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Add You - Marketing, Lead Generation, and Research: A 3-in-1 Solution
The various provisions of the CWA are created to prevent and manage spills of hazardous substances that might affect waterways. These provisions have been included into the regulations of the emergency response laws (CERCLA and EPCRA). One specific requirement refers to Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) plan. This is required for any facility that has oil or hazardous materials storage with the potential that these liquids can be released into waterways.The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 expanded requirements to develop more Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) plans. SPCC plans were previously only required for facilities that stored oil above fairly large amounts. However, the expanded requirement applies to any oil or hazardous materials storage at industrial facilities. The full text of these regulations can be found in 40 CFR 112 Oil Pollution Prevention.Managing hazard waste is critical for the preservation of valuable resources. Mismanagement of hazardous wastes can cause many forms of environmental damage. These include:*Ground and surface water pollutio
Keep Things Brief
There should be no more than 10 to 15 questions on the survey. The fewer questions and the more open ended the better the dialogue with the respondent and the more valuable the information.
The Wrap Up
At the end of the survey when I ask if they are interested in more informati
The decision on whether or not someone will read your brochure is usually decided in the first 5 seconds they look at it. What kind of message are you communicating in that five seconds? Will you make a favorable impression with your prospect? Will you move your prospect closer to the sale?There are really only two key elements that will determine how well your brochure is received by prospects. These two elements will ultimately make the difference in your brochure being a tool that makes you money, or just something else that costs you money.What are those two all-important elements: 1. the Image or look 2. the MessageThis is part 1 in a two-part article. In part 1 we will discuss what you need to ask for from your printer to make sure that your brochure looks top notch.Here are 5 things you should keep in mind when you are evaluating your layout and your printer.1. Choose Offset Printing. Offset printing is a type of printing that causes the ink to become a part of the paper. Offset printing creates a rich, vibrant look that digital printing can’t touch. Offset printing
Long before I started my business, I realized that I wasn't good at telephone sales and that I would need to generate leads in another way. I developed a sure-fire way to generate those leads, interest in me, and my business, through the use of telephone market research.
There are many benefits of doing market research including the ability to learn more about my target market's behaviours and opinions, honing messages and presentations based on real, first hand responses, as well as, to test out new messages or theories prior to wide release.
As a website developer and consultant, my large market is businesses and my main target group is small business owners. In order to contact these owners I would need access to their contact information.
For my target market, I found a regional business development directory to be very complete including names, addresses, phone numbers and website information. Some of the information was a little out of date but it was going to be far better than just cold calling to reach "The Owner or Manager" and get successfully past the front desk person etc. For other Business-to-Business companies I might suggest the local Chamber of Commerce or Business Association. Contact lists may be purchased or leased from outside sources, however, that is beyond the scope of this article.
For a client of mine, who is in the property care and landscaping industry, I was able to suggest hitting the phone book in the areas he wanted to generate business in and call every twentieth or thirtieth name in the book. The only criteria his respondent had to meet, was that they are a homeowner or property owner. In his case, my client is located in a small town and most respondents would be homeowners. If he were in a major city I would recommend that he be calling property management companies and target areas of the city with a high concentration of houses. Most cities still have their phone books broken down by community or borough.
Developing the Survey
The first step in this process was to develop the survey. To do that you first need to determine the subject of the survey. This should also relate directly to the message you wish to communicate to the lead. For my company I wanted to find out one of two things, if the respondent had a website what were the circumstances, experiences and opinions of having it or if the respondent didn't have a website the circumstances and reasons for not.
Tuning in the Respondent
As you can see, these questions relate to only one specific service - websites. This allows the respondent to easily understand what subject area you are talking about so that when you switch to providing your message they are already thinking about that subject. In my case, the respondent could easily tell that I was asking questions about websites, they probably figure that my business has something to do with websites.
Keep Questions Open Ended
The survey questions should be as open ended as possible. This is not scientific, as it cannot be quantified in small sample sizes, but it is the best way to avoid leading the respondent to a perceived answer. They may feel that you are looking for a particular response. This can happen when you use a scaled response survey such as ratings of 1 to 5 or 1 to 7. In my own personal experience this type of survey is best left to academics. In most cases you are looking for opinions and experiences of an individual. Ask questions like, "Could you explain how you felt about the experience when you last purchased a car?"
Keep Things Brief
There should be no more than 10 to 15 questions on the survey. The fewer questions and the more open ended the better the dialogue with the respondent and the more valuable the information.
The Wrap Up
At the end of the survey when I ask if they are interested in more informati
Restaurant people will tell you that the worst thing a customer can do is have a bad meal and not SAY anything about it. It prevents the establishment from making it right for the customer. The damage gets worse, because the customer doesn’t usually return AND they tell their friends what they thought about the food.Automotive sales people are taught that every customer knows at least another 100 friends and relatives, and that one customer can be a valuable source of leads and referrals for future automotive sales. If the salesperson does a good jobPeople talk about service, both good and bad. Businesses large and small should think over these examples, and build customer service policies to support them.Here are some possibilities:Monitor satisfaction with each transaction. A technology manufacturer recently shipped back an item to a customer that had been returned for warranty replacement. It was less than 30 days old. Didn’t work correctly right out of the box and the customer was upset and frustrated at having to pack it and pay out of pocket
For my target market, I found a regional business development directory to be very complete including names, addresses, phone numbers and website information. Some of the information was a little out of date but it was going to be far better than just cold calling to reach "The Owner or Manager" and get successfully past the front desk person etc. For other Business-to-Business companies I might suggest the local Chamber of Commerce or Business Association. Contact lists may be purchased or leased from outside sources, however, that is beyond the scope of this article.
For a client of mine, who is in the property care and landscaping industry, I was able to suggest hitting the phone book in the areas he wanted to generate business in and call every twentieth or thirtieth name in the book. The only criteria his respondent had to meet, was that they are a homeowner or property owner. In his case, my client is located in a small town and most respondents would be homeowners. If he were in a major city I would recommend that he be calling property management companies and target areas of the city with a high concentration of houses. Most cities still have their phone books broken down by community or borough.
Developing the Survey
The first step in this process was to develop the survey. To do that you first need to determine the subject of the survey. This should also relate directly to the message you wish to communicate to the lead. For my company I wanted to find out one of two things, if the respondent had a website what were the circumstances, experiences and opinions of having it or if the respondent didn't have a website the circumstances and reasons for not.
Tuning in the Respondent
As you can see, these questions relate to only one specific service - websites. This allows the respondent to easily understand what subject area you are talking about so that when you switch to providing your message they are already thinking about that subject. In my case, the respondent could easily tell that I was asking questions about websites, they probably figure that my business has something to do with websites.
Keep Questions Open Ended
The survey questions should be as open ended as possible. This is not scientific, as it cannot be quantified in small sample sizes, but it is the best way to avoid leading the respondent to a perceived answer. They may feel that you are looking for a particular response. This can happen when you use a scaled response survey such as ratings of 1 to 5 or 1 to 7. In my own personal experience this type of survey is best left to academics. In most cases you are looking for opinions and experiences of an individual. Ask questions like, "Could you explain how you felt about the experience when you last purchased a car?"
Keep Things Brief
There should be no more than 10 to 15 questions on the survey. The fewer questions and the more open ended the better the dialogue with the respondent and the more valuable the information.
The Wrap Up
At the end of the survey when I ask if they are interested in more informati
Do you sometimes wonder what's the point of setting intentions? Some solo-preneurs set goals and intentions with joy; but others sabotage their business success by subconsciously waiting for their intentions to bomb. Which is it for you?I've spent a lot of time creating vision boards, journaling, writing success recipes-you name it. I would do it all with gusto and secretly wonder, does this really matter? I mean, I've done it for 30 days and, well, where's my millions?Until this past weekend.This past weekend I had the yearly wahoo! of celebrating my birthday. I always take time to reflect (in a good way) over the past year, where I've been, where I'm going-that kind of thing. This birthday happened to be partnered with the first warm weather (finally!) that we've had in New York City so far this year, so that also meant spring cleaning and my reflections stretched back to 2001 as I went through various journals and intention-mementos.I was literally astounded as I read and looked at "my intentions." First, I was shocked at how much of it had happened and second, I had to laugh at some of w
Developing the Survey
The first step in this process was to develop the survey. To do that you first need to determine the subject of the survey. This should also relate directly to the message you wish to communicate to the lead. For my company I wanted to find out one of two things, if the respondent had a website what were the circumstances, experiences and opinions of having it or if the respondent didn't have a website the circumstances and reasons for not.
Tuning in the Respondent
As you can see, these questions relate to only one specific service - websites. This allows the respondent to easily understand what subject area you are talking about so that when you switch to providing your message they are already thinking about that subject. In my case, the respondent could easily tell that I was asking questions about websites, they probably figure that my business has something to do with websites.
Keep Questions Open Ended
The survey questions should be as open ended as possible. This is not scientific, as it cannot be quantified in small sample sizes, but it is the best way to avoid leading the respondent to a perceived answer. They may feel that you are looking for a particular response. This can happen when you use a scaled response survey such as ratings of 1 to 5 or 1 to 7. In my own personal experience this type of survey is best left to academics. In most cases you are looking for opinions and experiences of an individual. Ask questions like, "Could you explain how you felt about the experience when you last purchased a car?"
Keep Things Brief
There should be no more than 10 to 15 questions on the survey. The fewer questions and the more open ended the better the dialogue with the respondent and the more valuable the information.
The Wrap Up
At the end of the survey when I ask if they are interested in more informati
Being familiar with your competitors is a valuable tool when you decide it's time for a new logo. Normally, your company will be competing directly against companies similar to yours; sometimes the competition will be much larger than you, and other times your company will be striving to beat out other small businesses. Regardless of whom you will be competing against, it's important to think about where you want to position your company in your market.For example, a lawn care company may want to position themselves as the affordable, reasonably priced alternative that offers just what you need with no nonsense, or perhaps you will decide you want your coffee shop to be very specialized and target higher income customers that demand more. On the other hand, you may want your real estate agency to focus on local residents in your community rather than people moving from out-of-state.Considering these things can go a long way when it comes time to design your logo. Decide where you want to fit in the competition. Do you want your company to look ready to go head to head with competitors by loo
Tuning in the Respondent
As you can see, these questions relate to only one specific service - websites. This allows the respondent to easily understand what subject area you are talking about so that when you switch to providing your message they are already thinking about that subject. In my case, the respondent could easily tell that I was asking questions about websites, they probably figure that my business has something to do with websites.
Keep Questions Open Ended
The survey questions should be as open ended as possible. This is not scientific, as it cannot be quantified in small sample sizes, but it is the best way to avoid leading the respondent to a perceived answer. They may feel that you are looking for a particular response. This can happen when you use a scaled response survey such as ratings of 1 to 5 or 1 to 7. In my own personal experience this type of survey is best left to academics. In most cases you are looking for opinions and experiences of an individual. Ask questions like, "Could you explain how you felt about the experience when you last purchased a car?"
Keep Things Brief
There should be no more than 10 to 15 questions on the survey. The fewer questions and the more open ended the better the dialogue with the respondent and the more valuable the information.
The Wrap Up
At the end of the survey when I ask if they are interested in more informati
If you have sent your resume in to apply for a job without writing a cover letter, the chances are that your details are just one in a pile of several or perhaps even several hundred. Your resume may be one of the best in the whole stack, but chances are, if you don’t have a good cover letter to accompany it, your resume will not even be seen.In today’s fast-paced world, you need every edge you can get. Probably the first thing the employer will do is sift through all of the resumes (that is, view the cover letters) and get rid of the ones that look like run-of-the-mill work. This is your opportunity to grab their attention and make them notice you right off the bat.There are two basic ways for writing a cover letter - paragraph form and executive outline form. Paragraph form is the more traditional and probably the most common type of cover letter used. Executive outline style, which offers the use of bullets, generally works for a shorter piece of content. Paragraph form is probably the neater of the two approaches, but also could be viewed as too long in some cases. So the type you choose may indeed de
Keep Things Brief
There should be no more than 10 to 15 questions on the survey. The fewer questions and the more open ended the better the dialogue with the respondent and the more valuable the information.
The Wrap Up
At the end of the survey when I ask if they are interested in more information about my company and services they already have an idea of what to expect and are more likely to be open to hear and receive my message because there is no surprise and I was not beating them over the head with message. I merely made them think about their website or lack thereof.
Script = Professionalism
Once you have developed your survey you should write a script. I know - I can hear your sighs now - you don't want to sound like a robot or just another telemarketer but the use of a script will ensure that you sound like a professional. The danger with a script is that it might not be conversational or may not consider the person on the other end of the phone. To avoid sounding robotic and like you are reading a script you should read it aloud to yourself. If you are unsure about how it sounds try it out on someone in your home or office. The worst thing you can do is to call up someone and start in with, "Uuuhhmmm, could I speak to - uuuhhmmm�"
Your script should include a brief introduction. In my case my introduction went like this, "Hello, Mr. Adams. My name is Jay Gilmore. The reason I am calling is that I am doing some market research for my business services company in your area and I wanted to get some feedback from fellow business owners, like yourself."
Note that I didn't mention the name of my company. This shows the respondent that I am a person calling to talk to another person - people like to talk to people and not businesses.
Removing the Common Objection
The next words that come off the script are very important, "I am not going to try to sell you anything, and I just want to ask a few questions to help in planning my business."
This has worked every single time to break through the, "I'm not going to listen to a sales pitch" instinct that so many business owners and consumers have developed over the years.
Ask for Their Time
Now that I have broken through their resistance I am able to request permission and their time to do the survey. Be respectful of the respondent's time by making sure that the survey may be completed in less than five minutes. Tell them how long it will take - and be honest. It is not very professional to lie or mislead people about the time you are asking them for.
Once the survey is complete you should conclude by thanking the respondent for assisting you with your research.
The Marketing Starts Now - Actually it Already Started
The marketing part is next. In closing you should briefly introduce your company and the service being marketed. An example would be, " Thank you Mr. Adams for all your help. I would like to let you know that my business, Joe's Flowers is a local flower shop that specializes in arrangements and designs from North American plants and flowers. Would you be interested in receiving more information about our services and our company?"
After answering questions in your survey about flowers and their buying habits they are probably ready to find more information about your company and its products or services. Get their mailing address and / or email address a
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