 To our viewers:
Our goal with New Century News is to help our clients, prospective clients and associates within the real estate development industry improve their bottom line by suggesting the use of better marketing and management techniques.
We use several local, regional and national media and government sources to assemble what we deem to be the most pertinent to our client consulting activities and the services we provide. We welcome your comments.
to view our current and past projects including comments from many of our clients.
Thanks for viewing.
Sincerely,
Bill Effinger
Principal, New Century Consulting360-626-1624 office
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New Century Consulting
What we do for our clients:
New Century Consulting specializes in site selection, forward planning, entitlement processing, community outreach, marketing and project monitoring for builders, developers and investors. We maintain a particular focus on projects in San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino & Imperial counties in California, and now Kitsap & King Counties in Washington state. Please visit our web site to view what our clients say about us at:
www.ncconsulting.net
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Management that works
 Trade Contractor Management: Creating Programs That Work Creating an effective system in your business is the gift that keeps on giving. Way back when I was a contractor, I always found it useful to develop well-organized systems to use in running our business. Whenever I was asked the same question twice, it was time to create standards and procedures for employees and trade contractors to refer to. I called these the gifts that kept on giving: once you had them you could stop trying to remember what you said the last time and just refer people to the appropriate documents. Eventually they learn, and the questions become less frequent. Read more...
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4 Smart Tips
 4 Smart Customer Service Tips for Your Small Business As part of last year's Dreamforce, Alex Bard, SVP and GM of Salesforce Service Cloud and Desk.com joined a panel aimed at best practices for small businesses, with a focus on customer service.
Bard began by referencing both Amazon and Zappos, two brands well-known for delivering incredible customer service, with well established company cultures that place the customer at the center of the business.
With the bar set high, Bard highlights four key areas for small businesses to focus on in order to develop the kind of world-class customer service that makes companies like Amazon and Zappos go-to examples of getting customer care right.
1. Listen Everywhere
For Bard, this point is really important. Your customers are everywhere. They're calling, they're emailing, but they're also on social media so you have to make sure that you're listening. Listen on Twitter. Listen on Facebook. Listen on forums and communities.
"My head of marketing came up with this saying during a presentation. He said, "Social media is the new 800 number" and this got a lot of mileage and traction and lots of Tweets, and it's true. It really is."
"One of our customers, John Rote of Bonobos, asked "If 25% of your customers were calling, would you not answer the phone?" Of course you would. Otherwise, you wouldn't be building a business. So listen everywhere.
Read more....
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Tim Swafford Named NAHB Remodeler of the Year
 NAHB Remodelers, the remodeling arm of NAHB, has named Tim Swafford, CGR, CAPS, CGP, of Swafford Construction in Chattanooga, Tenn., the 2013 Remodeler of the Year in recognition of his professional remodeling achievements. The announcement was made at the NAHB Remodelers gala on Oct. 17 during the Remodeling Show in Chicago. "Tim Swafford's superior professionalism is evident in the high regard in which he is held by his clients and peers," said NAHB Remodelers Chairman Bill Shaw, GMR, GMB, CGP, a remodeler from Houston. "I'm pleased to present this award to a remodeler who is a leader in customer service, craftsmanship and in all levels of our association." Swafford has been in business with Swafford Construction since 1985 and joined NAHB Remodelers in 2003. An NAHB National Director and a member of the NAHB Remodelers Board of Trustees, Swafford currently serves as the president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Chattanooga. In addition to his excellent customer service record, Swafford is an active community volunteer who exemplifies the remodeling industry's charitable spirit..
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We measure our success by your satisfaction.
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Why Smart Marketing Is Like a Great First Date
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When you go on a first date with someone, do you tell them how wonderful you are and all the great things you can do, then ask them to marry you? Probably not.
And yet, this is exactly what the vast majority of startups and small businesses do when it comes to their marketing materials. Whether it's a brochure, a landing page, or a video on YouTube, most new business owners feel compelled to share every last value proposition they can in one breath, then "seal the deal" at the very end.
But this isn't how a great date, or a great piece of marketing, actually works. What most entrepreneurs tend to forget in their rush to make the sale is that the first shot isn't their only shot. If everything goes well on that first date (with, for example, the initial brochure) then that customer will likely come back for a second date (perhaps to your website or your YouTube channel) to find out more.
That's what great marketing and strategy is all about -- figuring out what exactly you need to say to make the right first impression in order keep the conversation going. Talk too much about yourself or say the wrong thing and the date is over.
If you think this analogy is a little far-fetched, just watch this clip from Groundhog Day and see how the metaphor unfolds.
In essence, what Bill Murray is doing here is the equivalent of a customer focus group. He's listening. He's paying attention to her likes and dislikes. He's gathering valuable information about her life so that he can better understand what she cares about, what motivates her, what makes her tick. The more he knows, the more they'll have in common, which means he'll be able to say the right things at the right time and hold her attention just a little longer.
That's exactly what great marketing does. It hooks you in with a question, a clever pickup line or headline, a bit of humor, and then tells you a story, revealing the right combination of details so that you continue to lean in just a little more, wondering what's going to happen next.
Of course, the thing about this analogy (and as Bill Murray learns during the course of the film) is that it's not enough to just say what your date wants to hear. If you're not authentic, if you don't truly believe in the things you're saying, or if you don't actually deliver on the promise of what you've said, the relationship is ultimately doomed.
Great marketing, like a great date, is an equal portion of give and take. It's knowing when to reveal something about yourself and realizing when you've entered the realm of too much information.
So the next time you're getting ready to make a new video, brochure or landing page for your website, just remember you don't need to say everything all at once.
After all, a little mystery can be a good thing.
The author is an Entrepreneur contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
Chris Kocek is the Founder and CEO of Gallant, an Austin, Texas-based strategy and design studio dedicated to building brands for a better world. Chris is a public speaker whose talks on creativity and innovation have been featured at strategic symposiums around the country as well as TEDx. He is the author of The Practical Pocket Guide to Account Planning (Yellow Bird Press, 2013).
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