The Beneficial Aspects of Office Refurbishment

You can enjoy a number of benefits from a full-fledged refurbishment work at your workplace. A dull looking and unorganized office space may lead to reduced functionality and lower work performance of the employees. Greater business challenges can only be overcome by an efficient team work. You need to ensure optimum work performance and an enthusiastic work environment for increased potential in every sphere of work. A creative office design with a well laid out plan is necessary. If everything is in the right place then you are nowhere far from an improved office space and increased work performance. You must see to it that your new workplace should look happier and lively.

Impress your clients

With a well-planned office refurbishment work you can impress your potential clients. They will feel more comfortable interacting with you in a newly designed office. A clean and carefully designed office place looks more welcoming than a dull office layout. You can gain more business by making your clients happy. They will feel confident about your work efficiency when you have a well-maintained office space. You may also know that one satisfied client bring more clients by recommending your service to them. You can also handle more projects at the same time if you have an increased working mechanism. You can achieve this greater work efficiency by a successful office refurbishment work.

Things to do

You may need to undertake some basic refurbishment tasks at the beginning. You should make a list of such tasks and make sure they get completed within the allotted time. You need to make an improved layout plan, office partitioning, floor designing etc. You are also required to buy high quality office furnishing for proper functionality and improved work performance. When your employees feel comfortable about their new seating arrangements and desk designs, they will surely perform well as per their capacity. You need to utilize this full working potential for the betterment of your business. Increased noise level in office disrupts managerial works to a great extent. You can categorize departments and place the noisy ones separately.

Workplace partitioning

Well-planned office partition helps you accommodate more people into less space. It needs to be efficient in functionality and it should look spacious. You must take care of computer cabling and electrical wiring system when you are planning for a new partition system in your office. Well-planned cabling is necessary to keep your workplace safe and disruption free. Telephone lines are needed to be well-laid, for smooth interdepartmental communication. Window blinds and a good partition layout are necessary for optimum privacy for the employees. It will help you establish a brand reputation and convey a corporate message.

Choose a right office fit out company

You need to contact a good refurbishment specialist. There are many companies that offer you on-site project coordination and timely completion. You must look for an experienced fit out specialist who ensures quality material, reliable installation and highest level of workmanship. You can take useful suggestion and sketch out a possible space planning. Else, you can also give the total project responsibility to them and instruct them to follow the main objectives and complete the project on time. You can also collect useful feedbacks from your employees. You can get a number of crucial improvement suggestions from the employees who are actually facing the problems while working.

Eathan Taylor is an office interior designer in London with keen interest in designing for office fit out which includes commercial fit out and refurbishment. He has worked for numerous office interiors fitout companies and shares a lots of interesting stuff regarding relocation and office fit out in his posts.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eathan_Taylor

Breaking Bad Reputations: How to Improve Your Online Business Reputation

Your online reputation is your image on the internet. Online Reputation Management is managing that image. It is important to a business because potential customers are looking online more and more prior to making buying decisions. Research shows that purchase decisions change due to negative comments and reviews.

Consider the following:

59% of online shoppers say customer reviews of products are significant in their buying decisions.

72% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

80% of people surveyed had changed a purchase decision due to a bad review they saw online.

58% of Americans own a smart phone and by the end of 2013, there will be more smart phones on the planet than people.

When one thinks of reputation management, the first thought is usually about reviews; how to get good reviews and eliminate bad reviews. Unfortunately, some businesses adopted methods of manipulating reviews, showing only stellar results. Other businesses even hired people to write and post reviews for their business. This practice not only caught the attention of review sites but also the Federal Trade Commission. Yelp is one review site that uses complex algorithms to determine the validity of reviews and eliminates suspicious reviews. Other review sites are following this trend. In 2011, the Federal Trade Commission levied a $250 thousand dollar fine on a company that used affiliates to post positive reviews. The takeaway is that a business must use authentic reviews and never compensate anyone for posting positive reviews.

Reputation Management in a business should focus on what is causing any bad reviews and then improve the business processes in order to improve overall customer service. Focusing on manipulating reviews is a poor business practice and, while it may have a short-term positive effect on revenue, it can result in permanently losing customers. Customers can forgive a business for having a bad day but not for being deceptive. Be advised.

Here are some reputation management practices that should be part of an overall business strategy:

1. Be proactive and constantly review the online reputation of your business. This is reputation management. You can immediately respond and resolve issues as they occur. Waiting until there are multiple issues and negative reviews then requires reputation repair, which is a much more intensive process.

2. Take advantage of free listings in business directories such as Yelp, Google, Yahoo and Bing and ensure that your business is listed in a consistent manner in each directory, i.e., same business address, same name, same phone number, etc.

3. Establish an ethical process that provides customers an immediate way to review the service experienced by them and quickly resolve any customer service issues. Communicating with customers as they are receiving service can provide valuable feedback, allows a customer to vent if there is an issue and allows for resolution before it becomes a negative comment or review posted online.

4. Never create or use fake reviews. No business is perfect. There is nothing worse for a business than to have ten perfect reviews on one review site and multiple negative reviews on other review sites. This is a clear indication of review manipulation and potential customers will see right through it and take their business elsewhere. Save the money you would spend paying for fake reviews and spend it on improving your business processes. Besides, no business can afford the cost and negative exposure of being fined by the Federal Trade Commission for deceptive business practices.

5. Consider outsourcing reputation management as this frees your time to focus on your business. A reputation management consultant can provide research and analysis, monitor your online presence, assist with the review process, optimize social media presence, and can provide content generation, which is favorable to search engines, as they provide algorithms that put weight on content.

Dan Monticelli is the President of International Trading Resources, LLC and provides business process improvement consulting and reputation management and repair services. http://www.internationaltradingresources.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dan_Monticelli

How To Write Winning Proposals - Part 5 - Closing the Deal

As with a resume, a successful proposal to accomplish something of value is merely a foot in the door. Typically, the customer's needs, wants, and desires (and the 'real Statement of Work') are hidden from view until the contract is ready for signatures. After you have been declared "The Winner!!", the real work of negotiations begins. Here's where you find out what, exactly, the customer wants you to do, and how much the customer is willing to pay for it.

Be prepared to throw out everything you've done and to start anew at this point. Because of the extensive time that will have elapsed between the time the customer broaches his/her boss with the idea, and when the proposal responses are evaluated, your customer's needs will have changed. At the first meeting after the contract award announcement, don't hesitate to ask "What do you want us to do for you?" You may not even have to ask: the customer may volunteer or even spell out the new direction he/she wants the program to face.

Most neophytes in this game usually panic at this point. Facing a wildly changing playing field, the "newbie" will make basic mistakes, like giving away the store, and agreeing to everything new that the customer says he/she wants. This is normal. You need to recognize that every deviation from the program and SOW that you bid on is a change in scope, and is 100% negotiable. Nothing is cast in stone until the contract is inked.

The customer may threaten, bluster, lean on you, but it's all part of the game. The more he/she gets you to do for free, the more he/she looks good to his/her boss. If the customer can get you to do all the work for free, that's a real feather in the customer's cap. Your job is to recognize that it's a game, and that because you were the selected contractor, you have tremendous leverage in this negotiation: they picked you, not the other way around.

To throw you out at this point would mean that the customer has to go back through the procurement cycle again and also explain to his/her management why you were eliminated after it had been announced to all and sundry that you were selected.

Negotiation skill building is beyond the extent of this brief article. However, here's a few pointers.

If the customer's changes in the scope of work are minor, you might just decide to toss the work in freely, and build rapport by being a contractor who gives the customer more than what they paid for.

If the customer's changes are more extensive, you can counter by saying "That's some good new effort. What efforts would you like me to replace in the original scope of work?"

If the customer completely replaces the scope of work, then you need to decide if you can do this completely new scope with the funding you proposed for the old scope. If you can, agree to the new SOW, but make the customer state in the contract that this new SOW replaces the old SOW.

Anything else, politely explain to the customer that you will have to prepare a new price for this additional work, and leave the negotiation. Promise to return in a couple of days with a new price.

I hope that this series of articles has given you both some insight into the procurement process, and some helpful hints on how to secure competitive contracts. While not perfect, after all we are dealing with humans on both sides of the negotiation, you'll find that with your particular type of customer, following these tips you'll be able to develop a series of ground rules and guidelines that will lead you to building winning proposals, and successfully winning contracts.

Norm Huffnagle approaches proposal writing as he does everything else, with gusto. A Senior Principal Engineer for a major Aerospace company, Norm has been a successful proposal author for a "number of years". He unabashedly holds a 80% win record on non-directed procurement contracts. Norm maintains that to be a successful technical Engineer, you must also have an understanding of both Finance and Marketing. Norm recently made a career change from Hardware Engineering to Software Engineering. Blending Software, Hardware, and Field Test Engineering, makes Norm a valuable asset to any organization with which he is associated. You can contact Norm directly atnhuffnagle@yahoo.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Norm_Huffnagle

Social Media Marketing: Reaping the Benefits of Social Networking in the Modernized Consumer Society

The internet has revolutionized the way business is conducted globally. Business and potential customers are connected through innovative channels that bring real time virtual engagement. The popularity of social media marketing and the proliferation of social networking platforms have posed both a challenge and an opportunity to internet marketers.
The ever-changing and versatile nature of social media marketing as a discipline has necessitated periodical upgrades and changing of marketing strategies in order to keep in sync with the overall marketing agenda. Social media marketing has brought into the business world a number of benefits that have helped companies in launching into new markets and gaining competitive advantages.
Social Engagements
Through the creation of business profiles on social networks, customers have been able to interact with companies on a personal rather than business platform. Businesses have been able to capture customer interest, provide real time solutions and create a strong web personality. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter have been instrumental in starting business to consumer (B2C) informative chats that have eventually led to customer loyalty.
While engaging prospects through social networks, it is advisable that you focus on developing relationships other than concentrating on pushing sales. A good way to converse with your customers is by asking them intriguing questions that will help you gain an insight into their likes and dislikes.
Enhancement of Brand Personality
As opposed to conventional marketing methods, social media marketing has successfully enabled businesses to build brand equities online. Through tweets, posts and updates, customers have come to appreciate, believe and highly regard brand personalities.
When branding through social networks it is recommended that you maintain consistency in both in your tone and humor. You have to think of your company as a human being interacting with friends and prospects across the internet. This will make your clients relaxed and friendly creating what is alternatively called a 'buddy' experience. Selling to such a group of customers becomes easier once they trust your brand.
Development of Web Reputation and Authority
Through the posts that you make and the agenda you advance, social media marketing has become one of the most effective building blocks of online reputation. Facebook likes and re-tweets for instance signal a common interest and business popularity. By taking advantage of this online connectivity to marshal people to connect with your business profile, you build a strong clientele base in the course of time. After all this is the core of any marketing campaign.
Information Centers
In this century and those to come, availability, reliability and the communication of credible information will take the center stage in marketing. Through social media, companies can bring their customers up to speed with industry relevant issues and new developments. Any product launches for instance can be easily communicated through these networks. You can take advantage of the customer information available to also help in shaping your own business strategies. This will solidify your stand in the market and help you gain a potion of the consumers' mind share.
Cost Effectiveness
In most firms, marketing takes the lion share in terms of budgetary allocations. This is due to the cost intensive nature of marketing campaigns. Social media on the other hand brings in a fresh sigh of relief as far as the marketing costs are concerned. Even with a paltry budget, you can easily run a successful marketing campaign and reach out your target customers with a lot of ease. The cost savings made while advertising through social networks can be redistributed to benefit other parts of the company.
Degree of Competitiveness
It is through social marketing that all companies whether big or small compete on the same platform. Ordinarily, it is almost impossible to flex your marketing muscles to match the big box retailers. With the advent of social platforms however, what matters is how well you craft your social media marketing strategy so as to penetrate your competitors' turf. Give them a run for their money through a well optimized social marketing campaign.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Gurro_Mbaru

Do Your Clients Feel Like They Are Just a Number?

Are you feeling too busy and too overworked to follow through on your good intentions? This is a problem that a lot of small business owners have. You go into business to do what you do for your business, and as you get clients, you focus on serving their needs. You also have to plan and execute the next big promotion or project. You're busy doing what you do, taking care of income-producing activities.
Although your business keeps you busy, you probably feel a lot of gratitude to your clients. You're grateful to work with them. You're grateful for the income it provides, and you may often think: I need to thank them. I need to send a card. I need to send a gift. I need to do something. But what happens is you're still too busy doing what you do and you don't find the time to show your clients how much you appreciate them.
If you don't have time to do it yourself, you need to outsource it. You can't do everything in your business yourself. As your business grows and as you get busier, you need to focus on the things that only you can do, and you need to let someone else help you follow through on good intentions. Those good intentions to send regular thank you notes or a holiday gift are just as important to your business growth as income-producing activities. You may have an office assistant that you can hand those off to. You may need to outsource it to another business. But you need to find a way to follow through on your good intentions, even if you're not the one doing the work of it.
When you don't follow through on good intentions, like appreciating your clients, they may not know that you appreciate them. They may feel taken for granted. They may feel that they are just a number. You may do a good job, and you may do the work that is asked of you, but if a client feels like they're just a number, then they don't have a reason to stay with you.
When clients don't feel appreciated, then the only thing that separates you from another business that does just what you do is price. When another business comes along, and they have a better price or what seems like a better offer, clients are quick to go to that other business.
If, however, you keep your clients feeling appreciated, and they know that you treasure working with them, then they feel like they could never leave you. That's what you want: client retention. You want clients that start with you and stay with you forever. That's how you build your bottom line - keeping your clients happy so they come back over and over again. Client appreciation is the key to client retention. It should be a part of your marketing strategy. If you don't have time to follow through on your good intentions, find someone who can help you do that.

Deb Brown is the founder of Touch Your Client's Heart, a client appreciation company. Touch Your Client's Heart believes the key to client retention and word of mouth referrals is as simple as client appreciation gifts, but it must be done the right way. To find out How to Make Your Clients Fall in Love With You, enter your name and email in the upper right corner at http://www.TouchYourClientsHeart.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Deb_L_Brown

Getting Your Online Business Out of the Gates

As the internet has evolved, so has the way companies engage with their audience in public. Thanks to media giants such as Google, YouTube, Facebook and Yahoo, this new digital era has become dominated by online search engine site rankings and different social media platforms. Therefore, if a company wants to stay relevant with the general public and not let their product, brand or service fall by the wayside, they need to appear high in search engine results when possible customers look for them online.
The most effective way of being quickly discovered on the internet is to offer good quality content that will eliminate the competition. A company's online presence will always be important and public relations will be handled more and more through social media platforms in the coming years. Consequently, successful companies will have to learn how to maintain online networks on a regular basis. This will become a faster and more efficient method to increase traffic as well as generating sales leads.
Establishing yourself as a legitimate industry resource through knowledgeable blog posts, e-books, forum threads and social media will directly correlate with your ranking positions. In regards to the subject of blogging, you must try to keep your posts short, interesting and informative. Furthermore, include a link to your company's website in the body of your post's text. In doing so, your audience can read more if they so desire without feeling like they're being forced into it.
Whether someone will find your company online depends on your ability to increase your rankings within various search engines. If you appear ten pages deep in a search, the chances are that most of your prospective business has already been routed to a competitor's site. Without a coherent plan to provide quality content and consistently maintain your social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, et al.), even a once-successful business may be doomed to failure. The influential pendulum swing toward social media means that nowadays almost every large business is using at least one social media site to connect with its customers.
Networking amongst numerous online groups is hugely important in today's world of one-click information, as it allows you to build a solid customer base of potentially interested new customers. Social networking and a strong internet presence are definite musts for almost any business that wishes to achieve success in the future. It is extremely important to have a well-designed and accessible website, and to promote it as much as you can without seeming obnoxious, self-serving or all-pervading. You should spend time managing all of your accounts by frequently adding new, unique and original content that will keep your newfound customers interested, so that they decide to repeatedly return to your site.

Since 1994, CyberMark of Arizona has offered specialized search engine optimization services that aid businesses to increase their online visibility in search engine rankings. CyberMark are proud to serve the residents of the following cities: Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, Payson, Cave Creek, Fountain Hills, Prescott, Sedona, Queen Creek, Tucson, Buckeye, Flagstaff, Paradise Valley, Gilbert, Sun City, Glendale and Scottsdale. They provide expert website design and website development, content linking, social media marketing, internet marketing and ecommerce solutions. If you need help with your own website, please visit us online at http://www.phoenixinternetmarketing.com/ for a free website evaluation or, alternatively, you can call 480-657-7343.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kimberly_Judd-Pennie

Network Marketing Success - Stop Wanting What You Don't Want

Network marketing success takes work and commitment. Unlike the many claims found online and in print ads in home business magazines, developing success and creating a six figure income from home, there is no easy 3 step process.
"This is the easiest marketing system on the planet." "Simply share this page and people will be knocking down your door to join you." Have you heard any of these claims before? It seems the Internet is flooded with these unrealistic claims. The problem is, people are falling for them. And when you finally come to realize the truth; There is NO FREE LUNCH, you feel a bit more disappointed and a bit more defeated.
The reality is that opportunity is ALWAYS mixed with difficulty. In the online world, difficulty is mainly due to marketing. Let's be honest, if marketing was as easy as most of these charlatans claim, then the companies wouldn't need us to market for them. If it were as easy as simply sharing a web page, they could do that themselves and not have to share their profits with us. Doesn't that make sense?
When you come to realize that you don't want the "World's easiest marketing program," then you can start on the road to true success by learning how to become a pro marketer. When you sit back and analyze the real "BIG PLAYERS," you will come to see that they took the time to learn the lessons that got them to where they are today.
The problem is that many of the "BIG PLAYERS" are using their influence to tell people that they don't need to learn the lessons. You hear things like, "We've already gone through the struggles, so you don't have to." We are told, "Forget about learning all these marketing strategies, we've done it all for you." And human nature being what it is, we reason that all we need to do is piggy-back on the GURUS, and reach our dreams based on their experience.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that in 99% of the cases. If YOU want to ensure YOUR success, it falls on YOUR shoulders to learn the lessons. You need to stop wanting what you don't want. Again, if marketing was as effortless as THEY would want you to believe, there would not be any opportunity. Marketing is the challenge.
Think back for a second, if you have fallen for the "Simplest Marketing System in the World" hype, and went on and got involved, what happened? At some point you had to market the system yourself, did it work as easily as they said it would?
Recently there was a company that promised to provide you with TV generated leads. In other words, they would run TV ads, collect the leads, then pass them on to it's members. "Have the power of TV working for you. This is the world's easiest home business." That's what they said, but the reality was different. Why was it different? Because the members weren't skilled enough to convert the leads into sales. Does it take skill to convert leads into sales? Is converting leads into sales a marketing skill? Yes and yes.
The sad reality is that people will continue to waste time, money, and effort looking for short cuts. They will continue to fall for the next "easiest marketing system" hype, only to be frustrated once again. So what is the solution?
Commit to becoming a pro
Every six figure earner has learned and employed certain marketing skills. Lead generation, traffic generation, SEO, content marketing, video marketing, communication skills, leadership skills, and many others, are prerequisites to become a full-time player in your own home business. Avoiding the skills will only prolong, and in many cases, destroy your chances for success.
Do you need to learn all these skills at once? No. Can you have success without mastering all these skills? Yes. The key is that you must come to grips with the fact that you need to develop your marketing skills. Skills can be gained piece by piece as you move along the journey. In fact, that is the only way to gain a skill, one piece at a time. But before that can happen, you need to stop wanting what you don't want. You don't want me to give you the magic key that will make you your fortune. You want to master the skills that are needed so you can make your own fortune.
Some may argue, "Actually Mike, I do want you to give me the key." O.K., here it is... BOOM! Now you have the key. You make your fortune. However, the story never ends there. Because you didn't have the skills, guess what, you can't sustain it. So you end up losing the "magic key." Now what, you don't have your fortune, you don't have the "key," and you still don't have the skills. Back to ground zero. More wasted time, money, and effort.
These things happen every day. People depend on programs, instead of requiring themselves to pick up the skills, then for one reason or the other, the program shuts down, goes away, or the terms change, and members are left to hang dry. When you develop skills, they are yours to keep. When you develop skills, you take your life to a new level. Your thinking expands. Your ability to attract others strengthens. These are things other people cannot give or do for you.
So don't want what you don't want. Commit to being a pro. Commit to gaining the skills. Add as many skills as you can. That is what the "BIG PLAYERS" have done in order to become big players. That's what you should do to become a "BIG PLAYER."

Mike Martinez is an online marketer, blogger, video marketer and infoprenuer. Mr. Martinez has been featured in national home business magazines, and countless ezines and eforums. Mike is the webmaster at http://deepdiscounttravelbiz.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Martinez

B2B Multimedia Marketing - The Top 5 Reasons You Should Use SlideShare

As a B2B marketer, you're constantly looking for the best way to improve lead generation, sales and profits. You know there's no silver bullet.
But every once in a while, a new tool, process or technology comes around that reshapes the marketing landscape. And you want to take advantage of it, before your competitors do.
Case in point - SlideShare.
As a multimedia marketing tool, SlideShare has no equal, and here's how it reshaping the marketing landscape.
· Igniting your content marketing
· Building B2B Brands that break through the noise
· Embracing social media to maximize content distribution
· Measuring performance with built-in, user-friendly analytics
According to SlideShare, it's the world's biggest social content network. It has more than 120 million monthly visitors, and it ranks among the top 150 websites. Alexa currently ranks it #128. Combine that with LinkedIn's ranking of #8, and the potential is obvious.
If you're not using SlideShare now, or not using it effectively, then keep reading. Here are the top five reasons you should use SlideShare.
B2B Content Marketing
When it comes to content marketing, you can't beat this tool. It's an all-purpose multimedia tool that extends far beyond PowerPoint. You can address all the phases of the sales cycle, targeting your prospect and tailoring your message. You can convey your message in audio, HD video, PDF documents, Infographics, and even in live streaming video.
Because you can display content in portrait, unlike PowerPoint, you can upload entire, research reports and white papers. This versatility improves the value of your messaging, highlighting your ability to address prospects where they live in the way they want to consume your content.
B2B Branding
You can build brand awareness, quickly and effectively. In sales-driven industries, like logistics, communicating your message and services is vital. You can publicize planned events, trade shows, as well as your unique selling proposition (USP). Promoting your USP across various media channels and platforms, helps you distinguish your business frequently and consistently. It's easy to differentiate your company from your competitors, especially if they're not using SlideShare.
In addition, your ability to be everywhere not only ensures your prospects receive your message, but that your message also sticks. That helps to break through the noise brought on by today's information overload.
B2B Social Media
In May 2012, LinkedIn purchased SlideShare. Since then the two have become deeply integrated. With LinkedIn's 160 million members the power of SlideShare is impressive. But that's not all. You can also share your slides, videos, audio, etc., with Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. And delivery of content with social media is instantaneous.
Finally, you benefit from the ability of prospects to provide instant feedback to your content. That's right. They can comment directly on your presentation page. This interactive feature allows you to listen to and learn from your prospects and customers - unobtrusively.
Analytics
Another unique and useful feature that eludes many other social media sites is the ability to measure performance. Analytics help you measure many key metrics: percentage of email opens, number of click-throughs, qualified leads, and conversions.
Figuring out your ROI, won't be a chore like it is with other social media platforms. You can see how your efforts stack up against other marketing tools you employ in your campaigns. And both LinkedIn and SlideShare sport a built-in and user-friendly dashboard for you to track performance. That enables you to easily optimize your marketing spend.
B2B Marketing Trends
The future is here. Inbound marketing ushered in a new way of buying and selling, empowering consumers by providing relevant and useful content about products and services. This trend will not reverse itself; in fact, it's growing.
SlideShare is and will continue to be a growing influence in the B2B marketing world. Its power, flexibility, versatility, speed and ease of use make it a formidable marketing tool. No smart B2B marketer should be without it. Nor should marketers under-utilize this tool.
As you can see, the right tool can make life as a B2B marketer easier. If you haven't already done so, it's not too late to start using this extraordinary tool. It opens up all mediums to you, ensuring your presence everywhere.
It enhances your content marketing, helps you build your brand, disseminates your message, and provides feedback on your performance. Finally, with the explosion of media channels, this is the right tool at the right time.
Bottom line: it opens up opportunities like no other marketing tool. Now is a good time to get onboard.

Alex Milo, http://www.b2bcopywriting-alexmilo.com, is a professional B2B Copywriter and certified in SEO copywriting. He's also a Certified Professional Logistician. Alex has over 25 years of experience in transportation and logistics operational, customer service and business development positions. He now spends his time consulting and writing B2B marketing content specializing in helping transportation and logistics companies in generating leads and building brands.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alex_M_Milo

Points to Consider Before Hiring a Professional Home Cleaning Service

The added burden of cleaning a messy house after a long and tiring day seems like too much to handle. By hiring a professional home cleaning service, you can keep your property clean and steal far more time from your busy day to invest with your loved ones.

Getting a professional home cleaning service just twice a month is enough to keep your house clean and well-maintained. Most house cleaning companies work on weekly or fortnightly visit contracts with their clients. A typical monthly cleaning contract may cost you anything between $100 - $200. Some companies even follow a regulated cleaning approach and will mention every service they will (or will not) offer in their website itself. However, before you hire professional home cleaning services, you must consider few points given below -

• Most cleaning companies work during the day time and in order to get your house cleaned while you are at work, you must be OK with permitting maids to enter your house in your absence. Only then it will be possible for you to get a clean house after a long day's work. Hiring a trusted company that has a strict hiring approach and is insured will reduce the risk of any sort and will make you feel more comfortable.

• Are you fine with accidental breakage of your household items? It is a fact that the maids from home cleaning services are well trained and they work with caution, but accidents DO happen. Hiring a licensed company will increase the chances of the maids being more educated and careful in whatever they do. Some companies even provide accidental breakage insurance coverage.

• Many people cannot digest the fact that expert cleaners can finish the work in as less as 2 hours while you used to spend your entire free time in cleaning your residence. This is because it is their job and they follow a systematic approach, advanced equipment, and advanced cleaning products for cleaning your house. You should look at the amount of work done and not time invested when deciding value for money.

• Some people feel that their property is not as clean as they would like it to be. If this is the case with you, contact your home cleaning company and let them know your concern. Also, it is always better to hire a company that address grievances rather than hiring cheap independent contractors. So it is all up to you what kind of company you are hiring for such purposes.

Importance of Measuring Customer Satisfaction

Marketing research can be quite confusing for many business owners. Understanding the need for measuring customer satisfaction can help businesses rise to the next level.

Why measure customer satisfaction?

In order to maintain retention, it is important for businesses to ensure that the customers are satisfied. Many times companies only focus on customer satisfaction and often ignore or place little effort on how to measure their expectations and sentiments. If there is no customer understanding, a business may not be able to consistently retain satisfaction.

Most companies rely on market research to provide insight to the customers. But what is the next step from there? The next step is to analyze data and see how satisfied the customers really are.

There are two important reasons to measure satisfaction;

Satisfied Customer: We all know that a satisfied customer is usually a profitable one and the chance of repeat business is greater. Repeat business reduces the cost of customer acquisition. When a person is satisfied, the chances of referrals are more than likely to happen. Satisfied people actually act as business evangelists to help bring in more business.

Measure of business performance: The success of a business is directly linked to its ability to delight, retain and grow the customer base. Even with a satisfied person, if the satisfaction level is greater with a competitor, then there's a threat of losing him/her. Measuring the level of satisfaction not only tells you if the customer is satisfied, but also how satisfied he/she really is.

Measuring Customer Satisfaction Key Elements

When there is a small client base, it is easy to ask the clients their satisfaction level and seek feedback on how to serve them better. However, if you have a large client base, this is not always possible. Before using market research you must understand the key elements of measuring customer satisfaction.

While measuring customer satisfaction, you should be able to:

• Identify attributes that are important to clients: Finding the client's pain will help determine counter measures. When finding out the satisfied areas, it will help you strengthen those areas from good to great!

• Create and sustain a statistically valid metrics: Maintaining a way to measure not only quantities but qualities. Knowing the scale on which a customer rates you from a scale of 1-10. Measurements as this will help track customer satisfaction over a long period of time.

o Baseline measurements: Tracking responses, survey groups, positives & negatives are baseline tracking measures

o Comparative measurements: Rating points given by clients, changes in rating points, etc., are metrics that can help you track the shift in customer sentiment and satisfaction levels.

Reveal where improvement is needed:

Analyze the data once it is gathered. By doing this, the data can reveal areas where customer segments present opportunities for improvement. At the end of this stage of the research, you should know which people seek what improvement.

Prioritize and execute corrective measures: Armed with the analysis of satisfaction levels, you can then decide which of the areas of improvement are more important to you, satisfying which group of clients is a greater priority, etc.

Most businesses focus on customer satisfaction through internal measures of brainstorming and guesswork. None of this can be done in a scientific, data-driven manner without first being able to measure the relative level of the satisfaction. By going the extra mile, and investing effort to fully understand the customers' feelings and analyzing satisfaction will prove to be fruitful. Trying to improve customer satisfaction by providing what matters most to the customers eliminates the uncertainty and ensures consistent results.

Vicky Edwards is a staff writer at Hudson Management Services (HMS), a BBB Accredited business marketing solutions company that works with the St Louis MO Career Center for work at home employment options.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7881535

Be Adaptable With Your Sales Team to Achieve Peak Performance

To achieve peak performance with your sales team you need to be consistent with team systems and process and unique regarding individual relationships. All sales people are not the same but most sales people can perform above average with a manager that applies both team consistency and a unique individual approach.

To allow for effective coaching bring stability to the team by creating consistency in the following areas.

Compensation: I am a big fan of keeping compensation plans the same when building a sales team for longevity. Not saying everyone is paid the same salary, but the earning scales and bonuses should be the same. Use salary as a differentiator justified by experience or results. Commissions should reward the higher performers with higher percentages or bonuses. What does not work is setting up different sliding commission scales, pricing or ways to earn commission among different team members.

Support: Don't play favorites; offer the same support to all salespeople from manager to support staff. The same support has nothing to do with the amount. That is dictated by sales volume. What I am saying is don't make someone earn support, they need it to get their job done.

Processes and Systems: These are in place to support the company and the customer. Everyone needs to get their portion done. Don't let higher performers get away with not doing their work. If their volume is high enough to warrant hiring additional support do it overtly so all can see what more profit can buy.

Expectations: If you expect less from one sales person you will no doubt receive your lower expectations. Keep quotas and goals consistent. Use your commission incentives to drive the higher performers. The time to increase a sales quota for one would be to justify a higher salary.

Tools: If one can benefit from a laptop or cell phone make sure they all have the same tools. Exceptions could be due to territory or market differences.

If you create a consistent playing field it makes coaching more effective and fun. Adapting and working with each person's personality and motivations is what separates the great sales managers from the average. Here are examples of three different sales people and how you might approach each to improve sales.

Salesperson #1 is already very successful and producing very high. Don't come in and push their activity up, ask them how you can help them do more of what they are doing. What road blocks can you remove for them to keep them running fast.

Salesperson #2 is a consistent producer but under achieves. He/She probably needs some positive reinforcement, some personal attention and a diagnostic on where they are losing most deals.

Salesperson #3 is a person who has a bunch of good ideas but can't get their sales going. They probably need more structure and strict accountability at working the right activity to produce results. Give them clear direction in the morning and check on how things went at night.

Peak sales performance will not happen by approaching these three sales people the same way. It is the personal touch and savvy approach that will get the job done.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7979195

Business: Sales Management Article Category

Have you ever heard the phrase, "he has dollar signs in his eyes"? It means the buyer perceives the salesperson's more interested in their commission to be won or lost than they are with the buyers needs. Buyers don't want us to be self-centered; it's what's given sales people a "bad" name. They want us interested in their needs and them, yet our company sales goals are all about revenue. How does a salesperson and sales manager find a balanced sales approach between the buyer's needs and company's requirements? I'll share my take but I would love to hear yours. Use the comments area below.

Get in touch with the purpose your product or service delivers to your preferred customer type.
To use a balanced sales approach look beyond the obvious of what you're selling and be clear about what the result is for your customer. What does your customer receive or realize for the use of your product or service? A simple example often used is the hole that a drill bit provides. People don't want drills and drill bits, they want holes. In addition, they want holes made fast and accurate. Everyone wants fast and accurate holes but if you drill down a bit more (no pun intended) you can find a core deliverable that differs based on customer type. A homeowner might realize the satisfaction of doing a job they never thought possible or adding to their trophy of projects (self esteem or pride). A contractor is looking to increase production time and improve quality (profit).

What do your customers realize in their world and business by using your product or service? How is their life or business different or better because they purchased what you offer?

Understand what you provide to your customers.
This is not about what you do or how you do it. As above think about how your customers buying or servicing experience is better for them when working with you. You might be great at helping people make decisions, or add confidence to them by always providing proactive updates. Maybe you provide the leadership your contact needs to have their ideas heard by company decision-makers, and they end up looking like a star. Are you great at details? What does that bring to your customers?

How is their life, company or working experience better because you're their representative?

One of our clients has a surgery center. They have quality surgeons, a hard working staff, a beautiful facility and state of the art technology. That's great but what do their patients realize for allowing them to conduct procedures on them? They receive an improved quality of life. From the surgeons to the receptionist, everyone is focused on "Improving the Quality of Each Patients' Life." The really cool thing is if you approach your job and every detail with that purpose it brings a whole lot more joy and motivation.

When you have your purpose dialed in you can now work on the work you need to do to "serve" more people. Sales is just part of the service you provide if you have a purpose that is meaningful to your customers. Selling does not have to be about talking someone into something, it can be about helping someone buy what he or she wants.

How many customers will you need to meet the company assigned goals?
Breaking down the amount of customers you will need to add this year will help your focus be on new customers rather than $dollars$. When you simply head out trying to hit a money goal, you can tend to be thinking money all the time, which leads to "dollar signs in your eyes".

What is your average sale per customer in a year?

Understanding your average sale or revenue per customer, how many will you need to help buy your offering this year?

Decide on which activity and the right amount will get you to your commitment.
How many people will you need to see, meet with, present proposals to in order to have the number of new customers purchase with you?

What will you need to do to ensure you meet those numbers? How many calls? What type of calls? How many referrals? How many networking events? You get the picture. Draw it out.

Bring the purpose and sales commitment together now.
Work your plan everyday and use the purpose and what is in it for your customers to be your motivation to push you. Writing blogs is not easy for me, especially on a regular basis. But it's part of my plan and the purpose is to help others grow their sales and grow individually. It's our hope that anyone working with us or plugged into our support will be better at their profession and feel better about working in it. So I continue to write. I'm working my plan.

Bring balance to your sales meetings
You need to check the scoreboard and monitor individual plans but don't forget to discuss how people are better for buying your products or working with you. Share the successes of what clients say more than how you convinced them to buy. Stay humble, and keep your eyes on your customers.

When you connect with the purpose you and your product provide, then work a well thought out plan, your sales approach will be more balanced and hitting your goals becomes a habit.

Sales Manager Now makes outsourced sales management work by focusing on sales activity that has the greatest impact on increasing sales in the short term and long term. We understand how to teach, motivate and hold sales people accountable to drive sales. Learn more about us here http://www.salesmanagernow.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rene_Zamora

Tips For Opening Your Own Restaurant

Having your own business is a dream of a lot of people. For those who love food, have backgrounds in catering, have worked in the food industry, and the likes, opening their own restaurant seems to be the logical choice. However, having your own restaurant is very different from cooking for a small dinner party or from offering catering services in Alabang. It can be difficult and challenging especially at the start, though it should gradually get better as you get the hang of it. Below are some tips to hopefully help make things a bit easier if you plan on starting your own restaurant.
• Get a great chef. A restaurant's heart and soul is the one who conceptualizes and comes up with what to offer your customers. Hence, an excellent chef is a must for any restaurant to be a success. If you are an excellent chef then good for you. But if you lack the skill and experience, you can either learn some more and get more experience or you can also enlist the help of another chef that is more skilled and experienced than you are.
• Find a great location. A restaurant with the best chef anywhere will not be successful unless it is in a strategic location. No matter how great your restaurant is, people will have to find it to be able to try it. So once you have your excellent chef, you will have to look for a great location. Target areas where your market is likely to be. Success will be faster and easier if your restaurant is very accessible to potential customers.
• Train your staff well. Restaurants are not just about food, they are about customer service. Hence, it is very important to have well-trained staff that can provide exceptional service to your customers.
• Treat your staff well. Training your staff and keeping them are two different things. Once you have trained your staff well, the choice to stay with you or to take the next good job opportunity depends largely on how well you treat them. Having to constantly change your staff can be tiring and inefficient so make sure to treat them well such that they would love to go to work every day.
• Create an efficient system. To be able to ensure the smooth operations of your restaurant, there has to be an efficient system in place. This might take quite some time before you find the groove for your restaurant but it is good to aim for it right from the start.

I work in Makati catering services as a planner for indoor and outdoor party's for any occasions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Zonia_Hizon

Social Media for Small Business - Is It Too Much?

While preparing to write this article, concerning whether or not a company needs to participate in every social media site available, I received an update about an emerging social website. After spending five minutes evaluating the site, I found myself in a trance as I contemplated the reality of our digital age and social media.
Is it too much? Even with a fabulous social management tool such as Hootsuite, small business owners might find themselves overwhelmed. The ambitious PR person in me says that you should participate and listen to every social network -- if you are a large conglomerate or you can afford a social management team. The small business owner in me says that you should focus only on the most popular and relevant social sites.
There are many decisions to be made for a small business's social media front. When choosing your online channels it is best to start with the 'no-brainers', such as Facebook and Twitter then work your way down the Top 10 list -- that is, if you want to go beyond Facebook and Twitter.
There are things to consider such as your investment of time, equipment, and software. YouTube is a great example. YouTube goes head to head with Facebook on traffic. It seems as though every company should have a YouTube account, but producing original and engaging content on YouTube takes an investment of time, equipment, and software.
YouTube is more of a frustration for me than anything else. It is loaded with low quality videos that have terrible sound, strange electrical feedback, and poor narration -- all of which have to do with time, equipment, and software. What kind of image do you think your company will project if you produce subpar 'how to' videos?
Then there is the social media overload factor. Have you ever visited a company website that displays their social media links... all 10 of them? There is nothing more amusing to me than following those links to find that the only platforms the company is engaged in are the top two or three. It's great that a company offers many channels by which a visitor can stay in touch, but if the company is not communicating on those social media channels, it becomes a useless icon on their website. This, in turn, might send your followers the wrong impression about your company.
My advice to all small business owners is to choose Facebook and Twitter, then ask the following questions concerning other channels:
- Is your target audience using that channel?
- Is the social media site relevant to your business' industry?
- Does the social media channel match your company's image?
- Can your business effectively engage an audience with that channel?
- Do you have the resources and skills to create quality content?
- Can you devote time to all the channels you choose?
Once you have chosen the most valuable and relevant channels, stay current and engage your audience regularly. There are many tools and services that can help your business manage its online communications. To do it yourself, you might want to consider Hootsuite and Tweet Deck. If you are too busy to wear the social media hat then you might want to consider hiring someone to do that for you.
Social media is worth the effort and it will provide a return on your investment! Just choose wisely and stick to it.
Thanks for reading!
~ John Debar

Learn more about social media for small business here.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Debar

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7968028