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  • `Tikus` caught, brothers sought for shooting construction supervisor

    `Tikus` caught, brothers sought for shooting construction supervisor

    `Tikus` caught, brothers sought for shooting construction supervisor 1

    SIBU: A 47-year-old man involved in the shooting of a construction supervisor in front of a restaurant in Paradom, about 14 km from here yesterday afternoon, has been arrested by police.

    The suspect known as Tie Teck Ming who goes by the nickname ‘Tikus’, was held by a team from the Sibu Criminal Investigation Department in the Sungai Bidut area, nearly 17 km from the scene today.

    “We are currently questioning (the suspect) and will get a remand order against him tomorrow,“ said Sibu District police chief Stanley Jonathan Ringgit when met at the Central Police Station here.

    Two of the suspects’ brothers, aged 43 and 46, are still at large.

    Asked if the suspect was mentally disturbed as reported in a newspaper yesterday or under the influence of drugs, Stanley said the suspect showed no signs of mental impairment.

    However, he said the suspect may have been under the influence of drugs when provoking the victim, which ended up causing a fight between them.

    “During this period, we will be conducting a urine test on him,“ he added.

    In the incident at about 5pm yesterday, the victim and his friend were at a restaurant before ‘Tikus’ came and caused a commotion.

    A fistfight ensued, in which the suspect used a piece of wood to whack Tikus before the latter ran away with his younger brother Teck Hing, 43.

    The two of them then returned to the scene with Teck Ha, 46, armed with a machete and shotgun, and the victim was shot and injured while trying to escape in his four-wheel-drive vehicle.

    The victim later gave his statement to the police while receiving treatment at the Sibu Hospital.

    Classifying the case under Section 307 of the Penal Code for attempted murder, Stanley urged those with information on the whereabouts of Tikus’ two brothers to immediately contact the police, and warned that the two were armed and dangerous. – Bernama

    `Tikus` caught, brothers sought for shooting construction supervisor
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    https://www.thesundaily.my/local/tikus-caught-brothers-sought-for-shooting-construction-supervisor-KC2136851

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  • Online training as a weapon to fight the new coronavirus

    More than 25 000 people across the globe have accessed real-time knowledge from WHO experts on how to detect, prevent, respond to and control the new coronavirus in the 10 days since the launch of an open online training.

    The learning team of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme worked with technical experts to quickly develop and publish the online course on 26 January – 4 days before the 2019-nCoV outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern.

    Approximately 3000 new users have registered for the training every day since its launch, demonstrating the high level of interest in the virus among health professionals and the general public. In addition, more than 200 000 people have viewed the introductory video to the course on YouTube.

    The high engagement levels emerged as the international community launched a US$675 million preparedness and response plan to fight further spread of the new coronavirus and protect states with weaker health systems.

    The free learning resource is available to anyone interested in novel coronavirus on WHO’s open learning platform for emergencies, OpenWHO.org. The platform was established 3 years ago with emergencies such as nCoV in mind, in which WHO would need to reach millions of people across the globe with real-time, accessible learning materials.

    The online training – entitled “Emerging respiratory viruses, including nCoV: methods for detection, prevention, response and control” – is currently being produced in all official UN languages and Portuguese.

    “Our job is to work with technical health experts to package knowledge using adult learning principles, quickly so that it is most useful to health workers and our staff,” said Heini Utunen, who manages OpenWHO for the WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE). “Our online platform – OpenWHO – is already accessed by users from every country on earth, providing more than 60 courses in 21 languages. Delivering trainings in the local language of responders is really important, especially in an emergency”.    

    WHE has been investing in learning and training to strengthen preparedness and real-time response to health emergencies. The programme developed its first-ever learning strategy in 2018 and has a small dedicated Learning and Capacity Development Unit that allows WHE to develop trainings quickly and get know-how to those who most need it at the front line.  

    For the latest information on the new coronavirus, visit the 2019-nCoV page.

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    https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/07-02-2020-online-training-as-a-weapon-to-fight-the-new-coronavirus

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  • Stopping Employee Theft in Your Coffee Business

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    Regardless to how good of an employer you are, and even if you treat your employees well, understand that employee theft is a reality, and you need to control it. While it may only be a very small percentage of your staff that might steal from you, it can have a significant financial impact on your coffee business. If it goes unnoticed, employees will usually become even more brazen in their activities.

    When it comes to theft, your employees are likely to fall into one of the following four categories:

    Mr./Ms. honest – these are people who would never think of taking anything if it doesn’t belong to them. If they happen to go home with one of your ballpoint pens, they’ll bring it back the next day, and feel guilty that they took it home, even though it was unintentional.

    Incidental theft – these are people that will take home your pen by accident, and will keep it. And, they may scarf a piece of cheesecake occasionally when you aren’t looking, even though they know they shouldn’t. Because these items have minimal value, they have no great sense of guilt related to their activities.

    Theft because of need and opportunity – this is when you have an employee who is perhaps living on the edge financially, and because they have the need, and because your security may be lax, they’ll take advantage of an opportune situation to take something.

    Compulsive theft – this is the person who is always looking for something to steal, and they have absolutely no conscience about it. They typically rationalize the theft in their own mind. They consider you to be the rich, fat cat, and feel that they are over worked and under paid, so stealing from you is justified.

    Employee theft probably exists to some extent within your operation, whether you are aware of it or not. You can most likely live with incidental theft, provided it doesn’t get out of control. Theft related to need and opportunity is, in reality, your fault. These people would probably not steal from you normally, but a lack of security procedures has created the temptation and means for them to do so. Compulsive theft must be discovered, stopped, and you must eliminate the person(s) responsible.

    Losing product due to theft:

    Your employees may have no desire or need for a sleeve of 12oz. paper cups, Java Jackets, or a roll of toilet paper… but they might like a frozen cake, gallon of chocolate sauce, 6-pack of beer, or a bottle of wine.

    There are some simple things you can do to greatly reduce the chance of being ripped-off. First, don’t allow your employees to store their jackets, backpacks, and purses near where you store products. This makes it incredibly simple for someone to slide something into their bag or jacket pocket when no one is watching. I always had my employees store their personal belongings in the cabinet under the cash register (where someone would always be watching), or in my office, under lock & and key.

    Second, keep the back door of your store locked with a key at all times (you or your supervisor being the only ones having a key). If customers regularly enter through your back door, this may not be an option. If your back door is an emergency fire exit (and it probably is), you’ll need to install an alarmed breaker-bar. The whole point is that you don’t want your employees to be able to flow in and out of the back door without you knowing about it. Carrying product out the back door to their car, a hiding place for later pick-up, or an awaiting friend, is one of the most common ways products will exit your store.

    Once you have made it more difficult to stash things in their personal belongings, or carry them out the back door, employees may resort to hiding items in the trashcan. Of course you will unlock the back door to let them take out the trash. If they have hidden something in the trashcan, a dumpster-diving expedition will certainly be planned for after-hours to recover their treasure.

    Periodic trashcan checks should eliminate this problem, or make it a far less appealing option to anyone considering this method to smuggle things out of your store. Buy a long handle 3-prong garden rake. When employees ask to take out the trash, accompany them, and have them hold the can up on the edge of the dumpster while you rake out the trashcan contents. What you are looking for are things that might have been hidden in the trash, but you can tell your employees that you are merely making sure that small wares aren’t being accidentally thrown away. During the 15-years I owned and managed restaurants, I discovered everything from six-packs of beer, bottles of wine, and packages of steaks hidden in the trash!

    Another situation that will create an ideal opportunity for employees to steal from you is having only one person working in your store. If your baker comes in each morning a hour before you or the next employee, or if one person is left to clean and lock-up the place at the end of the day, opportunities for theft abound. As the old saying goes: when the cat’s away…

    Always try to have at least two people in your store at all times. If there is not justification for having a second employee on the clock, then you will need to be that second person. If this requires you going from a 60-hour workweek to 80-hours, then this may not be a tolerable option. If this is the case, then at least invest a couple of hours more each day for a week or two to do some detective work.

    During those times of day when only one employee is working, park at the far end of the parking lot, or across the street, so that you will reduce the chance of being noticed by your employee. If they are familiar with your vehicle, use your spouse’s or friend’s vehicle for a few days. Watch carefully (with binoculars if necessary). I know this all sounds a little CSI – like, but better to rest-easy, feeling fairly assured that your employee isn’t carrying away your store when you’re not watching. If I had the time, I could tell you countless stories of my experiences in catching employees red handed, loading the trunks of their cars.

    If you suspect that theft of product might be occurring, but you’ve seen no direct evidence of it, then conducting a daily key item inventory may shed some light on the situation. Write down a list of 15 to 20 products that you think would be most appealing for someone to steal. In your coffee business, this might include items such as coffee, syrups and sauces, smoothie puree, biscotti, cookies, and desserts, sandwich meats & cheeses, and of course beer & wine (if you serve those from your operation). Then take an inventory of these items every day. Your employees don’t need to know what you are doing, and if they ask, simply tell them you are taking an inventory for ordering purposes.

    What you are looking for are anomalies in usage. For example, let’s say that from your daily inventories you assess that you use about half a gallon of chocolate sauce per day. Then, one day you notice you used 1 1/2 gallons of chocolate the previous day. This should send up a red flag! Why did you go through an extra gallon of chocolate? Were you significantly busier yesterday, or did you featuring several drink specials which contained chocolate sauce? A quick review of individual item sales from yesterday’s cash register report should provide you with the answer. If you average one ounce of chocolate per beverage, then using 1 1/2 gallons means you should have sold approximately 192 beverages containing chocolate (128 oz. per gal. x 1.5 = 192). If this was the case, no problem. But, if you discover that you only sold 64 beverages containing chocolate, then 128 oz. (or 1 gallon) is unaccounted for and missing! A good indication that it probably walked out the door. If this happens, keep track of who was working on the day of the shortage. If this happens continually, eventually you will discover that the same person or persons were working every time.

    Theft of money by employees:

    Hopefully, none of your employees will have the desire to steal products from you, but some will be tempted by the lure of cold, hard, cash. Everyone could use an extra $20 a day. Employees who steal money from you will definitely hurt your bottom line, and must be eliminated.

    The first way to reduce cash theft is to have a cash handling policy in place that will discourage theft. If multiple employees are using the cash register, and no one person is responsible, then I can almost guarantee that your cash drawer will keep coming up short on a regular basis. The fact that no one person can be held responsible for the shortages, will make grabbing a bill or two easy and appealing.

    Implement a policy that one, and only one person is responsible for the cash register for the entire shift. They should count the drawer at the beginning of their shift to verify that they are starting with the designated change bank. Then, they should be the only person to ring up sales and make change. Even you, the owner/manger, should keep your hands out of their cash drawer. Finally, at the end of their shift, they should set aside the amount they started with in the change drawer, and total all the remaining cash, checks, and charges, and balance against what was rung up on the register. If they started with the right amount of money in the cash drawer, rang everything up, took all the money, counted back all the change, and they end up short… who’s fault is it? It can only be theirs. By implementing this simple policy, I once took an operation that was coming up $100 a day ($3,000 a month) cash short, and reduced it to $3 a day, in just 30 days! That’s over a $2,900 bottom line improvement, (in case you didn’t do the math)!

    The other common method that a cashier might use to steal money from you is by using a method called, building a bank. This is the process of not ringing up items on the cash register, while still taking money from the customers, and then pocketing that money. Typically, they will obscure the view of the cash register display on the customer’s side with something like a flower, retail merchandise, or by turning the display so that it cannot be easily seen. Then, they will pretend to ring up an item, but will hit the no sale key instead, popping the drawer open so they can take the cash and make change, but in reality, they haven’t rung up anything. The other thing they might do when it is busy is to just not shut the drawer between transactions. They simply convey verbally the cost of items ordered by customers and take the cash, but once again, nothing has been rung up.

    A cash register that prints out the order on a remote receipt printer to the person who will be preparing the item, can eliminate this problem. Quite simply, if the item isn’t rung-up, it won’t print out. If your barista or cook won’t prepare anything without a receipt (and they shouldn’t!), it will force your cashier to ring everything up.

    If you observe that the cash register’s display has been blocked from the customer’s view, or there are an excessive number of no sale indications on your cash register’s detail tape, or notice that your cashier is not shutting the drawer between transactions, beware! While these may not be indisputable proof that your cashier is stealing from you, they should certainly heighten your vigilance to find out if something is going on.

    If your coffee business only warrants having one employee working at a time, perhaps because you own a cart, kiosk, or low volume drive-through operation, then how do you go about keeping your employee from building a bank and stealing from you? The best solution I’ve seen is to turn your customers in to watchdogs. Affix a sign to the front of your cash register, in plain sight of the customer, that reads: If you don’t receive a receipt with your order, it’s FREE! This will force your cashier to hand each customer a receipt for their purchase. If they are building a bank, this means they will have to hand the customer a receipt that says – NO SALE; something they probably won’t fell comfortable doing!

    The financial impact of theft of money can be extremely damaging, for example: Let’s say you have a cashier who is skimming off $20 a day by not ringing things up, and then pocketing the money. Not only did you loose the stolen $20, but the $7 of ingredients that were probably used to produce the ordered products; ($20 x 35% ingredient cost = $7.00). So in reality, you lost $27, and it will take an additional $41.54 in sales, to recover this loss; ($41.54 x 65% gross profit = $27). $27 a day lost to theft, X 21 days worked by the employee = $567 lost cash & product per month; $872 extra sales required to offset this loss. (Annual loss, $6,804; $10,468 in additional income required to offset loss.) You must stop theft of money!

    Theft of money management:

    If you have a manger running your operation for you, this can really create an opportunity for cash theft. Just about anyone who has ever run a food service operation (self included), probably felt that they were over-worked and under-paid. Some are tempted to grant themselves an unapproved raise. Your manger has the control key to the cash register, which means they have the ability to back off items that were sold. You would be wise to check your cash register detail tapes on a regular basis. If you see multiple items backed off in groups, or more worrisome yet, all backed off at the very end of the shift, beware!

    A good way to keep this from happening is to establish a policy that no over-rings are to be backed off of sales on the cash register with the management control key. Instead, when the cashier makes an over-ring, they should take the receipt, write over-ring on it, sign it, and put it in the cash drawer. At the end of the shift, the total of all over-rings should be manually backed off of the sales total indicated on the cash register report.

    Many years ago I had a manager that was stealing money from me in another creative way. This manager, who opened the store each day, would reset the cash register by Z-ing it out after the first half hour of business. He would then pocket the proceeds earned during that first half hour. Because additional sales were generated during the second half hour, the cash register hourly sales report would always show sales for the first hour of operation, thus eliminating any suspicion that something might be going on.

    It wasn’t until I was doing a routine audit of cash register Z tapes that I noticed something wasn’t right. When you run a Z report, which resets the cash register at the end of each day, a multi-digit number will usually be printed somewhere on that tape. The next time you Z the register, that number will advance by one digit. I noticed that even though the tapes were sequential in date, every other number was missing. This tipped me off that the register was being Z-ed twice a day! When I confronted my manager with the tapes, his look of panic spoke volumes.

    If you are doubting the honesty of any of your employees or managers, one way you can verify or eliminate your suspicion is by baiting the cash drawer. Slip an extra $20 bill in the drawer sometime during the day when they aren’t watching. If they don’t end up reporting at the end of their shift that they were $20 cash-over, I’ll do it a second time (just to make sure). If they don’t report it a second time, you should have no doubts that they are indeed, dishonest.

    NEVER accuse an employee or manger of stealing unless you catch them red-handed (actually stuffing money into their pockets). Even though the circumstantial evidence may be overwhelming, unless you actually catch them in the act, they are likely to deny your accusations, and will probably file a complaint against you with the department of labor! The brief moment of satisfaction you will gain from letting them know you are aware of what they’ve been doing, will be quickly overwhelmed by the legal predicament you will find yourself in. You will be far better off to not make accusations. Simply terminate their employment. In many states, you do not need to provide a reason as to why you are letting them go. When they ask for an explanation as to why you are firing them, simply say: I don’t need to give you a reason, I’m just letting you go, goodbye!

    Finally, don’t over look technology to help you with security. Surveillance cameras linked to a DVR (digital video recorder) can provide you with peace of mind, or evidence of theft. These systems have become very affordable, and many are easy to install. The value of these cameras go beyond having a video record of operations. The mere fact that employees understand that their activities are being video recorded, will usually discourage them from doing things that they might not think twice about, if no one was watching.

    I think it’s important to not be paranoid about employee theft. Certainly, you don’t want to be constantly obsessed with the suspicion that everyone is stealing from you. In reality, the majority of your employees are probably honest people. But, you would be wise to establish some simple safeguards, and maintain a watchful eye.

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    Source by Ed Arvidson

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  • The Cash Register and Their Uses

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    We have all at least seen a cash register if not used one.  Cash registers are an integral part of retail businesses and most cannot operate without one.  Invented by James Ritty after the Civil War out of necessity for the running of his saloon.  His main goal was to stop employees from skimming money and he got the idea after seeing a tool that counted the revolutions of propellers for steamships.  Patented in 1883, the cash register soon took on a life of its own and after being sold a few times, finally settled into what it is today.

    Today the cash register does not require you to break a nail while pushing down huge buttons that were known for sticking down and causing all sorts of problems.  There are no longer number tabs that pop up to show you the amount being rung up, but rather most registers are computerized.  Computer cash registers are available in many forms today and may consist of just a simple program that you run on your desktop computer that uses an interface just like a regular cash register to entire pos systems that come complete with bar code scanners, a till drawer and receipt printer.  Pos cash registers are what most of us are familiar with today as all the large retailers use them.

    Computer cash registers or pos cash registers are highly advanced and will do everything from ringing up the customer’s purchases to doing your taxes.  Many of the systems will come with a program that keeps track of your inventory which will save you time and money by streamlining the process and not having to do physical inventory.  Don’t forget the options like bar code scanners and laser receipt printers that will help keep your business running smoothly.

    Touch screen cash registers are the first choice among restaurants and grocery stores.  These registers will display menu choices and options that will make ordering quicker by just pressing the screen.  Restaurant cash registers are designed so that the kitchen will receive the order when the wait staff enters it into the computer so they can begin preparing immediately.  This makes for a much more efficient restaurant.  Many of these pos systems also come with age verification software which is handy for those in the bar business.  These registers also allow for unique user id’s that keep track of each person who uses the register, their orders and their sales.  Most are able to download your business for that day or week into tax programs such as Quick-books.

    The importance of cash register tape might seem little, but this is an important addition to any system and should be allowed some consideration before purchase.  Today, most register systems and credit card machines use thermal paper for receipts.  This paper requires special thermal printers that burn the image into the paper.  Laser printers are also used and they have their own special type of receipt paper as well.  These types of printers do not require ink, which is one less expense because in the long run ink will cost you a fortune, but they are much pricier up front than your regular paper receipt printers.

    Below is a list of registers and prices that you can expect to pay:

    • 8 Department Standard Electronic Cash Register (recommended for small businesses) starting at around $100 – These registers are very basic, but for the small retailer they are perfect – They use standard paper for their receipt printing
    • 40 to 99 Department Standard Electronic Cash Register (recommended for small to midsized businesses) from $200-$350 – Same considerations as register above
    • Touch Screen Cash Register (varies depending on size and bundles/options, recommended for restaurants and bars) $500-$2500 – These registers will almost always be used with thermal or laser receipt printers
    • POS Systems (varies depending on size and options) $1500-$3200 – Used almost always with laser or thermal printers.

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    Source by Gerald Hill

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  • Affiliate Marketer – The Win-Win Technique

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    Affiliate marketing has turned out to be just about the most efficient way to market on the web. It is usually among the most active for anybody with a web site in order to obtain profits on the internet. Affiliate marketing is an arrangement made by a product owner and a site owner. The site manager, permits the usage of the website for the advertising of the merchant’s goods by back-linking towards the merchant’s web-site. In return, the vendor or product owner compensates the internet marketer according to all product sales produced because of the internet marketer efforts. Whenever an individual follows the URL ((Uniform Resource Locator) on the internet marketer site and proceed to made a purchase, the affiliate marketer receives a percentage. The product owner pays off the affiliate as long as a person clicks the merchandise link and buys something.

    Affiliate programs are identified as a win-win scenario for both the vendor and also the affiliate because of the pay-for-performance structure. Both parties enjoy big benefits with this technique. There are numerous rewards for the merchant. It provides them with a larger market place to promote services or products. Through their marketing efforts, the affiliate marketer will provide the goods and services the ideal visibility that maybe could not be possible with the use of traditional promotion approaches. The more online websites a vendor has access to, the larger the exposure his products will have, which more than often converts into product sales. Internet affiliate marketing is the same as possessing an army of sales agents who can carry out promotion and may only get paid in the case a client buys.

    At the same time, because an affiliate marketer relationship can be a win-win scenario, the affiliate marketer also looks forward to lots of benefits. Foremost involving these is the simplest way to produce revenues. The affiliate marketer can gain using an advertisement or back-link to the vendor’s site, which potential customers will ideally press and ultimately make a purchase. When the target individual follows the offer within the affiliate’s website, is rerouted towards the vendor’s site and usually proceeds to purchase that specific product or service. The more recommendations are made, the far more possibilities of earnings for that internet marketer.

    Affiliate programs are an exceptional way to generate income while in your own home. You’ll find practically no initial expenses. The merchandise has already been created and verified through the vendor, and the only costs you have are the ones related to finding the customers and direct them in front of the offer. Internet programs are typically exempt of cost to sign up for, so affiliate marketers don’t need to be worried about start-up fees. There are millions of products you can consider. You’ll find affiliate marketing programs available for practically any merchandise offered in the web. Certainly, you can find a service or product out there that is definitely related to your site.

    Furthermore, there is no sales knowledge required. Most programs provide outstanding assistance with regards to supplying advertising material. The simplicity of online marketing enables you to be an internet marketer at the minimum cost as well as enjoy the most convenience. You may also be able to create a profitable affiliate marketing enterprise in the comfort and ease of your home. In internet affiliate marketing, your main duty is actually to seek out potential customers and direct them to your selected offers; there is no need to concern yourself with products on hand, quality or even delivery. These, together with customer support are the responsibilities of the product owner.

    Due to the possibilities on the world-wide-web, it is simple to find a large number of prospective buyers. You are able to accentuate your strategy by applying extra competitive and effective techniques including viral marketing and videos. By bringing in much more prospective buyers, you’ll realize a big increase in your possibility to generate income. Another advantage of an internet marketer is definitely the small monetary risk involved. When the item you happen to be promoting is just not creating wealth you’ll be able to dump it and select a different one. There aren’t any long-term binding agreements braiding you to products and solutions that are certainly not creating sufficient revenues.

    Consider the very best advantage of becoming an internet marketer as the unique chance to improve your revenues and the fact that you may earn profits even when you use internet affiliate marketing only as a part-time business. With your personal affiliate enterprise, you can generate easily some extra income, despite the reality that you need to apply hard work and made use of your thoughts to maximize your possible earnings. Without a doubt, affiliate marketing and advertising is among the most basic and most successful work at home opportunities on the internet today.

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    Source by Ruth Celeste Lee

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  • Repricing on Health Insurance Claims

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    We have all heard the stories of the emergency room claim that cost $10,000 for a broken thumb, or the person who had to file bankruptcy from the huge bill while using a network outside of their HMO. These stories have been the fuel for arguments on what should be done with our Nation’s healthcare system. The truth is these stories occur more than most people realize, and many have misconceptions on how this happens. This is why it is crucial to have the right billing network to take advantage of most favorable, predetermined pricing available.

    Lets take a look at a couple of scenarios where one person is stuck with a high medical bill and the other is protected. Suppose that two people walk into an emergency room for the same injury, one having adequate health insurance and the other having none. The emergency room is going to immediately know that each patient will be billed differently. The person with the right network billing plan will be able to take advantage of a nationwide network, allowing predetermined pricing for most any medical condition you can name. The other will be at the mercy of what the emergency room decides to charge. Depending on the medical condition, the difference of what is paid out could be upwards of tens of thousands of dollars. The catch is, in order to receive this predetermined billing you must have access to the participating billing network.

    When you take a closer look at how these billing networks work it becomes clear where you may be exposed, especially on smaller networks. No one knows this better than the self employed and those who do not get insurance offered through work. When an individual purchases health insurance on the exchange (Healthcare.gov), the only network options available in Texas are HMO, or restricted networks. These networks are formed for the insurance company and the medical institution to share losses, while hoping to bring in excess volume of patients to offset the claims. Even these smaller type of HMO networks can have big holes in their billing networks. For example, if an individual has a surgery within their HMO network they may still have an unpleasant surprise when the final bill comes. Although their surgeon is likely covered, both the anesthesiologist and the surgical tools rented for the surgery might fall out of the billing HMO network, causing thousands of dollars to be paid by the patient. You guessed it, not a word of warning, just a bill that the health insurance will not cover well after the surgery.

    The only way to avoid a small HMO network pricing trap is to take advantage of much larger billing networks, allowing you to avoid the uncovered pitfalls. These larger networks, or providers, can have hundreds of thousands of doctors and medical institutions participating coast to coast. Many of these nationwide networks make it mandatory for their preferred discount to be the primary, or front runner, method of billing, protecting the patient’s financial interests from any threat of overpricing. In fact, these predetermined pricing modules are so accurate some insurance companies form their coverage to mirror the preferred billing, therefore limiting the out of pocket expense by thousands of dollars. Those who utilize this service can rest easy knowing that their interests will be protected moving forward from the right billing network with unrestricted networks nationwide.

    Although these billing network giants are elusive in today’s ACA health insurance environment, they do exist across the nation, Texas included. In fact, I have helped dozens and dozens of clients take advantage of these unrestricted networks over the last few months alone, at much more reasonable premiums than ACA policies. It is important to consider the network billing plans when choosing the right heath insurance plan for your family, especially for those who do not qualify for a subsidy (Federal income credit given to those with limited financial means). It is extremely important to speak to a health insurance professional who has access to these unrestricted billing networks, in order to protect your financial interests.

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    Source by Cal J Burgess

    Views: 0

  • Giving a Great "Walk Around" Sales Presentation

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    Salespeople should know that a walk around isn’t just a presentation, it is a chance to discover the customer’s needs and turn your product or services features into a benefit for that customer.

    Learning good selling techniques takes practice and learning how to give a “walk around” sales presentation is essential to the sales process.

    An excellent walk around presentation is not a canned presentation. It has been said, “A good walk around presentation doesn’t work because it’s canned; it got canned because it works.” That’s what a walk around should be – not canned, but planned. Salespeople need to know where they are going all the time. Hopefully they can help guide the customer down the Road to the Sale.

    Before we can attempt a presentation we must understand what a “feature” is and what a “benefit” is. A feature is what something is – a benefit is what something does. Let’s use automobile sales as an example. So let’s look at some car sales techniques. A “walk around” occurs when a salesperson pulls a vehicle out of the line of cars in front of the dealership. The salesperson opens the doors, the trunk, and the hood. They turn on the car and get the A/C running in the summertime (or the heater in the winter time). They take the customer and tell them about the vehicle as they walk around it.

    The aerodynamic styling of a vehicle is a feature; great gas mileage and a quiet ride are the resulting benefits. A lot of salespeople are good at reciting features, but not at explaining why the customer needs them – and this is for two reasons. One is they don’t know enough about the car and the other is they did a poor job qualifying the customer’s needs. Ask questions of your customer. Ask what they want from their next vehicle and listen to what is said.

    How can a salesperson enthusiastically talk about the double steel cargo box if they don’t know what the customer is going to use the vehicle for? They can’t.

    In a typical selling situation a salesperson might say something like, “Yes sir, this car has everything you’re looking for: a fuel efficient engine and a hands-free Bluetooth communications system. It also has ABS brakes, limited slip rear axle, and terrain management.” Sounds all well and good, right? Wrong. There is nothing your salesperson has told this customer that 1,500 other salespeople and brochures and Internet research haven’t already told him.

    So the customer looks at the salesperson like a deer in the headlights. He doesn’t know what he is what he is supposed to say, except what he is probably thinking, “I can see all of these options, Mr. Salesperson. Tell me something I don’t know.” You see, when the salesperson recites his or her cornucopia of knowledge, it isn’t a question so it doesn’t really move the sale forward. He is just repeating what the customer told him he wanted.

    The customer’s only response is, “Yes, Mr. Salesperson, I can see it has everything I asked for. How much is it?” Or worse yet, the customer may say nothing. The worst thing that can enter a walk around presentation is silence. When there is silence, there is pressure and in the selling process, we want no pressure. As I mentioned many times, the only common ground a customer has is the price. When you stop talking, the only thing they can say is how much… or goodbye.

    To do an excellent walk around, salespeople need to remember the thing the customer wants to know more than anything, “What will it do for me?” Until you tell customer that answer, then he is probably isn’t listening.

    Back to the walk around – how long did it take me to recite the options above, 30 seconds? What do I do now? I am out of things to say. Obviously there are lots of options and I could probably go on for a while, but even if I could memorize them all on every model, the customer will be yawning. Why? Because he wants to know what it will do for him. If salespeople are just going to recite options, they would be better off to hand the customer a brochure and send him on his way. The brochure is better than a salesperson will ever be at features. They break down the passenger compartment to cubic inches for heaven’s sake! When it comes right down to it, does the customer even care that there is 28 inches of legroom? No. But he will be interested to know that, “Because of the transverse mounted engine, Mr. Customer, when you and your family take that trip to Colorado this summer you can really stretch out your legs!” That is how you sell legroom. Note: Without asking good questions, how could you make the above statement? But here’s the good news: you can make that statement even more powerful in two ways – by moving the sale forward and by asking for the order.

    There are many ways to move the sale forward, but here are a few. These are simple phrases that keep the customer following you:

    “Let me show you this feature on your new Ford Explorer.”

    “Let me show you this,”

    “Let me show you one more thing,”

    “Great, follow me.”

    Ask for the order, it is quite simple, for example:

    “That’s a feature I’m sure you’d like, isn’t it?” The customer says, “Yeah!” The salesperson says, “Great, follow me,” or “Great, now let me show you one more thing.”

    The above question is one which you should already know the answer. Use it with a feature the customer wants, for example, seat belts, air bags, crumple zones, etc. A customer just won’t say no to seat belts.

    During the sale you are always closing — in sales terminology that means you are always asking the customer for the order. For example, a very successful salesman in a 20-minute presentation will ask the customer in several different ways, in more than a dozen times if they want to buy the vehicle.

    Some of the best closing techniques to use during a sale are called tie downs. Some call them trial closes. A tie down is simply a question at the end of a statement that demands a response. Instead of saying, “Those airbags are a wonderful feature.” In the eyes of a customer, this is just an opinion. But, if I added, “Aren’t they?” to the end of that statement, it forces the customer to respond, hopefully in a positive way.

    Or, “On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest rating, how would you rate this vehicle so far? What would it take to make that number a 10?”

    However, sometimes a customer may say something that implies that they don’t like the vehicle. For example, “Oh, that looks like something else that will break.”

    One way to handle these “objections” is to address the issue with the “Feel, Felt, Found” response. For example, you might respond by saying, “I can see why you might feel that. A lot of people have felt the same way, but once you’ve found out the engineering behind, you’ll see how beneficial this can be for you.”

    These few tips will build the foundation for a confident walk around presentation.

    – Learn your product inside and out, research what’s being said about your product on the internet.

    – Get to know your customer’s needs in the initial greeting and qualification.

    – Present with confidence and tie the features back to their needs.

    – Help make their needs become their wants.

    – Remember to refer to competitive brands and create value.

    – Take full advantage of your product expertise when doing a walk around presentation and SELL yourself and your product.

    And remember, selling is a process of listening to customer needs, finding solutions to their needs, building value you in your product or service, and giving them an opportunity to buy that product or service that serves their needs!

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    Source by Vincent Hennigan

    Views: 0

  • Healing Grief & Loss – A Fresh Start

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    Every Day Can Be A Fresh Start

    “There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.”

    ~ Ronald Reagan

    7 DAILY FRESH START BULLET POINTS can help you heal your grief and loss. You have special unique empowerment to seize the moment again and again. Erect possibilities. Erect personal healing solutions. Erect your own peace. Erect hope. Every hour of every day can be a fresh start. Your condition may limit what you are able and desire to perform. However, constraints, walls or barriers don’t need to be in your mind. The opportunities for healing and progress toward a better you are abundant even if done in small baby steps; and on a few occasions one step forward and two steps back. There are keys to minimize the constraints in your mind. 7 must-consider steps to make every day a fresh start follow:

    *Fresh Start #1 Erect Possibilities

    “Seeds of great discoveries are constantly floating around us,

    but they only take root in minds well prepared to receive them.”

    ~ Joseph Henry

    Your grief loss happening may have sent you on a personal detour filled with discouragement and despair. On this detour confusion and hopelessness may jump in front of you on every turn of your healing journey. This is the essential time to explore all possibilities to reconcile your sorrow and grief. Undiscovered possibilities are available. Now is time to be open to receive all possible healing opportunities. Will you prepare to receive them? Search diligently for unrecognized or hidden possibilities.

    *Fresh Start #2 Erect Personal Healing Solutions

    Especially after a horrendous grief experience your life can be confusing and without meaning. It is essential to recognize you bring the meaning to every living moment. The meaning of your life is what you ascribe it to be. Being alive and proactive determines your healing solutions.

    *Fresh Start #3 Erect Your Own Peace

    You are absolutely correct. SOMETIMES LIFE IS TOUGH! In fact, life is not always fair. To be at peace because of grief circumstances can be extremely challenging. Finding your own personal peace can be enhanced by counting all the reasons why you can be grateful. Writing down a gratitude list can buoy up your spirit. No matter your condition after your grief there are blessings you can count. Counting your blessings can bring you peace.

    *Fresh Start #4 Erect Hope

    “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems you cannot hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time the tide will turn.”

    ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

    Hope and peace go together. Nonetheless, without hope you cannot have personal peace. Hope is a powerful and vital quality to own and magnify. Consider all the ways you might create hope in your attitude and in your actions. Holding hope in a strong grasp every day will turn your tide to more happiness, hope and peace.

    *Fresh Start #5 Erect Barrier Deletes

    Learn to erase negative thinking. Erase hopelessness from your daily thinking. Everyone gets discouraged. Life grief experiences may be joined with partners of despair, confusion, uncertainty, and even anger. Were it that you could simple press a delete button and erase all things that are barriers to your happiness. Essential to your transformation from your grieving experience to a happier state of mind are behaviors that will eradicate negative thinking. It begins and ends with your attitude. Others can help but you are the one who must press the delete button over and over again until your mind is full of positive thinking. You can.

    *Fresh Start #6 Erect Empowerment Discovery

    I like to think of a tool box inside each of us. Perhaps a hammer, chisel, screwdriver, measuring tape, a pair of pliers, a small level, to mention a few. I dare say it has been a long time since you have used all of those tools – maybe never. However, the time may very well come when a simple use of a pair of pliers will be vital to you. Just like the foregoing tools mentioned are empowerment tools for your mind and attitude. Perhaps you have not needed them before. Maybe they were not needed until your grief loss experience. They might not have ever been used. You may need to dig deep within. If you do you will discover empowerment strength you were unaware you always had. Asking again and again, what can I do will help you discover your personal needed empowerment. Strength will begin to grow in your mind.

    *Fresh Start #7 Erect A Daily Fresh Start

    Even without a horrendous grief experience a fresh start can be invigorating and revitalizing. Erect each day with a fresh attitude of positive possibilities and opportunities. Seek for all healing solutions. Count your blessings. Delete all negative thinking. Search for your own empowerment. Begin each day with a positive attitude. Think about how you can gain more hope with a daily fresh healing attitude.

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    Source by Duane Marchant

    Views: 0

  • Sell Junkyard Auto Parts and Make Money From Home

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    A lot of people make some serious money from home selling junkyard auto parts. My husband’s been doing this for a while now and just loves it! I’m still amazed at how untapped this market is. Maybe because when you sell junkyard auto parts you’re not sitting at a computer all the time?

    But working from home doesn’t always mean making money online or just from your computer, especially if you’re doing any type of arbitrage deals.

    And there are thousands of people looking for cheap auto parts online. Why not get in the game and be one of their salvage auto parts suppliers?

    This is business that you really don’t have be a mechanic or detail specialist to make some real money, especially if you’re just dealing with interior or exterior restoration parts or basic engine parts.

    For example, a head rest is a head rest. Unscrew some parts and pull it out. Door panels are door panels. Unbolt them from the hinges and take it off. Engine components may be a bit trickier but you can always go on YouTube and find out what the parts are, what they do and even how to remove them.

    But even in this type of a business, you may want to specialize in a niche. What do I mean by a niche when it comes to used auto body parts? Pretty easy. Here are some ways to drill down a niche just by specializing…

    1. … in a particular make and model of vehicle
    2. … in sports cars
    3. … in truck parts
    4. … in engine parts
    5. … in exterior body parts
    6. … in interior restoration parts

    Just think about all of the parts that go into building a vehicle, whether it’s a truck or car. Some parts are even interchangeable between makes and models. For example, I needed a new front fender for my 2001 Mercury Villager. Did you know that the 2001 Nissan Quest has an identical body to the same year Mercury Villager?

    They do! So my husband took the parts off of a junked Quest and replaced the fender and front light assembly on my Villager.

    The cup holder assembly in my Villager cracked too. But instead of replacing that unit, he found a narrow console with built-in cup holders from a Dodge SUV that fit perfectly between the front bucket seats of our Villager. Same color and texture as the interior of our car; that console looks like it came with our van!

    So now we have three “new” cup holders in the front, and two additional cup holders for the rear seat, from one $10 used Dodge console.

    You will have to do some research on eBay before going out and spending money. You can’t just go out and buy any junkyard auto parts and expect them to sell. There are some steps involved to making this a profitable at-home business.

    1. First, get a price list from your local salvage yard. Look for the least expensive parts on the list.

    2. Look up the parts on eBay and filter by Sold listings. Take an average of what those parts are selling for and see what your profit margin is. For example, if it’s going to cost you $10 to buy the part and it’s selling on average of $85 or more, and there are a lot of them being sold, you’ve got a winner.

    3. Take into consideration how much time and effort you want to put into pulling the parts off the vehicles. Some parts are pretty easy and you’ll only need a couple of screw drivers on hand. Other parts can be rather tricky, depending on whether you’re dealing with interior, exterior or under-the-hood parts.

    4. Another thing to think about is the weather! Here on the east coast it gets really blustery during the winter. And in the spring, it can get pretty muddy out in the yard. So you need to make sure you’re dressing for the weather – be prepared for anything.

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    Source by Karen S Musselman

    Views: 0