PediaWorld

We are living in an instant gratification society. We look forward to instant coffee, movies on demand and hi-speed Internet. If the traffic light stays red too long, we just might have a fit. And if the waitress takes too long with our order we send her a message through her tip.

Because our prospects and customers get a little uneasy when their wants and needs are not quickly met, we have to be that much better prepared at running our business. They may have questions or objections that if not answered in a timely manner, may never shop from us again.

This would be a costly mistake. We may not have another chance to win them over. It’s critical that we treat our most recent and best customers as gold.

I remember ordering some books with a subscription to an industry journal. The subscription arrived like clockwork every month. Since one of the books was missing, I called customer service.

They insisted they would send me the book. I waited two weeks. Nothing. Then I called them again. This cycle repeated. Each time they assured me they would send it.

It felt like I had been talking to the wall. Finally after a couple of months of useless dialog, I met the author at an industry function and told him the story. He had enough clout with that company to fix the problem.

They didn’t have the foresight to figure out: It should never have gone this far.

Did I have the consumer confidence to buy any more books from this company? NO. If anything, I began having doubts about their fulfillment. I decided not to renew my subscription. Just over a year later, the company ceased to exist.

This happens far too many times in business. Hopefully not yours. The paying customer feels like they’re no longer important. Ignored. When this happens they’ll opt to shop elsewhere.

Recently I’ve been won over with a cause. I’ve read the author’s book, explored his company’s website and agree with his purpose. He runs a non-profit organization, which accepts gifts, donations and sponsorships to satellite operations in certain third-world countries.

I’m excited about this organization’s mission. I’m pumped. They use their monies wisely. There’s no waste. Each dollar is accounted for.

I click on a link to find the author is coming to my area to speak. I can’t wait to see him. To meet the man who has been through so much and maybe contribute to the cause.

There was one problem…

There was no information for this event on their website except for the city and date. They didn’t announce where he would hold the speaking engagement. I called their head office in Dallas. They didn’t know either (?) but would get back with me.

They never did.

I get no word. Could this be one of those secret meetings? It can’t be. They depend on monthly contributions to support their cause overseas.

A month has past and the event is a single week away. I call Dallas again. I speak with the same lady. She said she’d have someone contact me. She seems very sincere. But sincerity is not the measure of accountability—keeping your word is.

Again no word. How can an organization not know where their leader will speak? Why are they kept in the dark? Is this the way to run a non-profit?

You see, it should never have gone this far.

Now I’m beginning to have doubts. I suspect the organization doesn’t believe this cause is that important. My enthusiasm has waned. Their casual treatment of this upcoming event sends a negative message no business or non-profit can afford to make.

In your business, if you run an ad or marketing promotion make sure you have a system in place that explains everything in detail. It must answer the who, what, when, where, why and how. You don’t want your prospect guessing what to do next. Give them all the details because if you frustrate them—they may not jump at your offer.

And one last note: Keep your word.

What do you do right after someone refers a new client to you? How do you handle gifts from satisfied customers? What do you say after receiving a compliment? And how many times do you get invited for cocktails?

What? You say you’ve never received any of these in your life. You don’t believe in Santa Clause or the Tooth Fairy. And people are too busy thinking about themselves to pay any attention to you.

What’s up with that?

In today’s “me, myself and I” society we tend to forget there are people who do nice things for us. It could be the gentleman opening the entrance door, the maid who does more than expected cleaning our house, or the prominent socialite inviting us for brunch. They thought enough about us to go the extra step. Wouldn’t it be rewarding to let them know that we appreciate them?

I’m on Sondra Thiederman’s website. I’ve never met her. She speaks on diversity in the workplace. I really enjoyed her article and had to let her know:

“Enjoyed you article, Imus in Us. You walk your talk. Appreciate your
honesty. We all could learn to become better human beings.”

Sondra replies:

“Tommy: Your kind e-mail was such a lovely way to end the week. Thanks for
the words of support. We all just have to do the best we can.”

Wow, I made her week with four short sentences. Amazing. We all have that power within us to brighten up someone’s life. And it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. What people really want on a deeper level is to feel important and appreciated.

One afternoon, I’m at a wealthy socialite’s home for a potluck. Her back yard butts up against a golf course. She is an avid bridge player and once played adjacent to both Bill Gates and Warren Buffet’s table.

Someone was making a speech in the patio. She instinctively checks if she’s blocking anyone’s view and moves aside. She’s thinking about others first. What a kind and gracious gesture. The party was a huge success because she made it so.

Afterwards, I was compelled to send her a thank you card. I made sure to do it first thing in the morning. Wouldn’t she be surprised to receive a card from someone she just met the previous day?

I’m suggesting these little acts of gratitude do matter. They speak volumes about you. People don’t forget your appreciation.

Now if you are grateful and reply with kind acts, will people always appreciate them? I’m afraid not. Usually it may not be their entire fault. I believe most of us receive so little appreciation growing up we don’t quite know how to respond.

But the majority of times people will light up with a smile. And maybe reciprocate with a kind gesture or warm words. It’s this spirit of giving and holding people, even strangers, in high regard that reveals your inner-character.

So if a motorist lets you into the flow of traffic, give him a thank-you wave. If someone baked chocolate chip cookies for your sick child, give her a hug. If a crew was painting your house, invite them inside for lunch. You’ll see that a little gratitude can go a long way to brighten up someone’s day.

Debt collectors are liars, cheaters, etc… They take advantage of every loophole possible and even break the law. They have been featured on almost every news program from CNN to 60 Minutes. There are laws in place to contain their harassment and collection efforts and to make this process more civil, but most figure the risk of getting caught is minimal and that the rewards of endlessly harassing and fleecing victims is far greater. We now have the power to take back our lives, stop them in their tracks and sue them for more than they are trying to collect.

First, lets start with what is actually owed and how most collection agencies work. Usually a unpaid debt is either sold or turned over to a collection agency. 95% or more of these debts are credit cards, store cards, gas cards, etc… These debts are then tiered according to age of debt, amount, credit, job history, etc… Generally most debts are bought for pennies on the dollar. Recent debt may go for $.15 to $.25 on the dollar whereas old debt that has had numerous collection attempts goes for $.05 or less and debt that is beyond the statues of limitations for the state the debtor resides in goes for less than $.01. So, for instance if you owed $10000.00 on a credit card, the debt collection agency paid at most $2500.00, but probably paid less than $1500 for it. Now, what’s interesting is that they will call and write you stating that you now owe $14000.00 or so stating that it has accrued interest and various questionable fees. This is all profit if you were dumb enough to pay that. A fair settlement would be $1700.00 or less. So, the point here is that you don’t ever owe what they are trying to collect from you – it is always far, far less.

Secondly, lets give you some more ammunition – The 1977 FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) gives you rights the debt collectors won’t tell you about. If you don’t want to hear from them again, its easy. Just write them a letter stating that you wish they cease all contact with you (make sure you put in the letter that – P.S. This letter is in no way an acknowledgement of the above listed debt(s) – that way they cannot even attempt to try and re-age your debt (add another 7years of collection and reporting to further harass). Send the letter registered return receipt requested mail and keep your proof of receipt. If they contact you after this for any reason other than to tell you they are either dropping the issue or taking it to court (99.99% won’t go to court as it costs them more money and their odds of getting anything are almost zero – even with a judgement) then you can sue them for each occurrence for $1,000. People win these suits every day – most settle out of court for a lot more than the original debt (just look this up on the internet under small claims court). You also have the right to question the debt and have the debt collector provide proof. Many debt collection agencies are being sued by many debtors for their failure to provide proof. Just look up Asset Acceptance on the internet – they are one of the biggest abusers of this federal law with thousands of outstanding lawsuits for harassing debt collection practices.

So, now you know how to stop debt collection agencies in their tracks. You know how to get relief – sue them! If enough people sue them things will change. Also use your state and local resources. State Attorney generals go after debt collection agencies that routinely break the law, Consumer protection agencies (the Better Business Bureau, etc…), the Federal Trade Commission goes after the worst abusers, and, of course, your state department of insurance and finance (whom actually licenses these agencies rto operate in your state). You state department of finance and insurance, or similar, has the power to fine, punish and even banish the debt collection agency from your state. Every state requires a debt collection agency to be licensed and put up a large financial bond (around $50,000) to operate in your state. Call these folks if you are having problems with a debt collection agency – they will get immediate results in your favor. Don’t threaten the collection agency that you have these rights – use them. Bring the collection agency to its knees if they are violating your rights.

The other problem is are these bills, debts even correct? Many hospitals, doctors, etc… have no ethics and will purposely double or even triple bill patients without insurance because they know they can get away with it. If you have a question about your bill demand a itemized bill and have this professionally examined. This will reveal things like overcharging ($100 tissue boxes, 1000 percent markup on medicines, etc…) We entrust these hospitals and doctors with our lives and then they screw us by double billing or worse. Right now there is no government policing on hospitals. Many times a debt collector will actually make up a debt or illegally pass one on to you from someone else (Asset Acceptance has been sued for this many times). Do not assume that you owe any debt and take them to task. If you do owe it, pay it, but pay the least amount possible, and pay it on your terms. If they break the law – make them pay!

If you have a problem with a bill make it known to your state politicians. If enough people do this things will change. Write to your local newspaper, tell a friend, do a press release. Tell others of their rights. Cigarette boxes come with warnings – shouldn’t debt collectors and debt collection agencies with their high propensity to skirt the law also come with mandatory warnings? The more the word gets out, the better the odds something will be done about it.

Ethics and values matter in business. Even the information business. Maybe this sounds like hocus-pocus, but I believe it is critical to your success or failure as an information marketer.

There’s a lot of confusion and controversy about fair, ethical use of articles and other forms of content on the Internet – particularly content that you haven’t created yourself.

Broadly, in content marketing (just as in life itself) there are two categories of people:

* those who exploit a situation

* those who make the world a better place

Now, I’m not getting into a debate or discourse on which is better, holier or more ‘right’. Which path you opt to tread is entirely your choice – and might depend upon factors I don’t know and cannot imagine. Just understand there are 2 paths.

Those who exploit the prevailing content marketing scenario are focussed on one thing – and that alone. They want to get high ranking on search engines for competitive keywords (ones that offer multiple quick ways to make money from visitors) and drive floods of traffic to their sites… never mind how they do it.

And there are many tactics to achieve this end – using scripts and software, innovatively mixed together, to throw up ‘junk content sites’ that often make very little sense, look ugly or repulsive (on purpose) and are geared to doing one thing well – getting visitors to click on income producing links that are placed on these websites.

This approach is profitable. There are many folks who were banking 5-figure checks every month based with this strategy.

There’s a downside. These sites may not last for long in search engines. The owners will always be scrambling to stay ahead of the game – and should not mind if they lose the cash-generating high traffic magnets overnight. Just build some more.

If this sounds like working for money, you’re right. It is. Don’t confuse this with a real ‘infopreneur business’.

Sure, you’ll make money – maybe a lot of it. But you don’t have a sustained process to acquire clients, make repeat sales to them, build a list, and achieve steady growth across a longer time frame.

The other category of people are the ones who ‘make the Internet a better place’ – and do this by adding valuable content to the Web.

While this is a harder path to tread, in the longer term it is more sustainable and can be scaled up over time. There’s some hard work involved while things get going, but after a while it can be organized to be ‘set and forget’ simple.

That’s the difference. With this strategy, in the end the result is a high quality, content-rich website. A useful online resource many people visit over and over again because it truly adds value to their lives in some way. A place people tell other people to go for quality information and support. A portal that search engines will find and reward, sooner or later. A website that could become an authority on the niche topic it is built around.

This kind of site will easily be able to create a sense of online community amongst users, nurture a loyal following and have staying power. And this can become the kernel for a business built around that theme.

Which model do you want to follow?

As I said before, it’s your choice to make. Both are lucrative models. Both need some work. Both have some significant operational and strategic differences. Most important, they are philosophically distinct.

And your choice of one over the other is a reflection of your own attitude and approach towards your online infopreneur business.

Just make sure you’re clear about which kind you’re going after, as much of what you’ll do will be determined by this decision.

It is all very well, just fantastic in fact, to have a steadily growing sales portfolio, achieved through your website. How are you traveling in the way you deal with returns? Are you achieving the balance between a robust and sustainable system, and a nightmare for your customers that will see them abandoning you in droves?

It really does not matter whether you sell products or sell services through your website. No matter what, you can bet that a certain percentage of your sales will turn into a refund or warranty claim. There is an almost endless variety of business models out there on the net these days. Everything from retailers offering physical goods, such as stereo players, to people in their region, to service providers selling their skill to people everywhere in the world. Every one of these businesses has customers, and therefore will have customers seeking to return what they bought.

So how does your business process claims for a refund, repair or replacement? Have a look now at your processes. Firstly backup a bit and see how clearly your site explains those processes to potential customers, in the pre sales phase. Some facts that I suggest you have freely available and easily found are.

1) Warranty and return terms for every item you sell
2) A FAQ section dealing with the process you need your customers to follow to initiate a claim
3) All the relevant time periods that apply in the claim process

I am suggesting that if you openly acknowledge that claims can arise in any sales process, and clearly explain how a customer can access the claims information, then two advantages will develop. Firstly, in that vital pre sales phase where potential customers are choosing their preferred supplier, they will take positive notice that you have been open enough to provide this information. If your competing suppliers do not supply this information, then this point alone my win people over. Secondly by having claims information easily reachable on your site, you will see a reduction in those time consuming enquiry emails from confused customers.

So now let us look how well your business actually processes a refund, repair or replacement claim. What you need to know at this point are a few facts.

1) Claims verus sales over a given period, (for example a quarter), expressed as a percentage
2) Timelines for those claims from lodgement to finalisation
3) Repeat customers who have lodges a claim previously

As every business type is different, so is the expected and acceptable claims percentage. You as the supplier will know from research what is a good percentage and what is far too high in your sector. Compare your results with the benchmarks, and you will have a great idea of how you are traveling. Similarly, by analyzing the time lines, you can tell if your business drags its feet, and thereby annoys its customers. The third figure will perhaps take a bit more digging to uncover, but it is worth it. If customers who have lodged a claim with you have then subsequently purchased again, this is powerful anecdotal evidence that you have your claim process running well.

Have fun finetuning your business, and I wish you all the best.