Steve Pohlit – Page 17

Customer Service For AT&T's iPhone 3GS Network

Everyone I know who has an iPhone experiences drop calls. Some more than others. I am no exception except that I don’t accept dropped calls as normal.

In all fairness, my iPhone 3GS works very well most of the time. Recently I have spent time in California, Toronto, Chicago, Edmonton, Alberta. My home is in Florida. With all of this travel I had very little difficulty with service. My service issues begin when I near my home….within about 100 ft to be more precise. I have several iPhones since 2007 when the first iPhone was released. Since then I have had several periods of weak connectivity but overall I have not had a problem. That changed beginning late last year.

Once it was clear to me that something had changed and my phone was not the problem. I began calling AT&T. I think having to do that should be considered as a terrorist interrogation technique. There have been a couple people in that company I connect with who were very nice to talk to and demonstrated they understood the issue. They also assured me the problem would be fixed. The problem is not fixed. And tech support actually misrepresented the action the took. I was told today that an engineer had been dispatched to my home area and found nothing wrong. No engineer ever showed up and the most that was done was for someone to look at some screen and conclude their towers were operating properly. I never doubted that because a malfunctioning tower would be detected and fixed.

If I heard it once I heard this once I heard this at least 5 times just this week. We apologize, our towers are fine. Please be sure your software is up to date and turn your phone off and on as we sent some data or something to your phone. There is a lot more but the bottom line is, this issue is not resolved and the discussions I had with tech support were totally not helpful.

Business Marketing 101: make sure you invest in retaining the people who are doing business with you now.

Business Problem Solving 101: Variance are solved one person at a time.

Business Relationship Building 101: Almost nobody expects technology or any product for that matter to work perfectly all the time. It is how you handle the problem that determines whether you are building positive or negative goodwill.

My Conclusion About AT&T

1. There are indicators AT&T’s network is inadequate and Apple which is an excellent company will find alternatives.
2. AT&T continues to fuel negative goodwill
3. Markets have a way of compensating for weakness. Look at how many companies that were once huge have or are near closing their doors.

Key Lesson For Those Learning Business Principles: Pay attention to what the losers do and then …don’t do that.

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

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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 The Managing Director of Top 1 Coaching/Consulting of The JT Foxx Organization. He is an expert business coach and consultant focused on building massive business 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.

On Line Marketing: The Formula I Recommend And Why

Question: What Is The Goal of Business Growth Marketing?

Answer: Traffic and Conversion!

What this means is that in order to grow your business with new customers, there needs to be a stream of relevant traffic interested in what it is you offer. Your job is to move this traffic from interested to “I’ll Take It” !

Question: How do you move people from being interested to buyers?

Answer: In my experience, people become buyers when a relationship and trust is established. Also, for professional services and many physical products, people want to talk to a person before making a final decision. Contact information including an email address and phone number is very important.

Building A Relationship On Line

The process that has worked for me has at it’s foundation a blog. The blog has a contact capture form with a reason for people to give you that information. Their name goes into a autoresponder system for follow- up messages with value added content. Value added content can be tips, a link to another blog article, examples of what is working and direct educational material. Each follow on email should have a signature with a link for more information and contact information.

The blog is the home for valuable content or articles that offer valuable information. This can be current news and relevant “how to” information. Offering examples of what is working is another terrific way of offering value. Marketing messages can be in the signature and the article itself can be structured so the reader understands how your offer is a solution for their interests.

In summary, the blog and the autoresponder sequence is key to building trust and establishing a relationship. Links in the blog and emails can direct the reader to a direct sales page or a contact page.

With this foundation in place and continually growing, you now have the source of material for valuable updates using social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Social Media is a major tool for helping you build your business. I recommend you look at your social media network as an asset for your business that will continually become more valuable if it is properly managed.

Twitter

I always recommend using at least two accounts, one personal and one business. Twitter seems to regularly modify how it is enforcing its terms of service. Having multiple accounts reduces the risk of going completely off of Twitter because of an account suspension. However, if you post quality messages to valuable content plus use tweets that have no URL in them that demonstrate you are interacting, they you should not have any problems with account suspension.

Building a Twitter following and managing tweets through that network can be a significant commitment of time. I highly recommend leveraging or outsourcing a lot of this work. My company New Digital Media, Inc. has been established specifically to help you with this.

Facebook

There are three primary channels on Facebook that should be used that do not cost money. One channel is pay per click advertising does cost money. Regarding pay per click on Facebook, my initial tests are positive. It appears advertising on Facebook is cost effective. More on this in a future article.

The first area that should be built on Facebook is your profile. There are many exceptions to the rule that profiles are to be personal. Currently I do not advise spending time building a business profile as there is a high risk of being deactivated. Your personal profile can and should have clear links to your business.

My focus has been on building my profile and my friends list is primarily for business purposes. As I approached the 5,000 friends limit on Facebook I created a fan page. While I am not a fan of the label fan page, it is channel for expanding your network and there are no limits to the number of fans. If your goal is to build a fan page for a business (Facebook encourages business fan pages) then I recommend a build strategy that invites friends to a fan page, uses Twitter to promote your profile and fan page and test Facebook ads to build your fan page. I have seen very effective ad campaigns that have built fan pages fast so I know this works. If you build a fan page then you should have a communication strategy for developing the interest of your fans.

Facebook Groups are one of my favorites for building business since once a person joins your group, generally they are very interested in messages related to the topic of the group. For example, I have the group Build Business Profits on Facebook which ties into the theme of this blog as well as my social media blogs. The feedback I receive from messages sent to this group as well as several other targeted groups I have built is consistently positive.

Other Social Media Sites

I highly recommend using YouTube and I have done a lot of YouTube work in the past and will be stepping up my YouTube activity again this year. I also recommend LinkedIn There are many other social media sites and I have some work being done on a handful of other sites. However, with the growth in Facebook and Twitter I continue to concentrate on those two. Up and coming and closely being watched is Google Buzz.

The Number One Key Success Factor

While I am always building my social media network and the network for clients of New Digital Media, Inc. the most valuable asset in social media is the quality of information offered in articles and personal communication. With my own accounts and those of clients there is always a focus of adding value and blending with personal messages. I have no automated messages flowing through Facebook and I am paying increasing attention to the balance of non automated messages on Twitter.

My focus is having people connect with me on my offers. This is what I always advise clients as well. Consistently there is contact information with articles, contact name and email forms feeding an autoresponder with an email message sequence and published phone information. This is fundamental internet marketing. There is always more including search engine optimization, search engine pay per click, squeeze pages and more. However with a consistent focus on building a relationship with people who are interested in your products and services, you will be able to stay focused on those on line tools most effective for your business.

Then there is off line marketing which is a topic for another article.

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

Twitter

Facebook

Linked in

MySpace

727-587-7871

Email

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.

Toyota Should Decline The Invitation From The US Congress

There is simply no rational for the CEO of Toyota to agree to an “inquiry” by special interest driven congress members. With one exception, there is nor should there ever be a congressional oversight board reviewing how business is conducted including how business problems are being handled. That exception is an obvious violation of the constitution.

The US Congress has already demonstrated massive incompetence in fiscal responsibility so what the hell do they think they are about to accomplish by putting a legitimate business on trial. The US Congress does not even know what they are doing yet alone evaluate what someone else is doing. Members of Congress may know how to drive a car but that does not mean they know how to manage a car company. Haven’t they learned from the GM fiasco where we the American people have allowed our President and Congress to drive up the deficit by bailing out a company that has sunk so deep the American taxpayers will not be repaid in full.

Damage control is now the number one priority for Toyota and they don’t need a committee that is from a Congress whose idea of damage control is to hold a politically based public view of questions prepared by people who are not even members of Congress. It solves nothing. Toyota has problems. There is an obvious quality control problem and a cultural problem. The cultural problem is obvious from their lack of aggressive communication and damage control related to defects. The marketplace will actually sort this out not the US congress.

As for Toyota, it is amazing that in 2010 an international business seems void of sound damage control and public relations practices. There are numerous examples that serve as best practices guides when a company is involved in a negative situation. One I often point to as a great positive example is the way Johnson & Johnson handled the Tylenol recall in 1982. However, even they may have forgotten how well and fast they recovered from that episode since more recently there is increasing evidence Johnson & Johnson did not react as fast or well to problems with certain products recalled earlier this year.

Solutions:

Companies like Toyota, Johnson & Johnson normally have policies in place that define the quality standards and quality culture of the business. They also have boards that have fiduciary responsibility to ensure executives running the business are doing their job in all areas including quality. An effective management system includes regularly addressing how the quality culture and standards are implemented and not just “dust collectors” on company shelves. Product problems do not universally mean there is a general breakdown in quality control. However, it is clear the quality related management system for Toyota and maybe for Johnson & Johnson either no longer in place or broken.

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

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You Could Have Heard A Pin Drop

From time to time when you follow this blog you will notice how I stand for freedom and peace. My brother sent me an email with these stories. They struck a chord. I hope they do for you as well.

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JFK’S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60’s when DeGaule decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaule said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible.

Rusk
responded “does that include those who are buried here?

DeGuale did not respond.

You could have heard a pin drop
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When in England , at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush.

He answered by saying, ‘Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.

You could have heard a pin drop.

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There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying ‘Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?’

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: ‘Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and
from their flight deck.

We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?’

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a
French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, ‘Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?’

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, ‘Maybe it’s because the Brit’s, Canadians, Aussie’s and Americans arranged it so you wouldn’t have to speak German.’

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robert Whiting , an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on.

“You have been to France before, monsieur?” the customs officer asked sarcastically.

Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.

“Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.”

The American said, ‘The last time I was here, I didn’t have to show it…”

“Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France !”

The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ”Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn’t find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

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I am proud to be of this land, AMERICA

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

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Nido Quebein – Why Immigrants Become Millionaires

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

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The Business Profits Reported Next Year Are Created Now

The business performance goals you achieve for the next year begin today. In order to achieve business performance goals you must have ones defined.

If this seems perfectly obvious, then why is it that the majority of companies do not have an annual business plan detailed in financial performance terms. Hardly any business has the disciplined management system in place to manage the business to achieve financial performance benchmarks every week.

This is a summary action guide that should help your business performance excel :

1. Define the outcome twelve months from now that you expect. What are your targeted: revenue, profit and cash flow (takes into account investments in non cash assets). I recommend these goals be higher than your historical trend.

2. Define the business performance you need to achieve in the next two months by week to achieve your annual goal.

Steps 1 and 2 become the budget numbers for your business and step 2 is adjusted every week so you are always looking forward two months. Can be three but should not be less than two.

Part of Step 2 should be a cash flow projection. Again it is very important to have a budget for all these items including cash flow.

3. Once you develop your budgeted items then you track actual every week. Now you are in the position of addressing variances. Positive ones should be viewed as carefully as negative ones. You are either investing in more of what resulted in positive variances or address the cause of negative ones.

Since a CEO should be spending most of their time, meaning about 80% on marketing for growth, there needs to be a rationalized process in place where there is clear accountability for the operations in the other key areas of the business.

This process is a management system. If you are an international multi- billion dollar business or a single entrepreneur the principles are the same.

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

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The Top 1 Percent

The Top 1% (one percent) is not a measurement and comparison of wealth or ability. The Top 1% is a mindset. The mindset that you can and will achieve the goals you set for yourself. This mindset includes a bias for action. Action taken to follow a clear roadmap. Clear goals, a bias for action and a Top 1% mindset will result in you experiencing success way beyond what the general population or “the herd” can even imagine.

The idea of the Top 1% is primarily discussed in reference to the development of business revenue and profits. If you pay attention to the Top 1%, you will see a balance in the areas health and relationships. It may seem obvious, but if your health fails monetary success is meaningless. Valuable business coaching and self development programs provide guidance on balance.

Attributes of the Top 1%

There are no common traits. The Top 1% includes men, women, all nationalities, all age groups all professions. The one common attribute is mindset. The Top 1% has a dream and they take action in a rational way that brings the intended results.

I have worked with very large companies and smaller ones. These experiences have given me the opportunity to evaluate the difference between eagles and ducks. Of course eagles soar and ducks waddle and quack. Eagles have a laser beam focus on those elements of their business that make the most difference. They avoid flying into the side of a cliff.

The Top 1% invest in self development. J.T. Foxx, a successful entrepreneur, radio host in 18 markets, and author tells his audiences he invested $60,000 in business coaching and consulting for himself in 2009. He has budgeted $100,000 in 2010 for business coaching and consulting. He is also investing in focused training and development program for his organization.

J.T. openly discusses his vision and goal of creating a $100 million coaching and consulting company. I know he will and that goal is likely to be achieved within the next 12-18 months. Note the mindset. Less than five years ago J.T. was homeless and he just turned 30.

Invest In Yourself

Join me, J.T. and many more at one of the upcoming Free Events. Email Me and I will get you additional details.

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

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Customer Service: To The Point…Harvey Mackay and The Cab Driver

Thank you Debbie Demboski, Regional Director/Owner of Interiors by Decorating Den for sending me this great story. Contact Debbie for your own franchise or decorating services. Ph.800-866-9499 Decorating Den serves most markets in the US and Canada.
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No one can make you serve customers well. That’s because great service is a choice.

Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.

Harvey was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up. The first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey .

He handed Harvey a laminated card and said: ‘I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.’

Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said:

Wally’s Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, ‘Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.’

Harvery said, ‘I’d prefer a soft drink.’

Wally smiled and said, ‘No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.’

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, ‘I’ll take a Diet Coke.’

Handing him his drink, Wally said, ‘If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.’

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, ‘These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.’ And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.

Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts…

Tell me, ‘have you always served customers like this?’

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. ‘No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You’ll See It When You Believe It . Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, ‘Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.”

That hit me right between the eyes,’ said Wally. ‘Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly,and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.’

‘I take it that has paid off for you,’ Harvey said.

‘It sure has,’ Wally replied. ‘My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.’

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty
cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

How about us?

Smile, and the whole world smiles with you… The ball is in our hands!

A man reaps what he sows. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do
not give up… let us do good to all people.

Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar

Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans!

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Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

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Harry Truman by Matthew Algeo

Harry Truman: Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or more important decisions regarding our nation’s history as any of the other 32 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.

The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri. His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.

When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an ‘allowance’ and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year..

After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them.

When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, “You don’t want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it’s not for sale.”

Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, “I don’t consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise.”

As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.

Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices.

Good old Harry Truman observed, “My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference!

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This is not posted for discussion. If you agree, forward the link . If you don’t, delete it. I don’t want to know one way or the other. By me posting it, you know how I feel.

Steve Pohlit

The Truth About Retail Sales Reporting

Retail sales during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season are followed by the news media very closely. This is because consumer spending is a key economic barometer and the annual holiday season accounts for a large percentage of total annual retail sales. Some estimates are that the fourth quarter retail sales account for more than 30% of total retail sales reported by department stores, specialty stores and mass merchandisers. The percentages can vary widely. For example December sales for jewelry stores account for 23% of the total annual sales.

“This November, (same-store) sales are going to be incredibly important to gauge the state of consumer spending, and thus fourth-quarter earnings and stock trajectory, and it’s also an important statement about the economic recovery,” said Deutsche Bank analyst Bill Dreher.

Comments like this from Bill and others may not be accurate. I learned how to analyze retail performance from experts responsible for running multi-billion dollar international businesses. These lessons helped me tremendously in operating my own retail business and in my business consulting work with other retail companies. Consider the following:

Same Store Sales Can Be Very Misleading

Same store sales are when you compare the sales in one period, for example November, with the sales from that same location the previous year. Seems simple enough but it is not always straight forward. For example, consider one store. What is your conclusion if the store just opened the first of November last year or if a major competitor closed a location near you this year? There are many variables that can affect same store sales and you have to be careful in knowing you have true comparability.

Consider 2009, the same store sales that will be reported this year are being compared to 2008 which is considered one of the weakest retail sales periods ever. At the company level a moderate increase in same store sales this year may not be a reason to celebrate except that of course it is better than a decline. Regardless of the results, retailers must go deeper than looking at the aggregate numbers. They must keep “peeling back the onion” until the lowest common denominator is evaluated and that is at the item level.

Same Store Sales Are Not A Direct Indicator of Profits

Many retailers promote heavily in the holiday season. This is part of the marketing funnel. Hot items sold at or below cost are used as lead generators. The Internet has educated shoppers on finding the best deals. This has resulted in add on sales dropping which means more of the sales being reported on a monthly basis have lower profit margins.

Keys To Successful Retailing In This Economy

First point is the foundation of a profitable business in any industry is largely the same. Companies make money when they offer what people want at a profitable price. In retail, customers often want a shopping experience that goes beyond price. For example, a recent testimonial from a customers experience on Black Friday demonstrated the success of a much smaller retailer with this customer vs. the major competitor. While having a slightly lower price for the laptop offered, the major retailer did not have any “unallocated laptops” at 5 in the morning even though the item was heavily promoted. On top of that the crowds there were not pleasant to navigate. The competing smaller chain, had inventory available and a more pleasant shopping experience. So you know who got the business and a repeat customer.

Off line, location is increasingly important as well as the overall appearance inside and outside. Large retailers win the game store by store. When demographics and traffic patterns change, and they always are, the store needs to change as well.

Customer shopping experience is major for building customer loyalty. This is mostly how customers are treated by staff when shopping. This is the one area where many retailers fail. There are great examples of customer service but they are not the norm. On line, ease of navigation, speed of checkout and access to customer service are key. Many retailers with web sites pay little attention to the customer service that is needed. People have questions and at times returns or exchanges may be needed. How this is handled is key.

Have you noticed the most ridiculous new message you get when calling larger customer support lines? It goes something like this: “Due to heavy call volume, your wait may be longer than normal. Many questions can be answered at our web site.” I don’t know about you but when I hear that message, which I do with increasing frequency, I think …this company has problems.

At The End of The Day, Profit Must Be Made

As a business consultant and coach, I always look to the profit trends and what is the practical near term strategy for strengthening profits. Every business must earn a profit to survive and grow. There is always an opportunity to improve business performance. It requires defining the performance targets then establishing a disciplined process for meeting or exceeding those targets. That process always works when the process is worked.

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

727-587-7871
Email

Re: New York Times: U.S. Racing Toward Debt ‘Shock’

The reason this headline is so important is because while many companies and entrepreneurs will continue to do well in this country, what is possible to accomplish is being extinguished by our government and what is being achieved has a high probability of being extinguished by the burden of debt.

For a long time I would look at our politicians and the general trends and conclude that is not an arena that I appreciate and it is somebody else’s life. Now I look in the mirror. I and all the voting citizens in this country are responsible. That is right. As a nation, we voted for people who look to the latest trend of what is popular so they are re-elected. We voted for a president who campaigned on being critical of the debt of the prior administration and then came in and drove that debt into the stratosphere. Obama should be fired now for that fact alone among others. Just for the record, there are a lot of people who should be fired and leave with him. Nothing personal …this is business.

Have we ever voted for a person who stands for the principles of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution? Actually I am not aware of anyone winning on that platform. I am aware of people running on that platform. We didn’t like that idea because that platform holds us as individuals accountable for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It does not say, I am from the government and will solve your problems. That formula clearly does not work.

This is a business blog with my focus being to offer sound guidance on helping companies and entrepreneurs move their businesses forward in profit at accelerating rates of profitability. Notice I said at accelerating rates of profitability, not accelerating debt like our government is doing.

So Why The Political Platform?

This is not a political platform. It is a business platform on the topic that our policies are going to drain America unless we take action. The action I recommend is based on business principles as I am not a politician at all. If the US Government were a consulting client this is how I would approach it:

1. Clear definition of purpose: I feel there is a clear definition of purpose for our government and we the people have allowed people in office to ignore it. So let’ s use our foundation principles as the evaluation point and if our elected officials have not demonstrated compliance, we fire them.

2. Who replaces the masses that are fired? People with experience running large organizations and know what it means to be accountable for compliance with the charter of why you are formed. Who are these people? There is no shortage, there just is not a system in place to elevate them including a fair compensation system. Get past the “you have to have been an angel all your life standard and we are only going to pay you $400,000 a year for being President. I would vote for paying the right leadership $100 million dollars a year and link that to performance standards with base pay of $25 million. Now you have the attention of some talent.

3. Key Tenant: basic economic and universal laws.

4. Tough stuff: the one way for this to be accomplished is to recognize the difficulty people have with change and then have leadership in place prepared to deal with the constituencies that say these changes are unacceptable. These opposition groups should be in the minority if the leadership and related communication is in place.

Who Am I To Speak?

I am an American and I have my share of successes and failures. As a human, I have made good choices and some I would do differently. Do I have all the answers? No but I do know this…I support the founding principles of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness and our government does not. I am tired of that and I am speaking out .. and you?

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

727-587-7871
Email

More

There is going to be more from me on this and I hope a lot of others as well. For now here is the article that resulted in my conclusion I have had enough.

New York Times: U.S. Racing Toward Debt ‘Shock’

Monday, November 23, 2009 1:51 PM

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A page one, top-of-the-fold New York Times report Monday warns that U.S. debt is rising so fast that the federal government is careening toward a “payment shock” in the not-too-distant future.

The Times lead headline read: “Federal Government Faces Balloon in Debt Payments: At $700 Billion a Year, Cost Will Top Budgets for 2 Wars, Education, Energy.”

The Times headline appears eerie just as the Senate moves to push forward on a radical healthcare reform — with CBO estimates for a final bill costing nearly $1 trillion dollars over the next year.

The national debt now stands at over $12 trillion and the White House estimates that the cost of servicing the debt will rise to more than $700 billion a year in 2019, up from $202 billion this year. The Times suggests that $700 billion annual payment cost may be conservative.

The additional $500 billion a year in interest payments would surpass the combined budgets this year for education, energy, homeland security, plus the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Times observes.

Treasury officials face not only huge new debts incurred in response to the economic meltdown but a balloon of short-term borrowings coming due in the months ahead, and interest rates that are certain to return to normal levels when the Federal Reserve concludes that the fiscal emergency has passed.

“Even as Treasury officials are racing to lock in today’s low rates by exchanging short-term borrowings for long-term bonds, the government faces a payment shock similar to those that sent legions of overstretched homeowners into default on their mortgages,” The Times reported on Monday.

Interestingly, the alarming Times analysis comes as the nation is in the midst of a debate over healthcare reform proposals that could add many billions of dollars to the overall debt.

Record deficits have arrived just as payments for Medicare and Social Security benefits are set to explode, with the oldest Baby Boomers approaching age 65. This will result in what experts have long warned will be a “fiscal nightmare” for the government, the Times article notes.

“What a good country or a good squirrel should be doing is stashing away nuts for the winter,” William H. Gross, managing director of the Pimco, a bond management firm, told The Times.

“The United States is not only not saving nuts, it’s eating the ones left over from the last winter.”

As for the balloon of short-term borrowings coming due, that debt now accounts for 36 percent of overall debt, compared to the historic average of less than 25 percent, and more than $1.6 trillion is due by March 31.

Another problem: The Federal Reserve’s purchases of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities to prop up the economy pushed down long-term interest rates by about half of a percentage point, but the Fed is set to reverse those policies — that alone could add $40 billion to the government’s annual debt service expense.

The Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee, a group of market experts that advises the Treasury on debt management, declared this month: “Inflation, higher interest rate and rollover risk should be the primary concerns. Clever debt management strategy can’t completely substitute for prudent fiscal policy.”

And The Times warns: “There is little doubt that the United States’ long-term budget crisis is becoming too big to postpone.”

Impact Hookup: Social Media In Person: Tampa, Florida Dec. 3, 2009

Please Note: If you are not in Tampa Bay , please visit Impact Hookups and see the other cities hosting this event.
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Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and more are all great social media tools for expanding your network and building relationships. Ultimately business is done with people. Even when the transaction is an on line order form there are people at the foundation of the transaction helping all of that happen.

Ken McArthur is at the top of the list of people who not only understand the importance of relationships, but has built several successful businesses founded on people getting together, meeting and sharing what is working and not working in business. What has evolved from Ken’s idea and first meeting six years ago in Philadelphia has been an expansive business, many very solid relationships and joint venture deals.

The event in Philadelphia was named JV Alert. I was able to attend and you can only be in the first group once. Today I am honored to say my friendship with and respect for Ken McArthur has grown. JV Alert literally started with an email asking who is interested in meeting for lunch to talk about Internet Marketing. That first email had a larger response rate than Ken anticipated and first JV Alert went from an idea of lunch to a three day event.

Now have an opportunity to be in the first group of people who are coming together to make a difference in how your business and the business of others moves forward. It is your opportunity to connect and to cement synergy for your business and your business ideas.

Impact Hookup Tampa, Florida and around the country is much more than another networking event. You see there are concurrent meeting all over the country and Ken is developing a centralized data base with contact information, JV interests and much more. Yes you physically will be meeting in Tampa and you will be part of a new network of business owners, rainmakers and people who you help and be helped in return. For more information on Impact Hookups please click here.

WHO

As the registrations are confirmed, I will ask each person to provide a brief bio on their business and their interest. Jean Levi who works with me in several ventures will be helping me with your questions and any other details related to this event.

Regarding who I am, you are welcome to visit my resume at http://stevepohlit.com My goal with facilitating this event is to increase the awareness of my consulting, coaching and social media network services. I can normally relate to business success and failure stories 🙂 You will also find that I am a very forward focused person recognizing the past is just that – over. I look forward to meeting you and I look forward to facilitating your success in any way that I possibly can.

WHEN

IMPACT Hookup First Event is December 3, 2009.

WHERE

I am hosting IMPACT Hookup Tampa, Florida at 600 Druid St., Clearwater, Florida

6:30 PM to 8:00 PM

COST

$8.00 contribution for bottled water, soft drinks. (not refundable)

Reservations Required

Your $8.00 payment is your reservation.

Registrations accepted up to 12:00 Noon EST 12-3-09

QUESTIONS

Email Me

Better: Email Jean Levi

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

727-587-7871
Email

Build Profits: 7 Step Marketing Plan plus How To Market With No Cash

Jay Conrad Levinson is known for his “gorilla marketing” advice. He recently listed on Rich Shefron’s blog his 7 Step Simple Marketing Plan. I read this today and thought you might like it before we get to the main topic. This is a very good guide to remember. Here they are: (for the complete blog article Click Here )

1) What is the purpose of your marketing? (What action do you want them to take?)

2) What is the main competitive advantage you stress to achieve that action/purpose? (What main benefit do you offer that your competitors do not?)

3) Who is your target audience?

4) Which marketing “weapons” will you use to achieve that action/purpose? (Expressed as a list.)

5) For your market niche, what do you stand for?

6) What is your identity, your personality?

7) What is your marketing budget? (as a percentage of your projected gross sales)

How To Market Your Business With Little or No Cash

Most consultants and authors offering training programs and services assume you have the cash to implement a sound marketing plan. That is often a misguided assumption and this begins to address a common issue of marketing with little or no cash. Many entrepreneurs and companies are experiencing a cash crunch.

The following steps are essential for marketing your business when you have no cash. They are also essential when you do have cash. Cash will help you advance your results faster.

The Most Important Step – Always – and There Are No Exceptions:

Spend Most of Your Time Marketing Your Business. This is a mindset coupled with a commitment and knowing what is productive time. Jay did not list this. Most do not. This is the number one item I work on with companies and with people I coach. This is the number one item I work on for my own ventures. This is also a challenge for most people since it is easy saying “I was busy today”. I say if you are not working on building new business and strengthening what you have, most other activities are just busy work.

Second Step: Know How To Use The Tools Requiring No Money and Those Most Helpful When You Have Money

If you are reading this you are on line somehow and I realize there is a cost for a connection. A computer and a connection are required. They cost money. They are essential tools. This article is how to market when you have little or no cash. You have to have a connection to market even if you are an off line based business.

How To Market When You Have Little or No Cash.

1. A web site is now required for credibility and I recommend using blog technology in most cases. If your business needs an html based web site fine. You still need a blog.
2. Use social media to drive traffic to your blog. The primary social media sites for driving traffic are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.
3. Your goal is strengthening the relationship with your visitors and encouraging them to become part of your list. Even when you are selling a product on line, your primary goal when using the no money marketing approach based on social media traffic is to move your target audience from your social media network to your list where you can communicate with them.

Facebook groups have similar characteristics of an email list. However, at no time will pounding on your network to buy from you be an effective marketing strategy. The Build Profits Group on Facebook is a good example. All the content sent to the group is intended to be of value. At the same time there is no secret as to my business ventures and professional services.

I used and continue to use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for the development and growth of three businesses that have cash profits this year. Last year two of the three did not exist. Two of the Three took less than $100 cash. Manifest Mastermind was less than $1,000. Today all are marketed using social media.. time yes, cash no.

Manifest Mastermind:
New Digital Media, Inc
IR Consulting, Inc

I use one autoresponder account for all businesses and lists. I use one hosting account for all domains. If you have no cash you can use blogger and by-pass the autoresponder. When you have some cash, convert your blogs to a WordPress based platform with individual C-Panel access. If you don’t know why you need these tools, learn. I feel an autoresponder is a must have tool for building a list. No matter what is being discussed in social media circles, email is still very important and valuable. So if you cannot afford an autoresponder, then track your email list manually until you can afford it.

Once I had built some cash flow, I outsourced certain of the work required to continue building the social media network and continue to do so. Notice earlier I mentioned I do not spend cash on marketing. However, I do leverage my time which is very valuable. I view the development of your own social media network essential for business and your social media network is an asset. I work on this everyday – everyday.

I do not outsource content origination meaning blog articles, posts to Facebook groups, Tweets and autoresponder messages. Some of this work can be outsourced. I do all of it now and some of it soon, will be outsourced. However, some content cannot be outsourced as it is my voice.

I will cover key points in building your social media network in the next article.

The easiest way to follow this series is to become a member of my Facebook Group Build Profits. Register for my list. What is in it for you? Candidly the information you receive here in most instances is more valuable than programs you will pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for. Why do I offer this information? Because some people will want me to become part of my Executive Coaching Program, some companies will want my consulting services and some will want help in building their social media network. Most of all some people will write and say ” I followed what you wrote and it worked – thank you” That my friends is the greatest reward of all.

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

727-587-7871
Email

The First Step to Building Profits

It is important to understand that in order to build profits, a profit must first be earned. If your business is a start-up or has been losing money, the main focus of all your activity is to make a profit.. not just any profit, but a cash profit. Cash profit is where your cash balance is growing after you cover all your expenses whether they be paid daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually.

If your business is not in a cash profit situation, you will not be able to stay in business indefinitely. There will be a point when you run out of cash and you have to close your door. In the Proof of Concept article I mentioned Twitter as an example of a company whose business model is exciting but whose excitement will eventually die if it does not turn profitable.

One of the best ways to begin making a cash profit and then make even higher cash profits, is to develop a financial performance picture twelve months in advance. This financial picture is how you want you business to look financially a year from now. I always advise clients when doing this work to look at what the business has been able to earn in the past and then increase it significantly.

Individuals use a technique know as vision boards to focus on things they want including lifestyle improvements. The financial model of what you want your business to look like is your business vision board. “If you can see it you can achieve it.”

There is more to it than creating a picture twelve months out but that is a key starting point. For purposes of building profits I do not advocate going beyond a twelve month horizon as there are two many variables. However, when doing strategic planning a more forward outlook is appropriate. For now we are focused on building profits near term.

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

727-587-7871
Email

Profits Are Proof of Concept

Proof of Concept

The phrase Proof of Concept is one I learned from my friend Russell Brumfield, a successful business builder and entrepreneur. Proof of Concept means the business model is viable. Viable means it is making or will be making a profit.

If you are not making a profit you are not in business. Does this mean that any business idea that is not instantly profitable is not viable? No it does not. Twitter is not profitable. Twitter has attracted over $100 million in investment funding. Does this mean Twitter is viable as a business? No it does not mean that either. Ultimately Twitter must be profitable or all the interest and investment funding dries up. That is true for any “for profit business”.

Note: People interested in paying you money for what you are offering is key and having enough people pay you so you are able to make a profit is Proof of Concept. You don’t have to have a business model of a Google or a Twitter. You have to have a business where your revenue exceeds your costs. Once you are in profit then you can focus on strategies that will help you further increase the profit percentage for your business. Increasing the percentage of profit being earned by your business is part of the scope of what is covered in the Build Profits Group on Facebook.

Video Version

Now if this all seems obvious I can assure you I have consulted with some very large companies that no longer had Proof of Concept. They once may have profitable, but part of my work was to help them regain their viability as a business. Key point: you may be profitable today but there are no guarantees you will be profitable tomorrow. Managing change is key.

If you are in business, take a hard look as to whether you have proof of concept. If you do not now, you need to have that soon. I have not kept track of the number of ideas that seemed great but failed. Does failure mean the idea was not a good one? It does not. It may mean the timing was not right, a rapid change in the competitive landscape or decisions by owners that were not good for the business.

If you are thinking about getting into business be sure there sufficient evidence as to proof of concept. This applies to starting a company, buying a business, joining a network marketing company, it also applies to considering a job with a company. I encourage you to be particularly careful with new start-ups. As this is written there is a major buzz surrounding a business opportunity backed by several well known celebrities. This could be great and maybe not. If it is great, there will be Proof of Concept and there will be plenty of time to become involved and make money.

Finally on this topic it does not matter what other people are experiencing with a business, Proof of Concept applies to you and your experience. In the next article, we will review the primary key success factors for most business that evidence Proof of Concept.

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

727-587-7871
Email