Customer testimonials - Use them!
Testimonials are almost as powerful as personal recommendations for selling your product or service.
They give you credibility and help assure prospects that others who have bought what you sell
have been happy with their purchase.
If you've been in business a while, you may already have a file of letters praising your product or service.
But if all you've done is stuff the letters of praise in a file drawer or left them in your email inbox,
they're not doing anything other than stroking your ego.
Don't let them go to waste. Put those testimonials to work for you.
Contact each customer who has praised you and ask for permission to include their comments
in advertisements and sales literature or on your web site. If you don't have any testimonials,
ask your customers for them. Encourage your employees to ask for testimonials too by offering them
some type of incentive for each testimonial they bring in on customer letterhead. Be sure your rules
include getting the customer to agree to let you use the testimonial in your advertising.
At defacto fd we always believe in practising what we preach and if you would like to see what our clients
say about us then you can find these in the
Testimonials
section of our web site
-- Fiona, Friday 31/10/08
Defacto Fd - Small Business Accountants Glasgow
Can I make this a business?
This is probably a question that many people ask when they have a eureka moment and in some instances the answer is "ABSOLUTELY".
BUT unfortunately in other instances the answer is " DEFINTELY NOT!"
If you have had an idea that you think can be turned into a business then you should be asking the following questions?
- Is this a product or service that people need?
- How big is the market?
- How much will I have to spend on developing the product or service?
- How long will it take to recoup those costs to get to break even?
- How much will it cost to produce the product? (Remember to factor your time into this)
- How much can I sell it for?
- Will customers reorder the product or service?
- Is there anybody out there in the market selling a similar product or service?
- Can I get enough of the market share to generate a profit?
If, after answering all these questions, the answer is still "ABSOLUTELY" then that would be the time to consider
building the idea into a business.
(and of course we do know of a good accountant, to assist you with the financials of your new venture...)
Fiona, Wednesday 27/08/08
Defacto Fd - Simple Straightforward business advice
Cash is King...
As I start another day with more news headlines on the credit crunch and the general slow down, my thoughts
turn to what this can mean for businesses in terms of their cash flow. The general mood at
the moment is such that people are slower to make buying decisions and more worryingly are holding onto their
cash and extending payment terms where ever they can.
As a business owner here are a few things to think about to help with cash flow:
- Where you can, ask for a deposit against work to be carried out.
- If the job is a larger job then invoice in installments.
- If you provide an ongoing service which is only invoiced once a year, then think about setting up monthly standing orders
from clients.
- Ask for monies when they are due. (simple I know, but you will be amazed at how many businesses shy away from asking clients
for monies to be paid promptly.
Fiona, Thursday 21/08/08
Defacto Fd - Real time accounting with the support of Real people
Welcome to Thoughts for the day.
We recently added "Thoughts for the day" to our home page, and we hope that you enjoy this new addition.
As each new Thought is posted on the home page, the older ones will be stored in our archive section.
The format will be informal, a " blog" if you will where I dump the current topics that are floating around the old grey matter.
The idea is to provide you with some thoughts and idea that may be useful to you
as you run your business. We will advise of any new tax developments and also comment on items in the news that are note worthy.
If there are any topics that you would like to hear our thought on then please feel free to send us an e-mail, and we will try to include them.
Fiona, Wednesday 20/08/08
Defacto FD - Glasgow Accountants offering Accounting and Tax Advice