Bloggy Business Today

Many were expecting an interest rate cut of 0.5% but actually got something better from the Federal Reserve led by chairman Ben Bernanke. The Federal Reserve actually cut the rates in the vicinity of 0 to 0.25% just to avert this crisis and hopefully limit the length or recession that is upon us now.

We have seen the effects of recession. Companies going bankrupt, people losing their jobs and severe budget cuts made by people themselves. We cannot avert the impending crisis but we can manage and manage hard. Extreme sacrifices are sure to be needed as all sectors of the world from business to real estate are experiencing the hard effects of the credit crunch.

“The Federal Reserve will employ all available tools to promote the resumption of sustainable economic growth and to preserve price stability,” the Fed said.

Brace yourselves for the worst economic catastrophe since the 1930s. It is not going to be pretty.

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This is the second in an ongoing series discussing author Stephen J. Covey’s landmark book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

In his many books, business guru Stephen J. Covey suggests that the ability to teach is an ingrained habit of “highly effective” people.  Teaching is a positive not just for the student, but the teacher as well.  The process of teaching a new skill or concept to another person reinforces the knowledge for the one doing the instruction.  Just as a basketball player repetitively drills the fundamentals of the game, it is  good practice for future experiences with your customers.  After all, if you can’t explain your product or service effectively to your colleauges and co-workers, how can you expect to be persuasive when it really counts? Here are a few quick tips to help you make teaching a natural component of your business in 2008. 

• Offer a free seminar for customers and potential prospects  — Prospects love an opportunity to learn something or get expert advice for free.  Plus, this will give you an excellent opportunity to fine-tune your presentation skills and test out new material or conceprts.  And if you feed people during your seminar, you’ll be swimming in quality sales leads in no time.
• Teach your employees a new skill each month — Have a monthly meeting devoted to learning a new piece of useful information.  Bring some nice bagels and coffee.  Not only is it good for morale, but it will help you keep their attention.
• Empower your own employees to teach a new concept/skill to co-workers — If you’re a business owner, you should jknow that your time is valuable.  There’s just not enough hours in the day to be everywhere and do everything.  Take one of your talented employees out to lunch and ask them to teach a new concept to the rest of your staff.  Not only will it take some work off your plate, but it will make your valued employee feel like a crucial part of the team. 
• Sponsor ongoing industry education for your employees –  If Tony Robbins or Zig Ziglar is in town, bite the bullet and buy tickets for your staff.  Or if there’s a seminar locally that deals with your industry, invite the team to attend.  Sometimes it’s good for your employees to hear the “good word” from someone besides the boss.

Usually mortgages have a dead limit. In case of home mortgage, no other cheap loans offer this much. Options like student loan consolidation come handy too. Avoid reselling any investment property and get some insurance too.

Technorati Tags: 7 habits, 7 habits of highly effective people, business, continuing education, stephen covey, teaching, tony robbins, zig ziglar

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My good friend Brian recently loaned me his copy of some of his Don LaPre “Money Making Secrets” books. For those of you who don’t remember, Don LaPre hosted some wildly successful late-night infomercials in the late 80s and early 90s. 

In his infomercials, Don LaPre touted an approach that included his “use of tiny classified ads” to sell a product or service.  The show, repetitively shown during late-night television programming slots, was taped outdoors in some tropical sun-splashed locale.  LaPre — slightly handsome, clad in a casual polo shirt, hair perfectly coiffed – spoke excitedly about a business venture that allowed him to “make up to $50,000 a week from his tiny, one-bedroom apartment.”

The content of LaPre’s advice was nominal at best.  And As for the LaPre books themselves, they’re above average content-wise.  They don’t contain any earth-shattering irevelations.  And you will not get rich quick on any of his ideas.  What really set the LaPre infomercials apart was the unbridled enthusiasm he brought to the ads.  Like many professional public speakers, LaPre had mastered the finer points of effective communication.  His gestures were always appropriate, his diction spot on, his voice modulation letter perfect. 

In fact, LaPre’s enthusiasm was so palpable that Saturday Night Live parodied his infomercial during one of their late-night skits.  Imitation, however, is often the highest form of flattery. And LaPre ultimately had the last laugh, selling over one million copies of his “business” kits.

What’s the moral of the story here?  Though the ads bordered on being cheesy, they were damn effective.  LaPre captured the imagination of potential customers not only through the benefits of his “strategies,” but also based the manner in which the information was presented.  Whether you are running your own business or work in sales, you always need to be aware of your public image.  Do you have your “game face” on for your customers?  Are you conveying as much passion and enthusiasm about your product to you audience?

Because, as any great chef already knows, it’s all about the presentation.

Technorati Tags: business, infomercials, public_speakers, effective_communication

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Have you ever had the salesman at your car dealership give you a call a few months before your loan expires?  Or maybe your guy at the bank sent you an e-mail recently about refinancing your home mortgage?

How did he know you were ready to buy another SUV?  Or that you might be ready to refinance your home in this favorable interest rate environment?   It’s not just a coincidence.  Smarts salespeople and smart companies know that their existing customer base is a precious asset, a treasure that provide rewards year in and year out.

But for some reason, many businesses ignore one of their valuable resources.  Not only have they proven themselves to be buyers in the past, but they are already familiar with your product or service.  Instead of having to start from scratch, you have an existing business relationship in place that’ll provide you an easy entrée into future sales opportunities.

On rare occasions, contacting a previous customer can open up old wounds.  Even the most successful companies in the world drop the ball on a customer or two.  After all, you can’t win ‘em all.  But even these situations have promise.  Perhaps their complaint is a connected to a previous regime or a personal animus with one of your salesmen.  Don’t leave a stone unturned.  These seemingly lost causes can sometimes be turned around into opportunities for the future. 

An attempt at repair and reconciliation, assuming it’s done in good faith and in a sincere manner, can pay off for the savvy business owner. As you plan your marketing strategies and assess your revenue goals for 2008, don’t forget about the people that helped you get there in the first place — your customers. 

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Have you ever been to Baskin Robbins and had the nice young lady behind the counter give you a heaping pink spoonful of one of the ice cream shop’s famous 32 flavors?  Tasty, isn’t it?  Have you ever asked for a second sample or a third before making your choice?  That’s awfully nice of them to do that for you, isn’t it?

It’s awfully strategic of them to do that too.  And well-planned.  And profitable.  After all, everybody likes to get something for free.  A free car wash with eight gallons of gas.  Buy one hamburger at regular price and get the next one for free.  Getting something for nothing is as American as apple pie and Uncle Sam.

The premise is that by giving away a free ‘taste’ of your product or service, you will whet the appetite of your target market and they will come back for more.  This is a marketing approach that has worked for business owners and entrepreneurs since time immemorial.  Even a street-level drug dealer would have to sing the virtues of product samples as an effective marketing tool.  Before he goes to jail, that is. 

Whatever your company’s product or service, a thoughtfully designed sample engages your target audience directly with your product.  You are involving your customers on a sensory level, allowing them to hear, see, taste, touch and feel your product before they buy. And you’re not overtly trying to sell them something.  You’re giving them the product and letting them sell themselves. They’re doing your job for you.  The more valuable, honest and helpful the information you provide, the more likely it is that the person will seek out more information and eventually become a client. 

On a more subliminal level, the fact that you are letting your customer have something for free will position you and your company favorably in the eyes of a potential customer.  If any small sense of indebtedness or expectancy is aroused within your prospective customer, your sample or preview has already demonstrated its effectiveness. 

Though we live in a complex, technologically advanced culture, the basics of human nature remain the same.  Keep it simple.  Give people what they want.   

For a humorous take on product samples and “sample abusers,” check out this episode from Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm .

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