Digg it UP - Business

Where Has The Service Gone?
Remember the days when the companies with whom you gave your hard earned money to appreciated your business? Today, it is rare to find companies who still get one of the basic fundamentals of successful business; take care of the customer or someone else will.With companies cutting costs and reducing internal support structure within their organization, levels of customer service have reached an all time low (my personal opinion). Going above and beyond with all customer interaction is a critical success factor for every business and can help differentiate a company from their competition. We are all consumers and all have stories of good and bad customer service. The memories of bad service seem

th "XYZ Financial" and get one that said, "The Easiest Financial Exercise Few People Actually Do." On the table I'd have several free reports, for example: "The Easiest Financial Exercise Few People Do," "The 5 Healthiest Financial Choices for Families," and "Can Healthy Living Actually Affect Your Financial Portfolio?"

I'd also ditch the nice suit in this situation (and believe me, I truly love wearing my nice suits) and try fitting in with my prospects by wearing some shorts, sneakers and a T-shirt that said something to fit in with the environment and my marketing for that day. For example: Fitness Success n. - not waiting to be skinny to start an exercise plan. Then just below that, I'd put something lik

The BRAVO Formula
According to Jerry Weissman in his book, “Presenting to Win,” there are over 30 million PowerPoint presentations given every day. Unfortunately, these presentations are not captivating or memorable. Thus, a lack of presentation training in America is creating a business culture that abuses presentation software and the art of public speaking. Let’s get back to the basics and adopt something I like to call the BRAVO formula.“B” is for Bold Boldness is about taking ownership. It’s about being courageous. You need to take control and own your content. No faking is allowed. The harsh reality is that faking it will not work in the public speaking arena. Audiences are far more perceptiv

On my way to the locker room at the fitness club, I passed by a gentleman who was looking dressed for work, standing behind a table. The table had a banner draped down from it that said something like "XYZ Financial." On the table he had a bowl of bananas and several bottles of water. As people walked by, he would ask, "Would you like a free bottle of water?"

Gosh, I hope you pictured yourself walking past that table and seeing some guy in a suit at the fitness club asking you that. What would you say? Let me tell you what I observed. I observed people responding just like I did, "No thanks." Why were most of the people there weary about stopping and accepting the free water?

Before I come right out and answer that, I want to take you with me on a visit to the Costco warehouse. Imagine that it's Saturday at noon. Once we make our way over to the food section we see vendor after vendor sampling their chimichangas, their protein bars, their cheesecake, and even their bottled water. Do we hesitate for even an instant from taking those samples? Of course not.

Interestingly enough we have no trouble accepting the hand-outs from the Costco vendors for the same reason that we refuse the hand-outs from the guy in the suit at the fitness club. We know what they're selling. When someone is selling water and he offers you a free sample of water, it makes sense. The sales person is giving you a taste of what he's selling. But when some is selling financial services and he offers you a bottle of water or a banana, it seems disingenuous because it feels like he is trying to trick you into talking to him.

So get this, after I finished my workout I noticed that someone else had set up a table to sell something. At this table they weren't giving anything away, but they did have signs on their table informing people about their youth basketball camps and men's basketball leagues. People were not only stopping to pick up brochures, they were whipping out credit cards to sign up for the camps.

Now part of what was going on there is a no brainer. The basketball sales people understood that the prospects most hungry for their service go to fitness clubs. By setting up their table at the fitness club, they assisted their prospects to sign up for a service they had probably been meaning to sign up for but just hadn't for various reasons. In other words, the basketball sales people fit into the environment.

Am I saying that the financial guy shouldn't set up a table at a fitness club? No, but I am saying that he needs to think more about the prospects he is standing in front of and how to give them something they want, when it comes to financial services. he needs to ask himself questions like, "What is every person who walks into a fitness club obviously concerned about?" Then he could play to that common ground.

If it were me, I'd ditch the banner with "XYZ Financial" and get one that said, "The Easiest Financial Exercise Few People Actually Do." On the table I'd have several free reports, for example: "The Easiest Financial Exercise Few People Do," "The 5 Healthiest Financial Choices for Families," and "Can Healthy Living Actually Affect Your Financial Portfolio?"

Recent Graduates: How To Get Your Job Search Moving
For recent graduates, getting your job search moving in a positive direction can be a difficult task.Most recruiters tend to only fill jobs that require candidates that have at least several years of work experience so you might not get much help from them.For entry level positions, you might be competing with not only other recent graduates but with people with a few years of experience as well who might also be suitable for the job.One of the best ways to get your job search moving positively is through networking.Sure, you could email your resume off to dozens or hundreds of companies like everyone else does but remember that it takes one tenth the time to delete your emai

er that, I want to take you with me on a visit to the Costco warehouse. Imagine that it's Saturday at noon. Once we make our way over to the food section we see vendor after vendor sampling their chimichangas, their protein bars, their cheesecake, and even their bottled water. Do we hesitate for even an instant from taking those samples? Of course not.

Shipping to the UK and Europe from China
The costs and logistics of shipping from China to the UK can be intimidating for inexperienced importers who don’t know what to expect. The wide variety of shipping rates just adds to the confusion - it’s very difficult to tell what ‘reasonable’ costs actually are.The first thing any new importer needs to do is make some inquiries. Don’t forget to shop around for shipping rates before selecting a wholesaler.I also recommend finding out the following details when you are arranging shipping:· Is there an inland freight charge to get to from the wholesale warehouse to port?· Is there a duty payable on the product?· Are there any restrictions on b

ut when some is selling financial services and he offers you a bottle of water or a banana, it seems disingenuous because it feels like he is trying to trick you into talking to him.

Know The Power of Your Words
Know The Power of Your Words When is the last time you gave your business a good self examine? If its been awhile then it might be time and in doing so one of the most important questions you can ask is simply: Are you what you say you are? Is your product or service in tune with what you advertise? If it isn't, then you could have a very damaging problem on your hands. The words you chose to represent your business image will eventually trickle down and effect your bottom line. So choose carefully. If you think advertising that you're selling Gourmet Hamburgers is a good idea when there isn't anything gourmet about them, then you're only hu

ss clubs. By setting up their table at the fitness club, they assisted their prospects to sign up for a service they had probably been meaning to sign up for but just hadn't for various reasons. In other words, the basketball sales people fit into the environment.

Give Your Clients a Better Customer Experience
One of the smartest moves for any small business is to clearly differentiate itself from the competition. Since actions speak louder than words, you should look for ways to be creative and “cutting-edge” when it comes to customer service and the overall user experience. Try to be THE company that is so great to work with that customers buy from you every time because they feel so positive about the experience. Here are a few ideas you can put into action to add value and benefit to your customers’ experiences:1. Watch the Trends. Retailers that apply innovative thinking to emerging trends can generate significant growth and financial reward. For example, tailor your thinking toward aging baby-boo

When people walked by, I would simply ask if they'd like a free report on the easiest financial exercise few people do. My contact information would be on that report, and once they came over to get a free report I could over them my other reports in exchange for their email address or phone number.

One thing is certain, the people who would stop for that free report would be actual prospects. They would be intrigued by the financial exercise that few people ever do. They would want to know if they were doing it, and my chances of starting a dialog with them would be far greater than with someone who stopped by for a banana because her two year-old was hungry and wanted a banana.

I'm sure you've heard that the average person is exposed to some 3,000 marketing messages a day. That's hard for me to believe, but even if the average person is exposed to only one tenth that many marketing messages, one has to start filtering. In risk management, filtering is a technique used to eliminate ideas that are less important than others. A great way for prospects to filter out less important marketing messages is to ask the questions, "Was there integrity to that message?" "Did that message feel congruous with the messenger?" "Can I benefit from that message/offer?"

Keep in mind that you and your message/offer will immediately be filtered out if your prospects answer yes to even one of those questions. One thing is certain, if you're going to rent space somewhere and spend a few hours of your time trying to generate prospects, you're better off offering people something that coincides with what you are selling. The secret to generating prospects is in taking the time to figure out who your ideal prospects are and then developing a plan to appeal to those prospects. The truth is, it's actually rather simple. But just because it's simple doesn't mean that it's easy.

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Today’s IT executives want the best software available. With business process management that means finding solutions that provide key benefits. In addition to facilitating system integration, these solutions must minimize costs, protect software investments, and increase corporate flexibility—all while generating a quick return on investment (ROI).

Everyone should be in a job that they like and that they are good at and the better that society places people in jobs that they are good at, the more we will all enjoy the productivity of our civilization. This is one of the basic tenets of Plato's Republic.

Knowing yourself, your limitations, weaknesses and strengths provides an advantage when considering the ability to share and use information effectively. The same is true with an organization made up of people. The synergy experienced by a free flow of relevant information has great impact on your organization's ability to leverage its information assets.

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Digg it UP - The Secret to Generating New Prospects

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