| Welcome
Back to The Cheshire Group Newsletter |
|
This is the 17th issue of The Better Mousetrap. many
of you have joined our mailing list after the first issue.
So we have archived all the 16th previous issues on our website.
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The Better
Mousetrap Online Newsletter. Many of the articles
in this newsletter come from our book, Morsels from
THE BETTER MOUSETRAP. Just
click here to order your copy. Or visit our website at
www.cheshiregroup.com
so that you can learn more about The Cheshire Group and see
samples of our work.
|
ONLY
CONNECT ...
Are You A Prisoner Of Communications
Technology? |
| Keeping in touch—we
have more ways to do that now than were imaginable even ten
years ago. We can call people on a choice of instruments—cell
phone, Blackberry, pager, land line phone. And if we can't
immediately connect with  our
party, we can leave a message on a machine, voice mail or
beeper. We can fire-off e-mail or visit our friends and business
associates on web sites and chat rooms. Finally, as a last
resort, we can write a conventional letter and send it by
snail mail with a First Class stamp.
Never have so many people been so
available to others, right?
Wrong!
Tools that appear to put us in touch
with each other may actually put barriers between us.
ARE YOU HIDING BEHIND YOUR VOICE MAIL?
"Hello. I am either on the phone
or away from my desk. Your call is important to me so please
leave a message and I'll...."
Sound familiar? Do you ever wonder
if she really is away from her desk or is sitting
right there with the ringing phone at her elbow, waiting to
hear the message and so determine whether she wants to speak
to you or avoid you.
ARE YOU PLAYING TELEPHONE DODGE BALL?
Have you ever returned
to your office to find a message that was intentionally left
when you were almost guaranteed to be out? Like 8 pm?
If you didn't think I'd be here, why
did you call?
Well, clearly, the caller intended
to get your voice mail and leave a message so he or she wouldn't
have to interact with you one on one.
ARE YOU PLAYING LAMONT CRANSTON [THE
SHADOW] WITH VOICE MAIL?
E-mail is another
way to get around face-to-face interaction. We know of a pair
who are in daily communication (sometimes even several times
a day) and yet they haven't spoken an actual word to each
other in five weeks. What does that say about communication?
Please, one of you, send the other a message suggesting you
meet for lunch!
REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE.
Remember the old AT&T
slogan—for that matter do you remember the old AT&T?
The slogan said "Reach out and touch someone."
Good
point. Human beings need to be in touch, and while communications
technology offers some efficient options for doing that, it
does not offer a substitute. Technology shouldn't totally
replace actual human contact.
So ask yourself a couple of questions:
are you hiding behind the communications technology available
to you? Are you using it to avoid human contact? Are you in
the vanguard of techies who can access someone nine ways but
who hasn't looked anyone in the eye lately? If you've answered
yes, it's time to reach out and touch someone. Get out from
behind your desk and head for the water cooler right this
minute. |
| |
WHY
SHOULD MY BUSINESS HAVE A WEB SITE?
I haven't needed one up to now. |
| It wasn't
that many years ago that businesses said, "Why should
I buy a computer?" Not many businesses say that today.
For most firms, not having a PC would be devastating. But
there are still many small companies that say, "Why should
I have a web site?" These business undoubtedly have cell
phones and e-mail. Why not a web site? Simply put, "...because
that's how customers can find you."
Today the print version of the "Telephone
Book" is obsolete. Why, because it comes out but once
a year and prospects want to see 'what's new' today. Yes,
you can update your ad in the Yellow Pages, but it certainly
is not as current as finding a business in the local business
versions of Google or Yahoo!.
Getting listed in Google and Yahoo!
is an absolute necessity if you want to be found by potential
local customers. And when they find you they want the ability
to look at your web site and see exactly what you offer. Those
listed businesses that don't have a web site link suffer a
serious disadvantage.
So the answer to the question "Why
do I need a web site?" is "because that's how your
potential and current customers can find information about
your products and services." And one more reason...your
competitors do!
|
HOW
TO SPEED UP PAYMENTS FROM CUSTOMERS OR MEMBERS. |
| In the good old days before
the advent of online payment of bills, we use to sit
down at our desk or dinning room table every Thursday
and take out the check book to pay our bills... electric,
cable, telephone, department store, credit card and
so on. We had to factor in the due date and so allow
enough time for the envelope, with the payment, to reach
the vendor.
Today, most of us pay our bills
online. For the most part we don't reach for that check
book as often as we use to and having to pay a bill
the old fashioned way is a pain. Are you still sending
out bills by snail mail and expecting a check in return?
If you are an organization that has to collect monthly
or yearly dues you may have found it increasingly difficult
to get members to make their payments on time. One reason
may be the hassle of getting them to sit down to make
out a check, addressing an envelope, finding the proper
postage (if you can remember what it is) and getting
the envelope to a drop box.
What's the solution?
Open a credit card merchant
account by selecting what is known in the business as
a credit card processor. This will enable you to accept
VISA,  MasterCard,
American Express and Discover cards from your members.
You purchase a small terminal and can accept charge
payments over the phone. In most cases the cost is minimal
and you receive the payment directly into checking account
usually within two days. And you can set up a secure
page on your web site to accept payments.
You do have a web site...don't
you?
| |
READ
THE INSTRUCTIONS. |
| A Mousetrap reader sent
this collection of label instructions that have actually appeared
on consumer products. Editorial comments contained in parenthesis
are not part of the instructions.
On A Sears hairdryer:
Do not use while sleeping.
(Gee that's the only time I have to work on my hair.)
On a bag of Fritos:
You could be a winner! No purchase necessary! Details inside.
(Ah, must be the shoplifter's special.)
On a bar of Dial soap:
Directions. Use like regular soap.
(And that would be how?)
On a Swanson frozen dinner:
Serving suggestion: Defrost.
(But it's just a suggestion.)
On Tesco's Tiramasu dessert—printed on the bottom
of the box:
Do not turn upside down.
(Oops! Too late!)
to be continued
For More information on how Search Engine optimization can
help you with your web site click
here. |
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