Little Known April Holidays

These are real but little known holidays that you can use for fun and profit.

 2 Once cent day
 2 National Peanut Butter & Jelly day
 4 Tell a lie day
 5 National mule day
 5 National fun at work day
 7 National no housework day
 8 International bird day
 10 Stories day
 10 Golfer's day
 11 Dandelion day
 13 Blame somebody else day
 15 Rubber eraser day
 18 Look-Alike day
 19 Garlic day
 21 Kindergarten day
 24 Plumber's day
 26 National pretzel day
 28 kiss your mate day
 29 National zipper day
 30 National honesty day

Why Customers Leave You

Here are reasons why customers may not come back and buy from you again. To get them back you must first resolve the situation that got them to leave. Some possible things are:

 *A problem was never solved
 *They moved out of your selling area
 *They no longer use what you sell
 *They are unhappy with your product or service
 *They found lower prices/higher value elsewhere
 *They had a dispute with your company
 *They found a better selection at your competitor
 *You didn't keep up with technology
 *They don't feel you appreciate their business
 *Your website was old-fashioned
 *A competitor stole them away
 *They can't afford to purchase again
 *They now have a relative in the business
 *The key contact left their company
 *Delivery was always late
 *They didn't like your open hours
 *They went out of business
 *They don't like their sales rep

Barry speaks at company meetings and conferences. www.idealetter.com

Excessive Spending

Wouldn't you like to close your company for a week and take all your employees and their significant others on a Caribbean cruise? You only live once so why not. Your customers will have to wait because you need a break from the boring normal routine; your business owes it to you. There's money in the company checking account so why not use it? When you get back the customers will be lined up begging you to take their orders and ready to pay. Why didn't you think of this before, you could be doing it every year!

It's time to get your head out of the clouds and face reality. Don't back yourselt and your business into a corner with unnecessary spending and think that future sales will bail you out. You may not be able to process those future orders if suppliers stop shipping because of unpaid invoices. You can not only lose the sale and profit but a valuable customer as well. Pay your suppliers and other expenses first before you waste money on things that you don't really need. We all can dream but realty catches up with us eventually.

Barry is available as a speaker for conventions, trade shows and company meetings. www.idealetter.com

Employees Have Ideas

Many employees in a business have great ideas that will benefit sales, growth or customer service but management never hears about those ideas. They may be worried that if the idea is considered worthless they will be looked down upon and it could hurt their chance for promotion. Managers & owners should always encourage their staff to come forward with any ideas they feel are helpful to the company. If the idea is not used the employee should still be thanked for submitting it.

Make a serious effort to get those ideas and suggestions and reward the ones that are used. Also let their peers know they had a great suggestion and make it easy for others to submit them. A regular meeting with your staff can have an item on the agenda that is time for ideas and suggestions. It's important to let the staff know that no ideas is too foolish if they feel it might benefit the company. Encourage input from everyone.

 Barry is a business speaker and international author www.idealetter.com

A Great Customer Experience

A great customer experience doesn't happen by accident, it takes work, dedication and effort to achieve it, sometimes when you don't feel like it. Each customer or prospect deserves your best attention and service because they don't know how you treated the person before them. They don't care how you treated the previous customer, they just want the best experience they can have when they spend their money with you. Any store or business can have a better than average customer experience some of the time but only outstanding businesses are better than average ALL THE TIME.

Anyone can talk about giving great service but only management and it's staff can deliver it all the time. Some owners and managers feel that they are already doing what's necessary to be the Best Choice for the buyer or consumer. But why stop there when you can strive and improve your customer experience until you are THE ONLY CHOICE for the buyer. Providing an outstanding experience for the customer is not a one time event, it never ends. Remember I said Better Than Average ALL THE TIME.

Barry is a speaker on The Customer Experience and author of 6 published business books. www.idealetter.com

Wholesale Suppliers

Here's a quick list some different types of wholesalers:

• Manufacturer - For some products, you can buy directly from the manufacturer. This is basically what a "boutique" store does -- buys from small (sometimes one person) manufacturers.
• Importer / Exclusive Distributor - In some industries, a company might have the sole rights to import and distribute a product in a certain country. Some may sell directly to retailers, but more often, they setup or sell to smaller local wholesalers.
• Wholesaler / Regional Distributor - There are usually regional wholesalers who take delivery of boxcar sized lots, break them down, and sell truckloads boxes of products to local wholesalers.
• Jobbers, "wagon peddlers" - These are the guys who make daily deliveries to local grocers and retail brick-and-mortar stores.
• By Gregory Go

Non-Cash Employee Bonus'

Here are some things that you can give your staff for outstanding service or attaining goals. These are not cash but give them something that other employees are not getting.

 *Personal gifts of value
 *Gift cards for great restaurants
 *Movie or play tickets
 *New TV or audio for break room
 *Drawing chances for a big vacation
 *In-house food and drink party
 *Weekends at local hotels
 *Amusement/water park tickets
 *Gift cards for popular stores
 *Case of their favorite wine or beverage
 *Weekend rental of a luxury car
 *Limo ride to & from work for a week
 *The presidents parking space
 *Afternoon off for holiday shopping
 *Extra sick or vacation day
 *Persoalized plaque hung in business entrance
 *Donation to their favorite charity

Barry is a business coach/consultant and speaker. www.idealetter.com

What the Market Will Pay

"What the market will pay" means that customers are comfortable with the value they received for the price that they paid. And as long as they are comfortable, why should they even bother to shop around? They might even find a lower price but they ask themselves if the same value they want is there. It's your job as an owner or manager to make sure it's not. If you're trying to sell at the best prices that you can get, then you have to prove to your customers that everything is worth it.

"What you see is what you get" is not good enough anymore unless you are selling at bargain basement prices with "as is" status. People won't buy at a clearance sale unless the prices are extremely low. If you want to sell at the highest prices that your customers fell comfortable with, you need to provide some uniqueness backed by superior customer service. Trying to fool the buying public on value will always bacfire eventually.

Barry is a marketing & business speaker. www.idealetter.com

When You Lock You Car

I just heard about a new security alert that you should be aware of when you lock your car. Most of us just push the key ring lock button as we walk away from our parked car. Security thiefs now have equipment that will intercept that signal as you push the button and walk away. When you are gone they will use it to get into you car and steal what they can find in it. They may even steal the car itself or your garage door opener and look for your address in the glove compartment.

This has been happening in mall parking lots, stadiums, big office building lots or public parking lots. They will hide a short distance away and wait until you lock the car with the electronic button. The best way to stop this from happening is to lock the car with the push button inside the car itself that does not send a signal through the air. When returning to you car the electronic open signal is usually OK because you are getting in the car and driving away. Be aware that thiefs are getting smarter and using equipment that was not available a few years ago.

Barry Thomsen  www.idealetter.com

Keynotes and General Sessions

At a convention or conference you will want to attend the opening keynote or other general sessions. These major speeches are informative industry gatherings and will give you the latest on what's currently happening. They will have either well known personalities, government officials or association officers speaking for about an hour. They may also conduct other business such as giving out awards, introducing prominent people or fund raising auctions for the association or a charity.

If you haved signed for the entire event and paid the convention or conference fee you will be invited to these sessions. Some events have extra seats and they don't check at the door for tickets so you may be able to just walk in if you have an expo or trade show badge on a lanyard. However you are able to get in, it's information you will want to hear if at all possible. In some events you may even get lunch or dinner.

Barry is a convention and conference speaker and has been to hundreds of them. www.idealetter.com