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Invest In Client Loyalty

March 22, 2011 by 1 Comment

Did you know that businesses spend 90% of their marketing budgets attracting new customers rather than engaging and customizing the experience of their current customers in an effort to keep them?  In this economy of shrinking resources the key to being successful is utilizing your limited resources to your best advantage.

Progressive companies are implementing the following strategies:

  1. Asking their current customers how they can better serve them and implementing the change
  2. Making their customer’s  interaction an unforgettable experience for them
  3. Develop staff focused on delivering a customized customer experience
  4. Invest in coaching of organization leaders and staff.

Why are these good strategies to implement?  Replacing a lost customer will cost your business ten times more than the expense of attracting a new customer.   On the other hand the value of a repeat customer is twenty times their annual revenue over the life of that customer.  This means that your limited resources are best spent in developing a focused customer service culture that highly values your current customers.  Providing your current customers with a customized experience that leads them to tell others about your business is the ultimate goal.

In this time of aster spending you may find that the best business investment that can be made is in the training and development of your leadership and staff.  An analysis of the processes and encounters customers experience by a process improvement expert can provide a clear and open prospective to areas for improvement and customization.  Businesses which focus on customizing their customer‘s experiences, will differentiate themselves from the competition.  When you stand out from the crowd you get noticed.  Consider these strategies when looking to improve client loyalty and the customer service culture in your business.  If you are looking for help to accelerate the implementations of these strategies please complete the contact form and we will schedule a meeting. Here is to your continued success.

Filed Under: Business, Client Loyalty, Customer Service Tagged With: , , , ,

Do You Have A Mastermind Group

June 23, 2010 by 4 Comments

Do you have a mastermind group?  Not sure what it is? A master mind is a group of like minded individuals who share common interest.  They are willing to meet with each other on a regular basis and assist in supporting and holding each other accountable to reaching their goals.

The best thing is this can be a focused, high energy group that can provide insight that any one individual would not be able to obtain if they were just brain storming alone.  Having other people who share the same interest provides synergy and helps everyone benefit from various points of view on the same topic.

I am a member of a master mind group of speakers who are looking at expanding their impact in the various markets they speak.  We share a number of things in common, we are members of Toastmaster International, we have competed in speech competitions (even competed against one another), and we enjoy sharing information with each other.

The size of the mastermind group is important.  We started with a size of 5 and grew to 7 although we normally have around 5 people attend when we meet do to schedules and time constraints.  Our gender makeup is one female and six males.  One of the things that we enjoy is meeting over lunch and making it a working meeting.  We have selected restaurants which have free WIFI and bring our lap top computers.  This allows us to show our group members specific sites and tools on the internet we use and how they work.

Having a mastermind group is very similar to the study group I had in graduate school.  We want to ensure that the group is successful because our personal success is tied to the group.  We find that each of us has an area of expertise that we have to offer the group and benefit from the open sharing of this information.

Do you need a mastermind group? Only if you are looking to reduce your learning curve by leveraging the knowledge of like minded individuals who are focused on being successful.  And the best thing about the development of a mastermind group is that it is free.  Our payment to each other is our time and open sharing of information.  We like to meet over food because it allows us to develop our relationship with each other and make the work that we do together more enjoyable.

The most important part of development of a mastermind group is the outlook of the members.  Everyone must agree to respect each other’s opinion and be open to comments made by others.  Just like in the development of any group you may experience the various stages of forming, storming, norming and then performing.  If the group members are selected correctly the storming stage should be minimized by the desire for the group to be successful.  It is the need for the mutual exchange of ideas that drives the group.

If you are looking to reduce your errors, help others, open to new ideas, and have a true desire for success then a master mind group is for you.  I encourage you to find out more about it. Start a small group and meet.  If you have a question about how to start a mastermind group please feel free to contact me.  I would be happy to help you.

Filed Under: Business, Leadership, Relationship, Speaking Tagged With: , , , , ,

What is Your Brand Identity

June 22, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Have you considered what your brand identity is for your business?  What are you known for in the market place and how do your clients connect the fact that you offer what they need?  These are important questions that you need to answer and how you answer them can have a dramatic impact on the success of your business.

What would you say if I told you for less than $100 you can have the opportunity to find out the answer to these and a number of other questions on branding that can have a positive impact on your business?    My friend Lethia Ownes is travelling across the country conducting a 7 city tour to help you answer these questions in a seminar in a city near you.  In fact her tour will reach the half mark this weekend with her appearance in Baltimore.

Are you near or can you travel to the Baltimore area this weekend to hear her?  I highly recommend it. You can find out information at the Irresistible Brand 7 City Tour. For a limited time you may have the opportunity to bring a guest for free.  That is right, buy one ticket and bring a guest along at no additional cost.  If you have not had the pleasure of hearing Lethia speak here is a video of her discussing the Irresistible Brand 7 City Tour.

I hope that you enjoyed the video.  Take a look to find out more about this unique opportunity to listen to a certified Personal Brand and Social Media Strategist talk about developing Your Irresistible Brand.

Filed Under: Branding, Business, Relationship, Soical Media, Video Tagged With: , , , ,

Do Not Overlook The Details

June 21, 2010 by 4 Comments

We all have heard that we need to dress for success and I would like to clarify this statement.  Dressing for success might mean different things to different people.  Some people think of dressing for success as wearing a suit with a white shirt and tie if you are a man or a suit jacket and skirt if you are a woman.  This is true but we need to look a little deeper and pay attention to the details.

Shoes – What type of shoes are you wearing?  Depending on the culture of the organization that you are planning to do business with or going on a job interview will determine the type of shoe you wear.  This is especially true for women.  You do not want to wear too high of a heel especially if the office standard dress is conservative.  Men should make sure that their shoes are polished and absent of any marks or blemishes.  You may consider carrying a disposable neutral color shoe shine packet in your pocket just in case your shoes get scared in your travels.

Cleaners – Prepare yourself for the meeting in advance by placing your suit for this meeting in the cleaners.  Ideally you want to wear the outfit that was newly cleaned.  This will ensure that it is pressed and will present you in the best possible light.

Eat in Your Undies – Now I know this might sound strange but I recommend that you eat breakfast before you get dressed for the meeting.  This will prevent you from spilling something on the outfit you are going to wear.  It would be bad if you spilled something on your outfit for the day and had to wipe it off.  But worse than that, you might spill something and not be aware of it.  Eating and doing your morning preparations, brushing your teeth and the like should be done prior to dressing in the outfit that you plan to wear for the day.

Paying attention to these details will help you dress to make a good first impression.   Please feel free to share tips and strategies that you use when dressing for an important business meeting.

Filed Under: Business, First Impression Tagged With: , , , ,

Free Webinars

June 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment

When you hear the words free webinar what do you think?  Not worth my time?  How good could it be if it were free?  Well I would like you to look at free as an opportunity to try something and see if you like it.  It is the same as going to the Supermarket or Cosco and trying a sample food item or beverage that they are running a special on.

Normally you probably would not have considered trying the item that the store has to offer but since it is free you thought you would try it.  The same thinking applies to attending a free webinar.  The best part is you can listen to the information via phone or by computer.  A webinar allows you to see what is being taught.

If you are a visual learner like me you enjoy watching what is being taught and retain it better by watching.  My friend Toolie is conducting a free webinar tonight, Tuesday night, June 15th, at 6 pm Pacific, 9 pm Eastern time as part of her “I Can Fix My Web Site” series.

If you think your website could use an improvement I would recommend signing up to attend this free webinar.  This is an opportunity to learn great information and sample my friend Toolie teaching style.  Don’t miss out.  Click the link to register and please feel free to tell me what you thought of the Webinar.

Filed Under: Business, Website Tagged With: , , , ,

Daily Goals – Do You Have Them?

June 14, 2010 by 6 Comments

So many of us talk about the goals that we have and that is it.  It does not go any further, it is just talk.  I suffer from the same problem so I know what I am talking about 😉 .   If you suffer from the same problem no need to worry.  I would like to share a strategy that you can use to address this problem.

Writing down your goals makes them real and not just a dream that you have.  Putting a date to the goal makes it a focused goal that you can work toward.  We have all heard that goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely but writing it down brings it to life.

So let’s talk about the things you accomplished today.  Those are goals that you reached.  Why don’t you write those accomplishments down on paper so you can see them?  It is good to look at them and realize the number of accomplishments you completed today.  In our fast paced world we don’t spend the time acknowledging our accomplishments.  Please take the time before you eat dinner to write down your accomplishments for the day, when you do please include those things that you did not have a chance to complete today.  These unmet goals are opportunities for tomorrow’s success.  Make sure you write a to do list or a goal sheet and pursue them for tomorrow.  Do not feel bad about not reaching those goals.  Develop a plan and go out tomorrow and make it happen.

Filed Under: Leadership, Video, Your Talents Tagged With: , , ,

Chairing A Conference

June 10, 2010 by 4 Comments

Last year I chaired an Anti-Racism Conference for the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey.  The Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey has more than 158 parishes and covers the area south of Newark to Cape May, New Jersey.  How I came about this position is really funny.  I happened not to attend a diocesan committee meeting and was selected as the conference chair.

Tip # 1 – Be sure to attend all committee meetings

I had been a committee member on the previous anti-racism conference team and had experience as the inaugural fall conference chair for the newly formed Toastmasters District 83.  One of the challenges was coordinating group meetings because the location that we met previously was not going to be available.  The rising gas prices and logistical issue prompted me to come up with alternative solutions.

Solution # 1 – Establish a free Teleconference line for the committee

Solution # 2 – Meeting time will not exceed an hour

Solution # 3 – Record conference call so people who missed the meeting could hear it

Solution # 4 – Built and internet membership site to post the recorded meetings

These solutions introduced the committee members to technology that they had not used previously.  This allowed the meetings to be more efficient and productive.    In fact this process worked so well that they have adopted this process and currently use it for meeting.

I presented the results of being an anti-racism conference chair at my local Toastmasters club as part of a high performance leadership project (HPL).   High Performance Leadership is a module project in Toastmasters in which you establish a committee, a vision, a leadership project to work through and give speeches along the way.  In the video I am presenting the results of my HPL and hope you enjoy it.

Filed Under: Business, Leadership, Speaking, Team Work, Toastmasters Tagged With: , , , ,