| Greetings!
Hello Everyone, I hope this newsletter finds you and your family in good health and spirits! APRIL IS TAX MONTH. Do you have your taxes done? My friend at the IRS tells me that only 70% of all taxes are in by the 15th. Guess I'm one of those 30% who are not done yet! |
MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS
This month we're going back to the basics. I consulted with a new client this week. She said, "I'm so frustrated I don't know what to do. My web site is a disaster, my ads in the paper are not working and my sales have stopped. I hardly every get a referral from a client anymore". The first thing I asked was who did she think were her customers, and who could afford her services? With out hesitation she said, "EVERYONE."
Now we both knew that was impossible since she is a Financial Planner specializing in the SENIOR MARKET. I asked what was the average income and age of her clients? She did not know either answer. I asked how many clients she had and where did they live? She did not know that as well. She also did not know which ones lived in Florida full time or only seasonally! I asked how many times a year she calls and sends mail to them? She calls once a year in June and July and sends a Christmas card. Basically she doesn't have a clue about her clients. As you can see we had our work cut out for us! The first thing I suggested was to get me copies of all the advertising she has run in the last 6 months. Then she needed to get to work on finding out pertinent information on her clients. I asked her to get the following:
1. Marital status
2. Age
3. Full time or seasonal resident
4. Income ( Investments as well as work income)
5. Assets
6. Liabilities
7. Other planners they work with
8. How much were they spending on health care.
We agreed to meet in a few days and she promised to get all the information so we could make some educated adjustments to her marketing plan. The following are the results of her search.
90% of her clients are married. Their average age is 78 years. All live here full time. (FL) 55% had no investment income. 30% held a job for extra income. All were receiving Social Security. 60% were receiving a retirement check from their employer. Their average income is 50K The average cash on hand was $ 75,000 and 25% were receiving stock dividends. 10% lived on Social Security only. Next month I will reveal our marketing plan.
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| QUOTES OF THE MONTH |
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What a man dislikes in his superiors, let him not display in treatment of his inferiors.
Tsang Sin
A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.
John Wooden
You're only as good as the people you hire.
Ray Kroc
Do something for somebody every day for which you do not get paid.
Albert Schweitzer
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BOOK OF THE MONTH
BY: John Grisham
The Appeal
This month I decided I needed a change from the business book or self-help tomes and since The Appeal hit the book store I wanted to read it. Grisham is one of my favorite authors and I have read every one of his books.
The Appeal starts out in a dingy courtroom in Mississippi where a local attorney is taking on a multinational chemical corporation and their high-priced lawyers from New York and Atlanta. The Company is accused of dumping toxic waste into the ground where it leached into the drinking water. People are dying of cancer at an alarmingly high rate. The trial has gone on for weeks. So picture a back-woods Mississippi courtroom full of local jurors, with high-priced YANKEES from New York trying to convince them that the client is innocent of all charges. This is where the fun begins as the jurors awards the plaintiffs $ 38 Million and some change. Wall Street goes into a panic. The stock of this multi-national company falls like a rock. The CEO and Owner loses a Billion dollars overnight and he is not happy. Financial papers have article after article about how the people of Mississippi award plaintiffs obscene amounts of money. So a plan is hatched to appeal this verdict. The owner, along with some political activist that are pro-business, plan to unseat the most liberal judge on the Mississippi Supreme Court. (Mississippi Supreme Court Judges are elected ). The pro-business group figures it will take only one seat change to move the court to the RIGHT and then it will be pro-business. So the search is on for the right clean, cute lawyer. After finding their man they implement their plan. They find other lawyers who are in financial straits and offer them large sums of money to enter the campaign and bloody up the Left Wing LIBERAL JUDGE. All the while they start to put together a complete marketing package on their clean-cut boy. The sitting judge is not worried about the misfits that have already entered the campaign so she never fund raises and never gets her campaign up to full speed. On the last day to file for the election the clean-cut attorney files and starts a campaign that is well organized and extremely well financed. The trial lawyers are concerned that their cash cow is about to be dethroned. From this point on the mud is flying. The campaign pits interest groups against each other and it is quite fun to read especially since this is so prominent on today's political arena . All in all its another great book from Grisham. And it makes you think "what happened to the average person?". Paul
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I'VE GOT YOUR CARD, NOW WHAT?
By: Glen Gould |
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In our last article we discussed the six steps to networking success. The culmination of those steps was to ask the "Million Dollar Question" and to jot the answer to that question on the back of the business card you received. For quick review, here's the "Million Dollar Question". "Bob, I've enjoyed talking with you. You know I meet a lot of folks every day. Tell me, how would I know if I met a perfect referral for you?"
Now you have Bob's card and the profile of a perfect referral for Bob written on the back of his card. Now what?
Here are five steps to take to ensure your efforts will bring results:
1. Send Bob a quick thank you note within 24 hours of meeting him. That's a hand-written card or letter that quickly states that you enjoyed meeting him and that you are looking forward to the opportunity to see him again in the future. This card is only about Bob and the meeting you had. You'll be tempted to add a tag line like "if you know anyone who needs my product or service, give me a call". Resist the temptation. Keep it simple and focused on Bob. There will be a time and place for promoting your products and/or services.
2. Enter Bob's information into your contact management system. Whether electronic or not, Bob's card and/or contact information needs to be where you can access it quickly. Whether you put Bob's information into an electronic manager or not, retain Bob's card. Staples sells business card holders and even sheet holders for notebooks. Invest in a couple and keep Bob's card (and everyone else's as well).
Put an appointment on your calendar within three days of meeting Bob that says "Find Bob a referral". Give yourself thirty minutes. If you haven't found one by the time this appointment pops up as a reminder, use the thirty minutes to find someone that is a potential fit for Bob. Go through your retained business cards (see, there is a reason to keep them).
4. Call Bob with the following script: "Hi Bob, we met at the networking event a couple of days ago (he'll remember you, you sent him a card and you only talked about him). Based on what you told me then, I think I may have someone who is right for you. Why don't you "Meet Me At Starbucks" (shameless plug for our new book available at www.inspirationagents.com) so we can talk a bit more about what you are looking for so I can be sure.
When you meet with Bob and ask a few more questions to be sure your referral is a good one, be prepared to make the introduction. "Well Bob, based on what we've talked about, I think that Mary would be an ideal person for you to meet. Here's Mary's card (you should have extras from your networking partners). Let's give her a call right now and set something up. When you call Mary, she's happy to meet Bob (because you told her you were going to call from the meeting).
That's it. Five steps to building a strong business relationship. It's all about Bob. What about you? Do you think that Bob and Mary aren't going to be thinking about you? We call it "The Christmas Present Law" and you can learn about it and many other ways to super-charge your business by visiting www.inspirationagents.com and purchasing your copy of "Meet Me At Starbucks".
About the author: Glen Gould is an author of four books, professional speaker, and consultant to corporations and chambers of commerce. He serves as Director of Small to Mid-Size Business at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and is a sought after speaker on networking, small business management and growth, and teambuilding. Visit www.inspirationagents.com or email ggould@inspirationagents.com.
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Comments or Questions?
Let me know your thoughts on these articles, or any topics you'd like to see covered.
If I can help you in any way please call me at
941-716-2597 or email at
Sincerely,
Paul J. DaCosta
2 Pauls Marketing and Consulting, LLC |
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| DIVORCE AND
YOUR WALLET
One of my long term clients was seeking a new mortgage after a pretty nasty divorce. When I pulled her credit I was very surprised to see her credit score had dropped from the mid 700's to 526 and I asked her what happened. Here is what she told me. "The lousy SOB cheated on me and I was not about to pay his bills or our joint bills while he is out fooling around on me." They say revenge is a dish best served cold. And she was definitely seeking revenge.
She also sold their primary residence at a major discount just so he would not get a penny. ( Sound familiar?) Now that we know the scenario let's look at the cost of revenge to our wallet. The credit markets are still very tight and finding a subprime lender that would approve this loan is going to be difficult since all the late payments are within the last year and all accounts are in arrears.
My client was looking to buy a home in the $150 K range and had 10% down. The seller agreed to pay the closing costs. So for this article's sake the loan was for $135K. If she had continued to keep all her payments current during the divorce she would have been able to get a 30 year fixed rate at 5.75% with a payment of $787.82. And total interest paid of $ 148,616. But due to the fact that she failed to make timely payments on her bills we were only able to get a loan at 11.99% (which I and her CPA advised against taking )The payment would be $1,387.59, a difference of $ 599.68 per month. The total interest paid: $ 364,531.65, a difference of $ 215,915.65 over the 30 years. Yes, I know in a few years she will finance out and hopefully get a better rate. But who knows what will happen to rates or her personal situation. Now you need to ask if ruining your credit is worth it just to tick off your soon to be ex-spouse.
We also need to look at other aspects of our life controlled by that credit score:
1. Life Insurance ( Rates may double)
2. Home owners insurance ( Rates may double and some insurers may not write you a policy)
3. Automobile Insurance ( rates may double and may not be able to get coverage from the 'big boys')
4. Deposits on utilities ( Will be High)
5. Employment opportunities
6. Car purchases (I called one of my friends who is a finance manage for a local dealership. Here is what he said: With a 700 credit score he can get them 0.0% for 60 months so on a $ 25,000.00 car loan the payment would be $ 416.67. But with her credit score he has to go to a lender that specialize in poor credit risk. He felt he could get it down at 19.99% the payment would be $ 662.21 or a difference of $ 245.54 or $ 14,732.28 over to 5 years.
Let's not forget credit cards. If my client can even get one, she will be in the 25% or higher range. We need to think of our credit when we start making decision that affect our lives. Credit is the 900 pound gorilla that affects many different aspects of our lives. We need to pay close attention to it. If you do not have a credit security monitoring system please sign up for one. Keep a close eye on all charges to your credit cards and your bills. And for the love of GOD if you're going through a divorce pay your bills and just get rid of the SOB, not your good credit! . Because they will move on with life and you will be paying big bucks for your revenge!!! Remember: People are forgiving, Credit is not.!!!
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