Knock-their-socks-off customer service
If businesses provided just that one thing — excellent customer service — they’d be way ahead of their competition and raking in and keeping clients. The amazing thing is that often it’s not hard or costly to make clients happy, yet many businesses seem averse to taking good care of the people who butter their bread.
For nearly a year I frequented a business that provided high-quality meals for people on the go (or, in my case, for people who don’t like to cook). I spent a lot of money there. One day I received an email from the business announcing a delicious special. A few minutes later I was in the store and ready to purchase two meals. However, the owner told me that they had sold out. Sold out?! She had just sent the email!
I was very disappointed, but all she did was apologize. Even though I’d spent enough money at her store to put a kid through college, she didn’t even offer a free dessert for inconveniencing me. Guess what? I haven’t gone back since.
Not long after that, my husband was shopping at a local gourmet store. He wanted to buy my favorite chocolate gelato, but he didn’t see any in the freezer. When the store owner realized he was out of chocolate gelato and how disappointed I would be, he went home where he kept his stock and got a carton — just to make his customer happy. I was absolutely blown away! You can bet that we buy from him all the time.
Now listen to this one. A few days ago I recommended Printingforless.com in a post. Because they monitor blogs for mentions of their company, my service team saw the post and emailed me to express their thanks. But that’s not all. They gave me two appreciation gifts! I got one today — a Pantone process color guide. Cookies from Dancing Deer Baking Company are on their way.
I am beyond thrilled with their customer service. They definitely know how to keep a client for life and generate referrals — one of the greatest “secrets” to a successful business.
[Note to my Bobcat Team: I know you'll see this. Thanks again! No need to send more cookies 
]
Superior printing and service… for less
I’m a huge fan of Printingforless.com. Their product quality is excellent, and the customer service is almost unbelievable!
Because I found them on the Internet and their prices were far less than what I’d pay for a local printer, I wasn’t sure what the quality would be. (This was before their extensive coverage in publications including Inc. Magazine and Forbes.) So I ordered a free packet of product samples. I was sold when I saw the high-quality work.
If you decide to do business with Printingforless.com, feel free to use my Promotional Code RP1LQZ43O to receive $25 off your first order.
Some of you may be familiar with the popular printer Vistaprint.com. At first I was excited by the good prices — you can even get free business cards (with the Vistaprint logo on the back, of course). But then I discovered that the business cards are not standard size — they are smaller. Also, after working with them on several projects, I became unimpressed with their customer service and lack of technical skills. They botched a job and refused to respond to my emails and phone calls. So, buyer beware!
New “Tao of Ka-Ching!” Program
Attention Therapists, Coaches and Other Service Professionals: New Training to Build Your Business or Practice
I just received an email from my friend and colleague Maryam Webster, a therapist and coach who is extremely successful and business-savvy. She has partnered with another highly successful coach, Betsy Muller, MBA, to develop a new business-building program for helping and service professionals. It’s called the Tao of Ka-Ching! Program. Don’t you just love that that clever title?
I’ve posted the email below. If you are interested in learning how to build your business or practice from coaches who have been-there-done-that, are highly successful, and have paid thousands of dollars to learn from some of the top business and marketing experts on the planet, I encourage you to enroll now while you can get the early-bird price. Right now the program is only $399. Believe me, that is an unheard-of bargain for what you’ll be getting.
Without further ado, here’s Maryam:
Hi there and Happy 2007!
Welcome to the first Catalyst Update of the New Year. I’ll get right down to it, if you are a therapist, coach or other service provider, YOUR ENTIRE 2007 PROFITS Could Depend On Reading this.
Please stick with me for a minute, because I DON’T WANT YOU to go one more year without the things you really need, want and DESERVE in life.
After many years of research and training, I’ve created an amazing (and info *stuffed*) way to get you where you want to be as a professional, if you’re not there already.
Let me illustrate by telling my own story (and flattering, it isn’t):
When I first started out as a therapist, I had a ton of clients because I worked at a clinic. But NOT SO when I struck out on my own in private practice! With no practice manager to do my marketing and sell me as a therapist, I was dead in the water. (if you see yourself in this, keep reading, it gets better!)
I brought a handful of loyal clients with me from the clinic, and after months, finally got some great referrals to other clients. Building a business was slo-o-o-w going though, and I wasn’t what you could call profitable by a long shot.
For instance I didn’t know then, that living off of one-on-one sessions was a fast track to the poor.house, though I do now. Just like I didn’t know then how to get free PR, or how to grow my list by over 12,000 emails overnight or indeed, why that was important to my future profits.
But this was 1984. We didn’t have the internet back then, nor many low-cost ways of getting clients. If we had, and I knew then what I know now, today I’d have a bank account the size of Bill Gates!
As it is, I have spent the last ten years learning what I need to make my business profitable, automated, and cranking out money quite literally, while I sleep.
Think you know how I make my living? If you know me as a therapist, coach or trainer, then think again - you’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg. The Private Practice Profits rabbit hole goes much further and deeper!
And now I’m going to help YOU to be EVERY BIT AS SUCCESSFUL. Since you’re a subscriber to The Catalyst and possibly a therapist, coach or other service provider, I wanted to let you know ASAP about the:
“Tao of Ka-Ching!” *** (curious about the name? scroll down…)
Client Attraction & Profit Maximizer Teleseminar & Webinar:
A 90-Day Program for Service Professionals
My colleague Betsy Muller, MBA, and I are teaching this program February through April of 2007. In case you haven’t met her, Betsy is a Certified Energy Coach, one of our CEC course facilitators and one of the most business savvy women I know. The depth of her profit center knowledge blows me away, which is why I am collaborating with her to bring this program to you.
We’ve corralled enough internet, business and marketing experts to get your biz productive, help you produce and sell products and greatly increase your profits enough to be able to go HALFTIME in your business a few years from now if you like, and STILL make enough to support yourself.
Example? Your blog posts for instance, can quite literally be a book with very little re-working - did you know that? But no one writes a book to get rich - you won’t make money off of the book. But we’ll show you how to leverage that book TO make it HUGELY profitable for you!
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ASIDE & RELEVANT NEWS:
I am under contract to write a book on energy coaching for busy women. I will be BLOGGING the book. We’ll be teaching the “how to’s” of this process, how to arrange free “virtual book tours” and other cool ways to take what you already have (text, audio, processes you’ve developed, etc) and “repurpose” it for additional income in the Tao Of Ka-ching Program.
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Even if you’re not interested in the Program, go ahead and sign up for our FREE eCourse on things you can do RIGHT NOW to maximize your business potential, here:
THE NITTY-GRITTY:
Okay, so you want to know what your investment will be. Sure, that’s important, but even more so is what you will gain by that investment.
We’re offering a truly LOW introductory enrollment of $399 which you can take advantage of until January 20th. (Be sure and enroll ASAP if you *are* interested - because this price WILL go up!)
Just to illustrate the Extreme Value incorporated in the Tao of Ka-Ching Program…you could hire us privately for between $200 and $500 an hour for several months to teach you the material from scratch.
Or hire a PR expert, web designer, media pro, book agent and a handful of other professionals to do the work of what we’re going to teach you. Total cost - somewhere in the stratosphere!
You could take Jay Conrad Levinson and Mitch Meyerson’s very popular “Guerilla Marketing Program” for $2,295 - Mitch was my first marketing coach and trained me in his techniques. Or, you could take Michael Port’s $2,500 “Book Yourself Solid” Program - I did, and for a high-priced program, it’s got a lot on the ball. Or your could buy C.J. Hayden’s Wonderful “Get Clients Now!” program for $1200…her recommendations are also stellar.
I took ten or twelve of these kind of trainings to fully understand exactly how to conduct my business in a way that supports the kind of life I want to live. Now, you’ll gain the same kind of benefits for much, much less. And get much, much more.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
All the existing programs I mentioned are great, but with all of our combined training and expertise IN THE INDUSTRY, We Provide EVEN MORE of specific BENEFIT to therapists and coaches. You can get all the training in how to PROFIT MAXIMIZE your therapy, coaching or other service bus.iness under one roof:
PLUS a cutting edge, online eCampus
PLUS coaching buddies
PLUS accountability and action groups
PLUS a ton of Master Classes from True Experts in their fields
PLUS using your own spiritual path or personal development to accelerate your business
PLUS webinars where we TAKE YOU to online resources, right in class, from the comfort of your own browser
AND (yes!) Energy Coaching to deal with blocks to abundance, fear around selling, or other issues that might come up for you.
I want to help YOU make 2007 YOUR MOST PROFITABLE YEAR EVER!
The Tao of Ka-Ching is the BEST WAY to Profit Maximize YOUR Service Business, with the MOST CONCENTRATED CORE OF EXPERT MASTER CLASSES that you can find, anywhere.
We’ve put it all together for you, no guessing, no uncertainty - just a CLEAR PATH to where you truly want to be. There’s no room to list all of the experts we’re bringing to you - but do check out the site and sign up for the FREE eCourse while you’re there. All at:
How TFC benefits from promoting other people’s programs
Okay, you might be wondering why I would promote Maryam Webster’s new business-building and marketing program. Isn’t she my competition?
Not really. She and Betsy are lightyears beyond what I could provide for the same price. Plus they have the distinct advantage of being in the helping profession themselves and can provide in-the-trenches advice and assistance. I am happy to steer people to the best programs and services at the best prices.
And here’s how I benefit financially: I will receive a finder’s fee for anyone who signs up.
It’s all about creating a Circle of Giving! Everyone wins in this arrangement.
Do you Skype yet? It’s FREE
Skype is a service that allows you to use your computer and the Internet for making “phone” calls. You can download the Skype software for free and call other Skype users anywhere in the world for free. You can’t beat that!
You can also use Skype to call any phone for a ridiculously low cost. Right now Skype has a package for $14.95 for a full year of calling within the U.S. and Canada.
I started using Skype last September to talk to clients in Austrailia. I was amazed at the sound quality. It was crystal clear — it sounded better than my land line!
Skype is super easy to set up and use. For a good overview, plus a comparison to Vonage, see http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/skype-vonage.htm.
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About TFC
Talking Feather Communications is located in Anthem, Arizona. We provide business and marketing communication services, including copywriting and content development, Web site development, WordPress blog setup, and search optimization.