on the cheap and expensive internet advertising methods:

The Expensive

  • Pop-ups
    Not only are these expensive, but also outright
… Read More