Convert leads into clients and boost your sales

By Claire McLennan

A major part of keeping profitable and growing your business is maintaining a focus on business development. Even when you've got the right mix of work, clients and employees you should be looking for new sales leads. Establish a process that ensures your existing customers don't get neglected while you manage (http://www.microsoft.com/india/smallbusiness/partners.mspx-new business opportunities ) in a cost - and time-effective manner.

1. Generate sales leads. Identify the types of companies you want to work with and a realistic number of companies you want to target over a given period of time. For example: An accountant with experience in the marketing industry might decide to target five opportunities per month focussed on marketing consultancies.

Finding potential clients and identifying new opportunities can be done through networking events, tenders listed in newspapers and industry magazines and headlines in newspapers about new projects and industry seminars. Keep an eye on your industry and stay aware of new developments.

Track the companies you approach in a database (you could use Microsoft Office Excel or Access). Tracking should cover the obvious things — company contact details — as well as details of what was discussed, potential work, actions and more.

2. Qualify the leads. Once you have companies identified, review it to ensure they are realistic opportunities. Some areas to think about include:

Do you have the right contacts to get started?

Do you have the right services to offer them?

How can their website help you understand them better?

Do you have any conflicts of interest in pursuing this company?

Does this client have growth potential or would it be a quick job?

Who makes the decisions? How can you reach them?

3. Raise your business profile. By raising your company profile (no matter how small you are) you'll be able to generate new business with less effort. As a leader in the industry, new business will come to you. There are many ways to raise your profile; you could try sponsoring events, adverts and gaining media coverage. The size, location and target market of your business will dictate the medium to use and the areas to cover.

4. Show them what you're made of. Start to reach your qualified opportunities by showcasing your company's products. Send them a brochure or a copy of any newsletters you produce and invite them to join; show off examples of your work; highlight relevant media articles. However, if you're using e-mail, avoid being overly intrusive or they may regard it as spam.

Develop standard template letters in Word to send to potential clients to accompany your credentials/brochures. Link to your database (Excel, Access or Outlook) when merging the letters and envelopes to ensure you don't have to re-enter details.

There is no specified time for this courting, so be patient. It could be six months before anything comes to fruition.

5. Set a meeting time. So you're in the door. Now you need to sell yourself. Tailor the meeting to suit the way you operate as a business. It could be a formal PowerPoint presentation or a discussion over coffee. You may have no choice for the style of the meeting but make sure you are comfortable and well prepared. During the meeting be sure to demonstrate the knowledge you have developed in the previous stages.

6. Follow up. You've presented your capabilities and ideas. Don't stop there. Follow up is essential. This is a major part of the process and should be taken as seriously as the other steps. You'll probably be able to build on ideas from the meeting, or you might find an interesting/relevant article or statistics you could send to re-open discussion. Even if you don't have anything to send, thank them for the opportunity. </td>

The impact of disasters like last year's Gulf Coast hurricanes is often long-term. As victims try to put their lives back in order, they frequently face the challenge of locating important documents that might have been lost or destroyed.

For many people, it takes a disaster to remind them of the importance of having copies of vital documents safely stored somewhere other than their homes.

A recent study commissioned by The UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc. franchise network disclosed that 58 percent of those surveyed said that natural disasters have made them more aware of this need.

Yet only 21 percent of respondents have started preparing for a natural disaster. Of those who have started preparations, just over half indicated that they have taken steps to copy important documents.

The UPS Store franchisee Steve Spicer recommends that people make copying important documents a yearly ritual.

"Tax time is the perfect time to inventory and copy necessary papers," he says. "We encourage customers to bring in important documents along with their tax returns. It just takes a few minutes and a few cents to duplicate each document."

The survey indicated that a vast majority of respondents - 71 percent - consider their birth certificate to be among the most important documents to copy. Other documents cited include financial records, such as wills, bank records and credit card information (34 percent); insurance information (31 percent); social security card and related information (29 percent); and the deed for their house (20 percent).

What is a role of a bookkeeper in your organisation :

BOOKKEEPERS keep complete, up-to-date, and accurate records of accounts and financial arrangements.  Bookkeepers verify and enter information into journals and ledgers or into a computer.  They periodically balance the books and compile reports and financial statements.  Bookkeepers also receive, record, bank and pay out cash.  They balance checkbooks with monthly bank statements.  They may calculate employee wages from plant records or time cards and issue payroll checks. Some of the other work they may do includes posting accounts receivable and payable, prepare and make bank deposits, record payrolls, maintain inventory records, purchase supplies, prepare purchase orders and do expense reports. Bookkeepers may also make schedules, sort documents, and file bills. These type of jobs are found in every industry and may have various job titles, such as accounts payable clerk, accounts receivable clerk or assistant bookkeeper.

Cost of a Bookkeeper :

The pay for these jobs depends upon experience, clerical skills, the level of responsibility and the job location.  Beginning salaries go from minimum wage to $ 15 per hour.  Experienced Bookkeeper can make   $ 20 an hour.  After having worked for three years with the same firm, a Bookkeeper can earn at $ 25 per hour. A Bookkeepers usually work 40 hours a week; sometimes it may be necessary to work overtime. Some employers have fringe benefits such as paid vacations and sick leave, life and health insurance, and bonuses.  Other benefits that the employer may include are participation in a credit union, or retirement and profit sharing plans.

Advantage of outsourcing Bookkeeping work to a professional bookkeeper :

There are several distinct advantages to outsourcing your bookkeeping functions. First and foremost is saving money. You get what you pay for and if you don't pay for quality than you won't have quality service. However, you can save money by outsourcing because you won't be paying for employer payroll tax expense, workman's compensation and general liability insurances, vacation time, sick time, health insurance and other benefits a good full time bookkeeper will expect from his/her employer. Just remember, however, that these costs will be built into the consultant's hourly rate and their fee will reflect these costs. Any bookkeeping consultant who has not taken these costs into consideration is not a bookkeeper you want - if they don't know enough to include these costs into their fees, then they don't know enough to be a help to your business. You should expect to pay at least three times what you would pay an experienced full charge bookkeeper.

And just how do you save money by paying three times the amount you would pay an employee? Well, let's see. There will be no recruiting, interviewing and training costs for start. And if you should find yourself unhappy with the services there will be no additional recruiting, interviewing and training to replace your bookkeeper. Also, you will not have to be concerned about law suits such as sexual harassment, unlawful firing, age discrimination, sexist, etc. Or an increase in your unemployment rates because you laid off an employee that you really wanted to fire but had no lawful cause to do so. So right away we have less time and money spent and potentially less hassle if things don't go well.

And of course you will not be paying workman's compensation and general liability insurance premiums. Also any worthy bookkeeper will expect at least two weeks vacation, coverage for sick time, health and dental insurance and even perhaps more benefits.

Most professional bookkeepers will have their own offices saving you space within your office. So you will not be buying that extra desk, calculator, computer and computer software. Your bookkeeper will be providing all of that as part of his/her fee. No software updates, computer maintenance, training costs, etc. Of course should you prefer to have your computerized bookkeeping records available to you at your office, a small investment in software installed on your computer makes this possible. Also no office supplies to be paid for. You will be amazed at just how much pens, pencils, and paper can be used by a bookkeeper. Your consultant bookkeeper will either ask you to drop off the work at their office, will pick it up at your office or some may even offer remote bookkeeping service. And by having your bookkeeping done off site, your bookkeeper will be able to work more efficiently and accurately because her/his office will most likely offer less distractions than your busy office. All of this is saving you money.

And the best reason for outsourcing is that you control the amount of money spent on bookkeeping. What I mean by this is that the person you hire to do your bookkeeping will be doing just that - not answering the phone, dealing with drop-bys, chatting to other employees, etc. Also you can start with just a few hours a month and add on when you need to and then adjust downward again should it be necessary. Can you imagine finding an employee to start with only four hours a month, then asking them to put in 20 hours a week for awhile and then back down to four hours a month again. I don't think you would keep them for very long, but a free lance bookkeeper is able to work around these variables and even more importantly expects to work with flexible schedules.

So have I convinced you yet? If so, then just remember "you will get what you pay for". Go for top quality because your financial records are the core of your business and without great bookkeeping you cannot expect to succeed no matter what type of business you have. After all don't you think you are worth it ?(http://www.submitsuite.com/products/article-submitter.htm-This article was published using Article Submitter)

You have all heard and seen of the scams when it comes to work from home money making methods such as paid surveys. You can avoid them if you look carefully as they all follow a certain pattern so once you know what to look out for you won't fall victim to these scams.

After careful studies of these known scammers I can tell you the certain features to watch out so you don't give them the satisfaction of thinking they have fooled another gullible person. The first and most important thing to look out for is do you need to pay for this service? If you do have to, why? When you get a normal offline job do you pay your boss to have the privilege to work for him? I didn't think so. However there are the few exceptions when it comes to paying upfront but these are rare occasions. Some companies charge a fee so you don't have to search the internet for the best resources to get the surveys but I cannot stress enough that many of these are scams so be sure to do your research before and try to contact people who have used them before.

A lot of these scammer sites have a great sales pitch and excellent testimonials but you can't trust everything you see on a website as you will all know it's very easily to build a very promising website with loads of feedback but you never know if it's true. Even if you get in contact with these people you don't know if there friends of the website owners willing to participate in the scam. The best thing you can do before you start up with a company (especially a paid one) is to do some research on them and look around for the ones with the best reviews by a range of people.

If you do get scammed by a company don't loose faith as this is a proven method to generate a nice side income, try to learn from your mistakes and try another and you will get the successful one that will give you that extra source of income. I know many people doing this in their spare time so there are legit companies out there which will send you the surveys and don't even require any money up front.

There are many blogs where people have given their success stories stating which companies they used and which they think they got the best results from. They also provide a list of any companies they found to be a waste of time so having a quick read can save you loads of time and money.

Selling a business, especially a restaurant is not as easy as it seems and most people find it difficult not knowing how to go about it.  The end result is targeting unprofessional people who just waste time and the ‘real buyers’ are nowhere to be seen.

The crucial aspect of selling a restaurant is effective advertising.

Many sellers think that the ‘tease strategy’ of providing less information gets people to call or show interest, whereas buyers are more apt to call if more information is given about the restaurant for sale.

Here are some quick tips that will stand the seller in good stead:

Pricing – The price point is important and pricing the restaurant reasonably is important.  Underpricing is as dangerous as overpricing. High pricing will keep the restaurant longer in the market and this is not good as there would be speculation among people as to the reason why the restaurant is not selling.

Maintenance – Buyers usually look at the reason the seller is selling the restaurant and it does not help any to see that the restaurant has not been maintained properly.  Taking care that every corner of the restaurant is in perfect shape helps in making a quick sale by making the buyer comfortable.

Information – Keeping all the information regarding the restaurant ready for the buyer is the way to go.  All the papers related to the restaurant, right from the time the restaurant was started, including the leases if any, profit and loss statements, and any other documentation should be filed neatly for the buyer to see.  The more convenient things are for the buyer, the easier it gets to sell a restaurant. Make sure to get a Non-disclosure agreement from the buyer before revealing confidential information.

Purchase agreement - A draft of the purchase agreement should be kept ready in case of an immediate sale, to avoid last minute confusion.  This can be modified once the sale is confirmed.

Advertising - Advertising a restaurant for sale needs serious planning and getting it to the right people. Having a wide range of buyers will increase the prospect of making a deserving sale. Along with the newspaper advertisement, it may be advertised online too.  Advertising should continue until the final check comes in hand.

Understanding the buyer - There may be many unqualified people showing interest in buying the restaurant, but most of them may not be serious about buying it.  To keep such people from getting their hands on all the information, it is important to study the buyer and assess his financial background and business interests.  These seemingly small but important steps help you find the right buyer.

Transfer – If the restaurant is a leased premises, the first thing to do even before advertising is to check with the lessor if the restaurant lease can be transferred to the new buyer.  It may be required to sign a new lease before selling the restaurant.

Agreements - Everything related to the restaurant sale and terms should be in writing.  When selling a restaurant, it is advisable to consult experts in the area and draft an agreement that states all the conditions for the sale, which is then signed by both the parties, to avoid any problems in the future, such as lawsuits.

Initial deposit – Upon reaching an agreement with the buyer, it is a good practice to take an initial deposit of some kind or use an escrow service to hold the deposit until everything is finalized.

Armed with this information and proper advertising, the success rate of selling the restaurant faster is very high. Before deciding on selling a restaurant, consulting with professionals is extremely important to get a fair idea on all the security agreements and notes that need to be prepared.