Who Is Costing You Money?

Kelley Robertson

My wife and I recently needed to renew our mortgage for another term. The last time our mortgage was due, our bank called several months in advance and offered a good interest rate so we automatically renewed with them. This year, however, was a bit different. We decided to do a bit of homework before speaking to our bank so that we would be in a better position to negotiate a better interest rate. We did some research and found a lender who offered an extremely attractive interest rate—almost two full percentage points below the posted rate of our bank.

Armed with this information, my wife called our bank directly but was transferred to a call centre. Here’s a summary of the telephone conversation.

Call Centre Agent (CCA): Hi, may I help you?

My wife: Yes, our mortgage is coming up for renewal and the last time our mortgage was due someone contacted us several months beforehand but we haven’t heard anything from you yet.

CCA: No problem. What branch do you bank with? I’ll contact someone there and they can probably renew your mortgage over the telephone.

MY wife waited several minutes until the agent came back on the line.

CCA: I’m sorry ma’am. They don’t want to talk to you. Your mortgage isn’t due for six weeks so we can’t renew it right now.

Wife: I don’t want renew it yet. I just want to get some information.

CCA: There’s nothing they can do—it’s too early.

Wife: So no one will talk to me about this?

CCA: No ma’am.

Wife: My husband and I have received a quote from another mortgage company and they’re offering a good interest rate. Are you saying that we should go with them?

CCA: I guess so.

Wife: You really want us to transfer our mortgage?

CCA: There’s nothing we can do.

Wife: So you’re saying that you have no interest in keeping our business and renewing our mortgage?

CCA: I guess so.

Wife: Okay, I guess we’ll take our business somewhere else.

My wife and I were somewhat flabbergasted when she hung up the telephone. In my opinion, it was evident that no one had taught this particular call centre agent how to effectively deal with this type of situation. He clearly had no idea that his actions were costing his employers thousands of dollars. Or, perhaps that was what he had been taught to do. This may have been an isolated incident but I highly doubt it. Needless to say we started the process to transfer our mortgage to another lender.

I realize that banks make the bulk of their money in the first half of a mortgage. However, it still blew me away that they were willing to give their competition our business so easily. Most large lending companies invest millions of dollars in advertising in an attempt to attract and draw new customers. What if they took a portion of this money and taught their call centre agents how to properly deal with every type of situation? Imagine the money they could save.

So, how does this affect you?

If you run a business and rely on other people in the organization to make contact with your customers, you could be losing business due to their actions and behaviour. Invest the time and resources teaching your team exactly how they should behave, what they should say, and how they should respond to specific situations. A ‘throw away’ comment made by an untrained employee can cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars in sales depending on what you sell.

If you are a sales rep, think of how your actions and behaviour could cost your employer money in the form of lost sales and market share. And every sale they lose costs you job security.

By the way, we did eventually receive a call from our bank—four weeks later. It went something like this.

“Hi Mr. and Mrs. Robertson. It’s Debbie calling from your bank. I’m calling to remind you that your mortgage is coming up for renewal and I’d like to talk to you about the options you have.”

Obviously, the conversation we had with that call centre rep was not forwarded to the actual mortgage person at our bank. And once we told her about that conversation her shock, frustration and concern was quickly apparent. I’m sure she makes a commission or is responsible for achieving sales targets each month and the actions of her colleague in the call center cost her business.

Don’t let this happen to you! If you rely on other people to help you reach your sales targets, take the time to coach and show them exactly how to do it. Don’t let other people cost you money!

© 2006 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved

About the Author:



Kelley Robertson is a professional speaker and trainer on sales, negotiating, customer service, and employee motivation. Visit http://www.RobertsonTrainingGroup.com. He is also the author of "The Secrets of Power Selling" and "Stop, Ask & Listen-Proven Sales Techniques to turn Browsers into Buyers." Receive a FREE copy of "100 Ways to Increase Your Sales" by subscribing to his free newsletter available at his website

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Avoid 5 Mistakes For Your Retail Business

Joe Lee

Each year thousands of businesses fail, mainly because the owners never research and planned their business in detail. The variety of reasons for failure can be broadly summed up under the following headings. Take note and make sure you don't make the same mistakes.

Wrong location

In retailing, location is paramount. The world will not beat a path to your door simple because you have the 'right' product or service at the 'right' price.

Do not be tempted, as many other small business people have been, to take premises because the rent or purchase price is low or because you like the area. Your location should be chosen carefully in relation to access to your markets.

Don't commit the cardinal sin of assuming that just because you think the retailing idea you have thought up is a good one that everyone else will think the same and rush to become your customer! Many new hopes fail simple because the market is just not big enough to provide the necessary custom.

The market you intend to serve might be contracting rapidly, be too competitive, or, for all intents and purposes, non existent. Opening a shop without researching the market is similar to taking a job without asking how much you will be paid.

Little or no knowledge of their customers' buying motives

Many shops appear to have little idea of the type of customers they are serving. The result is the business cannot have any sales promotion / marketing strategy and may actually be unsure of what type of business it is in.

For instance a business selling clothes on price, when its market holds quality and reliability as its main considerations, will not maximize sales from that market. To keep the importance of this point in the forefront of your mind define your business in terms of its customers.

No systems or policy for selecting, training and managing staff

Few who enter small business for the first time have had experience of selecting, employing and managing staff, therefore, it is hardly surprising to find that many small businesses make costly mistakes in this area.

One dishonest or poorly trained employee can cost you all of your profits. Remember that, in generating and keeping custom, your most valuable asset will be well-trained sales staff.

Failure to keep records

Ask any small business person questions such as, 'How do this month's sales figure compare to last month's?' or, 'How much profit did you make this month?' and the likelihood is that the majority would not be able to give you an accurate answer.

The reason for this is that the have either not kept up to date with their records or don't have a proper and useful administration system. A shop founded and operated on this basis has little chance of success.

Without basic accounting information, your business could be nearing failure without you recognizing the problems until it is too late. In particular, retail businesses are prone to failure through theft of stock eroding profits.

A good stock control system is needed not just to closely monitor and control stock loss, but to give accurate sales information to enable you to buy in the right goods at the right time

About the Author:



Joe is an enlightened entrepreneur starting his business in an out-of-the-box way. With his experience , he compiled a report, "49 Compelling Headlines to increase your profit by 433%".If you are frustrated with your advertisement response rate, you may want to get this report at http://www.millionaire-idea.com

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Accounting Outsourcing Services Are Meant To Help You

Michelle Barkley

Are you worried about meeting client demand during the approaching tax session? Do you have a lot of pending work related to the management of your accounts? It all the more happens during the tax session that accounting firms have excess of workload. They are required to handle the management of balance sheets, profit and loss account, generating invoices or any other accounting work, so that things are updated at the time of tax submission. During the excess of workload, accounting outsourcing services can prove to be highly beneficial in terms of managing.

Basically, accounting outsourcing services aims at freeing you from the worries of appropriate tallying of the accounts. In the case of overload of work, it happens that the accounting firms may miss out some expense or the other to include in the accounts. These minor neglects can turn out to be huge problems in future for the accounting firms. In order to save your accounting firm from this problem, you can take the help of accounting outsourcing services.

Accounting outsourcing services deals with outsourcing bookkeeping and other accounting related works. The firms handling your outsourcing work will be completely concentrating on your work, so that the work at the right time. From checking your expenses to totaling them and making ledgers, accounting outsourcing services deals with everything. With the help of these services, you can pay attention to other fields of your business. It may happen that the other aspect of your business needs more attention, as they are directly related to the up gradation of your business. Accounting outsourcing services help you do this without any difficulty.

The tax session is very crucial. During this particular time, every accounting firm wants that they be in a position to help all their customers prepares their tax returns in time. Accounting outsourcing services come with various benefits. One of them is that such firms help you to save a lot of your valuable time. At the time of the overload of work, you waste the entire time in sorting out the daily expenses. In this case, other things are left unnoticed. The outsourcing firms create a place for your accounting firms to breathe in. Apart from this, you don’t have to waste time in checking every bill to be included in the accounts.

If you look at the amount spent on the in-house handling of this matter, it can rise to a boiling point. Accounting outsourcing services will help you to save your precious dollars. It is because the accounting outsourcing services does not include the expenses related to an employee’s salary, house or medical allowances or bonus. Your accounting firm has to bear the expenses of their service only. In this way, accounting outsourcing services proves to be a boon for your accounting firm in terms of work efficiency and its quick completion

About the Author:



Michelle Barkley is a CPA working for IFRworld. She specializes in Accounting Outsourcing services ,Back Office Outsourcing and tax returns preparation outsourcing.To know more and to use the services visit http://www.ifrworld.com

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College Entrance Examinations – The PSAT What?

Gene Grzywacz

Starting in high school the counselors, teachers and parents all start using acronyms. Now life is difficult enough and now everyone is throwing all these initials around expecting you to not only know what they mean, but to score well on them. Well never, fear, there are many college bound students in the same boat as you that are wondering what the heck a PSAT really is. Seriously, you should know what these initials are by now, but you still may not have a good grasp on what it really involves. This article will serve as a guideline and help you better understand this test that you are headed toward.

PSAT or Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test

The PSAT is kind of a practice test that helps students determine their placement and how much preparation they need before they take on the SAT. This can give you a good idea of how the questions are worded, what is expected and if the test is easy or difficult for you. Some students make the mistake of believing that because they aced the PSAT that the SAT will be the same and never even study. That is not advisable and it may be that you got lucky with the PSAT. So always, make sure that you prepare before any exam, unless you just have money and early mornings to blow!

The PSAT is made up of two reading sessions, two math sessions and one writing session. The questions are multiple choice or guess, as many prefer to say except for the writing portion of the test. The allotted time for the test is a little over two hours, but not everyone takes that long and others need the entire time. Two hours is not the maximum given, but only a guideline.

The reading sessions are approximately twenty-five minutes apiece and involves critical reading, vocabulary as well as determining the relationship between words. The most important part of the reading section of the PSAT is to ensure that you read the sections carefully. There are fifty questions in the reading section so it is important to adhere to a time schedule. Hurrying through this part of the exam will lower your score, because there might be a trick or two! Pace yourself to ensure that you are not carelessly answering the questions, but that you are not taking too much time either. Those taking the PSAT today will not have those all famous analogies to look forward to as they have been eliminated, darned of luck!

The math sessions are approximately twenty-five minutes apiece and consist of word problems, algebra, graphs, geometry and statistics. The match section consists of thirty multiple-choice questions and ten grid questions. Performance on the math section can be enhanced greatly with practicing and brushing up on math skills with a good PSAT preparation guide.

The writing section of the PSAT involves a thirty-minute allotment where the test taker is expected to answer questions based on a given writing sample. The student will answer multiple choice questions based on finding mistakes, poor sentence structure and other grammatical errors. The best way to prepare for the writing section of the PSAT is to practice with the given exercises in the PSAT study guide. There are thirty-nine questions that must be answered in thirty minutes in the writing section. Warning: many first time students fail the writing portion of the exam because they blow this section off.

A perfect score on the PSAT is eighty and the lowest is a twenty. Most students that are still in high school that take the exam score about a fifty. This could be greatly improved if the students made use of reference material. The mind gets better with practice and certainly over time, so it is imperative to study for the PSAT and SAT. On the Internet you will see a ton or study guides, courses and tapes that will raise your score. Many of these products will, but you need to make sure that you are getting a proven product. So, how do you know if it is proven or not. Look at the testimonials of other students, if there are no testimonials, avoid making the purchase. If others have benefited from the product than it is safe to assume that you can do the same.

Most high schools begin trying to get their junior and senior classes to take the PSAT. This is a great time to take the test to begin preparing in the areas that you need help in or scored poorly. If you start preparing early you can eliminate some of the stress and possibly even get more of an opportunity for financial aid and/or scholarship money. The quicker you have the SAT results the more likely you are to be granted money, that you don’t have to pay back. So, do not wait or put off taking the PSAT, consider it a practice and preparation for the SAT.

There are also several practice tests on the Internet, but are not all that you will need to prepare for the PSAT or SAT. Granted the free practice tests can give you an idea of the test type questions, but it is not a good preparation strategy. Do not fall into the "cannot afford it trap", find a way because the test is not cheap and you do not want to waste the money failing the test!

About the Author:



Gene Grzywacz teaches study skills and test taking to serious students. View other college tips by Gene.

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April Birthstone - Diamond

Suravi Tripathy

"By far the most precious and coveted of the birthstones, diamonds are formed deep within the earth where there is enough intense heat and pressure for carbon to crystallize. Diamonds are the main choice for engagement rings. The diamond also symbolizes the 10th and 60th years of marriage.

Diamonds are so beautiful that ancient Greeks believed they were splinters of stars that had fallen to earth. Some even believed that there were tears of the Gods. The exact origin of diamonds is a mystery to scientists and geologists.

India is thought of as having the first large source of diamond mining. Ancient Hindus called the diamond Vajra, meaning lightening because of the sparks of light that it emits as well as its incredible strength. By far the most beautiful stone on the planet, it is also known as the hardest substance in the world.

Diamonds are found today in Australia, Botswana, Russia, and South Africa.

For quite some time diamonds have been known for having certain medicinal properties. In the middle ages gemstones were thought to heal illness if the person took the diamond in their bed with them.

It is believed that Cupid’s arrows were tipped in diamonds so it makes sense that over the years this beautiful stone has gotten a reputation as being the gift of love.

Diamonds used to be reserved for only royalty and others who were entitled to their symbolism of strength and courage. In 1477 Archduke Maximillian of Austria gave a diamond ring to Mary of Burgundy and set a tradition of diamond engagement rings.

Interestingly enough early Egyptians believed that the vena amoris also known as the vein of love ran directly from the heart to the third finger on the left hand.

Giving a diamond for any reason is sure to be appreciated."

About the Author:



Published by http://MiltonGems.co.uk. Find a vast selection ofApril birthstone jewllery, as well as other great Birthstone jewellery..

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Buying From A Dealer

Ken Schulte

Buying a new or used car from a car dealership can be a daunting task. The Internet has made researching a car even easier than it was five years ago. There is a lot of good information out there and most buyers are more informed when walking into a dealer to buy a new or even a used car. Research is key. Knowing what sites to look at is also very important. Consumer Reports rates cars in a very stringent and efficient manner. If you follow their recommendations chances of you buying a reliable car are very high. Reliability is more important than looks or even price. Which car you buy now determines how much you spend keeping it up in the future.

Buying New

Knowing what the dealer pays is the first step in knowing what you can expect to pay. The smart guy wins in any negotiation. There is plenty of information out there that can tell you what the dealer pays from the manufacturer for the car. They will then tack on a lot of other pricing that brings it up to the Manufactures Recommended Sticker Price. They should really call it the dealers recommended sticker price, since this the price they would hope you will pay.

I always print out the vehicles that I have found and the price that is in print. Not too much can be argued with when you have it in writing. Also be respectful. Today’s salesmen are not the typical stereo types of the past. Although they will take your money, most of them know that they have to retain a good reputation since they most likely live in your town. Don’t be afraid to haggle and never take the first offer.

Buying used

The same research information advice for buying new cars applies for buying used. Always check the vin numbers of cars that your thinking about purchasing. It is very wise to get a car facts report to see if the vehicle has had any damage in the past. Dealers allow people to trade in older vehicles for new ones. They don’t give you the “best” price since they need to mark it up for profit. This is the area where you can negotiate. Used car sales are not the bread and butter of new car dealerships, so haggle.

General

Know what you want before you step one foot on the property. Pick out the model and make and even the color you like before visiting the dealer. You should already know exactly what you want before you ever step into the showroom. The only real reason to visit is to test drive the vehicle and do the paperwork. A salesman has a job to do, and that job is to not let you leave if he can sell you a car. Remember, it’s your money. Also figure out in advance how you want to finance the car. If you want to buy one with a promotion, make sure you know what your bank will finance and at what rate so that you can compare. The last part of the deal is trying to get you to buy add on services and products. Just know that is part of the game up front and be ready. Certain items are designed to play on the impulse purchase mentality.

If you do the research, then buying from the dealer is just a game. Play the game well and you will come out with a good deal. Use the Internet and all that it has to offer for research and you will be an excellent player

About the Author:



Buying a New Car and Buy without a Dealer, New Car Financing

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A Car Racer’s Badge

Kathy Austin

What is in Monte Carlo that Chevrolet named one its cars from it? This sounds like a $500,000-question in the famous game show “Who wants to be a millionaire?” Is it the casinos and Europe’s best resorts? Absolutely not. So it must be the Circuit de Monaco, the home of Formula One Grand Prix. One of the longest running and most respected car rallies marking the first event of the season during the World Rally Championship calendar is a regular event in Monte Carlo.

Chevy Monte Carlo has always been a sports car. In 1970, the model started as a two-door coupe resembling Pontiac’s G-body Grand Prix. Upon its retirement in 2007, it evolved as a mid-range two-door sedan. “On Tuesday, June 19, 2007, the last two 2007 Chevrolet Monte Carlo models rolled off the line at the Oshawa Assembly Plant [in Ontario, Canada]….. The two models features the "SS" 5.3L V8 Engine with its "best in class" rated 303 horsepower (226 kW); 18" polished aluminum wheels; heated exterior mirrors; and AM/FM/CD and XM Radio", the GM On-line Auction News announced in August 2007.

The Monte Carlo came out as a two-door, sports car looking model consistently. This is obviously to mark its difference from the Impala, the street variant of Chevy’s mid-sized sedans.

Maybe this Chevy model is already a part of history, but one should not forget its glorious days in National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) races. Every owner of this racing stock deserves a badge – a Chevy Monte Carlo keychain. These very affordable memorabilia are available in varying elegant designs made of distinct materials, such as leather (silver or gold plated), round Chrome (silver or gold coated), and stainless metal (round or oval) priced modestly at $6.99 a piece.

The name ‘Monte Carlo’ stands out over a black or blue crystallite dome attached to a silver, gold, Chrome or metal plate. In other variants, the old red, white and blue Chevy Logo is placed above the ‘Monte Carlo SS’ insignia. SS stands for the ‘Super Sport’ edition of Chevy models.

You may have won a NASCAR race with your Monte Carlo. You may have not won any official race at all, tried the underground race tracks and nearly got busted. But this faithful roadrunner always took you to work, to the beach or simply back to the comfort of your home.

I am sure you’ll agree with me. You chose Monte Carlo because racing is your first love. You’ve always felt that craving and need for speed, just like racing in that famous computer-simulated game called Need for Speed Series.

Do not hide this truth to your peers and the people around you. In today’s corporate rat race, your personality should be intimidating at times. Let your car do that thing for you. The more “I will not dare to race with this guy” remarks you’ve got, the more chances that lesser people will be joining you in the competition on the way to the top. Hang on to that grand car racer’s badge always

About the Author:



Kathy Austin is an internet marketer for Wholesale keychains. Check out the intricate designs of these Chevrolet Monte Carlo Keychains, they are crafted in stainless steel

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