Strategies for Creating a Niche Business

Written by Al Hanzal


Continued from page 1

Customized Selling Model We completed an analysis ofrepparttar current one on one selling model he was using with customers in their home. What materials did he use? What wasrepparttar 104316 sales presentation? What wererepparttar 104317 words used? How can this sales model be made more effective? What materials will help to distinguish his business from other bidders? The result of these efforts customized a sales model that made him more effective in his current selling situations.

Management System We create a simple management reporting process. This involved record keeping, goal setting and testingrepparttar 104318 different strategies being used byrepparttar 104319 business owner. The result of these efforts will be ongoing data on what is working and what is not working for his business.

By using these six steps over a 3 month period of time,repparttar 104320 business was able to increaserepparttar 104321 number of customers and createrepparttar 104322 foundations for building a business niche.

If you want to learn more about how you can use niche building strategies to increase your profits, email me at al@hanzal.com. For more articles on small business issues click www.innovativesellingskillsforsmallbusiness.com.

Copyright Al Hanzal, 2004. All Rights Reserved

Hanzal Enterprises, Inc. 4191 Granite Court Eagan, Minnesota 55123 651-495-3340



Al Hanzal has been helping busines owners make transitions from ordinary businesses to profit making niche businesses. More articles at www.innovativesellingskillsforsmallbusiness.com


Are Employees Costing Your Company a Small Fortune?

Written by Karen Thatcher


Continued from page 1

1.)Establish a written company policy for employee telecom usage. Make an inventory of allrepparttar services and features that your company utilizes, then break it down and list acceptable usage for each company department. For example, sales people who are onrepparttar 104315 road constantly will have more wireless usage or calling card privileges than someone who spends more time atrepparttar 104316 home office.

2.)Block unnecessary pay-per-use features on local service plans. Withrepparttar 104317 exception of directory assistance, most local service providers can block unwanted pay-per-use features. Your local package may include some features that were previously billed on a per-use basis. Check with your local carrier to determinerepparttar 104318 features you want, and then block others that can be easily abused. These would include features like directory-assistance call completion; call return, 3 way calling, and especially 900 number services.

3.)Block all inbound collect calls. Accepting collect calls can be a huge expense if done on a regular basis. Calls that originate from state penitentiaries are handled through a company called Correctional Billing Services. If you find this company name included on any bills, then an employee is accepting collect calls from an inmate inside a prison or correctional facility. Ifrepparttar 104319 line is reaching a DID number, then it is easy to trackrepparttar 104320 culprit acceptingrepparttar 104321 calls. If not, it may be more difficult to determine just who is receivingrepparttar 104322 calls. You can and should block collect calls from being accepted. Call your local exchange carrier and let them know allrepparttar 104323 lines you would like blocked.

4.)Designate and train one or more employees to review bills on a monthly basis. Most employee abuses can be uncovered with routine auditing of local phone bills. Assign one or more employees to thoroughly reviewrepparttar 104324 bills each and every month. In doing so, you will uncover not only employee abuses but also a wide variety of abuse and fraud byrepparttar 104325 carriers themselves!

5.)Consider outsourcing your telecom department to an experienced telecom bill management firm. Many companies are now utilizing telecom bill management and consulting firms to take care of every aspect of their telecom departments. For a small fee per bill, you can have allrepparttar 104326 headaches and time-consuming tasks of bill paying, moves/adds/changes, and monthly auditing done for you. They will uncover employee and carrier abuses and fix them as they occur. This kind of arrangement can easily pay for itself and eliminatesrepparttar 104327 need for a salaried employee to spend time reviewing and paying bills and especially dealing with telecom carriers each time a line or feature is added, removed or changed.

Telecom overspending can be a real source of waste in any company. The biggerrepparttar 104328 company,repparttar 104329 chances for employee abuses grow. Make it a point to implementrepparttar 104330 steps you need to take to identify and eliminate these abuses. Failing to eliminate employee abuses could be costing your company a small fortune in unnecessary telecom spending.

Karen Thatcher is President and CEO of TelCon Associates, a 30 year old Kansas City telecom bill management and consulting firm. For a free CD ROM entitled, Telecom Tips and Strategies for Businesses, visit www.telconassociates.com


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