Voice Mail

Many people, under financial or other pressures to find work quickly, feel they can’t afford to take the time to get organized. On the other hand, conducting your job search in an organized manner will reduce the amount of time you spend looking for information, following inappropriate leads, or waiting for your dream job to fall into your lap. It generally takes at least a month to find an entry-level job, and as much as nine months for one requiring a high level of skill and experience. Getting organized before you begin your job search can ultimately save you a lot of time and frustration.

You should take several preliminary steps before you even begin your active job search. You should start by identifying your skills, interests, target market, and any child care, transportation, or other issues that you will need to keep in mind. A career or employment counselor can be very helpful in this area, as well as with the preparation of your resume, cover letters, and any other job search materials you will need.

Once you’re ready to face the job market, there are three areas where you’ll find it beneficial to be well organized: your schedule, your workspace, and your contacts.

Your Schedule

First, you must decide how much time you can realistically commit to your job search on a weekly basis, and then create a weekly schedule of activities. Keep in mind that looking for a full-time job is in itself a full-time job! Some of your time will be devoted to reading and applying for advertised positions, but be sure to allow plenty of time for other job search activities such as making telephone calls, generating and researching new leads, reviewing old leads for follow up, writing thank you notes or other correspondence, and visiting placement offices, employment agencies, or other service providers. The percentage of time you dedicate to each activity depends on what is most effective for your field of work or geographical area, so it may be worthwhile for you to ask others what has worked for them.

Most people perform different activities more effectively at different times of day. Take your natural energy flow, as well as the availability of quiet time for conducting research and telephone calls, into consideration when planning your schedule. If quiet time is not available at home during the daytime or evening, an employment resource center can be an invaluable resource.

Keep your personal preferences in mind when planning your activities. For example, if you dislike talking on the telephone, it may be less stressful for you to get your calls out of the way before beginning your other activities, or to intersperse your phone calls between other activities so you don’t become overwhelmed. If you’re planning to drop off unsolicited resumes, map out a route of targeted businesses that are in a particular area, and plan to cover the entire area in one day. This will cut down on your travel time and expenses as well as the number of times you need to dress up.

Keeping a log of the actual time you spend on each activity will allow you to see whether you are on track and to identify any problem areas. It’s not uncommon to become frustrated and depressed when you’re out of work, so be sure to schedule regular time for self-care and other personal activities like going to the gym or the hairstylist.

Your Workspace

At a minimum, you need a chair and a desk or table with plenty of space for you to work with your information, make and receive telephone calls, and plan your job search. All necessary supplies should be stored close by, including paper, pens, index cards, paperclips, staples, and your telephone directory. During your job search, you’ll likely accumulate various versions of your resume and cover letter, job postings, company profiles, advertisements, and business cards, but they will be of no value to you if you can’t find what you need. A binder or filing system, sorting the information into topics, will allow you to refer quickly to both the job posting and that specific application when you receive a telephone call from a prospective employer. It will also allow you to find easily any other information you may have gathered about the organization before your interview.

You may find it beneficial to have an alternate “job search office” such as your local library or employment centre, where you can research, read, and write without the distractions you may encounter at home. Many are equipped with computers that you can use for Internet job search as well as resume and cover letter preparation, which can be a great benefit if you don’t have a home computer or must share it with other family members. If you plan to use this type of service on a regular basis, you’ll need some type of portfolio or briefcase to hold your job search material, including your resume in printed form and on a diskette, your calendar, and a notebook for jotting down leads and ideas. Most facilities do not allow you to receive telephone calls, so be sure that potential employers can reach you by voice mail, pager or cell phone.

Of course, you’ll need a calendar for marking down job interviews and other important meetings. You’ll also need a system for keeping track of your job applications. This information may be needed to confirm your eligibility for unemployment insurance or social assistance, and will help you to follow up on your applications.

Your Contacts

During your job search, you will probably communicate with hundreds, if not thousands, of people, but in order to make effective use of the network you develop, you’ll need a way to keep track of all your contacts.

The simplest method is a card file system, with a card for each contact. Each card should include the contact’s name, title, organization, address, telephone number, fax, and email address, the source of the lead, and dates and details of any conversations, correspondence, or interviews. You may find it helpful to set up a “recipe box” with a set of dividers labeled with the days of the week and a set numbered 1-31 for the days of the month. You can file each card under the date you wish to contact that person. For example, you may speak with someone on the 10th who suggests that you call him or her in two weeks. After noting the information on the index card, file it in the section for the 25th where it will serve as a reminder for you to follow up.

There are wonderful software programs available that can help you with organizing your job search contacts. WinWay Resume, for example, has a section for storing contact information that you can merge with your cover letter. ACT! allows you to schedule tasks and reminders as well as perform mail merges. If you don’t wish to buy or learn a new software package, email address books in Outlook, Outlook Express or in free Web-based email packages are also an excellent way to keep track of your contacts. However, unless you have unrestricted access to a computer, or a portable system such as a Palm Pilot, you won’t be always able to access the information. The key features of any organizational system are ease of recording and ease of retrieval. If using an electronic system will make your job search more complicated and time-consuming, don’t use it.

Job searching can be overwhelming, but when you organize your schedule, workspace, and contacts effectively, you’ll be able to stay on track and find your new job more quickly.

About The Author

Janet Barclay, Organized Assistant, is a Professional Organizer and Virtual Assistant with a background in employment services. For more information visit www.organizedassistant.com. info@organizedassistant.com

Obtaining the skills for writing good business correpondence is important; a job seeker needs to send customised job application letters. A secretary needs to send out an official invitation letter. A purchasing assistant may need to prepare an invoice. It does not necessarily imply that you must just have a good standard of English. You should remember that correspondence means to communicate a message. It is a two-way effort between the writer and the receiver.

Here are some tips:

The Printing

The quality of your printing reflects the stature of your own company. Ensure that your printer has an adequate ink cartridge and the printing is even. Do not set your printer to “quick draft” as the quality is not up to standard and may not be easy for the receiver to read.

Write To The Point

The structure of the business correspondence should always be to the point and not be opened to various interpretations. Your writing should not be repetitive and a business letter should preferably be a page long. If your receiver does not have any background information, you should include an attachment with the cover letter.

The Title Of Business Correspondence

The title of your business correspondence should preferably be a line long and not have a font that is too big. If the title is not clear, your letter may be put under the KIV tray of your receiver. There are many senior executives who empower their personal assistants to sort out their corporate mail.

Short Sentences Your sentences should not be too long. They should be consistent with the theme of the correspondence and you should avoid jargons or quotations.

Watch Your Punctuation

Punctuation rules should be adhered. With the popularity of office software tools, presentation bullets are used indiscriminately in all business correspondence. Please use this tool appropriately and maintain the official nature of your writing.

The Receiver’s Details

It will reflect very badly on your professionalism if you make an error in the name or designation of your receiver. It implies that you do not take the business correspondence as important.

Your Contact

You should leave your direct contact number or even an email address if you need an urgent reply from the receiver. With the improvement in telecommunications, it is expected that the message be relayed in the quickest manner. It is not a good idea just to leave your corporate number with a voice mail.

Remember To Proofread

It is a good habit to proofread your writing; do not just rely on spell-check or grammar-check to do the job. As an illustration, after careful reading of your business writing, you may discover that your writing is too casual for the situation.

Fax Cover Letter

If your are sending out a fax, you must remember to include a cover letter to accompany the rest of the correspondence. This is to ensure that your receiver obtains all your correspondence.

Your Signature

You must remember to sign your business correspondence, where necessary.

About The Author

Colin Ong TS is the Managing Director of MR=MC Consulting http://www.mrmc.com.sg. Please email him at colin@mrmc.com.sg if your corporate website requires free content by him.

Should your business have a toll free number for customers to make sales, service and billing inquirers The industry began in the early 1970’s and today most customers expect you to have it. Providing a toll free line can bring in a number of benefits to your business.

From the customer standpoint, it opens an opportunity to inquire about your products or services at no expense. Not only does it show you are established and successful, but it also shows that you care about what is convenient for them. It creates a corporate image of your company in their mind. Customers expect you to give something back in return for their business.

Think of it this way. Have you ever purchased from a company that didn’t have a toll free number Some companies may not benefit from a toll free number, such as those with business to business sales or companies with a limited local targeted market. In other cases, such as catalog sales, Internet stores or companies with a continuous demand for support will most definitely need it. A toll free number allows you to advertise a “local” number to anyone in the United States. It is human nature to be attracted to anything free and it entices the customer to act now.

When was the last time you heard a toll free number in a radio or TV commercial Were you able to remember or write it down Did the number spell out any words Having it spell a particular word is called a vanity number. Vanity numbers can be crucial for any business as they are easier to remember and promote. One company spent millions to have 1-800-FLOWERS and it has affected their sales in a positive manner.

When considering activating a toll free number it is important to also look at the drawbacks. Besides the fact of creating an extra expense, you will receive more calls from customers that are not necessarily serious about your offerings. Since the customer has nothing to lose, they may be tempted to call even if they are not interested anytime soon. Toll free lines also give them the ability to inquire multiple companies at no expense, while increasing your chance of losing the sale.

Whether you are a home-based business or a large fortune 500 company, anyone can get a toll free number. For larger corporations, it is best to purchase a hardware phone system such as a PBX. For an excellent online guide, see: http://www.buyerzone.com/telecom_equipment/phone_systems/. For smaller companies, many long distance providers offer an identical service at a fraction of the price. Such systems are what they call a virtual PBX or office. They allow you to have personal greetings, multiple extensions and mail boxes, on-hold music, etc.

Number Search – ATT’s web site has a useful tool for searching toll free numbers on any available prefix 800, 888, 877 & 866. Take your time and find a good vanity number that is relevant to your line of business. Avoid using words that are hard to understand vocally, such as “swipe.” Asking a few friends or family members to repeat the number will be a good test.

Service Providers – doing a search on Google for “toll free number” or “800 number”, will come up with a number of service providers. Be careful when choosing one as you may run into a few flakey companies. Major carriers such as, ATT, SBC, Sprint and Verizon offer the service, but are normally higher for low usage clients. Other carriers that specialize in this line of product, such as Telcan.net, also provide a reliable service.

Tracking System – most providers offer an online management system that logs your call data in real-time among other features. One common feature is the ability for the provider to place a 1 or 0 in front of the caller’s phone number. You can use the call data to improve employee productivity and per call profitability.

Personalized Auto Greetings – if you need a personalized auto greeting, look into the virtual PBX or office system feature. An example of such greetings would be, “Thanks for calling Gotmerchant.com, for sales press 1, billing press 2 and so on.” Even though this will add to your long distance bill, it may give an impression of a larger corporation.

Live Rep – the toll free number can also be setup to go directly to your phone without any greetings. Having your customers bypass a list full of menu options before speaking to someone may have a positive affect.

Voice Mail – You can retrieve your messages by calling your toll free number or use an online account management system if one is available. The voice mail service provided by your local telephone company may also be used.

Number Portability – a portable toll free number belongs to you and not the carrier. You will have the ability to switch providers at anytime.

Incremental Billing – the long distance is billed in blocks of time and typically come in 6, 30 or 60-second billing increments. A shorter interval will result in lower fees and can be significant on a larger monthly volume. 6 second billing is the most popular choice.

Call to Ring Number – toll free numbers are pointed to any phone number of your choosing. One helpful feature among providers is the ability to instantly change this number.

Setup Charges – there is normally no setup fees associated with a new toll free number unless you are using a vanity number. Even then, there are some carriers that do not charge a fee for setting one up.

Interstate & State to State – when researching providers, make sure the rates you are quoted is for interstate within your state and state to state calls.

Residential or Business Line – not all carriers are able to provide service to a business using a residential line.

Shared-Use Numbers – some providers offer what they call a shared-use line and allows more than one person to use the same number by utilizing a pin number.

About The Author

Curtis Stevens is the founder of Gotmerchant.com www.gotmerchant.com, an online guide to merchant account service for any business looking to accept credit cards. His online site has helped thousands understand the service and protect themselves from unethical sales reps. stdcds18@shsu.edu

1. Connection fee: This is also known as Access Fee. This should be known to most of the calling card customers. This fee is charged whenever one calls to the destination. This usually varies from 5 cents to 1 dollar. The worst thing that can happen with this connection fee is, when the card buyer makes the call and either the answering machine gives a reply or the call is routed to a voice mailbox. This immediately deducts the connection fee even though the customer has not really uttered even a single word.

The best option to get over this problem is to choose a card, which has no connection fee. There are a lot of companies, which sell cards without connection fee. Before buying any Calling card, just find out the average rate per minute considering all the costs. This would definitely give a clear idea about the best option.

2. Service Fee: This is charged pro-rata to the call fee. Usually around the levels of 5 - 15%.

3. Billing increment: Also known as Minutes Rounding. If the company says it has 1 minute rounding, a call of 50 seconds will be charged for 1 minute and 200 seconds will be charged as 4 minutes. This could be a better option among all. The higher the rounding period, the more the customer loses.

4. Maintenance fee: This is a notorious, hidden fee. This gets charged on the phone card either on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. While buying the phone card itself, the customer should read the fine prints to find if there is a Maintenance fee. If at all there is this fee, this card should be chosen only if the customer is going to exhaust the card before the specified period.

5. Payphones: There are surcharges on the phone cards for the calls made from Payphones. This will be charged on the customers phone card irrespective of whether the call goes through or not.

6. Access Number: The billing also depends on whether one calls a local access dial in number or a toll free number. Usually a caller realizes very less number of minutes if he calls a toll free number. It is advisable calling the local dial-in number as it works out cheaper compared to the toll free number.

7. Long Talking Fee: Some phone cards charge a long talking fee if the call goes beyond a specified duration. This duration is usually around 20 minutes. It is better to know and reconnect around this period.

8. Expiration date: Most of the pre-paid calling cards have an expiration date. There can be two types of expiration dates. One is the date from which you start using the card and other one is a General expiration date for the card. One cannot use the card even if he has talk time left after any of these dates.

About The Author

The author Muthukumar.V is a seller of calling cards. He owns a website http://www.shopcallingcard.com selling Long Distance Calling Cards.

An Ann Landers column "Parenthood is not a job for the weak at heart" caught my interest.

Job Description for a Parent

Position: Parent

Job Description: Long-term player needed for challenging, permanent work in chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts. There is some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in faraway cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed.

Responsibilities: Must keep this job for the rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule. Must be willing to tackle stimulating technical challenges such as small gadget repair, sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must handle assembly and product safety testing , as well as floor maintenance and janitorial work. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and levels of mentality. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute and an embarrassment the next. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of end project.

Advancement and Promotion: There is no possibility of either. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.

Previous Experience: None required, but on-the-job training is offered on a continually exhausting basis.

Wages: None. In fact, you must pay those in charge, offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 and attend college. When you die, you give them whatever income you have left.

Benefits: There is no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options. However, the job offers limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life.

This article is of special interest to those of us who work out of the home. Seeing this Ann Landers column made my think about why so many of us wanted to work out of our homes. One of the big reasons being to spend more time with our families. Balancing a family life and a home-based business can be a delicate one, especially when you look at all of the duties we have as a parent. Truthfully, it is amazing we get anything done at all.

If both partners or spouses are running the business there are some very different and other important factors to consider. Since we have already addressed and written articles on these issues, I will direct you to our website to the articles, Business / Marriage Partners: Will the Marriage Survive Parts I & II

There are some good rules however, to help you balance family and business.

Rule #1 - This is one of the most important rules. Yes, this is your home, but it is also my office. What that means is the things you use in your business like computers, files, fax machine, business phone, supplies, etc. are off limits to them.

Rule #2 - Set office hours. This lets your family members and friends know when its okay to disturb you; when your day is done. This will avoid them taking you away from your work.

Rule #3 - No one but you answers your business line, and if your office is in part of the house, there is to be quiet when you are on the phone. I know sometime pandemonium breaks lose. Well on those occasions it does, dont answer the phone, let it go into voice mail and call back as soon as you can get away or get the situation under control. Almost all phones today have a mute button, use it, especially with young children that cry and scream.

Rule #4 - Establish rituals. Just like when you worked an outside job, you if dropped them off at the daycare, or their bus stop or school, even if you dont leave the house, when you are ready to go into your office, tell them good-bye. When you are done for the day, say "Im home", or if you take a break say "Im back for a bit", but be sure to tell them when you leave again, so they know you cant be interrupted.

Rule #5 - Follow the other rules. Be sure that the above rules are followed. This is the most important rule. Rules not only help you, they help your kids, family and friends draw the line between your work and your home day.

Some other tips are:

1. Keep a stash of kid stuff in your office. Get a variety of things like paper, stickers, crayons and games, in case your children are in your office and you need to take a call.

2. Get a cordless phone as an extension to your business line. When you enter the "home" part of your house, take the phone with you. If it rings, answer it and walk back to your "work space". Let your children, family and friends know that when this happens, they should try to be quiet until you are out of earshot or ask the person to hold, and press your hold or mute button until you are back in your "work area" or quiet space.

3. Understand it may not be easy, but if you train your children, family and friends to respect your time, space and need for concentration, both your work and family life will be easier.

Copyright 2001, DeFiore Enterprises

About The Author

Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 19 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site Subscribe to our "how to" Home Business Solutions Digest, its like having your own personal coach: mailto:subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com coaches@homebusinesssolutions.com

What’s the one thing starting today that you could start doing, stop doing, or change that would have a dramatic impact on your client relationships It’s an excellent question and I hope you’ll take a moment to consider your response.

It sometimes takes a great deal of effort and an extraordinary amount of energy to close “a big deal.” Never forget, it may take even more effort and energy, to keep the business after you win it. It takes courage to get the business and creativity and imagination to keep it.

Consider the word AWESOME and all that means. To be awesome is to be formidable, imposing, grand, impressive, outstanding, wonderful, excellent, and even remarkable. Most salespeople don’t even think in terms of being AWESOME. They walk around doing a great imitation of benign mediocrity. It doesn’t take much to leap from the ordinary to the extraordinary, but it does take effort. It’s all about leaving a great first impression, not merely a good one. It’s about delighting your customers, not just satisfying them. It’s about rising above the crowd, not being lost in it.

Here are some ideas for you on how to be AWESOME for your customers.

A - Ask good customer questions. There are two types of questions and you know salespeople consider them to be open and closed questions. Let’s raise the bar on that kind of thinking. While questions can be open and closed, they can also be wide and deep. The wide questions are surface questions i.e. “How’s it going, how’s business,” and “Any other any problems I can help you with today”

A deep question always leaves its mark i.e. “What would have to happen for you to consider us as your best supplier” Another really inspired question is, “How do you measure success when working with your current supplier” David Frost, the famous interviewer, once said “you can tell the quality of a question by the quality of the response.” Are you asking quality questions If not, why not

W - Work your priorities and prioritize your work. Prioritizing will make you enterprising. To be really effective you must be able to distinguish between what is urgent and what is important. Be careful not to start the very fires you’re trying to put out. For example, eliminate the following from your voice mail message, “if it’s really important page me or call me on my cell phone.” The only people who don’t possess a FedEx mentality are the people who work for FedEx.

Everybody else thinks everything else is a high priority. Get a grip, get a life, and begin everyday with the list prioritized with numbers of the 6 most important things you want to complete and don’t encourage the distractions. Develop the habit of sticking to your list of priorities and only deviate from your list if a higher priority lands on your desk. The best salespeople and sales managers always take care of the most important stuff first. They are not easily distracted. Set you priorities for the day and focus on them like a laser beam and only take your eyes off them for a higher priority.

E - Energize yourself every day with a positive attitude. People with positive attitudes live longer, enjoy life more, and tend to be more likable, from their customers perspective. I learned a long time ago, we choose to affect or infect the people we meet every day. Don’t bring your personal problems to work because they never add value to your customers.

If life has dealt you a difficult set of cards right now, deal with them privately and put your troubles on a trouble tree when you leave for your first sales call. Remember, your customers have their own problems, so there’s no need to burden them with yours. People with positive attitudes are enthusiastic, animated, excited, smiling, and always expect the best things to happen. “Your face is your own fault after age 40,” according to Cicero, so check it often with a mirror. How you handle your problems says a lot about you.

S - Style is important. If you agree you must feel like a chameleon. Most strained interpersonal relationships are created by different styles. There is the “Driver” who is very assertive, demanding and autocratic. There is also the “Expressive” who is extremely sociable, loves to talk, and lousy with details. Then there is the “Analytical” who is very precise, organized, and extremely neat. Finally, there is the “Amiable” who is generally low-key, trusting, and very innovative.

One of the biggest keys to selling success is the art of adapting your selling style to your customers’ buying style. This is easy to say and hard to do. To learn more about behavioral styles, read articles, buy books and listen to audiocassette training tapes on the subject. This is one subject where ignorance is definitely not bliss.

O - Others focused. Another key to successful selling is the ability to build relationships while taking care of business. Here are some ideas for you: don’t make people feel invisible, always maintain good eye contact, remember, you can’t smile enough on the telephone or in person, to stay connected – ask people who get your voice mail message to leave their e-mail address and telephone number, watch your body language, buy a composition notebook to record all your relationship-building ideas, only do dog and pony shows if your customer needs a dog and pony, add the words “for you” to the end of your sentences, every four months record your end of your telephone calls to improve the quality of your calls, blaming is shaming so don’t do it, always take notes to demonstrate that you care and you are listening, and always take the time to say “Thank you” to everyone who contributes to your success.

M - Master the business basics. Listen to your voice mail message. If it doesn’t sound upbeat, enthusiastic and professional change it. E-mail is a way to communicate. Use creative subject lines and remember less is more if you want your message to be understood. Never call a meeting without first preparing an agenda. Begin all meetings on time. End your meetings on time. Secure commitments for who is going to do what and by when. Form the habit of writing personal handwritten notes using a fountain pen. It’s a great way to be a high-touch person in the high-tech world we live in today. Try being more likable, agreeable, adaptable, and relatable. Maintain your focus on the other person, especially when its a customer.

E - Enthusiasm and passion are powerful attributes for professional salespeople to cultivate. Too many people are dying on the job today and still working. Some people walk into a room and breathe life into it. Other people walk into the same room and do their best to vent all the oxygen. Get excited about your work. If you don’t like it, change it. Your life is too important and too short, to waste it doing something you hate doing. Be yourself and avoid trying to imitate somebody else. Have an attitude of gratitude. Say “thank you” often. That kind gesture will make someone’s day a better one. Enthusiasm is contagious and so is the negative stuff. Enthusiasm is an acquired quality and it’s FREE! Go out and get some, if you’re running low.

If you want to take, your sales career to the next level learn do the unthinkable. Quit saying “I’ve always done it this way.” Quit following the crowd. Take a new path to solve old customer problems. The old way may not be the better way. If you’re too comfortable, it’s time to change. Always aim higher and you’ll be rewarded handsomely.

Being AWESOME is no small task, especially when the customer is doing the evaluation.

If you dare to be different, strive to be effective, and are attentive to your clients’ needs, you too can be AWESOME.

Free - eCourse The Art Of Closing The Sale. Use this link to get started right now: http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/javanof.aspMerchantID=39581&ProductID=1791340

Free White Paper - How To Make Sure Your Next National Sales Meeting Is Better Than Your Last One Use this link to get your copy Link http://www.meisenheimer.com/articles/whitepaper.htm

Free Can you pass this Professional Selling quiz Use this link to find out. http://www.meisenheimer.com/articles/quiz1.html

About The Author

Jim Meisenheimer is the creator of No-Brainer Sales Training. His sales techniques and selling skills focus on practical ideas that get immediate results. You can discover all his secrets by contacting him at 800 266-1268, e-mail: jim@meisenheimer.com or by visiting his website: http://www.meisenheimer.com.

The seven essentials of business communication

There are seven essential elements to successful business communication: Structure Clarity Consistency Medium Relevancy Primacy/Recency Psychological Rule of 7±2

If you are going to communicate effectively in business it is essential that you have a solid grasp of these seven elements.

So lets look at each in turn...

Structure

How you structure your communication is fundamental to how easily it is absorbed and understood by your audience.

Every good communication should have these three structural elements: an opening, a body, and a close.

The Opening allows your communications audience to quickly understand what the communication is about. Short, sharp and to the point, a good opening lets your audience quickly reach a decision of whether or not to pay attention to your message.

The Body is where you get to the heart of your message. It is in the body of the message that you communicate all of your facts and figures relative to the action you want your communications audience to take after attending to your message.

Theres a key to rapid uptake of your message -- KISS. Pitch your presentations graphics at a grade seven child. If THEY can follow and understand them, chances are good that your audience will too.

The Close is where you sum up your communication, remind your audience of your key points, and leave them with a clear understanding of what you want them to do next. The more powerfully you can end your communication, the more easily remembered it will be by your audience.

This structural rule holds true no matter what your communication is -- a memo, a phone call, a voice mail message, a personal presentation, a speech, an email, a webpage, or a multi-media presentation.

Remember - your communications audience can be just one person, a small team, an auditorium full of people or a national, even global, group of millions.

In this instance size doesnt matter -- the rules remain the same.

Clarity

Be clear about the messaqe you want to deliver, as giving a confused message to your audience only ends up with them being confused and your message being ignored.

If you are giving a message about, say, overtime payments dont then add in messages about detailed budget issues or the upcoming staff picnic -- UNLESS they ABSOLUTELY fit in with your original message.

Its far better and clearer for your audience if you create a separate communication about these ancilliary issues.

Consistency

Nothing more upsets a regular reader of, say, your newsletter than inconsistency of your message.

Taking a position on an issue one week, only to overturn it the next, then overturn THAT position the following week, only breeds distrust in your message. And distrust in you!

People who distrust you are exceedingly unlikely to take the action you wish them to take. They are also highly unlikely to pay any attention to your future messages.

As well as consistency amongst multiple messages, be aware that inconsistency within your message can be just as deadly to audience comprehension.

At the risk of sounding like the Grouchy Grammarian, please make sure that your tenses remain the same, that your viewpoint doesnt wander between the 1st and 3rd person and back again unless you deliberately want to create a linguistic or story-telling effect — be careful with this! and that your overall theme or message doesnt change.

Medium

If the only tool you have in your toolbag is a hammer, pretty soon everything starts to look like a nail.

Similarly, if all you believe you have as a communications tool is PowerPoint™ then pretty soon all youll do is reduce very communications opportunity to a PowerPoint™ presentation. And as any of us who have sat through one too many boring slideshows will attest, "seen one, seen em all"

There are a myriad of was you can deliver your message — the trick is to use the right one. But which is the right one The one that communicates your message: with the greatest accuracy with the largest likelihood of audience comprehension at the lowest fiscal cost at the lowest time cost

Note: it must meet ALL of these criteria. Theres absolutely no value in spending the least amount of money if the medium you choose doesnt deliver on any of the other criteria.

Choosing the right medium or media is obviously critical. Get the media mix wrong and you could end up spending a whole lot of time and money on a very visually attractive business communication that delivers next-to-zero ROI.

Relevancy

It never ceases to amaze me that business managers still believe that everyone would be interested in their message — and then proceed to subject any and every person they can find to a horrendous PowerPoint slideshow put together by a well-meaning but aesthetically-challenged subordinate.

Screen-after-screen of lengthy text, in a small barely legible font size because a small font size is the only way to fit all of the words onto the slide, which the manager duly and dully reads verbatim.

Ugh!

The psychological reality is that unless a person is interested in the subject of the message they are highly unlikely to pay ANY attention.

Which means that if you force them to attend to your message you will actually turn them against you and be even less likely to receive their attention in the future.

Save your in-depth budget and performance analysis Excel- generated charts for those who genuinely care and need to know about such things.

If your business communication needs to touch on several areas that might not be of interest to your entire audience, let them know of alternative resources that more fully address each of these additional areas.

You can do this by, for example, providing them with an easily-remembered and written link to a webpage where a greater depth of information can be stored.

Primacy/Recency

It is essential to know that, one week later, a business communication is remembered by one or both of two things: the power and memorability of its opening the power and memorability of its close

Psychologists call the effect of remembering the first few items presented as a Primacy Effect. Similarly, they call the effect of remembering the last few items presented to you as a Recency Effect.

Since individuals differ in which Effect is the most dominant for them, it is best to cover your bases and make an effort to have both a powerful and memorable opening and a powerful close.

A powerful opening can be anything that captures the audiences attention: a quote, a joke, a loud noise, a preposterous statement.

Just make sure that your opening remains consistent with and relates to the subject of the communication.

Equally, a powerful close that bears no resemblance to the main body of the communication would just confuse and disappoint an audience brought up to expect something more.

And dont think that humour will save you.

Business communication is a serious business and very few people have the skill to be able to deliver a humourous message that the audience will retain and act upon.

As Granville Toogood says in his excellent book The Articulate Executive, humour is a very risky strategy.

If you are determined to use humour in your presentation, then please follow Toogoods recommendation: Tell the story as if it were true. The punch line is a lot funnier if we arent expecting it Tell the story to make a business point. If you dont make a point, you have no business telling a joke Make sure you tell the story correctly, dont mess up the punch line, and make sure its appropriate.

The opening and closing of your business communication are the two most easily remembered and therefore essential elements. Make sure you give your audience something to remember.

The Psychological Rule of 7±2 seven plus or minus two

Psychologists have long known that the human brain has a finite capacity to hold information in short-term or working memory.

The brain is also structured to retain information in clusters or groups of items. These clusters average, across the whole of mankind, at seven items, plus or minus two.

Which means that your audience is only able to hold on to between five and nine pieces of information at any one time.

Now do you see the importance of clarity of message and of having a distinctive and memorable opening and close

If you want your key points to be remembered even five minutes later, it is essential that you limit your business communication to between just five and nine key points.

Equally, if you want your key action points to be remembered five weeks later, ensure that your communication is amongst the five to nine most memorable messages your audience has attended to in the last five weeks.

Conclusion

There are seven essential elements to successful business communication: Structure Clarity Consistency Medium Relevancy Primacy/Recency Rule of 7±2

If you are going to communicate effectively in business it is essential that you have a solid grasp of these seven elements.

About The Author

Lee Hopkins When you match consumer psychology with effective communication styles you get a powerful combination. At Hopkins-Business-Communication-Training.com you can find the secrets to communication success. At Hopkins we show you how to communicate better for better business results.

www.hopkins-business-communication-training.com

If you called my office you will hear my voice mail message that ends with the words “Expect Success.”

There’s a important intent behind that. What if every time we made a phone call or personal request or met with a potential new customer, you expected you would be successful Do you think your behavior would be different

If we truly expected success we would make more phone calls, make more requests and schedule more appointments. And that would result in more business, more income, more ease in our workday, and more overall success.

When we call people or meet with them, we have to hold the attitude that we are offering them an opportunity—an important opportunity, and maybe even the perfect opportunity for them. If they do not go for it, that’s fine. Our responsibility to ourselves is to make the offer. It doesn’t matter what the thoughts and actions of the other person are; it doesn’t matter whether they agree to what you are offering or not. What matters is that you go for what you want all the time, every time, and are as proactive and confident as you would be if you knew you could not miss.

As you well know success is not a destination we arrive at; it is an attitude we hold along the way. All the joy of our professional lives is not in the outcome, but in the process. Do not rob yourself of the satisfaction that lies on the path along the way—enjoy every call you place, every order you take, every presentation you make. Revel in the process of being a success—today.

To expect more success, more of the time, follow these steps:

Acknowledge all the small successes in the process. Count your “wins” daily. Wins are all those things that go your way in a given day—the letter you wrote, the VIP you finally got hold of, the parking ticket you eluded, the compliment you received.

Smile. Both psychologically and physiologically, this simple, easy action improves our well-being, which improves our outlook, which prepares us for all the great things we are expecting to happen to us. To become fit and healthy from a success standpoint, give your smile muscles a workout just like the rest of your body.

Hold your success attitude in your body. Stand up straight, raise your chin up, keep your shoulders back and feet firmly planted. Feel the power of personal success in every cell in your body.

Create a compelling success image in your mind. Once you expect your success, see it. Imagine it vividly and in color—what are you doing, where are you, what are you wearing, how does it feel like in your body Make your success as real as possible in your mind, so your expectancy is even stronger and, as a result, your actions even bigger.

Use an affirmation or set an intentions. State to yourself over and over what you intend to create today. State your intentions verbally, out loud to yourself; state them silently, in your mind; and record them on a cassette tape so that you can listen to yourself stating what you expect to create in your life.

Beyond Affirming, Feel It. Do not stop at the mental part of expecting success. Also feel it in your body. You have felt the good feeling of connecting, achieving, realizing what you want.

Be bold. Do all those things today that you know you will do when you are more successful. That is how you will create the success you strive for in your business and life.

You will never be more successful than you expect you can be. Greet every day with the belief that good things are going to happen to you. Expect to be successful with your calls, appointments and projects. Your work life will be enriched; you will take more risks, make more requests, and seize more opportunities. That will result in a better life, and that is what success is all about. I say that people who expect success not only think they are more successful, they actually are more successful. I urge you to vigorously and fully prove this theory in your own life.

About The Author

Caterina Rando, MA, MCC coaches women entrepreneurs and direct sellers to succeed with ease. She is a sought after speaker, master certified coach and author of the national best-seller Learn to Power Think. Caterina is also the Success Center Director for the Direct Selling Women’s Alliance and contributing author to the soon to be released book Build it Big-101 Secrets of Top Direct Selling Experts. Caterina can be reached at 800 966-3603 or by email at cpr@caterinar.com. Visit her website http://www.caterinar.com for more articles and a beautiful, colorful downloadable daily inspiration card.

Are you sending e-mails to prospects instead of calling them

Is e-mail your selling medium of choice because it lets you avoid the rejection that you dread when you make real cold calls

Do you wait and wait for return e-mails from prospects that will give you the green light to move the sales process forward

Sad but true, these days most people who sell for a living spend 80% of their time trying to communicate with prospects via e-mail instead of actually picking up the phone and speaking with them. Are you one of those people If so, you arent alone...but do you understand why youve turned to e-mail instead of personal contact I think there are 2 core reasons that underlie this unfortunate trend:

Fear of rejection. The sheer negative force of anticipating rejection makes people turn to e-mail to generate new prospect relationships because it hurts less to not get a reply than to hear that verbal no.

Getting blocked by gatekeepers and voicemail. When salespeople dont know how to break through the barriers of gatekeepers and voicemail, they start thinking, Forget it -- its not worth the aggravation, and it takes too much energy. Ill just e-mail instead.

However, when you try to use e-mail to offer your product or service to someone who doesnt know you, you cant possibly establish the natural dialogue between two people that allows the trust level to reach the level necessary for a healthy, long-term relationship.

We all know how much everyone hates e-mail spam, but even so, many salespeople are still sending introductory e-mails to decisionmakers. They feel that, because theyre from a credible organization, they wont be associated with the negative image of a spam solicitor.

However, these introductory e-mails typically contain the traditional three-part sales pitch -- the introduction, a mini-presentation about the products and services being offered, and a call to action -- and this traditional selling approach instantly tells the recipient of the e-mail that your only goal is to sell your product or service so you can attain your goals, and not theirs.

If youre still using email to sell, watch out for these 7 pitfalls:

Avoid sales pitches. If you feel you must use e-mail to start a new relationship, make your message about issues and problems that you believe your prospects are having, but dont say anything to indicate that youre assuming that both of you are a match.

Stop thinking that e-mail is the best way to get to decisionmakers. Traditional selling has become so ineffective that salespeople have run out of options for creating conversation, both over the phone and in person. However, its best to view e-mail as a backup option only, not as a way to create new relationships. Try to use it primarily for sending information and documents after youve developed a relationship with a prospect.

Remove your company name from the subject line. Whenever you put your company and solution first, you create the impression that you cant wait to give a presentation about your product and services. Your subject line should be a humble reference to issues that you may be able to help prospects solve.

Stop conditioning your prospects to hide behind e-mail. When you e-mail prospects, its easy for them to avoid you by not responding. Also, they get used to never picking up the phone and having a conversation with you -- and they may want to avoid you because theyre afraid that, if they show interest in what you have to offer, youll try to close them. This creates sales pressure -- the root of all selling woes. This avoidance becomes a vicious circle. If you learn to create pressure-free conversations, youll find that youll start getting phone calls from prospects who arent afraid to call you.

Avoid using e-mail as a crutch for handling sticky sales situations. Are prospects not calling you back Many salespeople who call me for coaching ask how they can get themselves out of sticky situations with prospects -- but the e-mails theyve sent have already triggered those prospects to retreat. Its tricky to come up with the correct softening language in an e-mail that will re-open a conversation with a prospect who has decided to close off communication --direct, person-to-person phone calls or meetings are much easier and more human.

Avoid using I and we. When you start an introductory e-mail with I or we, you immediately give the impression that you care only about selling your solution, rather than being open to a conversation that may or may not lead to a mutually beneficial match between what you have to offer and the issues your prospect may be trying to solve. If you can change your sales language to a natural conversation, your prospect will be less likely to stereotype your message as a spam solicitation.

Finally...

If you can, stop using e-mail selling altogether. There is a way to renew your confidence and eliminate your reluctance to picking up the phone and have pleasant conversations with potential prospects. Learn a completely new way of working with gatekeepers that will get you past voicemail and to your decisionmakers without the rejection and frustration that are inevitable with traditional selling approaches.

For all these reasons, you should think of e-mail as your last resort. If you can learn to pick up the phone without fear, start a trusting conversation with a gatekeeper, learn how to go beyond voice mail and find your decisionmakers, youll join the thousands of people who have made the Unlock The Game™ breakthrough the most natural and efficient way of generating sales opportunities.

About The Author

Ari Galper is the founder of Unlock The Game™, the only selling program completely focused on eliminating pressure from the sales process. His best-selling Unlock The Game™ Self-Study Program continues to make in-roads in the U.S., UK, Australia and Canada. Visit http://www.UnlockTheGame.com to take a Free Test Drive!

One of my classes in management focused on the repeat customer. The course stressed the importance of the repeat customer to the financial welfare of the business. We spent hours discussing ways to turn “first time” buyers into repeat customers. This is not a new concept. We’ve all heard the term “the customer is always right”. And then there is the movie we watch every Christmas where Macy tries to out “customer satisfaction” Gimbel. I prefer to take that concept one step further with what I consider the most valuable asset of a business, the loyal customer.

The loyal customer is one who will buy your product or service even when it is more expensive or at a personal inconvenience. The loyal customer is one who will recommend you to his competitors. The loyal customer is one who will stand up and defend your company against unfair comments. The loyal customer is one who will teach his children to purchase your product or service because they can depend on your company to treat them with fairness and honesty. The businesses of America, large and small, have been built on the backs of the loyal customer.

In his inauguration address, President Bush stated, “ as citizens we must uphold the principles of civility, courage, compassion, and character that a civil society demands from each of us”. Civility is a word we don’t hear much anymore. As companies have merged and as pressure from investors has increased, businesses have lost their civility. The concepts of respect and fair dealing that have been the cornerstones of American business are crumbling.

In the age of the computer and voicemail, companies are ignoring the fact that on the other end of the line is a living breathing person. They will spend millions on advertising to gain a new customer and then banish them to what I term “Customer Service Hell”.

Take the case of Denise in New Mexico

“I have been MORE than patient with Dell Computer Corporation. It has taken me 6 months, a minimum of 100 hours of my time, 20 different people, 10 phone calls to service, 5 to the rebate ripoff department, close to 30 mails, several faxes, daily blue screens which switched to daily black blank screens, all three drives not working, still not receiving a confirmed rebate on a machine I ordered in August, 2002, an ordered part Ive yet to receive, two individuals saying they will call RIGHT BACK who still havent called, and problems growing on an EPPurchased machine literally by the day ~ to get THIS upset.

Im sick of being jerked around by large corporations who make it impossible to reach their corporate offices who are only interested in SALES and could care less about SERVICE.”

Then there is my own personal experience with Nextel. My company was spending a substantial amount of money with Nextel and we loved the phones. However, customer service was non-existent. I once spent four hours on the phone with six different “representatives” and was hung up on when I asked to speak to a supervisor.

No answers were received to my faxes or letters. Voice mails to my local salesperson went unanswered. Even the letter from our attorney was never acknowledged. Needless to say we now have another cellphone provider.

These examples point to an alarming trend. Businesses are focusing on gaining new customers and failing miserably to turn these new clients into loyal customers. They have lost their civility, not only with their customers but with their employees as well.

What can you do If you believe like I do then take these beliefs and make a difference. Acknowledge that the people that you come in contact with are living breathing persons and treat them with goodness and respect. If you can’t do that in your present position then its time for you to make a change. As President Bush continued, “Americans are generous and strong and decent, not because we believe In ourselves, but because we hold beliefs beyond ourselves”. Let’s resurrect the “Miracle on 34th. Street”.

About The Author

Wayne Patterson is the author of "Solidgoldmonthly" home business newsletter. Home business news and views that you can use. No scams allowed! Subscribe now to receive FREE book of eBay Marketing Secrets, sold on other sites for $27.00. http://www.solidgoldhomebusiness.com solidgoldhome@charter.net

With the holidays around the corner, you may find yourself struggling to keep your home-based business and your home life separate and running smoothly. And youre not alone.

Operating a home-based business has many benefits as you already know, but its main drawback is that it often causes the line between your work and your personal life to become permanently blurred. Unlike those individuals who work outside the home and who know their day at the office ends when they get in their car and start the commute home, home business operators do not usually have a definite end to their day.

The reverse situation is also possible: they may not have a definite start to their day either. If you have a hard time breaking free of your work responsibilities or if you sometimes have trouble settling in to tackle them, these tips will help you bring both aspects of your life into equilibrium.

Separate Your Office From Your Home

If your work computer is in the living room where everyone in the family congregates, chances are you are being bombarded by distractions. Plus, when it is time for you to relax, you may find it difficult with the computer right there as a constant reminder of all the work you still need to finish and all of the communications you still need to respond to.

The answer is to set aside an area of your home just for work. If you have an office or an extra bedroom where you can set up your space, then you can block out the distractions simply by shutting the door. Also avoid putting anything in your home office that might prevent you from getting your work done, such as a television.

If you dont have an entire room to dedicate to your office, move your computer and materials into a room that is rarely used or that is normally unoccupied when you need to be working, such as a bedroom. Once you have separated your home from your office, you will find it easier to stay focused on your work but also to leave your work in its space so you can relax and enjoy the remainder of your home.

Create Specific Working Hours

One of the best things about running a home-based business is undoubtedly the flexible schedule, but it can also have negative consequences. On the one hand, your schedule may be so flexible that you only work 30 minutes a day or so hectic that you find yourself working at all hours of the day without taking a break.

The answer is to set your own office hours. Creating your own schedule still has benefits. For one, you can decide what time of the day you start, so if youre not a morning person, you dont have to get up at the break of dawn. Also, if you prefer to stop working when your children come home from school, you can consider that when you decide when to stop for the day.

Another benefit is that you provide clients and customers with a specific times when you are available to work with them. The most important thing to remember, however, is to set hours for yourself that you can live with. Once you decide on a schedule, you need to stick with it long-term, so be realistic about how long you can work without taking a break and how much time youll need to accomplish everything that needs to get done.

And, no matter how much you may be tempted to keep working, you need to stop when you say you are going to stop. Taking a break allows you to come back refreshed and more alert, so you can be more productive. An overworked, overly stressed person simply is not an effective worker at home or in an office.

Draw the Line Between Home and Work Communications

Has this ever happened to you You and your family have just sat down for a dinner around the table when a client calls to talk about your current project or a customer phones with questions about a recent purchase.

The easiest way to prevent work from interfering with your family is to keep communications separate. Start by having a second phone line dedicated to your work and attaching an answering machine or voice mail to the line.

When your work day ends, you can turn on the machine and let it handle any after-hour calls. An extra phone line also allows you to maintain professionalism. Imagine the embarrassment of having your young child answer the phone when an important customer calls.

You may also want to set up a post office box for all of your business-related mail. Not only will this prevent your important mail from accidentally getting thrown away with the junk, but it will also offer you and your family a level of privacy.

After all, you do not want to make your home address available to everyone; its just not safe. If you use email or instant messaging as part of your business communications, youll also want to establish separate accounts for those as well.

The key to running a home-based business is balance. While it may be difficult to stop working on that important project or to concentrate on work while your preparing for the holidays, striking that balance is essential for your well-being, your familys security, and your businesss success.

About The Author

Vishal P. Rao is the editor of Home Based Business Opportunities - A website dedicated to opportunities, ideas and resources to make money from home. Visit him at: http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com.

What I call "Time Wasters" is any action interfering with running your home based business.

What Are The 7 Most Common Time Wasters

Check Out The Following!

1. Email.

Email is without a doubt a very important factor in operating your Online business. After youve mastered sending and receiving email, theres no limit to the people or organizations you can reach at the press of the send button.

There is a downside to the marvelous convenience of email. Think of all the time the average business person spends checking email accounts. You could easily waste half your work day on email.

To the rescue e-prompter. This free software is easy to use and it will check several email accounts while you surf or work on other business matters.

Download e-prompter here... http://www.downloads.com http://webattack.com

2. Pop Ups.

Are you bombarded with pop ups at every turn on the Internet Pop ups will slow down your surfing and its down right frustrating trying to get rid of these annoying unwanted ads. As you know, Internet Explorer is not packaged with a good pop up blocker. So you will definitely need to download one if you plan to surf the Internet regularly.

To the rescue Google Toolbar!

The google tool bar has a great and free anti pop up weapon.

Download the Google bar. http://www.google.com

3. Surfing.

How often do you plan to check a website resource, and click unrelated links.

Fight mindless surfing!

Remember your goal. Ignore links that detract from your objective. If you are looking for information on the latest "Computer Virus Hoax" why are you visiting music sites or downloading screen savers

4. Forgetting To Write Down Your Objectives. Open Notepad or write what you plan to do on a sticky note. And check off the goals as you accomplish them. This listing method works great if you overloaded with too many task.

5. Time Limits.

Learn To Set a time limit! This will force you to focus on accomplishing your objective within the designated time frame. For example, limit yourself to 30 minutes checking email, or 1 hour researching a topic.

Heres an easy little count down timer that you can download.

Download Egg Timer Here: http://www.geocities.com/smallbizbits/free.html

6. Telephone/Television Distractions.

Unplug your telephone. Turn off that television. The telephone is a big time waster. Ignore urges to check your voice mail or answering machine for messages every few minutes. Only return important calls.

No more soaps! Thats right! While you are working tape your favorite programs. Watch them after business hours.

7. Family Distractions:

Make your home office "Off Limit" during work hours. Tell family members to handle any minor problems while you are at your computer. Close the door to your office. Place a sign on it "Do Not Disturb During Work Hours."

BB Lee is Editor/Publisher of SmallBizBits FREE Home Based Business Ideas Newsletter. Subscribe Now and receive a free home based business advice ebook bonus. Visit http://www.geocities.com/smallbizbits/

About The Author

BB Lee is the editor and the publisher of SmallBizBits newsletter. http://www.geocities.com/smallbizbits smallbizbits @geocities.com

It is Sunday evening and you are preparing again to go on a business trip. Monday morning the alarm goes off at 4:00 am, you drag your body and your briefcase to your car, drive to the airport, wait in a long line, get on a plane, get off a plane, and find your way to your client’s office. When you finally get home Monday night, you have spent more time traveling than meeting and you have dozens of emails and several important phone calls to return.

According to leading web conferencing service providers, the typical sales cycle can be cut two to three weeks with web conferencing. Providing a virtual conference room environment, web conferencing eliminates the need to travel, linking geographically disperse workgroups and telecommuters. The return on investment for web conferencing can be measured not only in dollars and cents, but also in personnel efficiency, knowledge distribution and increased sales opportunities.

The ability to virtually link workgroups and project teams enables real-time collaboration, a task that once required lengthy email threads or face-to-face meetings.

Web conferencing enables businesses to: Reduce operating costs Minimize unnecessary travel Close sales and negotiate contracts faster Enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of communication Deliver clear, concise and consistent training Encourage real-time collaboration between distant and local co-workers Engage in greater levels of communication with clients and business partners

Since its inception, web conferencing usage has expanded to a number of business applications such as daily sales and marketing efforts, interaction with co-workers and customers, corporate presentations and training initiatives. Financial corporations use web conferencing for internal meetings, customer briefings, employee training, client consultations and investment workshops. Healthcare and pharmaceutical companies use Web conferencing for product promotion and marketing, sales presentations and demonstrations, and product training and development. Educational institutions use web conferencing for project teams and student workshops. And, government agencies rely on web conferencing for training and inter-agency communication.

Most organizations use outsourced web conferencing. Why Because of the quickly changing technology, businesses opt not to invest in what could soon be obsolete. In addition, on a day-to-day basis, it is more cost effective to have web conferencing outsourced. Additional reasons include: Leading edge functionality provides greater levels of security, moderator control, and participant options. Your people can now focus on your core business, not support systems. The external company makes the investment in new features so that your fixed costs are reduced and your overall expenditures are lowered. With no capital expense, new technology can be implemented with minimal impact to the bottom line.

When beginning the search for a web conferencing solution, start with setting your objectives and determining the features you require. Here are a few basic questions that should be answered: How many participants do you anticipate attending your online meetings or events Will the number of participants remain consistent from meeting to meeting or will the number change How many meetings will be conducted each week, month, quarter Will usage fluctuate depending on the time of the year What type of content will be presented Power Point slides, software applications, web-based applications, documents, or spreadsheets What degree of interactivity do you require Q&A, polling/voting, application sharing, text chatting, live video, file sharing, etc. Do you want your own software or a hosted solution How much technical support or event management support do you require What is your monthly budget Are there any special security requirements

Once you have determined your requirements, screen a number of vendors. Visit their web site, review live demos, and seek client testimonials. Here are few suggestions for choosing a vendor:

Select a pricing model. Determine whether you want to pay-per-use you pay only for the time you and your attendees spend in web conferences or pay-per-seat you pay a flat monthly fee for a certain number of “seats”. Pay-per-use pricing is the better conservative choice for most companies learning to how to use web conferencing for their business. You avoid set up charges and you don’t have to monitor the number of concurrent users in order to avoid overage charges. You can always start with a pay-per-use plan and switch to a pay-per-seat plan once there is a clear, long-term financial advantage.

Get the features you need. Some web conferencing solutions only support online presentations while others offer full-featured packages that include polling, chatting, application-sharing, white boarding and group web surfing. Make sure that the product meets your needs.

Check into customer support levels. Is training and ongoing support available What hours Is there an extra fee Is there a telephone number available so that you can contact a support person or is only email support offered What are their support hours Call each vendor’s customer service number and see if you get a live person vs. a menu or voice mail. You don’t want to be in a situation where an attendee has technical problems joining a critical meeting and not be able to contact a live person immediately.

Consider security requirements. Depending on the audience and the information being sharing, security may be a concern. Most solutions are secure enough and do not store meeting data any place except on the presenter’s PC. Participants only see a graphical representation of the data through a standard web browser. Some services provide pass code authorization, basic encryption, and the ability to lock and unlock the meeting.

So, the next time Sunday night comes around and you are faced with another week of travel, email trails, difficulty in scheduling training and long lead times in closing sales and negotiating contracts, do yourself a favor and look into web conferencing for your business.

About The Author

Denise Bridgens has more than 20 years experience in product marketing and product management for communications and is the founder of Argo Navis IT. Argo Navis IT is a value added reseller of Premiere Conferencing services and is their exclusive Minority Women Business Enterprise partner. Premiere Conferencing has consistently led the industry in developing the most advanced conferencing solutions, fulfilling today’s business-critical communications needs and delivering the highest levels of security and reliability. Argo Navis IT is headquartered in Morristown, NJ and is opening an office in a HUB zone shortly. The company contributes 10% of profits annually to battered women’s shelters. To learn more about Argo Navis IT, visit their web site at www.argonavisit.com

There’s a common phrase used by Organizational Development and Human Resource professionals, when identifying kinks in the growth of an organization or company - “It’s a training issue.” The same phrase can be applied to almost any group of human beings that are working together to achieve a common goal. When progress stagnates and obstacles appear, you can retrace the path of movement and discover that things started to go wrong when someone wasn’t trained properly.

Have you ever experienced any of the following situations

Fast Food Nightmare:

You pull up to a fast food drive through window and a voice, with a foreign accent quickly spews out some inaudible words that you assume are probably akin to “May I take your order”

The waitress from hell: 

After being seated for thirty minutes at a local restaurant, a waitress finally approaches your table and asks if you’d like to order. When you politely explain that you’re frustrated because you’ve been waiting thirty minutes, she condescendingly responds with a sigh, “The kitchen is backed up and I just had a party of fifteen in the other room.”

Know-nothing Receptionist:  

You miss a much anticipated call from service person you’ve been trying to reach about a product you purchased that doesn’t work correctly. When you call the person back, a receptionist says the person is not in and you should try back later. The receptionist is not sure when would be the best time and – no – the person you seek doesn’t have voice mail.

Travel Trauma:

After being on the road for twelve hours, you arrive at the hotel where you have a reservation for the night. The check in time is posted as 3:30 pm. You arrive at 4:30 pm but the room is not ready. You are politely encouraged to check back in about an hour to see if the room is available. The front desk clerk has no idea what you should do with the hour of “kill time” and can’t guarantee that the room will even be ready in an hour.

Office Chaos:

You work in an office and have a large amount of administrative tasks that bog you down. There is an administrative assistant working ten feet from your desk who is supposed to offer support to your team. His understanding of “support” and yours differ. It appears that some members of your team get more support from this guy than others. You express the inequity of support to your boss who sees the conflict as “personality differences.” You just want your darn copies made in a timely fashion.

All of the instances above show poor service and mismanagement – in some cases “abuse,” but it all could undoubtedly be corrected through proper training. Thus, the root of these corporate and retail nightmares are addressed as “training issues.”

“Training” is such a bland word. The mere mention of the word conjures up visions of boring classroom environments, unenthusiastic training instructors and wasted time having concepts that common sense has already taught you rammed down your throat. Few people are ever excited about training.

My husband, who is an iron worker, recently went through training mandated by OSCA that instructed all the workers on his team in the safety procedures for operating a forklift truck. One of the most crucial training points was that “one should never leave the driver’s seat of the forklift while the motor was running and the forklift was in gear.” Duh!

Despite the negative karma training has gained in the corporate world, and the hype it was granted during the dot.com boom, the simple truth is that training is not merely dispensing information about technique and skill.  It is also communicates expectations and requirements of the job. People need to be told what is expected of them in clear terms, and relaying that expectation is a part of the training process. Training lays the foundation for affirming performance as well as correcting mistakes.

In all of the examples above, the “untrained” employee has emotionally disconnected themselves from the person they are employed to serve. Each has personal issues foremost in their minds which override their willingness to adequately serve others. If you were to get their side of the story, you’d hear some of the following responses:

"Everything moves so fast around here. It’s all I can do to keep up. No one really tells me what to do; they just tell me if I’m doing something wrong.”

“I could do my job if those I depended on could do theirs.”

“I’m tired of taking the hits for the poor performance of my superiors.”

“No one ever told me exactly what my job is. I guess they think I’ll figure it out. What I know of my job expectation has been mostly communicated by others telling me what I’m doing wrong. It’s every man for himself around here”

Poor service is not due to poor employees, but poor employers.

The bottom line is that lack of service = lack of growth, lack of productivity, lack of profits. Your company’s lack of service will pay a high price in the world of your competitors. You will have to continually compensate with special promotions, additional advertising, increased hiring and give-aways to disgruntled customers. Good service is linked to happy, valued employees that provide the service. Training is a crucial tool in helping employees feel valued in the work environment.

How do you use training to solve the problems mentioned above It’s all about having a training program that is set in place and held as a priority. Don’t fall into the “training out of desperation” category and only offer training when you have to put out a fire. Remember that training can be a form of giving your employees attention and recognition. If done well, they will appreciate it and feel affirmed.

Always have some type of training scheduled. It can be as infrequent as once a quarter or as frequent as once a week. You can do it in house or outsource it. Having scheduled training opportunities will prevent the development of service problems that cost you big time in the long run. 

New Hire Orientation

The most important training you’ll ever do with an employee will be when he or she first comes on board. Here’s an example of training to put in place for new hires.

1. As a company policy, be sure to have specific, written job descriptions for each employee, and a system established for continually updates. Job descriptions should focus on competencies rather than functions.

2. Develop an Orientation Training Program for each new employee that is hired. The program can last anywhere from one half a day to a week, but it should include the following: Introduction to the rest of the staff. Thorough review of the job description and company policies with the direct report, clearly laying out expectations and processes for recognition and correction. Allow time for questions and answers. Site tour – where are the bathrooms, kitchen, parking spaces, emergency exit, etc.Employee paperwork – W4, benefit forms, waivers, copy of Personnel Regulations and job description, etc. New hire should be given a thorough briefing on what the organization does, its goals, its vision, who it serves and the role of the new hire’s position in the grand scheme of things.  If possible, assign another staff person to be on call for questions that arise by the new hire. Be nice and have that staff person or yourself take the new hire to lunch their first day. Have a 30 day review set up mark it on your calendar where you will evaluate the new hire’s performance and inquire about their feelings and frustrations related to the job. NOTE: If you reschedule or cancel this 30 day review, youll send that employee a clear message about the priority you place on their training and development. This meeting is crucial to the new hire and they anticipate it with great expectation.

A training program, aside from being a way to continually dispense needed information to your employees is also one of the most effective methods for gaining information about how to improve company infrastructure. It is a safe environment for workers to share thoughts, feelings and ideas on how to improve the company. In addition, training – when done properly – affirms employees, helps them to develop a sense of loyalty to the company, reduces turnover and creates a prime opportunity for building consensus.

Training and development is an investment, not a cost.

Fortune 500’s lists on top companies, Best Small Businesses, Best Companies to Work For and Best Bosses have repeatedly displayed interest in employee satisfaction as well as training and development. Edward Jones, a stockbrokerage out of St. Louis, MO was rated #1 for the second consecutive year on Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For.”  

According to Fortune it spends 3.8% of its payroll on training, with an average of 146 hours for every employee, and new brokers get four times that much. When asked why it spends so much on training managing partner John Bachmann replied, “In order to grow, you have to be trained or you get trapped in the present.” One administrative assistant at Edward Jones was quoted by a Fortune journalist saying, “I’ve never experienced working for a company that has so many satisfied employees.”#

A training program is an ideal starting point to take action to decrease turnover, improve employee performance and initiate loyalty. It is also a strong foundation for developing affective communication within the company or organization. If you have no training program currently established, start with an orientation training program or look to your local university or community college for training opportunities. Start a training library by ordering books, videos and periodicals that address competencies you want to develop in your staff. Beginning or improving a training program shows employees that you care.

#. Fortune Magazine, January 20, 2003 Issue: Summary on Edward Jones – Ann Harrington

About The Author

Mindie Burgoyne is an Organizational Development Consultant and owner of Lowershore.net, a Maryland Business Development Company. She has assisted small businesses and Fortune 500 Companies in business development, product development, staff management and leadership training. www.lowershore.net. info@lowershore.net

Some of you have expressed, to me, that you are a little afraid of writing ads. In this article, we will talk about writing one or two line ads and why they are more effective.

One of the first things to think about is, How do you read ads. Are you in a hurry and just scan them When you scan do you just look for the jist of the ad Do you get bored because of all the yada, yada, yada How long is your attention span When reading ads do you wish they would get to the point, so that you can know if you are interested or not Do you get impatient with the same ad over and over If you answered yes to any one of these questions, what makes you think that others dont feel the same way

That brings up another question. Are your ads being read Would you like for your ads to be read If you want your ads read, I am going to offer some suggestions:

1 Most peoples attention span is very low, especially on the internet. Everyone is always in a hurry, therefore you need to keep it short. After all what are you trying to get people to do with your ad You want them to visit your site, or an affiliate site and maybe make a purchase, right

2 You dont need to write a book. Simply tell the people about your offer, but make it tweak their curiosity. Well talk more about this later.

When I read ads, I scan them to get the jist of the ad. What are they trying to tell me Oh, its about a Free cell phone, with all the trimmings. I already have a cell phone and I am happy with the service I get. No, Im not interested. Next!

Lets stay with the cell phone ad, for a minute. Lets say that your cell phone offer is unique, in some kind of way. Maybe you will offer a person 3 months of Free service, if they change to your service. They never find that out. Why Because their isnt enough room to say all of that in the ad. Where would there be room enough to really expand and tell them all the good stuff On your web site or your affiliate website.

Lesson # 1-- You cant sell them in an ad! You need to get them to visit the web site! How can you do that Lets have a closer look at that question. Which ad would you be willing to click on:

Ad #1: Get your Free cell phone, including voice mail, three way calling, unlimited nights and weekends, paging, caller ID and much more, for only $39.99! Now thats a deal! Visit us at: http://mycellphone.com

Ad #2: We can save you money! How does $122.00 sound http://mycellphone.com

In the first ad, if you arent in need of a cell phone, you wont bother to click the link. In the second ad, doesnt that peak your curiosity It does mine. I would begin to think, They can save me $122.00 How I would click the link, go to the web site to find out.

TIP: Your ad is not to sell the person. An ad is to peak their curiosity enough to get them to click the link. The web site is where you sell them. Doesnt it make sense that you have more room on your web site to tell them about your offer and explain it to them If you can get them there, you might make a sale, even if they already have a cell phone. They may want to change the service they now have to your service. Wouldnt that be great You have made a sale!

You have to think like your customer. Would you like to save $122.00 Of course you would. We are all looking to save money, especially in todays economy.

Now lets do this exercise. Take a few moments to think about what you are selling How could you describe it and peak my interest Now condense the ad down to 1 or 2 sentences. Think about what 1 or 2 lines would peak Your curosity. Send me an ad about your product or service 1-2 lines that will make me click on your web site, or your affiliate web site. Send me the ad at mailto:funad@janes-place.com We will have 2 winners. The 2 winners will have their ad spotlighted in our newsletter. Talk about exposure! Set-up another email account at yahoo.com -- jpad@yahoo.com , which stands for janes-placead@yahoo.com and lets see how many responses you get from the ad. Test it in other newsletters too! If you get a good response, it will tell whether this works or not. You will also collect the email addresses from those who respond, so that you can market to them later. I will write an article later and explain how you would do this. You can only win trying this out! I promise I will not embarrass any one! If I have any suggestions, I will email you personally. Deal

About The Author

Jane Fulton is Owner & Webmistress of http://janes-place.com Home For Newbies & Beginning Marketers. She has been helping them for almost 4yrs now. She publishes a newsletter, Newbie & Affiliate SOS Newsletter. It appears online twice a month. If you like these How To type of articles, subscribe to her newsletter at: http://janes-place.com/sos.htm webmistress@janes-place.com

In Part 1 of this article we discussed how to select office furnishings and why making the right choices were crucial to your comfort and ability to remain organized. In Part 2 we will take a look at your basic home office equipment needs.

1. Computers

The type of computer thats best for you depends upon the type of work that you do, and whether you spend all of your time in your home office, or go out on the road to meet clients. While there are a seemingly endless choice of makes and models, there are essentially only three basic choices.

For most home office situations, the desktop computer reigns supreme. However, if you are on the road a lot then you can find notebook computers with nearly the same horsepower as the best desktop. If you do choose a notebook, the consider one that has an available docking station. That way, when you are in your home office, you can easily use a standard keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

Even if you have a desktop or notebook, you might have room in your life for a Personal Digital Assistant PDA. PDAs, such as those from Palm Computing, can be a very valuable personal productivity tool especially if you need real-time access to your appointments, to-do lists, and phone numbers. With the growing popularity of wireless Internet access you can even use your PDA to connect to your home office computer no matter where you are.

2. Printers

Your first decision is what type of technology to go with --laser or ink jet. Laser printers use a toner cartridge/drum assembly while ink jets accept ink tank cartridges. Lasers are generally better for high-volume printing and have higher duty cycles--the manufacturers rating for the units recommended monthly workload. Lasers also produce better-quality black text than most ink jets, though some ink-jet models rival low-end lasers.

Lasers are also faster than ink jets, but ink jets offer a lower cost model if you need to print in color. Color laser printers are still very expensive. Since the prices for laser and ink jets are so low, you could consider buying one of each.

Another important item to consider is resolution. A printers resolution determines the overall print quality of your documents. Resolution means the number of dots per inch that appear on the page as a horizontal and vertical measurement such as 600 x 600 dots-per-inch or dpi. A 600 x 600 dpi resolution produces adequate quality for most projects.

Your final deciding factor is speed. While printers rarely perform up to the manufacturers claims, you should still use the printers posted performance specifications as a guideline. An acceptable speed for personal laser printers is around 6 to 10 pages per minute. An acceptable range for ink jet printers is 4 ppm or above.

There are printers that do double, triple, or even quadruple duty as a fax, copier, and scanner as well. You should consider buying one of these models if you have a need for all of this equipment.

3. Internet access

Today you have a wide choice of Internet access protocols. If you access the Internet only to check your email, and browse the web a bit, then you might be able to get by with an inexpensive dial-up account. This type of access generally runs around $9.95 per month and up.

If constant, high-speed Internet access is a requirement for your home office business, then you need to step up to either Digital subscriber lines DSL, or a cable modem. Both provide sufficient speed for any type of business that you are likely to run out of a home office.

DSL utilizes unused bandwidth on your existing telephone lines to provide a constant connection, while cable modems use your existing cable television network. DSL may not be available in your area. It depends upon your telephone companys technology and how far you are from a DSL access point.

Cable, on the other hand, is available in all but the most remote markets. Still, if you cant get either, then there is always the possibility of a satellite uplink. While this was considered extravagant only a few years ago, its affordable and no more trouble than installing a small dish antenna on your home and signing up for the service.

4. Telephones

No matter how high-tech your home office is, the telephone is still the most basic and essential of your business tools. Available features are at an all-time high and prices are at an all time low. Almost any home office phone on the market comes equipped with programmable speed-dial numbers, multiple-line capability, speakerphone operation, conference call capability, and headset jacks. In addition, your local phone company offers a wide array of add-on services such as called id, voice mail, flat-rate long distance and more.

If your work keeps you up and around your home office, or if you like to take business calls while out on your patio or while walking around your home, then a cordless phone is a joy to have. There are so many makes and models to choose from that it almost seems like you need a consultant to help you make the right choice. Its not really that hard. Just keep the following in mind:

a Choose the right technology

Avoid analog phones at all costs. Analog phones are susceptible to interference from other devices and range is very limited. Also, analog phones permit eavesdropping through baby monitors and other cordless phones.

Digital phones have greater range than analog phones plus they offer better call privacy through the use of random codes that scramble communications between handset and base unit.

Digital Spread Spectrum DSS is the best of breed for right now. The Spread Spectrum technology uses multiple channels and frequency hopping to thoroughly scramble communicate between the handset and base unit. You also get increased range due to decreased electrical interference, plus DSS phones are permitted to use more powerful transmitters.

b Frequency

The range of your cordless phone also depends upon its assigned radio frequency. Most home office phones fall into three frequencies.

900 MHz: This is by far the worst choice. This frequency is crowded with devices such as baby monitors, pagers, and cell phones, and is subject to maximum interference. A 900-MHz phone has a range of around 1,500 feet and prices start at $20.

2.4 GHz: While once the best choice available, the 2.4-GHz spectrum is overrun with wireless networking, microwaves, and other devices. A 2.4-GHz phone has a range of 2,200 feet and pricing starts around $50.

5.8 GHz: This is the latest unlicensed spectrum available for wireless devices. Very few devices operate in this spectrum so there is a marked reduction in interference. A 5.8-GHz phone also boasts a range of around 2,200 feet and start at about $150.

c Other considerations

Make sure that any phone you select has a headset jack, and then invest in a headset. There is nothing worse than cradling your phone on your shoulder while you consult your files or try to type something on your keyboard. A headset frees both hands while you talk.

Dont forget to take a look at your potential phones battery life as well. Most cordless phones offer at least four hours of talk time and seven days of standby. Make sure that your phone uses replaceable battery packs, and that the battery packs are widely available.

One last thought. Cordless phones are useless without power, so always keep a regular corded phone handy for blackout emergencies.

In Summary

There is a lot more to equipping an efficient home office than first meets the eye. Hopefully this two-part series gets you going in the right direction. Chances are everything that you buy for your home office is tax deductible. Check with your accountant to be sure.

© Vishal P. Rao

About The Author

Vishal P. Rao is the editor of Home Based Business Opportunities - A web site dedicated to opportunities, ideas and resources to help you start and run a home based business. Visit his site at: http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com

Knowing when to disconnect, shut it off, unplug, or walk away from work is one of the essential keys to work/life balance for harried and overworked people.

When was the last time you completely left work behind How frequently do you take work home, check e-mail or voice mail from home, or take your work with you on vacation Do you feel you can’t afford to not do these things What’s the real impact on your personal sense of balance when you are consistently making work your top priority

The work many of us do is extremely demanding of both our time and energy. In many cases, you may allow the intrusion and justify the cost on a personal level for real or anticipated gains on the career level. But way too often, we’re sacrificing family time, exercise, or much-needed personal time without making conscious choices about the implications and trade-offs.

Many of us feel stressed and overworked because we are overconnected. As a result of the onslaught of information, along with the never-ending ways that people can access us anytime of the day or night, we feel perpetually connected to our work. Think about the number of technology resources you now use that were not commonplace just a few years ago. Cell phones, pagers, e-mail, instant messaging, online chats, voice mail, call forwarding, wireless Internet pagers…. the list just keeps growing. How much is enough of these technology tools and the obsessive connection to our work! And how do we begin to reestablish those important boundaries between our work and our personal lives

In our book, "Dot Calm: The Search for Sanity in a Wired World," we provide a wealth of “how to” tips for managing the work-life challenge:

The first step: JUST SAY NO!—and draw clear boundaries. This takes on multiple forms: Turn off your cell phone when you shouldn’t be interrupted. Don’t take a cell phone to an appointment or when you are focusing on someone else. Don’t give out your cell phone number. Use it only for outgoing calls. Screen calls using caller ID. Block out time when you will not be interrupted. Hold certain times “sacred.” If you make a commitment for a social or family event, honor that commitment without interruptions. Use the “delete” option early and often. Arrange for calls from the office only in cases of emergency. Maintain your commitment to “work-free” vacations. Make sure you are clear about what you value and what is important to you. Let voice mail or the answering machine take your calls. On your voice mail greeting, be clear about when you will and will not be available. Update that message regularly. Exercise to burn off stress—and don’t talk on your cell phone or into your dictation machine while exercising!

Obviously, some intrusions of work into personal life are unavoidable, depending upon the nature of your work. If you manage a nuclear power plant, are a member of an organ transplant team, or have on-call responsibilities as part of your job, then some intrusions go with the territory. However, more often than not, we let work seep into our personal lives even when there’s not a bonafide emergency or time-urgent crisis. We’ve become so accustomed to the ever-presence of our work that we’ve unconsciously allowed further intrusions that have, in many cases, become unreasonable.

Our research involved hundreds of interviews and surveys to learn how busy people are achieving balance and integrating overwork solutions into the lives. There are five key solutions that are working for these people, some of whom work long hours, receive over 300 e-mail each day, travel extensively, and have families they treasure. Here are a few specific steps you can take for each of these solutions:

1. PRIORITIZE AND ORGANIZE Know what you need to accomplish and focus on that. Maintain a firm commitment to being organized and used systems that support that. Ignore those e-mails and voice mails that are not really important.

2. TAKE DAILY “TIME-OUTS” Take a nap, a walk, or a mini-meditation break with a few minutes of silence. Maintain daily rituals, such as teatime, meditation, prayer, exercise. Leave the office—and leave your work there.

3. TAKE MINI SABBATICALS. Enjoy a weekend trip with family or friends. Schedule game night or movie night or pizza night with your family. Plan a work-free family day at least one weekend each month.

4. NURTURE THE SOUL AND MIND. Read a good book unrelated to your work. Participate in community service activity with your family. Go to a movie, the theater, the opera, or the museum.

5. NOURISH THE BODY. Exercise regularly. Eat and sleep well. Get a massage.

About The Author

Debra A. Dinnocenzo is a dynamic speaker, author, and trainer with expertise in telework, virtual teams, and work-life balance. She is president of ALLearnatives, a learning and development firm that designs and implements telework, sales performance, virtual teams, and work-life balance programs. She is the author of “101 Tips for Telecommuters” and co-author of “Dot Calm: The Search for Sanity in a Wired World,” which offers solutions for achieving work-life balance. ALLearnatives offers workshops, seminars, and the free e-newsletter, “WorkWisely.” Visit www.allearnatives.com to subscribe to “WorkWisely,“ schedule a presentation, or obtain additional resources.

This article may be reproduced providing it is published in its entirety, including the author bio and all links. For additional information or to request additional content for articles, contact Debra Dinnocenzo, ddinnocenzo@allearnatives.com

The telephone is still the best and most effective way to reach people. It can help generate more sales and build your business. Unfortunately most people don’t like the telephone and don’t use it effectively. In order to become more proficient using the telephone, you need to follow some basic guidelines and then practice, practice and then practice some more.

Like everything else, selling by using the telephone has changed over the years. The hard sell approach doesn’t cut it today. With voice mail, answering machines, tele-zappers, and caller ID the old fashion way doesn’t work any longer.

If you are selling a high end product, trying to do it all on the first call doesn’t work. You need to go through a couple of stages to get your end result – the sale. First you need to introduce yourself. Tell them about you, your business and your product. Next try to set up an appointment to go into further detail. Or maybe send some information before calling again. Moving one step at a time gives the customer time to become familiar with you and your product. It also gives your customer time to realize how important your product is to them.

You need to be confident and positive. As we have told many of our students, if you don’t feel like getting on the phones – don’t. That negativity and lack of enthusiasm is going to come through on the telephone. Many years ago when I was working in corporate America as a receptionist my supervisor told me to always answer the telephone with a smile on. That smile carried over into the impression the caller received when contacting a company.

So be sure that a positive attitude comes through . Remember, the old adage, “you must first sell yourself, then sell your product”.

Also of utmost importance is to know what you want to say. If you use a script, have it handy, but don’t just read it. I can tell immediately when a call I get is being read from a script. Write down an opening statement for example, Hi , my name is Susan from Home Business Solutions. I’m calling about the home you have for sale. Are you the person to speak with What’s your name. Make notes of points you need to cover. Practice saying what you want to say until it comes naturally. Be sure you make strong statements. Avoid the words: maybe, could, but.

You also need to know your product. You have to perceive its value before you can convince someone else. You have to know what it does, how it works, and be able to describe it in terms that the layman can understand. You also need to explain the benefits of your product.

One of the first things I go over with our students regarding our telephone script is that they must learn to listen, and I mean really listen. You can tell a lot about your customer just by hearing what they are saying. Also be sure you ask their name, and then use it now and then. Don’t overuse their name because this can become very annoying. My philosophy is if I hate it, so will someone else.

Be sure to ask questions to encourage them to talk about themselves. Empathize. However, don’t do a lot of talking until you are sure you understand. Let them do the majority of talking.

If you pick a certain time frame to make your calls, or do a certain number of calls in a row, try to say it a little differently each time. If you don’t you will start to sound stale, lose your happy voice and sound as if you are reading a script. So if this starts to occur, take a break, or stop for the day.

As we discussed earlier in this article if your product is a high end one you will make several calls to establish a relationship. Once you have done this, and they remember who you are, introduce something new about your product. Keep a record of your calls, and details of what you discussed previously, so that you know where you stand when you call again. When I worked for a franchise company, I kept a record of every call that came in from franchisees or calls I made. First, my employer was amazed at the amount of knowledge I had about franchisees at my fingertips, and more important the franchisees felt like they were the only one, I knew them so well.

Using the telephone can help you get repeat business. For certain products, you can call customers to see how they are doing with the product. Maybe there are additional questions you could answer or problems you might be able to solve.

If everything is going well, you have a excellent opportunity to introduce your newest product, and hopefully, make another sale. This is also a great time to ask for referrals. Even if the follow up call doesn’t pay off right away, you are building a relationship with this customer. Remember it is a lot easier to keep a customer happy than to find another one. Your follow-up also builds credibility with your customers.

Doing the above will give your business a boost.

Copyright 2003 DeFiore Enterprises

About The Author

Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 19 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site Subscribe to our "how to" Home Business Solutions Digest, its like having your own personal coach: mailto:subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com coaches@homebusinesssolutions.com