Everyone talks about customer service. Many businesses use this phrase in their advertising and marketing but how do you really “service” your customers. You hear it everywhere but are businesses really following through on their promises. I recently wrote on critical listening, which goes hand-in-hand with customer service. Not only do you need to really truly listen to your clients and potential clients, but you…
We’ve all heard about the “blurb.” It’s that short phrase you use to describe what you do for a living. Often it’s the first and, maybe if handled incorrectly, the last, contact you’ll have when meeting a potential client. It’s more important than your name when introducing yourself. When it comes to creating a blurb to describe what you do, think benefits. Most people are…
Here's an idea – get with your network of friends, relatives and neighbors and put them to work for you. I don't mean putting them on the payroll. I mean tapping into them as a referral source. Consider this. Most people know roughly 250 people. Those 250 people each know another 250. Do the math. That's 45,000-plus potential referral prospects. Even at a close rate…
Wouldn't it be nice if effective small business marketing and self-promotion practices felt natural and authentic? If you truly care about your customers, self-promotion deserves your attention. Many negative connotations typically come to mind when thinking about self-promotion, all of which keep many people from feeling comfortable and confident when talking about themselves. You’ve heard all the name-calling: conceited, show-off, braggart, arrogant, egotistical. Maybe you…
In my business, with social media being an integral part of marketing and business development, I am often questioned on the role it plays when employees have access to social media while working. Certain aspects of marketing often overlap with human resources and many policies need to be integrated into an employee handbook, which are essential to the development of the business. Do you really…
These days, almost every business checks Facebook as part of their applicant screening process. And it turns out many employers are misreading the information they glean from this social media giant. A new study from North Carolina State University shows that many organizations may have a fundamental misunderstanding of online behavior and, as a result, may be eliminating desirable job candidates. Finding: Employers may be…
Teams have become the latest management obsession. They’re the corporate equivalent of a Visa card: they’re everywhere you want to be. Trouble is that despite their vast presence, teams rarely achieve breakthrough results. Instead, they sink to the level of the weakest performer. The fault lies not with the team or its members, but with those who took a group of individuals, charged them with…
An employee handbook lays the groundwork for how a business runs from day to day. If your handbook isn’t used or updated consistently, your business may not be running as efficiently as possible and be at high risk for costly employee relations issues. Your handbook needs to reflect compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws. This does not mean that every law needs to…
Some salespeople close new business continuously while others, albeit personable and seemingly good at what they do, have fallen into a rut of less & less closed sales — one reason may be because they’ve fallen into bad habits without even realizing it. (Note: If you are a business owner, you too are a salesperson. When you talk to someone about your business, you need…
Organic SEO (search engine optimization) is the phrase used to describe processes to obtain a natural placement on organic search engine results pages. Increasing your rankings on the organic side of search engine results requires planning, creativity and above all patience. Three to six months is definitely not an exaggeration in the amount of time it may take for the internet to recognize you… But…