Until recently, a business could expect to see, and know about, most of what was happening in the office. Communications with suppliers and customers were traditionally by letter allowing ready monitoring by partners or managers with time to review and consider everything that was leaving the building. However, the replacement of hard copy with telephone and email and rapidly increasing time pressures mean that employees are trusted with far more; the opportunity therefore arises for a disgruntled employee to cause damage and for this not to become apparent to the employer until a late stage.

Further, employees invariably have access to the firm's computer systems and have the power to cause real and widespread damage to a business in ways and to an extent that simply were not possible 10 years ago.

It is essential therefore that employers consider this potential. However benevolent the employer and however responsible the employee there will always be either fallings-out or dismissals even if for operational reasons. Employee sabotage cannot therefore be ignored. The question is how best to deal with this potential.

Jeff@marketmagic.com

By being boss you can adopt new ideas quickly. Since your enterprise undoubtedly will be a small business - at least in the beginning - you will have no large, unwieldy organization to retrain, no board to get permission from, each time you wish to try something new. If the idea doesn't work

Jeff at MarketMagic.com

The foundation of solid communication is NOT to make yourself be heard, to express yourself accurately, or to be non-threatening. Granted, these are all components of communication, but the real core of true communication is understanding where the other person is coming from. In fact, good communication can't exist without honest listening. When it is apparent that you are actively listening to someone, absorbing their point of view, and honestly taking it into consideration-you are setting the groundwork for your needs to be expressed and hopefully understood. Though this may seem paradoxical-the key to communication is more to listen to what the other person is saying then it is to flood him/her with who you are, what you want, and how you feel. Remember, disappointing or no, the ultimate goal of communication is most often compromise. It is rare that you can utterly change someone else's perception, opinions, or behavior entirely. And it is generally unreasonable to expect to do so.

Jeff

Personal development is so misunderstood these days. Unfortunately many people see it as a
silly concept that isn't for them. Others go overboard and drown
themselves in info until they don't know what to believe
anymore. It's probably healthy to be somewhere in between -
perhaps leaning a little more to the latter but not too extreme.
One thing is for sure - the concept cannot be forced upon you.
If someone tells you that you need to develop yourself in this
regard then you'd probably jump on your high horse and tell them
where to go in no uncertain terms.

Jeff

sales@marketmagic.com

sales, and make more money.

Jeff@marketmagic.com

Want More Referrals?

1. Respond IMMEDIATELY to the person who was referred to you.

2. THANK the person who sent you the referral and TELL them what your

course of action was with the referral.

3. TELL the person referred to you of other happy clients- these would be references for you.

Be sure you have selected a couple of clients and ask their permission to refer people to them for a reference. By TELLING the person who sent you the referral of your course of action, they will be comfortable sending you more referrals. By TELLING the referred person about other happy clients THEY will be more comfortable doing business with you- and then referring others your way.

Jeff@marketmagic.com

If you've been a manager for long, you know that things can go wrong even in the best of organizations. Problem behavior on the part of employees can erupt for a variety of reasons. Here are a few  tips for dealing with it.

1. Recognize that problem behavior usually has a history.
It usually develops over time and seldom from a single incident. As a manager, it is your responsibility to be alert to the early warning signs and deal with the underlying causes before the situation reaches a crisis.

2. Ask yourself: "Am I partly or wholly responsible?"
You would be surprised how frequently it is the manager who has created, or at least contributed to problems of employee behavior. Having an abrasive style, being unwilling to listen, and being inattentive to the nuances of employee behavior are all factors that contribute to the manager's need to thoroughly examine what is going on.

3. Don't focus only on the overt behavior.
When confronted by an angry employee, it's easy to attack the person and target the behavior rather than examine the factors that underlie the behavior. Often, this takes patience, careful probing, and a willingness to forgo judgment until you really understand the situation.

Jeff@marketmagic.com

1. Be really passionate about what you do.

If you're not excited, other people won't be either. When you're joyful about your work, hobby, etc., you're attractive to yourself. When you're attractive to yourself, you attract others. It's that simple.

2. Get over feeling you have to impress people.

Yes, you worked hard to know what you know and be where you are, but don't expect other people to appreciate that as much as you do. When you emphasize what you know or how far you've come, you run the risk of coming off as egotistical and patronizing. Worse yet, you can create such a distance between yourself and others that they'll write you off. Better to practice humility. On the other hand, when others know that you're a gold mine of talent or information about something and you withhold yourself deliberately even when you've been asked to help, you can get the same unpleasant result. The key here is to place yourself in other people's shoes and find out what it is they care about.

3. When people ask what you do, use real life examples of how you have helped others solve a problem, improve their quality of life, stretch themselves, etc.

When you use real life examples, you tend to get rid of the complexity and jargon that so often turn people off anyway. Moreover, using real life examples enables the person you're talking with to relate what you're saying to his/her own situation, wants, or needs.

4. "Tell it to a wise person, or be silent."

This line from a poem holds a great truth. The person who is ready to hear your message is the person who can make the most use of it. With those who are not receptive, your message just bounces off into the air, or, worse, triggers defensive reactions in the other person.

5. Eliminate jargon from your vocabulary.

When you use jargon, however meaningful it is to you, you risk turning the other person off because what you're saying is too cryptic to be understood or you appear to be showing off. When you have a conversation with another person based on his/her point of view, you naturally ease into using his/her vocabulary. It's that person's vocabulary which has meaning for him or her, and that's what you want to connect with.

Jeff@marketmagic.com

The Top 10 Extras to Give your Clients
1. Extra time that you don't bill them for.
2. A newsletter that's WORTHWHILE.
3. Education on how to make the most of your service.
4. Networking: Putting your clients in touch with others in your network, for mutual benefit.
5. A gift during the holidays or for their birthday, if appropriate.
6. A free annual review/meeting of some sort that's about the CLIENT.
7. Develop a bank of experts in many fields who are available to your clients.
8. Continually innovate/improve your products and services and keep your clients informed about why/how to take advantage of these.
9. Develop a reminder service of some sort to keep the client informed when certain things should be done.
10. An automated way for your clients to access of your resources--from appointment making to FAQs to policies to payment to account status.

Jeff@marketmagic.com

The overwhelming majority of people do not respond to a single marketing communication... or a single phone call... or a single fax... or a single anything else.

Jeff@marketmagic.com