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If your business is looking for a great way to relay important messages and create a favorable impression of your company, consider a "message from the owner" (or president, CEO, etc.). Here are a few tips to create a "message" that speaks for itself:

• In addition to creating a standard "mission statement" message from the owner, consider offering regular messages via a company website, newsletter, blog, sales letter, Facebook page, Twitter feed, etc. to communicate new initiatives, announce new products, or simply offer an insightful perspective on a relevant subject.


• Include a photo of the owner/president/CEO. Readers feel more of a connection when they can put a face with a name.


• While the messaging is most effective when it comes from the owner him/herself, consider help from a member of your communications team for message ideas, editing, and wordsmith help.


• In addition to sharing a message with customers, a message from the owner is also a great way to create a sense of community within an organization and narrow the gap between the owner and coworkers.


• Encourage feedback and open lines of communication whenever possible. A forum where customers or coworkers can ask questions and receive a response from the owner can be a powerful marketing tool. Consider highlighting questions and responses as topics for the messages.

If sales of your products and services have been diving off a cliff or are just plain flat, there are other paths to improvement besides simply reducing prices. To find the clues that lead to those answers, you will need to do a little detective work.
 
Good detectives don't typically rely on just luck and good fortune to solve a crime. Neither can you when you're looking for answers to the crime of slow sales. Detectives follow a certain protocol to try and find the criminal. You must also follow certain steps to find what you are looking for.

Gather the evidence.
The first step that a detective takes is to carefully collect evidence. A clever detective tries to recreate the crime scene and see it through the eyes of the suspect. Slow sales leave a similar trail of clues which can be collected and analyzed. Look at your business through the eyes of your customers and prospects. What unnecessary obstacles and hassles are you unwittingly creating that stop a prospect from doing business with you? Work to remove any unnecessary conditions and restrictions that are making your customers jump through hoops to do business with you.

Good cop, bad cop
You have undoubtedly heard about or seen on TV crime dramas the technique known as "good cop, bad cop." After the suspect is brought in for questioning, a "bad" cop tries to intimidate the suspect while the "good" cop tries to gain his trust so he spills the beans and admits to the crime. In a business setting, you must be able to present your company as the "good cop." If you can become the trusted source for your customer, sales leads will begin beating a path to your door.

Persistence is key.
Detectives with long and successful careers typically have one common trait -- they don't give up easily. In tough economic conditions, offering great service and products is no longer enough. It is expected...and only the starting point. The slow economy has undoubtedly played a role in slow sales for some companies. But there are companies that have experienced continuous sales growth, even during the recession. What is the difference? These companies have a very good understanding of their customers. By staying close to their customers, these companies have learned to adapt as needed and stay ahead of the curve by offering what their customers need and want.

Don't overlook the details.
Detectives solve crimes by doing their homework first and then completing all the nitty-gritty, unglamorous tasks that the TV crime dramas don't show. Great companies survey their customers to find out what they need and then over-deliver on what they promise. When you can do that, you will be able to lock up slow sales forever and throw away the key.

by Joe Gass at Heritage Printing & Graphics It's no surprise that well-trained, productive employees are the key to business success. Whether you are creating an employee handbook or various training materials, here are a few tips to consider:

• Think of employee training as an investment rather than an expense. While training can be costly up front, it's a long-term investment in the growth and development of your employee team.
• Consider making continuing education the responsibility of one person in the department, who updates all training materials and staff members on current policies, procedures, and the technology relevant to the department.
• A well-written employee training manual ensures that every employee receives the same information about the rules of the workplace, your employees will know what you expect from them (and what they can expect from you), and you'll buy yourself valuable legal protection if an employee later challenges you in court.
• Create quality printed training materials, since they become valuable resources for trainees to refer to again and again once training is over. For example, if you are training an employee on an important piece of equipment, incorporate visual images that illustrate functions, examples, and example how-tos.
• Consider organizing your training materials in a three-ring binder with easily identifiable tab dividers to make it easier to update and organize information.
• Keep the reader in mind and avoid corporate terminology.
• Provide blank pages or white space for employee notes.
• If there are policy or procedure changes, consider distributing a brief information sheet (or training alert) and ask employees to update their training binder. Offer follow-up training if there are any questions regarding the change.
• To ensure your training materials are read, consider testing trainees and offer rewards for top performing employees.
• While a well developed training manual promotes consistency and ensures that important details are addressed, remember that a training manual should not replace a human trainer. It is simply a tool to assist both the trainer and trainee.

Considering your company will only be as successful as the people you work with, you can rest assured we can help you reach your goals when you trust your printing projects with us. Heritage Printing & Graphics..... Improving Your Image in the Marketplace

 

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704-551-0700/888-910-9914

 

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www.heritageprinting.com

301-475-1700/888-777-9776

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