Category: Article Directory

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
Turnaround/Crisis Management
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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.

Article Source: ArticleFeedster.com – Free Reprint Ezine Articles and Article Feeds

To browse other Live Chat articles, visit ArticleFeedster.

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.

Google, Yahoo Expand Local Search: Ignore This And Your Business Profits Will Suffer

Business Development Consultant, Steve Pohlit, advises all companies to have a website with local search information now. The trends are clear. Conduct this experiment on your own. Simply ask 10 people how they would locate an apparel store, car wash, CPA, shoe repair shop, dry cleaner, attorney, etc. Even if they know the name of the business but do not know the address, ask them how they would find the address. There is a good chance 70% or more of the people you ask will say they search on-line.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google and Yahoo are making major investments in local search “rushing to add more consumer information about local businesses”. Yahoo has www.local.yahoo.com and Google recently changed from Local to Maps which can be found at www.maps.google.com

Yahoo is building local town squares where users share information about local businesses. Google is accumulating local business information that is already posted elsewhere on line.

If you have a business, you must have domain name and at least one page that provides information on the type of business, products and services offered, location and contact information. Information about your business is going to be available on-line soon, if it is not already there. It is better for you to be in the driver seat as to what is published.

The cost of having an on line presence is no longer an excuse. The entire process can be accomplished for much less than the cost of a yellow page listing. In fact, I am registering domain names for $8.00 a year and hosting a web site can be done for $100 a year or less plus most hosting packages include an email and the ability to set up a blog. Essential design can be done less than $100 assuming the business owner gives the designer basic information. If you need additional information on setting up websites or hosting websites, email me and I will help you.

I have discussed the major opportunity for most companies is previous articles, but here it is again: use your website to provide detailed information about your business, offer visitors a reason to register with your business and then develop a communication strategy with your subscribers. This process will increase revenue and profits. It will dramatically increase revenue and profits when you also capture the contact information of people physically visiting your business and people buying from you. That is the entire basis for the business model presented at www.localretailmarketing.com The principle applies to national companies as most market to their customers in local communities.

Here is one example of a national restaurant business headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Most people are familiar with the name Outback Steakhouse. You may not know the names of their other divisions which include: Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, Roy’s and more. The St. Petersburg Times reported that Outback was concerned about the performance trends of their flagship business, Outback Steakhouse. To further understand the basis for these trends, the company hired a consulting firm to study trends and evaluate customer perception of the business. It was not reported how long this study took or cost. It simply said it was conducted in 2005 and the results are being reported in 2006.

You can monitor customer reaction to your business daily without any special studies when you have a communication program in place. For example, in the restaurant business you could offer an incentive to come in and eat. That incentive can be tracked. When the customer who received the incentive in their email, redeems it you can link it to a survey. The survey can be conducted while they are in the restaurant or afterwards with a follow-up message that includes a big, warm thank you for your visit. This is not hard to do. What must be in place is a culture that reacts to what the your customers are telling you. They will spend money with you when they know you care.

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.

The A, B, C's of Inventory Management

The A,B,C’s of Inventory Management

One might think the books have not been written, the software not developed and the knowledge base empty when reading some of the recent headlines. When the largest retailer in the world announces they are reducing the amount of inventory in their stores because they have too much, it crowds the isles, confuses the customer and delivers the wrong message, one might wonder why they have this problem. After all the best and brightest work there and they has not held back on investments in technology. So how does the largest retailer in the world get themselves in a position where inventory levels are excessive?

Inventory management is an art not a science. The levels of inventory are a judgment call based on the available information. Let’s review how it is supposed to work. Before we start, this brief lesson applies to every company that has inventory no matter what industry and no matter what size the company. If you think this does not apply to you then I submit you are exactly the person I was thinking of when I wrote this article.

The primary reason for any inventory is to use it or sell it to make money. If you have an inventory of spare parts for a machine that is 20 years old, you are carrying that inventory to make sure you can repair the machine if it fails. If you dispose of the machine you no longer need the spare parts inventory. If you are a restaurant that specializes in prime cut steaks, you need the inventory to match the projected customers for today and maybe tomorrow. If your projections are wrong, then you either run out of steaks or have an excess. In the restaurant business, there rarely is any need to carry more than a couple days supply of inventory. Restaurant suppliers generally deliver more than once a week. In the fashion apparel industry, inventory is seasonal. In the early Spring merchandise is already in the pipeline for Fall and Winter. If apparel merchants misjudge the style, color, or fashion trend of their customer, they will be left with merchandise taking up valuable retail space. Blowout sales are then used to get rid of it.

Good systems will tell you the quantities on hand, on order, days of supply, gross profit in inventory, inventory turnover in total, by category, by vendor, by item and a lot more. Good systems will automatically process replenishment orders for item that are considered basic or staples. However, people makes policy decisions. Policy decisions are ones like inventory turnover will be at least 4 or we will now carry a higher mix of higher priced items to attract a more upscale customer. Inventory policy decisions drive the organization to action to achieve the goals of those policies.

In my experience, effective inventory policies are a result of business strategy linked to business financial performance and liquidity goals. When there is no clear definition of the goals then how do you evaluate actual results? Actual performance is always relative to the targeted goal.

The following is a brief summary of the impact of less than optimal inventory management:

Sales goals can not be met if you have nothing to sell. Forecasted demand along with replenishment modeling are key.

Gross margin goals cannot be achieved if your actual inventory mix does not match your gross margin goal or your customer demand patterns do not match what you have to offer.

Liquidity goals cannot be achieved if inventory turnover is less than target.

A,B,C Inventory Management Plan

1.Establish clear sales and gross margin goals.
2.Develop the same goals by line of business, product category
3.Identify the A items in each category. A items are the ones that make up 80% of the sales volume for that category.
4.Calculate the gross margin for the A items by category. Calculate the variance of actual gross margin for the A items vs. goal. If the result is the same, your goals are likely too low.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 for inventory turnover. Be sure the turnover goals tie into you liquidity forecast.
6. Develop detailed action plans to improve the performance of the A items. Assign a time line to those action plans along with specific accountability for implementation.
7. Extend steps 1-7 to the B items. Include in your action plan a goal of identifying which B items should move into the A category. This is normally done based on buying trends and gross margin opportunity.
8. Calculate the total investment for each level of inventory (A, B, and C’s) Evaluate the actual return on investment vs. target. You do have a targeted ROI, correct?

Project Manager: Make inventory a priority. Many people can be involved but one person should be accountable. If you have concerns about status or progress, hire an outside professional.

Complexities usually flow into the picture when people begin to spend a lot of their time on what they view are needed support tools. Those can include staff, systems and procedures. While tools are necessary to achieve your goals, a consistent focus on actual vs. targeted performance of A items should yield enormous benefits.

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.

The A, B, C’s of Inventory Management

The A,B,C’s of Inventory Management

One might think the books have not been written, the software not developed and the knowledge base empty when reading some of the recent headlines. When the largest retailer in the world announces they are reducing the amount of inventory in their stores because they have too much, it crowds the isles, confuses the customer and delivers the wrong message, one might wonder why they have this problem. After all the best and brightest work there and they has not held back on investments in technology. So how does the largest retailer in the world get themselves in a position where inventory levels are excessive?

Inventory management is an art not a science. The levels of inventory are a judgment call based on the available information. Let’s review how it is supposed to work. Before we start, this brief lesson applies to every company that has inventory no matter what industry and no matter what size the company. If you think this does not apply to you then I submit you are exactly the person I was thinking of when I wrote this article.

The primary reason for any inventory is to use it or sell it to make money. If you have an inventory of spare parts for a machine that is 20 years old, you are carrying that inventory to make sure you can repair the machine if it fails. If you dispose of the machine you no longer need the spare parts inventory. If you are a restaurant that specializes in prime cut steaks, you need the inventory to match the projected customers for today and maybe tomorrow. If your projections are wrong, then you either run out of steaks or have an excess. In the restaurant business, there rarely is any need to carry more than a couple days supply of inventory. Restaurant suppliers generally deliver more than once a week. In the fashion apparel industry, inventory is seasonal. In the early Spring merchandise is already in the pipeline for Fall and Winter. If apparel merchants misjudge the style, color, or fashion trend of their customer, they will be left with merchandise taking up valuable retail space. Blowout sales are then used to get rid of it.

Good systems will tell you the quantities on hand, on order, days of supply, gross profit in inventory, inventory turnover in total, by category, by vendor, by item and a lot more. Good systems will automatically process replenishment orders for item that are considered basic or staples. However, people makes policy decisions. Policy decisions are ones like inventory turnover will be at least 4 or we will now carry a higher mix of higher priced items to attract a more upscale customer. Inventory policy decisions drive the organization to action to achieve the goals of those policies.

In my experience, effective inventory policies are a result of business strategy linked to business financial performance and liquidity goals. When there is no clear definition of the goals then how do you evaluate actual results? Actual performance is always relative to the targeted goal.

The following is a brief summary of the impact of less than optimal inventory management:

Sales goals can not be met if you have nothing to sell. Forecasted demand along with replenishment modeling are key.

Gross margin goals cannot be achieved if your actual inventory mix does not match your gross margin goal or your customer demand patterns do not match what you have to offer.

Liquidity goals cannot be achieved if inventory turnover is less than target.

A,B,C Inventory Management Plan

1.Establish clear sales and gross margin goals.
2.Develop the same goals by line of business, product category
3.Identify the A items in each category. A items are the ones that make up 80% of the sales volume for that category.
4.Calculate the gross margin for the A items by category. Calculate the variance of actual gross margin for the A items vs. goal. If the result is the same, your goals are likely too low.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 for inventory turnover. Be sure the turnover goals tie into you liquidity forecast.
6. Develop detailed action plans to improve the performance of the A items. Assign a time line to those action plans along with specific accountability for implementation.
7. Extend steps 1-7 to the B items. Include in your action plan a goal of identifying which B items should move into the A category. This is normally done based on buying trends and gross margin opportunity.
8. Calculate the total investment for each level of inventory (A, B, and C’s) Evaluate the actual return on investment vs. target. You do have a targeted ROI, correct?

Project Manager: Make inventory a priority. Many people can be involved but one person should be accountable. If you have concerns about status or progress, hire an outside professional.

Complexities usually flow into the picture when people begin to spend a lot of their time on what they view are needed support tools. Those can include staff, systems and procedures. While tools are necessary to achieve your goals, a consistent focus on actual vs. targeted performance of A items should yield enormous benefits.

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.

Practical Business Plans

Recommending a business plans is often a starting point for many advisors and consultants. The challenge is that there are nearly as many recommendations on how to do a plan as their are advisors and consultants.

The single biggest issue with planning is the horizon. Many suggest a 3-5 year plan. If and when that gets done, the plan sits on the shelf in most cases.

I developed The Profit System specifically for the purpose of guiding companies on how to achieve extraordinary revenue and profit growth in a short period of time. Clients are advised to think in 12 month chunks and then roll that back to what has to be done this week to achieve it.

In the process of doing this, a company must address what could derail the results. So the point of considering disasters is addressed, but you get there from a different direction.

Finally when you bring your targets, to what has to happen today, this week, this month that are required to achieve the 12 month goal and hold people accountable for achieving those interim results, amazing things happen.

This entire process is outlined in a mini course I developed that is offered at no charge. Register at www.stevepohlit.com

The follow was reported in another on-line business blog and is presented to offer the reader a balance in terms of business plan recommendations:

Business Plans

(begin article found on another blog)

Business plans are a must for any entrepreneurial venture. Every new and existing company should have one. They are the roadmap to future business success. They can also keep a business on course in the event of a change in the business fortunes.

There are many aspects to the creation of a good business plan, including finances, marketing, sales forecasts, expected expenses, and so on. By carefully assessing all of the details, a strong business plan can be formulated.

A business plan is a requirement for everyone from bankers to venture capitalists. They are also a useful exercise for you, as developing the business plan forces you to look long and hard at your ideas and projections.

Even with a good solid business plan in hand, many potentially successful business people still don’t live their dream of entrepreneurship. Held back by many factors ranging from being unable to secure financing to staffing and production problems, many companies simply don’t get off the ground.

While these difficulties are common to many businesses in general, some barriers are specific to the business person alone. One of these barricades to entrepreneurial success is fear of failure. Thoughts of marketing and sales problems, staffing issues, and changes in financial status and the economy pale in comparison to that trepidation. Fear can stop a new business before it ever gets started into the marketplace.

The business plan can go far to preventing self doubt by providing a guide to the business that is both direct, yet adaptable to changing conditions. Shortages of funds can be worked around through free media publicity, creative promotional ideas, and business blogging. Alternative financing can be used to bring need cash flow into the company. Hiring only the essential personnel and subcontracting the balance of the work to outside contractors, consultants, and virtual assistants can lower labor and wage costs.

The biggest stumbling block for most failed business owners is a lack of confidence in one’s own abilities. That lack of confidence in oneself, and the potential of the organization, can be overcome. While many techniques can be employed to get past the feelings of self doubt, we will consider one method here.

We will ask one question.

What’s the worst that can happen to the business?

Think about that question for a time. Consider what could be the very worst thing that could befall your business, and subsequently, your future. While some of the worst case possibilities are enough to drive anyone away from even attempting entrepreneurship, many if not most, are not. In fact, many potential disasters can be prevented through careful planning. Contingency plans can be put into place for implementation should the nightmares become real.

Simply looking objectively at the worst case scenario can help with the overall business plan. The worst that can happen to a business may not even be that disastrous at all. In fact, many worst case scenarios can be reduced in impact, or even negotiated into workable situations. Every business problem is not the end of the world or the company.

Once you know what is the deepest depth to which your company could sink, the issues involved don’t even look so bad. It’s much easier to work with a known factor than a completely unknown possibility. After all, the worst that can happen to your business, might not be so terrible after all. The fear of disaster is worse than the potential problem itself. Keep in mind that just because a problem could arise in theory, does not mean it will ever appear in practice.

Don’t let fear of failure stand in your way to business success. Let a strong viable business plan, that makes allowances for major problems, guide you and your company, to achieving all of your business goals.
(end article not authored by Steve Pohlit)

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.

Consumers Vote With Their Wallet

Your business will not learn you have lost the election until you realize the money is no longer being spent. Most of this attrition is preventable by following a few basics.

Consumer Marketing 101.2: Listen to your customer and ask them how you are doing meeting their needs and fix what is broken.

It is likely I am not a typical customer since I tell companies when I am happy or not with their products or services. It has been my experience that most companies DO NOT CARE or at least the people serving the customer do not care.

Not too long ago I had a problem with my laptop. Over the years I have purchased at least 10 laptops from one company. The last one is the last one. They accused me of a liquid spill and did not honor the platinum warranty for which I had been charged a premium. I will not bore you with all the details. Their customer service department didn’t care. End result – business lost. Lifetime value of this customer (me) is about $3,000 a year.

There is a service station close to my home with a car wash. I was working with a client near but not that close so I was driving a lot. I would spend about $100 per week at that particular station. 2 out of 4 times that I used the car wash – it didn’t wash. I have asked them repeatedly to fix the car wash. Each time they have given me free car washes or my car wash money back. I DON’T WANT A FREE CAR WASH …I NEED A CAR WASH THAT WORKS. Today was the end – I will not return. End result they lose $100.00 of revenue per week. I estimate their average customer spends $80.00 a month. If I owned that station I would consider me a valuable customer. They don’t care. When you see stores closing or changing ownership, just give the departing owner a sticker that says “I don’t care.”

Consumer Marketing…It is not about the headline, the copy, the web site, the direct mail piece or media ad. First and foremost,It is about how you treat the customers you have.

Author: Steve Pohlit, a business consultant who has helped companies in many industries including: retail, manufacturing, wholesale distribution, restaurant, real estate and trucking achieve increased profits. All information published by Steve, unless otherwise noted, may be republished without restriction with this resource box intact. For more information please visit www.stevepohlit.com

Search Marketing: You Must Be On The Top Three Pages

(This article was published by eMarkets and is very important information. More on search engine optimiztion in upcoming articles.)

Search Marketing: Coming Out On Top

APRIL 17, 2006

First page or bust!

According to iProspect‘s “Search Engine User Behavior Study,” search marketers should strive to get their natural results as high as possible on search return pages; 62% of search engine users click on links returned within the first page of search hits. A full 90% of users click on hits within the first three pages of search results.

Searchers seldom wander deep into results.

“The message to marketers should be clear, and the implications obvious,” said Robert Murray, President, iProspect. “If your site is not found on the first page — or within the first three pages of search results — you might as well be putting up a billboard in the woods.”

Search placement not only affects click-through behavior, it seems to have an affect on attitudes as well. Among search engine users, 36% believe that the companies whose websites are listed at the top of the search results are also the leading brands.

“[Many] search engine users ascribe industry leadership to those brands within top results, and believe them to be leaders in their fields,” said Mr. Murray. “Cleary, this brand lift is a critical element for brand marketers. It not only reinforces the importance of being found in the top results, but also underscores the need for collaboration between online marketers and their colleagues in brand management, as search is clearly no longer just for direct marketers.”

The study also found out what happens when users don’t find what they are searching for:

  • 41% change search engines or search terms if they do not find what they seek on the first page of search results.
  • 88% change engines or search terms if they do not find what they seek on the first three pages of search results.
  • 82% re-launch an unsuccessful search using the same search engine but with more keywords.

“Marketers make six figure investments in websites without any consideration for how that site will attract an audience,” said Mr. Murray. “It’s time that companies that are refreshing, re-designing, or launching a new website start with the end in mind. If no one can find it, no one will use it. It will be a wasted investment without a clear search strategy.”

For more information read the two new eMarketer reports, Search Marketing: Spending and Metrics and Search Marketing: Players and Problems.

Build Business Revenue by Answering Email

Mark Albright reported in the St Petersburg Times on statistics from Jupiter Research showing the length of time companies are taking to respond to email sent to customer service has increased significantly and 55% of companies with on line customer service take longer than 24 hours to respond. Even more alarming, nearly 40% of all such emails take three days or more for a response or are never answered at all.

In several previous articles I have detailed the opportunities for companies to grow revenue and profits by capturing and using the contact information of their customers and visitors. Now, we learn just how poorly companies are doing responding to customers who need help.

There is a major revenue building opportunity by just responding to the customers with questions and by using the customer contact information to develop a positive communication campaign. These two actions are the foundation of my Local Retail Marketing program which is a component of the Revenue module of The Profit System. But forget all those titles, this is just common business sense. All you have to do is not repeat the mistakes obviously being made by many companies out there and the biggest problem you will have is where do you want to park your yacht.

P.S. When you combine emails not being answered with first the long wait times customers experience when calling customer service and second with how poorly many of the calls are handled when once the phone is answered, the roadmap that you should follow is very clear.