Business conferences can be exhausting. I’m not sure why- it doesn’t seem like you do anything special but maybe that is just it. What you are doing at a conference is different from your daily routine therefore it takes more effort than you think it does. How do you deal with it? You need to be up for the good sessions and to make a good impression in the networking arena. Here are some quick tips for helping you stay on top of your game during conferences.

1. Pack comfortable shoes and clothes. Your conference might have a dress code – or at least an unspoken one – but find clothing that is comfortable to wear and that makes you feel good. Shoes are a big deal because you often end up standing for long periods and some conferences are in huge venues where you have to walk forever to get to breakout sessions. For any of you who have screwed up in the shoe department you know how miserable the wrong shoes can be.
2. Select the sessions you want to attend before getting to the conference. That way you can do a little planning and even some research so you can talk articulately about the topics in networking conversations. Figure out what is going to do you the most good in your career and be sure to get to those sessions in time to get a seat. What you want may be what everyone else wants to and it is pretty disappointing to be the one who gets shut out of a popular session.
3. Stay in the convention hotel if you can. It saves you a lot of travel time and it is very convenient. You can even slip up to your room if you need a quick nap or just to put your feet up for a little while. Sometimes this can make all of the difference in your energy level.
4. Plan your day so that you get some exercise. Sometimes walking the conference center is enough but there will also be those who want to use the exercise room. Plan ahead. There will probably be lots of other like-minded people and the exercise room is liable to be crowded. Try to pick some times that are not so popular so you can get your work-out done the way you like it.
5. Don’t force yourself to attend sessions just to attend sessions. Go to the stuff that is important and let the rest go. Most conferences have very long days so pace yourself so that you will enjoy the things you do chose to attend.

If you do a little planning and follow a few of these tips your conference experience should be fun and refreshing. Can’t do anything about the quality of the speakers – you are on your own there.

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

The social networking phenomenon Twitter is so popular and so big that any business, particularly an internet based business, cannot afford to miss out on its potential as a great tool for marketing.

Twitter is a free-to-use miniature blogging network that encourages users to exchange news and views (“Tweet”) with each other using messages restricted to no more than 140 characters. Its tremendously valuable to marketers because of its capacity to target a specific audience and communicate with them in realtime. Add to this the fact that the 140-character limit ensures your messages have to be quick and focused, and they are therefore extremely suited to delivery to mobile devices, and you now begin to see Twitter as the marketers dream tool.

So, if you haven’t already opened a Twitter account, do it now and this is what you need to know:

Your Profile – How to maximise its business value

• If its not too late, keep your username short and try to choose something that ties in with your business and its products/services.
• Keep your personal profile constantly up-to-date and make sure you include your business details and visual personality.
• Write about yourself in a relaxed, friendly, one-to-one style and reveal a little bit about your personality and your interests from time-to-time.
• Add your picture to your profile. It helps viewers to make a stronger connection with you if they can see a ‘real person’ rather than imagining what the anonymous person ‘hiding’ behind a Twitter name might be like.
• Search for Tweets related to your business sector and participate in some of the conversations. Over time this will help to build up your credibility in the Twitter community as an expert in your chosen field. Eventually this will start to pull in some sales based on your online reputation but it is a long term game of patience. But hey! Tweeting is fun so just enjoy yourself as you go.
• When you are commenting on Tweets that interest you and your potential audience, make sure that you use ReTweets (RT) and replies (@…..) so that there is an online trail linking back to you.
• Make it easy for others to ReTweet your message by leaving space for someone else to include the standard ReTweet statement without having to edit down what you original wrote. This means you need to leave the number of characters in your username plus enough space for adding the ‘RT@’ message. It helps if you choose a shortish username because you have more characters available for your message.

Communicating – How to capture and keep the attention of your audience

• Asking other Twitter users for help with a problem, or help finding a piece of information, or seeking their comments on a topic is a great way to start conversations with a niche group of people and to build up ongoing relationships that could later turn in to sales.
• Refer users to other Tweeters in the interests of helping them to find what they are after. Good deeds like this are surprisingly often remembered and then repaid at a later date, so always look to help someone out if you can because you could very well be rewarded later. Whenever you see an opportunity to offer advice or assistance to someone, then do so. Not only is it in the spirit of what the Twitter community is all about but the knowledge you pass on helps position you as an expert in your field. This helps build up the credibility of your business and your products/services.
• Check your Direct Messages (DM) regularly. Inevitably there will be messages that don’t interest you but, as with your email accounts, make sure that you make time to reply to the honest, deserving ones.
• Use Hash Tags ( # ) in your Tweets to make your messages more easily found by Twitter search engines. This is like using Keywords to search for something on Google or Yahoo and makes your Tweet available to a wider audience who are interested in the subject you have tagged your message with. For example, # business finance or # Pay Per Click Advice.
• Limit your out-and-out promotional Tweets to just the occasional one. Keep a good 80% of what you Tweet concentrated on being informative, helpful and topical. This way you’ll build up integrity and trust with your fellow Tweeters which means that when they are looking to buy the sort of product/service that you offer, you’ve got a head start over your competitors for getting that sale.
• Don’t go for the heavy sell when you are Tweeting a marketing message – its obvious what you are doing and it just puts people off. Try a low key, relaxed approach that suggests a benefit to the reader of the Tweet. For example, “I’ve just added a new # business finance article to my website. See how you could save thousands on your loans ww.mybusinesswebsite.com”. See how that lessens the feeling of a heavy sell, pure marketing message?
• Getting your own posts Retweeted is all about consistently writing good value content for your followers. Done right, Retweeting succeeds in helping your followers, building your business brand, increasing your Twitter and website traffic, and makes you a key player within your Twitter niche.
• Regularly posting new Tweets helps to drive more traffic to your site. The committed Twitter users that you are trying to connect with like people that post Tweets frequently. So try to work to a fixed schedule of days and times when you post new Tweets so that you are seen to be a committed, reliable Tweeter yourself.

Make good use of Links

• Place a “Follow me on Twitter” link on your website, your blog, your Facebook page, at the foot of your emails, your business cards; everywhere that you can think of. Promote it widely because these days Twitter can be a favourite way for some people to find out about what’s new and to track down something they are looking for. So fly the Twitter flag and don’t miss out.
• Add yourself to the “We Follow Twitter” Directory so that others can find your contact details.
• Put website links in your Tweets to useful sources of information for your Followers, and not just to your own website. If your Tweets stay focused on your particular niche interest, and your website serves that same market niche, then don’t worry that your Tweets telling others about something good on another website will divert your Followers permanently away from your site.
• Keep the content of your website high on quality and value; and do the same with your Tweets. This way people will keep coming back to check the latest thing that you have talked about and therefore you will get a noticeable gradual increase in your Twitter and your website traffic.
• There is good value to be gained from tracking down and following a few top businessmen, internet marketers or your favourite entrepreneur on the BBC’s “Dragons Den” programme. There’s a couple of reasons for saying this. Firstly, it gives you some insight in to how they are using Twitter so you might pick up some useful tips along the way. And secondly, your interest in them will be seen by others and will attract some attention to what you are saying and doing. People are naturally curious and therefore they often click on the links to find out more about the Followers of the top businessman or whoever it is that you all share a common interest in.

Tools that will help you

• Track down your target audience using the Twitter search tools. Think about likely keywords people would be using (see the bulletpoint about Hash Tags) and look for niche groups and forums to join.
• Look out for breaking news stories about your industry or the business sector you trade in. Participate in the conversations and give your own clear opinion. Supporters of your views are likely to check out your profile and perhaps make later contact with you, independent of the news story that first connected you.
• If you are not sure about some of the jargon associated with Twitter then look it up on the Twitter Dictionary at Webopedia.com
• When you want to include a website link in your Tweet it is really helpful to reduce the length of the website page URL. Save characters in your Tweet by using a URL Redirection Service (“URL Shrinker”) such as TinyURL, Cligs or Bit.ly. Typically these will replace a very long web page URL with a short 20 character code which directs a user to the desired web page when it is clicked on in your Tweet.
• An added benefit of using a URL Shrinker service is that you can get tracking information about each of your coded Tweets which is incredibly valuable to you in showing you which Tweets were popular and which were not. Use this information to help shape your marketing strategies and your future Twitter messages.
• A handy tool for maintaining a regular flow of Tweets is available at FutureTweets.com This works rather like an autoresponder because you can prepare a batch of messages for future publication and then set up the software to deliver them at the dates and times of your choice.
• When you’ve started to gather Followers who are making enquiries about your products/services it helps to be able to send them pictures via Twitter. To do this set up a TwitPic account at twitpic.com and upload your photos to it for easy publication on Twitter.
• There’s a useful gadget for finding out who you are following that isn’t following you back. It’s called Tweepler and you can get it at tweepler.com Again, this is something that will aid you with your marketing plans so take a look and make use of it.
• Remember, there’s new stuff and gadgets coming out all the time for Twitter, so keep your eyes open, follow the news and look into the latest technology releases and social networking trends as they arise.

There will inevitably be more developments to come which will help you even more with your strategy of using Twitter for marketing, so take advantage of everything you’ve learnt on this factsheet and keep it going for the long term in order to achieve success for your business. Happy Tweeting!

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

So you have the big screen, you have the speakers, you have the receiver, you have the cables, you have the big chairs, so now what? A home theater is like a car in the sense that you can buy a low end model or you can buy a high end model, but you’re not going to get your best performance out of either unless you have tuned it up to optimal performance. We all know what a car tune up involves, but how many of us know what we need to do to give our home theater the tune up to make it run at optimal levels? The fact of the matter is that there are some things that you can do that are really quite simple to get the most out your home theater.

When setting up the television or projector the first and most obvious thing you need to consider is light conditions. High light levels will disturb the image on even the most high end television, so you want to do everything in your power to keep the light levels low. The same way you can’t see the screen in an actual movie theater when the lights go up the same applies to a home theater.

When setting up your speakers you will need to experiment to find the optimal positioning. Try to keep the front three speakers off the ceiling and position the other speakers in accordance with their desired setup positioning, but from there you will really need to judge the best spot for each speaker subjectively. Once your speakers are in place make sure that the sound wave is not being blocked by an object that is in the way. The potted plant may look nicer than the speaker but you’re better off having an un-obscured speaker than a pretty object and a dead sound.

Next consider the walls of the theater. Drywall is okay but curtains on all sides are best, and again you can obscure light with curtains that would otherwise interfere with the television image. If you have paneled walls you will defiantly want to consider some kind of curtain or covering. Same thing goes with the floor. If you have a hardwood floor start looking for a serious area rug to help with some of the sound trapping. Also look to avoid having sound reflecting materials on the walls or ceiling. Avoid hanging pictures on the walls of your home theater, and you might be better served again by not having that potted plant or a sculpture in the theater.

These are just some of the things to consider when you are setting up and calibrating your home theater. A good deal of what you will do to make your theater sound and look its best will come down to tweaking once everything is installed and setup. So get it all hooked up and sit down and enjoy but start thinking about some of the things mentioned and consider making changes to improve your experience in the future after initial setup.

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

From elegant and chic to inexpensive and family-friendly, the restaurant options in Toronto are as varied as the city itself. Here are some top suggestions that will suit those looking to indulge as well as foodies seeking more thrifty yet flavourful fare.

Canoe

Named the top restaurant in the city in 2009 by Toronto Life magazine, Canoe is a constant favourite with gastronomes. High on the 54th floor of a tower in the city’s banking district, Canoe features incredible views of Toronto, al in a sleek setting. Highlights from Chef Anthony Walsh’s contemporary Canadian menu include honey mussels from British Columbia, lamb loin from Alberta and suckling pig from the praised St. Canut Farms. Entrees are priced in the $38 to $44 (Canadian) range. The menu for Canoe’s can be found at their parent company Oliver and Bonacini’s website.

Canoe is located at 66 Wellington Street West at Bay Street. For reservations, call 416-364-0054.

Conviction

Chef Mark Thuet’s bistro features upscale dining with a twist. From the front of the house to the back of the kitchen, Conviction is staffed with former inmates. Wanting to give reformed ex-cons a chance to turn their lives around, the alternative staff work under the direction of Thuet and his wife and business partner Biana Zorich. The restaurant opening was filmed as a TV reality show called “Conviction Kitchen”. The menu showcases Thuet’s dedication to local ingredients and offers French favourites such as cassoulet and choucroute. Dishes are priced from $20 and $40, and tasting menus are available. Visit the restaurant’s website for more information.

Conviction is located at 609 King Street West. For reservations call 416-603-2777 ext. 1.

Mistura

Chef Massimo Capra’s midtown Toronto hotspot offers a modern Italian menu with delights such as Nova Scotia scallops, Ontario rabbit and Alberta lamb ribs. Highlights include beet risotto and wild boar agnolotti with sour cherries. After dinner, head upstairs to their sister restaurant Sopra for some live jazz. Entrees range from $30 to $50. Visit their website for the most current menu.

Mistura is located at 265 Davenport Road at Avenue Road. For reservations, call 416-515-0009.

Pizzeria Libretto

Have a craving some real Italian pizza? Try Pizzeria Libretto in Ossington Village. With its energetic dining room packed with cozy booths and shared tables, this family-friendly, boisterous and fun eatery draws foodies from all over Toronto with its genuine Neopolitan wood-fired pizza is often called the best pizza in the city. Chef Rocco Agostino brings in fresh San Marzano tomatoes and Ontario Fiore di Latte mozzarella for his pizza pies each day, which are then baked in a oven that was built in Naples especially for the restaurant. There is a pizza to suit every taste on the menu, from the Prosciutto and Arugula to the Rapini topped with goat’s cheese, black olives and mozzarella. Pizzas are priced between $10 to $16.

Pizzeria Libretto is located at 221 Ossington Avenue at Dundas Street West. Visit the pizzeria’s website for more information. Reservations are not accepted.

El Trompo

This taco bar in Toronto’s vibrant Kensington market is wildly popular with both tourists and locals looking for a delicious lunch under $15. Traditional Mexico-city style tacos with marinated pork are served on corn tortillas with pineapple and onion coriander; the menu also features beef, mushroom and spicy tinga chicken versions as well as horchata, the traditional Mexican cinnamon-flavoured sweet milky rice drink.

El Trompo is located at 277 Augusta Avenue. Visit their website for hours of operation.

Whether you are looking for a great meal in a formal dining room or on a casual patio, the Toronto restaurant scene offers something for everyone!

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

A large number of my clients asks me about what forms of tax savings can life insurance policies provide. What I keep telling them that while life insurance is a major tool for these purposes, there are other ways in which a Canadian individual can save and optimize long-term financial planning

1. Loans to family members – you have the option of lending money to your family in a low tax bracket for the purposes of investments. What you need to keep in mind to charge an interest at the CRA prescribed rate (5 percent at the time of writing) – as long as you will keep this rate there will be no attribution back to you on the earned income. The outcome depends on the yield of the investment, under certain conditions a rather big tax saving is possible.

2. Invest inheritance in separate names – a spouse with a lower income who receives an inheritance should be investing it in a separate account, so any investment return is taxed solely in the lower income spouse’s hands. Investing it in joint accounts would result in higher taxing.

3. Spousal RRSP contributions – a higher income-earning spouse should contribute to a spousal RRSP in the name of the spouse with a lower income (the annuitant), with the goal of having both RRSPs equal in contribution amounts. The spouse with the higher income has the option to use the RRSP deduction now to reduce income taxes, while the lower tax bracket spouse will pay income tax on the RRSP withdrawals in the future.

4. RESP Contributions – This is a good way to post-secondary education savings for your children and achieving income-splitting at the same time. The contributions are not deductible to you, but the investment grows tax-free – the future withdrawals are taxed as income to the student at a time when he presumably has only a minimal income (i.e., in a low tax bracket). As a result of this, the income tax paid is very low.

5. Donate – consider making a donation to publicly-traded securities with accrued capital gains to a registered charitable organization instead of donating cash. No tax is payable on the capital gains which haven’t been realized yet by donating listed shares to a charitable organization. Under these circumstances, the charity receives a larger amount than it would have if you were to have first sold the shares and then donated the proceeds after paying taxes on the capital gain. You will receive a donation tax receipt, and hence a tax credit, for the full market value of the shares, while paying no capital gains tax on this disposition.

6. Employing your spouse and children – if you own a business (either incorporated or as a sole proprietor), consider paying a salary to your spouse and children. Note that the salary must be reasonable and in line with the services they perform. CPP contributions are not required for children under the age of 18. EI deductions should be discussed with your tax adviser. Minors, even with no taxable income for the year, should still file tax returns in order to build up RRSP contribution room based on their salary. These can be used for future income tax deductions.

7. Interest deductibility – interest paid on a home mortgage and car loans are not deductible under standard circumstance, while interest on loans used to earn business or investment income is. Therefore, try to ensure that all loans you take out are for a purpose which allows deduction. For example, if you have excess funds that you would like to invest, pay off your mortgage first, and only take out a loan for investment purposes later.

In every scenario, it’s very important to consult with your professional tax adviser to avoid complications and ensure income tax law adherence. For more information and other tips, refer to my website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lorne_S._Marr

Consider this as the real priority:  “Job 1 is to create the environment where the customer wants to do business with you”.  Why?  Because if you don’t create that environment based on Relationship, Trust, and Comfort, your chances of hitting revenue targets will be compromised at best.

Many complain that the telecom/wireless industries have become commoditized, and that our products and services are simply commodities … easy to believe in today’s competitive market and tough economy.  The problem remains one of understanding our tendency to forget that in fact we as salespeople are our number one product … People don’t do business with a particular company.  They do business with you.  In truth, when you lose sight of the importance of you in the sale, and focus only on products and services, it’s not so much that these things are really commodities, it’s more likely that you in practice have commoditized the customer!

“Successful selling is not product push, it’s relationship pull.”

We must establish relationships first, and “earn the right” to recommend our products and services as they apply to our customers’  needs and wants.  We must set ourselves apart as true professionals by exercising a consultative approach in our customer dialogue.  They want to feel that we really care about them and their challenges more than we do about selling our product … that we are in fact their partner with a legitimate and sincere focus on them.  This is where you start to separate value from price.

It’s all about attitude. Tthe pose you strike, the posture you assume, the perspective you choose, the behaviour you model and the temperament you display all speak volumes about your attitude.  It’s your attitude that will determine your ability to address Job 1.  Your attitude will be the number one factor in the customer’s mind in judging whether or not to buy from you.  They’ll make very quick judgement on the “Factors of Your Credibility”:

Appearance – Including clothing (dress for success), hygiene, facial expression (smile), handshake, eye contact, posture …

Knowledge – Of your customer first, products and services second

People Skills – It’s more important for the customer to feel comfortable with us as people than for us to feel comfortable with them.  How adaptable are you to the different styles/types of people you deal with?

Honesty & Integrity – Selling the right product to the right customer; doing what you say you’ll do when you say you’ll do it.

Are these fundamental things you already know?  Likely.  But it’s the basics that set us apart as people.  It’s relationship that adds value when product differentiation is often indiscernible between suppliers.  Remember, we’re not in the telecom/wireless business serving people, we’re in the people business providing wireless solutions.

George Bernard Shaw, the great Irish playwright and philosopher offered:  “The people who succeed in life and business look for the circumstances they need to do so, and when they can’t find them, they create them.”

Start to create these circumstances by continuously running a “check-up from the neck up” on attitude, personal credibility and accountability to higher standards for your number one product … you!

Make your success non-negotiable by always addressing Job 1 and above all …

Keep aiming high

By Paul McCabe – Compass Performance Solutions

In this and future Travel Insights articles, I hope to be your guide to break through the clutter and provide you with some insights on everything from travel trends, hot and emerging destinations, how not to get ripped off by shady travel suppliers, ways to save money, and useful travel tips and resources to get you on your way – whether that be for business or pleasure.

For more than twenty years I have been intimately involved in the travel and tourism industry promoting and marketing destinations, airlines, resorts, and other tourism suppliers. This career has given me the wonderful opportunity to explore the world from cruising in the Galapagos Islands, relaxing on the idyllic Caribbean islands, riding a Harley through the Outback in Australia, trekking through the jungles in Uganda to observe gorillas, bartering with shopkeepers in the bustling markets in Muscat, or visiting centuries’ old towns and villages of Europe. Visiting all these destinations and working closely with travel industry suppliers – airlines, hotels, car rental firms, tourist boards, travel agencies – I’ve learned many things and some hard lessons along the way.

It’s my goal in this column to raise your travel awareness and be your beacon of useful information so you can make informed decisions that will save you time and money when planning your next trip.

Now with a daily media onslaught of bad economic news, your investment portfolio taking a beating, the Canadian dollar losing its value, the last thing you are probably thinking about is travelling. My advice – travel!

This advice is not meant to minimize the real and true hardships that many across Canada are feeling right now in this ailing economy. If you have just been laid off escaping to the Caribbean may not seem like a priority! But it may be the perfect solution in stimulating the economy and here’s why.

The travel and tourism industry is the world’s largest employer. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, 79,131,000 jobs were directly attributed to the travel industry and another 232,637,000 indirectly in 2007. In Canada, government revenues from tourism activities reached 19.7 billion dollars in 2007 with total tourism spending $70.8 billion. Now that’s economic impact!

If people don’t travel as was evident after 9/11 (remember Canada 3000?), thousands of jobs are lost. It’s not just the big airlines or hotel chains but mom and pop motorcoach operators, the waiter who brings you that tasty dish at your favourite restaurant or the person working the rides at the local amusement park.

So what’s this all mean for you – it’s a golden opportunity if you have the means available to travel. In the past few weeks airlines have launched seat sales to various destinations including Canadian winter favourites like the Caribbean, Florida, Cuba and Mexico. The tour operators are offering incredible bargains and valued added incentives to the sun destinations as well as to Europe, Asia, Australia, and ski destinations. Cruise lines have responded to lower bookings with reduced prices, customer perks, scheduling shifts, and removal of fuel surcharges.

So lots of good news for those travelling in the next few months. This is also a great time since lower demand means less crowds and a more personalized travel experience. This is especially true with more long-haul and personalized trips – like an African safari, or a culinary/wine tour in Tuscany. If you have been waiting for that “dream” holiday this may be the best time to take advantage with lower prices. You also have more power to negotiate some extras – like throwing in a free breakfast, staying an extra night for free, or obtaining a room upgrade. Many travel suppliers are willing to do this with less demand as they want to retain you as a future customer – just ask.

Sunquest/Holiday House/Fun Sun’s(www.sunquest.ca) – launched a RainCheck promotion – hot on the heels from itravel2000’s snow day promotion last year.  The RainCheck policy is if your vacation is rained out (eg. rains ½ inch or more each day for 4 days of a one week vacation) you get credit for your next vacation and receive a voucher for an equivalent amount.

Daytona Beach has launched again its Canadian Sand Dollars promotion (www.csd.daytonabeach.com) where Canadians can get discounts on accommodation, dining, activities, shopping, spa treatments, and more at 130 participating suppliers.

Air Canada Vacations (www.aircanadavacations.com) is offering Buy One, Get One Free on select packages to various sun destinations including Cuba, Aruba, Cancun, Jamaica, and Costa Rica. It’s better in the Bahamas (www.bahamas.com) – and for your pocketbook too! Canadians can obtain a $200 US rebate for trips booked to Nassau/Paradise Island – this was a previous promotion but check if they extend it.

Walt Disney World introduced a Buy 4, Get 3 promotion earlier this winter. Stay 7 nights but only pay for four nights as well as the attractions pass. Check out www.disney.ca for the latest.

You can be sure there will be many more offers especially if you travel outside of the traditionally busy March school break periods. There will be some good deals on Barbardos this winter as WestJet has launched new service there. Keep an eye out when airlines launch new service as this means there will be usually be good deals.

For those not needing the warm rays, Europe is a great time to visit – airfares are cheaper, cities and towns are less crowded (in the non-ski popular areas) and hotels are looking to fill rooms. It’s the perfect time to visit London for a theatre and museum cultural escape. Crotia, Poland and the Czech Republic are becoming more popular spots for Canadians. Need a spa break – check out some spas in Hungary. SpaFinder.com is an excellent resource on everything spa or a Canadian based site, www.traveltowellness.com written by spa guru Anne Dimon.

If you can’t venture far check out your own local hotels – many offer special deals especially during weekends when they don’t have the business travellers.

Keep that wanderlust and keep on travelling. You will feel better for it and so will the economy

By Chris Ryall

Corporate Travel Solutions
4460 Highway 7 East
Unionville ON L4W 1A2
Tel: (1 866) 872-8448
http://www.travellovers.ca

A beautiful store with lots of products and no one to buy them doesn’t spell success in any business book that I’ve seen.  We’ve probably all seen and laughed at the placard:  “I have so much work to do…why do these damn customers keep getting in my way?”  The last laugh, however, is on us.  Customers are equipped with an inner signal and a green light goes off when they feel they’re being treated with respect and concern.  A red light blinks with the specter of indifference.  Green:  customers return; red: customers leave.  So, Why are customers worth so much?

What’s the price tag associated with an empty store?  Or the cost of having last week’s customer shopping at your competitor’s establishment?  Formulas exist that predict what a loyal customer might spend over the course of a ten year period.   The one-time only customer might cost your business tens of thousands of dollars.

Business games teach us how to make money.  Marketing games tell us how to attract customers.  What’s needed is a game that teaches us how to keep customers.   This article offers one and it’s called “Customers for Keeps”.

Our game begins with a couple of simple premises:

• Our business:  enriching our customers’ lives
• The measures:  revenues, returning customers, referrals

The key is not to get the goal and the measures reversed.  Too many people think we’re in the business of making money.    What’s wrong with that?  Why does it matter?  Well, if we focus on enriching customers’ lives….the queue of returning customers will contribute to the company coffers.   But if we focus on making money, we usually lose sight of the customer, the real reason we’re in business, and instead focus on ourselves which causes us to miss the target as well.

So, how do we play this game of “Customers for Keeps”?  Despite the current winter weather, venture into the future and think Spring.  Think Baseball.  Picture the baseball diamond that we’ll call The Customer Relationship Diamond.  Like that venerable sport, our objective is to advance the batter round the bases.  Central to our game and located at the pitcher’s mound is communication.  What relationship can be nurtured without dialogue and conversation?  Customers reach the  “at bat” position through advertising, word-of-mouth and memorable past experiences.  From this point on, it’s the job of the service provider to advance the runner.   First Base is “Hosting”.  Hosting a customer is the same as welcoming an honoured guest to our home:  we anticipate their needs and prepare accordingly.  We treat them with an interest that borders on the obsessive.  The astute retailer sees his establishment through the eyes of the customer and offers policies, systems, information and comforts that communicate “you’re special”.

Second base is labeled “Understanding”, oftentimes the hardest base of all to reach.  To get our customer from first base to second base, we must ask questions and listen to extract what’s in the customer’s mind and transfer it to our understanding.   Why is this important?  Consider the following: Most customers don’t know what they want…they start with a vague idea, and they look to us for assistance in helping them get clarity.  In our baseball analogy, too many players try to steal second base, usually with predictable results.  “You’re OUT!”,  screams the umpire.  What does stealing look like in our retail game?  It’s assuming that we know what the customer really wants, and we rush to “sell” him rather than help the customer through his thinking process. What questions can a service provider ask?  Questions about what they think they want, why it’s important to them, what’s driving them to make a purchase, what their issues and concerns are, what they’re currently considering, who else is affected by the purchase, what their interests are…..  There’s so much for the excellent retailer to discover if only s/he would ask.

Let’s say our retailer passes the test and advances the runner.  Third base is about “Assisting”.  Armed with the information, insight, ideas and expectations of the customer, the retailer is now equipped to offer information and alternatives.  Consider that customers don’t want to be ‘sold something”, but they would like to be part of the process, to be involved, and to be treated to the possibilities that a knowledgeable service provider has to offer.  Ultimately, the final decision is that of the customer.  When retailers see their role as working in partnership with the client so that the best decision is arrived at, customers know they’ve found an exemplary retailer.

Does the excellent service provider stop there?  Never!  Leaving a customer at third base is a missed opportunity that may cost you the game.  How do we get the customer across the plate,  or what our game calls the  “Keeping” base.  It’s an act of proactivity where the retailer contacts the customer, sale or no sale, to check the following: where is the customer now in his decision, how is the solution working for her… The real message that’s conveyed:  the service provider cares.  A pretty powerful message.

So, that’s the game.  It’s a simple one but so often misplayed.  The rules are clear.  Focus on your customer first and foremost.  Reach the bases in sequence.  You win when your customer wins.   The penalty for poor performance: leaving a customer stranded creates an opportunity for your competition.

Customers are hard to find and they’re harder to keep.  The quality of your products isn’t enough to earn their loyalty.  But the treatment you display, before, during and after the sale, will differentiate you.  Try it and see what happens.

By Cheryl Crumb

For most of us this has meant some flavour of laptop computer. Yet I have long held that laptops are much like infants. Small in and of themselves, but by the time you gather up all the stuff you need to tote around with them they can be a burden. True, current generation laptops pack a punch that desktops of only a while back could only dream of, but unless you have a top of the line model you still have a device with more physical heft and capability than you likely need. When I hit the road I need to get email, connect to my office, deliver presentations and do basic word processing and spreadsheet operations. That is the case for most of us. And that friends, is the central case for the Netbook, and why they will grow in adoption over the coming years.

The common Netbook configuration today is a smallish and thin notebook styled device with a roughly 10 inch screen, 1GB RAM and 160GB hard drive. Decent models can be bought for under $400 loaded with some flavour of Windows 7. That is more than sufficient to run standard office software and a few specialty programs for graphics editing and some casual entertainment stuff. I have a hard time recalling when I ever really needed anything else on the road. As the whole selling point of a Netbook is size and weight advantage, they generally use accessories that are as stripped down as possible. With battery power finally reaching realistic capacities (keep in mind that WiFi is a killer) having access to AC is less of an issue than ever. The fact that they take up less desk (or lap) space is an obvious plus.

The aforementioned observation came home to me recently at a retail assignment I enjoyed. I was using a decent laptop on a fairly small desk and was constantly having to shift it around to manipulate documents and product brochures. Frankly, it was a pain in the you know where. Another chap had a Netbook that did everything I had to do and it left him virtually unencumbered. Sure, the screen was smaller, but one gets used to this very quickly. He had been a mobile sales rep for some years prior and he saw the benefits of portability and convenience. To me, the advantage was undeniable.

I travel a lot, often on aircraft for short periods of time. I can get by with a very small kit of clothing and personal effects. The difference between a laptop and a Netbook is often the difference between one or two pieces of carry on luggage, not an insignificant consideration in these days of security related restrictions. Anything I can do do the smooth my way through check in, security and egress at my destination is a bonus. A few pounds and smaller footprint is a huge advantage, especially if I have to tote around my stuff as I do my business calls. A Netbook can mean all the difference between a burden and a simple necessity.

No doubt standard laptops will continue to get thinner and lighter, at some cost. Yet for now a Netbook is the perfect solution for mobile computing for most business people (and students) who want to have sufficient computing capacity and maximum convenience for day to day operations.

You owe it to yourselves to give this option a good hard look.