21 Jul 09 Keeping Up On Technology
No matter the industry you are in, keeping up with relevant technology to your field is incredibly important in your bid to remain relevant and competitive over rival companies and to the intelligent consumer. Part of the battle is keeping up on new products as they come out, as depending upon how high tech your company is, you could have new technology coming out every few weeks with potential industry changing effects. But there are a few keys that you can keep in mind when it comes to staying relevant. Those being:
- Figure out your needs for successfully running your business.
- Figure the budget that you have to spend on new tech.
- Combine your findings from the first two, to find the most relevant technology.
- Allow time to test new tech and figure out realistic application within the company.
So firstly, you want to asses what you need to successfully run your business. Target what your business is going to offer, or already offers, and look to technology surrounding that. Whether it be computer software to better manage your clientele, or even faster computers to provide for better overall service.
Figure out how much money you can afford to spend taking risks on new technology. For any sort of advancement in any field a certain amount of risk taking is necessary, and you need to determine how much money can be spent on those risks. You want to have plenty to try and keep up with potential money saving/making technology, but not so much that a bad investment would hurt the company. Never be afraid though, as that new piece of tech could solve some financial problems in ways you couldn’t imagine.
Combining your findings means using the budget you’ve made for new technology, on the features that are going to be most helpful to your company first. Go after the tech that has the likelihood changing your company in the most dramatic ways, and target that first. You’ll always be taking a risk, but by targeting a weak point, or point that you could strengthen, you take the positive chance of reorganizing your company to be stronger than before.
Allow for time to test every investment you make before making a final judgment as to how it will apply to your company, and whether the investment was a success or not. Sometimes reintegration of an old system can take a while. Or sometimes fully understanding the nuances of a new item can take time before you fully understand how to make the best use of what you’ve bought. Give it some time, and let your investments play out, because that new technology could pay dividends like you couldn’t imagine.
Tags: Asses, Budget, Business Target, Clientele, Computer Software, Faster Computers, How Much Money, Intelligent Consumer, Likelihood, money saving, New Technology, Realistic Application, Relevant Technology, Risk Taking, Rival Companies, Taking A Risk, Weak Point
15 Jul 09 Building Lasting Business Relationships
Building up lasting business relationships with clients is the best and most surefire way to strengthen your business, and ensure future growth. Through managing and building relationships that you already have, the company gets a better reputation, and also helps you grow as you keep the old clients in addition to adding new ones. Long lasting business relationships can be hard to manage at times, but the payoffs are well worth any of the headaches on your road to setting that foundation.
When you’re attempting to set up what could be a long term relationship between your company and a client, one of the first things to remember is to always keep a certain amount of your focus on them. Never forget about former business associates in your quest to gain new ones, as that will make you stray away from your guaranteed business. It’s never a good idea to give up a guaranteed client by threatening your relationship with them using a new marketing campaign to attract new clients, that doesn’t focus or apply to them. Never forget the people that helped you in the past.
One way to end a relationship quick is to make promises you cannot keep, as that’s essentially the same as lying, and nobody wants to be lied to, especially in a business relationship. Only make commitments to your clients that you know you or your company are capable of keeping/following through. This way you don’t raise expectations to unrealistic levels from your clients, and you are always given goals that you can achieve, making yourself look all the better to an established clientele.
Always ask for feedback, this way you can learn what a client is expecting from you or your company. This will also allow you to correct any inadequacies that they may see within your corporation, saving a client that may have gone elsewhere had you been left unaware and unable to fix a problem that they had.
Finally, have fun. Clients are more likely to stay with a company enjoy the work that they are doing, as it shows a vested interest in the goals that they want you to accomplish. Nothing shows your willingness to provide a client with their desired outcome, like your desire to do your job.
Tags: Building Relationships, Business Associates, Business Relationship, Business Relationships, Clientele, Commitments, Headaches, Inadequacies, Long Term Relationship, Marketing Campaign, New Business, New Marketing, Payoffs, Promises, Reputation, Unrealistic Levels
17 May 09 Cold Calling: Is It Worth the Effort?
Yes, if it’s done right then it is worth the effort. Cold calling is one of the most cost effective and widely used lead generation techniques. Indeed, there are many much more effective ways of lead generation, but the utility of cold calling cannot be ignored. If you are running tight on budget, cold calling can help you getting your foot in the door, and from there you can begin your elevator pitch. Cold calling can be more effective than any other means of communication in the following three situations:
Introduction: There are situations in which cold calling is more effective than any other technique. If you are new in the market, and you want the clientele to take notice of you then you can consider using the cold calling techniques. Unlike introductory e-mails, a call to one of your prospective clients will buy you at least 10-15 seconds before they hang up. Use these 10-15 seconds to introduce your business, and if the call continues ask for 45-50 more seconds to discuss the things in detail. Use the time allotted to you very wisely. You do not need to supply all the essential detail in this 45-50-second time, just power pack the allotted time with an objective to fix a meeting by building interest in the services or products you are offering.
Database Tuning: A reply is not guaranteed when you send an e-mail to a random person from your database. The chances of your e-mail landing directly into trash bin are quite high, but when you make a call the person on the other end has to reply with either a yes or no; at time, people may be rude and just hung up the phone, nonetheless, you got the answer you were seeking. Use it to clean up the garbage from your database.
Sales Qualification: Use cold calling to see if your prospect is in the frame of mind to receive your salesperson or not. Given the complexity of sales life and the demand put on the organization’s resources (time, money and effort) cold calling can save hundreds to hundred thousands of dollars. This of course depends upon the size of your organization and resources you allot to prospecting and lead generation.
Be pushy and you lose the customer. This is guaranteed. No one likes pushy salesperson. Can you think of any more way in which we can use cold calling effectively? Write into the comment box below your inputs and suggestions. In the next article on cold calling, I will be giving a framework for a typical cold call.
Tags: Clientele, Cold Calling Techniques, Complexity, Database Sales, E Mail, Elevator Pitch, Frame Of Mind, Garbage, Generation Techniques, Hundred Thousand, Lead Generation, Means Of Communication, Objective, Prospective Clients, Random Person, Reply, Salesperson, Second Time, Time Money, Trash Bin
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