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Randy Elgin
10999 IH10W; Ste 175
San Antonio, TX 78230
(210) 232-2310
How to Survive the Recession ... Stronger Than Before
As bad as it is out there, it's important to recognize that this is a time of tremendous opportunity.
Get my free report, "How to Survive the Recession ...Stronger than Before" by replying to this email or by calling the number above.
Quick Quiz
Each month I’ll give you a new question based on this newsletter.
Just reply to this email for the answer.
In Anne of Green Gables, Green Gables is in what town?
Worth Reading
Selections from the best articles seen online this month.
Daddy Givebucks: Lessons Learned When Warren Buffett Hands You $1 Billion
From Fast Company
Three years ago, Warren Buffett gave each of his kids $1 billion to give away - suddenly thrusting them into the philanthropic elite. Here's what they learned.
Read more
A Customer Experience Worth Talking About
From the Vertical Response Marketing Blog
I recently visited a neighborhood business. As I looked around this fun joint, I instantly got a sense of the personality of the owners and what it is that they care about. I started to think about all of the ways this particular business marketed themselves not through advertising, but through a great customer experience and word of mouth marketing.
Read more
Understanding Business Development
From Seth Godin's Blog
Business Development is a mysterious title for a little discussed function or department in most larger companies. It's also a great way for an entrepreneur or small business to have fun, create value and make money.
Read more
Building a Culture of Employee Appreciation
From Inc. magazine
How one company overhauled its employee-appreciation, recognition, and incentive programs.
Read more
BOOK REVIEW
Exploiting Chaos, by Jeremy Gutsche
Since last year's economic crash, bookstore shelves have been buckling under the weight of tomes aimed at helping businesses survive...and thrive...in a recession.
A lot of it is good advice, because it's usually better to take action in times like these than wait it out.
One such book is Exploiting Chaos by the "chief trend hunter" of Trendhunter.com - the website that reveals the latest cultural and business ideas.
This is a beautifully produced book: light on words, heavy on design - and also heavy on ideas.
The idea is that times like these require businesses to be creative; to stop doing business as it has always been done and to start taking bold steps to doing business a new way - all with the aim of being nimble in a world that is changing rapidly.
You might not be able to implement everything in the book, but it's sure to get the brain whirring.
Wisdom
Quotes by...Peter Drucker
"The most efficient way to produce anything is to bring together under one management as many as possible of the activities needed to turn out the product."
"Some of the best business and nonprofit CEOs I've worked with over a 65-year consulting career were not stereotypical leaders. They were all over the map in terms of their personalities, attitudes, values, strengths and weaknesses."
"Checking the results of a decision against its expectations shows executives what their strengths are, where they need to improve, and where they lack knowledge or information."
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REAL ESTATE
Use Your Agent to Create Smart Property Marketing Having a detailed and open dialogue about marketing solutions with your real estate representative will allow you to create an individualized strategy for the sale of your commercial property.
This strategy should outline a timeline, the type of advertising to be used, and the cost and location of any ads. By creating a strategy with your representative you’ll ensure that the sale of your property is handled professionally and to an approved standard.
Word of mouth is a tried and tested method of marketing. Letting people know that the property is available for sale allows prospective buyers to explore the possibility of purchasing the site. Print, radio, television and Internet advertising, on the other hand, have a broader impact and reach a larger audience. If used properly, all of these methods provide a marketing solution that may be tailored to work in your particular situation.
Downfalls of print, Internet and other forms of publicly available advertising become apparent to business owners with a stable and well-trained workforce in markets where there is high demand for labor. These types of advertising can cause employees to see themselves as expendable or at risk of losing their positions within the business. This can create high employee turnover and poor morale. Thus, advertising needs to be structured to minimize the impacts on your employees.
So, when preparing to sell your commercial property, be sure to discuss marketing solutions with a real estate professional.
It’s an important part of the process.
SALES
Top Tips for Terrific Customer Service
 Good customer service is the foundation of every successful business. You can offer promotions and slash prices to bring customers in the door, but if those customers don't come back, the efforts are wasted.
Good customer service is all about making customers feel valued, satisfied with their purchases and pleased about the buying experience. Following are some back-to-basics tips for great customer service:
Answer the phone: Make sure someone picks up the phone when it rings.
Be positive: Smile and approach every situation with a positive, can-do attitude.
Keep your promises: Ensure that deliveries, appointments and deadlines are met. Do what you say you're going to do - or else don't say it.
Deal with complaints constructively: Give every complaint your attention, and do what it takes to defuse, settle or resolve it.
Be helpful: Even if there's no immediate profit in it, be helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable. It will pay off in the long run.
Empower your staff to serve customers: Give your staff enough information and authority to make those small decisions that please customers - even if those decisions sometimes incur a small extra expense.
Throw in something extra: Consider offering a coupon for a future discount, additional information on how to use the product, or a just some useful tips. A gesture does not have to be large to be effective.
Listen to your customers: Show a genuine interest in every customer and listen to what they all have to say.
Always do the right thing: Treat every customer with dignity, respect and integrity. Do the right thing - every time.
Picture credit.
MARKETING
Corporate Identity Markers Create a Buzz for Businesses
 McDonald's golden arches, Nike's swoosh, Coca-Cola's sleek bottle, the NBC peacock and Apple's apple are all very instantly recognizable symbols of corporate identity.
All firms - from multinational giants to small- and medium-sized enterprises and solopreneurs - use visual symbols to represent and distinguish themselves. These symbols reflect an organization's view of itself and communicate how it wants others to recognize and remember it.
Corporate identity is commonly conveyed by features such as color schemes, logos, taglines, artistic flourishes, stationery, signage and uniforms. Aspects of corporate expression such as architecture and interior design are also corporate identity markers.
Corporate identity markers can help to:
• Establish name recognition
• Generate awareness about an organization
• Reflect corporate characteristics and personality
• Create a buzz or a signature
• Differentiate an organization from its competitors
• Establish cultural, geographical and sectoral positioning
Unlike corporate image, which derives from people's opinions and experiences, a firm's corporate identity does not depend upon its performance or reputation. Generally, a corporate identity is more or less permanent unless it is changed deliberately to reflect a new strategy or changing times.
Marketing gurus caution against attempting to establish a brand using visual design alone. Building a strong brand is a rigorous process that involves market research, product development, pricing and placement strategy, and systematic marketing support. Once this process is complete, you can use words, sounds and pictures - as well as a logo and a tagline - to communicate to people why they should select your brand over the competition.
Picture credit.
REAL ESTATE
Why Environmental Assessments Are So Vital
When purchasing a commercial property you have to think about the environmental aspects of the site.
Contaminants can enter the soil via careless waste disposal, accidental spills, historical contamination and mismanagement of hazardous wastes.
Environmental site assessments should be an integral part of the due diligence package undertaken in order to assess the viability of a commercial site. It's a necessary step to protect your investment in the property.
There are serious concerns about environmental contaminants as they can cause acute, long-term health effects. They can also create safety hazards and have detrimental effects on local plant and animal populations.
As a result of these very serious issues, more individuals and corporations are being charged and convicted of offenses related to site contamination. In addition, there is also the inherent expense associated with the cleanup of a contaminated site to consider when purchasing one.
An environmental site assessment (ESA) is part of the solution to problems associated with environmental contaminants. The assessments are done by experts to determine if a site is contaminated. A comprehensive ESA should identify the extent of any contamination on a specific site.
The assessment consists of three distinct phases:
Phase 1 is a preliminary evaluation designed to identify sources of actual or potential contamination. The collection process involves research about the site, a site inspection, interviews and a written report. This process is often termed a "preliminary risk survey," as there is no invasive testing conducted to determine the extent of any contamination.
Phase 2 is a more in-depth assessment of the site and should be completed if Phase 1 reveals any evidence that suggests the site has been contaminated. The purpose of the Phase 2 assessment is to confirm the presence and type of contaminants at the site. The assessment makes use of various measuring, sampling and analyzing techniques in order to determine the location, depth and extent of any site contamination. Some intrusive techniques such as drilling and groundwater monitoring are done during this assessment phase.
A Phase 2 assessment is substantially more expensive than is a Phase 1 assessment.
Phase 1 and 2 assessments are important steps toward any remedial processes that are required to deal with contaminants.
Phase 3 is the investigative process to determine the feasible follow-up approaches to dealing with unacceptable levels of contaminates. Remedial investigations are site-specific and can be tailored to contamination found in the Phase 2 assessments. From a purchase standpoint, this third and final assessment phase will determine the viability of the site by identifying the cost to remediate the contamination.
With heightened awareness surrounding the environment, an ESA is essential to ensure that you're protecting your investment in any commercial property. Failing to assess the environmental impacts could have costly consequences, such as fines, jail time and having to deal with the costs associated with remediation of any contamination.
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