e lost them if you screwed up seriously. Say 10% again, because you may get some time wasters who would ask for a refund anyway.

d) Annual profit from new business = total annual sales ? percentage increase ? average value ? gross margin (for example 3,600 ? 10% ? $100 ? 25% = $9,000)

e) Annual loss from “returns” = new sales ? return rate ? cost per return (e.g. 360 ? 10% ? $10 = $360).

f) You know it makes sense, when you can make an additional $9,000 and only lose $360! Just by adding a few well-c

New business is tough. Prospective customers perceive that doing business with you for the first time is a risk. You know it’s not (I hope!), but they don’t. Even if they speak to your satisfied customers, it doesn’t remove the risk completely. “How do I know it’ll work for me?” they say.

To remove that barrier, you must adopt some or all of the risk yourself. What do I mean by that? Well, as an example, a 30-day free trial would be more of a risk to the supplier, rather than the customer. You need to work out how many customers would cancel after the 30 days, versus how many more people you would sign up by removing the risk.

Here’s my approach to working out the numbers on this:

1. What risks does your prospective customer perceive in doing business with you? Here are some common ones:

• Will you deliver what you promised me?

• Will I get a return on my investment?

• Will you complete the job?

• Will you complete the job on time?

• Will you deliver the quality of products and services you agreed?

• Will you overcharge me?

2. How can you overcome each of those risks? Will you accept penalties for non-delivery or late delivery? Offer a free trial period? Or a money-back guarantee? How about a fixed-price quotation? You may need to build some contingency into your price to compensate for the extra risk you’re taking on. Typically in a business-to-business quotation the contingency can be around 20-30%.

3. Make a simple cost-justification for your new strategy, to further convince yourself it’s worth doing:

a) How much extra business do you think you would gain by removing the risk (based on past experience of lost sales or people who “did nothing”)? Make it a percentage, say 10%.

b) How many of these new customers would you lose because you didn’t perform as you’d promised? Hopefully this is only a small number.

c) Even if you hadn’t given them a specific up-front guarantee, you would still have lost them if you screwed up seriously. Say 10% again, because you may get some time wasters who would ask for a refund anyway.

d) Annual profit from new business = total annual sales ? percentage increase ? average value ? gross margin (for example 3,600 ? 10% ? $100 ? 25% = $9,000)

e) Annual loss from “returns” = new sales ? return rate ? cost per return (e.g. 360 ? 10% ? $10 = $360).

f) You know it makes sense, when you can make an additional $9,000 and only lose $360! Just by adding a few well-ch

Cutting Costs for Your Business
For a business to be profitable, revenue must exceed expenses. To increase the amount of revenue, many businesses look for ways to reduce expenses. Start by analyzing your current expenses. Categorize them into two distinct groups, one for expenses you have to have, and the other for expenses you can possibly lower or eliminate from your business budget.Tr

out how many customers would cancel after the 30 days, versus how many more people you would sign up by removing the risk.

Here’s my approach to working out the numbers on this:

1. What risks does your prospective customer perceive in doing business with you? Here are some common ones:

• Will you deliver what you promised me?

• Will I get a return on my investment?

• Will you complete the job?

• Will you complete the job on time?

• Will you deliver the quality of products and services you agreed?

• Will you overcharge me?

2. How can you overcome each of those risks? Will you accept penalties for non-delivery or late delivery? Offer a free trial period? Or a money-back guarantee? How about a fixed-price quotation? You may need to build some contingency into your price to compensate for the extra risk you’re taking on. Typically in a business-to-business quotation the contingency can be around 20-30%.

3. Make a simple cost-justification for your new strategy, to further convince yourself it’s worth doing:

a) How much extra business do you think you would gain by removing the risk (based on past experience of lost sales or people who “did nothing”)? Make it a percentage, say 10%.

b) How many of these new customers would you lose because you didn’t perform as you’d promised? Hopefully this is only a small number.

c) Even if you hadn’t given them a specific up-front guarantee, you would still have lost them if you screwed up seriously. Say 10% again, because you may get some time wasters who would ask for a refund anyway.

d) Annual profit from new business = total annual sales ? percentage increase ? average value ? gross margin (for example 3,600 ? 10% ? $100 ? 25% = $9,000)

e) Annual loss from “returns” = new sales ? return rate ? cost per return (e.g. 360 ? 10% ? $10 = $360).

f) You know it makes sense, when you can make an additional $9,000 and only lose $360! Just by adding a few well-c

Discount Futures Brokers - How They Can Save You Money
Are you interested in using the services of a futures broker, to assist you with futures trading? If you are, you may be wondering what type of futures broker you should use. While the decision is honestly yours to make, you are advised to take the time to examine discount futures brokers, as they may be able to save you a considerable amount of money.Before exam

er the quality of products and services you agreed?

• Will you overcharge me?

2. How can you overcome each of those risks? Will you accept penalties for non-delivery or late delivery? Offer a free trial period? Or a money-back guarantee? How about a fixed-price quotation? You may need to build some contingency into your price to compensate for the extra risk you’re taking on. Typically in a business-to-business quotation the contingency can be around 20-30%.

3. Make a simple cost-justification for your new strategy, to further convince yourself it’s worth doing:

a) How much extra business do you think you would gain by removing the risk (based on past experience of lost sales or people who “did nothing”)? Make it a percentage, say 10%.

b) How many of these new customers would you lose because you didn’t perform as you’d promised? Hopefully this is only a small number.

c) Even if you hadn’t given them a specific up-front guarantee, you would still have lost them if you screwed up seriously. Say 10% again, because you may get some time wasters who would ask for a refund anyway.

d) Annual profit from new business = total annual sales ? percentage increase ? average value ? gross margin (for example 3,600 ? 10% ? $100 ? 25% = $9,000)

e) Annual loss from “returns” = new sales ? return rate ? cost per return (e.g. 360 ? 10% ? $10 = $360).

f) You know it makes sense, when you can make an additional $9,000 and only lose $360! Just by adding a few well-c

Consultants
In this article I will provide examples of advisors used by well-known clients and examine the outcome in terms of achievement and breakdown. I will also summarize the model the consultancy firm used to get the results.An example of success in consulting work was done by Eagle Technology Consultants who were approved by the Coca-Cola Foundation to increase thei

a simple cost-justification for your new strategy, to further convince yourself it’s worth doing:

a) How much extra business do you think you would gain by removing the risk (based on past experience of lost sales or people who “did nothing”)? Make it a percentage, say 10%.

b) How many of these new customers would you lose because you didn’t perform as you’d promised? Hopefully this is only a small number.

c) Even if you hadn’t given them a specific up-front guarantee, you would still have lost them if you screwed up seriously. Say 10% again, because you may get some time wasters who would ask for a refund anyway.

d) Annual profit from new business = total annual sales ? percentage increase ? average value ? gross margin (for example 3,600 ? 10% ? $100 ? 25% = $9,000)

e) Annual loss from “returns” = new sales ? return rate ? cost per return (e.g. 360 ? 10% ? $10 = $360).

f) You know it makes sense, when you can make an additional $9,000 and only lose $360! Just by adding a few well-c

Don't Confuse The Message
One of the worst mistakes an advertiser can make is sending mixed messages. I'm always paying attention to advertising and marketing to see how others attempt to get their message across in 15-30 seconds. After-all, the human attention span isn't getting any greater, and we're overloaded with messages on a day-to-day basis so we weed out almost everything anymor

e lost them if you screwed up seriously. Say 10% again, because you may get some time wasters who would ask for a refund anyway.

d) Annual profit from new business = total annual sales ? percentage increase ? average value ? gross margin (for example 3,600 ? 10% ? $100 ? 25% = $9,000)

e) Annual loss from “returns” = new sales ? return rate ? cost per return (e.g. 360 ? 10% ? $10 = $360).

f) You know it makes sense, when you can make an additional $9,000 and only lose $360! Just by adding a few well-chosen words to your new business sales messages you can boost your revenue and profits dramatically.

4. Build your new risk removal strategy into your standard sales offer. Use it in all your mail and advertising promotions.

5. If no-one else in your market offers this, make it a key part of your Unique Selling Proposition.