Casual Articles - Business

Outdoor Billboard Advertising Banned In NYC'S Times Square - Imagine If This Were True
What would it be like if outdoor billboard ads were banned in NYC’s Times Square? To me part of the allure of Times Square is the ads. The advertising, to me, is like artwork. Not only that, the lights and digital screens brighten up Times Square to make it almost seem as though it’s daytime, even in the middle of the night.Would Times Square feel as alive as it does right now if there were billboards, no advertising, no flashing neon lights, and no television screens? The reason I ask is that Sao Paulo, Brazil has just recently banned all outdoor advertising in the city with the aim of bringing it closer to bein

as Microsoft.

This exercise was a real eye-opener and left me with these conclusions:

1) I will buy a new PC before I call for assistance for hardware. Messrs. Hewlett and Packard have obviously left the building. My PC is groaning and making noises like my uncle in Lexington. I can’t get anyone to talk to and am currently looking for a new PC which comes with a nerd in a box who will set it up for me and transfer all the stuff on this one to the new one.

2) Buy stock now in AT&T. They have a great deal for $4.95 and then a

Improving Customer Service: How To Improve Customer Service And Get Thousands Of New Customers Flock
The need for superb customer service is not startling, and the means for bringing it about are relatively well known. Nevertheless, too many businesses seem to accept the need and means in theory but in practice they continue to deliver poor service.Retail stores whose owners are also managers tend to fare much better than chains that employ minimum-wage employees who don’t care a whit about helping customers.Following is an example and an illustration of why many chains are doing so poorly in customer service:I recently walked into a retail store that offered gifts appealing mainly to mature shoppe

I am writing this column prompted by a recent column in USA Today concerning the difficulty in getting to a live person when experiencing service troubles. The writer gave examples of some national companies that were difficult, if not impossible, to get to if one needed to speak with a live person for help.

I laughed as I read the article knowing full well that here in the Mid-South, land of hospitality and assistance, this was not the case. I knew that my local providers put emphasis on customer service and support. Ease of solutions was the southern way, I thought.

I also knew that, utilizing my own technical wisdom and knowledge, I would never purchase a product or service from a company that made it difficult to speak to someone who would help me. My life was exempt from delays in getting help due to automated attendants and answering devices standing between help and me.

Wrong.

I made a list of the important products and services that I use every day in work and at home. These include my local telephone service, long distance, wireless provider, PC hardware and software support, Direct TV, cable TV (yep…I’ve got both. I’ll tell you why later), broadband Internet service, banking, and utilities. I then expanded the list to include my doctor, local hospital, hair salon (are there any barbers left?), my attorney, my CPA, and my dentist.

I then decided that I would call each of these customer service locations or main numbers and see how long it took to get “real-person” assistance.

That was the beginning of a bad day.

Calls to each of these companies resulted in the following findings:

1) The only companies with live operators answering the phones were my dentist and attorney, neither of whom I particularly enjoy calling.

2)T wo of these companies never allowed me to even talk to the auto attendant (busy signals).

3) One company, after taking me through the loop of options, gave me the option of talking to a customer

service rep. When I opted for that, I began the loop over.

3) I waited THIRTY MINUTES to speak to a live rep with one of these companies.

4) There is no such company as Microsoft.

This exercise was a real eye-opener and left me with these conclusions:

2) Buy stock now in AT&T. They have a great deal for $4.95 and then a s

Write the Best Resume - Avoid this Common, Yet Fatal, Mistake
Let’s face it. When searching for a new job, most people feel that time is of the essence and they want to get the best results in the least amount of time possible. Unfortunately, many people employ the strategy of creating ONE resume that they can submit for multiple job postings. Sounds logical right? You’ll be able to spend a lot of effort writing one good resume that can be used for many purposes. Well, while this sounds logical it is not exactly the best practice.A resume that is BEST for one company is usually not the BEST for another. Even if you are applying to different job postings in the same ge

was the southern way, I thought.

Wrong.

I then decided that I would call each of these customer service locations or main numbers and see how long it took to get “real-person” assistance.

That was the beginning of a bad day.

Calls to each of these companies resulted in the following findings:

1) The only companies with live operators answering the phones were my dentist and attorney, neither of whom I particularly enjoy calling.

2)T wo of these companies never allowed me to even talk to the auto attendant (busy signals).

3) One company, after taking me through the loop of options, gave me the option of talking to a customer

service rep. When I opted for that, I began the loop over.

3) I waited THIRTY MINUTES to speak to a live rep with one of these companies.

4) There is no such company as Microsoft.

This exercise was a real eye-opener and left me with these conclusions:

2) Buy stock now in AT&T. They have a great deal for $4.95 and then a

Youngstown OH Suburban Growth
Youngstown OH is experiencing good growth in its nearby suburbs. South of town are two cities for those who have had enough of man’s so-called progress, these cities are Salem and Sebring OH. Sufficient small towns with a little flair and they are steadily drawing from the city areas. Many are moving there who cannot afford the suburbs or do not wish to participate in mass exploitation of tract homes no matter how many walkways and parks you put around them.When people talk about the mid-sized city areas of OH we like to compare them for instance where is the Growth in Toledo, Dayton, Youngstown, Canton, Akron or

are and software support, Direct TV, cable TV (yep…I’ve got both. I’ll tell you why later), broadband Internet service, banking, and utilities. I then expanded the list to include my doctor, local hospital, hair salon (are there any barbers left?), my attorney, my CPA, and my dentist.

I then decided that I would call each of these customer service locations or main numbers and see how long it took to get “real-person” assistance.

That was the beginning of a bad day.

Calls to each of these companies resulted in the following findings:

1) The only companies with live operators answering the phones were my dentist and attorney, neither of whom I particularly enjoy calling.

2)T wo of these companies never allowed me to even talk to the auto attendant (busy signals).

3) One company, after taking me through the loop of options, gave me the option of talking to a customer

service rep. When I opted for that, I began the loop over.

3) I waited THIRTY MINUTES to speak to a live rep with one of these companies.

4) There is no such company as Microsoft.

This exercise was a real eye-opener and left me with these conclusions:

2) Buy stock now in AT&T. They have a great deal for $4.95 and then a

Upselling to your Customers - How To
One of the most important facets of marketing and sales is the ability to win long term relations with your customers while selling your customers multiple products. If companies only rely on new customers to buy their products every time, they would continually have to spend more and more money and time. This applies to you as well, a repeat customer is always easier to obtain than a brand new customers.The more sales you can make from an individual customer, the more time you will save and the more money you will earn! It is a well known fact that people who have already bought from you once before would be mu

ndings:

1) The only companies with live operators answering the phones were my dentist and attorney, neither of whom I particularly enjoy calling.

2)T wo of these companies never allowed me to even talk to the auto attendant (busy signals).

3) One company, after taking me through the loop of options, gave me the option of talking to a customer

service rep. When I opted for that, I began the loop over.

3) I waited THIRTY MINUTES to speak to a live rep with one of these companies.

4) There is no such company as Microsoft.

This exercise was a real eye-opener and left me with these conclusions:

2) Buy stock now in AT&T. They have a great deal for $4.95 and then a

10 Questions to Ask Before Licensing Your Program
Once you have several products or services that are selling quite well, your customer will begin to ask if you will permit others to use your product as the basis for training that they are doing. Or, if you are doing training or consulting, you may be asked if you'll train others to be a trainer using your system.This is the perfect opportunity for you to consider licensing your content or program. You've only got so many hours in the day, and if you have others delivering your content and/or requiring the purchase of your materials, your business will grow exponentially as a result.Here are some issues

as Microsoft.

This exercise was a real eye-opener and left me with these conclusions:

2) Buy stock now in AT&T. They have a great deal for $4.95 and then a seven cents a minute for long distance. That deal in itself is not so good, but the reason it makes sense as an investor is that once a customer is on it, you can’t get off! I’ve tried for months to call the number on my phone bill to get it changed, but every time I call, I wait about twenty or thirty minutes and figure it’s not worth the $4.95 and hang up (my late Father would spin over if he knew I were so cavalier about the money, but it is ridiculous).

3) My hair salon is covered with mostly female employees, many of whom are doing nothing except looking at themselves often during the day. Why can’t they put a mirror with the main phone and let some of these folks watch themselves and answer calls instead of listening to a recording to set an appointment?

4) My local hospital’s recording told me to call another number if this were an emergency. Thanks. (They also listed their barbershop above their main listed telephone number in the directory…I might try them out).

5) I have cable TV as a result of not being able to get local channels when I first got Direct TV. I never want to call Direct TV again and will move to another house before I’ll report a call to them.

6) If anyone can find a Microsoft number, please let me know.

Occasionally, during this exercise, I would finally speak to a real customer service rep. I noticed that they sounded suspiciously alike, which makes me believe all of these companies forward the live calls to one guy who answers for all these companies.

I also learned that there is an insurance company in town who, when listening to your recorded customer service options says “to hear the train, press seven” and it plays a train noise. They used to say “to hear the duck, press seven” and a duck quacked, but apparently they got so much traffic, they took it off. Out of respect for them, I am not mentioning their name, but this is true.

By the way, try to connect to the sales department for any of these firms and notice how quickly you’ll get through.

I am closing with a plea for corporate managers to call your own customer service departments and listen to what your customers are hearing

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It is also interesting to note that we are now subjected to messages that not only extol the virtues of branded products, they even go so far as to make a point that certain companies do not make own-label, to justify their premium pricing. You have to take your hat off to the ad man who came up with that little gem of building a campaign out of that one. Sadly, for the client, the horse had already bolted. But the ad men, as usual, were pocketing their fees and laughing all the way to the bank! It is no surprise then that with more and more competition, now including own label, there has been a significant increase in the number of advertisements, vying for customers’ attention. So, more competition in the marketplace and more competition to attract the viewer/reader to engage with the message, so what’s the solution?

Is it possible to use advertising to create a trend? Can we use advertising to start a social movement? Can advertising be used to get the ball rolling and change the way our society works? Advertising to create a trend is possible and it is done more often than you think.

Words have the power to create trust, allegiance and commitment in customers and clients. The body language, eye contact and gestures reinforce the sentiment being expressed verbally. The thoughts and care behind the words give them a magical power.

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