Straight Business Talk 
Transforming Organizations to Achieve Breakthrough Results
with the Value Advantage®
Volume 5-11 November 14, 2007
In This Issue
Personal Note
Creating Passionate Clients: Grow Your Business with Relationship Marketing
How to Adapt to Change
Value Advantage Quick Tip
Marsha smallPersonal Note
 

 
 
I'm getting ready to speak to the National Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers in Atlanta next week.  As I prepare, I'm reminded that preparation isn't just about getting the content right for this audience.  It's about practicing, practicing, practicing. 
 
This is a big audience and I'll be ready for them.  I've practiced this particular presentation many times.  I've even given major parts of this presentation to other audiences just like them.  But each audience is different and their issues are different from the last - even if I have given some of these concepts over and over again.  So I'll prepare for them differently than the last audience.  They are special, and they deserve that.
 
I will be giving a great presentation called How to Instill Behaviors That Support Your Corporate Strategy.  I have so much to give this audience but I can't give them it all in just 75 minutes.  The wisest advice I've given myself these days is to par my content down to my absolute cherished thoughts.   Then I give them more if we find we have time - I hang on to those gems just in case.  It will be a great presentation.
 
Then I fly to Washington, DC to see my college advisor Jim Butts from The American University.  I've known Jim for 40 years and I think of him like a brother.  Did you ever read Tuesdays with Morrie?  I gave Jim that book when it first came out and Jim treasures what that book was saying about us as do I our relationship.  While Jim is far from dying, I treat him like he might be.  That is, I love him like a brother and treat him to frequent calls.  This visit is long overdue and we will laugh and reminisce and hug.
 
While in DC, I'll be treated to the marriage of my good friend and business colleague Anne Street to Barry Spangler.  I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to that wedding.  I'll cry - a lot.  I cry at weddings.  Then we'll kick up our heels and dance the night away.  I'll get to see some good friends at this joyous event and be treated to stories of things I've forgotten.
 
This will be a packed month.  I'll keep you posted on what I learn from it all while I enjoy myself beyond imagination.
 
Marsha Lindquist
480-473-9977
Creating Passionate Clients: Grow Your Business with Relationship Marketing
 
Everyone wants powerful word-of-mouth advertising for their business. When your satisfied clients refer new business to you because you've done your job and done it well, you increase your revenue and need to spend less time and money on marketing and advertising. Does it get any better? Well, yes it could!
 
In addition to sending you referral business for new clients, your current clients should be cultivated for their repeat business. Relationship marketing is the practice of using the positive feelings of your existing clients to generate more work for yourself, perhaps in new areas as you expand your offerings.

When you market to your current clients, you can avoid dreaded cold-calling, minimize marketing and advertising costs, and get a guaranteed higher rate of return on the time and money you do spend marketing to those who already know and love your work, as opposed to the difficulty and expense of pursuing potential new clients who don't know how well you do what you do. Consider these five easy marketing steps that can help you in your quest to create passionate clients.
How to Adapt to Change
 
We all experience uncertainty at one level or another. Some people are faced with it on a daily basis. Those of us who had a family member or friend fighting an illness or life catastrophe deal with uncertainty every day. People with a life-threatening disease do not know what the future will bring, or if they will have a future.  People who own a business deal with change almost on an hourly basis.
 
 Marsha's Value Advantage® Quick Tip
 

Hire the best for your business -

Good talent can be hard to find. It exists, but you have to try new approaches for locating top-notch talent.

  • Seek seasoned employees who can share with younger employees their knowledge and skills gained from years of experience.
  • Re-evaluate the position you're hiring for: Is it really a permanent position? Do you have enough work to justify bringing someone on full-time? Might you be better off hiring part-time people, consultants, or a virtual assistant? This evaluation could potentially save your company hundreds of thousands of dollars.
  • Don't rush to fill an empty position. Analyze the work that needs to be done and the type of person you are looking for. Consider all possibilities. Can you move people around within your organization, combining jobs to free up an ideal candidate in-house? The solution may be not hiring anyone!
  • Consider retirees and senior citizens. They have been in the workforce for many years and know how to work, plus they won't need to be taught the subtle nuances of business.
  • Find someone with the right attitude, and you will get a lot more than what you were looking for. Always base your hiring decision on the person, not on what's on the resume. Find a person who will mix well with your current team, even if they don't fit the profile you'd had in mind for the job.
  • Get demonstrated results in writing before you hire someone. Find out what candidates did to make a difference in the last organizations they worked for, then verify those results.

 
Free Newsletter for Your Colleagues
 
Marsha LindquistRecommend this newsletter to others who may be interested in good business tips and answers.  Or simply forward it to a friend!  They can register as a regular email newsletter subscriber by emailing me at Marsha@marshalindquist.com or by going to http://www.marshalindquist.com