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Want to know what your customers are really thinking? You can create and nurture the relationship with your current customers with effective customer retention programs that allow you to keep your business at the forefront of your customers’ minds, as well as allowing them the opportunity to provide input — giving you valuable, real-time information you can use to boost the overall success of your marketing and sales ...

Are you using your leads wisely? While it’s important to have a collection of valuable leads (qualified and other), what you do with those leads generally dictates success. Much of marketing’s hype is currently centered on social media, leading some to believe email is a relic, but that’s just not true. Targeted email campaigns may be one of the most effective, measurable means for marketing success.

In fact, three ...

The value of a personal note is priceless, and optimizing that connection with your customers can mean the difference between getting lost in all the marketing noise and helping your company stand out to your valued customers. Automatic thank you cards can make that communication process infinitely easier — and with a more systematic, planned effort.

Why It Works

Interacting with your existing customers in a personal way helps ...

How do you assess the success of your marketing strategy? Does it include customer satisfaction surveys? It should — they give you a direct line into the thoughts of your customers, and provide targeted information you can use to streamline your approach to marketing — and its success. Customer satisfaction surveys can provide your business with a measurable means to assess your approach.

What should an effective survey include? Metrics on the device should be tailored to your ...

Posted by Terry Bean

The sooner you figure that out, the more effective relationships you’ll have.  The more effective your relationships are, the faster your business will grow. 

Remembering this when it comes to your communications will set you apart from most other people we will meet. Why? Because most people haven’t contemplated this possibility: when you dig deep enough into yourself you will realize that we are all connected. As such, concern about others is genuinely self-serving at our highest level. ...

Posted by Terry Bean

I’ve been saying for years that “all business is relationship business.” It’s no surprise that relationship marketing has become the most important form of marketing there is. Relationship marketing is ideal for customer retention, lead generation and brand awareness.

But this post isn’t simply about relationship marketing. It’s about a very important aspect inside of it. It’s about creating win-win relationships. Kirk King, President of Continuity Programs described it best when he recently stated, “Business relationships have to ...

Tips for selling your home during the holidays.

Your decorated home may be more beautiful in December than at any other time of the year.

They key to having it appeal to prospective buyers lies in keeping the decorations simple. It’s wise to confine decorations to the living room. Have a beautiful tree that doesn’t take up a great deal of floor space.

Avoid featuring many displays or collections. To you, they may be beautiful, but to a prospective buyer, they may just ...

Here’s how to get started on your goal to sell your home so you can move to a new one:

First, make the outside of your home attractive. Drive-by prospects are more likely to be interested in winter if the snow is shoveled.

In the spring selling season, be sure the lawn is cut and there are no toys or miscellaneous objects in the yard. Flowers near the entry are a plus.

If one or more rooms are a loud or unusual color, ...

Press Release From Pure Michigan – Continuity Programs Has Been Selected!

http://www.michiganadvantage.org/Press-Releases/54-Michigan-businesses-selected-to-receive-support-through-pilot-program/

Michigan businesses selected to receive support under MEDC pilot program

LANSING, MI November 7, 2011 – Fifty-four small and midsize companies from around Michigan have been selected to receive business development support through the Pure Michigan Business Connect Economic Gardening Pilot Program being offered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, MEDC CEO and President Michael A. Finney announced today.

“The goal of this program is to help these second-stage companies grow and ...

You are wise to consider all investments carefully. Though economists quoted in Money say rental properties today constitute “the “opportunity of a generation,” it’s a long-term investment.

They also say buying real estate and holding it creates wealth and that most millionaires achieved that standing through real estate.

Here are a few factors to consider when selecting a property.

• Look at properties in a stable area that is near an employment center, such as a university or hospital.
• Consider properties in your own neighborhood. ...
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