Visitor Tip of The Month - December 1998 - Don't forget to put your email/website here
Visitor Tip of The Month - November 1998 - Meta Tags - Add Competitors Names
Visitor Tip of The Month - October 1998 - Don't Lose A Customer Over A Store Policy
Visitor Tip of The Month - September 1998 - Gift Certificate for Increased Business -
Visitor Tip of The Month - August 1998 - Coupon Savings With Postcards
Visitor Tip of The Month - July 1998 - Go Where The Competition Isn't
Visitor Tip of The Month - June 1998 - Joint Distribution
Visitor Tip of The Month - May 1998 - Survey Incentive
Visitor Tip of The Month - April 1998 - Wow Customer Service
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Our Visitor Tip of The Month For December 1998 Comes From:
David Gipp
Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Bozeman, Montana 59718
http://www.gomontana.com/I'm sure I'm not the first to tell you that your web site and email address belong on your brochures, letterhead and business cards. Sometimes there are other places right under our very noses that we overlook.
David Gipp, of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, recently gave a World Wide Web seminar to a group of local business owners. He pointed out a very important place to put your email address and web site URL that no one had thought of. Most people don't even give this place a second thought.
Duh, it's your ANSWERING MACHINE, dummy. Boy, did we all feel stupid. People who are calling you after hours, for more information, could go directly to your web site look at your products and email orders.
Thanks Dave for a great web traffic tip.
For some really cool panoramic 360° pictures at the Chronicle site click here.
Our Visitor Tip of The Month For November 1998 Comes From:
Josh Reynolds
J-Tech Communications
201 South Wallace
Bozeman, Montana 59715
http://www.j-tech.netJosh is once again our Visitor Tip Of The Month. To those of you who have your own web-site, I don't have to tell you the value of "keywords." These are the words you place in the "Meta Tags" to aid the search engines, that use meta tags, in finding your site.
Josh suggests that you include your competitors' names in your keywords. If someone goes searching for your competition, by company name,...they might also find your page and check you out too.
Thank's again Josh for another great tip.
Our visitor tip of the month for October 1998:
Don't lose a customer over a store policy
My wife went out today to purchase new glasses. We had received a card in the mail for a 15% discount from one of the local optometrists. After the examination and frame selection she discovered she had lost the 15% off card. She was sure that she would lose the discount and began to plead her case. The doctor assured her they would honor the coupon and this made her very happy and greatly relieved. When she returned home and related the story to me, I thought of all the businesses I had dealt with over the years that were not so accommodating.
It's amazing to me that any business would go to all the trouble and expense of doing a promotion, getting a new customer in the door and then alienate them because they didn't bring the coupon or offer with them. I've even seen cases where the employee asked the customer to go home and get the coupon and come back.
If you are a business doing this type of practice...STOP NOW. I spent a good number of years managing video stores. We were always running "two for one" coupons somewhere or other and customers were always telling us they have the coupon but forgot it. Believe me, you will get to know the customers who are trying to "rip you off" very quickly. The vast majority of people are honest and are not out to take advantage of you. Take advantage of their business and make them a loyal customer.
Our Visitor Tip of The Month For September 1998 Comes From:
Josh Reynolds
J-Tech Communications
201 South Wallace
Bozeman, Montana 59715
http://www.j-tech.netGift Certificate for Increased Business
"We know the value of good customer service in our business." say Josh Reynolds of J-Tech Communications, a web page hosting and marketing design firm, in Bozeman, Montana. "When customers are pleased with our work and their cash registers are ringing, they tell their friends and associates about our business."
To help keep the phones ringing at J-Tech Communications, Josh offers a $25.00 gift certificate to customers who refer new customers who sign up for web site design and hosting with his firm.
According to Josh. "Satisfied customers and word of mouth referrals are our most effective form of advertising."
Thanks Josh, another great money making idea.
Our visitor tip of the month for August 1998 comes from:
Sandra Wright
Innkeeper, Timberwolf Creek Bed & Breakfast
Maggie Valley, NC
http://members.aol.com/TWolfCreekCoupon Savings With Postcards
I want guests to refer my bed & breakfast to their friends, so I am giving away postcards with a "$50 Off!" sticker on them. They can mail the card to their friends who plan to vacation here in the Smokey Mountains. This way the friend has the 'coupon', I've saved the postage :) and the card has been carefully scrutinized by at least two people!
Thanks Sandra, another great money saving idea.
Our visitor tip of the month for July 1998 comes from:
Steve Garcia
Professional Health Planning
Bozeman, MT
Go Where The Competition Isn't In the highly competitive world of health insurance, Steve Garcia of Professional Health Planning has discovered that there is a lot of business being missed by his competitors because he is willing to dowhat they are too lazy to do.
Montana is the third largest state in the union (147,000 square miles) with a relativly small population (800,000). In Montana, you have to do very well with each customer because they are few and far between. 5.4 people per square mile. This makes it necessary to go where the customers are, not let them come to you.
That's why Steve is up early (while the competition is still sleeping) and on the road to nearby small towns getting the business that competitors are missing. Arriving in time to hit small businesses and work the town during the day. Late at night, while the competition is enjoying "happy hour" and complaining about the lack of business, Steve is returning home with a pocket full of business. Where is the business your competitors are missing? Go Get It!
Our visitor tip of the month for June 1998:
Joint Distribution You might think Joint Distribution is some kind of drug dealing. No, but you might recognize it by other names like piggyback marketing or strategic marketing alliance. What we are talking about here is pooling the marketing efforts of two or more companies whose products or services complement each other. Working together, we want to realize a bigger bang for the bucks we spend on marketing or advertising.
A florist may team up with a wedding planing service. A plumber with an electrician. A travel agency with a site seeing company. Video stores and pizza parlors. The companies can share advertising costs, mailing lists, distribution channels, suppliers, and even office staff for some things.
Disneyland and McDonalds team up from time to time. Fast food and big budget movies have always been a natural.
Things to keep in mind. Make sure your alliance is with a company as reputable as your own. If you form this "partnership" their image will be transferred to you as well as you to them. A health store and a cigarette company may mean savings on advertising but is it beneficial in the long run? Probably not.
How do you form one of these alliances? Start with your suppliers. Do they sell to other people like you who are not direct competitors. Look within your own community for alliances with your church, schools, civic organizations. Who are the non-competing businesses in your community that your customers frequent. Check your local library for "Standard Rate and Data Services - Co-Op Source Directory" Lists 3,700 cooperative advertising programs offered by manufactures across the country. If not available at the library contact: Standard Rate and Data Service, MacMillan, 3004 Glenview Road, Wilmette, Illinois 60091.
Our visitor tip of the month for May 1998 comes from:
Don Hoyt
Farmers Insurance
Bozeman, Montana"Give customers a small incentive to complete your survey."
Surveys are one way companies collect information about their customers. These surveys aid in providing better customer service the next time you do business together. The more information your acquire about your customers the better you can service their needs in the future.
Think of the dollar amount that each customer generates over a lifetime. What is that dollar amount worth to you as a business owner? The next time you mail out a survey include $1 or $2 cash with the mailer and a personal note.
"Have a cup of coffee on me and thank you for completing the survey." "Great doing business with you."
This may not be the thing to do if you send out thousands of surveys -- but in a small town -- 5 or 10 surveys a week, its a small price to pay for the feedback.
Thanks Don.
Our visitor tip of the month for April 1998 comes from:
Chris Rorex
Data Archives
Johnson City, TN"Perform your customer service in such a way that leaves your customers saying,"WOW!"
Every business should be required to read "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. Only The Bible has sold more copies. Keep in mind that customer service doesn't start with the clerk at the counter or the person on the phone. That's where it ends. Customer service starts at the top of any business, The Boss.
Your employees will treat your customers in direct correlation as to how they are treated by management. More money per hour isn't the answer to good customer service. Employee recognition, high self-esteem, appreciation, by management, for their work is.
Studies show that employees who feel good about themselves and take pride in their company and their job deliver "WOW" customer service.
Thanks Chris.
