100+ ways to improve your business, TODAY

Here's a compilation of very useful ideas. Browse this list for some goodies to help you succeed through all the current economic challenges you may be facing. Each idea will take you to its parent article, or you can scroll down to browse by article as well. Feel free to leave a comment about what you think or with any additions to the list. Enjoy —RT

1. Revamp your Web presence.


2. Start sending out e-newsletters.


3. Take advantage of your local media.


4. Get your name out there.


5. Go above and beyond with customer service.


6. Get everyone back to a very simple mission—exceeding sales goals by selling and implementing the company’s products and services.


7. Translate the sales goals into individual accountabilities for both sales and support staff.


8. Ensure each person has a valid plan of how to achieve his or her accountabilities.


9. Remove people who either do not like their accountability, or who cannot see how to achieve it.


10. Constantly hold people to your mission, their plan, and to their accountability.


11. Remove any silly obstacles that company HQ raises (many times, this means ignoring ridiculous edicts and messages from HQ altogether).


12. Constantly recognize and praise successes.


13. Forge connections.
    


14. Don't be afraid to rewrite the rules.
    


15. Focus on the results that matter.


16. Include Free Shipping on Everything (or Free Shipping without Conditions).
    


17. Include Free Shipping with a Minimum Order.
    


18. Include Free Shipping on Select Items.
    


19. Include Free Shipping Site-to-Store.
    


20. Include Free Shipping by Delivery Location.
    


21. Include Free Shipping by Membership.
    


22. Provide Flat Rate Shipping.


23. Plan Carefullly
    


24. Cooperate with others
    


25. Be Creative
    


26. Be Disciplined
    


27. Have Drive
    


28. Bring a Good attitude
    


29. Give the benefit of the doubt
    


30. Give your input
    


31. Be Optimistic
    


32. Be Organized
    


33. Promote Safe work behaviors
    


34. Be Well-informed
    


35. Be Sociable
    


36. Be Calm
    


37. Be Vigorous


38. Ask the right questions
    


39. Perfect Your Brochures and Website material.


40. Provide the hard evidence to prove your claims.


41. Don’t rely on longevity to give you reputation.


42. Match marketing materials with your sales team's ability.


43. Train your sales team to avoid the very tactics of persuasion they're being trained to embrace.


44. Explore ways to imbed your product or service into the typical habits and behavior patterns of your potential customers.


45. Tie your sale into a common theme that month, year or decade to enhance recall, retention, and common ground.


46. Think About Your Outcomes Before Going to Exhibitions.
    


47. Don’t Sell on the Stand.
    


48. Be on Top of Your Game at Events.
    


49. Always Follow Up Properly.


50. Align marketing with the business initiatives and insuring linkage between marketing programs and business results.


51. Collect and analyze relevant customer and market data.


52. Establish performance targets and measures needed to create a measurement framework that links marketing initiatives to business outcomes.


53. Monitor, report and communicate results using these results to make fact-based decisions.


54. Trim fat.


55. Target strategically.


56. Watch frequency.


57. Use games.


58. Make deals.


59. Cross-sell.


60. Contact them.


61. Show the love!


62. Let your audience know you are aware of and appreciate the current situation.


63. Provide Testimonials.


64. Tell them what you are going to give them and what you are going to do.


65. Be upfront about your deliverables and guarantees


66. Show them what you stand for.


67. Demonstrate how your company will contribute to making the world a better place.


68. Create clear company-wide reputation standards.


69. Appoint a VP of Reputation for the company.


70. Hire the best people and keep them happy.


71. Ask for customer feedback.


72. Know who you are; believe you can be better.


73. Appearance really does count—so upgrade your image.


74. Become an industry headliner by specializing in a market niche.


75. When you must choose between character and cash, go with the former.


76. Put your best reputation foot forward.


77. Build goodwill inside and outside your company.


78. Remove the Risk By Providing a Solid Guarantee


79. Crafting an Unusually Effective Guarantee by Creating Original Copy For Your Guarantee.


80. Lengthen Your Guarantee.


81. Compete Big With Your Guarantee.


82. Size Parcels Properly and Save


83. Stick with official USPS dimensions


84. Be a Lightweight with your paper stock


85. Tab or Fold for Automation Savings


86. Be Smart: Use the Intelligent Mail Barcode


87. Make Your Direct Mail Campaigns More Cost-Effective


88. Keep an Eye on Paper Costs


89. Try pre-printed products


90. Ditch the envelope


91. Work with your production provider to maximize postal efficiencies and savings


92. Keep your message foremost in every campaign.


93. Listen, speak, listen some more.

    


94. Be transparent and disclose
    


95. Evaluate ROI continually
    


96. Spread the word, not the manure
    


97. Encourage an enterprise-wide Word-of-Mouth-Marketing culture
    


98. Employ online and offline Word-of-Mouth-Marketing


99. Have Fair Pricing.


100. Lead in Innovation and Service.


101. Be Authentic, Transparent, Honest.


102. Be more connected with your consumers.

Browse by Article Title:

1. Five Marketing Tips for Small Business Survival


2. Managing Sales in Tough Times


3. Free Shipping Strategies Gain Retailers Loyal Customers


4. 15 Personal Skills You Need on the Job
   


5. The Top 10 Dumb Sales Questions During a Bad Economy
   


6. Mastering the Psychology of Persuasion
   


7. The Sales Clinic: Four Ways to Lose Business at Exhibitions
   


8. Bridging the Gap: Four Processes to Fine Tune Your Marketing Organization's Performance


9. Eight Marketing Strategies to Gain Momentum in a Sluggish Economy
   


10. How to Master CRM like President Obama


11. Ten Ways to Upgrade Your Company's Reputation and Drive Business


12. Smart Marketing: Building Your Brand through Employees


13. The Fine Line between Personalization and Privacy in Marketing


14. Create Guarantees that Knock Clients off the Fence


15. How to Build Customer Loyalty Simply by Making and Keeping Credible Promises to the Marketplace


16. Five Ways to Mail Smarter and Save


17. With Budgets Spread Thin, Is There Room for Reinvention?


18. Making Your Direct Mail Campaigns More Cost-Effective


19. Peer-to-Peer | Six ways to leverage word-of-mouth marketing


20. Get Back to Basics. Win Back the Trust.