Cool Happenings in the Business Community

Mark your calendars...for these upcoming events:

Dec 2: (Tuesday) ActionCOACH – “The Next Level” Seminar Series:
Save the Date for: Make Networking Work for Your Business. 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM.
Contact the ActionCOACH office: 910-471-2181. More details soon!

Dec 5: (Friday) Greater Wilmington Business Journal, Power Breakfast #3:
Breakfast #3: Real Estate Reality Check.
Breakfast & Networking: 7:30 - 8:30 AM - Panel Discussion: 8:30 - 10 a.m.
Hilton Wilmington Riverside, 301 N. Water St. The panel will discuss the current state of Cape Fear's residential and commercial real estate markets as well as offer insight into what to expect for 2009. They will also talk about how global financial problems are likely to affect local projects. The discussion will be moderated by Rob Kaiser, publisher of the Business Journal. Cost: $35 per seat or $350 for a table of ten. Seats must be purchased in advance. To reserve yours today, call 910-343-8600 x201, visit www.wilmingtonbiz.com

Dec 12: (Friday) Spectrum Art and Jewelry: Holiday Open House
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm: Fundraiser for The Brigade Boys and Girls Club. Hot cider and holiday cookies will be served. This is a free event and is open to the public. Location: 1121-B Military Cutoff Rd (The Forum Shopping Center, next door to NoFo Restaurant). Contact Spectrum Art and Jewelry: (910) 256-2323, www.spectrumartandjewelry.com

November and December classes at Cape Fear Community College:
To Register: http://cfcc.edu/sbc/ or phone: 910-362-7216
11/25 (Tues) – MS Excel for Your Small Business: 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, @ T-100
12/2 (Tues) – MS PowerPoint for Your Small Business: 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, @ T-100
12/9 (Tues) – MS Publisher for Your Small Business: 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, @ T-100
12/11 (Thurs) – Quick Books for Contractors: 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm, @ L-107
12/16 (Tues) – MS Applications: Using Them All Together for Your Small Business: 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, @ T-100
12/17 (Wed) – Managing Your Boss: 9:00 am to 12:00 Noon @ L-107

January Save-the-Dates:

North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce Business Expo:
January 24th, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Introduce Your Products And Services To Our Fast Growing Community Of Residents, Professionals, And Business Owners. Location: North Brunswick High School
To join the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce: http://nbchamber.net/join/

Do's and Don'ts of a Holiday Party!

Business Coach Radio Show Guest:
Brian McArtan, owner of DJ Professionals and Video

The holidays are a time when business owners traditionally plan a company party or event. Brian McArtan recommends what to do and what to avoid to make your Holiday party or event the best ever!

Brian McArtan, owner of DJ Professionals and Video, Wilmington’s premier DJ service, shares tips and lessons learned from his years in the event and party industry: “Do’s and Don’ts for Your Business Holiday Party!”

Bring your team together and raise employee morale with a holiday party! It’s a time to show your employees they are important and celebrate your successes!

• DO - Take time to recognize the key employees who have made a difference in your business. Give the employees who are not recognized something to shoot for in the coming year.
• Don’t – Recognize everyone in attendance. This takes too long and is extremely boring to your employees.
• DO - Feed the masses. Supply drinks, if appropriate; you would be surprised how much good will can be bought with a glass of good wine. Have it catered.
• Don’t – Skimp. Good food and drink can be economical. Make sure that there is plenty for everyone.
• DO - Encourage all your employees to socialize and relax with each other. Have a group of employees from all levels who are designated to be the “Good Time People.” They are your conversation initiators, dance leaders, etc. These folks are your core to a great party and all of your employees getting to know and care about each other. Facilitate mixing and mingling so employees and departments get to know each other. Make a plan for this.
• Don’t – Have assigned seating with all management sitting together. The purpose of this get together is for your entire team to get to know each other on a personal basis.
• DO - Take the time to talk with each of your employees. Learn a little about their world. What is important to them?
• Don’t – Talk Business. You can do that the rest of the year. Stress to your core group that “shop talk “ is discouraged.
• DO – Relax and have a great time. If your employees see you as a likable person who enjoys having a good time (but not so good that it gets embarrassing), then they are more likely to relax and enjoy themselves as well. Create an event that your employees will look forward to next year! Speak to every person who attends. Learn something about each employee to relate on a personal level. Relax...you want your guests to see you as a person, not just the boss.

Listen to Brian and DJ Professionals and Video at these upcoming events:

• Carolina Beach Chamber of Commerce
  
• Nov 20: Island Florals, 5:30 to 7:30: Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, Business After Hours, 100 North Park Lake, Carolina Beach, 910-458-5276

Business Coach Radio Show Special: 50% OFF any holiday party booked when you mention this Radio Show and Coach Reggie: Call today: 910-762-8851

Brian and his DJ Professionals and Video team offer DJ and Master of Ceremonies services, audio and visual equipment at theme parties and events - private and corporate. They also offer their services for weddings, audiovisual rentals, sales and installations, audiovisual systems for events, video production, wedding, school and corporate videography and more! Check out their website and call today:(910) 762-8851. Watch thier demo DJ and Wedding videos!

Practice Makes Perfect Networking

Practice Your Networking Skills and Create Personal Connections

Watch the referrals pour in as you practice your networking skills and create personal connections. Ivan Misner, founder and CEO of Business Network International (BNI) offers these two simple networking strategies:

1. "Practice makes perfect" is not enough!

Practice alone is not enough. It must be "effective" practice. In martial arts, the sensei (master) says, "Perfect practice makes perfect." In other words, if you're just going through the motions, you are not learning and growing. Only with that intensity of focus does one improve.

The same applies to your networking efforts. If you are applying the techniques halfheartedly, you'll get less-than-acceptable results.

Practicing the skills necessary to become a good networker is important. For instance, the 60-second presentation or brief commercial you make every week when you attend many types of networking groups or various other organizations. Most people come to the meeting unprepared and unrehearsed, with only a vague idea of what they will talk about. While others give their presentations, instead of listening, they're thinking about how to say what they need to say. When their turn comes, they stumble through an amateurish, marginal presentation.

Yes, they practiced, but it was far from perfect practice, and the results prove it. Ask yourself what, exactly, do you want your listeners to learn about your business that they can pass along to prospects for a possible referral. If you're vague and unprepared, your potential referral partners are going to leave the meeting without a clear idea of how to refer you.

You also need to practice delivering your message. Winging it is not going to get you what you want. You have to practice it perfectly if your goal is perfection.

2. Good networkers should talk about more than just business.

A referral relationship is much more than just, "I do business, you do business, let's do business." A better approach is to find common ground on a personal level, then relate your business to it.

Networking is about building personal relationships. If you remove the personal from the equation, you limit the amount of business that can happen. One activity is an exercise called the GAINS Exchange, in which people share personal and professional information about themselves (including their Goals, Accomplishments, Interests, Networks, and Skills). Once you learn what you have in common, relationships grow and referring business is easy! Instead of starting a conversation with...I am a (your profession/your job)...find a common interest and start with that!

Perfect practice makes perfect, and personal connections lead to business. Entrepreneurs who implement these two strategies into their networking efforts get a lot more business than their competition.

Called the "Father of Modern Networking" by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the founder and chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization. His latest book Masters of Sales can be viewed at MastersBooks.com. Dr. Misner is also the senior partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company. He can be reached atmisner@bni.com.

How to Use Customers as Your Sales Force, Advertising and Marketing Team

BusinessCOACH Radio Show Guest:

Charlene Dupray, South 'N France:

All of us are experts on customer service because we’ve all been customers. We shop and buy and we know good customer service and bad customer service when we see it.

Inspired by Nordstrom Department Store, Charlene Dupray, Bon Bon Queen and South ‘N France, shares a few ideas for practical, effective and innovative customer service.

Listen in...

Part 1...
How to Use Customers as Your Sales Force, Advertising and Marketing Team: Part 1.mp3

Part 2...

How to Use Customers as Your Sales Force, Advertising and Marketing Team: Part 2.mp3

Part 3...

How to Use Customers as Your Sales Force, Advertising and Marketing Team: Part 3.mp3

We all know that customer service—both good and bad---can create lots of publicity and word of mouth advertising for our companies. But there is one company that is the standard, the benchmark, the king of customer service and that is Nordstrom’s Department stores.

Customer Service – the Nordstrom way:

• Nordstrom’s employee handbook consists of one page with one rule: "Use good judgment in all situations."
• Letters of complaint (and praise) are shared publicly so employees can learn from them. Letters of complaint are actually read aloud over the store intercom before the store opens to reinforce that the customer is boss
• Nordstrom has never run an ad or issued a press release boasting about its customer service. Everything you’ve heard or read has been word of mouth
• Managers and executives spend 75% or more of their time on the sales floor, working with employees. All executives answer their own phones. You always get a live person right away when you call
• They secret shop their stores by calling and coming in to buy things; experience it from the customer’s perspective.
• They “hire the smile, train the skill” The chairman was once asked: “Who trains your sales people?” His simple answer was: “Their parents”. Nordstrom does not have a formal training program. Employees must have certain core skills as part of their personality make-up; the rest, they learn from mentors on the sales floor.
• Small gestures count as much as big gestures. They reward all employees who create a great customer service experience whether the customer is aware of it or not!

Use customers as your sales force, advertising, and marketing team:

Feature best-seller lists. They contain the implied recommendations of all your customers. Future customers look at what is selling, and know that past customers endorsed them by buying them.

Collect customer ideas

Your customers have more ideas than you do. Ask for their ideas and publish them on your web site.

HOLIDAY SHOPPING?

Holiday season is upon us…check on-line for early shopping! Order now…shipped out at your specific time!

Call or email Charlene and Pascal the next time you want a delightful and creative gift for your hard-to-buy for person – check their website for more gifts, ideas and creative hilarity! http://www.southnfrance.com/ or 910.762.6882.

South 'n France
Charlene Dupray
822 Orange Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
910.762.6882 - Phone
910.762.4260 Fax
Contact South 'n France

Website: http://www.southnfrance.com/
Blog: www.southnfrance.com/blog
Twitter: http://twitter.com/bonbonqueen
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/southnfrance
Linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/search?search=&sik=1220774034507&keywords=charlene+dupray&sortCriteria=4
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1169453724

ActionCOACH BusinessCOACH Radio Show - Wednesdays, 10-11 am, 980 AM!

Increase Customers, Increase Cash Flow, Increase Profits!

ActionCOACH, Reggie Shropshire along with QuickTrainer, Inc. owner, Jim Merritt and guest host SunTrust Bank Manager, Jackie Reynolds presented an informative workshop: Increase Customers, Increase Cash Flow, Increase Profits!

“7 Tips to QuickBook Success!”
Jim Merritt – President and CEO of Quicktainer Inc. explained tips and tricks for getting the most out of QuickBooks Financial Software. And…how business owners can make informed decisions by looking at key reports found in QuickBooks. QuickTrainer, Inc. specializes in QuickBooks classes, one-on-one training, bookkeeping and Point of Sale.

“Succeed on Your Own Terms by Learning to Stretch Your Money”
Jackie Reynolds - SunTrust V.P. and Bank Manager, specializes in helping business owners manage growth, leverage their time and maximize their profits. Jackie offered three keys to business owner success: 1. Measure, manage, and forecast cash: Make a plan (30, 60 and 90 days ahead), take advantage of simple tools and learn to optimize your cash. 2. Extract additional investment capital: offer an incentive for early-pay, ask for payment options and discounts, invest your spare cash and share your resources to reduce capital expenses. 3: Create a capital plan before you need it: Plan ahead, establish lines of credit when times are good and cash is flowing well, include your banker an extension of your team and… ask for referrals!

“10 Biggest Sales & Marketing Mistakes…and How to Avoid Them!”
Reggie Shropshire – ActionCOACH BusinessCOACH discussed marketing “do’s and don’ts”. Reggie challenged attendees to defy the odds of small business by avoiding the most common mistakes. Several tips include learning how to become a marketing genus, how to create a niche, how to write ads that sell, and the first step in building a marketing campaign.

Reggie Shropshire – ActionCOACH BusinessCOACH
910-796-6734
reggieshropshire@actioncoach.com
http://www.coachreggiewilmington.com/

Jim Merritt, Owner, QuickTrainer, Inc.
910-338-0488
http://www.quicktrainer.biz/jim.merritt@QuickTrainer.biz

Jackie Reynolds, SunTrust V.P and Bank Manager (Ogden)
910-686-1017
7081 Market St Wilmington, NC 28411
jackie.reynolds@suntrust.com
www.suntrust.com

Do's and Don'ts of a Business Expo

ActionCOACH Intern, John Luff attended his first Chamber Business Expo last Thursday and offers these observations:

Do’s and Don’ts of a Business Expo

The Do’s:

1. Make eye contact
2. Smile!
3. Engage potential clients/customers who are looking in your direction
• Make small talk
• Ex: “How are you doing today?”
• Always be friendly
4. Stay on your feet
• Stay at the potential client's/customer's level
• Be approachable - You are far more approachable standing than if you were sitting
5. Dress professionally
6. Ask potential client/customer questions about their own business and business needs
7. Take time to visit all of the other businesses booths and introduce yourself
8. Set up on time
9. Have at least one representative in your booth AT ALL TIMES
10. Stay for any after-event social hour

The Don’ts:

1. Look bored
2. Stare at the floor
3. Give the impression you are tired
• Poor posture
4. Appear distracted
• On computer
• Cellular use (unless emergency)
• Reading
5. Sitting behind the table while in your booth
6. Dress down/unprofessional
7. Show up late or leave early
8. Leave your booth empty of a representative
9. Display arrogance (leave your ego at the door)
10. Push your products or services aggressively
11. Avoid conversation and social engagements

You'll meet John at many upcoming ActionCOACH events.
John Luff is a senior at UNCW’s Cameron School of Business, majoring in Business Administration, with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and Business Development. John owns his own business, OC Surfer, LLC where he has pioneered and fostered a professional eco-friendly surf lessons company.

Cool Happenings in the Business Community

Mark your calendars...for these upcoming events:

November 18 (Tue) – North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce:
Business Luncheon: Noon. at Antonio's. Special guest speaker will be Reggie Shropshire of ActionCOACH. RSVP by Nov.14 by calling 383-0553. Taking Your Business To The Next Level

November 19 (Wed PM) – ActionCOACH 6 Steps to Build Your Business to Thrive in a Tough Economy
Presented by ActionCOACH Reggie Shropshire
6 PM to 8:30 PM. To register: http://6stepsnov08pm.eventbrite.com
Free Workshop for small business owners committed to growing their business

November 19 (Thurs AM) – ActionCOACH 6 Steps to Building A Better Business
Presented by ActionCOACH Reggie Shropshire
8 AM to 10:30 AM: To register: http://6stepsnov08am.eventbrite.com
Free Workshop for small business owners committed to growing their business

November 20 (Thur) – Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce:
Business After Hours at Island Florals, 5:30-7:30 pm
Opportunity for Chamber members to network with other Chamber members in a relaxing setting. Features door prizes, food and beverages. RSVP to 762-2611 ext. 101. www.wilmingtonchamber.org

Dec 5: Greater Wilmington Business Journal, Power Breakfast #3:
Breakfast #3: Real Estate Reality Check
When: Dec. 5
Breakfast & Networking: 7:30 -8:30 a.m.
Panel Discussion: 8:30 - 10 a.m.
Where: Hilton Wilmington Riverside, 301 N. Water St.
What: The panel will discuss the current state of Cape Fear's residential and commercial real estate markets as well as offer insight into what to expect for 2009. They will also talk about how global financial problems are likely to affect local projects. The discussion will be moderated by Rob Kaiser, publisher of the Business Journal.
Cost: $35 per seat or $350 for a table of ten
Seats must be purchased in advance. To reserve yours today, call 910-343-8600 x201, visit www.wilmingtonbiz.com