What Will You Learn About Your Customers this Week?
Peter Drucker is credited with telling businesses to "Grow or Die" because all businesses lose customers with an average being around 7% of existing customers, yearly. Realize that some customers do die, some find other friends but 68% leave because of an attitude of indifference toward the customer according to a "US News and World Report" survey. Since all businesses do lose customers each year, growth is necessary just to stay even.
Lost customers affect your bottom line in several ways:
-Cost of courting and acquiring new customers,
-Cost of lost referrals and
-Cost of employees' time to educate and train new customers.
Just to start a retention program means staying on top of customer trends and attitudes means being in touch with:
-World and national developments in your industry,
-New technology as it applies to your business to do more with less,
-Your colleagues, both locally and nationally for networking, support and trends,
-Systems that will improve efficiencies,
-Procedures that will keep systems in place,
You can read Jill Griffin's book titled Customer Winback: How to recapture Lost Customers and Keep Them Loyal at Google Books.
Copyright 2010 Linda Fayerweather
Is what you are doing right now helping you achieve your goals? If not. . . stop doing that!
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
419-897-0528
Tax Strategies for A-List Misbehavior
Actress Lindsay Lohan made her silver screen debut at age 12, playing adorably cute identical twins in Disney's The Parent Trap. But she grew up fast -- probably too fast -- and has since established a reputation as one of Hollywood's hardest-partying young stars. Now she sells magazines with headlines out of the police blotter, not movie reviews. Her life has become the sort of tabloid trainwreck that lets the rest of us feel smugly superior.
Back in 2007, Lohan spent a grueling 84 minutes in jail after pleading guilty to various drug and alcohol charges. Last month, she made headlines again after Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel sentenced her to 90 days in jail for missing the court-ordered alcohol treatments mandated as part of her last sentencing.
Hollywood celebrities have always spent small fortunes on professional advisors - agents, accountants, attorneys, and business and investment managers among them. But criminal lawyers are increasingly joining those ranks. While nobody wants to pay a criminal attorney, are there at least any tax advantages to ease the sting of the bill?
The Supreme Court says legal fees may be a deductible business expense if the unlucky defendant paying those fees can show a sufficient link between their trade or business and their (alleged) crime. In Lohan's case, though, there's really no connection between missing rehab and promoting movies. You might think it would be enough for her to simply say "I should get the deduction because if I'm in jail, I can't earn taxable income." But the Tax Court has consistently shot down that argument. (And don't forget the 11 cents/hour she can earn stamping license plates!)
Judge Revel also sentenced Lohan to another 90 days of inpatient rehab. Fortunately, drug and alcohol rehab costs are a deductible medical expense - to the extent total medical costs exceed 7.5% of "adjusted gross income." Most stars with Lohan's "A-List" name recognition earn far too much to take advantage of that deduction. In her case, however, her post-rehab income may be just low enough that she can use the help!
There's not really a specific tax-planning lesson here. We just hope you're taking care of yourself better than Lindsay Lohan -- so we can help you when the deductions really are tied to your business!
.Tim Pinkelman, CPA
Accounting Center & Tax Services, Inc.
419-882-9255 or 734-847-0400
http://www.accounting-centers.com/
