Marketing Mistake #1

Marketing Mistake #1: You don’t let potential customers know you exist.

It’s not surprising; do you have any idea just how many companies are out there who wish you would buy something from them? A lot, believe me. And the reason you are not tracking them down and giving them money is because you’re just not jazzing them.

I’m fascinated at the number of business owners who open the doors, put up an “Open” sign, and wait for the customers to roll in. Needless to say, they get real disappointed real fast.

Like any other business, as my buddy Dean Hankey likes to say, “You gotta TELL em to SELL em!”

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Rob Wallis works with entrepreneurs who want to become known in their community and in the world. Contact him at rob (at) thewallisgroup.com

Notes On Advertising

Advertising = education
Advertising, like education, is not expensive, it’s priceless

3 marketing mistakes business owners make:
1. They don’t let people know they exist.
2. They don’t collect names of current customers.
3. They don’t actively pursue repeat business.

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Tig Wallis helps business owners increase their profitability by improving their marketing, technology, and customer service processes. He is founder of The Wallis Group, a business and marketing consulting firm located in California.

Contact Tig at tigwallis@thewallisgroup.com

Customer Service Principles From The Ritz

Great Article Here about what every company needs to know about customer service. And judging from the fantastic service we received recently at the Ritz in San Francisco, this writer knows what he’s talking about.

How does your company measure up?

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Rob Wallis works with entrepreneurs who want to become known in their community and in the world. Contact him at The Wallis Group

Organizing Your Email Part 1

STEP 1. FOLDERIZE

You’re staring at a sea of emails. Most of them you have already read, and you haven’t deleted them yet because there’s some action you have to take. Or you might need the infomation later. Or you don’t know if you need the information, but you might someday.

Here’s the thing: you simply cannot look at all of those messages, read or unread, and process the information that you need to on a daily basis. It’s the equivalent of a cluttered desk: All of the distractions are keeping you from FOCUS, which is what it takes to be EFFECTIVE.

Lucky for you, there is a cure: FOLDERIZING

Here’s how it works: put your email into folders. Categorize either by subject or author, or whatever makes sense to you. What is most important is that you create a folder for each category, and create a rule for your incoming email that will put the mail into those folders.

That way you can read what you want to read, when you want to read it.

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Rob Wallis works with entrepreneurs who want to become known in their community and in the world. Contact him at The Wallis Group

Where Does It All Start?

People will say that service starts with training. Actually, service starts with HIRING. HIRING the right people is the first step in spectacular service. You need to hire people who:

1. Have a pleasant attitude. Attitude is key in customer care. No one can serve properly with a bad attitude.

2. Have a service mindset. You need to find people who want to serve. Who have experience serving. Who needs someone who stares out the window and waits for their shift to be over? That’s not making you money!

3. Are willing to learn to serve. THIS is where the training comes in. And it’s essential. You simply cannot drop people on the floor and expect them to know what to do. They need to know your philosophy. If you don’t have a philosophy, you need to get one before you start hiring. If you don’t know where you’re going, how can your staff?

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Rob Wallis works with entrepreneurs who want to become known in their community and in the world. Contact him at The Wallis Group

A Solution for Better Service?

Maria Palma on Her Blog talks about a possible solution to better service. Would a reward system work in most businesses?

I commented that Macy’s had an interesting reward policy, in that they had staff members write their names on the bottom of the receipt, so you could go to a website and rate their service. The trouble was most of the staffers scribbled their name so illegibly, I couldn’t have raved about them if I wanted to.

What’s your take?
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Rob Wallis works with entrepreneurs who want to become known in their community and in the world. Contact him at The Wallis Group