Many companies offer employee incentives, thinking that these rewards can motivate employees to achieve greater results. But in his upcoming book “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us“, author Dan Pink presents a contrasting view. Based upon research conducted by the US Federal Reserve Board and similar “pay for performance” workplace motivation studies by… Continue reading Employee Motivation: Can rewards hinder results?
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How to Use Social Networking And Small Business Networking to Get More Referrals
If you run a small service business or professional practice you’ve probably heard about the benefits of networking and building a strong referral base. But with all the hype about social networking, is real life small business networking a thing of the past? Not likely. In fact, as more and more small business owners understand the… Continue reading How to Use Social Networking And Small Business Networking to Get More Referrals
Marketing Plan: An easy to understand marketing process
If you’re involved in marketing or selling professional services, I think you can agree that it’s often hard to create and implement an effective marketing plan that brings in business. But creating a marketing plan isn’t always enough, because marketing plans tend to skip some crucial steps in the process that help the prospect go… Continue reading Marketing Plan: An easy to understand marketing process
Why Business Presentations Don’t Work
Henry sells insurance for a well known, solid company that’s been around for years. He’s been with the company for about a year, and has recently been focusing on improving his business presentations. He sat in my office and ran through his presentation. He covered all kinds of things, the myriad of products his company offered, the… Continue reading Why Business Presentations Don’t Work
Website Copy | Deadly Mistakes Lawyer Websites Too Often Make
When selling professional services, generic solutions don’t work. I knew that an attorney client of mine was having a website developed by a nationally known provider of legal information. I had gently warned her that this company was famous for it’s generic graphics and copy. But, a partner in my client’s firm had already signed a contract… Continue reading Website Copy | Deadly Mistakes Lawyer Websites Too Often Make
Buzz Marketing | Are Your Services Stuck In The Closet?
An interesting post on the “Damn I wish I’d thought of that” blog about how consumer product companies are trying to stimulate buzz marketing by packaging products more interestingly or attractively, so that people will be more likely to take them out of the closet and leave them out on the table. If they’re out, they’re more… Continue reading Buzz Marketing | Are Your Services Stuck In The Closet?
Strategic Marketing Strategy | Market Like A Psychiatrist
Did you know that psychiatry is actually a form of marketing? When developing a strategic marketing strategy for your professional services firm, it’s important to think like a shrink – or so points out Melissa Karnaze in her recent Copyblogger post: “Psychotherapy, a discipline intended to help people, is actually a form of marketing…American psychiatrist Jerome… Continue reading Strategic Marketing Strategy | Market Like A Psychiatrist
Turning Bad Customer Service Into Great Customer Service
Are your customer service representatives doing your company justice? Yesterday I spoke about an unfortunate customer service experience with a large credit card bank in my post entitled “Customer Service Management, A great way to alienate clients” Today I’m going to examine where each customer service representative went wrong, and how they could have made… Continue reading Turning Bad Customer Service Into Great Customer Service
Customer Service Management | A great way to alienate clients
Are large corporations completely oblivious to good customer service? It certainly seems that way. Some months ago I wanted to pay off a large credit card bill. Knowing that interest can accrue between statements, I called the credit card company to find out exactly how much I owed. The customer service representative gave me a figure… Continue reading Customer Service Management | A great way to alienate clients
Sales Advice | From the Shoe Repair Guy
Last weekend one of my favorite sandals broke. A friend mentioned that she had a similar problem, and had her’s fixed at great expense at a shoemaker in Manhattan, said it wasn’t worth it. Before I threw them away, I decided to find out how much it would cost at a new local place that opened right here in… Continue reading Sales Advice | From the Shoe Repair Guy