Listening to Your Customers
Even in slow economic times, a business can grow by paying attention to the customers. Listening to your profitable customers and adapting your business to them now, may do more to sustain a business than any mass market appeal. Besides, the masses are not all your ideal customers anyway.
Some people right now need or want your business's product or service, so tell the truth, explain what you will and won't do and realize that some will go away.
This week, ask your customers how you can better serve them. What makes them smile?, What will make their buiness life easier?
Time spent now, will be remembered in the future when customers have more to spend!
Copyright 2009 Linda Fayerweather
What's working in your Business?
Changing Lanes LLC
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
Giving to Give
A novel idea for the commercialized world we live in and do business, when every Season's Greetings or Birthday card contains a coupon for a percentage off an order of $20, 50, 100 or more. (It seems we increasingly have to spend just to qualify for discounts that make the deal a perceived value.) So what does Giving to Give mean?
It means get rid of your agenda. Send a Birthday card to your best customer - without your logo on the card - and say . . . wait for it . . . "Happy Birthday! We're glad that we have had the opportunity to be of service to you in the past year and we sure hope it's been a good year for you!"
It means saying what you think you can't. Send your biggest client a Season's Greeting card and tell them "We respect you and value your input over the last year". I guarantee it will go miles beyond the smarmy "Wishing you and yours a . . . fill in the blank".
It's easy if you turn the tables on yourself. You probably have received a card or a gift from a supplier, or maybe your dentist, or even your mechanic, and it was probably branded with their logo and how much they can save you on your next purchase or service, etc. If you can relate to this then I'll bet you a dollar to a donut that you said something like "Yeesh. Why can't they treat me like person instead of a dollar sign!"
When we treat our customers, clients, family and friends like we'd like to be treated, we get amazing results. Practice the Golden Rule in your appreciation and it will show through. If you Give to Get, or give to get something in return, then that will show through too! If you'd rather have your card or gift recipients say "Wow! That was special!" and go on to tell all their friends and family, then let go of the outcome and send them something from the heart.
"For it is in giving that we receive." - St. Francis of Assisi
Copyright 2009 Todd Pillars is an Appreciation Marketer with Send Out Cards.
Contact him today at 419-855-2273, tpillars@gmail.com or visit his website at http://www.sendoutcards.com/tpillars
Links of Interest
A Free Copy of Think And Grow Rich! The Best-Selling Success Book of All Time by Napoleon Hill. http://www.FreeTGRbook.com/ChangingLanes Vic Johnson, wants to give you a free copy. It is one of my personal favorites and one I give to college graduates. Take the opportunity to get one for free!
Monday, December 07, 2009
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
If you haven't read "Think and Grow Rich", check it out for free - no overdue library fees! Just pay shipping. http://ping.fm/tyau4
Monday, November 30, 2009
Lessons Learned & Tax Changes, Again.
"Treat your business like a Fortune 500 Company. Create and implement a process that organizes your company behind the scenes." --Nolan Baker
--------------------------------
Lessons Learned and Relearned
--------------------------------
While working with clients, family and myself (my most difficult client) I am constantly reminded that we all have good ideas that get lost in the daily clutter of life. Usually these ideas are simple, clear, and will make a difference. Just last week, Tim Pinkelman, a great business planner, friend and client, showed me a form he had created years ago for meetings to handle, organize and identify the next step. It was simple, one page, fill in the blanks, check the boxes to organize the activities of a meeting. This is the type of tool that helps the attendee listen instead of taking voluminous notes. A great tool he had rediscovered.
I think we all have those moments of "why am I not doing that anymore?" Mostly, it comes from the day to day stress of getting things done without respect to added value or savings.
So where to start to change this cycle? Well, I will usually say - a plan that is written and goal driven. But today, I want you to be the student as we approach the holiday season and the New Year.
1. Create order in your life. Let Chaos be a theory not applied in your life. Clutter is the zapper of energy; it reminds us of undone projects.
2. Keep is simple. Occam's Razor paraphrased by me is "if all things are equal usually the simplest solution is the best."
3. Find Clarity. Knowing what you want and when you want it are keys to success and happiness.
4. Set goals. Goals need to be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. Think of goals as the GPS of your life - you know you want to get somewhere, right?
This week's quote is from Nolan Baker, a financial planner in the Toledo, Ohio area that has built a practice and grown it in these unique financial times. What the quote eludes to is the need to put systems and processes in place so that the creative juices and energies of your ideas are not lost! Whoa - that sounds like Lean in practice and a way to document what you have learned! Oh yes, he is the cover-boy of the http://www.seniormarketadvisor.com/ for November 2009.
While you are getting ready for the holiday season, get your mind in a place that will benefit your dreams for only then will you be of greatness for the rest of us!
Copyright 2009 Linda Fayerweather
What's working in your Business?
Changing Lanes LLC
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
-----------------------------------
Tax Changes, Again
----------------------------------
One thing we can be sure about with taxes is they are a constantly moving target. On November 9, President Obama signed the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Act of 2009. That Act extended the first-time homebuyer credit for purchases signed before May 1, 2010 and closed before July 1, 2010. The new law also limited the credit to homes costing $800,000 or less and raised the income level to qualify for the credit ($125,000 for individual filers and $225,000 for joint filers).
However, the new law also extended the credit, up to a limit of $6,500, for buyers who have maintained the same principal residence for any five-consecutive year period during the eight-year period ending on the date they buy a new principal residence. So you don't have to be a first-time homebuyer to qualify for the "first-time" homebuyer credit!
Buying a home has always offered tax-saving opportunities. The new law makes these opportunities even more attractive. If you're worried about missing these sorts of "hidden" opportunities, then call today to discuss what we can do. And let your friends, family, and colleagues know that we're here to help them, too!
Tim Pinkelman, CPA
Accounting Center & Tax Services, Inc.
http://www.accounting-centeres.com/
419-882-9255 or 734-847-0400
-------------------------
Links of Interest
--------------------------
A Free Copy of Think And Grow Rich! The Best-Selling Success Book of All Time by Napoleon Hill. http://www.FreeTGRbook.com/ChangingLanes. Vic Johnson, wants to give you a free copy. It is one of my personal favorites and one I give to college graduates. Take the opportunity to get one for free!
-----------------------------------
SMART goals details
-----------------------------------
Does your Business have a Plan? Webinar and Live Classes are available
now with Changing Lanes. Your business can still be the business of your dreams.
December 7, 9, 10 - live webinar. Registration
-----------------------------------
Learn more about Occam's Razor
Have a profitable week.
-----------------------------------
Linda Fayerweather, Editor
Changing Lanes LLC
--------------------------------
Lessons Learned and Relearned
--------------------------------
While working with clients, family and myself (my most difficult client) I am constantly reminded that we all have good ideas that get lost in the daily clutter of life. Usually these ideas are simple, clear, and will make a difference. Just last week, Tim Pinkelman, a great business planner, friend and client, showed me a form he had created years ago for meetings to handle, organize and identify the next step. It was simple, one page, fill in the blanks, check the boxes to organize the activities of a meeting. This is the type of tool that helps the attendee listen instead of taking voluminous notes. A great tool he had rediscovered.
I think we all have those moments of "why am I not doing that anymore?" Mostly, it comes from the day to day stress of getting things done without respect to added value or savings.
So where to start to change this cycle? Well, I will usually say - a plan that is written and goal driven. But today, I want you to be the student as we approach the holiday season and the New Year.
1. Create order in your life. Let Chaos be a theory not applied in your life. Clutter is the zapper of energy; it reminds us of undone projects.
2. Keep is simple. Occam's Razor paraphrased by me is "if all things are equal usually the simplest solution is the best."
3. Find Clarity. Knowing what you want and when you want it are keys to success and happiness.
4. Set goals. Goals need to be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. Think of goals as the GPS of your life - you know you want to get somewhere, right?
This week's quote is from Nolan Baker, a financial planner in the Toledo, Ohio area that has built a practice and grown it in these unique financial times. What the quote eludes to is the need to put systems and processes in place so that the creative juices and energies of your ideas are not lost! Whoa - that sounds like Lean in practice and a way to document what you have learned! Oh yes, he is the cover-boy of the http://www.seniormarketadvisor.com/ for November 2009.
While you are getting ready for the holiday season, get your mind in a place that will benefit your dreams for only then will you be of greatness for the rest of us!
Copyright 2009 Linda Fayerweather
What's working in your Business?
Changing Lanes LLC
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
-----------------------------------
Tax Changes, Again
----------------------------------
One thing we can be sure about with taxes is they are a constantly moving target. On November 9, President Obama signed the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Act of 2009. That Act extended the first-time homebuyer credit for purchases signed before May 1, 2010 and closed before July 1, 2010. The new law also limited the credit to homes costing $800,000 or less and raised the income level to qualify for the credit ($125,000 for individual filers and $225,000 for joint filers).
However, the new law also extended the credit, up to a limit of $6,500, for buyers who have maintained the same principal residence for any five-consecutive year period during the eight-year period ending on the date they buy a new principal residence. So you don't have to be a first-time homebuyer to qualify for the "first-time" homebuyer credit!
Buying a home has always offered tax-saving opportunities. The new law makes these opportunities even more attractive. If you're worried about missing these sorts of "hidden" opportunities, then call today to discuss what we can do. And let your friends, family, and colleagues know that we're here to help them, too!
Tim Pinkelman, CPA
Accounting Center & Tax Services, Inc.
http://www.accounting-centeres.com/
419-882-9255 or 734-847-0400
-------------------------
Links of Interest
--------------------------
A Free Copy of Think And Grow Rich! The Best-Selling Success Book of All Time by Napoleon Hill. http://www.FreeTGRbook.com/ChangingLanes. Vic Johnson, wants to give you a free copy. It is one of my personal favorites and one I give to college graduates. Take the opportunity to get one for free!
-----------------------------------
SMART goals details
-----------------------------------
Does your Business have a Plan? Webinar and Live Classes are available
now with Changing Lanes. Your business can still be the business of your dreams.
December 7, 9, 10 - live webinar. Registration
-----------------------------------
Learn more about Occam's Razor
Have a profitable week.
-----------------------------------
Linda Fayerweather, Editor
Changing Lanes LLC
Monday, November 23, 2009
Rewarding Employees & Yellow Pages
“Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.” --Napoleon Hill
Your authors are:
Linda Fayerweather of Changing Lanes LLC
Rebecca Booth of Imagine That
Pat Altvater of Transformations Institute
Paula Frazier of BNI of West Virginia
====================================
Rewarding and Thanking your Employees
====================================
Work above the agreed desired outcomes of individual performance is a choice each employee makes. When employees know what is expected of them (job descriptions help with desired performance outcomes that are time sensitive) combined with regular reviews, the choice they make beyond the expected achievement needs to be recognized. This recognition needs to match what the employee values. If the employee values family time, then a reward that would honor that time will be remembered longer.
A small business owner I work with asked at the team meeting if "any" employee would have time to do an especially dirty job that had been neglected by the recently fired cleaning crew. The self-selected employee did a tremendous job and was paid his regular wage, PLUS in the pay envelop, were 4 movie coupon tickets. Each time the employee goes to the movie, he tells the owner about it and thanks her! The employee feels recognized, respected and remembers the reward beyond the paycheck. The owner got a job well done and an employee that is ready for the next challenge.
Employees that feel appreciated and recognized will reward you with good work.
Copyright 2009 Linda Fayerweather
What's working in your Business?
Changing Lanes LLC
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
====================================
‘Tis the Season
===================================
I wish I could tell you that Halloween is done for 2009; but I can’t. ‘Tis the season for Yellow Pages advertising contracts. Many of you may be nervous about the economy and you may be unsettled about your marketing initiatives for the remainder of the year. There is hope! My first suggestion is to look back at where you got your new clients. Chances are it’s not out of the Yellow Pages. For most businesses, I have seen Yellow Pages advertising drive price shoppers to the phone versus people with money to spend. So take a long hard look at how you spend your marketing budget and where those new clients are coming from. If the majority is coming from Yellow Pages, good for you. If not, then downsize, downsize, downsize that ad! Be careful, reps for Yellow Pages are notorious for not letting you walk away from a “deal”, so they’ll be quite aggressive in convincing you to stay. But check out these facts:
* Hotels have stopped stocking their rooms with Yellow Pages, because their guests are connected to the internet with their phones.
* There are more Yellow Pages books in the marketplace that people with telephones
* More people are using the internet to find phone numbers than ever before
* People are concerned about our landfills being junked up with Yellow Pages, so they’re not even picking them up any more.
Less is more. Especially when it comes to advertising in the Yellow Pages. You have my permission to not think twice about slashing that budget like Freddie Krueger would slash his next unwitting victim. BOO!
Aside from Coach Linda Fayerweather – many yellow pages contracts must be cancelled with a certified letter!
Copyright 2008 Rebecca Booth
Marketing Goddess
Imagine That!
419.855.3399
Celebrating 10 years of delivering results for our clients.
http://www.rebeccaboothmarketinggoddess.com/
http://www.marketinginabox.biz/
Links of Interest
Bob Nelson wrote "1001 Ways to Reward Employees" available at:
More on SWOT analysis at http://tinyurl.com/SWOTcl
Have a profitable week.
Linda Fayerweather, Editor
Changing Lanes LLC
Your authors are:
Linda Fayerweather of Changing Lanes LLC
Rebecca Booth of Imagine That
Pat Altvater of Transformations Institute
Paula Frazier of BNI of West Virginia
====================================
Rewarding and Thanking your Employees
====================================
Work above the agreed desired outcomes of individual performance is a choice each employee makes. When employees know what is expected of them (job descriptions help with desired performance outcomes that are time sensitive) combined with regular reviews, the choice they make beyond the expected achievement needs to be recognized. This recognition needs to match what the employee values. If the employee values family time, then a reward that would honor that time will be remembered longer.
A small business owner I work with asked at the team meeting if "any" employee would have time to do an especially dirty job that had been neglected by the recently fired cleaning crew. The self-selected employee did a tremendous job and was paid his regular wage, PLUS in the pay envelop, were 4 movie coupon tickets. Each time the employee goes to the movie, he tells the owner about it and thanks her! The employee feels recognized, respected and remembers the reward beyond the paycheck. The owner got a job well done and an employee that is ready for the next challenge.
Employees that feel appreciated and recognized will reward you with good work.
Copyright 2009 Linda Fayerweather
What's working in your Business?
Changing Lanes LLC
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
====================================
‘Tis the Season
===================================
I wish I could tell you that Halloween is done for 2009; but I can’t. ‘Tis the season for Yellow Pages advertising contracts. Many of you may be nervous about the economy and you may be unsettled about your marketing initiatives for the remainder of the year. There is hope! My first suggestion is to look back at where you got your new clients. Chances are it’s not out of the Yellow Pages. For most businesses, I have seen Yellow Pages advertising drive price shoppers to the phone versus people with money to spend. So take a long hard look at how you spend your marketing budget and where those new clients are coming from. If the majority is coming from Yellow Pages, good for you. If not, then downsize, downsize, downsize that ad! Be careful, reps for Yellow Pages are notorious for not letting you walk away from a “deal”, so they’ll be quite aggressive in convincing you to stay. But check out these facts:
* Hotels have stopped stocking their rooms with Yellow Pages, because their guests are connected to the internet with their phones.
* There are more Yellow Pages books in the marketplace that people with telephones
* More people are using the internet to find phone numbers than ever before
* People are concerned about our landfills being junked up with Yellow Pages, so they’re not even picking them up any more.
Less is more. Especially when it comes to advertising in the Yellow Pages. You have my permission to not think twice about slashing that budget like Freddie Krueger would slash his next unwitting victim. BOO!
Aside from Coach Linda Fayerweather – many yellow pages contracts must be cancelled with a certified letter!
Copyright 2008 Rebecca Booth
Marketing Goddess
Imagine That!
419.855.3399
Celebrating 10 years of delivering results for our clients.
http://www.rebeccaboothmarketinggoddess.com/
http://www.marketinginabox.biz/
Links of Interest
Bob Nelson wrote "1001 Ways to Reward Employees" available at:
More on SWOT analysis at http://tinyurl.com/SWOTcl
Have a profitable week.
Linda Fayerweather, Editor
Changing Lanes LLC
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