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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: Transport minister says senior management of Genoa bridge operator ‘must step down’ Italy’s transport minister has called on senior managers at the company that operated the collapsed Genoa motorway bridge to resign, as the death toll rose to at least 37. Rescuers searched overnight for survivors through tons of concrete and steel under the shattered structure of the Morandi Bridge. “We’re not giving up hope, we’ve already saved a dozen people from under the rubble,” a fire official, Emanuele Giffi, told AFP. “We’re going to work round the clock until the last victim is secured.” Continue reading...Law aims to boost housing affordability after property prices rise more 75% in some parts of the country in four years The New Zealand government has banned the sale of existing homes to foreign buyers, saying New Zealanders were sick of being “tenants in our own land”. Associate minister of finance David Parker said the ban would mean housing would become more affordable for locals, and supply would increase. Continue reading...As judge prepares key ruling, Siti Aisyah’s mother recounts her daughter’s journey from aspiring TV star to suspected tool of North Korean regime In the beginning, there were a few times that Benah pretended not to know her daughter, Siti Aisyah. She just couldn’t face the questions. One day while Benah was visiting the doctor in town the receptionist recognised the name of her sleepy Javanese village, Rancasumur – a name popularised by the nightly news. “How far away is your house from Siti’s?” the receptionist asked, leaning in conspiratorially. “Oh, it’s far,” replied Benah, “I don’t even know her.” Continue reading...Politicians unite in condemnation of Fraser Anning’s speech, but his party leader Bob Katter says he backs him ‘1000%’ Bob Katter, the veteran Queensland political maverick, has lauded an inflammatory speech by his Senate representative, Fraser Anning, declaring the contribution “absolutely magnificent” and “everything that this country should be doing”. As political leaders moved in lock-step to condemn Anning’s speech – which praised the White Australia policy, called for an end to Muslim migration, and invoked the term “final solution” – Katter, the leader of Katter’s Australia party, struck a starkly different note, declaring the speech had his “1,000% support”. Continue reading...Far-right conspiracy theorist will not be able to tweet, retweet or favourite tweets for seven days Controversial Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been suspended from Twitter for up to seven days. The suspension has put Jones into what Twitter describes as “read-only mode” preventing him from tweeting, liking or retweeting, but not removing his tweets or personal account from the social network. The Infowars Twitter account remains unaffected. Continue reading...Australian researchers examine whether plants can be grown with characteristics of man-made materials The dream of a cotton shirt that does not need ironing could one day materialise into a reality, with CSIRO scientists on the case. Related: How to run a race: emotions may be more crucial than training says study Continue reading...
Police are continuing to question a man over a suspected terrorist attack in Westminster on Tuesday, after the investigation went nationwide with raids on addresses in Nottingham and Birmingham. The 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of preparing an act of terrorism after a silver Ford Fiesta was driven into cyclists travelling around Parliament Square on Tuesday morning. He is understood to be Salih Khater, a British national who lives in the Sparkbrook area of Birmingham and is of Sudanese origin. Continue reading...All the day’s economy and financial news, as Ankara hikes the tariffs on US rice, spirits and cars
Back in Turkey, the government is preparing for show of support from Qatar. The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, left Doha to travel to Ankara for a “working visit” with president Erdoğan. “means of strengthening the existing strategic cooperation between the two countries in various fields, in addition to a number of issues of mutual interest.
Related: UK rail fares to rise by 3.2% Continue reading...Priests harmed more than 1,000 children according to a grand jury report released by the state supreme court More than 300 “predator priests” were found to have committed sexual abuse in Pennsylvania, harming more than 1,000 children, according to a grand jury report released by the state supreme court on Tuesday. The near-900-page report is the result of one of the largest US investigations into sexual abuse in the Catholic church. In painful detail, it showcases how for decades one of the most powerful churches in the world hid the abuse and suffering of children. Continue reading...Twelfth-century sculpture missing for almost 60 years was spotted at antiques fair A 12th-century statue of Buddha stolen from India nearly 60 years ago is to be returned to the country after it was discovered at a trade fair in the UK. The bronze sculpture was one of 14 statues ransacked from the Archaeological Museum in Nalanda, eastern India, in 1961. Continue reading...Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus ‘more worried after the visit than before’, as death toll in north-east of country reaches 41 The director general of the World Health Organization has appealed for an end to fighting in the north-east Democratic Republic of the Congo to allow humanitarian groups to tackle the Ebola outbreak there. On his return from a trip to North Kivu where there have been 57 probable cases and 41 deaths so far, a sombre Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was “actually more worried after the visit than before the visit”. Continue reading...Hotter, drier summers in Australia mean longer fire seasons – and urban sprawl into bushland is putting more people at risk At first the smoke on the horizon “didn’t look like anything major,” says Joe Mercieca of that day in 2013. But then the wind picked up. His house in the Blue Mountains, an hour and a half out of Sydney, was soon surrounded by the blaze. “I told my wife it was too late, let’s retreat,” he says. Mercieca, Merylese and their dog took shelter in the concrete fire bunker they had built beneath their house. “We sat in there and listened to everything explode.” Continue reading...Cities are already up to 10C hotter than surrounding areas. As temperatures rise, here are four ways to cool cities down – saving both lives and energy If you’ve felt uncomfortably hot in a city this summer, chances are it’s not just because of the weather. Look around any urban centre and you’ll see the built environment itself exacerbates summer temperatures. Vehicles stuck in traffic emitting heat. Airconditioners pumping waste heat into the air. Concrete and asphalt across almost every surface, absorbing and radiating the sun’s rays. Urban canyons formed between tall buildings, trapping heat at the street level. Continue reading...Heat now kills more Americans than floods, hurricanes or other natural disasters – but cities are facing it almost entirely alone On yet another day of roasting heat in Phoenix, elderly and homeless people scurry between shards of shade in search of respite at the Marcos De Niza Senior Center. Along with several dozen other institutions in the city, it has been set up as a cooling centre: a free public refuge, with air conditioning, chilled bottled water, boardgames and books. Last summer a record 155 people died in Phoenix from excess heat, and the city is straining to avoid a repeat. James Sanders, an 83-year-old who goes by King, has lived in the city for 60 years and considers himself acclimatised to the baking south Arizona sun. “It does seem hotter than it used to be, though,” he says as he picks at his lunch, the temperature having climbed to 42C (107F) outside. “Maybe it’s my age. Maybe the wind isn’t blowing. It can’t get much hotter than this though. Can it?” Continue reading...Mapping the world’s cities where you can live comfortably without heating or air conditioning reveals how few boast such ideal climates – and how global warming would further narrow the field Continue reading...Migrants also speak of phones damaged or being taunted but Croatian authorities deny allegations The lucky ones escaped with only their mobile phones smashed. Those less fortunate say they were beaten with sticks, taunted or attacked with dogs. Many allege they had large sums of money stolen. According to the testimony of migrants and monitoring groups, the Croatian police force is engaging in a systematic campaign of violence and theft against migrants and refugees attempting to find a route to western Europe through the country. Allegations of rape and trafficking of five girls date from between 2005 and 2012 Thirty men have been charged with raping and trafficking five girls in West Yorkshire. The allegations against the defendants are non-recent sexual offences dating back to between 2005 and 2012. They relate to five women who say they were abused as children in the Huddersfield area between the ages of 12 and 18. Continue reading...Party says leader had been attending memorial to Palestinian airstrike victims Labour has hit out at what it said were “false and misleading” claims about Jeremy Corbyn’s visit to the Palestinian cemetery in Tunis and insisted he had attended an annual memorial for victims of an Israeli air attack on the Palestine Liberation Organisation headquarters in October 1985. The party offered its most complete version of events yet about Corbyn’s controversial visit in 2014, and said the commemoration for the 74 people who had died was attended by “mainstream leaders”, including a Palestinian authority minister. Continue reading...Christine Hallquist becomes first transgender American to be a major party nominee for governor, while Minnesota Republicans reject Tim Pawlenty Democrats in Vermont have chosen for the first transgender nominee for governor for a major party, in primaries that also saw Minnesota Republicans reject a former two-term governor attacked as not supportive enough of Donald Trump. Tim Pawlenty lost the Republican nomination for Minnesota governor on Tuesday after his opponent repeatedly attacked him for calling Trump “unfit” for the White House in the aftermath of the Access Hollywood tape. Continue reading...Homicide rates in Mexico and Brazil are climbing even further. Yet Britain could learn from listening to debates in Latin America Brazil has set a new and chilling record: it saw seven homicides each hour in 2017, or almost 64,000 deaths, a 3% annual increase on a sky-high rate. Mexico is on course to another unwelcome milestone, with nearly 16,000 homicides in the first half of this year, up 15% year-on-year on already record levels. More people are murdered than die in wars worldwide, and they are especially likely to be killed in Latin America. Brazil has 30 homicides per 100,000 citizens, compared with five in the US and around one in England and Wales even after a recent rise. Victims and their families are not the only sufferers; 42% of Brazilians are “very afraid” of being murdered (in fact, victims are disproportionately young black men, although femicide is also a cause of grave and growing concern). The government estimates that violence cost the country nearly $2tn over two decades. Yet as daunting as the figures are, the problem is not irresolvable. “Violence can be prevented. This is not an article of faith, but a statement based on evidence,” says the World Health Organization. A campaign by multiple NGOs aims to halve the region’s murder rate in a decade; cities such as Bogotá and Cali have delivered dramatic falls in the past, although not always sustainably. Continue reading...Lucy Lamble talks to Sandra Olsson from Child Soldiers International, who works with girls formerly caught up in armed groups in Democratic Republic of the Congo as they struggle to settle back in their communities After studying in Gothenburg and Ghana’s Cape Coast, Sandra Olsson worked for Unicef before joining Child Soldiers International and researching the lives of girl soldiers in eastern DRC. Often used as ‘wives’ and sexually abused by other soldiers, many former girl soldiers are shunned by family and friends when they are released or escape. The girls spoke of their strong wish to go back to school and CSI now runs a programme to help them return to education, despite the stigma they face. Continue reading...ConocoPhillips and Perenco try to stop £140m levy from sale of oilfields in key case for tax avoidance by multinationals Two multinational oil companies have launched a pre-emptive legal strike, seeking to stop Vietnam from collecting taxes on the profits made in a major oil deal. An investigation by Finance Uncovered has found that ConocoPhillips and Perenco will attempt to stop the Vietnamese government from levying an estimated $179m (£140m) in taxes on the profits made from the sale of oilfields in the country. The dispute will be heard at a little-known but powerful international court, so secretive that information on the date and location of the hearing is restricted. Continue reading...The Aquarius is a special-purpose ship chartered by SOS Méditerranée, a European maritime and humanitarian organisation, and Médecins Sans Frontières to rescue migrants and refugees in trouble at sea. Photographer Nicoló Lanfranchi joined the crew onboard to chart the progress of the mission, which began in Marseille and will head to the Libyan coast. This is his first dispatch. Continue reading...Agriculture startups from around the world gathered at a vibrant conference sponsored by pesticide manufacturer As confetti showers a theatre inside Rio de Janeiro’s normally sedate Museum of Tomorrow, electronic pop music pounds and dozens of young people crowd the stage to dance enthusiastically, hugging each other and waving flags as their audience films the festivities on their phones. But this is not a religious event, or a disco. It’s an unusual conference that has attracted several hundred young people from across the world to pitch and discuss ideas on how to feed the world’s booming population with agriculture startups – and make their fortunes doing so. One year after visiting the Philippines to document the impact of President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on drugs, photographer James Whitlow Delano returns to the city of Navotas, Metro Manila, to assess the impact of a campaign that has now claimed up to 20,000 lives Teenage widow Jasmine Durana dries off her 18-month-old daughter, Hazel, after a morning bath, before preparing a fire to make breakfast. Plastic jerrycans hang on the rafters behind her in the one-room slum dwelling she shares with her parents, two brothers and younger sister. The single mother, who saved for a month to pay for the containers, hopes they will help her to launch a new business selling drinks in the market or near a local school. Continue reading...Pontiff vowed ‘decisive action’ when elected but has failed to get a grip on series of scandals The damning report on the sexual abuse of potentially thousands of children by priests in Pennsylvania, and the subsequent cover-up by a Catholic church primarily interested in self-protection, is another blow for Pope Francis, who is already reeling after a series of damaging scandals over recent months. The shocking accounts of rape and assault of vulnerable children by men who are supposed to be moral exemplars are bad enough. But, as is almost always the case, the actual abuse is compounded by collusion and concealment by senior church figures and attempts to silence and intimidate survivors. Bob Goodlatte’s son and Stephen Miller’s uncle have proved that when it comes to politics blood is not thicker than water The Republican party is increasingly alienating younger voters, older voters and voters in the suburbs. But there is one constituency turning against GOP lawmakers that they must be especially disappointed about losing: their own family members. On Monday, Bobby Goodlatte, a Virginia-based designer, announced he had donated the maximum amount to Jennifer Lewis, the Democrat running in Virginia’s sixth congressional district. He also claimed he persuaded five others to do the same. There was nothing untoward about the donations save for the fact that Goodlatte’s father, GOP congressman Bob Goodlatte, has been the representative for the district since 1993. Bobby says he wants to “flip” districts like his father’s in 2018. Continue reading...Migration numbers have fallen since 2015 peak, but countries are still grappling with the political and practical fallout Continue reading...Today’s economic uncertainty and struggle can motivate people to change their allegiances and sensibilities, and make ‘pie-in-the-sky’ solutions seem more attainable After another week of political despair and tawdry scandals involving porn stars and payoffs, we retreat into our Netflix accounts and wait for all this to end. Or do we? At the end of July, US senator Bernie Sanders proposed a bill abolishing cash bail, long a scourge of indigent people and the activists who defend them. “Poverty is not a crime,” Sanders said. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans, convicted of nothing, should not be in jail today because they cannot afford cash bail.” Continue reading...As the public spat between Donald Trump and former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman continued, the White House was unable to guarantee that no recordings existed of the president using the 'N-word'. Manigault Newman, a former contestant on the reality TV show The Apprentice, is promoting a memoir, Unhinged, in which she recounts her time in the Trump administration before she was fired last year Continue reading...Helicopter footage released by the Italian fire brigade shows the full extent of destruction after a motorway bridge collapsed in the northern Italian port city of Genoa, killing at least 23 people and injuring 15. Firefighters have been working at the scene searching for survivors and bodies amid the rubble
At least 23 people were killed and 15 injured after a bridge on a main highway linking Italy with France collapsed in Genoa during a violent storm Continue reading...Omarosa Manigault Newman has revealed on CBS This Morning a third tape that she claims is a recording of a 2016 conference call among Donald Trump's campaign aides discussing how to address potential fallout from the release of tapes that allegedly showed Trump using the N-word. The aides had previously denied that any such conversations had taken place. On Monday, Trump denied claims of racism and said Manigault Newman was a liar for claiming he used the N-word: 'I don’t have that word in my vocabulary and never have. She made it up.' Continue reading...At least 20 people have been killed after a motorway bridge collapsed in torrential rain in the northern Italian port city of Genoa. An 80-metre section of the bridge, including one set of the supports that tower above it, crashed down on to the roof of a factory and other buildings, crushing at least one lorry and plunging huge slabs of concrete into the river below
Readers have been sharing their designs after it was announced Trump supporters were to vote on a logo for his new space force Continue reading...The Perseid meteor shower has been spotted across Europe, the US and Canada. Darker skies have created a spectacular show. The annual occurrence can be seen until the 24 August, but peaked on 11-13 August 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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