Inside the Envelope

Customers have more choices than ever in today's competitive business world. That's why it's so important to do everything possible to stand apart from the competition. One great way to gain a competitive edge is to increase your credibility. Here are a few tips to help you establish and enhance credibility with your prospects and customers: Provide customer testimonials, references, and customer success stories that enable prospects to hear about your company from a relevant point of view. Encourage people to get to know you, especially on your website. Promote what you do, what you sell, and your full business address (not your P.O. box). Include your phone number, fax, email address, and other ways to contact you. Talk about your history. People are always curious how businesses got started. By providing some background you'll not only personalize your customer's experience but also increase your business legitimacy. Popularity sells, so consider providin...

We've all been there... You're at a Chamber of Commerce networking meeting or a neighborhood party and meet a new person. Relatively quickly the conversation turns to what you do for a living. You respond, "I'm a (fill in your profession here)." Your new friend tries really hard to express interest and not have their eyes glaze over while discreetly scanning the room to see if they can find somebody more interesting to move on to. Ouch! How do you change from boring to being memorable? Step One: Your listener is expecting you to say that you do this or that. Instead, learn how to explain what you do wrapped in a story or an example. Think about how you solved a customer problem with a solution you provided. Make it short, concise, and easy to remember. Your goal here is to quickly and clearly state a common problem (the antagonist) that your service or solution solves in the form of a story. Obviously, if you can weave in a little drama and...