Top 10 Retention Strategies Save Money On Personnel Turnover

Writen by L. John Mason

It costs too much to recruit, hire, train, and develop new personnel. Retaining your best and brightest is worth your time and resources. Great retention strategies can also demonstrate your organization's care and concenrn for your loyal people and can add to their productivity.

We gathered this Top 10 list from interviews with top level executives and successful Human Resource managers. I hope that you can find some strategies that would be worth trying in your organization.

Tip #1 Treat your employees like you treat your most valuable clients. It is cheaper to keep your good employees than it is to hire and train new ones. Your top 20-25% should be courted as you would court and then service your top customers.

Tip #2 Get your employees to "Fall in Love" with your organization. Communicate your vision in a compelling way. Show everyone the role they have to contribute to this vision. Create opportunities for people to connect with each other for support and to improve communication in work teams.

Tip #3 Strong retention strategies become strong recruiting advantages.

Tip #4 Retention is much more effective when you put the right person into the right job. Know the job! Know the employee and their motivations.

Tip #5 Money is important but it is not the only reason people stay with an organization. If your compensation plan is in the top 20-30% of your industry, then money will often not be the reason why people leave.

Tip #6 Employee committees to help develop retention strategies is a very effective strategy. Get their input! Ask, what do people like about working here? What would you like changed to make your company a better place to work?

Tip #7 Leadership must be deeply invested in retention. Management must be skillful communicating company policies in a way that creates "buy-in" from their staff and be open to employee input. Help create "ownership" in your employees.

Tip #8 Recognition, in various forms, is a powerful retention strategy. It does not have to cost a lot. U.S. Dept. of Labor - 46% of people leave their jobs because they feel unappreciated.

Tip #9 Remember, the "Fun Factor" is very important to many employees.

Tip #10 Know the trends in benefit packages. Do your best to offer the ones your employees need. Consider offering the best of the rest.

If you have great strategies that have not made this list, please contact me so I can update this list. Look for more information in this article on retention at http://www.dstress.com/RetentionArt.htm

Thanks, in advance.

L. John Mason, Ph.D. is the author of the best selling "Guide to Stress Reduction." Since 1977, he has offered Executive Coaching and Training. His executive coaching has included developing programs which: improve communication (for individuals and organizations,) build effective teams, hire winners, retention of key personnel, improve meeting management, and assist with organizational development.

Please visit the Stress Education Center's website at http://www.dstress.com for articles, free ezine signup, and learn about the new telecourses that are available. If you would like information or a targeted proposal for training or coaching, please contact us at (707) 795-2228.

If you are looking to promote your training or coaching career, please investigate the Professional Stress Management Training and Certification Program for a secondary source of income or as career path.

7 Tips On Getting Ready To Put Attraction Marketing Into Action

Writen by BZ Riger-Hull

Attraction marketing is about making a customer for life not just making a sale. It's about connecting your passion in business with your perfect clients and customers and giving them a enjoyable experience with your company. People like buying but they hate being sold stuff. Attraction marketing is based on alignment with Universal law and the principles of positive energy not on struggle, lack, and resistance. When using the principals of attraction marketing you are leading not selling. You need to give value and be of service every step of the way without giving away the store. These 7 tips will get you ready to put attraction marketing into action.

1. Begin with the end in mind- what are your big vision success intentions for your business? This is where you would look at what you REALLY want to create with your business in the next 5 years, it's more than bottom line, its inspirational to you.

2. Get very clear on what you really want your business to do for you? Look at the amount of income you want, what your life will feel like with a successful business. What benefits will a thriving business bring into your life...?

3. How do you want to be of service and what contribution would you like to make in the lives of your clients and customers? It doesn't matter if you have a service business or product business, the clear intention of being of service positions you for success from satisfied customers and their referrals.

4. What are you most passionate about doing in your business? Where you have passion you have confidence, enthusiasm, and success. You are magnetically attractive to your customers when you are being passionate about your work.

5. What are the solutions you really enjoy providing for your customers? When you are clear on the solutions you enjoy providing you are giving your customers a greater benefit. Your passion about delivering these solutions gives your customers an edge in solving their challenges and using your solutions for lasting effect.

6. What is a clear definition of your different client niches? Having specific and clearly defied niches does not limit your audience, in fact it broadens and deepens your pool of customers and makes them much easier to market to. Clearly defining your niches is as much about who would be a perfect customer in your mind as it is about their characteristics, demographics, psychographics...

7. Take stock of where you are- has success been a struggle for you? Do you seem to have the same resistance and road bocks? Does it seem like you have a self imposed glass ceiling to your financial flow? Are there any beliefs you hold about your own success that are getting in your way? You will need to become aware of these and dissolve them before you can become an attraction magnet to success on your terms.

©BZ Riger-Hull. Powerful solutions for Small Business owners, Self Employed Women, Professional Women in midlife... so you can THRIVE in your Business, Bottom Line & Life. Free Teleclasses for small business and self-employed success, monthly Answers & Resource call for attraction marketing. Visit http://www.allowingprosperity.com She is a certified Strategic Attraction Coach, Prosperity Guide, and Author of The Soul of Success. mailto:BZ@allowingprosperity.com

10 Networking Tips For The Shy Entrepreneur

Writen by Michelle Howe

As an entrepreneur you are encouraged to get out there and network. Make contacts and start building relationships. Attend networking meetings and promote your business.

This sounds like a good idea until you actually arrive at the networking meeting. Then the self-doubt and fear sets in. According to an article in Psychology Today, "48 percent of people identify themselves as shy." Is it any wonder that networking is difficult for many entrepreneurs?

Even if you don't consider yourself shy, networking is a challenge. How many of us really feel comfortable walking into a room of strangers and starting a conversation? Except for those few souls who love to "work a room," the rest of us struggle to fit in. We revert back to that little kid on the first day of class at a new school.

But, it doesn't have to be this way. You can learn to feel comfortable networking if you change your outlook. Here are ten tips to help you become more of a social butterfly:

1.Understand that most of the people around you are also feeling awkward. Shy people are focused on themselves and falsely believe that everyone is focused on them too. Wrong. They aren't thinking about you; they're thinking about themselves.

2.Give yourself time to feel comfortable in a situation. Get to networking events early, before the main crowd shows up. Strike up a conversation with a few people and build your confidence.

3.Listen to discussions before you jump in. Get a feel for the conversation and then contribute when it seems right.

4.Ask questions when you first meet someone and get them to talk about themselves and their business. Make them the center of your attention.

5.Don't insist on talking about yourself and what you do. Go into networking with the attitude of gaining more information about the people in the room.

6.Don't try to sell your products or services. Networking is for building relationships, not selling. When someone asks you what you do, that doesn't mean she wants a sales presentation.

7.Learn how to describe what you do in 30 seconds or less.

8.Always ask someone how you can be of help to him or her and really mean it.

9.He who collects the most business cards or gives away the most business cards at a networking meeting is not the winner. Having a business card means nothing if you weren't able to personally connect with that person.

10.Plan ahead and have a specific purpose when you attend a networking event. Rehearse the questions you want to ask and know where you want the conversation to go.

One of the best ways to build your business is to build relationships with other business owners. People want to do business with people they like and trust. Use a networking event as an opportunity to get to know people better and find out how you can help them grow their business. Your networking will be successful once you start looking at it as a way to help others.

Michelle Howe, president of Word Magic , specializes in writing irresistible copy for Web sites. She is the author of Web Site Writing Made Easy and Persuasive Writing Made Easy. Visit her Web site at http://www.InternetWordMagic.com for a FREE audio download of "Pay-Per-Click Success: Attract More Customers in 30 Days or Less" and FREE report, "The Five-Step Plan to Article Success."

Home Furnishings In India How To Find An Exportermanufacturer Or Supplier Beyond A Database

Writen by Rekha I Nambiar

Looking for a manufacturer or supplier of home furnishings in India ?

Don't know where to begin? Want to find a source but at a loss for resources? Want to do business in India, but unsure what is the best way to go about it?

This article attempts to answer some of these questions.

Firstly,unless you have a link in India, you will find it a difficult task to sift through the information available on the Internet. There are various sites that provide a directory of manufacturers and exporters in India. These sites have a database of exporters, manufacturers, suppliers and agents dealing in home furnishings. Not exhaustive and certainly not comprehensive, but it's a good place to start.

One disadvantage is going through all the databases. Largely, in the directories of manufacturers and exporters in India, the paid listings are not the bigger companies, because the latter do not feel the need to have a paid listing. If the site with the database also offers website design and hosting services, then the listings that come on top are usually the ones they got business from. Many of the resource sites are similar and even have the same information base.

So, what would be the best way to find someone a source?

I have tried to outline below some of the methods you could use to get more information.

1. Find a consultant based in India. You would need to pay such a consultant for their services, but it would be well worth your while. They would also do market research for you at a nominal cost. They need not be your buying agents, you could still deal with manufacturers in India directly, but they would be a useful link to have.

2. Ask for specific information, giving details of products you are interested in. No matter how small your quantities, you will find a supplier in India, who is willing to deal with you. In fact, if you have a niche market, the chances of finding someone reliable to do business with in India are even better. If you are just generally looking for suppliers of home furnishings based in India, you will get absolutely nowhere.

3. Send a few pictures of the kind of products that would be of interest to you. Without a visual, it is difficult to communicate. Posting trade leads with pictures is useful, although it is doubtful how many of those companies have an employee regularly visit the sites that carry their listing. My guess is, it would probably be ones based in remote towns where there is no other way to access information.

4. Once you have found a few suppliers for what you need, assess if they are willing to come and meet you personally. If the manufacturer finds you to be a potential client (and this is important), they will not hesitate to travel across the world to meet you. The kind of manufacturer you will find is likely to be determined by the volume/quality of business you are likely to give.

5. Assuming you are uncomfortable dealing with faceless companies based in India, consider the fact that most manufacturers and suppliers in India are equally uncomfortable dealing with someone they do not know or understand. If you make the effort to communicate with them, they will usually respond with the same enthusiasm. The ones that are more likely to be useful will not send you an email that looks like a mass-marketing mailer.

6. If you need samples, and you want to deal with a good company, you would need to pay them for it. A better way would be to ask for digital pictures or a CD. At any given point of time, a fabricator based in India has at least five requests a day for samples. Every single potential client promises big business.

7. The best way to assess the credibility of a potential supplier is to start small. That way you will know what their limitations are, and they will also be able to assess if they can do business with you. Even a cursory glance at the communications that keep going back and forth will give you an idea of what kind of a company you are dealing with.

8. Try to exchange information that would be useful to your supplier in India. If you can help them with information that you have access to in your country, they will go out of their way to help you find someone even if they do not manufacture the products you want. It builds trust, helps business, does not cost anything and does no one any harm. It could however, prove to be extremely beneficial. In pure commercial terms. To both parties.

9. To understand a fragmented market, the first step is to work in fragments that will create the whole. Keywords commonly used to find manufacturers from India—that will probably get you absolutely nowhere in terms of relevance and drag you into a cyber jungle that will leave you more confused than anything else…. "furnishings India, exporters home furnishings India, manufacturers bedspreads India, decorative pillows India, table linen manufacturers India, suppliers fabrics India, wholesale distributors, handicraft, embroidered textiles,"

The list goes on and on. The reason is simple. It is an organized chaos. But chaos nevertheless.

10. If you have the time and the resources, you could perhaps find what you want in one of these databases. If not, and you are still looking to do business in India, find a link in India. A link you can build a relationship with. Business is all about relationships. Especially small business. The home furnishings industry in India is still relatively small business.

Rekha I Nambiar is an interior designer based in New Delhi,India. She runs her own business in interiors,furniture and furnishings.

Her work may be viewed at http://www.id-home-furnishings.com

Her blog is http://www.20six.co.uk/furnishinghub

10 Nifty Tips For Better Business Cards

Writen by Mike McDaniel

Not having a business card is as bad as using an eMail address that ends in AOL.com It's just not professional.

With domain names costing less that 9 bucks a year, there's no excuse for anyone in business to have an AOL.com address. With business cards costing less than 9 bucks at the big box store, there's no excuse for anyone in business not to pass them about.

Here are BIG Mike's 10 Nifty Tips for Better Business Cards

Don't Do It At Home
For what you spend on blank microperf cards and the time to get it right, you could pay to have them look professional instead of home baked.

Get your Own Logo
No logo at all looks better than a logo from a clip art book. Same with cards with bars of color or circles. Your card should be you, not something from a can.

Put YOU in the Middle
Your name is the most important part of the card put it in the middle and big enough to see without granny glasses.

Forget the Beeper Number
No need to list cell phones and beeper numbers. If you want a customer to have them, it is far more impressive for you to hand write it on the card ("I'm giving you my private cell phone number...")

Throw 'em Away When ANYTHING Changes
Don't be a cheapskate. Spend the bucks for new cards rather than penciling in corrections. Be professional.

Keep it Simple
One phone number and one eMail is enough. Be sure to put your website on the card, too. Some cards work great without a street address. Do you need it on your card? Why?

Use Both Sides
The back of the card can be used to reinforce your selling proposition. Think of your card as a little newspaper ad. Use both sides.

Stick with White
White, glossy, shiny cards say "Business". Pastels and swirls say "Avon Lady".

Never Leave Home Without One
Always carry a supply of cards. You never know. And keep them handy in a ready pocket, not tucked away at the bottom of a bag, so you can present one with a flourish on demand. Keep a backup stack in the car.

Present It With A FLAIR
Practice offering your card with BOTH hands. It makes a BIG impact. You goal is to get people to remember you and save your card. Do that by using both hands.

For more on business cards, get my article "What Does Your Business Card Say". Click the link to send a blank message BizCardSay@BigIdeasGroup.com

Sig: ©2005 BIG Mike McDaniel All Rights Reserved Mike@BIGIdeasGroup.com

http://BIGIdeasGroup.com

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