Since this new theme has been active (last 3 weeks or so) the number of optin’s for the subscriber list has fallen but the statistics show more visitors than ever.

I have put this down to the loss of the subscriber box on the sidebar. Although the new theme has various options to opt in, it seems that the box is very important in helping people decide.

So, I have installed a series of very clever little scripts that (hopefully) appear only until a visitor subscribes and then never appear again.

What this means though, is that they will appear for everyone until the name and email have been filled in and the button clicked on.

Even for those of you who have already subscribed.

So I am sorry if this change is annoying, but I hope the long term benefits will outweigh the short term hassles. If you do fill in the form, it doesn’t mean you will get several copies of the notices, I trust Aweber, who handles the list, will just send you an error message stating you are already subscribed.

The major difference with these new methods is that you are not taken away from the page you are on, whereas before you were taken through the Aweber system, now you stay exactly where you are. That in itself is a major help.

It also means the box on the sidebar will not be seen once you have used it. A really clever piece of coding. We will see just how clever - depending on the results over xmas!!

Please let me know if you experience anything odd or un-necessary when you fill in the box.

May I just apologize again for the hassle this change will cause.

~Ray

We have just had a new patio laid here at Stewart Towers and I wrote the cheque out for it on Monday evening. Yesterday however, we noticed that all the cement between the slabs was breaking up and leaving little bits of cement all over the place.

I was a bit mad so I rang the company and said I seemed to have written the cheque out a little prematurely as the patio is starting to fall apart already. Anyway, about 9.15pm last night the phone rang and it was the MD of the patio firm. He was gutted about the problem we were having and promised to be round next day (today) to have a look. He turned up first thing this morning and confirmed that the frost had damaged the pointing and that they will repoint the entire patio as soon as possible. He also said one of the workers will be round later today to clear all the horrible bits of cement away to clean it up in the meantime. Guess what? 3.15pm and the chap has just arrived to start sweeping and clearing.

I call that excellent customer service.

All my initial trepidation about the standard of care we would get after we paid the bill has proved unfounded. What a refreshing change!

Only recently I have been commenting to people around here that “Is it just me or are shop assistants getting more stroppy and sour faced by the day?” I had thought customer service was about dead. The local Chinese Takeaway is the only other place I have experienced excellent service and attention, and I wrote about that in my recession busting tips report.

Generally, businesses I deal with that provide some of our services here are good examples of how not to make friends and influence people. They are grumpy, sour faced, off-hand, un-caring, un-helpful and generally don’t want to know about a sale, let alone any questions or issues I may have.

Do you find this around your area?

How often do we have a job done in our own homes, such as a patio, double glazing, plumbing, electrical stuff, carpet cleaning, building work, fencing etc… but never hear from these companies again?

Sometimes it is honestly a blessed relief because the experience was so painful at the time we wouldn’t want to use that firm, or person, again. But occasionally, wouldn’t it be good for us as customers, to be remembered and valued for our contribution to the sales of that business?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we were contacted periodically and thanked for the opportunity of allowing that company to work for us, and being given a voucher or special offer for another of their products or services?

What a refreshing change it would make if these businesses cared enough to keep their name uppermost in our minds so that we don’t have to go searching through Yellow Pages or similar the next time we need a job doing.

How amazing would it be to be invited as a special guest to a seminar or charity event that company is hosting which we may find interesting.

Be honest - how often does it happen? Next to never - that’s how often!

What about your business?

Do you treat your customers/clients the way you like to be treated? Are you and your staff always courteous, friendly, helpful, smiling? Do you follow up each and every sale to gradually inform each customer/client exactly what other services/products your business can supply?

If so, how long to you do it for before you “give up” and assume that person will never buy from you again. One year, two years, six years?

If not - why not. It is your duty as the owner of a successful business to delight the customer and make it easy for them to deal with you?

Why would you ever treat a customer with distain or contempt just because you were having a bad day?

Too many businesses do exactly that and wonder why their business is always struggling.

The long christmas holiday is almost upon us and it is an excellent time for an honest, detached, look at all aspects of our businesses to see if we are failing our customers in certain areas and to decide on strategies to deal with those shortcomings as soon as possible.

~Ray

This is the 2nd time I have written this post - ###### computer! Mind you, I wrote it whilst I was angry about my trip to London on Saturday so maybe it wasn’t completely PC which is why my PC fought back and lost it!

Why was I angry?

I went to the seminar on sales in London to try and discover some new golden nuggets to pass onto you here over the next few weeks. But what did I find? that I spent the day being “sold” to. How I knew so very little about anything relevant to my business and that I needed to spend £497 on this course, £997 on that series, £1,997 on this software and unknown amounts on monthly masterclasses next year.

Did I actually learn anything?

One thing - yes. How easy it is to take money off people when they are keen (desperate) to learn how to steer their business through the hard conditions of a recession.

What a sad lesson.

There was around 60 people there on Saturday at £49 per person. A cool £3k for the organizers, plus no doubt a healthy commission on all sales made on the day - of which I saw a lot of the high price items I mentioned above being signed up for - Wow - a really excellent result for the organizer.

I felt used and really sad for the people who were convinced to spend up to £3,491+VAT each on these “must have” products. Sadly, I bet they never utilize the purchases fully and never obtain full value for money. That is the nature of human beings.

It got me thinking though…

After just a couple of weeks, my free download offer of the recession busting tips report has almost reached the limit of 1,000 downloads. The main critiscm has been that I haven’t gone into full and picturesque detail of each tactic. So, what about some REAL seminars??

Would you be interested if I were to run a series of seminars (no sales patter - guaranteed) giving step by step instructions on how to extract the best results from each of the proven tactics I put into the report??

Would you travel to the East Midlands to attend? What days of the week work best? What time of day is best? How much would you be prepared to pay for each 2 hour seminar?

If there is enough people to make hiring a venue worthwhile - I will do it. I will also try to attract relevant experts for certain aspects to make sure everyone gets massive, real, usable, tangible benefits from each seminar.

Let me know what you think??

~Ray

I was reading our free newspaper this evening. It is the first one we have received in weeks so it made a nice change.

It made dismal reading though. Not because of the lack of substantial local news - we expect that. It was because of the adverts within it. There must be a couple of hunderd adverts in there and every single one of them was the worst kind of ineffective advert that I keep trying to get people to dump. You know the sort - the painter who is looking for work (but no outsides) - the plumber who can fix your dripping taps - the tyre firm who have tyres and exhausts for sale - and so on.

They all look tired, dull and worst of all - they look the same.

The plumber, the kitchen fitter, the tyre company, the painter, the double glazing firm, the builder, the costume hire shop - unless you read them closely - they all look the same.

OK they are different colours and different sizes, but not a single one of them stands out from the bunch. Not one has a strong call to action. Not one has a Unique headline shouting out why you would be mad not to choose this painter, or that builder. Not one will perform any more than mildly average.

It is such a shame that so many businesses are still throwing money at advertising that will not work anything like as effectively as it could for the same investment.

Are you still doing advertising that way?

If you are, because you are worried about changing it in case the trickle of new customers drys up, at least try just one advert in the way I described in my previous series of posts on writing effective adverts. If you have the nerve to try just one new style ad - watch the difference in response you get. You will see how much better the info-ad works and then you will have the confidence to dump the old ways forever.

The worst offenders at selling the “old style” ads are the telephone directory staff. However, it is proven by every person who has ever had a telephone book ad that these just don’t pull enough response to justify the costs. Have a look through your telephone directory right now - it is packed with similar style ads. The challenge is to find a single info type ad in the whole book.

Go and have a look now - and let us all know how many you find!!

~Ray

VT Software have done it!!

VT Transaction + is now complete. I know it sounds unlikely but it was only this morning I was wondering about doing some more video tutorials now my recession report is finished and what happens - I get the upgrade available notice in my VT Transaction+ program and… there is this note saying it’s all finished and there is now a comprehensive user guide. So, no more need for planned tutorials…

Anyway, you can view the help file from within your program, or download it and print it from the VT Software website here.

I have looked through it and all credit to the team - it is clearly written and easily understandable. Well done chaps.

I presume this now signals the beginning of the end for the free web downloads so for all those people “testing” the program out there, it is time to stump up the cash to buy it officially. I think it has been free for download for at least 3 years so VT Software have been more than generous.

You can either buy it from me, or direct from VT Software at £125+VAT first year and then £100+VAT each year thereafter. For additional licences it is £75+VAT initially and each year thereafter per licence needed.

I cannot recommend this software highly enough. It is something we use here for all of our bookkeeping work all day every day. I keep checking other software as it comes out but nothing comes close (yet) for simplicity of use, ease of editing and formating of invoices.

Simply brilliant.

~Ray

I just wondered if anyone needed some clarification about actually when to change the rate of VAT they charge.

I know our beloved chancellor said it will apply from 1st December but…

There is an issue you must consider here when you are invoicing for the supply of goods and services.

If you supplied goods and services before 17th November 2008 but invoice them on or after 1st December 2008, you MUST use the 17.5% rate.

If you normally invoice at, say, the end of the month following the supply of goods and services (yes, some people wait that long to bill), you will still need to charge 17.5% VAT.

The reason for this anomaly is that HMRC treat the Basic Tax Point as being when the goods/services are actually made available to the client/customer and it is the basic tax point that determines the rate of VAT you charge.

There is, as with most things, a work around.

Why did I use the 17th November above and not the 1st December? It is because VAT has a little known 14 day rule that can overide the the basic tax point.

If you raise an invoice within 14 days of the supply, the invoice date will be the actual tax point. There is a possibility to extend this 14 day rule to 30 days, but you have to write to HMRC at your local VAT Business Centre and explain why you need an extension and if they agree, nearly all your invoicing can be done at 15% after 1st December 2008.

As ever, a VAT inspection is usually the only time this sort of anomaly crops up but when it does, guess what happens??? You get 2 choices.

1. you go back to your customer and say sorry, I should have charged you 17.5% not 15% can you stump up the difference please? What if they have gone out of business or just say no….
2. you pay the difference with no ability to reclaim it.

I have said it before but VAT is the most mis-understood of the taxes and when you get it wrong - it makes more than your eyes water!