How Event Management Will Build Your Events Successful

By Adam Woodham

When selecting event planning for your event, it is essential to remember that the company you select cannot guarantee the event can be totally problem-free. But what the event management services will do is enhance your event, and respond effectively to any problems which may arise.

Whenever you hold an event, you ought to make sure it's successful. After all, your clients can be there, your cutomers can be there, even your workfellow will be there, and even the general public (your potential clients) will be there, which means your event needs to be a success, at all costs. That's why it is terribly important to hire the correct kind event planning to make sure your event is one that everybody remembers. Your clients should walk away thinking their business is in the right hands as a result of you are therefore reliable, your bosses ought to walk away thinking that event was terribly successful and that you're a smart employee, and your colleagues ought to walk away thinking what a tremendous job you have done, they ought to look up to you. So just think that event management services can do that for you!

Thus why exactly should you hire event management services? Well, they can handle the full event for you, essentially, and they can provide solutions for a variety of things - ranging from services during the event to handling the guests at the venue. When choosing event planning, it is essential that you make sure you are obtaining quality-oriented service that offers reliable, quick service to its customers.

Whether or not you are holding a business campaign, or a promoting awareness event, or a noticeable and easy seminar, event management services are essential make sure your event is a resounding success. Bear in mind that a lot of individuals will be at your event, so you need to make sure that there are skilled team organizers and managers to assist you out along with your publicity and sleek functioning of the event.

There are many event management services out there that are well-known as a result of of their dynamic participation in events. Therefore if you're promising a business delegation, or holding a fundraising event, you need to rent the suitable event manager, brief him accordingly, tell him what services you require, and he would surely do the needful. A number of the event management services out there even give Press and Media publicity, thus simply think - you're saving on your advertising costs and can get articles published in the newspapers about your event. Therefore the entire city will be talking about you and your company, provided that event is successful - and that is the responsibility of the event manager, to create it so. - 31979

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Information Marketing is a Smart and Well Planned Business in All Economys

By Debra Thompson Roedl

Information Marketing is a Smart and Well Planned Business in All Economys

With the economy taking a serious nosedive and not righting itself yet, of course everyone has been worried about where they are going to be employed and how they are going to earn money to provide for themselves and their family. One of the possibilities that some people fail to look into or take advantage of is information marketing. No matter what state the economy is, information marketing can be a very well thought out and smart and sound business to dive into.

Information marketing has many advantages over other kinds of businesses. The traditional business model for any kind of marketable product depends heavily on upfront costs and debts. You all need to purchase materials to produce your marketable product. You all also then need to construct or create the marketable product itself, store the marketable product as inventory and then deliver the marketable product to your customer through shipping or through a physical storefront. All of this adds up to a huge sum of costs and debts and expenses.

Today, bank loans are harder than ever to get. This is due to all of the loans that have been defaulted on and all of the banks that have gone bankrupt. Not only are loans harder to come by now, but if all of you do manage to get one your rates won't look particularly pretty.

On the other hand, if all of you think all of you can manage to get by without taking on a loan, then all of you are putting your own money on the line for a product before all of you ever get to see any returns. Additionally, the costs continue to pile up as all of you always have to be buying more to sell more. All of you can be digging yourself a whole that can be very hard to climb out of. It's these kinds of conditions which keep the economy struggling and which keep all of you from pursuing your passion.

With information marketing on the other hand you can eliminate all of these worries. You don't need to purchase any materials or manually produce a physical product. You don't need to store inventory and you don't need to have any system to deliver the product to customers besides a simple digital platform. In other words, nearly all of your costs are eliminated, which allows you to focus on something we all enjoy a bit more, the profit.

Making information marketing even more attractive is that the products all of you sell with information marketing will maintain their popularity or even soar to new heights as the economy lags. Many information products are about how to make money, about transforming hobbies into income, about creating your own online or at home business and so forth. This are things that people are always interested in and particularly so during these kinds of tough economic times.

Therefore, information marketing is a smart business model no matter what the rest of the economy is like. You'll see that nearly all of your costs are eliminated, and your products will still have a vast potential market to work into. Information marketing can help you succeed when other business models come up short. - 31979

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Automobile Liability Insurance To Protect Your Assets

By Adriana Noton

The state laws of every state in the USA require that you carry Car Liability Insurance on your vehicle. This coverage pays for damage that you cause to persons or property in an automobile accident when you are at fault. The laws regarding this insurance are determined by the individual states. This means that the requirement varies by state. In some states you will find that the state minimums are lower than in other states.

In addition to being required by your state's laws, liability insurance also protects other properties that you may own. When damage is done or injuries are caused in an accident, if your insurance coverage is found lacking, you can be held personally responsible and your personal property can have liens placed against it. These liens can prevent your from getting a loan or must be satisfied before the property can be sold.

When you purchase liability insurance it the policy is often referred to in three numbers, such as 10/20/10. These numbers would indicate that the policy offers ten thousand dollars in personal injury protection for each person that is involved in the accident with a cap of twenty thousand dollars per accident. Additionally, the coverage would pay up to ten thousand dollars in property damage. While these limits seem low, there are states that actually have lower limits.

Since most state limits are too low, it is a good idea to carry more insurance than is required by the state laws. Your insurance agent can give you a good idea of the amount of insurance that is needed to protect your assets.

Your state DMV will be able to tell you the minimum amount of liability insurance that is required for your vehicle. In addition, they can tell you about penalties for allowing insurance to lapse. In an effort to cut down on the number of uninsured motorists, many states have enacted laws that require the insurance company to notify the DMV if your policy lapses for even one day. While the effort to cut back on uninsured motorists is appreciated, you can get into a sticky situation if you forget to pay your policy premium.

States are finally penalizing persons with more than a slap on the hand for driving without a license. Many states will cancel your registration for the lapse in insurance until you can prove that you have insurance and pay an administrative fee. With subsequent incidents the penalties become larger. Some states will impound your vehicle for six months and charge you for storage.

If you need to purchase liability insurance, request quotes by using the net. Many companies offer instant quotes for the insurance that you need. Compare the quotes to find the coverage needed for your vehicles and at the best possible price to pay for insurance.

If you want to keep the cost of your liability insurance low, learn to drive defensively. This can save you money in a couple of ways. If you drive defensively, you are less likely to get a traffic ticket. In addition, you will avoid accidents. In addition to saving money you may save your own life or the life of family members. - 31979

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The Power Of Outdoor Teak On Furniture

By Steve Wickham

Teak furniture is unquestionably one of a form in wooden furniture. It's finish, gloss and also the honey couloured shiny texture is enough to form all furniture connoisseurs delight and end of their rummage around for the proper raw material for furniture. This raw material is though particularly well-known for outdoor teak furniture and patio teak furniture. Teak, a tree typically found in South and Southeast Asia, can turn out to be very big and are deciduous and like Cedar with it's natural oils are excellent for exposure to the weather.

Patio teak furniture is durable to any or all sorts of weather, it can be left out aspect on raining or bright days however the design of the outdoor teak furniture you own depends on the sort of finish you decide on for it. Before shopping for the outdoor teak furniture one needs to check the quantity of oil on the surface of the teak, you must erase it with piece of wet fabric to take away all traces of dirt assembled on the furniture and leave it outside for a few days. This will offer you an idea of how durable the wood is, once the oil left on the surfaces is removed.

A patina or a natural finish can be most excellent for your patio teak furniture and not paint as the oil of the teak will forestall it from adhering to the surface. A natural finish provides the teak a rich, deep golden brown wood color perfect for the old-home look. But this needs a little bit of effort from your side to keep the patio teak furniture looking new as ever.

A special teak protector has got to be very rigorously applied each season for a brand new look, and also dry it with utmost care.

Teak will be used for the creating of outdoor teak furniture like chairs and dining sets in gardens, back yards, deck areas, patios, pools, pool yards and sunrooms apart form teak benches, popular for their conditions resistance quality. Patio teak furniture also consists sun loungers and recumbent seating as well as Adirondack also referred to as Muskoka chairs with their high backs, contoured seats, and their wide arm rest, a massive hit at bistros and cafeterias. - 31979

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The Importance Of Successful Events

By Joseph Devine

All of you experienced that when you hold a skilled gathering of some sort, the right event management is terribly important. You need to make sure your guests are taken care of, your guests feel relaxed, and that the whole event comes off well. Event management companies are specially trained to do all this. A dynamic participation in the event is required to make it a hit, thus whether you are holding a business delegation, or organizing an event, you must to find the right kind event management to make sure your event stands out.

Conferences, meeting organizations, signing of business deals, speeches, seminars, etc. - there can be several kinds of programs organized. There are many different kinds types of event management companies out there who will tackle the required work for you. Do be sure to inform the company regarding what type of event it's, how many guests are expected and what kind of guests they're, what the event management company's responsibilities would consist of, etc.

Conferences and group discussions are held almost every day, and they're an essential part of any business, not just for clients but also for bringing the individuals of the corporate together. To push your business, you need to carry regular events, and to make sure those events come of properly, you need to search out proper event management companies. Are you holding a trade and product exhibition? Are you holding a photograph shoot? Whatever the case could be, you would like to urge your brand out there to local and international customers, you wish to inform the general public about your products. This is often only potential by hiring proper event management - as they can advertise your brand to the people and produce about a positive influence.

It is necessary for you to boost your business and industrial product through the proper kind of events. To ensure that your customers are glad, to ensure that your clients are happy, to get correct international investments, you must have successful event management to create the event come off well. A detailed planning and a consulting process will be needed, and you need to guide your event manager through the procedure.

Event management services typically include crowd control, exit and entry plans, and management of inebriant, identification and involvement of key stakeholders, promotion and media ways, medical care, security systems, planning process, entertainment considerations, and looking after the guests.

So how do you discover correct event management companies? Well, you can ask your colleagues for recommendations, or you'll even flip through the Yellow Pages, as there are certain to be listings there. You may also consult the Web with a few straightforward search terms, and you're guaranteed to get several results. - 31979

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Commercial Collection Agencies Are An Important Part Of Your Business' Positive Cash Flow- Here Are Some Reasons Why

By David P. Montana

No matter what the size of your business is, positive cash flow is a crucial element, which means that collections should be one of your top priorities. At the same time, collections is a process that makes a lot of people uneasy, meaning that they sometimes procrastinate on doing it in favor of other, more pleasant duties. For many businesses, employing commercial collection agencies is the answer.

You may be wondering how to go about finding the right one among tons of commercial collection agencies, though. The first step is to investigate agencies to make a list of those who accept payment as a percentage of the recovery they achieve. So many commercial collection agencies do this that there is no reason to hire one who requires upfront payment. If they are confident in their abilities at commercial debt collection, they will be content with taking their fees when they're successful.

Recognizing the time and effort required to get a new client makes the process of hiring commercial collection agencies a no-brainer. First you have to identify prospects, then pitch to them, then close the deal, then perform the actual work. At the end of this process you still have to get paid. If some of your existing clients have open receivables that have gone past 90 days, it's a lot more efficient to get a professional to obtain that money for you as soon as possible while you're working on finding new clients and getting more business from existing clients who pay on time.

Commercial collection agencies have more clout with clients than in-house debt collectors as well. Chances are if your client isn't paying on time, he or she has major cash flow problems and is playing triage with bills. The vendor who shows a serious commitment to debt collection by hiring commercial collection agencies is the vendor that will get paid first when there's not enough money to go around.

Commercial collection agencies also successfully recover the bulk of their receivables in three weeks or less. We all know in business that time is money, and getting that money quickly helps both your cash flow and your credit score. In addition, the longer a debt is outstanding the more likely it is to remain unpaid, so early recovery is extremely important in debt collection.

Commercial collection agencies are experts at recovering receivables quickly. Studies have shown that once the collections process starts in earnest, people who are going to pay are most likely to pay within the first month. Having a persistent debt collector on the case greatly increases the chances of obtaining that money in the first month.

Commercial collection agencies are more effective at the collections process because they've seen and heard it all. They know how to recognize the patterns of debt avoidance, and don't allow clients to emotionally manipulate them, which can be a problem if you're handling collections yourself.

Skip traces can also give you an idea of any judgments outstanding against the debtor, which can help you decide how far to pursue the collections process. If your commercial collection agency provides this service as part of their fee, it's a significant reason to choose them. - 31979

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How To Sell Services To Big Companies By Avoiding The Treacle Effect

By Ian Brodie

When you're selling products or services to corporates progress can often be painfully slow - like you're "wading through treacle". Often the problem, however, is not the speed of the big company's decision-making process per se - but your lack of understanding of that process and how to manage it.

When you're selling products or services of any significant size to a large company you'll almost always have to deal with a complex decision-making process. And unless you're lucky enough to be selling directly to the CEO, there'll be multiple levels of decision-maker, multiple budgets to be allocated, and an approval process of seemingly Gordian complexity.

Incumbents can often have a big advantage over new suppliers because they understand the complexities of the clients' decision-making processes. However, a newcomer can catch up relatively quickly if they're prepared to discuss decision-making openly and frankly with their potential client.

Sometimes this can feel embarrassing or risky. It can feel like you're trying to "play the politics" of the situation. But the reality is that effective selling relies just as much on the politics and emotion of client decision-making as it does on the rationality of product features and benefits. If you believe in your product and it's in the client's best interests to buy it - then it's your duty to make sure it happens. And frequently, your clients themselves are less than expert in steering through their own decision-making processes - the coaching you can provide to guide them through this will be much appreciated.

Like many things in sales, the key to navigating the decision-making process is to ask good questions.

Firstly, it's vital to identify the key players in the decision making process and to understand their motivation. Typical questions you might ask are:

* Who else in the organization is touched by this issue? * What do they see as the root of the problem? * What benefit would they see from getting these issues resolved? * How important is this issue for them and is now the right time to be addressing this issue?

Drawing out a decision or stakeholder map with the client at this point can be hugely beneficial - as long as they don't begin to feel you're being too manipulative or self-serving.

In addition to the individual stakeholders, it's also critical to understand the stages of the decision-making process.

* What are the approval levels for different types and amounts of expenditure? * What is the timetable for making investment decisions (e.g. a quarterly or monthly financial review board)

If you understand the answers to these questions you'll be able to meet up with the right people at the right time to maximise your chances of winning a sale. - 31979

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ISO 9001 Consulting What Does It Do?

By Sean Elstins

What exactly is ISO 9001 and what does the ISO 9001 Consulting person do? It's a standard that has been set up for the international standards that need to be met in products. Set into place to help protect the public and consumers in the world. This ISO 9001 deals with all organizations that are out there whether public or private sector.

Many will wonder why these companies will even worry about meeting the ISO in the first place. But it's really a simple thing, because if you have people who are not happy with your standard of products you place out. Well quite simply your business will be one that will most likely fail sooner or later. But with the ISO consulting team you can make sure that your organization is meeting those standards.

One's that will have been tried and tested in the past by other companies. Since it's a standard it means that everyone is trying to reach the same requirements. Though with many companies they like the distinction of being unique. This ISO does say that you need to reach the requirements but doesn't set up just how you need to meet them. So that does provide companies for a chance of being unique.

As the consulting person you will need to make sure that the ISO 9001 is working correctly. This will be done by auditing the system. Managing it correctly to make sure everything is being done effectively too.

Organizations may actually invite clients at times to do audits. This will be a great way that they will be getting the confidence of people who are buying their products. By doing this they will be able to establish that they are delivery those products they offer with the requirements that are in place.

Some companies may employ their own consulting person, or they can hire an outside company to audit for them. As a consulting person you could audit many different organizations to make sure they are following the ISO in the right ways.

The hiring of an outside company is one that is a very popular choice. One because it's a third party that is doing the audit, and normally that will mean fewer audits overall. Because people will trust that third party to have done the job correctly and will trust what they have found. So a consultant needs to be thorough in their certification process of an organization. After all these ISOs have been set up to protect consumers.

After all the consumers of the world are depending on you to make sure they are getting products that are reliable and of the best quality. They will be able to know that you have checked for any safety and health requirements that may have been missed too.

Finally, since this ISO is in place it will provide consumers with more options of products. Also keeping the pricing of those products that are like more competitive. It's a fair market and one that will make the consumers happy. So if this sounds like the job you would like check out how to become a consultant. - 31979

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A Few Benefits Of Strategy Consulting

By Nathan D. Clark

Most companies are founded on a dream and vision for creating a product or providing a service that is needed by consumers. As the business grows, the dream and vision remain, but the operations and function of the infrastructure of the company often do not provide the strategies that are necessary to sustain growth. There are many benefits when a strategy consulting firm is included in the planning and implementation of growth and management.

Among the multiple benefits of using an strategic group is that they are able to provide the unbiased and objective set of strategies that will help to bring the dreams of the company in line with the reality of business growth. Providing an effective plan and strategy to generate growth and create the competitive advantage in your industry that will grow your bottom-line.

Management consulting firms that are large and established often offer strategy consulting as part of their overall service package. Strategy planning and implementation is critical to successfully managing a business. When you are looking for the group that meets your requirement having clearly defined goals and expectations will help you to identify the group that will best fit your business needs.

When meeting with potential strategists, it will be important to have clearly defined goals and expectations established for the consultant to work from. Many goals and expectations are created in reaction to current or past events and are not made in a proactive way. By beginning a strategy that proactively addresses goals and expectations the strategist is able to build on the success of the business and create plans for growth more easily.

The strategy consultant that is selected must have several characteristics that will provide the business with the effective plan required to grow and achieve the goals that are established. This will require that the group and consultant have a thorough knowledge and background of the specific industry that they are going to serve.

There are many minute differences in industries that can impact their growth and success. The only way that an outside consultant can effectively address the specific needs of the business is to have a working knowledge of the intricacies of that industry.

When you are comparing consulting groups, reviewing the credentials and background of the firm will be helpful. More importantly will be the references provided by the firm from business owners in your industry. A firm that uses the correct language but lacks the references from your industry will require careful consideration before you make a commitment.

Working with the CEO and leadership team, the strategy consultant develops a strategy for growth that enhances and builds on current successes and identifies and rectifies challenges. The coaching that is provided is holistic and includes strategies for creating the momentum required at all levels of the organization to embrace changes that are needed to take advantage of opportunities.

The strategy consultant will work closely with you and your leadership team to identify opportunities that have the highest value and address critical challenges. They work with stakeholders within the organization to reduce resistance and provide the tools for leaders to effectively implement change management throughout the organization.

Using a strategic consulting coach provides a business owner the ability to fine tune their organizational infrastructure and create a dynamic and thriving foundation upon which their business and dream will grow easily. - 31979

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Top 6 Contributors to Failing Projects

By Sarah Adams

Software development relies on client requirements to a large extent. So when these requirements are not provided at the beginning, it is tedious to develop module iterations on a continuous basis. Because of these reasons, project failures are quite common these days.

There are other important factors that are also contributors to project failures. They include: Shortage of Requirements: This can be considered as the primary cause for any project failure. Since most project teams proceed with the project before they gather requirements completely, it has a negative impact on the project. Improper Planning of Project Schedules: This problem occurs when module delivery dates are not monitored on a regular basis or when issues are kept unresolved for days. As a result schedules are bound to go berserk.

Communication Problems: Client requirements will change are frequently. But, if a manager fails to communicate to the client about the risks involved in changing the requirements often, then projects do not go beyond the start stage. Poor Analysis of Cost/Time: If the assessment on cost and schedule is not conducted properly, then the estimates will not reflect the actual need or the delivery data of the project.

Inadequate Documentation Proper documentation can help the team members to verify or to rectify mistakes when the project gets stuck. Poor Testing and QA Due to the absence of centralized control over testing, projects may fail to conform to user requirements on a timely basis.

Saving Failing Projects: Although the project manager is the ideal person who can set the whole process right, if for multiple reasons the project fails take off successfully, it is ideal to use the services of IT consulting services. These services are capable of performing bootstrapping to failed projects efficiently.

IT service teams 1. Have review teams that analyze original requirements, the design, programming tools, code etc and make changes, if required. 2. They have excellent IT infrastructure and skilled teams who can change provide timely solutions to the project. - 31979

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The Top Reasons To Use National Collection Agencies

By David P. Montana

When you're trying to pick collection consultants to handle debtors for your business, you should seek out national collection agencies. In virtually every instance, national collection agencies just have more to offer for you.

The first reason a national collection agency will trump a small local agency is their greater number of resources. Any business which has enough funds to operate offices in each state is going to be better equipped to collect on your debts. An example of this is the fact that over 50% of US states require that anyone doing collections have a license. The licensing procedure takes time and costs money.

A local collections agency simply isn't outfitted properly to handle collection calls all over the country. A national one will be aware of all legal requirements, whether it's licensing or the time of day they're allowed to call debtors. Since they're representing you, you need to make sure they're acting within the law at all times.

National collection agencies have well-trained staffs and make the commitment to continue this training even for their most experienced employees as collection techniques evolve. The debt management industry is very different today than it was even three years ago, and it's crucial that you hire a firm that continually improves its practices if you want your collections to be successful.

Because they are more prestigious, national agencies get the cream of the crop when it comes to collection employees. They are also more likely to impress debtors into paying something. They will realize you mean business when you have a national debt collection firm representing you.

National collection agencies make the effort to hire specialists within each industry as well. Whether it's medical collections, bank collections or consumer collections, each industry has its own unique concerns and you need a collection agency that will have multiple people skilled in your business's area.

National agencies have an advantage when it comes to time as well. They have larger staffs so they keep longer business hours, and with offices in each state, you don't have to worry about time zones. If you need to collect on accounts on the West Coast and your collection agency is on the East Coast, you'll be missing out on some prime opportunities to reach the client due to time zone issues.

Finally, national collection agencies use advanced computer utilities that facilitate communication and allow you to check up on their activities. With most of them, you can monitor your account online in real time whenever you want. This is far preferable to the monthly reports that smaller agencies tend to send out. You want to check up on the rate of return, how quickly they're getting your money back, and other details, and the best way to do that is by having access to your own files. Most smaller agencies just can't offer this, so if keeping informed is important to you, you'd best consider national collection agencies. - 31979

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HR Consulting: How To Elevate Business With Help

By Adriana Noton

All the big guns in business know that proper management of human resources is an imperative to business success. It doesn't matter if the company has just been set up or if it has been running on a profit for years - there is almost always a way to make things better and HR consulting firms have a way to do that.

HR consulting services, in a nutshell, involve the efficient management of people and policies within a business. Companies bring in this outside help when they feel that optimization of various structures, as well as proper implementation of policies, will benefit the group on a whole. This may involve ideas being offered or complete reconstruction, but the end goal is the same - better employee management results in more profits.

Owing to the varied nature of the different angles these consultancies can take, proficiency across many different fields makes the best consultant. Experience in the accounting, financial and legal fields provides aspiring consultants with the necessary scope they may need to handle a companies HR problems. Consultants should be go-getters, full of energy and the ultimate people person to get the job done properly. A background in industrial psychology is also beneficial.

It is this well-based, educated and experienced mind that companies are after. They need an outsider, an expert free of the company who can offer objective advice. This advice will be used to streamline processes and policies, removing ineffective measures and economizing the business. For seedling companies, this proves invaluable. With little or no human resource management that is so common in these young groups, they benefit greatly with the experienced pointers.

For those small companies that have been around for a while, but began to gather dust owing to inactivity, outside help can be the vital kick-start needed to jump the company back to life. By pushing through policies and implementing standards such as work codes and employee handbooks, recruiting a consultant can provide the spit and polish necessary.

In larger companies, the services of outside consultants are generally enlisted for polishing and restructuring already existing structures that are believed to under-perform. Generally this involves the tweaking of the human resources department, but sometimes the department may require a complete revamping to ensure good efficiency and effectiveness.

Consultants provide more than just their expertise and knowledge to their hirers. They bring a wealth of experience and, in some cases more importantly, a well developed network. This allows them to catch all the right fish - the qualified employees with the right attitude to step up the company's profits and quality. Besides this, HR consultants also provide invaluable assistance with employee benefit systems (such as healthcare), accommodating a win-win scenario for all in the company hierarchy.

HR consulting is clearly an avenue worthy of investigation for companies in all stages of development. The point is not just to do business, but to do business well. An outside helping hand gives a firm or group the pull it needs to elevate above the rest. - 31979

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How To Write A More Effective Demand Letter

By David P. Montana

If you are handling your own debt collections in house, then you already recognize the need to periodically send demand letters to delinquent customers.

Most business owners opt for the gentle option of sending a friendly reminder notice to act as their collection letter, hoping that payment has simply slipped the customers mind temporarily.

These are often effective, but they can be improved by learning some tips to help you write a better demand letter. This can help make customers want to pay you sooner, as opposed to later.

1. Careful Professional Wording

Demand letters should never be written in a threatening, harassing or abusive tone. Some delinquent customers may get defensive, perceiving your letter as threatening, even if it wasn't meant as such. This can have negative consequences, not the least of which is that the customer won't be in the mood to pay you. It can even result in legal retaliation.

Always keep your collection letters professionally worded so that your customer is reminded of their unpaid debt and encouraged to pay. The gentle encouragement is usually enough to reassure your customers that theyre not being attacked and many will find a way to pay their debt.

2. Be Accurate

Your collection letter should state the exact amount the customer owes and when the payment was due. You may also want to mention the services or goods provided as a reminder, although this isnt always necessary. Where possible, try to keep your letters brief and to the point.

3. Payment Settlements/Arrangements

If some customers are avoiding all contact, you might want to offer a payment arrangement. They might be ashamed of admitting financial difficulties, and a payment plan with smaller payments over time might be more financially manageable for your customer.

They could become more cooperative after being offered payment arrangements, because smaller payments are less financially stressful.

4. Penalties And Late Fees

Mentioning the possibility of late fees or penalties might be a further incentive for some customers to pay. Your demand letters could mention tacking on additional late fees if the account continues to remain delinquent. Faced with the possibilities of still more fees, some customers will find the money needed to pay the debt.

These suggestions can increase the cash flow to your business, by receiving smaller payments over a period of time. They will also encourage your late-paying customers to pay their past due accounts.

If youre dealing with your debt collection procedures in-house and writing your demand letters yourself, you must not imply that a debt collection agency is involved in the collecting.

You also have to exercise caution, that none of your language contains any threatening language of any kind. For instance, you cannot threaten legal action if you're not actually working with an attorney. You can't threaten to garnish a debtor's wages, nor can you imply that you're working with a government agency to collect your debt.

Its also a violation of federal statutes to try to make your demand letter look like its been written and sent by a state or federal agency or from a court.

Use your own regular business stationary and keep your writing tone professional and encouraging. As a general rule, send two letters approximately 30 days apart. If youre still not meeting with any success, then it may be time to consider alternative methods of debt collection, which may include appointing an agency to assist your collection methods. - 31979

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Run Better Sales Meetings To Win More Sales

By Ian Brodie

How many meetings with clients have you been to that were aimless, unstructured and poorly planned?

For most professionals, the answer is "far too many".

And the problem is exacerbated when it comes to sales meetings. A mistake so early on in the relationship can kill it off before it's started. After all, what client is going to want to work with a professional when their meetings with them don't seem to add any value of make any progress?

Yet so many professionals try to "wing it" with little preparation and only vague objectives for the meeting such as "get to know each other" or "find out their issues".

If you try to "wing it" like this, you'll find that again and again, opportunities slip through your fingers. Senior clients won't invest their valuable time in meetings which don't seem to go anywhere and where they don't get value from the interaction.

A Structured Approach to Client Meetings

If you want to get more clients and win more business from your sales meetings, you need to add structure to them.

UK copywriter Andy Maslen has a neat acronym to help writers approach sales copy. And the approach can be extended very effectively to client meetings too.

The acronym is KFC:

K - Know

F - Feel

C - Commit

Start at the end with Commit. At the end of the meeting (or after reading the sales copy in the case of a copywriter) what is it we want the client to commit to - to do differently? It could be to agree to a joint meeting to agree a proposal, or an introduction to the finance director who must approve the budget, for example. Then, you think through what the potential client must Know and Feel for them to be comfortable making that commitment.

Start with a Clear and Realistic Objective

Every meeting with a client or prospect needs a clear objective for what you want to achieve from the meeting. In particular, you must clarify what you want them (not just you) to do as a result of the meeting. After all, if they don't do anything differently, what was the point of the meeting?

Even if your goal is primarily to progress the relationship in some way - that progression needs to manifest itself in meaningful action. It may be something simple like providing more information, or making an introduction, or agreeing to a joint follow-up - but it needs to be something or the relationship really hasn't progressed.

The objective must be appropriate to the phase of your relationship too. Although your final goal may be to sell them your services, that's not likely to happen in the first meeting. Selling professional services takes time to build up the trust and credibility needed for the client to be comfortable hiring you.

A more appropriate first meeting objective is to identify the areas when you and the client could potentially work together, and to agree a follow-up to discuss them in more detail - with both of you doing "homework" to prepare for that meeting.

Drill to the Know and Feel

Having a clear meeting objective is important (and it's surprising how many professionals don't actually do it) - but on it's own it's not enough.

You also need to identify what it will take to achieve that objective in the meeting itself. This is where the "Know" and "Feel" elements come in to play.

If, for example, your objective is to get a follow-up meeting to prepare a proposal together, you'll need to think through what the client will need to believe to be comfortable agreeing to this.

The Know side is about the facts. They'll probably need to know that you have done work in this area before and the type of clients you work for. They may want to understand anything you've published in the field. Essentially you are establishing your credibility with these facts.

The Feel side is more about emotions - whether they feel comfortable working with you. Do you really listen to them? Do you have good rapport with them? Do you really understand their problems and unique situation? Getting this across is more a matter of how you interact with them than what you say.

How do you get your client to Know what they need to know and Feel what they need to feel? That's the art of business development.

Using Smart Questions

Firstly, recognise that you certainly won't effectively get across the right knowledge and particularly feelings through a long presentation about you and your company. That might get across some of the right knowledge - but it will create entirely the wrong feelings. Your client will feel that you're more interested in yourself than them - that you don't listen - and that meetings with you are going to be deathly dull.

One way to get across your knowledge and experience that doesn't come across as dull and self-promotional is to use short stories and anecdotes of similar client situations.

Most often, the route to both establishing the things the client needs to know, and in getting them to feel the right way about you is to ask smart questions. Being able to ask the right questions that really home in on tough issues and the underlying causes will establish your expertise far more than any claims you might make about it, qualifications you might have or awards you might have won. And by empathising with the responses and occasionally mentioning similar situations you've been in, you'll establish the right feeling of "he understands me" and "he's been in this situation before - he'll know what to do to help".

Most of your preparation for the meeting should focus on this element. You need to identify the smart questions to ask in the right sequence to to establish your credibility and build trust.

Close with your Commitment Question

And finally, of course, you must close by asking for that follow-up meeting, or the introduction you were looking for, or at the end of a series of meetings - actually asking for the business.

Sounds obvious: but so many professionals fail to do it. Fear of rejection kicks in and they close weakly without making a clear request for the action they're looking for. And so it doesn't happen.

But by planning and preparing correctly, you've set yourself up for success. You've asked the right questions to allow the client to Know and Feel what they need to to be comfortable making the commitment you're looking for. - 31979

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The Best Resource to Find a Marketing and Sales Consultant

By Neil Walker

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Resolving your Marketing and Sales issues may not be a simple task and you should turn to the experts to give you the best possible advice. The easiest way to accomplish this is to find a consultant who can deliver the right solutions at a reasonable price. A valuable asset to realize this goal will be to use a recognized online service where you can consolidate the best project responses from a number of highly qualified candidates. ConsultantFORCE offers a personalized service that makes sure your objectives are clear and that you are matched with only the most competent and experienced consultants, giving you the best chance for a complete, cost effective solution. By using our service you will benefit from reduced overheads, greater publicity and promotional coverage and increased profitability.

- 31979

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