“Telecoms – Do You Know What Your Tariff Is?
When was the last time you checked your telephone bill to check the tariff that you are on? Are you being charged by the minute and if so then you will be charged for full minutes even if you only on the telephone for 1 second. Are you being charged by the second? Are you being charged a connection fee? If so, what is it? Is there a minimum call charge? If so, what is it? Are you even being charged for services that you have no idea what they are or cannot remember requesting them at the time of entering into the contract e.g. Caller ID? Are you paying the amount that was quoted in the contract or is it higher. Has your telecommunications provider contacted you to offer you a better deal or to review your requirements?”
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Research your prospects thoroughly
Very often, when we find a new prospect who is willing to see us – or better still, asks us to come and see them – we are so excited that we go straight there without another thought. We don’t think too much about what they do, how big the company is, whether they need our service – we only think about the fact that they are a prospect. The problem with this approach is that it makes the sales appointment a random event. They may have a need, or they may not. They may buy, or they may not. If we don’t get the business we can at least say we gave it our best shot. What we forget in this is the value of our own time. If we had to pay someone by the hour to go to those appointments for us, how careful would we be to vet the prospect first? Many company owners we meet have only a limited amount of time for sales activity. If you are one of them, make the most of it. I’m late I’m late For a very important date. Have you ever felt like the white rabbit in Alice of Wonderland, desperately running around but not getting anywhere; constantly watching the clock yet finding you have less time, not more, to do everything that needs to be done? The surprising thing is that if you just stop and take a few minutes to think calmly about all the work you have to do; establish what is urgent and what can wait; you’ve actually started to manage your time and the way you work. Spending as little as 10 minutes every day planning what you need to do and how you’re going to do it can make a huge difference to what you will achieve in the day. And if you look ahead in your week and month you can pre-plan and schedule work when it needs to be done so that you have a clearer view of your impending workload. If you do this at the same time every day (for example 1st thing in the morning or last thing at night for the following day) before you know it, it’s become routine and you won’t even have to think about doing it. But what you will notice is how much more in control you are, how much more you seem to be getting done and that you’re no longer as stressed as you once were. So sit down with a cup of coffee and take 10 minutes to plan your day – it will be the most productive 10 minutes you’ll spend. FROM NOUGHT TO NAUGHTY!
There is so much in the news these days about zero hours’ contracts. We have Vince Cable expressing his concern about them and now we have Ed Miliband vowing that “Labour will end the abuse of zero hour contracts”. He goes on to say that unscrupulous employers use these contracts to avoid paying holiday pay and/or sick pay. The important word to note in Mr Miliband’s vow is “abuse”. Zero hours’ contracts, if used responsibly can be extremely beneficial to both employees and employers alike. Take an example of an employer who has seasonal work which fluctuates for a variety of reasons. They employ staff, train them up and spend a lot of time inducting them into their company. Hopefully a good working relationship is developed. Then, the need for the product/service drops off and they no longer need the employee at that point in time. The advantage of a zero hours contract in this case is that the employee who has received training; has been fully inducted into the Company and has established a good working relationship, has the option to return when the workload improves. He/she can simply slot back into the work without having the hassle of job-hunting, attending interviews etc. Take the other example, this time of an individual who perhaps like to travel for period of time, or who has other interests they want to pursue and do not want to be tied down to a full-time position, the zero hours contract would suit them down to the ground – it gives them the freedom to do other things, yet still have the comfort of a job to return to when this becomes available. Where these contracts have got a bad name is when employers use them, or try to use them, to exploit employees – by laying them off without notice and not paying them sick or holiday pay. Well, the good news is that paying holiday pay for employees is a legal requirement and failing to pay it could lead to an employer being taken on legally in an unfair pay claim. The simple fact is that for every 8.3 hours an employee works, they are entitled to 1 hour’s holiday pay. As far as sick pay goes, this depends on their earnings. Provided they earn the appropriate amount of wage/salary which puts them above the threshold determined by HMRC for paying PAYE and National Insurance, they are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay. So, don’t throw your hands up in despair and rush out to change your zero hours contracts just yet, but make sure that you are acting responsibly and complying with the correct legislation - in which case you could have a win-win relationship and what could be fairer than that? Sandy Green HR DEPT (Herefordshire) 'exceeding expectations'
I'm pretty sure it's been said many times before but all businesses need to strive to always do better than the customer expects! As s self- employed dressmaker I rely on word of mouth recommendations and repeat custom, this means I need to ensure all my customers are happy customers, wether they spend many hundreds of pounds on dressing a wedding party or a few pounds on getting a pair of trousers shortened. I believe the best way to secure happy customers is to do their particular job better than I intimate I can at the start of the job process. If like me you underestimate your skills even a little, this is easy, I quote a job in terms of cost and time, I generally underestimate the time required so usually manage to complete jobs early. Bonus! One difficulty with early completion of jobs is the reliance I have on suppliers, I have found the answer to this is finding good suppliers in the first place and in the second place having a full understanding of their delivery systems. A good example is the fabric and haberdashery supplier 'Calico Laine', the company has stores in the North West but also operates an excellent online store with a good selection of fabrics, patterns and haberdashery, good prices and importantly great staff on the end of a phone line who take my order and dispatch it quickly. Another difficulty is my reliance on my tools, to help alleviate this I have at least two of almost everything including sewing machines, of which I have three ready to use. It also helps to keep tools in good condition, machines need to be serviced and blades need to be kept sharp. So again good suppliers of tools and the services to keep them going are essential. The other way to improve on your offer is of course to complete a job to a higher standard than the customer expects, in my case I complete my sewing to the best of my abilities and hope for the best!! fortunately my customers are generally more than happy with their garments or curtains and some are very happy indeed. These are the ones to get testimonials from, but more of that another time! Caroline Jones 'Fashion Revived' |
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