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In this issue:
• Marketing Article: Miss This in Your Marketing and You May Destroy Your Business!
• Marketing Article: A Philosophy of Management - Part 1

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Miss This in Your Marketing and You May Destroy Your Business!
by Kathleen Gage © 2008

It never ceases to amaze me when I hear about or experience a company that forgets the basics of Marketing 101. Lots of companies use all the latest and greatest marketing strategies to attract business, yet forget one of the most effective forms of marketing; stellar customer service.

It seems more and more companies are overlooking this type of marketing. Or, they think that offering so/so customer service is good enough.

That may be fine for an average business, selling an average product or service, to people who don't care about anything but the cheapest price and the greatest bargain. For companies who want to be known as above average, who want to command top dollar, be in the game for the long haul and be recognized as one of the best, good enough is hardly good enough. You have to go above and beyond. One of the most important aspects of going above and beyond is paying attention to what your customers need and what they are asking for.

Case in point. When I relocated my home and my business about a year and a half ago, I was in need of finding new service providers for a number of things; home and auto insurance, a dentist, a doctor, an auto mechanic and an accountant to name just a few.

My experience of finding the right people to do business with was likely similar to what others go through. There is the first level a customer goes through to find service providers. Often it is based on the recommendation of a neighbor, colleague, or member of church or association we belong to. At this level, we are relying on what someone else says about a company, primarily because that's all we have to go on.

The next level is the actual experience the customer has when they do business with the recommended company. When I went through this process my overall experience with the vendors who were recommended to me was quite good. In some cases exceptional.

Such was not the case with the accounting firm I selected based on a personal recommendation. I called the firm, set up an appointment and spent a good hour talking to the CPA about my business, my needs, goals for my company, how I preferred information to be communicated to me and the billing process. Something I emphasized is that I wanted no surprises.

All seemed in order as I left my first meeting. However, within a short period of time it became evident my needs and wants were not being honored. A phone call to the CPA's assistant seemed to clear up the misunderstanding. We were back on track, or so I thought.

Another couple of months passed and once again, it became apparent that the agreements we made were not being honored. The fact was, I wasn't asking for anything out of the ordinary.

After the third occasion of talking to the CPA's assistant in frustration and the assistant giving me yet another series of excuses I decided to pull my business from the firm. I had far too much at risk to continue this song and dance. Besides, now each time I had a conversation I felt angry and frustrated. This was not how I wanted my relationship with my accountant to be.

Amazingly, this wasn't a bargain basement accounting firm. The firm is known as one of the top in the area. Yet, from my experience this was not evident.

The CPA and assistant seemed genuinely surprised when I chose to take my business elsewhere. It hardly seemed that it should have been a shock to them because I had let them know of my displeasure with how my account was being handled on three occasions.

Apparently, the accountant was going through some personal problems and had let her personal life impact her business relationships. Her assistant had to continually smooth things over and cover for her. I was to discover it was not just me who had this experience.

Everyone goes through personal problems. That's a part of life. But to let personal problems impact one's business to the degree this accountant did can have detrimental effects on a business; theirs and that of the client.

When something like this happens, not only are customers frustrated, professional relationships are deeply impacted and trust is lost.

No matter what a company says about themselves by way of their advertising, website or blog, the reality is, your customer's experience either works for you or against you.

What is the experience you create for your customers?

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Kathleen Gage works with speakers, trainers, authors and consultants who want to turn their expertise into money-making products and services. Access Gage's FREE eBook, The Truth About Making Money on the Internet by visiting www.streetsmartsmarketing.com

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A Philosophy of Management - Part 1
by James F. Heller © 2008

There are some basic key ingredients to a successful business. However, everybody can tell you what is needed to make the business – no matter whose business it is - successful, more successful, keep from having to close its doors. This principle of being able to tell everyone else what is needed is the same as we find all through society. Everyone can tell the government how to run the country, how to solve the problems of inequity, how to solve poverty, how to solve the educational problem, and all the other problems we are facing. Just go to any coffee shop and listen to the people. Everyone just knows what should be done, that is, as long as they don't really have to power to make the changes they have the solutions.

This holds true in companies and organizations. If you were to ask the managers of all the departments what is needed for the company to become more successful you will have as many suggestions as there are managers. In fact, you'll probably have some managers hedge their bets by making a couple of suggestions. Here are some suggestions all made from within the same organization:

We must reorganize.
We must broaden our market area.
We must have a new facility.
We must have a better location.
We must broaden our product line.

While all these things may be important to the organization involved, none of them address the basic key ingredients of a successful organization. These ingredients apply to corporations, brick and mortar businesses and home businesses.

There are Three Key Ingredients for a successful business:

1. Commitment to work on a goal.

There is almost unlimited power in a commitment to a goal. Most people today have lost the understanding of the power of a commitment. It doesn't take much assessment of society to see the truth of that statement. Society is littered with people who made a commitment but didn't follow through. One day it sounded like a great idea but then came the work or a difficulty or a negative comment, or whatever and out the window went the commitment.

This is very evident in the realm of the home based business. People sign up on the dotted line, send in the money and two days later they no longer want to be a part of it. These people did not understand that they had made a commitment. They have now set themselves up for one failure after another.

The successful home based businesses understand that success comes in helping the people make a firm commitment to do the business. They try to make sure that the people understand there will be a ‘learning curve.' They will have some problems to overcome. They will have some discouragements. However, a commitment to a goal – the bigger the goal or the ‘why' – the greater will be the commitment.

It seems that almost everyone would like to ‘make more money.' Everyone would like to have a nicer car. Everyone would like to have a better house. Everyone would like to travel more, stay in nicer hotels and eat at nicer restaurants. However, the vast majority of people would only like to have these tings but they are not willing to do what it takes to actually have them. There is no commitment in wanting these things.

We have worked with some in our business opportunity who after a week or so have said, ‘I didn't know it was going to take so much work or time.' So, we remind them why they got into the business – wanted to stay home with their children, wanted a better lifestyle, wanted to be able to retire, or whatever they had said. The need is still there so now they blame the business for being too hard. Commitment seems to be a disposable commodity in today's society.

You'll have to wait for the next two Key Ingredients to a Successful Business.

JFHeller
James F Heller

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I worked in the corporate world for 15 years – oil & gas taxation, payroll accountant. The next 26 years have been in church ministry. I am nearing retirement without retirement income so had to start looking for a means of support. Internet Marketing was the answer. www.jamesfheller.com