Folksy Educate

Would you believe that 80% of your sales most likely come from 20% of your customers? The reality is that this is undoubtedly the case for the majority of businesses, small and large. This means that more than likely, your next sale will come from someone who has already done business with you. Back in 1906, Vilfredo Pareto learned that 80%  o f Italy’s wealth was held by only 20% of the people. Then one day, after examining his garden, he also realized that 20% of his pea pods accounted for 80% of his pea crop yield that year. Was there a lesson here? This got him thinking, and not long after, the “Pareto Principle” was established. With the same preciseness, this same principle can be applied to business. You may know it as the 80/20 rule. This little-known principle sheds a lot of understanding on how businesses should be run. Rather than putting all your energy into new business, you would be wise to spend a reasonable amount of your time following up and servicing people who h...

How many times has it happened to you? You walk through the doors of a place of business and here he comes — perfectly groomed with a smile planted across his face in greeting. Within two minutes he has talked non-stop and promised you everything, including the stars if you purchase his project. You lift an eyebrow, and think to yourself… “Yeah, right!” The distrust between consumers and sal e sman is a longstanding feeling. After all, you know they are wanting to make a buck off your purchase. Sure, you don’t mind them making a few dollars… everybody has to make a living… but heck, it would be nice if they were at least a little concerned about what your needs are too! Let’s face it… customers aren’t likely to buy from you unless they feel confident that you will deliver. There are a few easy steps that you can take to give them the confidence they need to take the plunge. 1. Let Previous Customers Make The Claim The proof is in the pudding… No one can say that you deliver and make go...

  A couple of months ago I had a small kitchen fire in my home. All is well now, but for a few days my family and I camped out in a hotel room and once we returned home we had no oven (it was destroyed in the fire) so we were forced to eat every meal out for several days. On the day of the fire, two representativ e s from the insurance company told me to “Hold on to your meal receipts, send them to us and we’ll cover your meals plus sales tax.” After the contractors restored my home and we settled back in, I was preparing to mail in my meal receipts for reimbursement and I gave my adjuster a quick call before dropping the envelope of receipts in the mail. He explained that reimbursement was actually for 50% of meals and not 100%. While a partial adjustment made sense to me, I clearly recalled two company representatives promising to “cover meals plus sales tax.” My adjuster became sarcastic and defensive in both his words and tone and said, “No one in this entire company would have...