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Newsletter Archive
March 27, 2002


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A FREE electronic magazine...                      March 27, 2002
=================================================================
B I G   B U C K S   I N   A   B A T H R O B E
Make More Money & Have More Fun With Your Small Business!
=================================================================
Publisher:  Dave Balch, "The Stay-at-Home CEO"(tm)
(Scroll to end for subscribe / unsubscribe instructions)
=================================================================
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!
The "Big Bucks Boutique" is now open!  Resources and materials
that will help you "Make More Money and Have More Fun" with your
business are now available online with secure ordering.  Take a
look now! Limited time... FREE T-SHIRT WITH ANY ORDER OVER $30!
http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/boutique.htm
=================================================================
I n   T h i s   I s s u e . . .
=================================================================
   1. A "Quickie" Personal Observation
   2. Feature: Article "Explanations: A Good Idea?"
   3. Feature: "Ask Dave" - Can I help with a business problem?
               Person-to-person Selling
   4. Feature: "Meanwhile, back at the ranch..."
               The Laser Mouse
   5. About "Big Bucks in a Bathrobe" Newsletter
   6. Who the Heck am I, Anyway?
   7. How to Subscribe / Unsubscribe
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
  PLEASE FORWARD THIS to each of your friends who have small or
  home-based businesses; they'll LOVE you for it!  (Be sure they
  know it's from you, or they'll think I spammed 'em!)  Thanks!
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Copyright (c)2002, A Few Good People, Inc.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11111 A "Quickie" - Personal Observation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My wife just purchased a vest designed for horseback
riding... brand name is "Kerrit".  (In case you didn't know,
horses just LOVE carrots:  our two guys go through over 30
pounds every week!)  To complete the logo, the letter "i" is
actually a carrot, with the stem serving as the dot over the
"i".  Cute.  Included with the garment is a small packet of
seeds for, you guessed it, carrots!
As it turns out, they have an entire line of horse-related
clothing and everything they sell comes with a small bag of
carrot seeds.
In my mind, this is a great example of a business
"personality".  They don't HAVE to include the seeds, but
it's fun, it sets them apart, and it helps drive home the
"Kerrit" brand by association with the seeds.
Hmmmmmmm... maybe I should include free bathrobes with every
order from the "Big Bucks Boutique".  I could embroider them
with a "Big Bucks in a Bathrobe" logo.  I could offer a
selection of colors and styles.  Washable, terrycloth,
comfy...
Naaaaaaaaaaaah!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
22222 A r t i c l e "Explanations: A Good Idea?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Dave Balch, the "Stay-at-Home CEO"(tm)
When a customer has a problem, do you go out of your way to
explain to them what happened?  It isn't always a good idea,
especially if it's complicated.  Now I'M going to explain!
I recently went for a haircut and my favorite salon had just
changed locations.  They had a number of minor problems as
you can imagine.  They were being handled efficiently, one
by one, when the telephone repairman arrived.  He asked the
receptionist what the problem was and she told him:  they
had 4 incoming lines (corresponding to 4 "outside line"
buttons on the phone), and line 3 was really ringing on the
button for line 4. He said, "Oh, that's not a big deal" and
then proceeded, I'm not kidding, to spend the next five
minutes explaining why this was happening.  "All of your
outside lines come in on the main panel, and then I take
those lines and connect them to the posts for each of your
lines on the phone here.  Each line comes in on different
color wires; one is a solid color and the other is the same
color combined with white, so you've got your blue and
blue/white, your orange and orange/white... like that.  The
posts are really little connectors and you just push the
wires down on them.  Anyway, all I have to do is go into the
panel and find the wires..."
Good grief!  The receptionist doesn't care about all that
malarkey... she just wants her phone fixed!  From the way he
explained it, he could have fixed it and been out of there
in the time he spent explaining it.
I'm guilty of this, too.  Years ago I was working at a
computer service bureau as a programmer.  (A service bureau
was a business that provided computer services to companies
that had a need for them but were too small to have their
own computer.  Needless to say, now that computers are so
inexpensive and relatively easy to use you'd be hard pressed
to find one today!)  The customer needed to get his invoices
printed and there was a bug that caused every invoice to get
the name and address from the previous invoice.  I proceeded
to explain about the program and reading the customer names
from the tape and that there was a logic error and a buffer
wasn't being cleared... he got very aggravated.  He didn't
care about any of that... he just wanted to know when his
invoices would be ready!
Don't do that to your customers!  If they have a problem,
tell them you're sorry and that you'll fix it right away...
AND THEN FIX IT.  Don't bore them with the details unless,
of course, it is absolutely necessary.  You run the risk of
a) making them feel stupid because they don't/can't
understand the complexities of your particular situation, b)
irritating them by wasting their time, and c), telling them
something that may shake their confidence in you.
I know it's tempting to explain, but use good judgment.
Repeat after me:
"I'm sorry, I'll fix it right away."
"I'm sorry, I'll fix it right away."
"I'm sorry... "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
33333  "A s k   D a v e"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   (Can I help you with a business problem?  I will field
   business questions in every issue.  Send them to
   Dave@DaveBalch.com )
   Ask whatever you'd like... all letters will remain anonymous.
   Maybe my 2-cents'-worth will make you "Big Bucks"!
   (Maybe not!)
Today's question:
----------------
I am part of a wonderful company... that makes great
wellness products.  Its not a pyramid or MLM so that's not
what I want info on.  I have a strong belief in the company
and their products because they helped me personally.
I often seem to choke when it comes to approaching someone
about [the products I represent].  I can do it sometimes but
most of the time not.  Its like I have fear of rejection or
something, I don't know.
In talking about it I have come to realize, as has one other
person in my group, that I feel guilty if I start a
conversation with a likely looking prospect.  It's almost as
if I will insult them by talking about [the products]
because they may realize that is the reason I started
talking to them in the first place.
                R.G., Maine
   Dear R.G.
   I looked at the website and it sure looks like an MLM to
   me!  You get customers, and you can recruit others who
   get customers.  When your recruits get customers you get
   a piece of their action... that's MLM!  There's nothing
   wrong with that, it's just the way it is.  In fact,
   realizing that may help you get the help you need.
   (Don't be ashamed of being in an MLM. Although it's true
   that some MLM's are shady at best, I don't think that
   it's fair to characterize all MLM's based on the actions
   of a few; after all, people do unethical things, not
   MLM's.  A lot of good, honest people have made a lot of
   good, honest money in MLM's.)
   Frankly, I have the same problem you do.  There are three
   words that may help you with your problem:  "Don't sell;
   serve."  Think about it for a while... you're not SELLING
   anyone anything, you're HELPING them.  SERVE them, don't
   SELL them.  It's a different mindset and it might help
   you.
   It sounds like you could use some sales training.  There
   are a zillion books, courses, and seminars...  I'm sure
   that the problem you're having is VERY common, so you
   will find a solution out there from someone who knows
   what they're talking about.  I wouldn't be surprised if
   your particular company has some training materials, even
   addressing that very problem.  Do they have a support
   system of some sort (like a discussion board or group)
   where you can ask other representatives how THEY get
   around this problem?  I'd start there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
44444 "M e a n w h i l e,   b a c k   a t   t h e   r a n c h..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       A glimpse into the life of this "Stay-at-Home CEO"
   (Photos and short bios of the complete "cast of characters"
   are posted at http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/theranch.htm )
Kate went skiing this week so Georgie is staying with us.  A
very unique dog, to say the least, Georgie is one of those
dogs that understands complete sentences, even if no hand
signals are given.  "Get the ball."  He gets the ball.  "Get
the red ball."  He gets the red ball.  ...and so on.
We have a "laser mouse", which is simply a laser pointer
with a pistol-type grip that is designed to be used as a cat toy.
The idea is that the cat would chase the light around the
room.  Our cats barely look at it, but Georgie goes nuts.
He knows that when the sun goes down the laser comes out,
and as soon as it's dark he sits and stares at the cabinet
where we keep it.
As soon as we get it, there is incredible commotion as he
and Emma (she worships Georgie, does everything he does, and
is therefore crazy about the laser as well) chase this light
around the living room.  The furniture is arranged in such a
way that they can run 'round and 'round it in circles, back
and forth, up and down the hall... it is really quite a
sight.
Then we go outside and they run like the wind, up and down
the slopes, through the trees, and down the driveway.  If I
didn't stop, I don't think they would ever tire of it.
We haven't told them that it's really a cat toy.  Somehow,
though, I don't think it would matter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
55555  A b o u t  "Big Bucks in a Bathrobe"  N e w s l e t t e r
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome! You are receiving this because either:
   -You requested it on my website or after seeing me at a
    speaking engagement
   -I know you personally and thought you'd like it
   -I asked you if I could send it and you said "Yes"
   -Someone forwarded it to you because they thought you'd
    like it.  Scroll to the bottom for subscription instructions.
If you don't want to receive future issues, scroll to the bottom
for instructions on how to unsubscribe.  No harm, no foul, no
hurt feelings!
My goal is a bi-weekly newsletter that will:
   -help you with your small or home-based business
   -share articles of interest
   -be informal and informative
   -answer specific questions asked by readers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
66666  W h o   t h e   H e c k   a m   I,   A n y w a y ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've generated over $5 million (so far!) from my own home-based
software business and I have a lot to share with you about how I
did it and what I learned along the way.  Now, as a professional
speaker, I offer programs that will help you and your employees
"Make More Money and Have More Fun" with your small or home-based
business!
Visit me at http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com for descriptions of
the programs and educational resources that I offer.
The "Big Bucks Boutique" offers resources and materials that will
help you "Make More Money and Have More Fun" with your business.
Take a look at http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/boutique.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
77777  H o w   to   S u b s c r i b e   /   U n s u b s c r i b e
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please note:
   - This newsletter is sent every other week.
   - Comments and suggestions are always welcome!
   - Subscriber information is NEVER shared with
     ANYone for ANY reason.  PERIOD.
   - Contact me at Dave@DaveBalch.com 
   - HOW TO SUBSCRIBE If this issue was forwarded to you and you
     would like to receive your own copy (and OF COURSE you DO!),
     subscribe at http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com
                   A Few Good People, Inc.
                        P.O. Box 824
                    Twin Peaks, CA  92391
                       1-800-366-2347

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© Copyright 2003, A Few Good People, Inc.
P.O. Box 824
Twin Peaks, CA   92391
800-366-2347
909-337-3928
909-337-4945 Fax