Put Your Angry Customer at Ease

By: Jay Conner's Having

To deal with angry and upset customers is by far one of the worst responsibilities we must face on a day to day basis in the world of sales and business.

However, this responsibility, like so many others we must face on a daily basis, just comes with the territory.

Customers become angry for all sorts of reasons. Some are legitimate reasons.  Some are not. In any event it is our job to defuse the situation. Here are a few tips on how you can calm your customer down and put them at ease.

1. Give them your hand to shake
When I was in the banking industry, I worked many years as a branch manager. A customer’s body language would speak volumes as they approached my office. This body language allowed me to prepare for what was to come.

It is not difficult to tell when someone is angry. Their face scrunches.  Their lips tighten, and their brow wrinkles. They walk quickly with a purpose in their step, and you know they mean business.

My reaction to this type of body language was to reach out my hand to them as an offering of peace. I did this before they had an opportunity to start venting their anger. I would then calmly introduce myself and ask how I could be of help to them.

This technique will catch your customer off guard, and your acts of professionalism and sincerity will ease the tension and put the rationale back into your customers thought process.

This technique is by far the best way to begin any conversation that has the potential to be blown out of proportion.

2. Apologize to your customer
Once you have your customer seated and have allowed for them to vent, the first thing you want to do is apologize on behalf of your company for the way they have made them feel, or for the inconvenience they have been put through.

It really doesn’t matter if your customer is right or wrong, by apologizing to your customer you are being empathetic to their situation. This gives the customer the feeling that you are on their side.

Remember, when a customer has an issue, what they want more than anything else is for someone to listen to their problem and have an understanding of where they are coming from.

There is absolutely no need to take a bad situation and make it worse.

3. Resolve the problem
The last and final thing you want to assure your customer is that the problem will be resolved, or at the very least, the problem will not happen again.

To leave a problem unresolved and your customer hanging will only lead to more confrontations and wasted time down the line.

Remember, when time is wasted, money is wasted.

Again, putting out fires on a daily basis comes with the territory. The sooner you put out the fires the better.

Never take a customer complaint personally. Act as your customers advocate, and you will always prevent a bad situation from escalating.

Author Bio
Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of www.jconners.com. Article Source Free Website Content

Tips to get your Entrepreneurship off and running

By: Michael Johnson

One of the best of the small business associations is the University of Central Arkansas Small Business Advancement National Center (SBANC.)

While the ideal way of starting a small business would be to free yourself up from every other venture, problem, time consuming effort and obligation and throw yourself into starting a small business every waking moment, this isn't an ideal world. Few of us can afford the luxury of setting everything else aside to devote all our time and efforts, as well as capital - to starting a small business.

Some of us have the itch to become an entrepreneur but have to "keep our day jobs" while we give this starting a small business idea a go. It may well be, in fact, that starting a small business part time is the most common entrepreneurial process.

Part of succeeding at starting a small business if you have to do so part time is to know your schedule and your time limitations and choose a business concept that you enjoy, have some training or expertise in and can be accomplished around your work schedule. The other alternative is to change your work schedule either with your current employer or choose an alternative employer. Starting a small business takes effort and focus as well as time.

It may be that your current job is not only time consuming but also the type of work that requires a great deal of energy, a great deal of concentration, a very regimented schedule and perhaps the responsibility that tends to have you taking your work home with you either actually or mentally. This sort of work style doesn't lend itself well to starting a small business part time.

Let's look at an example of a journalist who has a successful writing and editing business from her home office. When she decided she was interested in starting a small business she had been working for many years in newspaper management. Her executive responsibilities required 70 and 80 hour workweeks and even then she took work home.

After many years of this she began to think more and more about her dream of starting a small writing business. It called to her more and more urgently. But how was she to even think of starting a small business when she had little time, energy or focus left in her busy work week? Besides, she had to work to keep the roof over her head.

What she did to determine if starting a small business was even possible, was to sit down and write out a budget, deciding where she could eliminate some non-essential expenses in her life, and what she absolutely had to have to live on. She then looked for, and found, a job that not only brought in enough money to live on but freed up a lot of her daytime work week hours as well as her mental focus. She took a customer service job in a call center.

Starting a small business was going to be possible with this job where it had not been with her newspaper career for a number of reasons. It required considerably less mental acumen, it didn't require that she take her work home with her, it was easy, the hours were flexible (she worked 3pm-midnight Thursday through Sunday) and the dress code was highly casual. She could work all day starting her small business and then don her jeans and go into the call center in the evening. Now she's quit that call center job and her dream of starting a small business has been fulfilled. Her business is thriving and she works at it full time.

You will find links to other small business associations from the SBANC site. These small business associations include the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) offering one on one counseling in person or online, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and its Small Business Development Centers which provide a ton of small business assistance including mentoring, training, publications, tapes, workshops and financing, Allied Academies - a worldwide research and training group, the Small Business Institute which provides entrepreneurial teaching and training, and the Federation of Business Disciplines, a group of educators devoted to small business teaching conferences.

Author Bio About the Author: M. Johnsona operates a variety of small business websites and newsletters.  Visit the website for many business start up ideas. www.smallbiztipscenter.com
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How to Achieve Google Adwords Success - Part Two

By: Matt Bacak

Are you using Google Adwords to bring in additional, quality customers?  Do you know the seven steps to Google Adwords success that enables you to crush your competition and reel in the customers on twenty four a day basis?  The first three steps to Google Adwords success involve using odd bid amounts such as $0.17, $0.23, etc. to jump up in placement.Conducting split testing on your advertisements and using Dynamic Keyword Insertion are success steps two and three.  This article discusses Google Adwords success steps four through seven.

Google Adwords Success Step #4:  Use punctuation secrets in your advertisement copy.Google Adwords has rules in that you can't use swear words and the only punctuation mark you can use is a question mark.  Add a question mark to your advertising copy.You will stand out from other advertisements if you do this.Also try capitalizing the first letter of every word in your advertisement. Don't capitalize every letter as Google will prohibit you from doing this.Also put a comma in your headline followed by a power word such as "Free".The comma will prompt the reader to pause and then let the following power word sink in.

Google Adwords Success Step #5:  Find quality keywords.Use a keyword program at www.goodkeywords.com.This program allows you to type in the name of your niche and then it supplies you with great keywords associated with that niche topic.This program tells you the number of people that are searching for those keyword terms in the last thirty days.  For a conservative estimate, you can multiply this number times five.For an aggressive estimate, you can multiply this number times ten.

Google Adwords Success Step #6:  Find information at www.amazon.com to help you determine good keywords.Go to Amazon.com and search for books based on your niche topic.Use these book titles and author names as keywords.

Another similar option is to go to www.dictionary.com and search for synonyms to the name of your nice topic. You can also find out what keywords your competition is using by going to www.googspy.com.

Google Adwords Success Step #7:  Placement is critical.Many Google Adwords users are not sure where they should have their advertisements placed in the Google search results.If the Google Adwords advertisements are placed along the right hand side of the screen then you should strive to be in the second or third placement.  Why?  The first spot often yields "junk" clicks.  Many users click on this by accident or what to seek out further information before making a decision.If the Google Adwords advertisements are right above the free results then you want to be in the fourth or fifth spot for similar reasons.

Additional Tips:
Not sure how to tell if your Google Adwords campaign is effective?  Google allows you to monitor this information by giving you statistics including bid placement.

Participate in the "Google Adsense" program as well.  Google Adsense is like Google Adwords, but from a different perspective.  Google Adsense enables you to allow advertisements (from Google Adwords customers) to display on your OWN website.  You earn money when users click on these websites.  Earning 25%-50% commissions is realistic.  Plus, Google Adsense is a program that you setup and then don't have to do anything further.  You have to apply to this program and Google will give you code to put in your webpage.  Check out www.google.com/adsense for more information.

Author Bio
Matt Bacak, The Powerful Promoter and Entrepreneur Magazine e-Biz radio show host, and now a "#1 Best Selling Author" in just a few short hours, has helped thousands of clients target his specialty, opt-in mail direct marketing systems. Article Source Free Website Content

Why can a family-owned business fail?

By: Al McClymont

It so happens that a very large percentage of automotive dealerships around the world happen to be family-owned businesses. Having said that, there are a great many issues concerning family-owned companies, mainly regarding succession and management, which must be dealt with so that the company can accomplish the goals that the family sets.

Autologica presents a series of articles titled "Common Problems in Family-owned Businesses" based on an interview between J.C. Aimetta, an expert and coach who specializes in family-owned companies, and Al McClymont, CEO of Autologica Dealer Management Systems (www.autologica.net).

J.C. Aimetta is 46 years old and has dedicated the past 15 to helping owners and directors of over 65 family-owned small and medium-sized businesses manage growth, professionalize their management and prevent problems with succession. He has been a negotiator in family conflicts and in the sale of family-owned businesses. Mr. Aimetta teaches the subject in graduate and post-graduate courses in 3 Argentine universities, and has given conferences in Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. 

Here are some thoughts that emerged from the interview.

Al McClymont: I know this is a broad subject to be treated in such a short time, but I hope we can go through some of the main points. The first thing I would like to ask you is: What do you think are the main reasons a family-owned business can fail?

J.C. Aimetta: Well, the main reason is that the owner and manager roles get mixed up. Thus, an endless number of confusions occur as regards to who is the owner and who is the manager, the administrator.

For most family businesses the role is only one. Therefore, whenever you ask someone, Why do you run this business?, the answer is: Because it is mine. And what empowers you to run the business? The fact that it is mine.

Al McClymont: It's also important to analyze this from a management and operational point of view side, for example, when the sons and daughters of the owners reach an age appropriate for them to work in the company.

J.C. Aimetta: Well, what happens is that the new generations evolve and the children inherit the same notion, and believe that they can manage the business simply because they own it. As the children are generally more, two, three, four...  a company cannot have four managers. And it is at this moment that most confusions arise.

Another thing to bear in mind is that in the long run the family always grows more than the company. In other words, there are more people intending to live from a business that is not growing as fast as the family. If we also consider the in-laws that sometimes, not always, want to work in the family business, conflicts may arise.

Furthermore, we have to bear in mind that job evaluations are done under emotional parameters. That is to say, whenever a relative is hired, it is very difficult to punish lackluster performance, a poor job. Because an emotional cost is paid, a "happiness" cost.

In a nutshell, a family-owned business maintains a delicate balance between happiness and efficiency, profitability and affection. As the business grows, its owners must try to gently tip the balance to one side. Because it is impossible to simultaneously achieve maximum profitability and maximum happiness, and make the growing family's entire happiness depend on one particular business.

In the next part of this interview, we'll talk about problems that may arise in a family-owned business when one family member wants to sell their share of the company.

Author Bio
Al McClymont is founder and CEO of Autologica S.A.

J.C. Aimetta is a consultant to more than 65 small and medium family-owned businesses.

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4 Ways To Locate Public Speaking Jobs Online

By: Alexis Dawes

Ask any professional speaker how an industry newbie should go about securing public speaking jobs, and the response frequently sounds something like...

Attend Toastmasters meetings and practice your skills.
Join the National Speakers Association to learn more about the industry.
Do talks at Chambers of Commerce and Rotary Clubs.

But what if you know you're a good speaker... you understand the intricacies of the speaking industry... and you've done your share of gratuitious freebie presentations. Where do you head then? How do you go about looking for public speaking jobs?

Here are 4 tips to help you locate seemingly elusive public speaking jobs online.

1) Go to Google and Yahoo, and search for the following phrases 'calls for speakers' and 'speakers wanted.' (Without the quotes.)

In the results you'll instantly find links to organizations and conferences that are looking for public speakers.

While many different topics are covered under these searches, you'll find there are frequently a lot of technology speakers wanted. So if this is your niche, it's a good possibility you could get lucky.

2) Check out the Speakers Forum sponsored by Speakers Platform.

Honestly this forum isn't teeming with public speaking jobs. But on occasion you will find a golden nugget.

In fact, this is where I found my first public speaking job many years ago. The meeting planner just happened to be hiring several different speakers, and I was one of them.

You can check it out at: www.speaking.com/educationforum/index.cgi

3) Follow the conference schedules for targeted associations.

Most associations hold some type of yearly or semiannual conference. Speakers are frequently sought after, so this is an ideal place to locate a public speaking job.

They will typically begin searching for speakers 6-8 months ahead of time. Sometimes less, sometimes more.

You should find out when their next conference is held, and begin checking back to the association web site 6-7 months ahead of time. Calls for speakers sometimes don't get picked up in the search engines right away.

The American Society of Association Executives has an extensive directory of associations at www.asaenet.org/AssociationSearch.cfm?requesttimeout=240&sn.ItemNumber=7333.

4) Apply to training companies.

Fred Pryor/CareerTracks is frequently hiring contract speakers on a variety of topics. The job does require traveling and the ability to sell their products to attendees. According to the the Pryor web site, top contract trainers earn in excess of $75,000 (USD) a year.

You'll be very busy. But it's great experience, especially for budding speakers.

Contract training opportunities can be found at www.pryor.com/career/seminar_leader.asp

Author Bio
Alexis Dawes is the author of "Speaking For Profit: How To Profitably Use The Platform To Make $200-$10,000 a Night Giving 3-Hour Seminars." This 115 page e-book explains how to get public speaking jobs at seminar centers in the US, as well as what it takes to sell information products to attendees. You can get more information at www. Speaking-For-Profit.com. Article Source Free Website Content

Advice For Would Be Whistle blowers

By: Darcy O'Neil

They say no good deed goes unpunished and sadly that is the truth in the world of the whistle blower. The theory on 'whistle blowing'  is that the individual is helping the community, and following their ethics, by reporting the offending person or company. The risk of recrimination is very high and usually results in a long and difficult fight for the whistle blower. This battle will likely including legal threats and character assassination.

So what can you do to protect yourself when you do blow the whistle? Having been through this process I have gain some insight on how best to handle the situation.

1. Documentation :: Once you suspect that something is wrong you should begin documenting. Start by taking notes in a log book or note pad. This information will be helpful when you need to tell your story and will provide the detail needed to track down further evidence of wrong doing. Next, start collecting pertinent documents. The best way is to copy documents (photocopy, computers docs, etc). When you think you have enough, double it. Pictures, phone recordings, documents, conversations, e-mails are all important and should be noted when possible. There can never be enough documentation. Once the authorities begin investigation documents had a tendency to disappear.

Many people who don't know the laws will try to tell you that these methods are illegal. The fact is they are not. In Canada it is legal to record a conversation or phone call as long as one of the parties is participating in the conversation. The removal of documents from the workplace is a gray area. Under normal circumstances removing company information is illegal, however when it is evidence it can be collected. In a Canadian court all evidence will be considered. Check with your governments laws or speak with a lawyer before taking any risks.

2. Minimize Your Exposure :: When you draw up the courage, and support, to finally report the issues there are a few things you need to do. First, it is best if you stay at your job while you report the issues. Sometimes the authorities will ask you questions, that will help them with their investigation, and being at the location is beneficial. Ask to be kept anonymous, if possible, but sometimes this can't be done. Next, get your resume polished up and start sending it out. Then prepare financially by locating your employment insurance office. Tell them that you are blowing the whistle on your employer and you may be fired for it. Provide the person with the contact names of whichever authority you contacted. The idea is to build a repour, so if bad things happen, people will know the facts. Don't loose that all important safety net.

3. Go with your Instincts :: Most people will tell you not to blow the whistle because there are no winners. They are partially right, but without your courage people will get hurt, the rich will get richer and abuse their powers. You can change that by doing what you feel it right. We often cloud our thinking with other peoples perceptions, but only you can determine what to do. Most of the time your instinct are right and you should trust them. If you listen to others and they convince not to go with your instincts, and then something bad happens, you have to live with the consequences, not them.

4. Be Patient :: Nothing happens quickly no matter how fast you want to be done with it. The reality is that things will go much slower than you ever expected them too. The best way to make sure things are moving is to do some research. For example, if you file a complaint against a medical professional, the regulatory College that receives the complaint will have a complaints process. However, this is usually regulated by a government agency that has legislation regarding complaints. In Ontario all complaints must be handled in 120 days. If not, you can contact the Health Professions Appeal & Review Board and they will contact the College and accelerate the process.

Some other tips to accelerate the process include contacting your local politician, begin a letter writing campaign to media outlets and compiling your story onto an internet site. Be persistent when dealing with each agency, don't accept their statements at face value and always follow up.

5. The Media is Not a Solution :: They can help but you have to convince them to write the story. Many times it may take months for them to move. Remember they don't want any liability, they are a profit motivated company and will only publish story's that make them a dollar. If your former employer is litigious, they will probably be too scared to publish. The media has no problem reporting history, so once a final verdict is reached, by the authorities, they will write a story. Unfortunately it will be to late to help you.

Some of the smaller media outlets may be more willing to help you. Take a look at freelance writers, who may spend more time working on your story and getting the facts. They also have the contacts you need to get it published.

6. Prepare for an Attack on your Character and Legal Threats :: The person or company you are dealing with will not let things go easily. The first response will be to discredit you. If you look like an disgruntled employee or someone with a vendetta then your story will be less believable. It's easy for the person or company to do this. If they were unethical to start with, it's not a huge leap for them start lying about you after you report them. There isn't much you can do except try to disprove they're statements. Use the document you gathered to clearly show that they are the guilty party and you were just being ethical. In the end your efforts will be recognized. You will probably receive a cease and desist letter, don't be overly concerned as this is most likely posturing. If you are worried, speak with a lawyer.

7. Use Lawyers Sparingly :: Nobody can fight with the passion you have and no lawyer will ever put the amount of effort you already have into your fight. Replying to a cease and desist letter is easy, just stick with the facts, provide the evidence and take the high road. Most lawyers will act like an 600 lb gorilla, your job is to be bigger. In all likelihood they won't want to take this issue to a public forum, like a court room, especially if you have documented the case very well. That would give you a perfect opportunity to invite the media and lay your case out. Examples of cease and desist responses can be found at http://www.snakeoil.ca.

If you need legal advice, get it, but don't let the lawyer bleed you dry. Have your questions prepared on paper and sit down with the lawyer and discuss the issue. If they charge a minimum of one hour time, use it all. One good thing to do is prepare a short summary of the facts in your case, and fax it in to the law office. Don't ask question in the letter. Blowing the whistle is stressful enough without having thousands of dollars in legal fees.

Some people will tell you not to let the event consume you. If it does consume you, it will affect other parts of your life. But sometimes focussing your energy can be better if it will resolve the issue quicker. It's better to throw your whole heart into the matter, rather than fight with yourself. It is difficult to not be consumed. My advice is to simply go with it. The harder you work the quicker the issue will be resolved and the sooner you can get on with your life.

The is no reward for doing a good deed, that's only in movies. In the end however you should have the satisfaction that you made your community or country a better place. People will respect you for your efforts and hopefully inspire then to do something good and that is a reward in itself.

Author Bio
Darcy O'Neil is a chemical technologist who became a pharmaceutical whistle blower. His experiences, including the evidence, legal threats and decisions can be found at http://www.snakeoil.ca. Darcy is currently working as a bartender and a freelance writer. Article Source Free Website Content

Give 'em a Taste (and they'll likely come back for more)

By: Alicia Forest

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the original ice cream shop that offers you a taste of any flavor ice cream you want before you make your decision on which scoop you are going to enjoy.

Giving you a taste (or as many tastes of different flavors as you'd like) is a brilliant way to ensure that you not only order a cone at that moment, but it's also a way to bring you back to try more flavors on another day.

You can use this brilliant marketing strategy in building your business, too. Offering your prospects a taste of what it is that you provide is a proven and easy way to get people to become part of your community, and part of your marketing/product funnel (the funnel is the "journey" (that builds a relationship over time) that your clients follow from the first visit to your website, where they enter by giving you their contact information, down through each level as they make their way through each purchasing step in the funnel). By offering them a sample, you're giving them an opportunity to get to know you without risking anything more than perhaps a bit of time.

In your marketing/product funnel, the taste you are giving your potential clients is at the top of the funnel, the widest part. The taste is your freebie/complimentary/gift offering and is your first (and usually only!) opportunity to engage your prospect. Your taste needs to be something of value that you offer for free to people who visit your website in exchange for their contact information, usually their name and email address.

This is often one of the most overlooked steps in building an online business. A prospect needs to see your message many times (it ranges anywhere from 5-10) before they will feel confident enough to risk handing over their money to you. In order to build a relationship with people you need to be able to contact them again, which means your goal is to capture their email address before they click away from your website.

If they leave, it's unlikely that they will come back, so don't lose the opportunity to welcome them into your community, your funnel. They landed at your website because they were looking for something (usually a solution to a problem they are having, right? :)). Give them a taste of the solution you offer. And remember to make it easy for them: make your sign-up form or email so obvious that they'd have to trip over it not to notice it (yes, that includes pop-ups and the like, because even if they annoy you as much as they do me, they work!).

So, what can you offer of value in exchange for their email address? A newsletter, an ecourse, an audio clip, or a special report, are all good options. Personally, I like the offer of an ecourse AND an ezine. You give them a taste of what your services are like with the ecourse, and then you keep in touch with them on a regular basis with the ezine. The ezine allows you to build a bond with your readers in a uniquely personal way, letting them get to know, like and trust you over time, with you having to build that bond one-on-one.

So, one caution is to not offer any one-on-one interaction with you at this level. You want to leverage your time, and offering free consultations or one-time meetings with you is not a good use of your time. Let them get to know you over the course of your freebie offering. When and if they become serious about you and your products or services, they will move further down the funnel (from free to fee) without you having to "sell" them on what you provide during a complimentary session (how nice is that?).

So what is your taste going to be? Here are some other ideas:

write a Top Ten article about the benefits of your products and services, convert it to a PDF file, and offer it as a special report.
record a short audio about the three key things your niche needs to know about X.
create a mini ecourse that encompasses the five steps to getting started for your market.
or create a quick-start guide that helps your market focus on how to get started.

Once you've given them a taste, they will likely come back for more, eventually turning from a prospect to a client. Creating a taste of what you provide is easy and it's fun. Try it and watch what happens!

Author Bio
Alicia Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Licensed Coach, & Founder of www.ClientAbundance.com, helps coaches and other solo service professionals to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately make more money. For FREE tips on how to create your own Client Abundance, visit www.ClientAbundance.com Article Source Free Website Content