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"Gateways". . . to your true potential
December 2004 Volume 1 Issue 12
Aberfoyle Associates, LLC
"Solutions for successful business outcomes"

Discipline Checklist
How To Calculate The True Value Of Your Customers
Motivational Quotes  |  The Turbulent 2000's - Reality Check Time!
Things To Do When You Have 5-Minutes Or Less
Interesting Facts  |  Tips for Telephone Selling
About Us

Discipline Checklist   -  top

When having to deal with an employee who is not performing according to company policy, here is a checklist that may help keep you on track as well as keep your emotions in check.

• Know the rules. Follow your organization's discipline system.
• Avoid sudden decisions made in anger.
• Do not terminate or threaten termination without seeking advice.
• Conduct discipline discussions in private or with another member of management present.
• Try to keep observations job-oriented.
• Allow the employee an opportunity to explain.
• Seek help when you aren't sure what to do or when a serious situation arises.
• Be consistent. Impose the same punishment for similarly situated employees for the same offense.
• Be reasonable. Impose discipline that a reasonable person would agree was appropriate.
• Be equal. Ensure that your actions are consistent and reasonable for all employees.
• Be careful. If the person to be disciplined is female, older, from a certain race or national origin, religion, disabled, or a veteran, is there any evidence that this discipline could have been influenced by that fact? Or might it appear to have been influenced by that fact? Get advice from your Human Relations/Personnel specialist.

How To Calculate The True Value Of Your Customers
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By Kevin Lawrence, Business Building Coach

The value of a customer cannot be overrated, and you shall soon understand why. The following story proves that the true value of a customer can barely ever be measured; it is always potentially huge.

A woman bought some milk at a large grocery store. When she got home she realized that it was sour and had passed its "best before" date. She went to customer service later that day to return it, and one of the representatives gave her a hard time, saying: "How do I know this is the milk you bought today! You could have switched it!" He then made her wait twenty minutes while he consulted with co-workers about what to do. Naturally, the woman was furious, and she has refused to shop at that grocery ever since.

How much money do you think the store will lose because of the defection of this one customer? Well, she spent fifty dollars per week at that grocery store. No big deal, right? Wrong. Over the course of a year - 52 weeks - that store will lose $2,600 in business, which is substantial, but it gets worse. Over ten years the store stands to lose well in excess of $26,000 in direct sales from this single dissatisfied customer.

It doesn't end there, either. If the woman is really mad (as she was in this case) she'll tell, on average, 11 other people about what happened. Once those 11 people each tell approximately five other people on average about the incident, 67 people will have heard something negative about the grocery store. That's really bad for business. Even if only 10 of those 67 people don't do business with that store again (and they had the same spending level of $50 per week), over 10 years that one incident will have cost the store a quarter of a million dollars. $250,000.00 over a $.99 carton of milk and one employee's bad attitude. It makes you stop and think - doesn't it?

Try this exercise for yourself: To estimate the value of one of your customers, multiply their average annual expenditures by how long you would hope they'd remain your client. After that, attempt to account for the dollar value of referrals this client would provide you with over the same time period and beyond. Soon you'll be swimming in astronomical figures, and it should be clear to you that the value of a customer is always infinite and inestimable.

This exercise does prove the following point though: Take every customer seriously!

1. Average annual expenditure per client $________

2. Average number of years a client stays _______

3. Individual client value $_______________ (line 1 x Line 2)

4. Potential number of referrals over client's lifetime __________

5. Total referral value $__________ (line 3 x Line 4)

6. Actual Lifetime Value of One Client $_________ (line 3 + Line 5)

Obviously, you can see for yourself that it pays to take every single one of your customers seriously; each of them is a potentially infinite resource. The one person you don't treat with a proper amount of respect could cost your business a lot more than you imagined. An unhappy client is like a rock hitting water: the stone hits, and a wave of unrest spreads. Invest time NOW to ensure that your clients feel well cared for and valued. They're worth it, and so is your bottom line.

Motivational Quotes    -  top
Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes.
- Henry J. Kaiser

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes - but in having new eyes.
- Marcel Proust

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.
- Michael Jordan

We get so much in the habit of wearing a disguise before others that we eventually appear disguised before ourselves.
- Jim Bishop

The Turbulent 2000's - Reality Check Time!    -  top
Submitted by Ed Jenks, CEO of The JENKS Group, www.thejenksgroup.com

The last three years of the roaring "90"s left us feeling like superheroes on a planet inhabited by bad guys that were neither very strong nor very aggressive. The truth was we could fall off the proverbial turnip truck and land on a customer. Selling and fiscal growth management were not skills to be mastered but rather assumed outcomes of opening the front door. The turn of the millennium clock did not spell the disaster of world computer technology as some predicted; instead it chimed for the "dotcom" debacle of the last eighteen months.

Year 2002 has left many CEO's wondering where their customers went and the answer they are most often hearing is that without an economy spurred by technology, the customer base has dried up. While it is easy to see the relevancy in hard currency that the "dotcom" community contributed to the economy, this slowdown bears closer attention by CEO's. The fast paced "90"s offered up two significant challenges that only now are beginning to surface. First, there was a lack of executive talent so we hired warm bodies at exorbitant salaries and in some cases over generous bonus plans; secondly, we forgot all about the need for strategy and planning in favor of speed and change agents.

CEO's today need to dig deeper if they are to survive the Turbulent 2000's. We need to take the best of what we have learned about supporting technology and formulate our strategic plans once again around the long term PROFITABLE use of information. We need to look closely at our executive teams and once again ensure that they have the talent AND desire to plan, predict and deliver on organizational strategy. The customers are out there; does your team know how to find them? The clock is ticking.

Things To Do When You Have 5-Minutes Or Less    -  top
by Gary Sorrell

Often time is lost by waiting for someone, being stuck in traffic, waiting in line, etc. Here are some quick tips of things to do while you are waiting.

1. Update your daily planner. Use this time to mark off completed tasks, transfer tasks to a different date, keep it current, etc.

2. Update your goals. This is a good time to look over your goals and transfer the completed goals to your goals accomplished list and add or update your current goals.

3. Make a quick call. The use of cell phones (although annoying to some) can be used when you are waiting for an appointment to show up, standing in line at a store, stuck in traffic, etc.

4. Read your mail. Keep your mail in your briefcase and then when you are in line, stuck in traffic, etc. take it out to read.

Interesting Facts    -  top

• In 1982 there were 13 billionaires in America according to Forbes magazine.
• In 2001 there were 298 billionaires in America according to Forbes magazine.
• It has taken the world population 300,000 years to accumulate 12 exabytes of information (the equivalent of 50,000 times the volume of the Library of Congress), according to a study by the University of California at Berkeley.
• Experts predict that it will take 2.5 years to create the next 12 exabytes.

Tips For Telephone Selling    -  top
Source: Kevin Nunley provides marketing and copy writing. Read his tips at http://DrNunley.com.

The Internet revolution has only increased the need for telephone marketing. Many of the largest e-commerce sites ask for your phone number, then have a room of expert telephone sales reps call you for the big pitch. Why? Because telephone selling works. Here are some simple tips that will boost your effectiveness on the phone.

1. Try to go directly to the person who can authorize a purchase for your product or service.

2. When you get the decision maker on the line, jump into a concise statement of the main benefit you can bring him/her. "We have a new process that can save you 20% on production costs."

3. Prospects appreciate courtesy. Begin by asking if it is a good time to talk. If not, ask the prospect when you can call back. Have several dates and times ready for suggestion.

4. Jot down a few notes before making your call, and then use your talking points to keep your pitch on track. Take notes immediately after the call so you can remember exactly what was said when it comes time to call again.

5. Don't wait too long to ask for the sale.

Offer to send more information via mail, e-mail, or direct them to your website.

About Us    -  top
Aberfoyle Associates is a company committed to helping companies and individuals improve their results. We achieve this by aligning your personal and professional priorities to achieve your desired goals. Feel free to call or write to us for details.

All articles, quotes, and material in this newsletter are copyrighted. © 2003. No part can be reproduced or redistributed in any form without specific written consent from copyright holder(s). All rights reserved worldwide.

email: johno@aberfoyleus.com
phone: 845.786.5393
web: http://www.aberfoyleus.com

"Strategies for significant and lasting Change"
Aberfoyle Associates
Tel: 845.786.5393 Fax: 845.942.1346