May 2006 – Steve Pohlit

Blogging For Profits 1

This is the first in a series of articles completely focused on blogging for profits – your business profits. This blogging for profits series is presented at Steve Reports. While Steve Reports has some appearances of a website, it is actually business profits building content presented and published using blog technology.

I will use Steve Reports as the primary example of blogging for profits since it is achieving most of what I am recommending in this series and I it is one of my sites where I am building targeted traffic.

I assume everyone knows what a blog is, but it is important to cover one very important attribute of blogs which is RSS. RSS stands for really simple syndication. Think of a press release or a news wire. Information is written and electronically published by news services. The description of the technology is not important. What is important is that when you publish information on a blog that is properly configured, RSS readers around the world instantly display that content. If you are a subscriber to Steve Reports either by registering here or though one of the many blogs when I publish an article, it is available to you at lightning speed. It is also available to people doing searching for information on a topic I have written about. My content is more available than general information found on a web site because the search engines pick up on my topic keyword optimization. You will find that my articles are written first for the search engines because if they donâ€™t find me neither will your target audience. This is a very important point that most people in business never fully appreciate.

This process that I am beginning to describe may be the most valuable search engine optimization tool in the market today. Google, Yahoo, MSN and others are visiting sites publishing content (articles, press releases, etc.) very frequently. This means that when you feed the search engines relevant content, your site will be found by targeted visitors.

There is no downside! None! Done right, there is no limit to the business profit building opportunities using web sites based on blog technology.

In the next article, I will summarize the building blocks you must have in place to get started plus a lot more. Do not miss a single article. Register today for updates by email using the form at the top right hand corner of this site.

Risk Running Out of Cash Unless You Follow These Principles

Risk Running Out of Cash Unless You Follow These Principles:

This week I was working with a rather large company with multiple locations. Strengthening the controls over cash deposits and available cash was the goal. The timing of actual cash deposits varied since the company accepts cash, credit cards, third party financing and sales on credit. Reports were developed to clearly account for all sales daily and the deposit of cash daily. We then refined our controls.

The key objective was to measure and report available cash. This is cash in the bank that is available for disbursement. Many companies do not measure this number daily and if they do it is often measured incorrectly. The number one mistake is to ignore some or all of the disbursements that have been made that have not cleared the bank. Another mistake is to assume all cash is deposited when due. For example, deposits from credit card sales generally take approximately three days to be recorded in the bank. Deposits made from a remote location are often made using night depository, Those deposits are physically in the bank but often are not visible using on – line banking until the second day after the night deposit. All of these timing differences must be taken into account in calculating available cash.

My business (www.stevepohlit.com ) teaches clients how to improve the controls over physical cash and reporting cash availability. Of course that is the first step in the process of forecasting cash positions and strengthening cash.

I apply these principles to my own business. My expertise spans numerous industries. Most of this experience is with retailers, manufacturers, distribution and trucking companies.

Discover “How To Increase Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less” by registering for my FREE course at www.stevepohlit.com

All the best,

Steve Pohlit, Business Consultant

“Helping Business Make Extraordinary Profits Now…No Reports…Just Results”

American Idol Advertisers Are Not Advertising Idols

American Idol Advertisers Are Not Advertising Idols

It is amazing to me that so many companies missed a great opportunity to attract loyal customers by using proven marketing techniques targeted to their customers and prospective customer in the group of more than 43 million people watching the American Idol finals. Nearly every company paying all or a portion of the $739,000 per 30 second spot missed the mark. Several were ridiculous in their presentation and message.

Two of the foundation marketing principles that I use to help companies drive high profitable sales growth are:

First: The message should be developed to appeal to your target audience.

Second: The effectiveness of the promotion must be measurable so you can calculate return on investment. This means you need to be able to track the response to the marketing promotion. This is the foundation of direct response marketing.

As to direct response marketing. Many in the advertising agency business argue for building brand awareness. That is a legitimate and worthwhile goal. Cingular is a cell phone brand. They ran a promotion for a hot monthly subscription price and an even hotter free phone if you called a special 800 number. It seems to me that they had a plan to build brand awareness and track response to the promotion. It also looked to me like they may have been doing some split testing since other ads run during the American Idol finals did not have the same direct response features. If in fact that was a planned split test campaign, I am not sure how they were measuring the effectiveness of the non-direct response advertisements.

Coke Cola, a traditional institutional brand advertising company at least on television, moved to testing direct response by encouraging viewers to go to a specific web site for a promotion. It moved pretty fast so I didn’t get the website address or even remember the special offer. I imagine a lot of other people didn’t either. But they are moving in the right direction by linking a promotion to a measurable call to action.

I am not in the target age group for Ford’s "bold moves" campaign but I wonder
how showing a woman cutting her hair off and a man competing with one leg makes you want to buy a car. If it does, how would they know?

43 million people watching the finals and Wendy’s promotes a big frosty. With the awareness of high calorie, fat building foods going through the charts, I wonder how many people were motivated to go to a Wendy’s after that commercial. Now I could be very wrong here so if Wendy’s really wanted to know the effectiveness of that ad, why not "GIVE AWAY A FROSTY TO ANYONE GOING TO A SPECIAL SITE SET UP TO CAPTURE NAME, ADDRESS AND EMAIL. IN EXCHANGE THEY CAN PRINT OUT IMMEDIATELY A COUPON FOR A FREE FROSTY." Now there is a test with multiple benefits.

If someone can explain to me the point of a bunch of people running around in madras shorts and tops, pleaseemail me. I just could not see how that ad would make anyone want to jump in their car and get over to Old Navy. No wonder same store sales for The Gap are tanking.

A couple other ads fell into the Old Navy category. One was Fantastic Sams. It didn’t well – it just didn’t. One of Sony’s ads went so fast that I couldn’t tell what it was they were offering and I was paying close attention to the advertising. Most people watching American Idol most likely did not watch the ads that closely.

State Farm directed people to a web site where they could register for a free car. Good example.

Home Depot ran a promotion on a specific product. Fine but since the American Idol finals are in advance of the Memorial Day long weekend where Home Depot is running a lot of other specials in print circulars, there is no practical way to measure the effectiveness of the money spent on the American Idol ad.

Many other companies promoted product with no specific offer or ways to track it. It is a waste of money and the ad agencies who came up with the ads and the executives who approved the running of the ads should be … well you come to you own conclusion.

Do not think that marketing and advertising is simple. It is not. But it is not hard to test. It is not hard to add a tracking element to even bold institutional type promotions

Most big companies will not change much soon. However, use these examples as lessons on what to do and what not to do. As to upcoming comments on TV advertising, well there probably won’t be many since I am not in front of that medium very much. So stay tuned for rants in other areas of business development.

Coming up is my series on building blogs for profits. You are not going to want to miss it. It will help you start making some incremental money right now.

Steve Pohlit, business consultant writes articles based on his experience helping companies make extraordinary profits in a short period of time and structuring their business to continue making extraordinary profits. Register for his free course â€œHow To Increase Proftis by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less at www.stevepohlit.com

Take Action and Like Taylor Hicks, You Can Be An American Idol In Front of Your Family, Employees and Customers

Taylor Hicks Asks: Do I Make You Proud? Our Answer Is: Yes You Do!! American Idol Is A Great Example of "If You Believe It – It Can Happen"

More votes than any president of the United States. 63.4 million people voted and Taylor Hicks of Birmingham, Alabama is our new American Idol. Taylor, you deserve our applause and our thank you for bringing joy into our homes. All the American Idol contestants also deserve our applause because they stood up, walked on stage and gave it their best.

You can be the Idol in front of your customers, employees, friends and family.

I repeat – there are no losers here. Look at "The Broke Note Cowboys." By any standard, these guys cannot sing. Yet here they were entertaining an audience exceeding 40 million and I loved the show. There were more wonderful examples.

Nothing can happen if you don’t get up on stage. If you have a dream and don’t get up on stage it will remain a dream. You have to do your part.

Personally, I could write a long story on my views of tonight’s American Idol finale. I’ll leave that up to the journalists, TV critics and music industry experts. What I will stay focused on are the lessons than I believe will help you in your business right now. They are:

1. Take action. Get up on your stage and make something happen. Even if you can’t sing, people will welcome you if you are sincere and passionate about what you do.

2. Achievements happen with the support of others. Look at all the finalists of American Idol. They were coached by professionals on singing, dancing, dressing and more. There were back-up singers, musicians, production crew and a lot of other people that made this show so we could experience it.

3. Have total respect for you competitors

4. Play so everyone wins.

5. Remember who shed the biggest tears – their family.

I started watching the American Idol season towards the end. I understand why it captures the heart of America. American Idol broadcasts the reality of The American Dream. If we in our lives and in our business sit back and do everything the same as we did yesterday, the results are very predictable. That is right, the results will be the same. What is your back-up plan? How do you adjust your plan when the road you are on does not seem to be getting you to
your destination? Do you have a destination other than the grave?

Wake up – take action. Business owners, make a difference in the lives of your customers and employees. You will be richly rewarded for giving not taking. If you are not sure of the first step then take do one of two things: a.) call me b.) subscribe to my course. How to do both can be found atwww.stevepohlit.com

American Idol ..Lessons for Business and Life

American Idol-There Are No Losers

There are no losers. All of the people who took action are winners. Tens of thousands stood in line and one person emerges as the winner. Remember not one of the other people who showed up are losers. Everyone took action. Key point everyone took action.

We are in the game of life. There are those who made it to the "let’s say" regional finals who by some evaluation standards have superior talent to the final two. Talent doesn’t matter in the final selection process. It is the total package. As Joel Bauer says "wrap your package for the results you expect to obtain." As to the package, do you not think every man and particularly every man with a daughter was not moved by Katharine McPhee singing her heart out to "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" with the cameras showing the tears rollingdown her father’s face? I really am thankful I have that image and if you didn’t see it you need to find a video clip of that moment.

Do I think that because Katharine McPhee is a beautiful woman with a marvelous voice that she will win? No, I come to no such conclusions because Taylor Hicks is remarkable. Can you even fathom that someone from Birmingham, Alabama could ever end up on stage in Hollywood as one of the top two contestants. Have you ever been to Birmingham Alabama? This is as much proof as anything that anything is possible when you make up your mind.

There are outstanding life and business lessons from the American Idol process.

Katharine’s final song was "My Destiny" She visualized this moment most of her life. Think about that. What do your visualize for yourself, your family, your company?

Taylor’s final song was "Do I Make You Proud". Do you see the message? Imaging! What are you imaging?

I am not a person who allocates much time to television. However, American Idol has captured the hearts of many millions of people. Even with that I was not paying much attention to it until a marketing guru friend Tricia Strahler started admitting she was addicted to the show. So I began paying attention and I have to tell you the show is amazing.

Let’s review the structure of American Idol and the the lessons we can gain right now and apply to our business. I am not going to read some chapter out of an MBA course on management or some theory from someone who never stepped inside of a business except to maybe buy some toothpaste (maybe).

First: the best of show wins. Not the best looking or the best singer, or the best performer… the best person to bring in the money.

Second: the votes of a small group do not matter in the long run. The audience (your customer) will vote with their cell phones or wallet and will pick a winner.

Third: many who appear to lose in the short term can be long term winners based on their overall performance and continual focus on bringing value.

Next I will offer you observations on the companies who chose to advertise on this show to the tune of $739,000 for each 30 second spot. While Katharine and Taylor and all of those who showed up and tried deserve the applause of the world I am not as complementary of the time, energy and money that went into the marketing of products and services promoted during American Idol. More on that real soon.

Business Development Marketing – Good Examples

Recently I have noticed some great examples of companies applying well established business development practices.
Business Development Marketing – Good Examples

Very Good Business Development Examples

There are two sources of information on how to achieve improved business performance. The first is written material including: books, newsletters, blogs, and other print media. Next is the observation of companies who are implementing the best current advise.

As to best current advice, this does not always mean that current thinking as to best practice is correct. In fact some of the best advise on best practices has been around for quite some time. Recently I have noticed some great examples of companies applying well established business development practices. Why more companies are not doing this I have no idea.

McDonalds uses the $1.00 menu as lead generation. Get them into the store and once they are there other menu items will be sold. The sales and profit numbers say this is working and I like the idea for their niche. I have not seen any examples of McDonalds aggressive capturing contact information of their customers. What retailer would not gladly pay a buck for the contact information in a data base that they could communicate with regularly? I recently worked with a retailer who gave away a $9.00 valued product in exchange for the customer’s information. He understood the value of somebody already spending money with you.

I noticed while watching the national channel covering the Stanley Cup Playoffs several examples of great lead generation. One company was promoting cell phone plans at a discount. They had a compelling offer and a free report was offered at their web site. In addition, they offered a hot new phone if you called their 800# right now. This was excellent and a great example of designing electronic media advertising (T.V.) for maximum results. Everything is in place for them to track all components of this campaign and calculate return on investment.

If you are not on the mailing list of Duluth Trading Company you should be. Register at http://www.duluthtrading.com They do a great job of using on line and off line marketing. Their catalogues are memorable. The one I received last week stopped me in my tracks. I can still remember the exact shirt that was part of the ad that literally caused me to stop what I was doing and review the rest of the catalogue. There is one thing I don’t understand about Duluth, and that is they don’t seem to target their offer very well. Then again, maybe their numbers are working very well for them.

For maximum business performance, each company must hit on all five pillars of long term success. I have written about those before in greater detail atwww.stevereports.com At this point I remind you that the best marketing strategy precisely implemented will not help you if you do not have the product or service when you customer wants it and your company is not structured for maximum gross margin, profitability and liquidity. My course "How To Increase Profits by 30% of More In 90 Days or Less" is complimentary and is the roadmap on how to maximize all five pillars. If you want to jump start this process, call me. All contact information is atwww.stevepohlit.com

Steve Pohlit, Business Consultant, is an expert at helping companies achieve extraordinary performance now. Steve can be reached at www.stevepohlit.com

A Bra and A Bullet and Advertising

A woman traveling with her husband in their family van in Tampa Bay, Florida dodged a bullet – literally. Apparently, some unknown person fired a gun. The bullet went through the windshield of the van. A combination of the lady’s seat belt and bra straps deflected the bullet.

An alert bra manufacturer who found this story offered to send her complementary bras and lingerie. The only problem was she only wears Playtex 18 Hour Bras and the company that called was not Playtex. Playtex did pick up on the story and is now sending her complimentary products.

This story is not only in the local papers, national news has picked it up, CNN and Good Morning America and possibly others are reporting on what could have been a very tragic story. Every time this story is run, including in blogs like this one, Playtex is mentioned in a positive context and the marketing value of this story for Playtex is huge. This is a great example of being on alert for how your products and services have helped someone. Advertising this valuable simply cannot be purchased.

Playtex should evaluate additional opportunities for positive impressions with this story. How the 18 Hour Bra literally helped save the life of a woman might be used on their web site, on their blog, and other media promotions. Of course the emphasis needs to remain on the wonderful outcome of what otherwise could have been a total disaster.

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
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About: Steve Pohlit is a CPA,MBA and has been the CFO of several major domestic and international companies. Steve is a business owner and an expert business consultant focused on building profits and net asset value. He is very experienced with Internet marketing and social media marketing. All articles published by Steve unless specifically restricted may be freely published with this resource information.

Turnaround Management

Turnaround Management
The process for strengthening business performance is the same whether you are off plan or in crisis mode.

Turnaround Management

Hewlett Packard recently reported a 51% increase in quarterly profits. In a previous article I commented on the Mark Hurd’s (the new CEO) observations on the layers of bureaucracy in the company’s sales organization. The quarterly report confirms Mark is not just observing what could be run better, he is implementing. Let’s look at some of the lessons.

According to the story reported by The Wall Street Journal, HP cut approximately 1,500 people in the quarter and emphasized that while they are continuing with a reduction in forceprogram, they are recruiting for certain positions deemed to be important, namely sales. The article also reported the company benefited from the sale of higher margin attractive components bundled with lower priced PC’s. Translating that, HP was able to increase it’s average sale and gross margin for certain products that were attractively packaged and marketed to its target audience for those products.

How does all of this apply to your business particularly if you are not hitting your performance goals or if business is particularly difficult you are concerned about your business being able to survive.

The process for strengthening business performance is the same whether you are off plan or in crisis mode. The primary difference is that in crisis mode, you are going to have to negotiate time with creditors and they are not going to grant it unless you have a practical, achievable survival plan that you are implementing now. If you are in survival mode I highly recommend you get outside help. You will think you cannot afford it. I will tell you that you cannot afford not to do this. Make sure whoever you contact has experience and has lost sleep for the same reason you are losing sleep right now.

The primary goal in a turnaround is to build liquidity right now. The cash flow model I present in the course "How To Increase Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less" is the template I use with every business including turnaround situations. Register for the FREE course at www.stevepohlit.com and it is yours.

The details of what you do can vary from company to company can be different but the principles are the same:

Eliminate all unnecessary spending and that sometimes means people you have known for quite some time need to go. This is one key reason to use an outsider. They take some of the heat off of you. In addition, it can demonstrate to your creditors that you are serious about strengthening your business.

While you are fixing the outflow you must be aggressively addressing the inflow. This means collecting money that is due, and maximizing sales and gross margin. Remember you cannot have sales and margin unless you have the right product in the right place at the right time so liquidating in-demand product to create cash is not advisable.

This is an article and not a manual or a book. Fortunately nearly everything you need to know is detailed in the course I just mentioned. Finally, while the guide on what to do to be successful is there, those that attempt this on their own rarely succeed. I think that is true for just about everything, don’t you agree?

Author: Steve Pohlit, Business Consultant "How to
Increase Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less" is available for no charge at www.stevepohlit.com

Advertising: Money Well Spent and Not!

Advertising: Money Well Spent and Not!

If you plan to run a full page ad in a newspaper or magazine, the response to your ad should be measurable. Whether you are a Fortune 100 company or a local small business, your promotion must be linked to a call to action from you target audience. If these criteria are not met, and they usually are not, you will receive more satisfaction sending your advertising dollars to your favorite charity. Let’s look at some recent examples:

In the Tampa Bay Florida market, 1-4 full page advertisement are published nearly everyday. There have been promotions for special event seminars. One was clearly a lead generation ad with specific times and locations of the free seminar they wanted you to attend. This promotion was well done. The seminar promoters will know, exactly how many people came to each location and out of that total how many people purchased the special training package that I am sure was offered at the event. Return on investment is easy to calculate. Hopefully,
they also obtain the contact information of attendees who did not purchase. That allows the company to implement a follow – up communication strategy. These are exactly the principle at the foundation of www.localretailmarketing.com By the way that means marketing to your customer in their local market.

I am delighted to see examples of promotions that are rational and are positioned to measure effectiveness. Most are not. What you will typically find in this market are major promotions in the newspaper for commodity items. The price points are high but they are commodities. For example, lasik laser eye surgery, cataract surgery, hearing aids, contact lenses, sweepers, furniture and the list goes on.

Some will argue that many of the products and services are not commodities. When there is no unique selling positioning and when the product or service is readily available in any market, I view the offer as a commodity.

Please do not misunderstand the key message. Newspaper advertising, magazine advertising, regardless of the size of the ad can be very effective. The key is having a measurable call to action. One example is having one number to call where the prospective customer can schedule a free consultation or receive a special discount. Whatever the offer it should have a limited time associated with it. Something like "For The Next 3 Days Only…" The offer can be tested giving people one choice which is to call and another could give people two options including call or use a designated internet page. Giving them more than two choices is not recommended.

Marketing is very important to business development. It can be effective with a high return on investment or a complete waste of money. Generally, by focusing on a couple key attributes of effective marketing, you will experience an extraordinary return on investment.

Steve Pohlit,Business Consultant"Helping Companies Make Extraordinary Profits Now!"

The Secrets of Effective Networking

Before addressing specific networking tips I want to address critical aspect of networking that is often overlooked. Sometimes we are so eager to network that we don’t stop to consider whether or not we are investing our energy in the right places.

You can go to all of the networking meetings under the sun and collect hundreds of business cards while you’re at it but if you’re not hanging out with people you can do business with, you might make some new friends, you won’t necessarily grow your business.

If you want to grow your business by networking it is imperative that you network with: people who are your ideal clients,
people who know your ideal clients, and/or people who do business with your ideal clients. It’s that simple. So before you sign up for your next networking event, ask yourself if it is a good fit for your business.

When you network with people who need your products/services (or know others who do) there will be a natural interest in knowing more about your business. Stop, not so quick – the story of you and your business comes later. First, let’s walk through what happens at a networking event and I will give you a tip for each step.

Step 1: Meeting People

Enter the room with confidence, stand up straight and smile. Look for a friendly face and introduce yourself. If you don’t see an opportunity to meet someone right away don’t panic. A sure fire way to strike up a conversation is to get in a line (to sign in, for food, for drinks, for the restrooms). You can also approach the person hosting the event and ask for an
introduction. In addition, if the list of attendees is available prior to the meeting you can identify someone you would like to meet and approach someone to ask if the person you are looking for is at the meeting.

Step 2: Getting to Know People

Instead of trying to be interestING (focusing on the ‘ing’) be interestED (focus on the ‘ed’) in the person you are talking with. You don’t have to worry about what you will say (except for your brief pitch which comes later). In fact, you can make it a goal to talk as little as possible, I promise you will be remembered as a marvelous conversationalist. Memorize this phrase: ‘Tell me more about…’ and use it! Just relax, be yourself and listen.

Step 3: Giving First

The reason you are networking in the first place is because you want to get something. You want to meet more of your
ideal clients and meet people who can refer to your ideal clients. But don’t forget, networking is a two way street. It is about building relationships. I know you have something interesting to share, so why not give first? Perhaps you can recommend a great book or website, share an article, or maybe you can make a valuable introduction.

Step 4: Your Perfect Pitch

Eventually the person you are talking with may ask you what you do, so be ready! Don’t ramble on about how long you have been in business or how your business process works. Do prepare a fabulous, short, and memorable pitch (10-30 seconds long) that clearly communicates what you do and for whom you do it.

Step 5: Ending a Conversation

Remember, all conversations must end at some point so don’t be afraid to politely excuse yourself and thank the person for
her time. Reasons to wrap up can include going to get another drink, something to eat, going to the restroom, or needing to talk with someone before they leave. Whatever the reason, be honest and be genuine.

Step 6: Follow Up and Follow Through

This one is so simple and important yet somehow it frequently gets ignored. If you promise to do something (call, send an
article, make an introduction) do it!

Think about making use of these networking tips the next time you plan to do some networking. The truth is people do business with people they know, like, and trust. This occurs over time and is all about building relationships, not about collecting business cards. Be yourself, be real and have fun!

Steve Pohlit, Business Consultant

Discover The 5 Pillars of A Successful Company

What happens when you apply the 80:20 rule to the activities required to be completed for any business to operate?

Extraordinary Profits

A Positive, Low Stress Working Environment

Continual Progress At A Rate That Far Outpaces Your Competition

How do you achieve these goals? Well just take a look at how most companies are run and don’t do what they do. People in most companies spend the majority of their time on activities that have little or no impact on building revenue and profits. Let’s review the components of how to solve this.

First there are only five (5) areas of business that need your attention. Hold out your hand and look at your fingers and thumb – 5. Now follow with me on this because I am not in a room with you to reinforce the point. Hold out your hand and assign each of the (5) pillars as follows:

1.Sales – thumb
2.Gross Margin – index finger
3.Expenses – your “flip em” finger
4.Working Capital – next finger
5.Employees – pinky

80% of your time as an owner or CEO should be spent on these 5 pillars and 80% of the 80% should be spent on Sales and Gross Margin – the first two. When you spend the majority of your time on marketing the right balance of products and services that bring you optimum sales volume and gross margin, normally there are no issues recruiting and training the best people, there are minimal issues with managing liquidity and if any area of expense begins to be out of balance, it doesn’t hurt much while you are bringing it back in line.

If you are considering making some adjustments in how you allocate your time, you are invited to review my FREE course “How To Increase Profits By 30% or More In 90 Days or Less” which can be found at www.stevepohlit.com This is a sequential step-by-step process based on the exact programs I use when I help companies implement a management system on site(not software, simply very clear methodology for running the company).

Nearly every article published at www.stevereports.com expanded upon the management of components of the five pillars. In most cases, the information contains practical advice that you can implement beginning today. I have found that if the concepts are not actionable quickly and do not yield positive results quickly, people lose interest. It is no different than an exercise program. If the exercise is too rigorous, too demanding or takes too much time, it will not be sustained over time. Running a company is no different. The process must result in continual positive feedback as to progress toward achieving measurable goals.

Author: Steve Pohlit is a Business Consultant and publishes articles focused on helping companies increase revenue and profit.

Live Chat Is Not The Answer To Improved Customer Service – The Issues Run Deeper

Live Chat Is Not A Solution For Customer Service ProblemsLive Chat Is Not The Answer To Improved Customer Service – The Issues Run Deeper

(The following comments are in response to comments and and article on the benefits of Live Chat. The entire thread is posted here as a convenience. Since this is my blog I am starting with the most important information – mine.)

Live chat, like most programs, can point to a stable of success stories. However, many people offering live chat, do not implement it well.

The reasons live chat does not work well in many instances include all the standard ones that a person experiences with a help desk ticket system, direct email contact and phone support. Those issues include: support not being available, support wasting a customer’s time with irritating questions based on a script, support not being properly trained and finally, unusually long delays in response time due to support attempting to multi-task customer communication or needing assistance from their supervisor.

In an article I recently published at www.stevereports.com details of study by Jupiter-Research show companies are slower and slower to respond to emails directed at customer service and an increasing number of companies do not even respond at all. Customer dissatisfaction with phone support is well known.

Live chat is another tool for customer support. The issues go much deeper than installing this technology. Most customers want accurate answers fast to their questions. The companies that figure out how to do that will be rewarded with people continuing to spend increasing sums of money on their products and services.

Steve Pohlit is a Business Consultant and publishes articles focused on helping companies increase revenue and profit.

Using Live Chat To Service And Sell

The Email Marketing Whiz – Erik James

Dear Friend,

Did you know that Forrester research recently reported that 1 out of every 2 customers on the Internet is unhappy with the service they are receiving?

Think about your own experience as a customer of these companies. How many times have you requested support, only to wait days for a response? How many times have you submitted a question by email and didn’t get a single reply?

Well now there’s a simple, cost-effective solution …

Live Chat software is the cost effective tool that helps you sell your product online and give superior customer support service. With just the tap of the mouse, your web site visitors contact your support team for live assistance through a live chat system.

I recently started using a Live Chat system, and many of you have sent me some incredible feedback.

Now you chat with my support team using our Live Support console right from your own web browser, and you get your important questions answered immediately by a real person, in real time.

The following article, written by Paul Demery, explains the incredible benefits of using a simple solution like Live Chat on your web site …

How Live Chat Increases Satisfaction and Reduces Costs

One thing the Internet didn’t do away with is the demand for customer service. Even though some early e-retailing visionaries saw a brave, new world where customers didn’t need to talk to retailers, that hasn’t happened. And so the challenge to online retailers has been how to fill customer service needs at an acceptable cost. Offering live telephone support is an expensive step backward from the lower operating costs that were part of the web’s promise. And in most cases, pure self-service doesn’t work.

Now a small but growing number of retailers are turning to live chat for customer service. “Live chat is right for the times because consumers still want that assurance of live communication,” says Jim Okamura, retail analyst with consultants J.C. Williams Group. “But it’s only starting to become really effective, so it has a lot of upside potential.”

Taking care of business

Forrester Research Inc. projects steady growth in consumer use of live chat in customer service. In 2003, 30% of online buyers turned to live chat for customer service, up from 19% in 2001, Forrester reports. Acceptance of live chat will grow “as online chatting teens grow up,” Forrester says, to 59% of online buyers in 2007.

“Live chat takes care of business,” says Scott Shulman, director of e-commerce at athletic shoe retailer K-Swiss Inc.’s K-Swiss.com. Although K-Swiss also offers self-service customer service options as well as easy access to telephone customer service agents, it offers live chat as a way of filling the gap between the two. With lower operating costs compared to using telephone call center agents, live chat enables K-Swiss to provide personalized service around the clock. “It makes our site more personal because customers can have their questions answered 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year,” he says.

The measures of the overall market use of live customer service chat may be small, but some retailers who have begun making live chat a prominent part of their customer service strategy say it has grown in popularity with customers. Although K-Swiss.com makes its 800 number easily available through a customer service link that appears on every page, the more prominently placed live chat button on each page is increasing as customers’ first choice for customer service. “Why not? All they have to do is click and get an instant answer,” Shulman says.

Double Duty

Simply making the live chat option more noticeable than an 800 number will cause more consumers to naturally move toward live chat, experts say. If you make the 800 number too available, the tendency of today’s consumers is to use it, but having a live chat button on every page instead will encourage
customers to use that.

Most retailers put live chat to work first as a selling tool, deploying it at crucial times, for example, when a shopper takes an excessive amount of time in checkout and appears to need help making a decision before abandoning a shopping cart. Now more are giving live chat double duty: as both a selling and customer service tool.

Serving and Selling

Customers in a live customer service chat session are greeted by customer service reps trained to respond with coordinated responses intended to both help and sell.

There’s a further way that live chat can be both a customer service and a sales tool, experts say. By using the live chat tool as part of a customer analytics system, K-Swiss builds customer profiles based on shopping behavior, click stream history and conversations recorded in past customer service live chat sessions and telephone calls, Tisdel says. “Then when the customer comes back, the system’s business rules proactively engage her with an appropriate offer in a live chat session,” he says. The offer might be a coupon for a product in which the customer has previously expressed an interest, or an offer for free shipping to satisfy a concern expressed about delivery costs, he adds.

In addition, K-Swiss has used live chat as part of the customer analytics system to turn customer service communications into a merchandising research tool. “For example, K-Swiss learned that many of its customers had a high demand for children’s apparel, which they now offer on their site,” Tisdel says.

Despite live chat’s multiple abilities to help serve customers, it’s still misused or underutilized by many retailers. “Some web sites have a live chat service that says ‘We’ll be right with you,’ but that makes customers wait too long,” says Elizabeth Harrel, analyst with Forrester Research. “That can be worse than not having live chat at all.”

Estimates vary widely as to the costs related to live chat and other forms of customer service, though several vendors estimate the cost of an average live chat session at about $1, compared to estimates of average telephone customer service calls ranging from $6 to $20. Costs vary widely partly because of the diversity in customer service needs related to different types of products, experts say.

Moreover, Harrel figures that live chat costs nearly as much as, or about 90% of, telephone customer service calls. While live chat will provide savings in the cost of telephone lines, they tend to require higher salaries, she says.

Others put the cost of live chat far below telephone reps, mainly because live chat agents are trained to handle multiple chat sessions simultaneously. “A live chat rep can usually do a minimum of three sessions at a time, but I’ve seen them do eight”, says Tisdel of InterSight. “But even if they do only two at a time, that cuts the cost in half.” He figures an average live chat session costs $3-$5, compared to $10 or more for an average customer service telephone call.

This article was written by Paul Demery.

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Warmest Regards,

Erik James
List Marketing Expert, LIST BUILDER Pro
“The Most Trusted Name In List Building.”
www.listbuilderpro.com

How To Protect Your Blog From a DDOS Attack

How To Protect Your Blog From a DDOS Attack

Any server hosting domains and blogs can be a victim of a ddos attack. When a website or blog is hosted by a service focused on a specific niche, the vulnerability to attack appears to be greater.

The recent ddos attack on blogs could be related to commentary posted by someone on their blog that offended someone with the skills to orchestrate a ddos attack. When you have your business blog with a major service where a wide variety of themes are published your risk increases.

For quite some time, I published a blog using two major services with programs for bloggers. Generally, they worked well. However, there were some issues that left me with an unsecure feeling as I really didn’t have complete control over my blog and I felt more vulnerable than I do now.

My blog operates from the domain name www.stevereports.com It is hosted by a company with software built into my hosting account that makes it fairly easy to set up a blog.

I have backups off that server for all content that I publish on my blog. In the event of a problem with that host provider, I simply move my domain to another host and my blog is back in business.

I am also now using the blog software platform to create web sites. This is brand new technology that is also very easy to use. For an example of a site nearly complete see www.lasiklasereyesurgery.us I can tell you I am really excited about this particular software and if you want to learn more visit www.theprofitexpert.com/rapidnicheproducts.html By the way, if you visit www.theprofitexpert.com you will find many free resources including a mini course to help you if you have an interest in developing an income stream on line.

I strongly recommend investing the time to learn how to register a domain name, set up a domain name on a server, use an html editor,and ftp content to your domain. I avoided learning those skills for many years even though I started in the Internet business more than 10 years ago. Now with a few basic skills, I can set up blogs, create web sites for business or fun.

I am not a design expert as anyone can tell by visiting my sites. However, my skills improve daily I am pleased with my progress. Like I advise all my business clients, clearly define what it is you are trying to accomplish, set a time line for achieving it, roll the completion date back to what you have to begin doing today to achieve the goal on or before your targeted completion date, hen do one more very important thing – take action.

(Steve Pohlit is a business consultant whose primary site is www.stevepohlt.com He writes on topics designed to help companies and entrepreneurs make a lot more money. All articles can be found at www.stevereports.com Unless otherwise noted, he invites everyone to use his articles with the only request being to include this resource box.)

Time Management for Maximum Performance

Time Management for Maximum Performance

Several of my articles have focused on the importance of developing a customer and prospect database, a communication strategy and executing that plan. I will periodically remind you of the extreme importance of doing this and how that one area of your business will result in extraordinary profits.

This article is about your daily task list. I fined tuned my approach to my list during my completion of Dan Kennedy’s course on time management. Essentially this process is the same one that you should use for your business. The steps include defining your overall strategy of what it is you want to accomplish, assign a time-line to that strategy and then bring it back to what you have to do today to achieve your objective.

Since everyone has responsibilities outside of their career, this process should be extended to the spiritual and personal dimensions of your life. Achieving a balance can be very demanding because of the increasingly intense level of distractions. They include, cell phone, email, mail, newspapers, magazines, TV, Radio, iPod and more. Then there are the time required for your personal relationships.

My best days are when I plan them out in advance, make my list of intended accomplishments, check off the items on my list that I complete and don’t go nuts when there is something left undone. Uncompleted tasks are simply reprioritized and then added to a subsequent list.

My most productive periods are when I have a clear focus on defined near term goals that support the achievement of a measurable strategy. In addition, there are time lines for achievement and other people know and are tracking my progress. At the daily task level, the greater the sense of urgency, the more that is accomplished.

In summary, approaching the management of your own time is no different than the process of optimizing business performance. The principles of time management is the same. The free course “How To Increase Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less” found at www.stevepohlit.com teaches these principles for companies. The free course “The Internet Profit Roadmap” found at www.theprofitexpert.com teaches these principles for entrepreneurs working to create successful businesses on line. For personal time management training as well as business development training, I recommend you get your hands on everything published by Dan Kennedy. I recommend starting with 3 month trial subscription of Dan’s No BS Marketing Newsletter. Click Here for Details

Steve Pohlit is a CPA, MBA and has been the CFO of several major domestic and international companies. Today Steve is an expert business consultant focused on helping companies improve their business performance including growing profits, revenues and customers. For a FREE 6 week mini course where you will receive 10 easy to implement action steps guaranteed to increase business revenue and profits by at least 30% in the next 90 days, please visit www.StevePohlit.com All articles published by Steve unless specifically restricted may be freely published with this resource information.