Article by: Joanna L Krotz - Source - Microsoft at Work RSS Feed
Social media marketing is a fast-growing innovation, tapping into the rising influence of user-generated communities such as blogs, wikis, networking, and bookmarking sites.
By joining these active communities, you can build relationships and promote your products and/or expertise.
Generally, online social networks attract members who bond over shared interests and opinions. That creates a clubby and trusted group of virtually connected friends or associates. So when a member or blogger recommends your product, commends your service, or endorses your comments, it results in powerful "word of mouse" referrals.
Alternatively, if you make the effort, you can develop your own following on social media sites as an opinion-maker, authority, adviser, industry analyst, or wry observer.
As a result of getting noticed in all the right places, you can generate leads and convert those leads into sales.
Tip: However tempting it may be, don't assume a fake identity to talk up your company (unless you’re being an obvious jokester). It's bound to boomerang.
User-generated communities aren’t just for kids anymore
Don't think this strategy only suits niche markets. Social sites are exploding across the Web.
The most popular categories tend to be communities where you create and share information, such as MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Bebo, Squidoo, and Tagged. Or it can be those where you bookmark useful or fun sites for other users, such as Digg, del.icio.us, or StumbleUpon. Visit this age for a broad list of social networking and media sites.
Visitors to social media sites jumped a staggering 774 percent between 2006 and 2007, according to a 2007 comScore study. And the Pew Internet Study reports that some 50 million Americans are reading blogs. What's more, adult interaction in social media is significantly on the rise.
Choosing your online megaphone
For small-business owners, the social media horizon is broad indeed.
Like much of search engine marketing, social media marketing doesn’t cost much in dollars. But it does require time and effort to:
investigate sites;
create and monitor content;
track traffic and referrals;
refine efforts to improve results, and
keep at it until you have an impact.
Here are some proven ways to start stirring the pot. You'll learn more as you go.
1. Contribute to a community whose members mirror your customers. By checking into the comments, forums, and profiles of a community, you can determine member interests, locations, and a rough sense of demographics. Once you've identified a community that matches your preferred customer, there are a number of ways to get noticed.
For example, Irina Patterson runs an event-planning business from her home in Miami. She often posts on the local craigslist and, she says, gets great results. "It is a community that responds almost instantly. You can pose a question, share a resource, ask for a barter deal or ask for advice. You can target specific geographic areas, which is important for a service business like mine."
Patterson makes sure her posts link back to her company Web site.
2. Become a commentator on a well-trafficked blog in your industry or field. Don't ignore the blogosphere. According to Technorati, the blog search engine, nearly 97 million blogs were being published as of mid-2007.
Get familiar with a few blogs compatible with your business. A good start is a search on Technorati as well as visits to your industry or professional associations and trade journals to see what they serve up.
Make sure you're up-to-speed on the blog's tone, issues, and attitudes before you chime in. When you start generating reactions, you'll know you're hitting nerves.
3. Create a viral video campaign. Online videos are now cheap and easy to create and upload, notes search engine marketing consultant Susan Gilbert at JoomlaJump.com.
Produce a video of two to three minutes that dramatizes or explains your online site or your market niche and yourself. Then upload the video to MSN, YouTube, or other video communities to drive traffic to your Web site, Gilbert says.
If you link the videos to community pages on social bookmarking sites, you create a little network that search engines will find. Next thing you know, you're getting referred traffic and, potentially, more customers.
4. Join a professional networking site (or two). These can be hit or miss, depending on what you market and how you work the community. For professional services such as PR and consulting, it can generate leads. Check out examples such as LinkedIn, ZoomInfo, Facebook, and Biltmore Who's Who. Then branch out to others.
5. Launch a blog. This is the most obvious idea, and, no question, online templates now make it easy to create a blog. Run a search and you'll find options. What's hard is to gain traction and keep posting lively content (with a link to your company site, of course). See these tips for starting a blog.
6. Become a dedicated gamer. Game for this? Depending on your wares and customer profile, engaging in the multi-user online gaming community can be a rewarding way to draw traffic and viral referrals, says Marian Sabety, at Wyndstorm, a social network technology marketer.
One of the largest is World of Warcraft, but new ones pop up frequently.
Unless you are already pulling lots of traffic, first gain experience with some of the above tactics before starting a blog. Once you have the hang of it, you'll know more about leveraging the power of a personal blog.
Finally, remember to add value rather than to merely advertise your product. To make social media marketing work, you must enjoy being part of the community.
About the author Joanna L. Krotz is the founder of Muse2Muse Productions, a custom content company for business and consumer magazines, newsletters, and digital imprints. Krotz has launched marketing Web sites and e-news portals, as well as created magazines and online marketing for a variety of companies. She is co-author of "The Microsoft Small Business Kit," a 500-page guide to launching and running a business.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
How to Retrain Your Brain
Going lobal
By Dr Kevin Orrman-Rossiter and Dr Sharon Orrman-Rossiter
There is a well known phenomenon that suggests you can't teach an old dog new tricks. That may be true for dogs, but the latest in neuroscience research has been showing that people can continue to learn and change their brains at seemingly any age. This is great news for business or those trying to map out a career trajectory.
In a nutshell, it tells us that it is never too late to learn. What we now need to determine is how we can best achieve the brain changes that would make a difference to guiding the grey matter towards peak capacity and performance and apply them to our own business environment.
The best news is that to make the most of this for yourself you don't need to start remembering words like ventral prefrontal cortex or caudate nucleus. Instead, it is a matter of following some basic concepts and practices.
Much of this has come from a new idea called neuroplasticity. 'Neuroplasticity is simply the rewiring of the brain,' says UCLA research professor of psychiatry Jeffrey Schwartz. Except that 'now we are talking about a fully mature brain changing; a basic fact that took scientists some time to accept,' Schwartz says in his ground-breaking book The Mind and the Brain.
Until only five years ago, the prevailing scientific understanding was that we were born with a certain number of brain cells and these decreased with age. It is true that we lose neurons every day (up to 30,000 a day by some estimates). However, work published by researchers in the past five years has shown that we can grow new neurons within the brain regions normally associated with learning.
One of the key findings from Schwartz's and others' work is that the degree of attention we pay has a marked impact on and influences our success in engaging in tasks. This mindful awareness, or mindfulness, as this type of attention is called, can systematically bring about changes to our own brain function.
The original studies were conducted with patients who had what were thought to be incurable brain disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Now studies have been extended to people who simply want to improve the functioning of their brains or preserve their cognitive abilities as they age.
This 'mindfully active' process is important to trigger new brain circuitry. By paying attention in this manner it is then possible to exploit the brain's tendency to pick up on repetitive behaviour and make this behaviour automatic. That is, to form new habits. This is different from the manner in which we normally attack a problem or change a behaviour.
We live in a very analytical society where we pull apart or deconstruct a problem. In doing so we are paying attention to the very parts of our brain that we want to change.
Instead, the research shows, we need to focus our attention on what we want to do instead. It is a matter of concentrating our attention on what we want to do rather than what we do not want to do. This means that if we try to modify a habit, we will start using the 'old', previously created neural wiring. Making a change to this entrenched 'wiring' is far more difficult than creating new 'wiring.'
Here's how it works. When you undertake an activity or think thoughts, then a whole distributed collection of neurons in your brain fire in particular patterns. These patterns may be located in similar brain areas but are individual in pattern for each person. The more you repeat the activity or thought the more the neurons are likely to fire in the same pattern. This has been expressed as 'the neurons that fire together, wire together'.
So, through this process our habits, skills and personalities continue to be created with time. Changing these patterns in your brain requires effort. This can be illustrated by imagining that your brain is like a lump of jelly (a wonderfully evocative metaphor that Edward de Bono spoke of in his book The Mechanism of Mind).
These activities and thoughts are like drops of water that create paths in the jelly. Some will become quite deep. And a drop of water that falls near a pathway will run into one of the existing channels. Only by mindfully starting a new channel, a new thought or action, do we effectively move on to create new ways of doing something.
The key point here is that when you are endeavouring to change, don't try to modify the old habit. Instead, mindfully develop a new habit. You are then working with, rather than against, your brain physiology.
We can introduce these concepts into our own business environment in some simple and powerful ways. Think about how you can set up your work environment so as to corral your attention through your own actions and become more productive. This can be achieved by arranging your day and your surroundings in a way that encourages focus and accomplishment.
Furthermore, if you want to, or are needing to modify a behaviour or thought pattern, then changing the start of that pattern is important. By you changing a single action at the start you can initiate a whole new set of complex behaviours or 'chunks of action repertoires'. These chunks help form coordinated sequential motor actions and develop streams of thought and motivation.
Motivation has been shown to be important in all this work. 'Experiments have shown that when animals are motivated to learn, the brain responds plastically,' says Michael Merzenich in Norman Doidge's book The Brain That Changes Itself. So it is important to recognise what will motivate you (and your staff). You can't make the assumption that everyone's motivations are the same.
It is also important to recognise again the degree of focus required to learn as adults. Quite often, instead of learning, we will be replaying mastered skills. It 'costs' us effort to learn, particularly if we are at middle professional levels. 'To keep the mind alive requires learning something truly new with intense focus,' says Michael Merzenich.
It is no wonder then that it is difficult to change someone else's mind, given the individual differences in brain physiology and that changing our own habits and thoughts requires mindful attention. Given the incredibly large possible combinations of neuronal wiring in each person's brain, it is not surprising that we have such unique ways of looking at and performing functions.
Therefore, for those who are managing, leading and working with knowledge-based workers, it is important to guide rather than tell others how to think. To create successful change, it's a case of assisting others to make their own thought connections.
Research has illustrated that distractions, including multi-tasking, are the enemy of this attention-focused learning. This key finding has a bearing on many of our current business practices. It has shown that multi-tasking is not something the brain engages in well.
Critically, research shows that interruptions, no matter how short, can cause the brain to take up to 15 minutes to collect its thoughts and go back to where it was before the interruption. This is because the brain works in sequence and has to switch tasks consciously.
These findings provide a great reason for blocking out time, that is free of email, phone and Blackberry interruptions when attending to important business thinking and tasks. If you want to, for example, put on a load of washing and chat to a friend about the weather, the lack of complexity allows your brain to switch easily. In contrast, the more complex nature of business thinking is not so easily or efficiently handled in such a manner.
And, the benefits of a good night's sleep is also showing up in the research. Neuroscience is starting to uncover the links and benefits between exercise, sleep and your cognitive abilities. It has been found by Professor Nicola Lautenschlager of the University of Melbourne that moderate exercise can improve cognitive function.
But, the important conclusions from neuroscience research are that our brains have the ability to change if we give them the opportunity. Brain function differs from one person to the next and our brains change during the course of our individual lives. It is never too late to teach ourselves new tricks throughout our lives.
What business can learn from neuroscience
don't assume you can't change, you can change your behaviour and thoughts at almost any age
it is easier and more effective to create a new habit than modify an existing one
'rewiring' of neurons requires mindful attention and focus
understanding why you want to change provides the motivation to change
exercise can enhance neuronal growth
adequate sleep assists memory consolidation and problem solving
brain individuality means that you shouldn't assume that others will change in the same manner as you do; instead guide rather than tell others how to think
Rewiring your brain
Take note of the following areas where either individually or collectively you are experiencing:
the inability to get the desired results
a high staff turnover
a lack of staff engagement
a disconnect between jobs and rewards
individuals who are bored
staff feeling their strengths are not being used
a culture of distraction
How to refocus in order to rewire:
To create a new habit (in contrast to trying to modify an old one) mindfully focus on developing the new habit in the following way:
be clear and specific about what action you want to take
understand and be clear about why you want to develop this new behaviour or habit
take action and focus with intent and concentration for a solid 15 minutes
swiftly recognise if and where you get off track or start down the 'old habit pathway'
refocus with action for a further 15 minutes with intent and concentration
for success repeat each day for three to four weeks
Dr Kevin Orrman-Rossiter is an executive coach, social researcher and futurist. He has a PhD in physics as well as management and marketing qualifications. He was awarded a prestigious Australian research award, the Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship and has worked in international manufacturing and the financial services industries.
Dr Sharon Orrman-Rossiter is an expert in coaching for performance. She is past chairman of Monash University's Centre for Biomedical Engineering. She has a PhD in medicine and has been involved in cutting-edge research in the UK and Australia. With her husband Dr Kevin Orrman-Rossiter, she founded Clarity Now where their brainpower is used to coach individuals and groups on how to get the most from their minds in executive leadership and career planning.
By Dr Kevin Orrman-Rossiter and Dr Sharon Orrman-Rossiter
There is a well known phenomenon that suggests you can't teach an old dog new tricks. That may be true for dogs, but the latest in neuroscience research has been showing that people can continue to learn and change their brains at seemingly any age. This is great news for business or those trying to map out a career trajectory.
In a nutshell, it tells us that it is never too late to learn. What we now need to determine is how we can best achieve the brain changes that would make a difference to guiding the grey matter towards peak capacity and performance and apply them to our own business environment.
The best news is that to make the most of this for yourself you don't need to start remembering words like ventral prefrontal cortex or caudate nucleus. Instead, it is a matter of following some basic concepts and practices.
Much of this has come from a new idea called neuroplasticity. 'Neuroplasticity is simply the rewiring of the brain,' says UCLA research professor of psychiatry Jeffrey Schwartz. Except that 'now we are talking about a fully mature brain changing; a basic fact that took scientists some time to accept,' Schwartz says in his ground-breaking book The Mind and the Brain.
Until only five years ago, the prevailing scientific understanding was that we were born with a certain number of brain cells and these decreased with age. It is true that we lose neurons every day (up to 30,000 a day by some estimates). However, work published by researchers in the past five years has shown that we can grow new neurons within the brain regions normally associated with learning.
One of the key findings from Schwartz's and others' work is that the degree of attention we pay has a marked impact on and influences our success in engaging in tasks. This mindful awareness, or mindfulness, as this type of attention is called, can systematically bring about changes to our own brain function.
The original studies were conducted with patients who had what were thought to be incurable brain disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Now studies have been extended to people who simply want to improve the functioning of their brains or preserve their cognitive abilities as they age.
This 'mindfully active' process is important to trigger new brain circuitry. By paying attention in this manner it is then possible to exploit the brain's tendency to pick up on repetitive behaviour and make this behaviour automatic. That is, to form new habits. This is different from the manner in which we normally attack a problem or change a behaviour.
We live in a very analytical society where we pull apart or deconstruct a problem. In doing so we are paying attention to the very parts of our brain that we want to change.
Instead, the research shows, we need to focus our attention on what we want to do instead. It is a matter of concentrating our attention on what we want to do rather than what we do not want to do. This means that if we try to modify a habit, we will start using the 'old', previously created neural wiring. Making a change to this entrenched 'wiring' is far more difficult than creating new 'wiring.'
Here's how it works. When you undertake an activity or think thoughts, then a whole distributed collection of neurons in your brain fire in particular patterns. These patterns may be located in similar brain areas but are individual in pattern for each person. The more you repeat the activity or thought the more the neurons are likely to fire in the same pattern. This has been expressed as 'the neurons that fire together, wire together'.
So, through this process our habits, skills and personalities continue to be created with time. Changing these patterns in your brain requires effort. This can be illustrated by imagining that your brain is like a lump of jelly (a wonderfully evocative metaphor that Edward de Bono spoke of in his book The Mechanism of Mind).
These activities and thoughts are like drops of water that create paths in the jelly. Some will become quite deep. And a drop of water that falls near a pathway will run into one of the existing channels. Only by mindfully starting a new channel, a new thought or action, do we effectively move on to create new ways of doing something.
The key point here is that when you are endeavouring to change, don't try to modify the old habit. Instead, mindfully develop a new habit. You are then working with, rather than against, your brain physiology.
We can introduce these concepts into our own business environment in some simple and powerful ways. Think about how you can set up your work environment so as to corral your attention through your own actions and become more productive. This can be achieved by arranging your day and your surroundings in a way that encourages focus and accomplishment.
Furthermore, if you want to, or are needing to modify a behaviour or thought pattern, then changing the start of that pattern is important. By you changing a single action at the start you can initiate a whole new set of complex behaviours or 'chunks of action repertoires'. These chunks help form coordinated sequential motor actions and develop streams of thought and motivation.
Motivation has been shown to be important in all this work. 'Experiments have shown that when animals are motivated to learn, the brain responds plastically,' says Michael Merzenich in Norman Doidge's book The Brain That Changes Itself. So it is important to recognise what will motivate you (and your staff). You can't make the assumption that everyone's motivations are the same.
It is also important to recognise again the degree of focus required to learn as adults. Quite often, instead of learning, we will be replaying mastered skills. It 'costs' us effort to learn, particularly if we are at middle professional levels. 'To keep the mind alive requires learning something truly new with intense focus,' says Michael Merzenich.
It is no wonder then that it is difficult to change someone else's mind, given the individual differences in brain physiology and that changing our own habits and thoughts requires mindful attention. Given the incredibly large possible combinations of neuronal wiring in each person's brain, it is not surprising that we have such unique ways of looking at and performing functions.
Therefore, for those who are managing, leading and working with knowledge-based workers, it is important to guide rather than tell others how to think. To create successful change, it's a case of assisting others to make their own thought connections.
Research has illustrated that distractions, including multi-tasking, are the enemy of this attention-focused learning. This key finding has a bearing on many of our current business practices. It has shown that multi-tasking is not something the brain engages in well.
Critically, research shows that interruptions, no matter how short, can cause the brain to take up to 15 minutes to collect its thoughts and go back to where it was before the interruption. This is because the brain works in sequence and has to switch tasks consciously.
These findings provide a great reason for blocking out time, that is free of email, phone and Blackberry interruptions when attending to important business thinking and tasks. If you want to, for example, put on a load of washing and chat to a friend about the weather, the lack of complexity allows your brain to switch easily. In contrast, the more complex nature of business thinking is not so easily or efficiently handled in such a manner.
And, the benefits of a good night's sleep is also showing up in the research. Neuroscience is starting to uncover the links and benefits between exercise, sleep and your cognitive abilities. It has been found by Professor Nicola Lautenschlager of the University of Melbourne that moderate exercise can improve cognitive function.
But, the important conclusions from neuroscience research are that our brains have the ability to change if we give them the opportunity. Brain function differs from one person to the next and our brains change during the course of our individual lives. It is never too late to teach ourselves new tricks throughout our lives.
What business can learn from neuroscience
don't assume you can't change, you can change your behaviour and thoughts at almost any age
it is easier and more effective to create a new habit than modify an existing one
'rewiring' of neurons requires mindful attention and focus
understanding why you want to change provides the motivation to change
exercise can enhance neuronal growth
adequate sleep assists memory consolidation and problem solving
brain individuality means that you shouldn't assume that others will change in the same manner as you do; instead guide rather than tell others how to think
Rewiring your brain
Take note of the following areas where either individually or collectively you are experiencing:
the inability to get the desired results
a high staff turnover
a lack of staff engagement
a disconnect between jobs and rewards
individuals who are bored
staff feeling their strengths are not being used
a culture of distraction
How to refocus in order to rewire:
To create a new habit (in contrast to trying to modify an old one) mindfully focus on developing the new habit in the following way:
be clear and specific about what action you want to take
understand and be clear about why you want to develop this new behaviour or habit
take action and focus with intent and concentration for a solid 15 minutes
swiftly recognise if and where you get off track or start down the 'old habit pathway'
refocus with action for a further 15 minutes with intent and concentration
for success repeat each day for three to four weeks
Dr Kevin Orrman-Rossiter is an executive coach, social researcher and futurist. He has a PhD in physics as well as management and marketing qualifications. He was awarded a prestigious Australian research award, the Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship and has worked in international manufacturing and the financial services industries.
Dr Sharon Orrman-Rossiter is an expert in coaching for performance. She is past chairman of Monash University's Centre for Biomedical Engineering. She has a PhD in medicine and has been involved in cutting-edge research in the UK and Australia. With her husband Dr Kevin Orrman-Rossiter, she founded Clarity Now where their brainpower is used to coach individuals and groups on how to get the most from their minds in executive leadership and career planning.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Managing relationships with customers effectively can have a significant impact of business profitability.
Whether it’s the need to win new customers, retain existing customers, improve customer satisfaction or service customer accounts more efficiently a systematic approach to managing customer and potential customer relationships can help improve the bottom line.
Developments in business software have given organisations the capability to capture more information about their customers. Sharing this information with the relevant people within the business can lead to improved profits by
Whether it’s the need to win new customers, retain existing customers, improve customer satisfaction or service customer accounts more efficiently a systematic approach to managing customer and potential customer relationships can help improve the bottom line.
Developments in business software have given organisations the capability to capture more information about their customers. Sharing this information with the relevant people within the business can lead to improved profits by
- sales analysis to identify buying patterns and preferences
- ability to cross sell additional products or services – enabling sales staff to proactively inform customers that “customers who bought this product also bought X or Y“
- ensuring that staff can be made aware of specific customer requirements readily and not relying on the knowledge that of a few individuals within the organisation
- ability to track customer interactions across the organisation – “ the right hand knowing what the left hand is doing” eg salesperson about to quote for big sale knowing that the customer has an important customer service call logged
- improved target marketing based on better knowledge of customers requirements and buying trends
- improved communications with customers , logging of contact history
- ability to deal effectively with complex customer organisations across multiple sites, departments, functions, sites etc
- visibility of customer interactions across the organisation can enhance the customer experience as re-enforcing the impression that your employees understand their business will help strengthen their relationship with your organisation
- improving the organisation’s ability to manage it’s sales pipeline will improve it’s ability to respond to customer requirements and plan resource utilisation
Customer relationship management (CRM) is about utilising technology to allow your business to offer work more closely with their customer base, understand their requirements and enhance their customer experience.
An effective CRM strategy should be about
- making it easier for your customer to do business with you
- making it easier for you to do business with your customer
Effective CRM will improve customer retention, business efficiency and bottom line profitability whilst enhancing the organisation’s ability to grow and expand it’s customer base.
Author : John Hickey ACMA, CPA, BBSJohn who if the founder of Koncept Business Solutions is a Chartered Management Accountant with over 20 years exerience across industries ranging from Food Processing, Manufacturing, Wholesaling, Service and Information Technnology.
Visit us at http://www.konceptbiz.net/
Thursday, July 3, 2008
15 Tips You Increase Your Sales, Profitability and Customer Loyalty
Author : Pat Hasset
About the Author :
Pat Hassett draws on more than 30 years experience in sales, sales management and sales support in a number of industries. He specializes in helping non-traditional salespeople become competent and confident in their sales efforts. Learn more at www.salesnowonline.com and http://blog.pathassett.com/.
Article Source :
http://www.bestmanagementarticles.com
http://customer-relationship-mgt.bestmanagementarticles.com
You may find some of these tips to be familiar. Maybe you practice some of them now. Or maybe they have slipped from your memory and your daily routine. Others may even be new to you. Whatever your circumstance, they're just as valid now as they ever were - and perhaps more relevant today than ever before. Put them to regular use and watch your sales, your profits and your customer loyalty increase to new heights.
1. Employ a consultative approach to selling. Learn about your customer's business and find out how you can help them achieve their strategic goals. Propose solutions that will alleviate their "pain", and allow them to realize reduced costs, higher productivity or increased revenues.
2. Offer what you know - not just what you sell. Customers expect more today than ever before. Share your expertise with them. The value you add to your relationship with your customers will come back to you in the form of increased sales and customer loyalty.
3. Find out "what's in it" for your prospect. How would a successful outcome affect them personally? What do they hope to achieve by doing business with you? Sure, your proposal needs to make good business sense - to be a good business decision for your prospect. But dig deeper. Find out how they'll personally benefit from doing business with you and make their "dreams come true."
4. Work with your prospects to prioritize their stated goals. Whatever change to their situation your solution offers, it must align with your prospect's priorities. Help them identify, rank and place a value on relieving their "pain points."
5. Remember that you're selling benefits, solutions and results - not features. Your customer doesn't care how many bells and whistles your product boasts. They just want to know what it will do for them. Show them how your product or service will streamline operations, foster higher employee retention, increase sales, reduce costs or help them achieve their highest-level strategic priorities.
6. Become a trusted advisor. Demonstrate to your customers that you will serve their best interests by staying informed about their business and their industry, by offering only those products or services that will truly benefit them and by providing relevant, meaningful information to them before and after the sale.
7. Be disciplined. Move yourself to take action - plan your day in writing - use a database of your contacts. Make yourself do the things you know you should do.
8. Systematize your process. Script what you'll say, when you'll say it, and how you'll say it. Practice until it flows naturally. Become the script.
9. Follow up. Implement and support your solution. Don't become a "one hit wonder." Stay in touch with your customer. Continue to add value to your relationship. Be in it for the long haul.
10. Adjust your mindset to be customer-focused rather than outcome-focused. This mindset will yield benefits to you during the entire sales process - from the early stages of prospecting to closing the sale - and beyond. It will ease performance pressure and allow you to become a strategic partner with your customers. Can you say "customer loyalty?"
11. Use success stories to illustrate the results your prospect can expect by doing business with you. Customers don't want to be "guinea pigs." They don't usually want to be the "first kid on their block" to try something untested. They just want to know that your product or service will give them the results they want and need.
12. Quality beats quantity when it comes to prospecting. Working backwards, determine the number of prospects you need to talk with to reach your sales goals. Determine what characteristics are common among your best customers. Then contact the number of prospects required to meet your sales goals who also share those characteristics. By doing so you'll be selling to a very targeted market.
13. Be ready to resolve customer complaints with a cool head. Actively listen. Find a mutually agreeable solution.
14. Selling is a high level of customer service. Customer service, when delivered properly, equals additional sales, higher profits and more loyal customers.
15. Welcome your customers to your business as if you were welcoming friends to your home. Customers are all we have. Treat each of them as if they were your only customer. Don't be too quick to jump from customer to customer based on which one appears to hold the most promise at any given moment. You're in it for the long haul. Be sure to bring your customers along for the ride as you travel the road to sales success.
Really knowing your customers, and treating each of them as if they were your only customer; focusing on their highest priority needs and helping them solve their problems; being a trusted advisor to them: these are the "stuff" of great customer service and of successful, professional selling. Practice these tips. Your efforts will result in increased sales, profits and customer loyalty.
About the Author :
Pat Hassett draws on more than 30 years experience in sales, sales management and sales support in a number of industries. He specializes in helping non-traditional salespeople become competent and confident in their sales efforts. Learn more at www.salesnowonline.com and http://blog.pathassett.com/.
Article Source :
http://www.bestmanagementarticles.com
http://customer-relationship-mgt.bestmanagementarticles.com
You may find some of these tips to be familiar. Maybe you practice some of them now. Or maybe they have slipped from your memory and your daily routine. Others may even be new to you. Whatever your circumstance, they're just as valid now as they ever were - and perhaps more relevant today than ever before. Put them to regular use and watch your sales, your profits and your customer loyalty increase to new heights.
1. Employ a consultative approach to selling. Learn about your customer's business and find out how you can help them achieve their strategic goals. Propose solutions that will alleviate their "pain", and allow them to realize reduced costs, higher productivity or increased revenues.
2. Offer what you know - not just what you sell. Customers expect more today than ever before. Share your expertise with them. The value you add to your relationship with your customers will come back to you in the form of increased sales and customer loyalty.
3. Find out "what's in it" for your prospect. How would a successful outcome affect them personally? What do they hope to achieve by doing business with you? Sure, your proposal needs to make good business sense - to be a good business decision for your prospect. But dig deeper. Find out how they'll personally benefit from doing business with you and make their "dreams come true."
4. Work with your prospects to prioritize their stated goals. Whatever change to their situation your solution offers, it must align with your prospect's priorities. Help them identify, rank and place a value on relieving their "pain points."
5. Remember that you're selling benefits, solutions and results - not features. Your customer doesn't care how many bells and whistles your product boasts. They just want to know what it will do for them. Show them how your product or service will streamline operations, foster higher employee retention, increase sales, reduce costs or help them achieve their highest-level strategic priorities.
6. Become a trusted advisor. Demonstrate to your customers that you will serve their best interests by staying informed about their business and their industry, by offering only those products or services that will truly benefit them and by providing relevant, meaningful information to them before and after the sale.
7. Be disciplined. Move yourself to take action - plan your day in writing - use a database of your contacts. Make yourself do the things you know you should do.
8. Systematize your process. Script what you'll say, when you'll say it, and how you'll say it. Practice until it flows naturally. Become the script.
9. Follow up. Implement and support your solution. Don't become a "one hit wonder." Stay in touch with your customer. Continue to add value to your relationship. Be in it for the long haul.
10. Adjust your mindset to be customer-focused rather than outcome-focused. This mindset will yield benefits to you during the entire sales process - from the early stages of prospecting to closing the sale - and beyond. It will ease performance pressure and allow you to become a strategic partner with your customers. Can you say "customer loyalty?"
11. Use success stories to illustrate the results your prospect can expect by doing business with you. Customers don't want to be "guinea pigs." They don't usually want to be the "first kid on their block" to try something untested. They just want to know that your product or service will give them the results they want and need.
12. Quality beats quantity when it comes to prospecting. Working backwards, determine the number of prospects you need to talk with to reach your sales goals. Determine what characteristics are common among your best customers. Then contact the number of prospects required to meet your sales goals who also share those characteristics. By doing so you'll be selling to a very targeted market.
13. Be ready to resolve customer complaints with a cool head. Actively listen. Find a mutually agreeable solution.
14. Selling is a high level of customer service. Customer service, when delivered properly, equals additional sales, higher profits and more loyal customers.
15. Welcome your customers to your business as if you were welcoming friends to your home. Customers are all we have. Treat each of them as if they were your only customer. Don't be too quick to jump from customer to customer based on which one appears to hold the most promise at any given moment. You're in it for the long haul. Be sure to bring your customers along for the ride as you travel the road to sales success.
Really knowing your customers, and treating each of them as if they were your only customer; focusing on their highest priority needs and helping them solve their problems; being a trusted advisor to them: these are the "stuff" of great customer service and of successful, professional selling. Practice these tips. Your efforts will result in increased sales, profits and customer loyalty.
Networking For Start-ups
Article Source - www.startingabusinessinireland.ie
Author - Tricia Murphy - TiG Alliannce
Tricia Murphy runs the TiG alliance, which has over 15 years experience working with companies and individuals to refine their networking skills. For more information on course details or to make a one-to-one appointment, call the TiG Alliance on 01 406 9517
What is Networking?
We’ve all seen it - the person who commands the room at a function. Handshakes, nods and warm greetings abound. They seem to know everyone! How do they do it?
More often that not, it can all be down to effective networking, the art of discovering and using connections between people. We all know other people so we all have a network. However, effective networking means moving outside our own immediate network and tapping into new networks, perhaps far beyond the scope of our own.
Networking is very much an acquired ability, which with proper training and practice can be learned and developed.
Why Networking?
People buy people so if you develop the right contacts and relationships, success will follow. The old cliché “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” still holds true. I feel it should be refined to read: “It’s what you know and who you know” because once you have a viable ‘what’, effective networking can provide the ‘who’. Networking is a communication skill available to all that demands little or no monetary investment, requiring only time, persistence and skill. It could be the best business investment you make this year and is especially valuable in a start up situation.
How can networking help you develop your business?Networking can help to win new business both immediately and in the long term. Networking at its most fundamental level involves informing people about your business and tapping into their network of contacts who might require your services.
Networking is also a valuable method used to gain advice from other professionals or suppliers. This may involve receiving advice from people who have been in a similar start-up position. Before you begin, networking goals should be set so that your valuable time is maximised.
Identify key players or organisations within your industry. Which organisations do you join? How much time are you willing to invest? Chose carefully where you want to spend that time and spend it well for the best results. Remember that for effective networking “the more you put in, the more you get out”.
The next step is to ensure that you develop a database and keep it up-to-date. Every new contact should be treated as a potential business lead and should be entered into your database along with any supplementary information on them to help you track and build relationships.
Remember, your database is your most important information source so ensure you have a back up just in case.
Do your Research!
Conduct research on government resources and grants that may be available to you and contact the necessary agencies. Speak to your local Enterprise Board. Join local networks such as Chambers of Commerce, where networking is encouraged as an effective means of doing business. Consider training on how to network effectively.
Are there any alliances you can build with companies in a related field who may want to sub-contract your services? Try to think of any potential opportunities to link with other companies for mutual benefit.
Finally, remember to nurture your network. Look after your contacts and they will look after you. Think of your network as a fundamental resource for success, treat it with respect and enjoy expanding your network and your business!
Five Basic Networking Tips
1. Refine your networking skills by getting one-on-one coaching or attending a tailored, corporate training programme.
2. Lead by example - pass on contacts, newspaper clippings, etc. that you think might be of interest to someone else in your network. Make sure you follow up after you have passed a contact along to see how it went.
3. Shake hands and make eye contact. Be confident and welcoming without being too OTT and set yourself a goal of meeting a certain number of solid prospects at each event.
4. Practice a 30 second ‘commercial’ on your business – you need to be able to explain succinctly the core elements of your business and outline the types of ‘leads’ that you are seeking.
5. Follow up, follow up, and follow up in a timely and appropriately persistent manner.
Author - Tricia Murphy - TiG Alliannce
Tricia Murphy runs the TiG alliance, which has over 15 years experience working with companies and individuals to refine their networking skills. For more information on course details or to make a one-to-one appointment, call the TiG Alliance on 01 406 9517
What is Networking?
We’ve all seen it - the person who commands the room at a function. Handshakes, nods and warm greetings abound. They seem to know everyone! How do they do it?
More often that not, it can all be down to effective networking, the art of discovering and using connections between people. We all know other people so we all have a network. However, effective networking means moving outside our own immediate network and tapping into new networks, perhaps far beyond the scope of our own.
Networking is very much an acquired ability, which with proper training and practice can be learned and developed.
Why Networking?
People buy people so if you develop the right contacts and relationships, success will follow. The old cliché “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” still holds true. I feel it should be refined to read: “It’s what you know and who you know” because once you have a viable ‘what’, effective networking can provide the ‘who’. Networking is a communication skill available to all that demands little or no monetary investment, requiring only time, persistence and skill. It could be the best business investment you make this year and is especially valuable in a start up situation.
How can networking help you develop your business?Networking can help to win new business both immediately and in the long term. Networking at its most fundamental level involves informing people about your business and tapping into their network of contacts who might require your services.
Networking is also a valuable method used to gain advice from other professionals or suppliers. This may involve receiving advice from people who have been in a similar start-up position. Before you begin, networking goals should be set so that your valuable time is maximised.
Identify key players or organisations within your industry. Which organisations do you join? How much time are you willing to invest? Chose carefully where you want to spend that time and spend it well for the best results. Remember that for effective networking “the more you put in, the more you get out”.
The next step is to ensure that you develop a database and keep it up-to-date. Every new contact should be treated as a potential business lead and should be entered into your database along with any supplementary information on them to help you track and build relationships.
Remember, your database is your most important information source so ensure you have a back up just in case.
Do your Research!
Conduct research on government resources and grants that may be available to you and contact the necessary agencies. Speak to your local Enterprise Board. Join local networks such as Chambers of Commerce, where networking is encouraged as an effective means of doing business. Consider training on how to network effectively.
Are there any alliances you can build with companies in a related field who may want to sub-contract your services? Try to think of any potential opportunities to link with other companies for mutual benefit.
Finally, remember to nurture your network. Look after your contacts and they will look after you. Think of your network as a fundamental resource for success, treat it with respect and enjoy expanding your network and your business!
Five Basic Networking Tips
1. Refine your networking skills by getting one-on-one coaching or attending a tailored, corporate training programme.
2. Lead by example - pass on contacts, newspaper clippings, etc. that you think might be of interest to someone else in your network. Make sure you follow up after you have passed a contact along to see how it went.
3. Shake hands and make eye contact. Be confident and welcoming without being too OTT and set yourself a goal of meeting a certain number of solid prospects at each event.
4. Practice a 30 second ‘commercial’ on your business – you need to be able to explain succinctly the core elements of your business and outline the types of ‘leads’ that you are seeking.
5. Follow up, follow up, and follow up in a timely and appropriately persistent manner.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Options For Setting Up A Business
Article source : http://www.startingabusinessinireland.com/
Article author: Imelda Prendergast, ATIIPartner, OSK Small Business Support
So you have decided that working for somebody else is not for you and you want the freedom and rewards that running and owning your own business offers you. You have your business idea, you have researched your market, you know the business opportunity is there but you just need to get started. What do you need to do? Who needs to be notified? What business structure should I use? What assistance is available? These are the questions, among many others, that you will be asking yourself! This article is the first in a series of articles looking at the issues that affect people setting up and running a small business and it will look in detail at the types of business entity through which you may conduct your business.
Principally there are three main entities through which you may trade:
Sole trader
Partnership
Limited liability company.
Sole Trader
Sole Trader
Setting up in business as a sole trader is very straightforward. When you operate as a sole trader, you are in business on your own account – there is no separate legal entity. The moment you start in business on your own you are a sole trader. You can trade under your own name or a business name. If you wish to use a business name, it should be registered with the Registrar of Business Names.
You will need to register for taxes. You will pay income tax on your business profits under the self- assessment system. You will also need to register as an employer if you have, or will have, any employees working for you. Further, you will need to register your business for VAT if the value of your taxable supplies will exceed the registration threshold (currently €25,390 and €50,790 in a 12- month period for services and goods respectively).
On an annual basis, you will need to file your personal income tax return, together with an income and expenditure account for your business, with the Revenue Commissioners. You will also need to file annual VAT and PAYE returns, if you are registered for VAT and PAYE. You will pay the income tax and social security due on your profits under the self-assessment system and your taxes will fall due for payment in two instalments. The first instalment, the preliminary tax, falls due for payment on 31 October in the tax year and the final instalment (i.e. the balance of any tax and social security for the year) will fall due on the 31st October following the end of the tax year.
Other than the annual returns for the Revenue, you should not have to file any other statutory returns. There is no obligation on you to have an audit carried out or to make public any information in connection with your business.
There are, however, some disadvantages to operating as a sole-trader. Firstly, if your business is not successful, you risk losing all your assets - not only your business assets and funds that you have committed to your business but your personal assets and funds as well. You do not have limited liability – to have limited liability, you would need to incorporate a limited liability company (see below).
Certain tax reliefs are only available if you trade through a limited company. In addition, you may pay more funds into a pension if you operate through a limited company.
Many individuals start out as sole-traders and change to limited company status at a later date. You can incorporate a limited company at any time and you would generally decide to incorporate if, for example, you were looking to raise funds or looking for equity investors. In addition, Corporation Tax rates are currently quite low and to pay Corporation Tax you would need to incorporate. From a commercial point of view, you may find that your clients expect to deal with limited companies, and, in addition, some individuals enjoy the status of being a director.
Certain professions, such as accountants and solicitors, cannot actually trade through a limited company and must either set up as a sole-trader or set up in partnership.
Partnership
If you are going into business with one or more people, then you would either incorporate a limited liability company (see below) or form a partnership. A partnership exists when two or more people work together and none is an employee of the other(s). You can either trade under your own names as a partnership or register a business trading name.
You must register the partnership for income tax and for VAT and PAYE, if appropriate. As with sole trader status, you will pay the income tax and social security due on your share of the partnership profit under the self-assessment system. You must file a personal return of income together with a partnership tax return with the Revenue Commissioners.
There is no obligation on the partnership to have an audit carried out and you do not have to publish the partnership accounts.
As with sole trader status, a partnership is not a separate legal entity and the risks outlined above for sole traders will apply to you if you are in partnership. In addition, as a partner, you are jointly and severally liable for the debts of the partnership. You may be held liable for all debts run up by your partner(s) and, if they fail to pay, you could be pursued by the creditors/courts for payment in full (even if you had nothing to do with the debt!). As with sole-trader status, you do not have limited liability. Therefore, you must choose your partners carefully – they could help you make your first million but just as easily lead you to bankruptcy!
Unless otherwise agreed, the profits and losses in a partnership will be shared equally between the partners. It is advisable to have a written partnership agreement drawn up at the outset. The partnership agreement will outline the position on such matters as how profits/losses are to be shared; the capital contributed by each partner; who operates the bank account; how decisions are to be made; what happens on death or retirement of a partner, etc. In practice, the partnership agreement will not be referred to for the day-to-day running of the business. It is really only if there is a disagreement among the partners that you would need to refer to the partnership agreement.
Limited Liability Company
Unlike sole trader status or a partnership, a limited company is a separate legal entity. A company is owned by its shareholders. The shareholders will generally own the shares by reference to the amount of equity they have invested. If you are not actually investing any funds in the business, you need only subscribe for a minimum share capital, usually €1 or €2.
A company will have both shareholders and directors. The shareholders do not have to be directors and, likewise, the directors do not have to be shareholders. Generally, however, for a small business, the owners of the business would also be the directors. It is really only in cases where you are seeking equity finance that you would have shareholders who invest in your business but do not take part in the day-to-day running/direction of the business and, therefore, are not appointed as directors. Such shareholders would, however, look for a return on their investment and this would normally be paid by way of dividend.
In time, you may have senior employees that you wish to appoint as directors and this can be done without actually giving them an equity stake in the business.
A limited company must have at least one shareholder, two directors and one company secretary. The company secretary and shareholder can be one of the directors so that you only need two people to form a company. Every company director can be held responsible for the affairs of the company and must ensure that all statutory documents are delivered to Companies Registration Office on time. Such statutory documents include annual returns, accounts, notices of change of details of directors, secretary, registered office address, etc.
When forming a limited liability company, you must specify the name of the company, the "objects" for which the company is being formed (the "objects" set out exactly what the company is permitted to do and the business activities that the company will get involved in). If, at a later date, your business is diversifying or the nature of the business is changing, you must make sure that the "objects" of the company allow this and have them changed if necessary.
You will receive a Certificate of Incorporation and you must have Memorandum and Articles of Association prepared. If you appoint an accountant or solicitor to deal with the company incorporation on your behalf, they will deal with all statutory paperwork and you will just be required to sign a few forms.
You must file an annual statutory return with the Companies Registration Office and your company accounts will be available to the public generally for inspection.
You are obliged to have an annual audit carried out if your business profits exceed €253,950 per annum.
As a director of your company, you are taxed as an employee and your company must pay the tax and PRSI due on your salary to the Collector-General under the PAYE system.
Your company must register for Corporation Tax, PAYE, and VAT (if the value of taxable supplies exceeds €25,395 for taxable services and €50,790 for taxable goods in a 12-month period).
One of the advantages of operating through a limited company is that the liabilities of the business are limited to the business assets. Should the business fail, generally, the most that can be lost are the assets of the business. However, if the directors/shareholders have given any personal guarantees for any liabilities of the business, then they will be held personally liable to the extent of the guarantee given. In addition, the shareholders will be held liable to the extent of any amount owing to the company for their shares (i.e. if the issued shares are not fully paid up, the shareholders would be requested to pay any amount outstanding).
The limited liability company option would normally be recommended for individuals setting up in business who, among other things, need limited liability straightaway; are leaving funds in the business and, therefore, wish to pay the lower rates of Corporation Tax; wish to avail of tax planning opportunities that are only available to companies/directors; are seeking equity investors; whose clients expect to deal with limited companies or who enjoy the status of being a director.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are a lot of matters to be considered, but you do not need to make the decision on your own! All good accountants will be able to advise you on the best route to take.
Article author: Imelda Prendergast, ATIIPartner, OSK Small Business Support
So you have decided that working for somebody else is not for you and you want the freedom and rewards that running and owning your own business offers you. You have your business idea, you have researched your market, you know the business opportunity is there but you just need to get started. What do you need to do? Who needs to be notified? What business structure should I use? What assistance is available? These are the questions, among many others, that you will be asking yourself! This article is the first in a series of articles looking at the issues that affect people setting up and running a small business and it will look in detail at the types of business entity through which you may conduct your business.
Principally there are three main entities through which you may trade:
Sole trader
Partnership
Limited liability company.
Sole Trader
Sole Trader
Setting up in business as a sole trader is very straightforward. When you operate as a sole trader, you are in business on your own account – there is no separate legal entity. The moment you start in business on your own you are a sole trader. You can trade under your own name or a business name. If you wish to use a business name, it should be registered with the Registrar of Business Names.
You will need to register for taxes. You will pay income tax on your business profits under the self- assessment system. You will also need to register as an employer if you have, or will have, any employees working for you. Further, you will need to register your business for VAT if the value of your taxable supplies will exceed the registration threshold (currently €25,390 and €50,790 in a 12- month period for services and goods respectively).
On an annual basis, you will need to file your personal income tax return, together with an income and expenditure account for your business, with the Revenue Commissioners. You will also need to file annual VAT and PAYE returns, if you are registered for VAT and PAYE. You will pay the income tax and social security due on your profits under the self-assessment system and your taxes will fall due for payment in two instalments. The first instalment, the preliminary tax, falls due for payment on 31 October in the tax year and the final instalment (i.e. the balance of any tax and social security for the year) will fall due on the 31st October following the end of the tax year.
Other than the annual returns for the Revenue, you should not have to file any other statutory returns. There is no obligation on you to have an audit carried out or to make public any information in connection with your business.
There are, however, some disadvantages to operating as a sole-trader. Firstly, if your business is not successful, you risk losing all your assets - not only your business assets and funds that you have committed to your business but your personal assets and funds as well. You do not have limited liability – to have limited liability, you would need to incorporate a limited liability company (see below).
Certain tax reliefs are only available if you trade through a limited company. In addition, you may pay more funds into a pension if you operate through a limited company.
Many individuals start out as sole-traders and change to limited company status at a later date. You can incorporate a limited company at any time and you would generally decide to incorporate if, for example, you were looking to raise funds or looking for equity investors. In addition, Corporation Tax rates are currently quite low and to pay Corporation Tax you would need to incorporate. From a commercial point of view, you may find that your clients expect to deal with limited companies, and, in addition, some individuals enjoy the status of being a director.
Certain professions, such as accountants and solicitors, cannot actually trade through a limited company and must either set up as a sole-trader or set up in partnership.
Partnership
If you are going into business with one or more people, then you would either incorporate a limited liability company (see below) or form a partnership. A partnership exists when two or more people work together and none is an employee of the other(s). You can either trade under your own names as a partnership or register a business trading name.
You must register the partnership for income tax and for VAT and PAYE, if appropriate. As with sole trader status, you will pay the income tax and social security due on your share of the partnership profit under the self-assessment system. You must file a personal return of income together with a partnership tax return with the Revenue Commissioners.
There is no obligation on the partnership to have an audit carried out and you do not have to publish the partnership accounts.
As with sole trader status, a partnership is not a separate legal entity and the risks outlined above for sole traders will apply to you if you are in partnership. In addition, as a partner, you are jointly and severally liable for the debts of the partnership. You may be held liable for all debts run up by your partner(s) and, if they fail to pay, you could be pursued by the creditors/courts for payment in full (even if you had nothing to do with the debt!). As with sole-trader status, you do not have limited liability. Therefore, you must choose your partners carefully – they could help you make your first million but just as easily lead you to bankruptcy!
Unless otherwise agreed, the profits and losses in a partnership will be shared equally between the partners. It is advisable to have a written partnership agreement drawn up at the outset. The partnership agreement will outline the position on such matters as how profits/losses are to be shared; the capital contributed by each partner; who operates the bank account; how decisions are to be made; what happens on death or retirement of a partner, etc. In practice, the partnership agreement will not be referred to for the day-to-day running of the business. It is really only if there is a disagreement among the partners that you would need to refer to the partnership agreement.
Limited Liability Company
Unlike sole trader status or a partnership, a limited company is a separate legal entity. A company is owned by its shareholders. The shareholders will generally own the shares by reference to the amount of equity they have invested. If you are not actually investing any funds in the business, you need only subscribe for a minimum share capital, usually €1 or €2.
A company will have both shareholders and directors. The shareholders do not have to be directors and, likewise, the directors do not have to be shareholders. Generally, however, for a small business, the owners of the business would also be the directors. It is really only in cases where you are seeking equity finance that you would have shareholders who invest in your business but do not take part in the day-to-day running/direction of the business and, therefore, are not appointed as directors. Such shareholders would, however, look for a return on their investment and this would normally be paid by way of dividend.
In time, you may have senior employees that you wish to appoint as directors and this can be done without actually giving them an equity stake in the business.
A limited company must have at least one shareholder, two directors and one company secretary. The company secretary and shareholder can be one of the directors so that you only need two people to form a company. Every company director can be held responsible for the affairs of the company and must ensure that all statutory documents are delivered to Companies Registration Office on time. Such statutory documents include annual returns, accounts, notices of change of details of directors, secretary, registered office address, etc.
When forming a limited liability company, you must specify the name of the company, the "objects" for which the company is being formed (the "objects" set out exactly what the company is permitted to do and the business activities that the company will get involved in). If, at a later date, your business is diversifying or the nature of the business is changing, you must make sure that the "objects" of the company allow this and have them changed if necessary.
You will receive a Certificate of Incorporation and you must have Memorandum and Articles of Association prepared. If you appoint an accountant or solicitor to deal with the company incorporation on your behalf, they will deal with all statutory paperwork and you will just be required to sign a few forms.
You must file an annual statutory return with the Companies Registration Office and your company accounts will be available to the public generally for inspection.
You are obliged to have an annual audit carried out if your business profits exceed €253,950 per annum.
As a director of your company, you are taxed as an employee and your company must pay the tax and PRSI due on your salary to the Collector-General under the PAYE system.
Your company must register for Corporation Tax, PAYE, and VAT (if the value of taxable supplies exceeds €25,395 for taxable services and €50,790 for taxable goods in a 12-month period).
One of the advantages of operating through a limited company is that the liabilities of the business are limited to the business assets. Should the business fail, generally, the most that can be lost are the assets of the business. However, if the directors/shareholders have given any personal guarantees for any liabilities of the business, then they will be held personally liable to the extent of the guarantee given. In addition, the shareholders will be held liable to the extent of any amount owing to the company for their shares (i.e. if the issued shares are not fully paid up, the shareholders would be requested to pay any amount outstanding).
The limited liability company option would normally be recommended for individuals setting up in business who, among other things, need limited liability straightaway; are leaving funds in the business and, therefore, wish to pay the lower rates of Corporation Tax; wish to avail of tax planning opportunities that are only available to companies/directors; are seeking equity investors; whose clients expect to deal with limited companies or who enjoy the status of being a director.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are a lot of matters to be considered, but you do not need to make the decision on your own! All good accountants will be able to advise you on the best route to take.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
6 Tips For Reducing Email Overload
6 tips for reducing email overload Microsoft Office On-Line Small Business
By Kim Komando
Lately, more people are declaring bankruptcy. No, they’re not financially insolvent. They just can’t keep up with e-mail. They empty their inbox, announce e-mail bankruptcy, and start over from scratch.
Don’t let it happen to you. Get a grip on the problem before it is too late.
By Kim Komando
Lately, more people are declaring bankruptcy. No, they’re not financially insolvent. They just can’t keep up with e-mail. They empty their inbox, announce e-mail bankruptcy, and start over from scratch.
Don’t let it happen to you. Get a grip on the problem before it is too late.
- Slash the number of new messages
Your first goal is to reduce the amount of incoming e-mail. So cancel subscriptions to unwanted mailing lists. The messages become a nuisance if you don’t have time to read them.
A good spam filter reduces the amount of spam reaching your inbox. But don’t expect to eliminate spam completely. Some will still get through.
Do your friends send jokes or chain messages? Explain your situation and ask that they stop. Hopefully, they’ll oblige. - Respond appropiately
Not all e-mail requires a response. If you receive an e-mail addressed to several people, you may not need to respond. If a response it required, it may not need to go to everybody.
Be succinct; restrict your messages to a few sentences. If you can’t, pick up the phone or talk in person.
If an e-mail contains several different points, respond to each in separate messages. This may take longer at first. But, it will be easier to deal with each e-mail thread.
- Take advantage of subject lines
Subject lines should relate to the body of the e-mail. So be as descriptive as possible. Subject lines that say things like "question" or "hello" should be avoided. Recipients won’t know what the message is about. And it will be difficult for you to categorize responses.
If you have a one-line e-mail, put it in the subject line. This will save you and the recipient valuable time.
If possible, create a set of codes with your co-workers. Placed in the subject line, codes help you process and prioritize messages.
For example, use "FYI" for informational messages. Use "AR" for action required and "URG" for urgent messages. - Forwarding and copying
Be courteous when forwarding an e-mail. Summarize the message and say why you’re forwarding it. This is particularly helpful if the e-mail contains several messages.
Recipients will appreciate your thoughtfulness. They won’t need to read through several messages to guess your thoughts. This will cut down on questions from recipients.
Don’t copy someone on a message unless it is necessary. And explain why you’re copying them. Recipients won’t need to guess your intentions. This means less back and forth messages.
Be disciplined - Avoid the temptation to check your e-mail every few minutes. Check it every hour on the hour for important messages. If you can go longer, do so. Of course, this might not be feasible in some work environments.
Set time aside each morning and evening to process your inbox. When you’re done, it should be completely empty. File messages you need to keep. Set reminders for messages that require you to follow up.
Respond to messages immediately, so you only read them once. There is an exception to this rule. If emotions might govern your response, give yourself a cooling-down period.
Use your e-mail program’s tools
- Explore the tools your e-mail program offers. I already mentioned setting follow-up reminders. Filters and folders can help you file and prioritize mail. Auto-responders can alert business associates when you’re out of town. You won’t come back to a full inbox.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Improving Credit Control
Tips To Help Improve Collections
Business success and sometimes its very survival can depend on maintaining a strong working capital position. Cash tied up with customers who don’t pay on time is an additional cost on your business both in terms of financing and the additional in-house overhead of the resources involved in various debt collection activities as well as the cost of bad debt write off’s.
Reviewing your credit control processes and implementing improvements can ultimately lead to
• Improved cash position
• Improved customer satisfaction
• Improved employee satisfaction
• Improved profitability
So where do we start?
1. Establish your credit policy - Establishing the company’s credit terms and communicating those terms clearly to both customers and employees is critical to successful collections.
2. Control the establishment of new credit accounts: New customer accounts are the lifeblood of all businesses however; careful monitoring of the credit history of prospective customers prior to providing credit facilities is a discipline which should be enforced within your business. Trade/Credit references should be sought and/or a credit rating report could be bought from Credit Rating Agency. A report from a reputable Credit Rating Agency may prove to be a worthwhile investment. Sometimes it may be better to be sorry for not making the sale than making it! If your business is selling products and/or services that can be leased/financed then establishing a relationship with a leasing company/bank where customers can be offered an opportunity to finance their purchase may be an effective way of reducing credit risk and shortening the payment cycle.
3. Set appropriate Credit Limits and payment terms – There is no right answer here. The level of credit you are prepared to offer your customers in terms of both value and payment terms will depend on your assessment of the risk involved. Credit limits should be reviewed regularly as your relationship with your customer grows over time however; you need to monitor economic conditions and any slippages in payment performance.
4. Review your sales and billing process: Your collection process starts effectively with the taking of sales orders and the processing of sales invoices. Your sale team are also part of your collections team. Getting your invoicing right first time can have a dramatic impact on collections and customer satisfaction. Timely billing is also a critical component of an effective credit control strategy.
5. Monitor overdue accounts closely : Where possible automate the production of overdue reminders to customers. Follow up with regular phone calls and record notes on interactions with customers. Effective debt collection requires that reasons for delayed payment of invoices are highlighted as early possible and resolved with a minimum delay. Essentially the maxim here is “follow up”, “follow up”, “follow up”, the longer invoice queries/disputes remain unresolved the more difficult collection becomes and the more likely your customer is to become unhappy.
6. Know your customer’s payment processes: Try to establish good relationships with those people within your customer’s organisation who can help get your payment processed. By understanding your customers payment cycle and the key people in the payment process you can help speed up your own payments. Recording this key information on a customer basis will help facilitate sharing of the workload and continuity in times of absence due to sickness, holidays etc
7. Take action when it is necessary: Communicate clearly to your customer when actions may be necessary to secure settlement of an outstanding balance. Do not threaten to take a course of action which you are not prepared to take. Escalating your efforts to another person within your customer’s organisation or enlisting the help of another employee within your own may be all that is required to sort an impasse.
Author : John Hickey ACMA, CPA, BBS
John who if the founder of Koncept Business Solutions is a Chartered Management Accountant with over 20 years exerience across industries ranging from Food Processing, Manufacturing, Wholesaling, Service and Information Technnology.
Visit us at http://www.konceptbiz.net/
Business success and sometimes its very survival can depend on maintaining a strong working capital position. Cash tied up with customers who don’t pay on time is an additional cost on your business both in terms of financing and the additional in-house overhead of the resources involved in various debt collection activities as well as the cost of bad debt write off’s.
Reviewing your credit control processes and implementing improvements can ultimately lead to
• Improved cash position
• Improved customer satisfaction
• Improved employee satisfaction
• Improved profitability
So where do we start?
1. Establish your credit policy - Establishing the company’s credit terms and communicating those terms clearly to both customers and employees is critical to successful collections.
2. Control the establishment of new credit accounts: New customer accounts are the lifeblood of all businesses however; careful monitoring of the credit history of prospective customers prior to providing credit facilities is a discipline which should be enforced within your business. Trade/Credit references should be sought and/or a credit rating report could be bought from Credit Rating Agency. A report from a reputable Credit Rating Agency may prove to be a worthwhile investment. Sometimes it may be better to be sorry for not making the sale than making it! If your business is selling products and/or services that can be leased/financed then establishing a relationship with a leasing company/bank where customers can be offered an opportunity to finance their purchase may be an effective way of reducing credit risk and shortening the payment cycle.
3. Set appropriate Credit Limits and payment terms – There is no right answer here. The level of credit you are prepared to offer your customers in terms of both value and payment terms will depend on your assessment of the risk involved. Credit limits should be reviewed regularly as your relationship with your customer grows over time however; you need to monitor economic conditions and any slippages in payment performance.
4. Review your sales and billing process: Your collection process starts effectively with the taking of sales orders and the processing of sales invoices. Your sale team are also part of your collections team. Getting your invoicing right first time can have a dramatic impact on collections and customer satisfaction. Timely billing is also a critical component of an effective credit control strategy.
5. Monitor overdue accounts closely : Where possible automate the production of overdue reminders to customers. Follow up with regular phone calls and record notes on interactions with customers. Effective debt collection requires that reasons for delayed payment of invoices are highlighted as early possible and resolved with a minimum delay. Essentially the maxim here is “follow up”, “follow up”, “follow up”, the longer invoice queries/disputes remain unresolved the more difficult collection becomes and the more likely your customer is to become unhappy.
6. Know your customer’s payment processes: Try to establish good relationships with those people within your customer’s organisation who can help get your payment processed. By understanding your customers payment cycle and the key people in the payment process you can help speed up your own payments. Recording this key information on a customer basis will help facilitate sharing of the workload and continuity in times of absence due to sickness, holidays etc
7. Take action when it is necessary: Communicate clearly to your customer when actions may be necessary to secure settlement of an outstanding balance. Do not threaten to take a course of action which you are not prepared to take. Escalating your efforts to another person within your customer’s organisation or enlisting the help of another employee within your own may be all that is required to sort an impasse.
Author : John Hickey ACMA, CPA, BBS
John who if the founder of Koncept Business Solutions is a Chartered Management Accountant with over 20 years exerience across industries ranging from Food Processing, Manufacturing, Wholesaling, Service and Information Technnology.
Visit us at http://www.konceptbiz.net/
Friday, June 27, 2008
Strategies For The Downturn
With the recent dowturn in the Irish economy businesses will need to consider strategies to cope with the business realities of the current economic conditions.
To survive and be successfull in a tougher commercial environment businesss will need to focus on strategies which
With higher interest rates and tightening credit availability the philosophy of "CASH is KING" becomes even more relevant. Careful management of your cash position will always serve your business well in any economic climate but in an economic downturn it is even more critical. Actions to take
Businesses need to review their systems and processes to ensure that products and services are delivered as effectively and efficiently to the customer as possible. Actions to take
John who if the founder of Koncept Business Solutions is a Chartered Management Accountant with over 20 years exerience across industries ranging from Food Processing, Manufacturing, Wholesaling, Service and Information Technnology. Visit us at http://www.konceptbiz.net/
To survive and be successfull in a tougher commercial environment businesss will need to focus on strategies which
- Manage Cash Resources
- Enhance Asset Utilisation
- Reduce Business Costs
- Improve Efficiencies
- Protect and Enhance Customer Base
With higher interest rates and tightening credit availability the philosophy of "CASH is KING" becomes even more relevant. Careful management of your cash position will always serve your business well in any economic climate but in an economic downturn it is even more critical. Actions to take
- Forecast your monthly cash requirements matching monthly outgoings on operational and capital spending with forecasted cash receipts. Proactive management of your cash position will enable the business to deal more effectively with customers, suppliers and banks. Retaining the confidence of all stakeholders in the business (owners, employess, customers, supplers etc) during difficult trading conditions may be critical to the survival of your business.
- Timely collection of your outstanding customer debts is a major component in your cash management strategy. Monitor your debtors aging profiles carefully, reinforce your credit terms with your customers and ensure that debt collection tasks assigned to employees within the company are followed up regularly.
- Where necessary re-negotiate credit terms with suppliers. Maintaining the confidence of your supplier in a downturn may be key to protecting your supply channel.
Enhance Asset Utilisation
Focus on reducing the working capital requirements of your business. Actions to take
- Reduce slow moving stock and obsolete stock to a minimum.
- Manage your supply chain to improve inventory turnover as much as possible. Reducing the lead times of your supplers or setting more realistic expectations with your customers may lead to lower stock levels which will mean you have less money tied up in stock, less risk of stock loss , damage and stock obsolescence.
- Review your sales profiles - know your higher volume/margin items and reduce unnecessary non standard items from your product portfolio.
- Maximise your credit terms with your suppliers. Reviewing the number number of suppliers from whom you source product may lead to consolidation and opportunities to improve trading terms and lead times with your primary suppliers.
Reduce Business Costs
Management of business costs in any trading environment is always important however, in a downturn it becomes even more difficult to pass on cost increases to your customer. Companies need to review their costs carefully before implementing cost reduction strategies. Knee-jerk slash and burn strategies may achieve short-term cost reductions but may have longer term negative impacts on the growth potential of your business. Actions to take
- Ensure your business system / accounting package enables you to categorise your expenses and has good visibity in terms period comparisions (year on year, month to month etc) and ability to drill down in sufficient detail to understand the source of the expense.
- Identify expenses which are most likely to yield higher savings and determine whether these expenses can be reduced or eliminated without negative impact on the business.
- Source your suppliers carefully and make price comparisons with competitor suppliers. Better deals may be available.
- Plan the introduction of cost savings strategies carefully and understand likely impacts on employees, customers and suppliers.
Businesses need to review their systems and processes to ensure that products and services are delivered as effectively and efficiently to the customer as possible. Actions to take
- Review the activites that are undertaken within the company.
- Question, Question ,Question. Question why things are done in a certain manner. Historical rationale for doing things that way may not relevant now.
- Identify any duplication of activities. Duplication leads to additional costs and opportunities for errors.
- Identify whether the volume of transactions generated can be reduced (invoices, credit notes, supplier/customer returns etc)
- Examine whether your system/processes facilitate getting things right "First Time". Correcting/fixing errors can be a very costly expense for a business and by it's very nature is something which does not contribute any additional value to your customer.
Protect and Enhance your Customer Base
Without customers your business does not exist. It costs a lot more to win new customers than to retain your existing customers. Actions to take
- Ensure that your business system allows you to analyse your customer sales easily and informatively.
- Understand your customer and product profitability mix well.
- Have a process which facilitates a view of customer interactions across the company. The business needs visiblity of what's happening at various levels from sales, quotations, back orders, deliveries, credit control, customer service etc. Custmers get a much better impression of a business where the "right hand knows what left hand is doing"
- Make it easier for your customers to do business with you and try to improve their experience of interacting with your employees across the company.
John who if the founder of Koncept Business Solutions is a Chartered Management Accountant with over 20 years exerience across industries ranging from Food Processing, Manufacturing, Wholesaling, Service and Information Technnology. Visit us at http://www.konceptbiz.net/
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Does your software add up
Successful businesses continually review their processes and systems to ensure that they are efficient and profit enhancing.
Effective software solutions must nowadays enable businesses to satisfy or exceed customer expectations by
- Making customer interaction as seamless as possible with good visibility of customer contact points
- Allowing real-time visibility of critical processes.
- Removing duplication of data entry and non value activities
- Providing visibility key business measures such as profit margins, stock, credit control,, costs etc
- Allow full integration of business processes across the company
Key Questions to ask of your software system
- Do I have easy access to up-to-date key information on my business?
- Do I have sufficient visibility of my sales pipeline, back orders and stock?
- Does my system remove the need to have multiple applications and spreadsheets?
- Does my system remove the need for unnecessary duplication of data recording and entry
- Do I have immediate visibility of interactions with contacts, customers and suppliers?
- Does the system have imbedded warnings to prevent costly mistakes?
- Does my system enable tight credit control, recording of debt collection activities, assignment of tasks and levying of overdue interest charges ?
- Does my system have integration with electronic data capture devices such as PDA’s, tablet pcs, weighbridges, point of sale etc?
- Does my system have traceability fields to cater for requirements such as in the food industry?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Subscribe To Our Posts
Posts
All Comments
