Odd But Real June Holidays

Use these for fun or profit in your business.

 1 National Trails Day
 4 Cheese Day
 5 National environment Day
 7 Daniel Boone Day
 9 Intl Young Eagles day
 12 Magic Day
 13 National Juggling Day
 14 Family History Day
 15 Join Hands Day
 17 Watergate Day
 18 Intl Picnic Day
 20 National Dick Tracy Day
 21 Take Your Dog to Work Day
 24 Log Cabin Day
 26 National Decide to Marry Day
 27 National Orange Blossom Day
 30 National Decendents Day

Employees Have Ideas

Many of your employees have great ideas that can grow or improve your business. They may not offer those ideas unless asked to do so with no strings attached. They may think that if their idea is not good or not used it could be used against them. Don't ever let this feeling happen and encourage employees to volunteer their suggestions at any time. No idea is too dumb to suggest and many can be enhanced to provide very useful information and changes.

In many companies the front line staff had more contact with clients and customers than owners and managers. They hear requests and things that customers want or would like as services that never get passed on the management unless there is a reason to do so. Give them the open door for those ideas and show that you appreciate it when they offer them. Any good suggestions that you use should be rewarded to encourage others to join in. Your staff wants your business to succeed and most of them will participate if given the opportunity to do so.

Barry is a Customer Experience speaker and trainer. www.idealetter.com

Be Consistent

If you give a high level of service and provide quality products (and back them up) your customers will expect that EVERY time they spend money with you and your business. Being consistant can put confidence in the customer's mind and get them to increase their loyalty to your company. That's why it's so important to keep that level of consistency ALL THE TIME. If they don't get it they may begin to look around for another source.

There is really no excuse for poor employee performance just because there is no one there to supervise them. They must be trained to give that consistent outstanding service anytime they encounter a customer. The customer expects it and won't accept any excuse for not getting it. If you want to be the business that your customer will show loyalty to, show that you are consistent all the time.

Barry is a speaker on Customer Satisfaction and Marketing. www.idealetter.com

What You Wear Matters

I believe that what a business person wears reflects on the level of service that you can expect from them. I spent much of my life in Chicago and would never think of going to work in an office without a coat and tie. This was because I provided a professional business service to clients and customers and I wanted them to feel what they were paying was going to a business person who cared about his image. I was trained to dress one level above the customers or clients that I was serving so I would make the person(s) paying feel comfortable and assured of great value.

How would you feel if your doctor came into the examining room with dirty jeans and a t-shirt with a rip in it. Would that put a question in you mind about what kind of care and help you will receive? I probably would not buy insurance or financial services from someone wearing jeans and a polo shirt. Or a lady with shorts and no sleeve top on. I want to know that I'm dealing with a pro and they care about me as well as their appearance. I also feel that good grooming, no wild facial hair and pleasant odor is important.

If I came to an office to work in most of the Chicago with no sport coat or suit and jeans on I would probably be sent home to change. Think of the image you are giving your client or customer and if you don't care, you should not get their business. The same goes for retail and the staff that customer will see on their visit. They should be clean, neat and dressed well enoungh to make the person buying feel comfortable in their presence. Your staff should look as good as your products or services or I can assure you that you will not get all the sales that are possible.

Barry is a speaker on The Customer Experience and Marketing Ideas. www.idealetter.com

Inspire Your Managers

Let me spend 60 to 90 minutes with your managers and staff to improve their attitude about The Customer Experience.  They will approach your customers, clients and prospects with above average service that will make your business THE ONLY CHOICE (not just the Best Choice) for repeat business and referrals. You will see increased loyalty and a more satisfied customer who will support your business in good times and bad. www.idealetter.com
Barry Thomsen

Staff Seminars

One of the best ways to make your staff the best they can be is continual training. This will give them new ways of doing their job better and helping the business grow. Many people look for that training and guidance from department managers and the company itself. The staff wants to excel in their positions and informative meetings and seminars with inspire them to do the best they are possible of doing. They are already on your payroll so why not get the best performance you can from them.

Training and job improvement seminars can come from management in the company and also from outside sources. The best choice is to use both because too much of either one defeats the purpose and reduces the goal attained. They may get tired of listening to the same management trainers and eventually the information goes in one ear and out the other. Hire outside speakers and trainers to give variety and provide different information on the topic they need to learn. It will make the learning process more interesting and they will retain and use much more to improve their performance.

Barry is a customer experience trainer & speaker who will travel anywhere safe in the world to speak or do seminars.  wwwidealetter.com

Another Place to Use Your QR

Every business should have a QR (Quick Response) and use it on most litereature and packaging. They are free and you can get your unique QR at several sites. Don't ever pay for it if the site requests payment and just go to another. Just search the internet for "Free QR" and choose one to sign up, it takes only 5 minutes. Once you sign up, decide where you want to direct people: your website, a video, a text page or anywhere that has a link to it. It's just another no cost marketing tool you should be using.

One place to use your QR is on gift cards if your business has them. Put it on the back below the magnetic strip or anywhere if you are using the new smart cards. The reason to put it on gift cards is when someone gets it as a gift they can see what your business offers, hours of business and anything special if you connect it to your website. This can also help people who buy the gift cards at grocery or drug stores decide if it's the type of business they want to give as a gift. I'm always surprised that people don't use their QR everywhere because it's free and so is the app that connects it.

Barry is a marketing speaker and business coach by-the-hour (no contracts). www.idealetter.com

Your Business First Impression

When you visit or call a business for the first time don't you get a feeling of how you will be treated from then on? That's what customers and clients are thinking when they contact you in the beginning. Do you make a favorable impression or better yet, does your staff? Will they feel comfortable and be in an environment that tells them you can handle what they came there for. Is the person who answers your phone pleasant, easy to hear clearly and and not abrupt, even if they are very busy? These are things that can make or break the journey toward customer loyalty and future business.

Be aware and manage that first impression because it will set your customer/client's attitude and not put them on the defensive. But also know that they get an impression every time they visit or call you. Make everyone feel they are the most important person when contact is made because they really are. Never eat food or chew gum when meeting a customer, it's bad manners and turns many people off. Have a clean attractive store or office and treat that new person with respect to start building a long term relationship.

Barry is a business speaker, trainer and coach/consultant by th hour helping businesses grow. www.idealetter.com

Some Customers Are Ready to Buy

Customers or prospects may visit your store, call on the phone or go to your website and are prepared to purchase right away. They know what they want and don't want to browse, see all the offers or get more information. They want to buy and get on to other things. If you delay a quick purchase you may lose them either now or for a future purchase, so let them do it quickly. They may need something that they will use right away and want to get going on it.

I have gone to stores many times and someone greets me with, "May I direct you to what you are looking for?"  Sometimes when I tell the what I want they don't even know where it is. Why are these people even doing this greeting job if they have to consult someone else before they can help you. I usually want to buy and go and don't need or want the "How are you today?" question. Why do I have to answer any personal question antway. Don't be a burden to your customers when the know what they want.

Barry is business consultant that works by-the-hour, no contracts, helping people start and grow their businesses. www.idealetter.com

What Comfort Zone ?

If you ask people what they would like to accomplish in their lives, most would have an answer that they know is out of reach for them. The goal would not be unreasonable but the effort to reach it would be outside their personal comfort zone. You know, that box you put around yourself where you know you are safe and the chances of anything bad happening is minimal. Some people won't even admit they are living in a comfort zone and say that they just have bad luck or no luck!

All the new opportunities are outside the walls of your comfort zone but there is also risk. The risk can be that an opposite effect will happen or just plain failure. Some people have such a fear of failure that they will not take a chance on becoming what they really want to be. Life is like an onion, you keep peeling off layers of it and sometimes you cry. The successful people take that risk to reach goals they really want and unsuccessful people just sit there and watch them.

Don't live a life of "Buts" because you will never get any closer to what you really want and your goals. And certainly not any closer to you dreams which could come true if you have the tenacity to pursue them aggressively. Stop using "but", "I can't", "I'll wait" and take a calculated risk to improve yourself and get out of the comfort zone that is holding you back. The last chapter of you life is not written yet so you still have a chance to realize those dreams and goals that you always wanted.

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