Casual Articles - Internet and Businesses Online

Handling the Nightmare Customer
I received this inquiry asking how I would assess this Customer-Gone-Wild episode. After I share it with you, I'll affix my answer, which I hope everyone will find useful.Two women came into the store and I greeted them with a smile and a pleasant hello and one "lady" proceeded to tell me what a rotten company (ours) was and how disgusting that the figurines were now being made in Thailand, not England. Said she had over 100 figurines and started saving them over 40 years ago. She never would have started if she had known. It went on for several minutes, no matter how I explained what we have been advised to, she just kept on and on. Telling me I will never convince her that it was wise or a smart move and she raised her voice.At first I tried to tell her what companies like ours do when they open new factories {as we have been trained}, then I tried to show her the figurines that are still manufactured in England --they start at $550.00 and upward for these prestige pieces. Most pieces run into several thousand dollars. The average person cannot afford that. So by having them made offshore they have become affordable again.This all took place over approximately 12 - 15 minutes. When I started to leave her to attend to other priorities she followed me and kept it up..... I finally made a comment about our clothing and said just about everything we are all wear is not made in North America. There aren't many items now.I know not to take this personally but when it keeps up for as long as it did, how do you handle it?Hi B,Thank you for your "war story."In no special order of significance, here are my reactions:The real key is this que

ut the dough for these premium newsletters? Reading online is harder on the eyes because of the light emitted from the monitor. People overcome this by printing out the newsletter.

I can't hazard a guess

Ten Ways Your Small Business Can Benefit From a Virtual Assistant
Hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA) can be one of the smartest business moves you will ever make. A good VA will be able to assist you in handling your administrative workload, allowing you more time to focus on growing your business and generating revenue. Here are just ten of many ways that a Virtual Assistant can provide much-needed support to your small business:1. General Administrative Support If you ever wished you had an administrative assistant on call, a Virtual Assistant may be the perfect solution for you! VAs can provide general administrative services such as word processing, data entry, spreadsheet and database maintenance, desktop publishing- the list goes on and on. In fact, if you could give it to an administrative assistant, you can give it to a Virtual Assistant!2. Invoicing A Virtual Assistant can facilitate your invoicing, ensuring that your clients receive timely, accurate invoices. By partnering with a VA to prepare your invoices, you can gain a tremendous amount of time each month to focus on other aspects of your business that require your specialized attention.3. Email and Voicemail Management If you get large numbers of emails or voicemails, a Virtual Assistant can manage your inboxes. They can sort through the spam and reply to messages that don’t require your attention, leaving you with fewer messages to wade through everyday. A VA can also provide you with a consolidated report of voicemail messages, allowing you to return a number of important phone calls from a single report.4. Online Marketing Management A Virtual Assistant can assist you with your online marketing plan. They can manage your pay-pe

In pursuit of a paid model for content, many businesses offer newsletters for a fee or ebooks. These models offer pros and cons. Some organizations send out two newsletters: fee and free. The free version has the basic, watered-down contents found in the fee version to entice readers into wanting more and paying for it. But is it worth the time and energy to do this?

Ebooks are also a way for businesses to make money. But do they sell when it’s been proven that people prefer reading printed copy to electronic text? Read on to hear from several experts in the field about what people are willing to pay for and whether or not offering fee-based content is right for your organization.

Too much information!

Considering there are so many free newsletters and information out there, why should readers shell out the dough for these premium newsletters? Reading online is harder on the eyes because of the light emitted from the monitor. People overcome this by printing out the newsletter.

I can't hazard a guess

Passion - Not Product Knowledge
In our work with growing businesses we see a recurring theme when it is time for one of the founding members to hand over the reigns of sales and/or marketing to an employee. They say to us, “This new person just isn’t getting the job done like I did. Well, I guess it’s because they don’t know the product like I do.” While it is true that the new person probably doesn’t know the product as well as one of the founders, that’s not the problem. The problem is passion!When you talk to a small business owner you can see, hear, feel, smell and taste their passion for their product. In many cases we could almost say they are inseparable from each other. When the new person arrives we make the transition from a person for whom this product or service is a life’s passion, to someone who is doing something because it is their job. Knowledge of a product’s features and benefits can be taught, but passion needs to be imbued into the fabric of the organization as it grows.To do this, two things need to occur. First, the sales and marketing employees need to have a stake in what’s going on, and have an inbred tendency toward passion. All good salespeople have this passion. Typically, the passion is viewed, by the customer, to be a passion for the product or service that the seller is peddling. In reality, the passion stems from the monetary and intrinsic compensation that the salesperson receives for doing his or her job well. Second, the owners of a company need to take special care, and use intense creativity to ensure that their passion is communicated internally and externally, and that this zeal permeates the entire organization. It is in this area where it often useful to find an outside crea

the basic, watered-down contents found in the fee version to entice readers into wanting more and paying for it. But is it worth the time and energy to do this?

Too much information!

I can't hazard a guess

Effective Phone Sales
Hate cold calling prospects? Yeah, me to. But in todays fast moving business environment prospecting either directly or by phone is a must. Gone are the days when you sit back and just wait for your products or service to be sold. Theses days you have prospect daily in order to get your products,service, and Company, out there on customers mind.In my daily work, I call about 100 prospects daily. I wish it could be more but being a small business owner of safety supply company and "wearing a lot of hats" time just does'nt allow me.So what do I do to get into the flow of making "cold calls" and baing effective at it? Well, it pretty simple.First, you must have some sort of contact manager. I work with a very inexpensive one that already comes with my computer bundle of software (Microsoft Outlook). I set up my prospects information and set up times.Second, I use a cordless phone with a headtset. Headsets are great becasue it frees up your hand to write down important information you can use to profile your prospect. Third, I make the call. I ask for the person who makes the buying decision. Also, try to keep it short. "Gatekeepers" usually dont like to hear long, scripted speeches. Besides they are not the ones you want to sell to.When you get the person you want to speak with, be pleasant, direct, and dont SELL them anything. Rather offer them a solution. You do this asking question on what issues they have and you present them how you can help them solve the issue/problem.For example, when I call a prospect and ask them about there operations and the hazards they may have, I pick up (LISTEN) on what they tel!l me an OFFER them a solution. (Dear Mr. Doe, it seems to me your meat cutting line

ke money. But do they sell when it’s been proven that people prefer reading printed copy to electronic text? Read on to hear from several experts in the field about what people are willing to pay for and whether or not offering fee-based content is right for your organization.

Too much information!

I can't hazard a guess

The Practical Guide to Oil Analysis
As a predictive maintenance tool, oil analysis is used to uncover, isolate and offer solutions for abnormal lubricant and machine conditions. These abnormalities, if left unchecked, usually result in extensive, sometimes catastrophic damage causing lost production, extensive repair costs, and even operator accidents.The goal of a world-class oil analysis program is to increase the reliability and availability of your machinery, while minimizing maintenance costs associated with oil changeouts, labor, repairs and downtime. Accomplishing your goal takes time, training and patience. However, the results are dramatic and the documented savings in cost avoidance are significant.What are Lubricants Industrial oils are specifically designed fluids composed of a base oil and a compliment of additives. The base oil performs these functions, including forms a fluid film between moving parts in order to reduce friction and wear; carries away contaminants to the filter; and removes heat generated within the machine. Additives are chemical components added to the base oil to significantly enhance the performance characteristics of the lubricating oil. Typical enhanced properties include oxidation stability, wear protection, and corrosion inhibition.Why Analyze Used Lubricants There are three aspects of oil analysis, contaminants, lubricant conditions and machine wear. Ingressed contaminants from the surrounding environment in the form of air, dirt, water and process contamination are the leading cause of machine degradation and failure. Increased contamination alerts you to take action in order to save the oil and avoid unnecessary machine wear.The assessment of the lubric

r or not offering fee-based content is right for your organization.

Too much information!

I can't hazard a guess

Sneaky Sales Tactics
The reason why you have a job in sales is because our markets are constantly getting more competitive. Every year, every month, and every day products are coming out better, faster, and closer together. Almost as soon as your company dreams up a great new idea for product or feature, your competition seems to think of it too and get it to market. If this weren't the case, it would be much cheaper for our corporations to just hire order takers or setup e-commerce websites to let people buy everything unassisted. We often find ourselves in sales situations involving serious competition. To win the most business you are capable of in a competitive marketplace, you must know the right sales tactics to use at the right time. So what do you do? Engage when you have clear superiority. Sounds simple, but a lot of people ignore this one. When pursuing customers, you want to engage your competition only when you have the superior solution to win the battle with. Do this right, and you'll win most of your sales. And if everyone did this, there would be few or no fights. However, not everyone does this. And when they do, many do it poorly. Sales Tactic #1Know Your Enemy Better Than He Knows Himself Most salespeople know something about their competition. The top few know their competitors as well or better than they know themselves. These top salespeople know the following important things about their competitors: Their product & company strengths. Their product & company weaknesses. Which buyers they are likely to win with. Which buyers they are vulnerable to lose with. Who their flagship customers are. Who t

ut the dough for these premium newsletters? Reading online is harder on the eyes because of the light emitted from the monitor. People overcome this by printing out the newsletter.

I can't hazard a guess on how many free newsletters are out there. So why would a person pay for a fee-based newsletter? Jenna Glatzer, editor-in-chief of AbsoluteWrite.com, says, "You have to offer something different and better than what the free newsletters are doing. Personally, I wouldn't pay for newsletters that are just for entertainment, but I do have paid subscriptions to a handful of newsletters that are specific to my line of work and appropriate for my level (not beginner). A paid newsletter that has all the same sorts of free-reprint articles that all the other sites have won't work. You must find a corner of the market that no one has claimed yet and be the most reliable source of information on it."

Joan Stewart, publisher of The Publicity Hound, started her subscription newsletter seven years ago, long before there was as much

HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.casualarticles.com/article/60418/casualarticles-Information-at-What-Price-Exploring-Feebased-eContent.html">Information at What Price? Exploring Fee-based e-Content</a>

BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.casualarticles.com/article/60418/casualarticles-Information-at-What-Price-Exploring-Feebased-eContent.html]Information at What Price? Exploring Fee-based e-Content[/url]

Networking is communicating, and communicating (face-to-face, written or via telephone) is vital to spread the word about your business. Yet, if you're a shy person, how do you go about surmounting this obstacle? How can you talk about yourself and your business, if your mind goes blank and you get the shakes just from thinking about meeting new people? It's not easy, but it can be done, and all it takes is a bit of imagination and a whole lot of bravery.

And the best way to mind your own business is to insure that those audiences whose behaviors have the greatest effect on your enterprise keep thinking about you in the most positive way. Reason is, bad behaviors often follow bad perceptions, so what your external audiences think about you can mean success or failure.

Is your corporation a little unorganized? Ever been penalized for not submitting your documents on time? The following article will help you get your corporation healthy and thriving again.

Tags

Links

Casual Articles - Information at What Price? Exploring Fee-based e-Content

Related Articles: