Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    It's Your Business It's Your Future: Success Can Be Yours
    It's Your Business It's Your Future: Success Can Be Yours
    It's Your Business It's Your Future: Success Can Be Yours
    Ebook131 pages1 hour

    It's Your Business It's Your Future: Success Can Be Yours

    By Judy Day Wilfong

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    It’s Your Business It’s Your Future is a business guide for earning more profit and attaining greater success through business practices that are easy to implement. You will get more customers, sell more products and services, gain more repeat and referral customers and make more money by applying the information. Every person’s future depends greatly on their ability to earn money and make good decisions. This book shows its readers how to do just that.
    It’s a must have for all business owners. New owners gain valuable knowledge that when put into practice can propel them toward success and help them avoid costly mistakes. For seasoned business owners it’s a fabulous refresher course or possibly it is new information on ways of providing customer services, building relationships, communicating more effectively and avoiding conflicts.


    It’s Your Business It’s Your Future is full of easy to comprehend information, practical lessons, tips, and strategies to apply in the day to day operations of any small business. The book is written in plain language. It’s packed with lessons, tips, strategies, and guidelines that are of great importance in running a successful business.  When the knowledge is incorporated in the day to day operations of any business… success is sure to follow. 

    It’s Your Business It’s Your Future has three sections. The first covers customer relationships and customer service, the second section discusses effective and efficient communication, and the third section is avoiding miscommunication and conflict.


    It’s Your Business It’s Your Future is a must have reference guide for all business owners and their employees. New owners gain valuable knowledge that when put into practice can propel them toward success. For seasoned owners it’s a refresher course or possibly different information about building relationships, communicating more effectively and handling conflicts.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateJan 1, 2013
    ISBN9781483501116
    It's Your Business It's Your Future: Success Can Be Yours

    Related to It's Your Business It's Your Future

    Related ebooks

    Small Business & Entrepreneurs For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Catch And Keep The Power Of Retention

      Jul 20, 2022

      IS CEO OF CUSTOMER RADAR. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS'EXPERIENCE AND BOTTOM LINE GO TO WWW.CUSTOMERRADAR.COM CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE There are few things more powerful to your business than delivering an exc

      2 min read

    • Article

      TLC Is Not Just About Tender Loving Care

      Jun 24, 2019

      FOR SEVERAL years, we worked with a business who was all about TLC. But in their organisation, TLC didn’t stand for tender loving care. To their team, TLC stood for ‘Think Like a Customer’ – and that drove everything they did. As businesses, we can a

      2 min read

    • Article

      Good To Great: Becoming An Irresistible Business

      Apr 18, 2023

      Every time we go to a business we go with an expectation of certain standards. If it's a café, we expect the coffee and food to taste good, and the employees should be polite, if not friendly. You know that your dentist is qualified and should provid

      2 min read

    • Article

      Building Credibility in Business

      Dec 31, 2019

      Building Credibility in Business
      3 min read

    • Article

      Grow Your Remote Business

      Jun 30, 2020

      Grow Your Remote Business
      4 min read

    • Article

      Visionary, Servant Leadership

      Dec 1, 2017

      DESIGNATION: Executive Head: Sales and Service, Business Banking COMPANY: Nedbank Limited SALES FORCE SIZE: • Number of sales people: 425 general and 167 specialist sales and sales management people, managed through a matrix management and direct

      2 min read

    • Article

      Roadmap to Greatness

      Aug 17, 2021

      Roadmap to Greatness
      2 min read

    • Article

      Gravy On The Side

      Apr 14, 2024

      Caring too much about my clients’ businesses was the bane of my bigagency life. I’d been on the end of too many internal conversations about ‘over-servicing’ clients, but I’m sorry, I think that’s simply BS. I don’t believe you can get the best for y

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Value of Your Work

      Nov 16, 2023

      The Value of Your Work
      5 min read

    • Article

      Straightforward Solutions And Strategies

      Apr 25, 2022

      HELLO, I’M CLARE – YOUR POSITIVELY CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVER I’M AT MY VERY HAPPIEST PARTNERING WITH BUSINESS OWNERS LIKE YOU TO STRENGTHEN AND CONFIDENTIALY MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD. WHEN NOT WORKING YOU’LL FIND ME OUTSIDE, RAIN OR SHINE RUNNING OR

      4 min read

    • Article

      All Roads Lead To A Great Customer Experience

      Jan 17, 2023

      Right now, with high interest rates and less cash to go around, business owners are rightly thinking about money. The main thought on your mind is probably ‘How do we keep the cash flowing?’ The answer, perhaps obviously, lies with your customers. Wh

      2 min read

    • Article

      How To Choose The Right Clients And Why It’s Important

      Apr 22, 2020

      It isn’t always easy saying no to projects and clients, especially with a looming recession and total uncertainty of Covid-19. Many companies will be scrambling for clients and taking on all the work they can. I don’t blame them. On one hand, the cas

      2 min read

    • Article

      Make No Mistake

      Oct 30, 2019

      Make No Mistake
      2 min read

    • Article

      Caring for Clients

      Dec 31, 2019

      Caring for Clients
      3 min read

    • Article

      Be Your Own Boss

      Jul 10, 2020

      Be Your Own Boss
      4 min read

    • Article

      JOSH MOORE Y&R NZ

      Mar 27, 2017

      JOSH MOORE Y&R NZ
      7 min read

    • Article

      Doing Well By Doing Good

      Jun 24, 2019

      Doing Well By Doing Good
      4 min read

    • Article

      Growth Through Insights

      Aug 28, 2019

      Growth Through Insights
      4 min read

    • Article

      Building Your Reputation, Online And Off

      Apr 20, 2022

      When you’re asked to name a good dentist, café, mechanic or any other kind of business, you’re being asked to stake your reputation against a previous experience. This happened recently in my neighbourhood’s online group. Someone asked for a good bui

      2 min read

    • Article

      What Is A Finance Function?

      Jun 12, 2023

      What Is A Finance Function?
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for It's Your Business It's Your Future

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      It's Your Business It's Your Future - Judy Day Wilfong

      pages.

      PART ONE

      Customer Relationships and Service

      CHAPTER 1

      A Business’s Most Critical Asset

      Being a successful business owner of any size business is one of the most challenging yet incredibly rewarding positions to be in. It’s a journey of self discovery. At the start of our business journey we aren’t fully aware of that fact.

      Most days we are juggling a multitude of responsibilities, running from one task to another, trying desperately to get everything done, to meet all our obligations, and to make everyone happy. Boredom is never an issue; there are always new demands and challenges to be met. Some challenges and problems are unnecessary, unwanted, and unrewarding. Sometimes our lack of knowledge and understanding, along with poor habitual behavior, results in our creating problems for ourselves.

      What are some of these problems that blindside you and waste your precious time? Doesn’t time mean money in business? You bet it does. Unhappy, upset, complaining customers take a huge chunk of our time, not to mention our mental and emotional energy. You probably spend more time and energy with an unhappy customer than with a satisfied customer. Wouldn’t it be heaven if most of your customers were happy with the service and products they received?

      All of us in business are in it to make money. If not, then it’s a hobby. There are many reasons to be a business owner: Loving what you do, pride of ownership, and being your own boss, just to name a few. The harsh reality is that we have to make money to stay in business and to make a living or we will not be business owners for long.

      Statistics tell us that most small businesses fail after five years. 2008 statistics on the SCORE website report that new business openings for 2008 were 627,200, closings were 595,600, and bankruptcies 43,546. Seven out of ten businesses last two years and fifty percent fail after five years. These numbers are extremely discouraging.

      Your business can be successful and profitable. In order to have money coming in, a business needs customers. Our number one asset and number one business priority must be our customers.

      If we don’t have any customers, then we don’t have any money coming in to pay overhead, much less a salary. Without money to pay overhead and have an income, we will eventually have to close our business and find a job. When that happens, we feel like failures. A failed business is costly financially as well as emotionally.

      We need customers to have cash flow, to have an income, to stay in business, and to be successful. Without customers, our business will cease to exist. Customers are extremely important, and when someone or something is important, we make an investment of time and attention. To be successful we must invest in our customers.

      To attract new customers, you are probably spending large amounts of money, time, and energy on marketing activities. Most businesses budget five to ten percent of gross receipts for marketing and advertising. The purpose of advertising is to attract new customers, assist in retaining existing customers, and build awareness of your business.

      What does it cost you to attract a new customer? Hopefully you keep good business records and track where every lead comes from. If not, I highly recommend you start immediately so you’ll be knowledgeable of your cost; it’s different for every business.

      To calculate your cost, divide the number of new customers you have had in a twelve-month period into your advertising expenditure for the same twelve-month period. My cost to attract a new customer in 2007 was $500. I had 60 new customers, and my advertising expenses were $30,000. Dividing $30,000 by 60 equals $500. Therefore, each new customer in 2007 cost me $500 in marketing dollars.

      Attracting new customers through marketing is expensive. Once you have new customers, you want to retain them and keep them satisfied and loyal, because you have invested a lot of marketing dollars. Also a satisfied customer tells other people about their experience with your business.

      A referral is when a new customer does business with you based on a recommendation from one of your existing customers. The cost of a referral to a business is nothing, absolutely nothing! We all need more referrals to succeed.

      A referral costs nothing in advertising dollars, and neither does a repeat customer, the customer who does business with us again and again. The repeat customer returns to the same business over and over because a relationship of trust and satisfaction has been built.

      Advertising is an important necessary expense, and I’m not saying you should ditch your advertising spending. The points I am making are these: Gaining new customers costs a lot of money, repeat and referral customers do not cost advertising dollars, and every single customer is important to your success.

      Since customers are critical to our success and repeat and referral customers don’t cost advertising dollars, we need all the repeat and referral customers we can get. The following chapters will help you cultivate repeat and referral customers through exceptional customer service and efficient, effective communication.

      CHAPTER 2

      The Basics of Building Customer Relationships

      Customer relationships are built with clear communication, fair business practices, quality products, and exceptional service. The most important elements in building customer relationships are trust and confidence. Trust and confidence are earned through effective communication and positive actions. This is essential to a healthy, profitable business.

      Customers who are truly satisfied with the job you do, plus the products and services you provide, will not take their business elsewhere. When people are totally confident in you and your business, they tell other people. Why? Because they feel good about their experience and they want to share it with others. This also proves to themselves, family, and friends their good judgment in selecting the correct business to patronize.

      Communication comes in many forms. You may not realize it, but you communicate with people in more ways than just words. Yes, the words are important, but just as important are your tone of voice and your body language. You know the old saying: It’s not what you say but how you say it. It’s not what you do but how you do it. Wow, it’s so true.

      You may know all the basic communication information and assume your employees do, too. But everyone can benefit from a review of communication information. Sometimes, we need to relearn things forgotten or things we never learned correctly in the first place.

      Basic communication skills are necessary in order to connect with people, understand one another, and have good, healthy relationships. (I’ll go into greater depth about communication in a future chapter.) The following information is elementary and applies not only to customers, but also to interaction with all people.

      These basic guidelines are applicable to all businesses such as retail stores, service-type industries, and businesses that sell or work in the customer’s home.

      GUIDELINES

      IN-PERSON GREETING

      Let’s begin at the beginning of communicating, as in a greeting.

      Acknowledge people when they enter your establishment. Say Hello, I’ll be with you in a minute or How can I help you today? Do not ignore them! I repeat, do not ignore them! Do not pretend you do not see them. Customers are insulted, or at the least a little peeved, when they are deliberately overlooked. Ignoring a customer sends the you don’t matter message.

      Do not judge a person by the way they’re dressed, and do not assume by their appearance that they are not your customer. When you ignore a customer (and anyone who enters your store is presumed a customer), you’re sending a powerful message without saying a word. You are rejecting them, not making them feel welcome in your place of business; in essence, you are telling them that they don’t count.

      EXAMPLE

      I went into a very expensive clothing store in my hometown to do some shopping and was totally and blatantly ignored by the staff. I wondered if I was invisible. Okay, I admit I was dressed pretty poorly in cheap flip-flops and all. It became obvious the staff was ignoring me after ten minutes of the silent treatment—not even so much as a nod of the head in my direction, or any eye contact. The three clerks working spoke to the other five or six customers as they entered the store, but not one of them acknowledged me. Needless to say, I was very insulted, and I haven’t returned. I told my family, Don’t bother shopping there, because they have a snobby attitude.

      My experience at that particular clothing store was unpleasant. I felt unwelcomed and rejected. The effects of the employee’s actions, unfortunately, will never be known to them or to the store owner. The store lost a customer and any referral customers I might have sent their way. Erroneously, they assumed I was not their customer because

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1