Companies use the Web to reach customers throughout the decision-making process. The McKinsey conducted a survey on “How businesses are using Web 2.0″. The participating companies in the survey cited that “Web 2.0 technologies are strategic and that (more…)

With the growth of Internet and e-mails, it is easy for everyone to send and receive documents that are confidential or copyrighted. These actions could be damaging and may result in unwanted legal harassments. Receiving external documents containing viruses is another burning problem these days, which could harm or seriously damage your system and cause severe disruption to the organization.

Browsing the irrelevant web sites and be unproductive in their assigned role is another issue causing employers headache.

Technology is only part of the solution and can only help you enforce your policy. The responsibility for successful e-policy lies with both management and employees. Management needs to decide what is appropriate to the organization, lay down a set of rules or guidelines (a policy) and inform all employees of this. Employees need to understand the risks to the organization and ramifications of not following the procedures laid down.

No matter how small your company, here are some steps you need to take:

• Implement an e-policies addressing employee use of e-mail, the Internet, software piracy and ethical use of e-resources. That should be an integral part of the employee handbook
• Everybody in the organization should be educated about the details written in e-policy.
• Provide clear guidance, if possible give examples and templates, on what is and is not appropriate to communicate via e-mail.
• Let everybody know how much personal use of Internet and e-mail is acceptable.
• Prepare and enact a risk management policy that incorporates policies on e-mail and other electronic documents retention, deletion, passwords and filtering.
• Implement a computer and network security policy to keep hackers and other intruders out of your system.

Many of the above issues can be addressed by use of some form of technology, but only the technology can not help to enforce policies. It is no use having a police force if there are no laws for them to uphold.

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I am trying to list here few of the reasons why people blog. Write your reasons in comment area to expand and make this list more comprehensive. People are motivated and engaged tirelessly to operate blogs for one or more of the following reasons.

To make money
This is the most motivating reason people start blogging. They create blogs to generate traffic that they make money from Google adSense and other click and impression based ads providers. If blog traffic is high, you get advertisements more easily.

To establish and enhance brand
Small and large businesses today run blogs to enhance their another business or sell another product/service. People are (more…)

Let me give you some tips:

1. Be prompt to response on leads. People don’t wait you unless you are really outstanding among others. Provide live help features if possible.
2. Offer different contact channels so that people can contact you easily - email, instant messenger, Skype, land phone and cell numbers
3. Increase the referrals, word of mouth.
4. Learn to ask for sale.
5. Write personalized message making customers feel special. Make sure you mean it.
6. Subscribe to popular online marketplaces
7. Use some kind of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System to manage and properly track leads
8. Prepare your strong portfolio of your products and services
9. Take help of copy writing professionals to write your marketing material
10. Improve the layout and aesthetics of your site with thorough usability testing, so that your site visitors can easily find the things what they are looking for.

I am sure you will see a difference if you apply the tips I listed today.

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It’s a fact: People would rather do business with people they know–or know of–than with strangers. When you’re introduced to a prospect through a personal recommendation, that prospect has a vastly higher comfort level than, say, a buyer you find through cold calling. After all, few things are more reassuring than a positive endorsement from someone you know and trust.

I will discuss the best ways to ask for referrals and how to follow up on them.

A referral from a happy client, a friend or business relations is a very easy way to introduce yourself to a prospective customer.

Whenever you make a sales presentation, business prospect discussion with a prospective (more…)

If you are planning for product or service campaign, the very first task in your list should be the preparation of contact list of CEOs or Chief Procurement Officers (CPO), who are involved in the daily operation of the organization. If not, contacts of VPs also ok. Contacts of board chairman or board members are not much effective. Most of the marketers feel comfortable contacting operation level staffs and they are more accessible. In some cases discussions of sales with those staffs work but in (more…)

Complaining clients tell you where you are going wrong. They’re the ones at the front line, testing out your service. If you handle those clients the right way, they will become your most loyal clients.

If you identify client complaints, analyze the causes and address those on time, you will win a lot of loyal customer. When clients complain they are actually giving you an opportunity to keep their business, business you would otherwise have lost.

Each complaining client gives you a chance to win a “new” client. Studies have shown that 95% of dissatisfied clients will do business with you again if you resolve the complaint in their favor on the spot. That’s the beauty of complaints: if you deal with them properly, and actively seek and welcome complaints, then word soon gets around.

Follow my suggestions below to handle the complaints:

1. Politely note the complaint if you are talking to client over the phone. Prepare a standard complaint form and send to client when you start project or sign an agreement for the project. This will make clients feel, lodging a complain is part (more…)

Business-to-business (B2B) sales are fully based on satisfying a need of a company. It should directly fulfill the need or solve the problem of a company to make a sale, no matter how good your products are, how cost effective offers you give or how innovative in nature the product or service may seem.

For this reason, sales people should conduct sufficient research about a company before approaching it. Ideally, sales (more…)

In meetings you may have two roles - host or participant. Either you are host or the participant, in meetings you have to be innovative and capable to promptly analyze the issues. Otherwise, meetings will slowly kill your valuable time. I can’t sit and just kill my time in long and pointless meetings. I think people should be concise and precise because people always have many other better things they could be doing with their time otherwise. I hate the meetings even with the agenda, when the agenda is long and people speak in length just trying to make their presence noticed. Meetings, like all other serious matters, require a certain sense of urgency and always move forward drawing the decisions and understandings.

I hate the meetings when people just sit around tired, drinking coffee after coffee and trying to keep going on one issue and always spending quite a lot time around that. Either you are host or the participant, you should try to be precise and try to put your decisive opinion forward. Don’t try to confuse the participants. Just don’t drag the meeting longer. Give the (more…)

1. Study about sales
Buy book on sales and make your habit to read anything you see about the sales. Read interviews of established salespersons, listen podcasts by sales gurus. One of the best books I have read on sales is Ziglar on Selling: The Ultimate Handbook for the Complete Sales Professional by Zig Ziglar.

2. Know your product or service
Read manuals, specifications, instructions. Discuss with the product manager, developers. Spend time around the production area if its a product. For knowing service, visit to customers with the service providers, know exactly what the service is.

3. Know about your customers
Identify the target customer. Do some pilot sales. Try to understand, why your customer need your product or service and how does he/she use the product or service. Try to understand, what is the specific thing customer really likes in your (more…)