Digg it UP - Business

Customer Service for Dry Cleaners
Every type of business must concentrate on good customer service and the small-business person knows that whatever line of work they are in that if they do not give good customer service then perhaps the competition will. For those businesses giving customer service is paramount, as those customers will eventually migrate over to the competition and cease being customers if the service is lousy.Let's look at a case study for a moment with a dry cleaners type business.

who have never used your services, and make them an offer they have to respect. Go through your rolodex, your list of friends, colleagues, associates and members of organizations you belong to - use the Yellow Pages if you have to - but pick up that phone and invite 5 people to check you out! If it's appropriate, tell them you want to grow your business and offer them a free sample (who could turn down a free massage or a free oil change, or….?) If that's not appropriate, tell them you want to grow your business and you'd love to meet with them, buy them lunch, whatever it takes. You've been pr

Transparency: A Key To Your Effectiveness
Last month I talked about the Skilled Facilitator principle of being curious. This month I want to talk about the complementary principle transparency. Transparency has recently become a popular topic in business as organizations seek to build (or rebuild) trust with customers, shareholders, and employees. This morning as I opened the op-ed page of my Sunday New York Times, the title read, "The New Public [NY Times] Editor: Toward Greater Transparency." Whether you are a leade

For the past several weeks, we have focused on some wonderful but (to my way of thinking) rather fancy ideas about life. I wrote about motivation (I don't believe in it). I wrote about sorting out priorities (I do believe in that!). And I wrote about the 4 traits of highly successful people. I love that stuff! But I believe most of you subscribe to TIP's for help in actually running your office from day to day. Most of you have told me you're professionals in private practice, or owners of small businesses, or a manager. And that means you must attract clients or customers, serve them very well, and earn their return business - and do it every single day.

So. Let's talk about some practical steps that my clients have used to build their referral business quickly and systematically. I call it the "5-by-5" process. Let's walk through it.

Monday: Take care of, clean up, and get rid of 5 tolerations in your office or work. Make a list! Look around your space, your car, your desk or office, and commit to spending an hour taking care of at least 5 small, daily annoyances that have been bugging you, robbing your energy, or making life difficult. Do that filing! Repair that broken light, or throw out those old magazines. Buy a new desk chair, or a whole new desk! You can't afford to be distracted by these things. Fix them. Do it on Monday!

Tuesday: Contact 5 former clients or customers. Send them a letter, call them, even send them flowers or a small gift in cases where that might be appropriate. Invite them back, offer them a free follow-up or consultation. Ask them to help you evaluate your service by completing a questionnaire or ask them to come in for an interview. Tell them you value them as customers and want them to come back - and refer their friends! You can do this! Schedule an hour and do it on Tuesday.

Wednesday: Contact 5 current clients. Follow a similar routine from yesterday. Call them up, or send a card or letter telling them they are valued customers. Invite their comments on how you can improve your service or expand your business. Let them know you appreciate their trust and value their ideas. Do it nicely, with tact and sincerity, but ask them to help you build your business. You practiced on Tuesday, so you know you can do this. Schedule an hour and do it on Wednesday!

Thursday: Contact 5 potential customers or clients who have never used your services, and make them an offer they have to respect. Go through your rolodex, your list of friends, colleagues, associates and members of organizations you belong to - use the Yellow Pages if you have to - but pick up that phone and invite 5 people to check you out! If it's appropriate, tell them you want to grow your business and offer them a free sample (who could turn down a free massage or a free oil change, or….?) If that's not appropriate, tell them you want to grow your business and you'd love to meet with them, buy them lunch, whatever it takes. You've been pra

An Inconvenient Truth — A Failure to Persuade
Learn From SuccessStealing Share is in the persuasion business, make no mistake about it. Our business category is brand development but our brand work must be, by definition, persuasive. Our goal for our clients is to create brands that grow market share by persuading customers who currently do not use or buy a given brand to revisit their purchase decision and to choose differently. We look for examples of persuasive success everywhere in the marke

and earn their return business - and do it every single day.

So. Let's talk about some practical steps that my clients have used to build their referral business quickly and systematically. I call it the "5-by-5" process. Let's walk through it.

Where Did All The Farmers Go?
Several times a year, I hear someone complain about the development of farm land in our area. These complainers consider it a crime that so much of our farm land has been converted to housing, business, shopping, etc. They seem to consider the farmers and developers to be criminals.If you want to know why so many farmers have sold out to developers, allowed the land to grow houses instead of crops and left the farm life that their families enjoyed for generations – read

light, or throw out those old magazines. Buy a new desk chair, or a whole new desk! You can't afford to be distracted by these things. Fix them. Do it on Monday!

Payroll Taxes
If you have employees, you are responsible for payroll taxes. This is a term that lumps all the different forms of employment taxes into one category known as “payroll tax”. In reality, payroll taxes encompass Federal and state income tax withholding, social security and Medicare taxes (also known as FICA), Federal unemployment tax (FUTA), as well as any state and local unemployment taxes assessed. Payroll taxes are deducted each pay period from an employees gross pay. The

can do this! Schedule an hour and do it on Tuesday.

Art in the Workplace - Does It Improve an Employee's Motivation Level?
Does offering employees a pleasing work environment make a difference? Or is it just another excuse to spend money? Read on….Essentially it is all about enriching the work environment, and if you are wondering why you need to bother then I'd like to offer you three reasons: o It create better attitudes o It improves morale o It enhances the employees commitment to the organisation There is a fair bit of research in this area looking at the con

Friday: This is the hardest one of all: Do 5 wonderful things for yourself! You've worked hard all week, taken risks, put the word out that you are ready and eager to handle more business. That means you need to be healthy, energized, relaxed and ready. So, go for a walk. Take a long lunch and visit a friend. Read a great novel - or a trashy one, your choice! Enjoy the sunshine, or relax and listen to the rain. Spoil a neighbor's kids, then give them back! Schedule TWO hours, and do it on Friday!

This week, take 25 specific, measured steps to create more room and build your business. If you wanted practical, this is it. Now, it's your choice. My advice? Go get 'em!

Have a wonderful, productive and delightful week!

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Employment Law is one of the most complicated areas of the British Law system. Fortunately there are a large number of laws in place to protect employees but it’s not easy to understand them all.

Probably nine out of ten people I speak with say they have too much work to do and they are working 10 or more hours a day to try and keep up. Don't you agree we have to change this? At least one of the things taking our time has to be less important than having a conversation with people about how we want our organisation to look, sound and feel - and express this in our goals. This article discusses the qualities of a powerful conversation about the performance results that matter.

When you’re starting a business, you might wish for a lot of things, like having more than enough customers or not having to do marketing. Wishes are future oriented. To run a business, you need to be intentional, focused and highly aware of the present for it is only from the present that you can make things happen. Action is key to getting what you want for your business. What are some of the weaknesses around wishing?

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