There are 2 first opportunities that are key in attracting and securing good customers in business: advertising, formally or by referral, and phone inquiry (''I passed by your shop today and have been looking for a good repair shop'', ''I spotted your ad in the paper and need some work done'', ''My friend told me about you….'', and on and on). Regardless of how prospects find you, most often, your first personal contact with them will be by phone. The phone is our connection to what makes business work everyday, all day long. Just consider the days when the phone doesn’t ring. On occasion, it can be a good thing for catching up but can never happen for very long. Our phone must ring; we must talk to customers, old and new; we must communicate with the outside world; we must consider it key to a certain degree of our success or fail! With business today so overwhelmed and high-paced, it’s not uncommon to spend untold dollars on advertising to make the ph ... read more
Working to maintain adequate business performance today while endeavoring to grow to keep up with rising costs can be a business owner's toughest struggle. The greatest challenge in achieving both goals can be in deciding which areas of business need special attention for the moment and how to give that attention adequately. The performance of any business largely relies on maintaining balance in a combination of 4 key components: skillful staff, adequate work environment and equipment, efficient resources in vendors and effective financial management. Having any one of these four out of alignment is tampering with the potential our business has to meet expectations. Although financial management was listed last, it was the first on the list in opening the doors of your business and mine, too. Some may argue that skillful staff (beginning with their own expertise) was the original key, but, money was the resource that funded the tools to attain that exp ... read more