How to Avoid Scams ??? and Unneccesary Risks

(Lisa Pisa)

Also, it has four doors for some reason.

Severe weather could be headed for regions hard hit by superstorm Sandy, so many homeowners are scrambling to make repairs. The rush might make them vulnerable to so-called storm chasers — con artists posing as contractors. Host Michel Martin speaks with Angie Hicks, founder of the website Angie's List, for tips on how to avoid home repair scams.

When you hire a new sales rep, the last thing you want is to end up having to fire the person after a few weeks or months. That hurts the whole company. Not only have you invested time and money in this person, but customers and other employees tend to get nervous when they see a new hire walking out the door. Yet many companies throw salespeople into a new job without enough training or encouragement. Here are a few tips that will give your newly hired sales reps a better shot at success:

Poor customer service costs U.S. companies about $80 billion a year in lost sales, and more than 60% of those unhappy customers go to a competitor. Those figures – from Parature, a customer service software company – suggest that getting basic customer service right is critical for small (or any) businesses. Here are a few simple things you can do to improve customer service. Take the time to hire good people, and make sure they understand your brand and your customers.

Every business leader should be able to create a good strategy. Think of it as the intersection of two critical dimensions: where to play and how to win there. First, decide the regions, customer segments, product categories, and channels in which you will operate. Strategy is about doing some things and not others, so make clear where you won’t play as well. Then, find a distinctive way to win on your chosen playing field. Going to the same market with the same strategy as your competitors is a terrible move. Choose specific activities that are different from your competitor’s.

So, now I want to share some top tips to help avoid those traps and to get the best out of an important, and yet often perceived as arduous, process. You have spent many hours painstakingly writing your advertisement, to then sift through often hundreds of CVS, and then sent out the emails/letters to invite the lucky few in to meet with you, and get the opportunity to change their lives by joining your organisation. So, based on more than 20 years of experience, I’ve found the following tips have served me well….