Tags |
|
|
Casual Articles - When You're Negotiating, Money isn't as Important as You Think
Eight Advantages of Fundraising Letters Over Other Methods
1. Personal Fundraising letters are about as personal as you can get with a donor without meeting face to face or talking on the phone. Unlike special events, fundraising letters let you have a one-on-one “meeting” with each donor.2. Can be passed along Unlike personal visits, phone calls and special events, fundraising letters can reproduce themselves. Your appeal on paper has the opportunity to reach more than one donor, potentially doubling or tripling your efforts. Member-Get-A-Member letters are a perfect example of this dynamic at work.3. Can be tested Because you can measure your direct mail results, you can also test your mailings. Test one package against another, one list against another, one ask against another, and you’ll discover what works and what fails. That way you’ll spend your dollars where they are most effective (without relying on guess work or hunches).4. Measurable ROI Direct mail is one of the best mediums for measuring the return on your investment. Simply code your reply cards, and count how many return to you in the mail with a gift. With fundraising letters, you can know immediately--and exactly--how effective your mailing has been. Direct mail numbers never lie. Some simple calculations will tell you the following: Your response count (number of donors who responded) Your response rate (percentage of donors who responded) Average gift Gross income (before expenses are deducted) Net income (what’s left after expenses are deducted) Cost to raise a dollar 5. Quick Unlike capital campaigns, major gift campaigns and special events, fundraising letter campaigns can be conceived, planned and launched within weeks instead of months. Results (donations) are just as quick, usually arriving within days of your mailing.6. Build your base of support The majority of non-profit organizations receive 80 percent of their income from individuals. Since the average gift sent through the mail by an individual is $35, you need a broad base of individual donor support for your existence. You will want to attract gifts from foundations, businesses and government, certainly, but for long-term survival you need to build a large following of individual supporters who send you small gifts year af
Bakersfield was not a large town, the store ranked 13th in volume in a chain of more than 600 stores. Why did it do so well? In my opinion, it was because head office left us alone and allowed us to sell to the needs of the local population. For example, we did a huge busi1. Personal Fundraising letters are about as personal as you can get with a donor without meeting face to face or talking on the phone. Unlike special events, fundraising letters let you have a one-on-one “meeting” with each donor.2. Can be passed along Unlike personal visits, phone calls and special events, fundraising letters can reproduce themselves. Your appeal on paper has the opportunity to reach more than one donor, potentially doubling or tripling your efforts. Member-Get-A-Member letters are a perfect example of this dynamic at work.3. Can be tested Because you can measure your direct mail results, you can also test your mailings. Test one package against another, one list against another, one ask against another, and you’ll discover what works and what fails. That way you’ll spend your dollars where they are most effective (without relying on guess work or hunches).4. Measurable ROI Direct mail is one of the best mediums for measuring the return on your investment. Simply code your reply cards, and count how many return to you in the mail with a gift. With fundraising letters, you can know immediately--and exactly--how effective your mailing has been. Direct mail numbers never lie. Some simple calculations will tell you the following: Your response count (number of donors who responded) Your response rate (percentage of donors who responded) Average gift Gross income (before expenses are deducted) Net income (what’s left after expenses are deducted) Cost to raise a dollar 5. Quick Unlike capital campaigns, major gift campaigns and special events, fundraising letter campaigns can be conceived, planned and launched within weeks instead of months. Results (donations) are just as quick, usually arriving within days of your mailing.6. Build your base of support The majority of non-profit organizations receive 80 percent of their income from individuals. Since the average gift sent through the mail by an individual is $35, you need a broad base of individual donor support for your existence. You will want to attract gifts from foundations, businesses and government, certainly, but for long-term survival you need to build a large following of individual supporters who send you small gifts year af
Professional Logo Design: The Foundation To A Powerful Brand
A good logo design is essential for the growth of a brand and its subsequent contribution to the success and prosperity of a business. A business logo forms an indispensable part of the brand building strategy of a corporate entity. The purpose of a logo is not only to create instant brand recognition but also to leave long-term impression among the customers thereby increasing the popularity of the company in the market.A company logo finds place in everything that is associated with the company. The use of a business logo is not only limited to the products and services of a company but also can be found on the business stationary, company documents, business cards, advertising and promotional products. Reputed IT companies such as IBM and Cognizant often distribute T-shirts, Jackets, stationary and other objects bearing their logos on them. The presence of Microsoft Corporation’s logo on the coffee mugs and the cutlery of their canteen have also been done with the primary motive of increasing their brand visibility.The overall purpose of reproducing a logo on various objects is to enhance the brand awareness of a company. A good business logo leaves an everlasting impression on the customers and helps them to remember and identify the brand among its competitors. The increased visibility of a company logo enhances its impact, which over a passage of time facilitates the brand to turn into a household name.Creating a logo is a complex process that needs the expertise of a professional logo design company. A good logo design company combines extensive research and superlative-designing skills to draft a logo design that helps a business to achieve its goals. A company logo should ideally be simple and comprehendible. Logo designs of Nike, Apple, Samsung do not have a complex design that requires time to be understood and apprehended. In fact all of them have a fairly simple design that defines their character and goals.Many companies wish to re-invent themselves with an entirely new logo. A change in the product line, launch of new range of services or a plans for a new brand image often calls for a new logo or modification of the old logo design. Redesigning a logo is a complicated process that needs exhaustive research on the past and future business thoughts of the company, market trends, target market segment, message to be conveyed and several other factors. Seeking assistance from a professional logo design
Let me tell you about my pet subject: When you're selling your product or service, money is way down the list of things that are important to the other side.A good logo design is essential for the growth of a brand and its subsequent contribution to the success and prosperity of a business. A business logo forms an indispensable part of the brand building strategy of a corporate entity. The purpose of a logo is not only to create instant brand recognition but also to leave long-term impression among the customers thereby increasing the popularity of the company in the market.A company logo finds place in everything that is associated with the company. The use of a business logo is not only limited to the products and services of a company but also can be found on the business stationary, company documents, business cards, advertising and promotional products. Reputed IT companies such as IBM and Cognizant often distribute T-shirts, Jackets, stationary and other objects bearing their logos on them. The presence of Microsoft Corporation’s logo on the coffee mugs and the cutlery of their canteen have also been done with the primary motive of increasing their brand visibility.The overall purpose of reproducing a logo on various objects is to enhance the brand awareness of a company. A good business logo leaves an everlasting impression on the customers and helps them to remember and identify the brand among its competitors. The increased visibility of a company logo enhances its impact, which over a passage of time facilitates the brand to turn into a household name.Creating a logo is a complex process that needs the expertise of a professional logo design company. A good logo design company combines extensive research and superlative-designing skills to draft a logo design that helps a business to achieve its goals. A company logo should ideally be simple and comprehendible. Logo designs of Nike, Apple, Samsung do not have a complex design that requires time to be understood and apprehended. In fact all of them have a fairly simple design that defines their character and goals.Many companies wish to re-invent themselves with an entirely new logo. A change in the product line, launch of new range of services or a plans for a new brand image often calls for a new logo or modification of the old logo design. Redesigning a logo is a complicated process that needs exhaustive research on the past and future business thoughts of the company, market trends, target market segment, message to be conveyed and several other factors. Seeking assistance from a professional logo design
First, we'll talk about something that you may find hard to believe but it's something of which I've become convinced-that people want to spend more, not less, and that the price concerns salespeople more than the people to whom they sell.
Then I'll teach you all the things that are more important to people than money.
Finally, I'll teach you some techniques to find out how much they'll pay.
People Want To Pay More, Not Less
After almost two decades of training salespeople, I have become convinced that price concerns salespeople more than it does the people to whom they sell. I'll go even further than that-I think that customers who may be asking you to cut your price are secretly wishing that they could pay more for your product. Hear me out before you dismiss this as being imbecilic. I was the merchandise manager at the Montgomery Ward store in Bakersfield, California back in 1971. Although Bakersfield was not a large town, the store ranked 13th in volume in a chain of more than 600 stores. Why did it do so well? In my opinion, it was because head office left us alone and allowed us to sell to the needs of the local population. For example, we did a huge busin
Why Doesn’t Training Stick?
Have you ever wondered why the training you get on some courses, however interesting and entertaining, doesn't ‘stick'? How many course folders have you got gathering dust on your office shelves? And how much of the content can you recall, or more importantly, actually use, without opening the folder?Of course, after some training, the learning does ‘stick'. What crucial skill or ability do you have now, that you know you learned on a training course? What distinguished the course which caused the learning to ‘stick' for you?What's the Key?There are three critical elements:The information - the contents, facts, knowledge, tips and techniques. The experience or practice you do until the skill is second nature. The mindset shift that takes away the block that stops you using all that information.If all three are in place, a course can cause remarkable and rapid changes in performance. Many courses, though, concentrate on the information and the experience, butmiss the central role of mindset shift in transferring the learning back to the real world and, more importantly, retaining itover time.It's a principle well-known in sports psychology. Part of the training of a top sports player consists of physical drills, knowledge of the rules of the game, development of tactics and so on. The other, equally critical, work is done on the mindset of the player. For example, how does he/she feel about their opponent? There may be self-limiting beliefs such as: ‘I have never won at this venue' ‘You can never come from behind and win' 'I'm not quite as fit as I should be' Without explicitly surfacing, challenging and resolving these beliefs in training, the player, however skilled and fit, will never be truly confident and consistently win matches. It's as if they are trying to play with their foot nailed to the floor!How Does it Work in Management Training?For example, there's no real mystery to time management. Most people know the rules, which are some version of: ‘you list the things you have to do, prioritise the list, do the ‘A' priority things first, and say no to all the rest'. Easy, right? Well no, because the world is full of people who have attended two, three, or even four
onvinced-that people want to spend more, not less, and that the price concerns salespeople more than the people to whom they sell.Have you ever wondered why the training you get on some courses, however interesting and entertaining, doesn't ‘stick'? How many course folders have you got gathering dust on your office shelves? And how much of the content can you recall, or more importantly, actually use, without opening the folder?Of course, after some training, the learning does ‘stick'. What crucial skill or ability do you have now, that you know you learned on a training course? What distinguished the course which caused the learning to ‘stick' for you?What's the Key?There are three critical elements:The information - the contents, facts, knowledge, tips and techniques. The experience or practice you do until the skill is second nature. The mindset shift that takes away the block that stops you using all that information.If all three are in place, a course can cause remarkable and rapid changes in performance. Many courses, though, concentrate on the information and the experience, butmiss the central role of mindset shift in transferring the learning back to the real world and, more importantly, retaining itover time.It's a principle well-known in sports psychology. Part of the training of a top sports player consists of physical drills, knowledge of the rules of the game, development of tactics and so on. The other, equally critical, work is done on the mindset of the player. For example, how does he/she feel about their opponent? There may be self-limiting beliefs such as: ‘I have never won at this venue' ‘You can never come from behind and win' 'I'm not quite as fit as I should be' Without explicitly surfacing, challenging and resolving these beliefs in training, the player, however skilled and fit, will never be truly confident and consistently win matches. It's as if they are trying to play with their foot nailed to the floor!How Does it Work in Management Training?For example, there's no real mystery to time management. Most people know the rules, which are some version of: ‘you list the things you have to do, prioritise the list, do the ‘A' priority things first, and say no to all the rest'. Easy, right? Well no, because the world is full of people who have attended two, three, or even four
Then I'll teach you all the things that are more important to people than money.
Finally, I'll teach you some techniques to find out how much they'll pay.
People Want To Pay More, Not Less
After almost two decades of training salespeople, I have become convinced that price concerns salespeople more than it does the people to whom they sell. I'll go even further than that-I think that customers who may be asking you to cut your price are secretly wishing that they could pay more for your product. Hear me out before you dismiss this as being imbecilic. I was the merchandise manager at the Montgomery Ward store in Bakersfield, California back in 1971. Although Bakersfield was not a large town, the store ranked 13th in volume in a chain of more than 600 stores. Why did it do so well? In my opinion, it was because head office left us alone and allowed us to sell to the needs of the local population. For example, we did a huge busi
Color Documents: Which Color Type Is Best?
When creating a document, whether for screen or professional reproduction, adding a color can make a definite statement, catch your audiences attention and judicious use of color has been proven to increase sales and conversion rates considerably.Adding color to a web page, this poses little problem. Pick your color and there it is. But if you are having your document reproduced on paper, what type of color required by your design should be one of the major considerations.Spot colorWhen thinking of color on a document, this is what most people think of. Spot color is best suited for such things as solid borders, colored text, and colored lines.It is defined by Pantone, an industry standard in color as: “Any color produced without screens or dots”.“Screening” in it's most simple definition, refers to lightening or making a color more transparent by reducing the overall coverage. In the offset process, this is accomplished by “blocking” a percentage of the overall coverage through the use of dots. More dots result in a heavier coverage and less transparency. This should not imply a spot color cannot be screened, merely the color itself is not produced through the use of a screen. RGB RGB stands for “Red, Green, Blue”, the three primary color components utilized in this system. You are probably already familiar with this one. Many graphics software will manipulate color through the use of some variation of RGB, as do many desktop color printers, although these will also include black for obvious reasons.When printing RGB colors we get into what is known as “process color”. The most common is four color, but three color process works along the same principal, which I will cover shortly.RGB is capable of reproducing photographs and color artwork, but it is not a substitute for four-color process if a true color reproduction is required.Very few printing companies will work in RGB, converting such work to the CMYK format instead. This is very important to keep in mind when outputting files for transport to a printing company. If your software allows, you should always convert your work to CMYK and verify your colors.CMYKCMYK denotes “Cyan (blue), Magenta (red), Yellow, and blacK”. CMYK is the basis of four-color process and of nearly every high resolution color photo printed. You could also have six, eight, or more
t how much they'll pay.When creating a document, whether for screen or professional reproduction, adding a color can make a definite statement, catch your audiences attention and judicious use of color has been proven to increase sales and conversion rates considerably.Adding color to a web page, this poses little problem. Pick your color and there it is. But if you are having your document reproduced on paper, what type of color required by your design should be one of the major considerations.Spot colorWhen thinking of color on a document, this is what most people think of. Spot color is best suited for such things as solid borders, colored text, and colored lines.It is defined by Pantone, an industry standard in color as: “Any color produced without screens or dots”.“Screening” in it's most simple definition, refers to lightening or making a color more transparent by reducing the overall coverage. In the offset process, this is accomplished by “blocking” a percentage of the overall coverage through the use of dots. More dots result in a heavier coverage and less transparency. This should not imply a spot color cannot be screened, merely the color itself is not produced through the use of a screen. RGB RGB stands for “Red, Green, Blue”, the three primary color components utilized in this system. You are probably already familiar with this one. Many graphics software will manipulate color through the use of some variation of RGB, as do many desktop color printers, although these will also include black for obvious reasons.When printing RGB colors we get into what is known as “process color”. The most common is four color, but three color process works along the same principal, which I will cover shortly.RGB is capable of reproducing photographs and color artwork, but it is not a substitute for four-color process if a true color reproduction is required.Very few printing companies will work in RGB, converting such work to the CMYK format instead. This is very important to keep in mind when outputting files for transport to a printing company. If your software allows, you should always convert your work to CMYK and verify your colors.CMYKCMYK denotes “Cyan (blue), Magenta (red), Yellow, and blacK”. CMYK is the basis of four-color process and of nearly every high resolution color photo printed. You could also have six, eight, or more
People Want To Pay More, Not Less
After almost two decades of training salespeople, I have become convinced that price concerns salespeople more than it does the people to whom they sell. I'll go even further than that-I think that customers who may be asking you to cut your price are secretly wishing that they could pay more for your product. Hear me out before you dismiss this as being imbecilic. I was the merchandise manager at the Montgomery Ward store in Bakersfield, California back in 1971. Although Bakersfield was not a large town, the store ranked 13th in volume in a chain of more than 600 stores. Why did it do so well? In my opinion, it was because head office left us alone and allowed us to sell to the needs of the local population. For example, we did a huge busi
Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: The Best Incentives are Free
This article relates to the Recognition competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It tells the story of how the performance of one team was affected when the powerful motivator of daily praise and recognition disappeared. This competency also explores what type of behavior is appreciated and rewarded within your organization. Studies show that employees who receive regular recognition and praise are more likely to increase their individual productivity levels, increase engagement with their colleagues, and stay longer at the organization. Evaluating this competency can be especially useful if your organization is experiencing low productivity levels or ineffective teamwork.This short story, The Best Incentives Are Free, is part of AlphaMeasure's compilation, Tales from the Corporate Frontlines. It illustrates the value of praise and recognition as a powerful, cost-effective motivator available to managers on a daily basis.Anonymous SubmissionI work at a company that prides itself on the exceptional quality of its customer service. As employees, we handle a variety of customer issues and concerns by phone, as well as mail and e-mail. In the past, my team has won several awards due to the enormous amount of positive feedback we consistently received from satisfied clients.Recently, the situation changed. Our manager informed us that for some reason, our productivity was down. We would need to direct our focus toward handling a larger number of customers per hour each day. We were told that quantity was of the utmost importance. Since our team already demonstrated that it could excel in terms of quality, the change in focus should present no problem.We operated under this direction for a time, focusing only on the number of customers serviced each hour. After a while, the service awards stopped. We no longer received the daily praise and recognition for a situation expertly handled or a glowing review e-mailed to our manager from a valued customer.When the company examined the results of an employee satisfaction survey, they showed that our team members experienced a substantial decrease in motivation when the daily recognition and praise stopped. Our team, as well as other employees throughout the company, ranked it as one of their most powerful incentives to providing the highest quality service - and for meeting the required quotas of cases handled. The team members expre
ers who may be asking you to cut your price are secretly wishing that they could pay more for your product. Hear me out before you dismiss this as being imbecilic.
I was the merchandise manager at the Montgomery Ward store in Bakersfield, California back in 1971. Although Bakersfield was not a large town, the store ranked 13th in volume in a chain of more than 600 stores. Why did it do so well? In my opinion, it was because head office left us alone and allowed us to sell to the needs of the local population. For example, we did a huge busiThis article relates to the Recognition competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It tells the story of how the performance of one team was affected when the powerful motivator of daily praise and recognition disappeared. This competency also explores what type of behavior is appreciated and rewarded within your organization. Studies show that employees who receive regular recognition and praise are more likely to increase their individual productivity levels, increase engagement with their colleagues, and stay longer at the organization. Evaluating this competency can be especially useful if your organization is experiencing low productivity levels or ineffective teamwork.This short story, The Best Incentives Are Free, is part of AlphaMeasure's compilation, Tales from the Corporate Frontlines. It illustrates the value of praise and recognition as a powerful, cost-effective motivator available to managers on a daily basis.Anonymous SubmissionI work at a company that prides itself on the exceptional quality of its customer service. As employees, we handle a variety of customer issues and concerns by phone, as well as mail and e-mail. In the past, my team has won several awards due to the enormous amount of positive feedback we consistently received from satisfied clients.Recently, the situation changed. Our manager informed us that for some reason, our productivity was down. We would need to direct our focus toward handling a larger number of customers per hour each day. We were told that quantity was of the utmost importance. Since our team already demonstrated that it could excel in terms of quality, the change in focus should present no problem.We operated under this direction for a time, focusing only on the number of customers serviced each hour. After a while, the service awards stopped. We no longer received the daily praise and recognition for a situation expertly handled or a glowing review e-mailed to our manager from a valued customer.When the company examined the results of an employee satisfaction survey, they showed that our team members experienced a substantial decrease in motivation when the daily recognition and praise stopped. Our team, as well as other employees throughout the company, ranked it as one of their most powerful incentives to providing the highest quality service - and for meeting the required quotas of cases handled. The team members expre
Design Elements of Effective Marketing
When you speak of the concept of design as it applies to marketing, there are some general concepts that you need to keep in mind. The first is that the design used in your advertising material is going to have a very large impact on the way that potential customers view your business. It may not seem that a flyer design would have much importance, but when the work is perceived as shoddy that is exactly the impression the reader will have of you. It is important to make design an important part of the advertising effort.The design should reflect the ambiance of your company also. If you are selling medical products, for example, your brochure design should reflect a serious and professional attitude. If, on the other hand, your business is a nightclub designed for swinging singles, the design can afford to be a bit more colorful and humorous. This is the first element of successful design. You need to match the design to the function and purpose of your business.A second element is known as prioritization. This means that the design should consider what is most important to the customer. What information are they going to be looking for first, and is this information being presented clearly? When you are prioritizing your design, you want to place the most important information into the design first, and then work from there outwards.The third element to consider is called intuitiveness. This is the ability to view the design from the point of view of the customer. It causes you to gear the design more toward what they want to see than what you want to show. In the online world this is known as user friendly. This is exactly what it means. The design concept has to appeal to the customer and at his level.The final element of effective design is color. Color in something like catalogue design can be both overdone and underdone. It is certain that color attracts attention, and bland colorless designs do not tend to create much customer enthusiasm, but on the other hand too much color not only distracts from the message, and even from the color inherent in the products being featured in the catalogue, but also tends to overwhelm the customer. There is no doubt that taking a bit of time and care with design when preparing flyers, brochures, catalogues or even web sites will pay off in the important area of capturing and holding the attention of potential customers.
Bakersfield was not a large town, the store ranked 13th in volume in a chain of more than 600 stores. Why did it do so well? In my opinion, it was because head office left us alone and allowed us to sell to the needs of the local population. For example, we did a huge business in home air conditioners because of the outrageously hot summers. In Bakersfield, it's common for it to be 100 degrees at midnight. In those days an average blue-collar home in that city cost around $30,000. The air conditioners that we would install in these homes might cost $10,000 to 12,000. It was very hard for me to get new salespeople started selling in that department because they had a real resistance to selling something that cost more money than they had ever made in a year. They simply didn't believe that anybody would spend $12,000 to put an air conditioner in a $30,000 home. The customers were willing to pay it, as was illustrated by our huge sales volume, but the salespeople weren't willing to support these decisions because they thought it was outrageously expensive.When you speak of the concept of design as it applies to marketing, there are some general concepts that you need to keep in mind. The first is that the design used in your advertising material is going to have a very large impact on the way that potential customers view your business. It may not seem that a flyer design would have much importance, but when the work is perceived as shoddy that is exactly the impression the reader will have of you. It is important to make design an important part of the advertising effort.The design should reflect the ambiance of your company also. If you are selling medical products, for example, your brochure design should reflect a serious and professional attitude. If, on the other hand, your business is a nightclub designed for swinging singles, the design can afford to be a bit more colorful and humorous. This is the first element of successful design. You need to match the design to the function and purpose of your business.A second element is known as prioritization. This means that the design should consider what is most important to the customer. What information are they going to be looking for first, and is this information being presented clearly? When you are prioritizing your design, you want to place the most important information into the design first, and then work from there outwards.The third element to consider is called intuitiveness. This is the ability to view the design from the point of view of the customer. It causes you to gear the design more toward what they want to see than what you want to show. In the online world this is known as user friendly. This is exactly what it means. The design concept has to appeal to the customer and at his level.The final element of effective design is color. Color in something like catalogue design can be both overdone and underdone. It is certain that color attracts attention, and bland colorless designs do not tend to create much customer enthusiasm, but on the other hand too much color not only distracts from the message, and even from the color inherent in the products being featured in the catalogue, but also tends to overwhelm the customer. There is no doubt that taking a bit of time and care with design when preparing flyers, brochures, catalogues or even web sites will pay off in the important area of capturing and holding the attention of potential customers.
However, if I could get salespeople started to where they began to make big money and they installed air conditioner son their own homes, suddenly they didn't think it was so outrageous any more, and they would dismiss the price objection as if it didn't exist.
Beginning stockbrokers h
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.casualarticles.com/article/31321/casualarticles-When-Youre-Negotiating-Money-isnt-as-Important-as-You-Think.html">When You're Negotiating, Money isn't as Important as You Think</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.casualarticles.com/article/31321/casualarticles-When-Youre-Negotiating-Money-isnt-as-Important-as-You-Think.html]When You're Negotiating, Money isn't as Important as You Think[/url]
Related Articles:
Beware: Marketing Sinkholes Ahead!
Bookmark it:
|