Why Your Profit Margin Is Not Important
Profit margins seem to be main focus of executives and small business owners.Everyone from the CEO of General Motors to your average eBay seller is focused on it.But think fo what a profit margin actually represents. It’s not an indication of how much money you are actually making, it’s only a figure that tells what the profit portion is as a percentage of the total sale.In other words a $10 profit on a $100 sale means that your profit margin is 10%.Now let me ask you this, let’s assume your average profit margin is 100%. That type of profit margin would make any business owner envious. But what if the total sale was only $2? Your actual profit would only be $1, even though you are working a high profit margin.I am sure you realize how many products you would have to sell to make any serious money.But what if your profit margin was only 5% on a $100,000 sale?Your actual profit would be $5,000. In net terms you are making more money even though the profit margin is 20 times

Real Estate Agent Salaries
The real estate business can be a lucrative job option. However, the job of a real estate agent may not be a full-time career option for a large number of people. Real estate agents earn a cut whenever they successfully close a deal. They do not necessarily have to follow regular office hours, as business opportunities arise when clients approach them. Real estate agents may work as individual entities or collaborate with brokers or real estate firms. In some instances they are hired as salaried employees who receive a pre-determined pay irrespective of targets.Freelance estate agents are not likely to earn regular paychecks. Most of them may be already earning a fixed salary elsewhere and earnings from real estate deals could be a source of additional income. Such dealers earn in proportion of the amount of income generated through their service when working with a broker or firm. Most single agents are free to decide their service charges based on the type of services provided when they are working independently.What is expected

Customers expect equipment to be returned in good working order in a reasonable time frame. They also expect all settings and adjustments to remain as they were when the equipment failed. The end user is reasonable, and they do not expect overnight repairs at no charge. They have been taught through experience not to expect to much. So it should be easy for a service department to exceed their expectations.

A happy customer is one that is kept advised of the status of the repair and is aware of the cost before the repair is made so that they can make cost-effective decisions. I have found, in talking with customers over the years that the more that they understand about the problem the more they are willing to work with you. One must however, be careful not to disclose negative short comings of the company or of fellow employees. The best rule is that if you cannot say something good or positive about the company or a fellow employee, then say nothing at all. However mistakes do happen, even with the best employees. Mistakes will be made whenever action is being taken, we learn from these mistakes and try not to repeat them. Honest mistakes can be admitted without mentioning names and this can be a positive from the customers' view point. Mistakes are always best disclosed before the customer discovers them and brings them to your attention.

Employees should be encouraged to bring mistakes to their supervisors as soon as they are aware of them. This should not be viewed as a bad thing but a good action on the part of the employee, so that the mistake can be resolved as soon as possible. An employee that never makes mistakes may be too cautious and may not be productive, I would challenge this type of employee to be more aggressive and try new things.

If your customers deal with more suppliers than you, then you need to know what the other suppliers are doing to meet their needs. End users are usually more than happy to share this information with you. This will help you in your decisions to replace or repair and to what level. You should always try to exceed their expectations.

End users expect some startup problems with new products, but also expect fast corrections, this is where the need for fast and effective communications with the factory or manufacturer is required.

When a customer calls in with a problem, they are grateful for any help they can receive. Any time the problem can be resolved by phone or e-mail you have exceeded their expectations. So a good service department starts with good phone support.

Experiences good and bad

The second call made by a customer relating to the same repair is a bad experience and should be prevented. If the stage of repair is

he repair is made so that they can make cost-effective decisions. I have found, in talking with customers over the years that the more that they understand about the problem the more they are willing to work with you. One must however, be careful not to disclose negative short comings of the company or of fellow employees. The best rule is that if you cannot say something good or positive about the company or a fellow employee, then say nothing at all. However mistakes do happen, even with the best employees. Mistakes will be made whenever action is being taken, we learn from these mistakes and try not to repeat them. Honest mistakes can be admitted without mentioning names and this can be a positive from the customers' view point. Mistakes are always best disclosed before the customer discovers them and brings them to your attention.

Employees should be encouraged to bring mistakes to their supervisors as soon as they are aware of them. This should not be viewed as a bad thing but a good action on the part of the employee, so that the mistake can be resolved as soon as possible. An employee that never makes mistakes may be too cautious and may not be productive, I would challenge this type of employee to be more aggressive and try new things.

If your customers deal with more suppliers than you, then you need to know what the other suppliers are doing to meet their needs. End users are usually more than happy to share this information with you. This will help you in your decisions to replace or repair and to what level. You should always try to exceed their expectations.

End users expect some startup problems with new products, but also expect fast corrections, this is where the need for fast and effective communications with the factory or manufacturer is required.

When a customer calls in with a problem, they are grateful for any help they can receive. Any time the problem can be resolved by phone or e-mail you have exceeded their expectations. So a good service department starts with good phone support.

Experiences good and bad

The second call made by a customer relating to the same repair is a bad experience and should be prevented. If the stage of repair is

taken, we learn from these mistakes and try not to repeat them. Honest mistakes can be admitted without mentioning names and this can be a positive from the customers' view point. Mistakes are always best disclosed before the customer discovers them and brings them to your attention.

Employees should be encouraged to bring mistakes to their supervisors as soon as they are aware of them. This should not be viewed as a bad thing but a good action on the part of the employee, so that the mistake can be resolved as soon as possible. An employee that never makes mistakes may be too cautious and may not be productive, I would challenge this type of employee to be more aggressive and try new things.

If your customers deal with more suppliers than you, then you need to know what the other suppliers are doing to meet their needs. End users are usually more than happy to share this information with you. This will help you in your decisions to replace or repair and to what level. You should always try to exceed their expectations.

End users expect some startup problems with new products, but also expect fast corrections, this is where the need for fast and effective communications with the factory or manufacturer is required.

When a customer calls in with a problem, they are grateful for any help they can receive. Any time the problem can be resolved by phone or e-mail you have exceeded their expectations. So a good service department starts with good phone support.

Experiences good and bad

The second call made by a customer relating to the same repair is a bad experience and should be prevented. If the stage of repair is

makes mistakes may be too cautious and may not be productive, I would challenge this type of employee to be more aggressive and try new things.

If your customers deal with more suppliers than you, then you need to know what the other suppliers are doing to meet their needs. End users are usually more than happy to share this information with you. This will help you in your decisions to replace or repair and to what level. You should always try to exceed their expectations.

End users expect some startup problems with new products, but also expect fast corrections, this is where the need for fast and effective communications with the factory or manufacturer is required.

When a customer calls in with a problem, they are grateful for any help they can receive. Any time the problem can be resolved by phone or e-mail you have exceeded their expectations. So a good service department starts with good phone support.

Experiences good and bad

The second call made by a customer relating to the same repair is a bad experience and should be prevented. If the stage of repair is

fast corrections, this is where the need for fast and effective communications with the factory or manufacturer is required.

When a customer calls in with a problem, they are grateful for any help they can receive. Any time the problem can be resolved by phone or e-mail you have exceeded their expectations. So a good service department starts with good phone support.

Experiences good and bad

The second call made by a customer relating to the same repair is a bad experience and should be prevented. If the stage of repair is phone support, the person providing the support should always try to be the person returning a call, not waiting on the customer, unless this is not convenient for the customer. There is nothing wrong in taking the customers' number or e-mail address and telling them that you will find the information and get back with them, just be sure that it is in a timely manner.

After the equipment has been returned for repair contact should always be initiated by the service department by a phone call or by e-mail. E-mail is now preferred by most customers and should have a very clear subject line. Sometimes the subject line may be all that is required, letting the customer know that the equipment as arrived or that the repair is in progress.

An employee that does not come in contact with the end user will be very reluctant to call or contact the customer. This fear can only be overcome by making repeated contact. I have found that even after years of phone support with end users, the more time that goes by without this contact makes it harder to start the contact again. Don't let an employee fall into the trap of just repairing equipment without becoming involved with the end user.

The repair person should be contacting the end user anytime there is a question about how the equipment is used, settings that are in question or even to find out what the end user is expecting from the equipment. Many times the problem cannot be found, returned to the customer and then returned to the service department again for the same problem, only to discover that it is not the equipment but what is being expected of the equipment by the end user.

Promises not delivered

How many times have we promised a repair will be ready on a given date? If we make a commitment to a customer, then we should have a backup plan in place in case we cannot deliver. Have a service loaner available, or be prepared to replace the product with a new one or an equivalent restored unit. Employees should be encouraged to leave such commitments up to their supervisor, who would have the back up plans.

There are always unknowns when making repairs, we may see a problem and make a commitment only to find another problem