ThinkAvenue

Employee Quits – Lessons Learned

ThinkAvenue Editor — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:54:08 +0000

A lot of resources goes into recruiting the right employee. Your company invests money to the training and development, but it does not end there. You need to spend just as much time making sure you keep them.

When a top employee quits, its time to ask the questions Where did we go wrong? How could we have been more prepared?

Here are the five biggest lessons learned:

1. Read the warning signs.

2. Train all managers to avoid surprises.

3. Build close relationships with your people.

4. Nurture employees’ personal visions.

5. Have a back-up plan.

Cold-Calling 101

ThinkAvenue Editor — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:44:55 +0000

The reason people still cold-call is that the technique can lead to a meeting, a pitch, and an actual sale or sales relationship. ‘It’s done by lots and lots of people all over the place and it works. People do buy. But the percentages are small,’ says Peter Handal, CEO of Dale Carnegie, an international training and consulting services company that helps businesses sharpen sales skills and improve performance.

1. Determine Your Objectives In Cold-Calling

2. Assemble a list of potential Sales Prospects

3. Research your Target Companies and their Industries

Mini-Marketing Campaigns

ThinkAvenue Editor — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:29:11 +0000

Experts from top marketing firms share some ideas on things you can do to run a smart—and influential—mini-marketing campaign that might even change the way you reach your customers in the future.

1. Experiment with new audiences.

2. Go big with pop-up events.

3. Sponsor conversations.

4. Attach yourself to large events.

5. Emphasize earned media.

6. Try a new format.

7. Revisit old leads.

Is it Important to file for a Trademark?

ThinkAvenue Editor — Mon, 07 May 2012 10:23:13 +0000

If you’re operating a business in the United States, Canada, or England, it’s not necessary to file. “You don’t need to do anything to acquire trademark rights other than use your trademark in connection with your goods or services. You automatically get those rights,” says Michael Atkins, a Seattle-based trademark lawyer.

Here are the five categories of trademark strength:

Fanciful or arbitrary marks – it only refers to the source of goods and services bearing the mark

Arbitrary marks – These consist of common English words used in contexts where their normal meaning has no relationship to the goods and services they’re being applied to.

Suggestive marks – These indirectly refer to the goods and services that they are associated with and require some imagination on the part of the consumer.

Descriptive marks – These marks describe the goods and services they are being used to market.

Generic marks – These marks are not protectable at all because they describe a whole group of goods or services, which makes it impossible to distinguish one product within the group from another.

Rules for Choosing a Business Name

ThinkAvenue Editor — Sat, 05 May 2012 09:59:26 +0000

As a small business, you’re likely willing to be a little bolder in your choice of names. Here are some ways to turn that instinct into a handle worthy of your brand:

•   Pick a name that is closest to your business name.
•   Make it easy to spell and pronounce for starters, and meaningful to your audience, not just to you.
•   Avoid using puns.
•   Don’t be a copycat -When people are paying you to advertise your brand that’s the ultimate in a good name.

How to cope with a Lost Sale

ThinkAvenue Editor — Thu, 03 May 2012 09:49:36 +0000

Anyone who sells, an expert or highly experienced, the pang of disappointment that comes when your competition wins is always uncomfortable. There’s an old saying in sales: “When you lose a sale, don’t lose the lesson, too.”

1. Keep yourself updated to the requirement of the customer. When the time does arrive , you could be the first to approach.

2. Try to be pleasant when the customer is telling you the unpleasant news. Ask for feedback on what are the reasons for the short sale and what they expected.

3. A note to sales managers: It is important that you encourage honest talk after a sale, even though everyone already knows the result. And it is imperative that participants know that what gets shared in these discussions doesn’t get used against them.

5 Top Salesman Tips

ThinkAvenue Editor — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:51:15 +0000

Whether you are selling Ad space on your website, your services to clients or pretty much anything, salesmanship is universal.

1. The only thing that a prospect cares about is what these features will do for them.Sspeak in terms of benefits and your prospect will be more pre-disposed to listening to your presentation.

2. Prospecting is a very time-consuming and arduous task. Allocate a specific amount of time each day (week?) and keep to the schedule.

3. Just like gardening, if you don’t water the seeds, the garden will languish. And so it is with prospecting… if you don’t remain in contact, you will never break through.

4. Ask the right questions and the prospect will tell you what they want and how they need to be sold.

5. Last but definitely not least, maintain a good sense of humor. Make the prospect smile and you’re halfway there!

Sharing is Caring – The Social Media Trend

ThinkAvenue Editor — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:44:42 +0000

Everyday, we gather so much of information. What do we do with all of it? We use some for ourselves and the stuff we find reliable, we Share!! Social Media has allowed us to share information within 60 seconds and create awareness. There are 5 basic reasons for sharing:

1. To bring valuable and entertaining content to others

2. To define ourselves to others

3. To grow and nourish our relationships

4. Self -fulfillment

5. To get the word out about causes and brands

In essence it is about building relationships.

Rules of Engagement on your Facebook page

ThinkAvenue Editor — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:43:57 +0000

We have all watched the TV serial – How can we apply it to real life? There a few basic Rules on how to engage your Audience on Facebook.

1. Don’t tell me everything – Why would I bother, looking at your page, if there is no suspense or some treat for me?

2. Know your fans – take time to see ho are these people who have taken the trouble of ‘Liking’ you

3. Communication – The Audience are mostly Like minded individuals or have the same interests – Make that a common topic to share information

Partnership & Affiliate Marketing

ThinkAvenue Editor — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 08:54:51 +0000

You’ve got thousands of affiliates – have you got to do this with every single one? Not unless you want to cry yourself to sleep! The challenge is to identify best performing affiliates as well as those who you think have the greatest potential to add value and drive relevant traffic to your website.

Finding the best performers is easy – look at your affiliate reports to see who drives the most traffic and how the traffic is converting to revenue.

Defining which websites have the greatest potential is a bit more involved. First, you should define what makes a great website for your brand – is it audience reach, or quality of user experience, or both or something else? Once you have these criteria, each time you vet a new affiliate application, sense check against the list and if the website ticks the boxes, add the website to a list of ‘ones to watch’.

There’s no hard and fast rule for the maximum number of affiliate partners with whom to maintain a direct relationship but it’s advisable to restrict this to 10-20 for each person in your affiliate team.