Virtual Assistance Business Briefs » Entrepreneur

Customer Service Revival

Jeannine Clontz — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:05:09 +0000

I’ve decided to start my own ministry, and my first order of business will be a customer service revival. Will you join me?

Funny as that may seem, the exodus of customer service has been evolving for several years. The latest downturn in the economy has simply caused a bigger impact on customer service, I believe, due to lay- offs and cut backs in middle management and through the downsizing of staff in general, leaving remaining staffers overwhelmed and overloaded doing the job of many.

As independent contractors, and small business owners, we have a higher level of control over the results our clients experience through our work together, and the perception of our level of client care.

I’m still relatively picky about who I work with, meaning I totally understand my target market, and why matching our business personalities and acumen are so important. I find referring prospects to other providers that better fit their need, simply brings my level of service up a notch.

By not working with people who don’t share similar business strategies and standards, I minimize the number of service challenges that could or would be presented to me. Not that I mind being faced with a dilemma or two for its learning opportunities, but to me, it all reverts back to something I learned the hard way, when I first started my business.

“The customer is ALWAYS right!” Okay, I know, literally speaking, the customer isn’t always right, but sometimes no matter what I say, or how I say it, I may never be able to convince someone that what they’ve perceived as bad service, isn’t just that.

Even if the client is totally at fault, how I address the situation and solve it to some satisfaction makes all the difference. Knowing that I may never be able to satisfy someone, and understanding that I have no control over it, helps me to stay focused on the end result.

I have found that making sure that I only do business with those clients that fit my business model, alleviates a lot of these situations.

So let’s make a pact to revive customer service at all levels by establishing good client relations, increased service standards, and give our clients the best possible experience. I believe my business has grown in a more positive direction because of it, which allows me to continue to provide those services I am most passionate about doing.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, provides marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. For information about finding a VA, download her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or to learn why Social Media should be an important part of your marketing plan with her FREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: http://www.accbizsvcs.com, or contact her at info@accbizsvsc.com

Customer Service Revival is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Are You Like a Salmon When Looking for New Clients?

Jeannine Clontz — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:53:03 +0000

In my former life, I was a purchasing agent for a seafood company. This time of year reminds me of the salmon runs. During the summer months, many wild salmon species take the journey back to their birthplace to spawn and ultimately end their lives.

Their upstream journey is a challenging one, swimming against rugged rapids, leaping over rocky waterfalls, traversing fish ladders, avoiding fishermen nets, and staying clear of hungry bears. When they finally reach their natal stream they are ready to spawn. This is an amazing and focused journey calling them to do what comes naturally.

Some of us make such a journey to find new clients, or maintain those we currently enjoy. Nowadays we have to think outside the box with our marketing and face the challenges of competition, less disposable income, overcoming objections, and differentiating ourselves by creating benefits clients simply can’t live without.

On the flip side, I’m looking for the clients who are like the salmon – the clients who will go through the upstream battle to find the most professional support, the BEST level of service and technology to create the ‘can’t live without’ message that reaches that ideal client who helps them grow their business during tough economic times.

There are only a few ways to grow a business, no matter what the economic situation:

· Find new clients

· Sell more to current clients

· Raise prices

Finding new clients is probably the most expensive way to grow your business, but one that can certainly yield great results if you have the right plan and consistent implementation.

So where are you in the life cycle of my salmon story? Ready to look for those clients who are willing to swim upstream to get to your product or service? And are you willing to leap over rocky waterfalls and traverse rough waters to find the most professional support you need?

Whatever you decide, increase your marketing time and investment if you want to grow your business, or take a chance you’ll get left behind.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, owner of Accurate Business Services is a Virtual Assistant (VA). ABS provides ‘as needed’ marketing support and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. Find the perfect VA by downloading her free 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or herFREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, send a request to: service@accbizsvcs.com. For more information visit: http://www.accbizsvcs.com, or http://www.internetmarketingvirtualassistant.net

Are You Like a Salmon When Looking for New Clients? is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: business goals, business growth, Business Tips, find new clients, marketing, Marketing Tips

Five Ways to Grow Your Business to Six or Seven Figures!

Jeannine Clontz — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:50:50 +0000

Ever wondered how your competitors generate six and seven figures incomes? As a professional in your field or niche, you face many challenges when marketing and promoting yourself to achieve six and seven figure incomes.

As we’ve helped more and more professionals grow their business through traditional and Internet marketing and social media, I’ve found several underutilized ways to entice the world to sit up and pay attention to my clients and their offerings. Here are five ways you may not have considered when looking to expand and grow your business:

· Create and submit press releases (not many people regularly promote themselves through the press)

· Drill down your niche into a market that ONLY you can fulfill (create a uniqueness about your product or service)

· Create eBooks, whitepapers, and audio/video products to sell online and off

· Create a Joint Venture opportunity – find someone else who could benefit from a partnership in marketing to each other’s lists, and splitting the costs of print and Internet materials

· Speak or write articles to your target audience and capture their contact info through giveaways to expand your marketing list

Adding one or more of these options to your marketing efforts over time will help you to increase exposure to your products and services. These options provide a great opportunity for word-of-mouth and referrals, the most cost-effective ways to grow your business to that six or seven figure goal.

So what ‘outside-the-box’ marketing options have you tried lately? Please share your challenges and ideas by leaving a comment below.

Five Ways to Grow Your Business to Six or Seven Figures! is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: ebooks, joint venture, marketing, niche, niche marketing, press release, speaking, write articles

Why Reveal Your Prospect’s Objections?

Jeannine Clontz — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:22:41 +0000

One of the questions I ask during the prospect interview process is, “Have you ever worked with an independent contractor before?” – the response this elicits helps me to determine if there are any negative past experiences that might present itself as an objection throughout the interview process.

Objections are an important part of the process and create opportunities for you to understand the prospect better; helping you to respond to any objection in the most favorable way.

Once the objection is revealed, ask the prospect to give you more detail about the objection so that you’re sure to respond in a way that addresses their concerns. You may also want to ask them if this is the ONLY objection to moving forward.

This allows you to build a stronger relationship, and creates a certain rapport with the prospect to differentiate you from the rest of your competitors.

You may find that through the objection process the prospect reveals something that would indicate they are NOT the ideal client for your business. If so, don’t take this business and hope for the best, try and find another option for them. It’s just not worth it.

Go with your gut feeling about the prospect. If something seems wrong, it probably is. Most of all don’t fear prospect objections. Even if you don’t end up closing on this particular prospective client, It’s a great way to learn what keeps prospects from making the commitment to begin your work together.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, provides marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. For information about finding a VA, download her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or lto earn why Social Media should be an important part of your marketing plan with her FREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: http://www.accbizsvcs.com, or contact her at info@accbizsvsc.com

Why Reveal Your Prospect’s Objections? is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: client objections, client problems, client tips, handle client objections, handle client problems, unethical client

Build Trust Through Email Marketing Content (Part Two)

Jeannine Clontz — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:06:39 +0000

Last week we discussed giving more than you gain in your email marketing pieces, as well as, keeping promises. We close this discussion with important insights on proofreading and how best to communicate.

3. Proofread your emails.

While I would think this goes without saying, I’m surprised at all the typographical errors I see in email marketing pieces. The content of your emails should be perfect because even one typographical error can have serious consequences.

Spelling and grammar mistakes can breed distrust as your subscribers may tend to think of you as unprofessional or an unreliable source of information while some mistakes may also keep you from communicating clearly.

To make sure that your emails prove that you are worthy of your subscribers’ trust, you must proofread and edit them until you are completely satisfied with your work. If at all possible, it also helps to get a fresh eye to go through them for further tweaking and updates.

4. Communicate like a human being.

In email marketing, you need to communicate with your subscribers in a way that doesn’t intimidate them. Compose your messages in a tone similar to how you speak in casual conversations and avoid using corporate jargon and marketing buzz words. Doing this allows you to make your subscribers feel that they can relate with you and that they can trust and believe in what you have to say.

Another very important trust building factor is to avoid using templates that come with your email marketing tools. Compose your own welcome messages as well as auto-responses and customize them to suit the personality of your business. This will further help you in gaining trust from subscribers.

Implementing a successful email marketing campaign does not just involve sending out information in exchange for click-throughs or money. Much of your success lies in how you gain trust through the messages and information you send.

Follow the tips listed above and you can be sure that you can gain the trust of your subscribers as well as keep them loyal to your online business. Have some more tips you’d like to share? Having challenges with your email marketing campaigns. Share them by leaving a comment below and we’ll be glad to open up a discussion to help you resolve them and move forward.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, owner of Accurate Business Services is a Virtual Assistant (VA). ABS provides ‘as needed’ marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. Clontz is a writer, author, VA Coach, and speaker on business topics including business ethics. For her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or her FREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: http://www.accbizsvcs.com. Find out more at www.VAbizcoach.com or her book website http://www.entrepreneurialfreedom.com

Build Trust Through Email Marketing Content (Part Two) is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: email marketing, email marketing tips, Internet Marketing, Internet Marketing Tips, Marketing Tips

Build Trust Through Email Marketing Content (Part One)

Jeannine Clontz — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:39:38 +0000

Your email copy plays an immensely important role in gaining trust from subscribers. While the quality of information is still the most important element, there are a lot of other factors to consider. Listed below are those I find most important.

1. Give more than what you might gain.

We all know the importance of providing relevant and engaging content to gain traffic and business/income in return. Although your subscribers recognize this exchange (they get useful information only if they provide their data and perform certain actions, sometimes a purchase), many of them still focus on the idea that you’re only helping them out because you’re after their money.

To alleviate this perception, be ready to provide value without expectations of any return from subscribers. Offering free reports or items works, but there are other things you should consider.

Provide timely information related to your niche but without direct benefit to you works well, especially if you don’t publish any obvious call to action. Subscribers who receive such content from you on a regular basis are more likely to trust you and become loyal to your business than if you simply sent them content produced specifically to prompt them to make a purchase.

2. Always keep your promises.

There are two types of promises you make when marketing your business online. The first is a promise brought about by your brand. Your brand has a certain reputation that serves as a promise. No matter what, there are things that people will expect from you. These expectations are something you must meet through your written copy. For example, if your brand is known to have a fun-loving and edgy personality, the content of your emails should reflect that.

The other type of promise you make is what’s stated in your registration process as well as your follow-up emails. In these materials, you need to state certain things that people can expect to receive when subscribing to your mailing list. These include the content you will be sending as well as how often you will be sending it. These are things that your subscribers will consider as promises, so you should always be true to what you say.

As long as you match the expectations you’ve set in your subscribers’ minds, you will be able to keep their trust and loyalty for years to come.

Next week we’ll talk about how your emails are formatting and proofed, and how to communicate with subscribers to maintain and improve your levels of trust.

Until then, if you have a question, challenge or something to share, please let a comment below.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, owner of Accurate Business Services is a Virtual Assistant (VA). ABS provides ‘as needed’ marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. Clontz is a writer, author, VA Coach, and speaker on business topics including business ethics. For her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or herFREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: http://www.accbizsvcs.com. Find out more at www.VAbizcoach.com or her book website http://www.entrepreneurialfreedom.com

Build Trust Through Email Marketing Content (Part One) is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: email marketing, email marketing tips, Internet Marketing, Internet Marketing Tips, Marketing Tips

Five Facebook Fan Page Success Strategies

Jeannine Clontz — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:59:14 +0000

In recent years, having an Internet presence for your business meant putting up a website. While still an important feature for promoting your business, a website is no longer enough. Web 2.0, or the social web, is an essential feature of a successful marketing plan to reach your clientele.

Facebook is considered one of the leaders of social media. Its growth has continued to increase and Facebook has become an essential and innovative idea for business marketing.

Facebook is a great way to keep up with friends and family, but you don’t necessarily want your clients to see the more personal side of your life. Businesses should take care to present a well defined and controlled image of their products and services. Facebook fan pages are an excellent choice for business.

Business Facebook fan pages have many of the same features as personal pages. You can still share articles, photos, videos, and applications, but all of the fan page content is related to your business. Here are five strategies for making your Fan page a success:

Make your Fan page a resource

Consider the information your customers need. Post articles and links to useful information on your wall and showcase yourself as an expert and your customers will return again and again.

Connect

Interact with customers by making use of Facebook’s tools. Respond to comments. Discuss the benefits of your product line and lead new customers to your website for more. Target your offers without being spammy to increase customer loyalty.

Be human

Pictures and personal information put a face on a company. As long as you present an image that enhances your business, personalizing your Fan page is a great way to get followers.

Be present

Keep your profile, articles, photos and video content up-to-date and current. It’s not enough to throw up a page and ignore it. Make sure to respond to customers who become fans. Create a group for your business and participate in groups related to your business.

Be Innovative

Facebook moves fast. Don’t be afraid to try the latest thing. Explore webinars, and other interactive media as options to improve business relationships.

Creating a Facebook fan page is great first step toward integrating social media into your marketing plan. Don’t forget to provide links from your website and/or blog to your Fan page. Connect to your Facebook fan page through other social media to continue to grow your network. In no time your Fan page will be the central hub of your successful online marketing campaign.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, owner of Accurate Business Services is a Virtual Assistant (VA). ABS provides ‘as needed’ marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. Clontz is a writer, author, VA Coach, and speaker on business topics including business ethics. For her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or herFREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: http://www.accbizsvcs.com. Find out more at www.VAbizcoach.com or her book website http://www.entrepreneurialfreedom.com

Five Facebook Fan Page Success Strategies is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: Facebook, Facebook Fan Page Tips, Facebook Tips, social media marketing, social media marketing tips, social media tips

Benefits of Email Marketing to Online Businesses

Jeannine Clontz — Mon, 10 May 2010 20:55:40 +0000

Email marketing is becoming a vastly popular and beneficial direct marketing tool. Used primarily to provide subscribers with information on service and product offerings, it has also been particularly useful in building a loyal customer base. More online business owners are turning to email marketing as their primary means to generate leads not only because results are easily tracked but also because it is an inexpensive way to market yourself on a large scale, allowing a greater chance to generate a profitable return on your investment.

Recently, owners of online businesses have begun relying on email marketing specialists to expand their internet marketing efforts and enhance their online business profits. Because all Internet users use email, it’s easy to reach your target consumer, by encouraging them to opt-in through enticing offerings and keep them subscribed through relevant and compelling content.

Whether online business owners decide to engage in your services or invest in tools to use themselves, email marketing is considered a low-cost means to generate sales leads. In fact, most email marketing campaigns average just one cent per email sent–much cheaper than other direct marketing platforms. It has proven to be more effective in generating sales leads than many other direct marketing options.

Measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of email marketing is simple because of reporting features that track key performance indices such as open rates, read rates, and click-throughs. Using these results, online business owners can gain valuable insights on how best to communicate with their target audience and enhance their campaigns accordingly.

Other very important benefits include the ability to easily send out multiple communications, personalize emails, and send out automated responses. With all these features combined, internet marketers and email marketing specialists can easily carry out an effective email marketing campaign, allowing them to spend more time on other important aspects of maintaining and expanding their business.

Email marketing should be an integral part of promoting any type of online business. Through this platform, online businesses can enhance brand reputation, reach out to a larger market, and track results in an inexpensive way. Through email marketing, online businesses can achieve outcomes they would never expect from any other direct marketing platform.

Although it may take quite some time to build a large and targeted subscriber base, the results that this direct marketing platform will generate in the long run will surely be worthwhile.

Take a moment to share your email marketing successes and challenges by leaving a comment for our subscribers to enjoy.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, owner of Accurate Business Services is a Virtual Assistant (VA). ABS provides ‘as needed’ marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. Clontz is a writer, author, VA Coach, and speaker on business topics including business ethics. For her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or herFREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: http://www.accbizsvcs.com. Find out more at www.VAbizcoach.com or her book website http://www.entrepreneurialfreedom.com

Benefits of Email Marketing to Online Businesses is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: email marketing, email marketing tips, Internet Marketing, Internet Marketing Tips, online business

Build Email Marketing Trust Through Appearance (Part Two)

Jeannine Clontz — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:13:56 +0000

Last week we looked at building trust in our email marketing campaigns by creating a recognizable ‘from’ line to our messages; optimizing the copy that is viewed through the preview pane; and encouraging subscriber communication. This week we complete the process with three more tips to polish your email marketing appearance.

4. Include full contact details in your footer.

Publishing your company’s full contact information allows your subscribers to trust in what you have to say. People are more open to content from credible sources and showing that you are a real company (with a registered name, mailing address, and contact numbers) will enhance your credibility. Including these details in your footer also creates accountability for everything you say in your emails.

5. Match email design to your brand.

The design of your emails should be consistent with all other materials you use to promote your business online. While you don’t need to copy your website’s design and layout down to the last detail, it is best for you to match your emails to its theme, colors, and graphics. This will help extend the trust you’ve built through other promotional activities beyond your email marketing campaign.

Once you’ve created a design that suits your image, use it consistently in all your emails. Doing so will continue to build trust through branding and recognition. You may consider showing a sample email to new subscribers so that they become familiar with the look and know what to expect. Once they receive your email, they will be more likely to read through it.

6. Email design doesn’t need to be fancy.

Some email marketers get so caught up designing their emails that they forget to focus on functionality. While the use of fancy code can make your emails look flawless, they will appear far from perfect if not in good working order and will do nothing to gain respect from subscribers. They need to look professional and work properly for subscribers.

To produce a successful email marketing campaign and gain trust from subscribers, you need to make sure that the design you use will work and does not appear broken, leaving subscribers feeling you don’t really know what you’re doing.

For this reason, make sure your emails render properly in at least the major email clients. You should also make use of proper alt attributes (an alternative text description for images that displays before the image is loaded) in case the images get blocked.

Appearance plays a huge part in gaining trust from your subscribers. As long as you keep these tips in mind when planning your email marketing campaign, you should be able to establish your reputation as a trustworthy and credible source of relevant information.

Please share your thoughts and experiences by leaving a comment.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, owner of Accurate Business Services is a Virtual Assistant (VA). ABS provides ‘as needed’ marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. Clontz is a writer, author, VA Coach, and speaker on business topics including business ethics. For her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or herFREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: http://www.accbizsvcs.com. Find out more at www.VAbizcoach.com or her book website http://www.entrepreneurialfreedom.com

Build Email Marketing Trust Through Appearance (Part Two) is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: email marketing, email marketing tips, Internet Marketing, Internet Marketing Tips, marketing, Marketing Tips

Build Email Marketing Trust Through Appearance (Part One)

Jeannine Clontz — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:21:18 +0000

Appearance is everything, even in the success you can achieve through email marketing. Your branding, and the trust you gain through recognition, is gauged by the appearance of the messages you send to subscribers. The design you utilize, projects your quality and distinction.

Many email users consider commercial messages as spam partly because they look like spam. Marketing messages sent out with little attention to branding, layout, and design details will likely be considered spam and quickly ignored or deleted. To avoid portraying this image and to gain trust from your subscribers, you need to pay attention to the appearance of what you send out.

Here are my tips to help you build trust through the appearance of your emails and, allowing your email marketing campaigns to achieve success.

1. Make sure the ‘from’ line is recognizable.

Recognition is important in gaining trust from subscribers. This makes it crucial to use a recognizable name in your ‘from’ line. Use your real name, an online alias, or organization’s name, product or service. Obviously, you should choose whichever name your subscribers are most likely to recognize as well as respond to positively.

2. Optimize the preview pane.

Apart from your sender and subject line, what appears in recipients’ preview pane is what many people first encounter. The content seen through the preview pane, helps recipients decide whether or not they want to read the entire message. To keep your subscribers from ignoring or deleting your emails before receiving your message, make sure that what appears in their preview pane is recognizable and attractive. Try using your logo, a masthead, and an attention-grabbing headline.

3. Encourage subscriber communication.

Many Email Marketers use "Do Not Reply" accounts because they don’t monitor communications sent to the address they use to send out emails. This is often used when emails are sent by third party suppliers or email marketing companies.

However, this can be detrimental to the success of your email marketing campaign. You should actually encourage your subscribers to connect with you with comments, suggestions, or questions. By doing so, you gain insights from your subscribers and inspire trust through your interactions.

Check back next week for three more tips for building Email Marketing Trust through Appearance. Meanwhile, please share your comments or questions regarding the design aspects you follow to create success in your email marketing campaigns.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, owner of Accurate Business Services is a Virtual Assistant (VA). ABS provides ‘as needed’ marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. Clontz is a writer, author, VA Coach, and speaker on business topics including business ethics. For her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or herFREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: http://www.accbizsvcs.com. Find out more at www.VAbizcoach.com or her book website http://www.entrepreneurialfreedom.com

Build Email Marketing Trust Through Appearance (Part One) is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: email marketing, email marketing tips, Internet Marketing, Internet Marketing Tips, marketing, Marketing Tips

Virtual Assistance Business Briefs » Entrepreneur

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