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Never Sell Again: Get Repeat Business and Avoid the Need to Prospect
If you're a business owner, you know that repeat business is critical to your success. It also makes your life much easier because you can count on ongoing business without having to continuously find new prospects and convince them to hire you. Here are seven ways to keep your customers coming back: 1. Take time to build a relationship Learn to "visit" instead of being so professional that you appear rude. Pay attention when you meet with your customers. Learn about them and their lives. Notice what they hang on their walls and place on their desks. And don't just notice, comment on them. For instance, if your prospect or customer has a huge marlin hanging on his wall, you could say, "I'll bet there's an interesting story that goes with that fish." Your client will be thrilled to tell you about it, and he'll be flattered that you asked. And it would be like ignoring the elephant in the room if you DIDN'T comment on it. Learning about your customer will pay off every day of your relationship. 2. Set realistic deadlines and either meet or beat them. Nothing impresses a client more than when you follow through with what you say you will do. Do it fast. Do your best. And do it right. Clients always want it "yesterday," but if you know it can't be done that quickly, or it won't be done correctly because there's not enough time, then speak up right at the beginning. It's better to set a realistic deadline and then beat it by a day or two, than accept an unrealistic one and make the client wait. 3. Make it easy to work with you. Extend your service hours to cover when your customers want to talk to you. If your business is tech support or Internet marketing, remember that peak Net usage is 10 pm. If you're a night person, you can impress your customers by being available during their "off" hours. 4. Offer credit card payment options to make it easy for your clients (and the government!) to pay you. Today, businesses need payment options. If you're able to allow them to pay with credit cards, you'll have more clients. And if you're interested in government business, this is an easy way to get some of it since most government agencies are now using credit cards for purchases valued at less than $2,500. 5. Be flexible--offer to meet for breakfast. Just like you, your clients are very busy. They have meetings all day and often during lunch, so it's hard to find a time to get together. Offer to meet for breakfast when you and your client are both fresh, or meet after normal work hours to accommodate their schedule. 6. Provide added-value service at no charge. Give them something they aren't expecting. If you go the extra mile, your customers will notice. You'll soon be the one they turn to when they need a problem solved. It works when your vendors do it for you, doesn't it? It sure does for me! For example, I recently began doing informational teleseminars with industry experts, and I not only needed a bridge line to do them, but I also needed someone to record the seminars for me so I'd have a good finished product to sell through my website. I got one-stop-shopping with Dan Janal at Great Teleseminars, which was perfect. And, when he confirmed the information, he sent me a free copy of two of his ebooks to teach me how to do a good teleseminar! Now that's added value. 7. Refer business to your customers. If you send business to your customers, it shows how much value them. Connect one customer with another, if possible. It's the ultimate thank you. Lois Carter Fay, APR, is a 30-year veteran in the P.R. and marketing field. She now produces three marketing ezines, Brainy Tidbits, Brainy Flash, and Success Secrets of Women Entrepreneurs. All are free. She's also the co-author with Jim Wilson of "Sales Success! Strategies for Women," a quick-to-read ebook containing 52 easy-to-implement sales tips. The ezines and ebook are available through her websites. Visit www.MarketingIdeaShop.com">http://www.MarketingIdeaShop.com or www.WomenMarketing.com">http://www.WomenMarketing.com to learn more sales ideas and subscribe. Claim your free special report when you subscribe.
MORE RESOURCES: Minimum salary threshold of £30k-a-year will also apply to migrants from the EU27 Sajid Javid is expected to publish a long-delayed white paper on Britain’s tough new immigration regime on Wednesday, as the prime minister seeks to build the case for her Brexit deal by pledging to “take back control of our borders”. Related: Business leaders warn against plan to slash EU immigration to UK Continue reading...New York attorney general says charity functioned ‘as little more than a checkbook to serve Trump’s business and political interests’ Donald Trump has agreed to shut down his personal charity, the Trump Foundation, in the wake of a succession of scandals and a looming lawsuit which exposed a “shocking pattern of illegality”. Continue reading...
The sentencing of Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn has been delayed during a live-wire court hearing filled with stunning reversals in which the judge accused him of having “sold your country out”. Continue reading...Online presenter accused of affecting the country’s reputation after suggesting the outfit was ugly A popular YouTube presenter is facing charges in Thailand after she criticised a Miss Universe dress that was designed by the daughter of the king. Wanchaleom Jamneanphol, a popular online TV host, is facing charges under Thailand’s notoriously strict cybercrimes and lèse-majesté laws – which make it illegal to say anything negative about the monarchy – for her comments online describing a dress designed by Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana as ugly. Continue reading...Google breached suppression laws by sending out emails headlined with the name of man charged with backpacker murder Google has been forced to explain to the New Zealand government why it breached the country’s strict suppression laws by naming the man charged with murdering British backpacker Grace Millane. The company said it had occurred by mistake, but stopped short of apologising for the blunder. Senior policy manager Ross Young told media Google had acted when it had been made aware of the court order, four days after it was issued. Continue reading...
Penny Marshall, who starred in the hit American sitcom Laverne & Shirley before becoming one of the top-grossing female directors in Hollywood, has died at 75. Marshall’s publicist said she passed away at her home in the Hollywood Hills, California, on Monday due to complications from diabetes. Continue reading...Macquarie University Chinese history lecturer Kevin Carrico subject to detailed reporting of his movements on a recent visit When Kevin Carrico landed back in Australia on Monday after spending a week in Hong Kong, his friend sent him a link to the front page of a Hong Kong tabloid. It was covered with pictures of Carrico and details of his trip. Continue reading...Russell Horning is credited with making the dance move a global phenomenon in 2016 A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Russell Horning, aka the Backpack Kid, against a video game company, alleging they breached his copyright for including his signature dance move “flossing” in their wildly popular game Fortnite. Horning, 16, is credited with popularising “The Floss”, and became famous when he did the dance on Saturday Night Live during a performance by Katy Perry in 2016. Continue reading...Country braces for snap election as parliament rejects minority administration Belgium’s government of four years has fallen on the issue of migration after the country’s parliament rejected an appeal from prime minister, Charles Michel, for its support for a minority administration. Michel was forced to offer his resignation to the King of the Belgians, Philippe, after the Socialist party, with support from the Greens, proposed a vote of no confidence in his administration. Continue reading...Language saying marriage was between ‘two people with absolutely equal rights’ was dropped due to public pressure Cuba’s government has backed away from enshrining gay marriage protections in its new constitution after widespread popular rejection of the idea. Gay rights advocates had proposed eliminating the description in the constitution of marriage as a union of a man and woman, changing it to the union of “two people ... with absolutely equal rights and obligations.” But the government said on Tuesday that language promoting the legalisation of gay marriage would be removed from the draft. Continue reading...Korean Air will increase penalties after 35 cases of fans buying tickets to get close to their idols before cancelling The latest trick employed by K-pop fans desperate to get close to band members, which sees them buy expensive airline tickets and then abruptly cancelling their flight once they have taken photos of their idols, has prompted South Korea’s flagship airline to increase refund penalties for late cancellations. Korean Air announced the decision days after three fans of the boy band Wanna One took their obsession to extremes, boarding a Seoul-bound flight in Hong Kong to take photos of the band’s 11 members. They then demanded that they be allowed to disembark just minutes before takeoff and that they be given a refund. Continue reading...After the Finnish city was razed to the ground by the German army in the second world war, architect Alvar Aalto rebuilt it to a reindeer-shaped street grid. Then Santa came to town … As soon as you land at Rovaniemi airport in Lapland you see a reindeer. Not a real one, admittedly, but somebody in a Rudolf suit cheerily greeting passengers who have just arrived. A couple of miles from “Santa’s official airport” lies Santa Claus Village, an amusement park complete with elves, real reindeers, huskies, shops and restaurants that draws more than 600,000 visitors a year to this isolated spot at the edge of the Arctic Circle. There are reindeer everywhere in Rovaniemi: humans dressed as them at the airport, real ones pulling sleighs at Santa Claus Village and statues of them throughout the city centre. Continue reading...Once a thriving, glamorous city, Venezuela’s capital is buckling under hyperinflation, crime and poverty A portrait of Hugo Chávez and a Bolivarian battle cry greet visitors to the Boyacá viewpoint in the mountains north of Caracas. “It is our duty to find one thousand ways and more to give the people the life that they need!” But as Venezuela buckles, Chávez’s pledge sounds increasingly hollow. Vandals have splashed paint into the comandante’s face and beneath him Venezuela’s capital is dying. Continue reading...For a trial period, cars are allowed in the fortified area, a move many feel does not go far enough Kareem Talal twice helped to bring down the concrete walls surrounding Baghdad’s Green Zone. In 2016 he was among thousands of angry protesters loyal to the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr who broke into the fortified enclave that houses government institutions and foreign embassies. Continue reading...Most cities have not been designed with women’s safety in mind but, from Egypt to Rwanda, new technology, design and education are reducing the threat of violence on the street Sexual violence has rarely been so high on the news agenda. Since allegations against the movie producer Harvey Weinstein started to emerge in October last year, the global problem has finally become a mainstream issue. The United Nations has estimated that one in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence, with 120 million girls around the world having been forced into sex acts. The repercussions go beyond the physical and psychological toll on individuals who have been attacked. Harassment and fear of violence can impede free movement of girls and women and stop them reaching their full potential, both socially and economically. “If women feel afraid,” says Laura Somoggi, who manages the biennial Womanity award for the prevention of violence against women, “it could undermine their ability to work or go to school or university which affects their empowerment, their rights.” Fear of attack is a bar to women escaping poverty. Continue reading...As thousands gather for the first public viewing of Musk’s ‘loop track’, skeptics wonder whether it will live up to its promises Elon Musk enthused that this was no ordinary tunnel opening, but something epic and “incredibly profound”. Skeptics wondered whether it was just a hyped-up coming-out party for a hole in the ground. In the end, the first public viewing of Musk’s latest visionary project – an underground “loop” track that promises to revolutionize transport in the 21st-century city – turned out to be a grand mixture of imaginative futurism and showbiz razzamatazz, not to mention a showcase for a novel tunnel-boring technology that may be the most significant development of all. Continue reading...UN-negotiated ceasefire in Yemeni port city seen as litmus test for other measures Residents trapped in Hodeidah were daring to hope on Tuesday that the misery facing the besieged Yemeni city was abating, after the first day of a UN-brokered ceasefire appeared to hold. Both Houthi rebels in control of the city and forces loyal to Yemen’s exiled government agreed to a cessation of hostilities at midnight on Monday night. Continue reading...Ogoniland women produce most of the family’s food but the twin pressures of land grabs and pollution are making it impossible for them to survive Two women pick a slimy path through a creek, prized by generations of their female forbears for its mangroves, which once provided an abundance of food. The elder in orange, the younger in blue, they fail to find a single periwinkle snail, a single fish or a usable piece of kindling between them. Their feet struggle to take purchase on the mud, more slippery than it used to be. Continue reading...First Step Act, which would reduce drug crime sentences, saw rare support from both progressives and law-and-order conservatives A bill seeking to reform the criminal justice system cleared the Senate Tuesday night, in a legislative victory for both progressive advocates and law-and-order conservatives. The First Step Act, which passed 87-12, attracted support from both sides of the aisle, as well as from public figures such as Patricia Arquette, Mark Cuban, Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West. Donald Trumpsupported the iteration of the bill that passed in the House in May, and the most current version that will need to return to the House for another vote before it reaches his desk for a signature. Continue reading...A heatwave will descend over the centre of the country this week and continue into Christmas, the bureau of meteorology says Most of Australia is set for a warm and dry Christmas Day, with the bureau of meteorology predicting temperatures as high as 40C in the north, between the high-20s and mid-30s in capital cities, and little chance of rain. The bureau’s seven-day forecast for the holiday period says Perth, Adelaide and Darwin will have the hottest Christmas Day, at a maximum of 35C, while there could be rain in Darwin and Hobart. Continue reading...Trafficked to the UK and raped for years, Abdul became homeless, got involved in crime and was threatened with deportation The Home Office has paid £30,000 to a victim of child trafficking who was held illegally in immigration detention for several months despite having refugee status and showing clear signs of having been tortured and abused. Abdul* (not his real name) was about seven when he was trafficked into the UK in the mid-90s. He thinks he came from Somalia but is not certain. He lived with adults who pretended to be his family but who abused him physically and sexually. One attempt to escape failed when police sent him back to his abusers. Suffering serious mental health problems as a teenager, he became street homeless and addicted to drugs. Continue reading...Imelda Cortez, 20, faced an attempted murder charge under draconian abortion laws after being raped by her stepfather A rape victim who was charged with attempted murder in El Salvador after giving birth to her abuser’s baby has been found not guilty and freed from jail. Imelda Cortez, 20, has been in custody since April 2017 after giving birth in a latrine to a baby girl fathered by her abusive stepfather. Continue reading...Film explores how women on the streets of Freetown suffer extortion, exploitation and imprisonment because of archaic laws Mariatu was 15 years old when her widowed mother died and she ended up sleeping rough on the streets of Freetown where she fell into commercial sex work. Not long after, she was arrested for “loitering” and, unable to pay a police bribe, spent six months in an adult jail. Continue reading...From the flight of Rohingya Muslims into neighbouring Bangladesh to the journey undertaken by pilgrims travelling to the Ganges delta, the lives of migrants are celebrated in a series of stunning entries to a photography competition organised by Oxford University’s centre of migration, policy and society Continue reading...Negotiations between countries have stopped, raising particular concern for Canada as its relationship with US sours Amid an increasingly bitter diplomatic feud sparked by the detention of a senior Huawei executive in Vancouver, a highly coveted free trade deal between Canada and China looks increasingly unlikely. The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of telecom giant Huawei – and China’s subsequent detention of two Canadians – has halted negotiations between the two countries. And as the United States prepares to request Meng’s extradition in the coming weeks, China has vowed to unleash punitive measures. Continue reading...Russian media have seized on the yellow vest protests – but they don’t seem to have played a role in their genesis Russian state television has spent much of the last two weeks playing up the chaos of France’s protests, continuing a trend of coverage that emerged long before troll factories and the modern era of “fake news”. Seven years ago, the Kremlin-backed TV station Russia Today went all in on coverage of a leftist street protest in the west. Did Occupy Wall Street fit the Kremlin’s interests of showing a western nation in (relative) chaos? Yes. But at that time, few would have suggested that Occupy was anything but a genuine protest movement. Continue reading...Geopolitical and economic rivalry between China and the US – not a breach of Trump’s Iran sanctions – is what’s really behind Meng Wanzhou’s arrest Blame the British, as usual. In 1807, in the midst of a struggle with Napoleonic France, HMS Leopard, a Royal Navy ship of the line, attacked, boarded and captured an American frigate, USS Chesapeake, off Norfolk, Virginia. The British claimed their action was justified by the presence on the American ship of four English deserters, whom they arrested. But, for President Thomas Jefferson, it was an outrageous, illegal infringement of the sovereignty and independence of the infant republic, eventually leading to the 1812 war. It’s fair to say the Americans never forgot lessons drawn from the Chesapeake humiliation – and have been faithfully following Britain’s script ever since. As its power grew, the US, too, assumed the right to extend its national writ beyond its shores. One modern example is the way the US justice department ruthlessly pursues foreign nationals, such as the Scottish hacker Gary McKinnon, who are deemed to have broken US law. McKinnon’s extradition was ultimately blocked in 2012 by Britain’s then home secretary, Theresa May, after a public outcry. Continue reading...From Kevin Hart to Lena Dunham to Christmas songs, sometimes it’s a good idea to look critically at the past. But you can’t just ban everything If 2016 was the year of the celebrity death, and 2017 the year of the celebrity sex scandal, then 2018 has been the year celebrities have been held to account for things they said in the past that no longer wash in these suddenly, if somewhat belatedly, enlightened times. Quite what to do next remains slightly TBD. Many high-profile comedians have come under this kind of fire, from Sarah Silverman to Amy Schumer to Ricky Gervais, and last week it was the turn of Kevin Hart. He lasted precisely two seconds as the named host of the 2019 Oscars before his prior fondness for outrageously homophobic comedy, including a routine about how awful it would be to have a gay child, and his predilection for similarly hilarious witticisms on Twitter (including one tweet describing someone as looking like “a gay billboard for Aids”) were deemed, as the modern lingo goes, problematic. Continue reading...The Democratic Republic of the Congo goes to the polls on Sunday with 21 candidates running to replace Joseph Kabila, who has been president since 2001. The photographer John Wessels has been watching the campaign transform the streets of the capital, Kinshasa Continue reading...A selection of some of the planet’s most stomach-turning foods, including maggot cheese, fish sperm sac sushi and Chinese mouse wine, are on display in Los Angeles as part of a new exhibition that aims to delight and disgust in equal measure. The Disgusting Food Museum displays dishes from around the world in a bid to challenge stereotypes about which ingredients one would consider to be disgusting Continue reading...Sarah Sanders struggles to answer questions about Donald Trump's apparently more favourable view of Michael Flynn compared with his former aide Michael Cohen, when both have cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller. She says Cohen is known to be a liar before saying 'I don't see any reason to go beyond that comment.' Sanders continued to claim the FBI had 'ambushed' Flynn – contrary to Flynn’s own statements. Asked if Trump was concerned about Flynn lying to the FBI and working for a foreign government, Sanders said: 'Not when it comes to things that have anything to do with the president.' Watchdog organisation Border Violence Monitoring has published videos of Croatian police conducting apparent 'pushback' operations against asylum seekers in woods on the border with Bosnia Continue reading...Hungary's rightwing government has faced a rare sit-in by opposition politicians. About a dozen MPs spent the night in the state television headquarters, in Budapest, in a continuation of their demonstration against PM Viktor Orbán's policies Continue reading...Italy's anti-immigration deputy prime minister is Europe's most followed politician on Facebook, with 3.4 million followers. Matteo Salvini used live streams in the run-up to parliamentary elections to speak directly to his supporters and show, as he puts it, images 'they would never show' in the mainstream media
Israel has signalled its displeasure with Australia's recognition of West Jerusalem as its capital. A minister close to Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a mistake to contradict the notion of Israeli control over the whole city Continue reading... |
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Ten Reasons to Implement Choice Theory in Your Organization What is Choice Theory (CT)? CT is a theory of the explanation of human behavior. CT has applicability to both a person's personal and professional life. 11 Things Small Business Owners Can Learn From Michael Dell 1. Think Big - In college, Michael Dell said he wanted to "beat IBM. The Top 7 Marketing Tips You Dont Want To Overlook 1. Combine Emotion and LogicConsumers buy because the want to experience the benefits of the product or service you have to offer. Why Clarity Is Essential To Building Massive Momentum In Your Business Clarity is an absolutely essential ingredient for you to achieve your full potential in business. Napolean Hill, in his classic book Think & Grow Rich, said "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Top 10 Ways to Start a Business For Less Than $500 We've heard numerous success stories of Internet entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos, who started Amazon.com from his garage, using cheap plywood to construct desks. Reminders For Running A Better Business The following tips are from an article we contributed to Compute magazine. These are ideas that we all should know, but many times forget. I WANT IT NOW - 10 Tips for Freight & Drayage at Trade Shows Gas prices continue to go through the roof and increased transportation costs will increase trade show costs across the board.Here are 10 Tips for saving time, money and your sanity. Top 7 Tips For Writing Your Marketing Plan A lot of people are at a loss when it comes to deciding how to approach the marketing plan process and how to stay within time and budget constraints. To make for a less stressful marketing plan process, keep these 7 tips in mind:Think Strategy First An overall marketing strategy drives many decisions. Entrepreneurs - 7 Business Mistakes You Must Avoid Many mistakes can be made in business and if you are able to avoid some of them by reading and taking note of these warnings, then the time taken to put these together will be worth while. Here are some business mistakes that are common to many entrepreneurs. 7 Tips on How To Prepare for Business Events Are you scratching your head after business events wondering why you aren't finding prospects? Whether it's your first or 100th event, here are some tips on how to prepare for your next event that can make the difference between scratching and smiling. These tips will help you save time, money, create memorable impressions, and increase connections. Get Your Mailing Noticed - Seven Tips for Effective Direct Mail Pieces When sending mail to clients and potential clients, make your mailing stand out from the stacks of "junk mail" they receive. Here are a few easy ways to get their attention. How To Move Your Business Online in 7 Steps So you have set up your company, fairly established and generating some sort of revenue. Why should you take the most important step of starting online?The online audience is massive - it's an information resource used by millions worldwide and continues to grow. 1 Step Program to Achieve All of Your Goals In Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen's original "Chicken Soup for the Soul," I am reminded of the short story titled "Another Check Mark On the List." This is a story about a 15-year-old boy named John who, on one rainy day, when it was too wet outside to play, he decided to write a list of goals. Checklist for Hiring a Private Investigator Looking for an old friend? Want to know if your spouse is cheating? Need to check out a potential tenant or employee?A good private investigator (PI) can help you obtain these answers. And as with any expert you hire-a doctor, a lawyer, an insurance broker-it benefits you to take the time to ensure you're hiring a professional who has experience, quality reputation, and good-business ethics. How to Apply the 12 Steps for Managment Conflict and Resolution 1. Admit there is a problem. Top Ten Tips: Where to Get the Best Business Books Now! There are many places you can get books, and I don't pretend to know them all. I've listed a few of my favorites below. Ten Tips for Cross Cultural Communication Here are some simple tips to help you improve your cross cultural communication skills: Slow Down Even when English is the common language in a cross cultural situation, this does not mean you should speak at normal speed. Slow down, speak clearly and ensure your pronunciation is intelligible. Business Goals - The 10 Commandments The Ten Commandments of Goal Setting While it's good to set goals and work them into a proper plan, the fact is many people succeed in business without setting any goals. Be careful not to set your goals too high. Bookkeeping Techniques For Morons Please don't think I am calling you a "moron" to hurt your feelings in any way. I was a moron when I first started setting up my files. 10 Things To Do When Business Slows Down Over The Holidays I'm sure you've seen it happen every year: your business slows down during predictable times, like the summer vacation months or year-end holidays. For the self-employed who rely upon steady cash flow, this can be a disconcerting time.
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