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Actual for You - Ailing Business Needs a Tonic or How To Stay Fresh in the Biz
I was a sales consultant for the Yellow Pages for 25 years. I went through a six-week course designed to give me all the tools necessary to achieve success. It began with an overview of the six step sales procedure that is common in one form or another in most sales organizations. In case your particular selling group is not in the loop or somehow missed this basic technique, I’ll try to recreate what goes on and into it. Here they are, in order: FYI: I have also written a separate article describing each, in more detail.(1) PREPARATION: This is the what goes on before the sales call. It’s where you research the account prior to a sale. If you don’t you might end up way over your head. What is needed is an outline and some general knowledge of the company regarding whom they were calling. With the advent of the Internet, this is inexcusable. The ability to research a specific company or industry has become as easy as clicking a mouse. In my day, I had to read journals, look in the phone book, or ask around to get even a glimmer of information. But I would arm myself with whatever was available before entering the business.<
Chapter 12 of 14 Adding value to your business…we show you how to guarantee it.A celebrity endorser is worth absolutely nothing unless you can prove via measurable, lasting, and quantifiable methods that they have added bottom line value to your company. You can have Mr. or Mrs. Nice-person pitching products until they are green in the face, but unless you can calculate the bottom line results in terms of real dollars, chances are you have just wasted a lot of time and money. What we are going to illustrate in this chapter is the theory that adding value is essential to success. What we are going to do is let you in on our most treasured secrets and how we use them year after year to guarantee the desired results for our customers and their celebrity endorser. It’s not magic, but it does take the ability to think outside the box and create favorable situations where none may exist. The benefits to your company or product need to be measurable…and the longer they are measurable the more successful the promotion. What we want is real results from real people for real companies.The value added proposition dev
But it’s not only the merchandising that needs a new change – business practices – all aspects of business – need to be re-invigorated to stay healthy and profitable. Business becomes stale! And that is often reflected in sales and in staff morale. If staff isn’t charged at all times, sales will decrease. What is the antidote? A tonic! According to the dictionary, a tonic produces a sense of well-being; a medicine to cure the ailing – to increase energy, health and strength. Every business needs a tonic at times.
Checklist for ailing retailers: List the things that are unhealthy in the business and then fix them:
Ailing staff -
First and foremost, re-energize your staff! A sluggish staff hurts sales and profits. Empower the staff. Improve morale. Many morale-boosting programs do double duty and succeed in empowering staff also. Take the time to isolate the reasons for low morale and address each issue. Your staff is worth the time and money. List ways to improve staff morale, including training courses, seminars, contests, parties, thank-yous, and promotions. And don’t forget that change itself will stimulate the staff – staff meetings will encourage new ideas to seed and flourish.
Increase the extras in the back room: new coffee or espresso maker in the staff room; flowers on the counter (better yet – empower the staff to buy them); stock bottles of water in the fridge; coupons for dry-cleaning. Sometimes, it’s the little things that count and make a difference. Does your staff make the daily schedule? Is the schedule somewhat flexible or totally rigid? Maybe a staff member would like a few hours off per month to watch his or her child play a sport after school. When you are flexible with a staff member, their loyalty and respect is returned. Your goal is to recreate a workplace environment that is the envy of the competition. Treat staff well, pay them fairly and consistently, and have fun. First and foremost, rememb
Most culinary schools today are still teaching their students how to compute the wrong food cost. Granted the math is right, but the dollars involved are hurting the bottom line of our restaurants. The problem arises from the separation of percentage points and dollars.Banks Use Dollars, not Percentage Points One thing I am quite sure of is that banks do not accept percentage points as deposits, believe me I’ve tried! For some reason the teller just looked at me dumbfounded then just started chuckling. Matter of fact she had so much fun with it she showed the teller next to her who responded in much the same manor. I didn’t find the humor in it since I had bills to pay, product to buy, and employees wanting their cash too. To rectify the situation I cowered to the pressure and made out a revised deposit slip using their required dollar standard.So if you can’t deposit percentage points why do most restaurants use this as their key focus goal? Shouldn’t the establishments focus on dollars instead? Your darn right they should.A Higher Food Cost Doesn’t Mean Theft or Waste It’
Checklist for ailing retailers: List the things that are unhealthy in the business and then fix them:
Ailing staff -
First and foremost, re-energize your staff! A sluggish staff hurts sales and profits. Empower the staff. Improve morale. Many morale-boosting programs do double duty and succeed in empowering staff also. Take the time to isolate the reasons for low morale and address each issue. Your staff is worth the time and money. List ways to improve staff morale, including training courses, seminars, contests, parties, thank-yous, and promotions. And don’t forget that change itself will stimulate the staff – staff meetings will encourage new ideas to seed and flourish.
Increase the extras in the back room: new coffee or espresso maker in the staff room; flowers on the counter (better yet – empower the staff to buy them); stock bottles of water in the fridge; coupons for dry-cleaning. Sometimes, it’s the little things that count and make a difference. Does your staff make the daily schedule? Is the schedule somewhat flexible or totally rigid? Maybe a staff member would like a few hours off per month to watch his or her child play a sport after school. When you are flexible with a staff member, their loyalty and respect is returned. Your goal is to recreate a workplace environment that is the envy of the competition. Treat staff well, pay them fairly and consistently, and have fun. First and foremost, remem
If you are a loan officer or mortgage broker that has used mortgage lead companies in the past, there is a very good chance that you have encountered some bad experiences.By bad experiences I mean, you have invested money with mortgage lead companies and have received absolutely nothing in the way of a return on your investment.If you were even lucky enough to make contact with some of the clients, you probably heard things such as “I closed on that loan months ago.” Or “I never applied for a mortgage.”Or, one of my personal favorites “oh, I thought I was only filling out a survey.”The next time you consider using a mortgage lead company it is important to take your time and do your homework.Here are a few things to look for.Find out exactly where the mortgage lead companies are acquiring their leads from. Are they buying them from third party vendors? Or are they acquiring the mortgage leads through web sites they own and operate?If the mortgage lead company you are considering is acquiring the mortgage leads from outside companies, this says very little about the mortgage leads.d then fix them:
Ailing staff -
First and foremost, re-energize your staff! A sluggish staff hurts sales and profits. Empower the staff. Improve morale. Many morale-boosting programs do double duty and succeed in empowering staff also. Take the time to isolate the reasons for low morale and address each issue. Your staff is worth the time and money. List ways to improve staff morale, including training courses, seminars, contests, parties, thank-yous, and promotions. And don’t forget that change itself will stimulate the staff – staff meetings will encourage new ideas to seed and flourish.
Increase the extras in the back room: new coffee or espresso maker in the staff room; flowers on the counter (better yet – empower the staff to buy them); stock bottles of water in the fridge; coupons for dry-cleaning. Sometimes, it’s the little things that count and make a difference. Does your staff make the daily schedule? Is the schedule somewhat flexible or totally rigid? Maybe a staff member would like a few hours off per month to watch his or her child play a sport after school. When you are flexible with a staff member, their loyalty and respect is returned. Your goal is to recreate a workplace environment that is the envy of the competition. Treat staff well, pay them fairly and consistently, and have fun. First and foremost, remem
As many of you already know, promoting and marketing your business in as many creative ways as possible is crucial to the success of your venture. But finding ways to get noticed presents a major challenge for most entrepreneurs. One of the most cost effective and powerful methods of getting noticed is by way of a good press release. Why? Because it has the potential of reaching millions.Will the Media Think It Is Newsworthy?Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that even a well-written press release will work on the first go-around since a lot depends upon whether the media thinks it’s newsworthy. Your release may be beautifully written, but if it doesn't land in the hands of someone who believes in its merit, it may go unnoticed. This is why it's important not to give up after one try.Gaining the Media’s Attention!When writing a press release, it is extremely important that your press release presents you in a positive, professional light. Bear in mind that the ultimate goal of a press release is for the media to take an interest in your subject matter, which may lead to an interview or story abou
Increase the extras in the back room: new coffee or espresso maker in the staff room; flowers on the counter (better yet – empower the staff to buy them); stock bottles of water in the fridge; coupons for dry-cleaning. Sometimes, it’s the little things that count and make a difference. Does your staff make the daily schedule? Is the schedule somewhat flexible or totally rigid? Maybe a staff member would like a few hours off per month to watch his or her child play a sport after school. When you are flexible with a staff member, their loyalty and respect is returned. Your goal is to recreate a workplace environment that is the envy of the competition. Treat staff well, pay them fairly and consistently, and have fun. First and foremost, remem
The effectiveness of infomercials is subject to the way they reach a target audience and convince them. They should not only catch the attention of the viewers but also retain their interest by satisfying their queries. This is done to ensure that the whole effort of promoting the product does not prove abortive. For the fulfillment of this objective, FAQs are frequently used in infomercialsFAQ?s, or the frequently asked questions, center around the way the product promoted by the infomercial are used. The questions relate to the kind of services provided and also if the company conducts any training or demonstration, guides consumers to purchase a certain product.It also includes questions relating to the efficacy of the product. The most common question is about the unique selling proposition of the product. In other words, how the features of the product distinguishes it from similar products in the market. What are the unique attributes of the product that can draw and retain the attention of the buyers?Since the price is an important factor determining the decision of the consumer to buy a product, there
Ailing merchandise/product –
Same old, same old! Customers are bored, staff is bored, and the buyer is bored. Translation - low sales. In today’s competitive marketplace, trends change faster than the seasons and the store that doesn’t keep pace with the newest trends, the latest fashions, and the top colours of the season will slowly see their bottom line erode. It takes a lot of time and effort to keep abreast of changes in the marketplace but it is a vital component of any business, fashion or not. Attend trade shows, extend buying trips to visit other competitive stores, hold focus groups of young and hip adults, watch TV shows that cater to your target market and take notice of advertising on TV and the radio. Start to make notes throughout the season. Note what your target market is wearing in the big cities and what stores they are frequenting. Observe them at the counter.
What are they buying? Watch and learn. Take note of the stock market and the business trends – what are the issues that are relevant. How can this information transform your business? The savvy retailer ensures that they are aware of the trends in their business, and ensures that their store is stocked to reflect this. The customer will flock to any store that is setting the trends – not just fashion trends, but any product trend. Make it your store’s goal to be a trend-setter and the staff will love you for it. Employees want to work for a winning retailer and customers want to shop there, too.
Ailing product displays
Since we know that eighty percent of sales are driven by only twenty percent of our customers, then it makes sense that the custo
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