Transform Clients into Business Partners for Increased ProfitsWritten by Jessica Albon
Transform Clients into Business Partners for Increased Profits By Jessica AlbonCopyright 2003, The Write Exposure Ideally, a business partner promotes your business; they're always on lookout for new markets, and they work to find ways to improve your product or service. Wouldn't it be amazing if you could get your clients to do same thing? Well, you can, of course, if you simply do five things. Find and broadcast your target. Who's your ideal client? Can you describe him/her in such a way that anyone can identify this person? This ideal client shouldn't just be people between ages of 25 and 32. Rather, narrow your focus-perhaps your ideal market is single women buying their first home. You want to make sure your clients can repeat your target market and really understand it. Start a newsletter. But this shouldn't be just any newsletter. Instead this newsletter must be: interactive (run promotions, ask provocative questions, give great advice), valuable (with real information, not just hype), and memorable (brand it, send it regularly, and hire only best writers). When you're turning clients into partners, it's crucial that your newsletter be a consistent reflection of your brand (you want your clients to have as clear an image of you as possible). You might do this with your tone-is your website all about parties? Then your tone should be light and friendly. You might do this with your columns. And you should definitely brand your newsletter with its design. You want your readers to have no doubt that newsletter is from you. Make personal contact with each client. This contact can be in form of a phone call, letter or in-person visit (email's not recommended unless it's necessary). Let each client know that you've decided to dedicate yourself to serving your target group and solicit their feedback. Do they know anyone who fits bill? Do they have any suggestions on how you can narrow your focus or widen your appeal? Approach each client with sincerity, and you'll not only learn a lot; you'll be halfway to your goal. Also, while you're contacting all your clients, make sure to ask if they're interested in receiving your newsletter.
| | So, Why Don't You Tell Me About YourselfWritten by Linda Matias, JCTC, CEIP
"So, why don't you tell me about yourself?" is most frequently asked interview question. It's a question that most interviewees expect and one they have most difficulty answering. Though one could answer this open-ended question in a myriad of ways, key to answering this question or any other interview question is to offer a response that supports your career objective. This means that you shouldn't respond with comments about your hobbies, spouse, or extra curricular activities. Trust me, interviewers aren't interested.Interviewers use interview process as a vehicle to eliminate your candidacy. Every question they ask is used to differentiate your skills, experience, and personality with that of other candidates. They want to determine if what you have to offer will mesh with organization's mission and goals. If answered with care, your response to question, "So, why don't you tell me about yourself?" could compliment interviewers needs as well as support your agenda. This is a question you should be prepared to answer as opposed to attempting to "wing it". Follow four easy steps outlined below to ensure your response will grab interviewers attention. 1. Provide a brief introduction. Introduce attributes that are key to open position. Sample introduction: During my 10 years' of experience as a sales manager, I have mastered ability to coach, train, and motivate sales teams into reaching corporate goals. 2. Provide a career summary of your most recent work history. Your career summary is "meat" of your response, so it must support your job objective and it must be compelling. Keep your response limited to your current experience. Don't go back more than 10 years. Sample career summary: Most recently, at The Widget Corporation, I was challenged with turning around a stagnant territory that ranked last in sales in Northeastern region. Using strategies that have worked in past, I developed an aggressive sales campaign that focused on cultivating new accounts and nurturing existing client base. The results were tremendous. Within six months my sales team and I were able to revitalize territory and boost sales by 65%.
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