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How to Select the Right Marketing Strategy for Your Business

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I’ve probably had more conversations about this topic with clients than any other: What marketing strategies should I use to market my professional services?

These days, there are more options to market yourself than ever before. And you may have a tendency to look for something quick and easy that will generate a never-ending stream of new prospective clients.

I wish that solution existed. Some of the newer methods of marketing, such as YouTube videos, are very powerful, but extremely difficult for the average person to pull off successfully.

Over the years, I’ve had tremendous success with three primary marketing activities. And I’ve also helped a whole lot of clients implement these strategies successfully as well. Nevertheless, for all of them it can take a tremendous amount of time and energy to get consistent results.

Here are the pros and cons of each strategy and my overall recommendations about how to integrate each one into your overall marketing plan.

Networking and Direct Outreach

This strategy about building relationships with others in your field who can connect you to prospective clients. This means having conversations, attending meetings (individually or in groups), and doing follow-up. Sometimes it means reaching out directly to those in your network (including LinkedIn), being proactive, and exploring possibilities for projects.

Pros: Networking is the most concentrated, focused, personal kind of marketing. And if you do it well and consistently it can be extremely effective in building strong relationships and trust with your business associates and prospects.

Cons: The downside of networking is that it can drain your energy. This is a particular issue for introverts like me. And networking only enables you to reach a limited number of people.

Recommendation: Start marketing your professional services by meeting as many people as you possibly can – face to face. Join organizations and associations and then learn how to use LinkedIn to connect with new prospects.

Speaking (Live and Webinars)

If you want to gain a reputation as an expert, nothing is better than speaking. And it combines the best of networking and writing, in that you are connecting with people directly and also sharing your valuable expertise.

Pros: Speaking can quickly establish you as an expert. And you can immediately follow up with those in your audience.

Cons: The downside of speaking is that, for many people, it comes with a high fear factor, therefore a lot of people avoid it.

Recommendation: As your network expands, start to find audiences to present your ideas through professional associations, chambers of commerce, and other groups both offline and online. Learn the skills of giving a great presentation and of following up with your audience members.

Writing

Publishing articles and books have always been a good way to market professional services. It establishes your credibility. And with the expansion of various platforms on the Internet, such as Medium, and tools such as WordPress, it’s easier than ever to put your ideas out there.

Pros: There is no better way to get your ideas out into the world and in front of a large number of people quickly and at virtually no cost.

Cons: The downside of writing is the sheer volume of online material. There are so many articles published online these days and sent out by email that it can be hard to break through. And yes, writing is a lot of work and takes lots of time.

Recommendations: You should publish an online newsletter and blog as soon as possible. Work at growing your list and you’ll expand both your reach and credibility. Note that this can take years, so you need to be patient.

This is the fifth of five articles about the 5 Pillars of Marketing, my marketing model that helps get your marketing on track. 5 Pillars article here.

Social Media (supplemental strategy)

For independent professionals, social media is a fast and easy way to communicate about what you’re up to in your business. It’s worth the time to set up LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Pros: It’s easy to set up social media accounts and start posting and linking almost immediately.

Cons: It can take a long time to gain traction that results in any new business. And it can also eat up a huge amount of time.

Recommendation: Think of social media as a supplement to networking, speaking, and writing. It can increase your visibility and credibility among those you already know.

All of these marketing strategies take time to master and don’t yield immediate results, but in my experience, the time and effort you put into them will reward your investment many times over.

Perhaps the biggest mistake you can make in marketing your professional services is implementing these activities randomly and superficially. For success, you need to do all of them regularly and frequently. And for that you need a solid, step-by-step plan.

Cheers, Robert

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Source by Robert Middleton

Views: 1

November 12, 2022
What is the Ultimate Lifestyle?

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Since the mission of this newsletter is to help you define,

carve out, and live your own Ultimate Lifestyle, I figured I

should devote some space to laying a proper foundation for

doing that.

Before you can hit a target, you need to know where it is!

So, to begin, let’s answer the question:

What is The Ultimate Lifestyle?

First of all, it’s different for different people. There are

no rules or formulas. For some people, it means a lot of

money, lots of “stuff,” a fast-paced and “jet-set” sort of

lifestyle. For others, it means a very simple, slow-paced

life that focuses on service to others. And for others, it’s

every possible scenario in between these two “extremes.”

There’s no right or wrong lifestyle, or good or bad

lifestyle.

There’s just what works for you — and it will likely change

over time. I know it has for me.

No matter how you end up defining Ultimate Lifestyle for

yourself, now and in the future, there are 8 components that

must be considered:

1) Income Streams

To live your Ultimate Lifestyle, you must have income

streams flowing that allow you to pay your bills and finance

all the “extras” you prefer. To me, the ultimate target to

shoot for in this arena is to have income streams flowing

whether you “show up” for “work” or not, so you can choose

what you want to show up for (even if it continues to be

what you call “work” or a “job.”).

That’s what I’ve been able to achieve by applying my

Invisible Path/11th Element strategies combined with direct

marketing on and off the Internet.

Having income streams flowing whether you show up or now

seems like “pie in the sky” to many people, but it’s

actually very attainable in today’s world. You’ll learn more

about how to do it in future issues.

2) Emotions and Beliefs

Many people fail to create their Ultimate Lifestyle because

they have emotional blocks, issues, or beliefs (what I call

“p.s’s.” or “master biography files”) that hold them back.

Other people have produced extraordinary results and could

live their Ultimate Lifestyle, but their blocks, issues or

beliefs prevent them from doing it — or fully enjoying it.

Therefore, living The Ultimate Lifestyle must include having

access to resources and inner skills that allow you to

uncover and remove, heal, or release any blocks, issues or

beliefs that hold you back. You’ll learn more about how to

do that in future issues.

3) Fulfillment and Satisfaction

Whether you have a 9-5 job and career, you’re a full-time

mom, or whatever you do with your time, a big part of living

The Ultimate Lifestyle means getting as much fulfillment and

satisfaction from what you spend your time on as possible.

Many people don’t ask for this, don’t focus on this, and

therefore don’t get it. You must make it part of your

intention and focus!

4) Living Environment

How and where do you want to live? In the mountains? In the

big city? On the water? Multiple homes? Do you want to live

in a big home or a small home? Is privacy or seeing

beautiful scenery out your windows important to you? Do you

like modern furnishings, antiques, or an eclectic mix?

Living the Ultimate Lifestyle means asking these questions

and having a home base that nourishes you at a very deep

level. My family recently moved to Charlottesville, Virginia

in pursuit of the nourishing living environment we craved —

and we got it, even better than we expected!

5) Relationships

What good is having income streams, a healthy emotional

life, empowering belief systems, a great living environment,

and a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction from how you

spend you time if you’re alone (and don’t want to be) or

your relationships with significant others (parents,

siblings, kids, associates, etc.) are a mess? Believe me, I

know about this one from long personal experience (before

meeting my wife, Cecily).

Therefore, living The Ultimate Lifestyle must include having

access to resources and inner skills that allow you to

attract, build, and maintain healthy relationships.

6) Health

Again, what good is having income streams, a healthy

emotional life, empowering belief systems, a great living

environment, fulfillment and satisfaction, and great

relationships if you have health problems that drag your

quality of life into the gutter?

Dr. Robert Lindberg says, “We spend most of our life gaining

wealth and we then spend most of our wealth on gaining back

our health.”

Living The Ultimate Lifestyle means having access to

knowledge, resources, and skills that allow you to get

healthy, stay healthy, and quickly resolve difficulties if

and when they arise. I discussed some of the resources I use

for this in previous issues, and will continue to share them

in future issues,

7) Time

You can have income streams, a healthy emotional life,

empowering belief systems, a great living environment,

fulfillment and satisfaction, great relationships and health

and if you don’t have any time to do what you love, to

follow your non-work passions, or to truly enjoy anything,

what’s the point? I know many people who could absolutely be

living their Ultimate Lifestyle, but they choose to work too

much, to the detriment of their quality of life. That’s too

bad — to have the choice and ability and not do it.

8) Wealth Building, Management, and Responsibility

The final component to living The Ultimate Lifestyle is

having systems in place that allow you to use your income

streams to create wealth (as you define it), manage it, grow

it, protect it, structure your financial and business

affairs for maximum efficiency and personal benefit, and

find ways of contributing and giving back (if that’s

important to you, which it is to me and my wife).

I’ll be writing a follow up article, called “The fuel that drives the Ultimate Lifestyle” shortly.

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Source by Bob Scheinfeld

Views: 0

November 11, 2022
Successfully Resolve Customer Service Problems to Retain Customer Loyalty

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It seems that as our technology improves, the business/customer relationship is declining. With online technical and sales support, the personal side of customer relations is not as prevalent. There is no longer any loyalty to a business and its products and services. This trend can cause a significant decrease in sales. One way to counteract this trend is to resolve customer service problems successfully and efficiently in order to retain customer loyalty.

The following list outlines simple but effective methods of successfully resolving customer service problems:

Create a Customer Complaint Department: The best way to deal with customer complaints effectively and efficiently is to have experts who are able to manage irate customers with their problems

Be Polite and Courteous: If a customer walks into a business or calls, it is important that the customer service representative takes the time to show that they care and are willing to listen and help. Empathize with the customer’s problem. An angry customer will calm down if they feel they are valued and respected. Be positive.

Record the Problem: Writing the complaint down and the actions that will be taken helps avoid any misunderstandings. It also shows the customer that the matter is important to the business.

Provide Solutions or Methods of Resolving the Problem: Don’t list business policies and practices. This will only infuriate the customer. Work with the customer to come up with a solution that will satisfy the customer. If possible, don’t pass the problem off to another representative or transfer the call to someone else. If you do, make sure the new representative has all of the pertinent information so the customer does not have to repeat himself.

Empathize, Don’t Apologize: A direct apology will assign blame to the company. It is better to empathize using such phrases as: ‘I am sorry you have had such a difficult time with our product.’ It will show that you care about the customer’s situation. Try to understand the customer’s feelings and point of view. Understanding will go a long way in satisfying the customer.

Keep Your Promises: Make sure that you don’t make promises that you can’t keep. It will reflect badly on the company and make you look incompetent. The customer will also appreciate reliable service.

Produce Positive Results: Always follow through with your plan to resolve the problem. Bad or poor quality service will cause you to lose customers. The key to maintaining customers is to always follow through with your promise.

Offer loyalty Incentives: If the problem cannot be adequately resolved, offer a customer an incentive so they will continue being a loyal customer. This can include giving them a replacement product or service along with a gift or discount on their next purchase. Everyone loves free things. It will make the customer feel appreciated.

Think of customer complaints as lessons for improving customer care. The solution to great customer service is being able to identify the type of customer you are dealing with. To reap the rewards of customer loyalty, the customer needs to be put first when there is a problem. Showing the customer you care and are willing to resolve the problem efficiently and effectively will go a long way in retaining customer loyalty. Customer loyalty cannot be established immediately, but the investment is well worth it. A happy and satisfied customer is essential to achieving a successful and long term business.

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Source by Amy Nutt

Views: 1

November 11, 2022
What is the Difference Between Direct Sales & Multi-Level Marketing

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Multi-level marketing is one of the most popular ways in which anyone can start their own home based global business. It is a dynamic business model that has created many millionaires in the past, present and will no doubt continue to do so in the future. Just a small percentage of the world wide market spend every day would give anybody the opportunity to transform their lives.

The business model usually has unique products or services, complete with a ready made website on offer, allowing each distributor an independent opportunity to build their own six figure income business at an incredibly low start up cost. Naturally that is an attractive business model to most people new to the world of business ownership and is a fast, usually low cost way in which to start working part-time on a business that can replace your working income in a short to medium term timescale.

As the saying goes, it if was easy, everyone would be successful and a common misconception seems to be if one person thinks it is a great idea surely thousands of others will too. Whether or not you believe the internet has changed the way in which business will be carried out in the future or not, when broadband started to deliver information in seconds all over the world the way in which people can become well informed about the unknown changed everything.

The multi-level marketing business model changed when the unique products and services became available from almost everywhere online. This creates several problems that can be difficult to overcome. Distributors struggle to be able to get customers in sufficient numbers but even more importantly the business model relies on leveraging the efforts of many levels of distributors in order to create the residual income element most people spend years trying to achieve.

Direct sales has been around for a very long time and is the based around selling high ticket products, services and experiences which command higher margins and upfront commissions and are increasingly becoming a viable alternative to multi-level marketing.

In the offline marketplace Direct Sales business models are commonplace, ranging from mortgages and other financial products, through cars and designer clothing all the way down to log cabins and fitted kitchens. The equivalent online usually offers unique information that has to be of extraordinary value for it to survive and compete with the more popular multi-level marketing industry. The most successful are linked to building wealth and being able to create an alternative lifestyle.

For most people looking to create a residual income online or offline in the network marketing world there is now even more choice with a much higher chance of early profitability than ever before.

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Source by Diane Cossie

Views: 0

November 10, 2022
Premium Email Marketing Tools For Business

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Email marketing is one of the ways to boost your business. Social media has become a platform for promoting trade, and email marketing help in that. Email marketing can be used to improve your services and app. "Email marketing is using the specific tools to send your advertising emails to a group of people." Its one of the easiest ways to make money. Marketers can send a targeted message to the intended group. Data regarding customer needs, products are, and then emails are sent to the specific customers. By email, the business can promote their services, offers and what new they have to offer. Transactional email, Direct email, Mobile email are the ways by which email marketing is done.

This is the cost-effective way, and it is cheaper as compared to others. Target customers are easy to reach within no time and as they are aware of the new things what business has to offer for them. Subscribers get the latest news and offer from the advertiser.

INSIGHTS ON THE TOOLS

There are various tools which help in marketing and making business an edge in the market.

Let's take a view at some of them

CAMPAIGN MONITOR is a template builder tool, and it assures that email can be read easily on mobile, so that customer or client miss no email. Like Google, Yahoo or any other email platform its uses the same interface so that the things don't get complex. You can upload HTML template and can format and edit when in need. Autoresponder can set only, and data segmentation ensures, that the email gets deliver only to the intended clients. Basic and Unlimited are the two packages which this tool offer.

VERTICAL RESPONSE helps to connect email campaigns to social sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook. It helps to communicate with a large number of audience. With the help of email building wizard, you can build your advertising drive and by freeform HTML customize it to make your list for company. You can use only text no images, and other statistics are required. Up to 4,000 emails can be sent per month.

BENCHMARK key feature is that it offers multiple templates for greetings, promotions and many other events. You can use HTML AND CSS to give it a personalized look. With the built-in spam filter, you can check for objectionable material in your templates. They even have a community where you can provide your views and design. Packages are there and start with 600 emails and increases further.

CAMPAIGNER tool has a lot to offer. It has more than 500 templates which are categorized as industry types and need. Contact management tool is one of the efficient features which it provides, where you can import your contact from the list. Un-subscribed email is automatically removed. In a way, this tool simplifies everything and give more than marketing. You can give a try with the free 30-day trial offer.

MIL CHIMP allows you to take surveys and send it to people to know the opinion of them. Use of survey techniques in social media makes the most out of your advertising techniques. You have the option to customize your list and know who has received the mail or not and will also come to understand that which campaign has received the maximum clicks. It offers the free subscription for 2000 subscribers.

GET RESPONSE This tool lets you efficiently maintain your contact list. You can edit your contact list. This tool track and lets you know who have subscribed, unsubscribed and clicked on links. It also gives you a report in pie and chart form and informs you about the mail it got delivered or not. Different packages are offered depending on the need.

LEAD PAGES helps you to create interactive landing pages for your sites where you have a choice to choose from 50 templates. They are in sync with best email providers. Business can make a mark within no time. Various packages are there for customers. Lead pages can efficiently transform your business quickly.

MAD MIMI Saves your time; you can clone your previous ad campaigns and make the changes according to your need. Old drives can be used in a way and if delete you can undo it also. The detailing features provide you with the information about the number of emails opened, shared, and how many people clicked on the link. By integrating with Google Analytics, it provides the statistics and clicks targeting.

CONSTANT CONTACT Offers you several templates and lets you customize your own. It gives you the detailed report regarding the links and emails. Share on social media like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn can boost your business and gives your site the heavy traffic.

TOUT APP is the best regarding functionality and features. It has a large variety of templates to choose from. Integration with CRM gives you the details of every email, how they are proceeding. It provides the transparency, and produce reports on which emails have been clicked, deleted, attachment seen or not. In short, it gives the detailing of each activity going on. This helps you to track your business and changes can be made accordingly as it keeps you aware of every situation.

Email marketing is one of the efficient marketing techniques to promote your services. Effective marketing can give you the higher sales for the business. In this competitive era, the company should be at the prominent methods to attract the audience and make a profit. Sending manual emails to a group of people is a complex task, and it is time-consuming. To save your time and get the desired result email marketing can help you to reach the heights. For any business to succeed the market should be analyzed considering the loss also. It's not necessary that by adopting email marketing, you will always get the positive result.

By proper study and the knowledge of audience can make your business flourish in the market. So opt for this services and let your business boom in the market.

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Source by Anjali Shukla

Views: 0

July 30, 2022
5 Top Video Marketing Tips You Cannot Afford To Ignore

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Are you deploying online video for marketing purposes? If not, then you should know that visual clips trump all other forms of online communication. Let us explore 5 top tips that you need to follow in order to succeed in this ever-growing online marketing segment.

1 – Visuals and Animated Clips Are Simply More Effective

If you have heard that the use of video clips for SEO and promotional purposes is the latest trend, than you have heard correctly! Streaming and general animated content is the most effective marketing strategy when it comes to reaching your potential customers and creating an unforgettable impression.

A question might arise as to how a video marketing strategy can really increase organisational visibility and draw in more customers. If you are already in business, you most likely have the initial tools right at your fingertips.

2 – Video Is Far More Effective Than Pictures

We have all heard the expression, “a picture speaks a thousand words”. So why use a photograph when we can now use video? Creating an online video clip for advertising purposes will always be a more dramatic marketing strategy when compared to articles and pictures.

The likelihood is that your video will leave a memorable image in your potential customer’s mind. At the same time it also sets yourself apart from your competition. Research has shown that short clips that are created for marketing purposes are more likely to be retained in one’s memory. In addition, they are remembered far longer than descriptive writing or audio segments.

3 – They Convey More Information Than Articles

As opposed to merely reading about the benefits of your products or services, your visuals will be able to dramatically communicate this information. Customers will also be able to hear the enthusiasm in your commentary. To make this point, you probably have heard the following expression associated with this particular advertisement even though it was ten years ago.

This refers to the phrase “set it and forget it”. It was used in a marketing clip created a good few years ago, but still relevant in modern-day marketing. The commentator continuously repeated the expression at various points during the presentation. This is an excellent example of how effective video marketing can be.

4 – Video Engages Your Site Visitors

As indicated, if you are already in business, no doubt you have an email contact list. Therefore, one of your daily functions revolves around emailing various individuals. With regards to your customers, you are most likely providing them with information pertaining to special deals, new products or services. What this means is that you now have the ability to send video emails as opposed to written ones.

Traditional platforms such as Outlook Express do not have the ability to fully accommodate online video. However, there are other relatively new business and advertising platforms that can and offers a phenomenal capability to interact with your customers and prospects.

5 – It Can Directly Increase Your Sales

Using active online imagery as part of your overall marketing strategy dramatically enhances the possibility of increased sales and your general success. Your product brand and promotional communication is far more likely to remain in your potential customer’s mind’s eye through clips or video streaming.

In addition, using visual imagery on your website and sending out video emails will prove to be the most direct and cost efficient method to reach your market when compared to other marketing strategies.

Video marketing as a promotional platform is rapidly gaining momentum in the business arena and you now have the opportunity to implement your very own effective online campaign.

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Source by Gerard Mohamed

Views: 0

July 29, 2022
How To Find A Good MLM Opportunity!
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How to find a good honest MLM Company after investing precious time and money with maxed out credit card debt, multiple failures, and not knowing what to do next is the reality many people experience.

After working on-line for years, with more failures than successes; I learned how to create a financial freedom lifestyle by research, careful thought, planning and being comfortable with a business

Jane wanted something to help supplement her retirement income. A friend introduced her to an online marketing opportunity that could accumulate wealth and Jane didn’t need to do anything but set it and forget it. The company did the work and she just received a weekly check.

She signed up with no money for this business convinced that the first year she could earn ten thousand dollars a month passive income. But then her free sign-up came with an up sell including admin fee, a twenty-nine dollar monthly website fee to use the back office, and the company offered a marketing system for twenty-nine dollars a month.

Two months later Jane quit, but immediately signed up with another company and continued joining business after business. Nothing worked. Jane learned the hard way after losing thousands of dollars that getting involved an MLM Company needed serious consideration.

If you’re like Jane and are spending more money than you’re earning; chances are you’ve made a mistake. Are you working in a field that you’re interested in, enjoy and won’t stress you to the breaking point? Are you comfortable using the product and selling it? Are you willing to recruit other people and help train them? If you answered no to any of these questions; it’s time for a new start.

A few tips to help you get starting in the right direction.
1. Decide how much time you want or need to work a business.
2. Look for a company that sells products that you would use.
3. Read the product labels. If you’re comfortable then buy the product.
4. Research the company, look at the Better Business Bureau Rating.
5. Check to see if this company is in good standing with the Direct Selling Association.
6. Learn about the Founders/Management of the company (and research those people.) Are they trustworthy?
When you finally chose a company, read carefully the policies/rules/disclaimers and privacy statement.

MLM marketing is a business that requires planning, setting goals, action, and time. Marketing strategies are critical and can become marketing tragedies; market with caution.

Remember this; Everyone is not your customer. And everyone is not interested in joining an MLM Opportunity.

I’ve only touched the surface about how to find business that you could be successful at working and also have fun doing it.

People buy from people; not companies. Brand yourself not the company. That company may not always work out or stay in business. By branding yourself you can move on and keep your followers.

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Source by Patricia A Gaines

Views: 0
July 29, 2022
6 New Best Practices For Exceptional Customer Service

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Providing excellent customer service may be one of the most important things you will do in your business. After all, if you do this part poorly, you’ll lose current customers and perhaps future customers too when they find out.

1. Create Standard Policies and Procedures

Setting up standards of service that your customers will read before and after buying and that you can use as your basis for how you provide a solution to their problem will help tremendously. Ensure your return policy, terms of service, and expectations are very clear to your customers.

2. Let The Customer Speak First

When a customer contacts you due to a problem, let them talk first. You want to listen to what they have to say and let them know you’re listening by making the right sounds, giving the right looks (if in person) and parroting back to them what you think they meant by what they said in your own words. Most customers tell you what they want in the first minute.

3. Don’t Take It Personally

If you are the product creator or direct service provider, it can be hard to provide customer service for yourself because it’s so personal. If you can’t separate things and see them as not personal and only business, you may want to outsource to someone who can do a better job at providing customer service to your customers.

4. Don’t Be Negative

Even if you have to say no to someone, it’s imperative that you maintain your composure and don’t be negative. Don’t attack. Don’t defend. State policies that you plan to stick to in a matter-of-fact way. Repeat if necessary, always using a calm voice.

5. Be Easy to Find

Don’t make it hard for your customers to contact you. The emails you send to your audience should allow for replying and not be a no-reply email address. Big corporations do use these but as a smaller business, you’ll turn away too many people if you do it too.

6. Get a Mirror

If you’re talking to people on the phone, get a mirror that you can look at while talking. If you smile and talk to the mirror, you’ll come off as friendlier and more approachable, and this will help keep the person calmer.

The thing is, while you want to say that the customer is always right, sometimes they’re not. Sometimes customer service feels like harassment. Even so, you need to put it in perspective and try to listen to what they have to say and what their complaint is first. Try to listen through the anger and find the solution. Create policies that make sense but be willing to bend them. If someone is extra angry, you may be better off giving them a refund.

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Source by Jon Allo

Views: 0

July 28, 2022
Direct Sales Team Vs Distributor – Which is Better For an International Market?
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If you’re looking to expand your sales to new markets, then there’s one big question you must ask: do I build a direct sales presence or use a distributor? Each method has its benefits and drawbacks, but we’re going to make a strong case to use one method over the other in almost every instance.

What’s the difference between direct sales and distributors?

A direct sales presence means that your company establishes, manages, and pays a sales team of one or more people in the target market.

An outside agent is any entity that will sell your product in exchange for a service fee. One example is a sales rep, who sells your product in exchange for a percent of the sale. A distributor is similar to a rep, except they would buy product from your company and sell it directly to the end customer.

Is Direct Sales Better?

For most businesses expanding into new markets, especially international markets, hiring a distributor is a better decision-at least until there is enough return from the market to justify building a direct sales presence.

Sure, there is one major advantage to having a direct sales presence-control. Control over the day to day activities of your sales personnel is appealing to most business owners. But this control comes at a heavy price. To start, you’ll need to spend the time to hire someone in that market, then train them, then equip them with sales material and management, if not office space and equipment. These costs are prohibitive for most small businesses looking to expand internationally.

And there are even more costs that we haven’t mentioned yet. Each market has it’s own unique laws, cultures and customs that are essential to master if your company wants to establish a successful sales presence. Japan is a classic example of a marketplace with unique legal structures and business customs that, if not followed, guarantee the failure of any sales efforts. It’s hard to pin down an exact monetary value to this learning, but ask yourself this: Can you afford to establish, manage, and pay a sales force in a foreign country for at least a year while they learn the ropes and generate no revenue?

What about a Distributor? Is a Distributor better for new markets?

Distributors are a cost effective means to enter a new marketplace successfully. Here are just a few of the reasons:
- No Overhead:
  Unlike running your own sales team, a distributor will take care of the hiring, managing, payment, and optimization of its channel. You’re just borrowing their distribution, while they handle the maintenance.
- Established Channel with Local Knowledge:
  A good distributor will already know all the laws and customs of the market you’re entering. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel-you can use someone who already has valuable local knowledge.
- Understand Pricing and Purchasing Power of Market:
  Along with knowledge of the laws and customs comes knowledge about the most successful ways to price and market your product locally.
- Cost Effective:
  Since you won’t be paying for the above items, distributor relationships are much more within reach of a small business trying to enter a new market.
Using a distributor has some downsides as well, but they can be minimized by building a good relationship with a distributor.
- Not your own people:
  You won’t be able to directly manage every step of the process. While it may make you nervous to lose some control over the sales process, you can manage the risk by building a transparent relationship with your distributor with constant updates and feedback from both ends.
- Distributor has many products to represent:
  You may not be the distributor’s top priority at any given time, and you want to be sure your product is not getting shuffled to the back of the line. Once again, a well-established relationship with constant contact will ensure that your product is getting the attention it deserves.
- Not a “turn key” solution:
  You can’t just give the distributor your products and expect success. You’ll have to manage the relationship. This takes time, but it’s still less costly than trying to install a direct sales team from scratch.
So what do I do next?

If you aren’t convinced that a distributor would be better for your organization than establishing a direct sales team, seek help from a consultant who has experience establishing a presence in new markets. A consultant can use his or her experience to analyze your opportunity and recommend the best course of action.

Before you choose a distributor, you need to know….

Choosing the wrong distributor will set you up for failure. The wrong distributor simply won’t generate sales, and you’ll have wasted at least a year finding and setting up an unprofitable relationship.

There are certain things to look for in a distributor, and they are different for every market. The best thing to do is to find a professional, one with experience in distributor relationships, and hire that professional to help you search for and identify the right distributor.

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Source by J. P. Williams

Views: 0
July 28, 2022
The Importance of Business Systems

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“If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing” – W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993)

What are business systems?

Business systems are documented procedures setting out how your organisation operates. They are processes, usually combining actions taken by people and some form of automated application, organised in such a way so as to meet a given set of business objectives. Such systems can generally take place without the business founder / owner’s direct action, over and over again, as efficiently as possible.

Examples of processes may include how your staff should answer the telephone, how they take and pass on messages; the procedure for raising, approving, placing and receiving orders; the process for generating, checking and sending out client invoices, as well as receiving payments and following up on outstanding bills etc.

Regardless of the size or type of your business, it is likely that you already have set procedures in place covering many functions within your organisation, which employees follow out of habit or as directed by their supervisor / manager.

Business systems are the manual for your business; the “know-how” of any business that many business founders / owners usually hold in their head, and have not got round to putting onto paper.

Why implement business systems?

There are many reasons and just as many benefits for having established and documented systems in your business, some of which include the following:

1. They provide a framework for your operations and an effective structure to support your business.

2. They improve consistency: production, delivery, customer service, after-sales care etc.

3. They improve results and/or productivity, because you and your employees don’t have to re-invent the wheel every time.

4. They provide a better work environment for your employees, as an effective system will contribute to clarifying roles and responsibilities as well as providing staff with some guidelines to refer to.

5. They ensure compliance with legislation, safety regulations or any other legal requirement specific to your type of business operations.

6. They give your business the ability to expand and they facilitate business growth, as they will make your business more attractive to any potential investor or buyer.

What system works best?

Although there are similarities across many functions, such as Accounts, Human Resources, Sales, Stores, Logistics etc., unfortunately there is no one perfect, one size fits all system that works for all companies. Any system will need to integrate the company’s business objectives, its people and the way it provides its products or services.

It is important to have a well-designed system, customised to your type of operation, and thought out by people at all levels within the organisation.

Such a system will be more likely to be followed by all employees, because they have been involved in its design, and they understand the value that having a system in place brings to the quality of their work and the service they provide to customers.

One point to keep in mind is that having great people working with poorly designed systems – or no systems – is likely to lead to an under-performing business. On the other hand, great systems without good people won’t work either, hence the additional benefit of involving employees in designing a system, or simply in documenting the processes they are following.

Equally so, employees who have been trained in your business systems should also feel empowered enough so that they don’t feel they just have to follow a given script without using their head.

For this reason, it is important to encourage feedback not just from your customers, but also from your employees and to use such comments to review and to continuously improve and develop your business systems.

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Source by Cecile Scaros

Views: 0

July 27, 2022