What 4 simple words can earn you customer loyalty?  These four will:  We value your business.

That’s what a salesman at a Washington area office of Case Design recently learned.  After an exasperated customer needing an hour of repairs to be completed suggested that if the company really wanted her business that the repair service company consider changing its policy on work hour minimums.

And then something surprising happened.  After realizing that it was talking with a long time customer, the salesman called back the customer to say, We value your business.  We think we can work something out. And it did, scheduling the customer for an hour of repairs.

And then something else surprising happened.

The customer took them up on it,  but she ended up having to reschedule.   It turned out that if she fully assessed her repair needs, one hour wouldn’t be enough.

How do you earn customer loyalty?  What simple words or actions have been successful for you?

Email your comments to heathertaylormedia@gmail.com, or the comment box below.

Gordon Gekko, the Machiavellian lead character in the movie Wall Street (and its sequel) probably thinks napping is for wimps.  In the same way he dismissed the benefits of a midday meal (“Lunch is for wimps,” he famously remarked to his protege, played by Charlie Sheen), he’d probably view napping as counter to increased productivity.  Why?  It’s because it contradicts much of corporate culture’s belief that in order to increase our productivity means that we must do “more, bigger and faster.”

Except Gekko would be very wrong, according to Tony Schwartz, best-selling author and the President & CEO of The Energy Project.  Schwartz joined me today on a taping of the Money Matters & More radio show to talk about the value of napping to achieve peak performance.  “The recent evidence is overwhelming, says Schwartz. Naps are not just physically restorative, but also improve perceptual skills, motor skills, reaction time and alertness.”

How valuable is it for you to nap?  Take a brief energy audit to find out at www.theenergyproject.com.

And what, if any companies have adopted this new ethic?  How do we convince company heads and corporate leaders who haven’t?  To learn more, be sure to tune in to my Money Matters & More interview with Tony Schwartz this Tuesday, September 28th at 9:30 a.m. (ET) on Blogtalkradio.com/money-matters–more.

Recession-proofing our jobs may sound like wishful thinking, but the good news is that it really can be done, and a new Federal government website can help us get started.

How to keep from being adversely affected by changes in the employment market comes down to one thing:  keeping at least one step ahead.

The Department of Labor’s website, MySkillsMyFuture can help us keep one step ahead and help us get started on the path to recession-proofing our jobs.  That’s because it invites us to plug in our experience and skills and get an assessment of what kind of work we’re skilled to do.  It also offers information about where we can find work using those skills and what if any, training we may need.

For example, in my recent Money Matters & More interview with Vickie Elmer, the Washington Post Jobs columnist revealed that the MySkillsMyFuture site identified her strengths as well-suited to careers as a librarian, claims adjuster and adult literacy instructor.   Public relations and market research analysis also figured prominently in her assessment.

Overall, the site offers a win-win, because using the site enables us to begin thinking more broadly about our skills and strengths.  It gives us permission to broaden our view of our capabilities– perhaps to consider our work lives differently.  And ultimately to become much more recession-proof workers.

Want to remain a valued commodity, no matter the state of the economy?   Check out the website at myskillsmyfuture.

Want to find your next job faster?

Be sure to hear award-winning writer and Washington Post jobs columnist Vickie Elmer as she offers smart strategies for job seekers on the Money Matters & More radio show tomorrow, Tuesday, September 21st at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.  To hear the interview, click onto Blogtalkradio.com/money-matters–more.

Highlights of the interview include:

– how to get the most out of more than 50,000 job-related websites without being overwhelmed

– how to use a new Department of Labor tool to help match your skills to a rewarding career

– how workingkind.com, a new blog can provide the best and latest information on jobs and careers

Want to know how to find your next job faster?  Tune in to Money Matters & More tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. on Blogtalkradio.com/money-matters–more.

(Clip art: newspaper_-_jobs.gif@ clipartheaven.com)

Write that book!

You know the one I mean.  It’s the book that demonstrates to the world that you possess expertise in your field, and that your superior product or service is worth the selling price.

It also means that you’ve multiplied your possible revenue sources.   As the author of a book, you raise your visibility and credibility.  In fact, once they’ve written a book,  it’s not uncommon for new authors to be involved in the following activities:

– Speaking at conferences or meetings

– Leading workshops and seminars

– Identifying greater networking opportunities

– Finding new clients and customers

Sound appealing?

That’s the advice of my recent Money Matters & More guest, Donna Kozik, author and founder of My Big Business Card, a consulting and executive coaching firm that provides support to entrepreneurs and small business owners.

To hear more about writing a book to promote your business, check out the Blogtalkradio interview.   Click onto the words, “Listen to Money Matters and More”, located to the right of this paragraph.

Let me know what you think of Donna’s idea on Facebook (heathertaylormedia) or Twitter (moneyandmore).

Have a great week!

Heather

Too much to do and too little time to do it?  Not feeling terribly relaxed or stress-free?  No problem, says best-selling author, management consultant and veteran executive coach David Allen.  And there’s no mystery to achieving  what he calls “the art of stress-free productivity.”

It’s got everything to do with 2 important notions:

1. “capturing all the things that need to get done–now, later, someday, big, little, or in between–into a logical and trusted system outside of your head and off your mind;” and

2. “disciplining yourself to make front-end decisions” about all of these things so that you’ll always have a plan for the next actions that you can implement or negotiate at any moment.

Want to learn more?  Check out my recent interview with David Allen, by clicking on the media player on the right hand side of this page.

Have a great week!

–

The five mistakes online job hunters make can cause an already tough job market to become even tougher.

But what if you don’t even know that you’re making the mistakes?  A recent column by The Wall Street Journal columnist Elizabeth Garone explores these two important issues:

– why we miss out on jobs we’re qualified to do

– how to approach job hunting online to get the job we seek

Her answers may surprise you.

For example, demonstrating good manners, making a high-quality presentation and the importance of networking in person, along with online efforts, all play an important part.  (For a link to her article: http://on.wsj.com/aD8CAQ)

To hear the complete interview, “Five Mistakes Online Job Hunters Make,” be sure to tune into Blogtalkradio’s Money Matters & More radio show tomorrow, July 29th at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time). If you can’t hear it then, check out the podcast, which will be available just after the show ends.

Have any tips that have worked for you in online job hunting?  Email them to heathertaylormedia@gmail.com.

Don Draper knows a thing or two about fixing what’s broken when it comes to business.  Whether you’re an entrepreneur or a job seeker, he’s got some lessons to share.

In last night’s season premiere of Mad Men, his newly formed advertising firm seemed doomed for three reasons:

– He bombs an important media interview.

– He alienates his colleagues and staff.

– He loses clients.

So what does Super AdMan Don Draper do?

He does what the rest of we mortal entrepreneurs and job seekers have to do:  he hits the reset button.

In his case, that meant recognizing the cold reality of having a new company with diminishing revenues and the need to do three things:

1. Clarify what it is that he wants.  (In his case better press, more and better clients.)

2. Find a way to increase the firm’s visibility and viability by identifying his audience, the market he wants to reach. (In his case, it’s a The Wall Street Journal reporter.)

And a third element:

3. Make sure he’s got contacts that allow him to try to try correct his mistake, or at least try a do-over.

In Draper’s case, a colleague’s contact at The Wall Street Journal, enabled him to hit the reset button by pitching a compelling story to another high-visibility media outlet.

Now if he could just figure out his personal life…

(photo by Salvatore Vuono)

Twitter away for 15 minutes a day and that job you seek may soon be yours.

That’s the message from co-authors Susan Britton Whitcomb, Chandlee Bryan and Deb Dib, co-authors of the new book, The Twitter Job Search Guide, Find a Job and Advance Your Career in Just 15 Minutes a Day.

Earlier this week, co-author Chandlee Bryan joined me to talk about how a committment to Twittering at least 15 minutes a day can speed along the job search/career advancement track.  Here are couple of reasons why:

1. Successful job hunting involves successful networking.  Twitter is a way to grow a large and diverse network in your area of expertise.

2. Alot of the best and brightest minds in job search and career management are on Twitter.  Using Twitter taps into great (and free!) information.

3. Lots of recruiters and staffing managers tweet about fresh, live job openings.  Send a message to these folks and you’ve got a chance to stand out from the crowd of candidates who will be sending resumes to their inboxes.

Want to learn more?  Be sure to tune in to my interview tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Blogtalkradio.com/money-matters–more.

Several years ago, I met a conferee at an association meeting and knew at once that she would be the perfect mentor.  She was intelligent, friendly and generous with her time.  If I wanted a sounding board, feedback or any kind of help in learning how to find another position or advance in my career, this individual seemed ideal.

The match didn’t work out in the end, (she was mentoring two other people already), but after reading The Mentee’s Guide, Making Mentoring Work for You and interviewing one of its co-authors, Dr. Lois J. Zachary, of Leadership Development Services, LLC, one thing is immediately clear.  Finding the right mentor requires some careful self-assessment and advance planning, not simply a gut feeling based on a first impression.  Here are some of their recommendations:

1. Identify your goal — why do you want a mentor?

2. Figure out what qualities you want in a mentor.

3. Determine what qualities in a mentor are “must haves”– What qualities are non-negotiable?

4.  Rank the remainng criteria — what do you want, in order of priority?

5. List possible mentors — Brainstorm a list of possibilities

6. Eliminate prospective mentors that don’t meet your requirements

7.Rate each mentor – Compare how well each of the remaining mentors stack up against one another

8.Make the decision after tallying up your responses

To hear the Money Matters & More interview with Lois J. Zachary, click onto the BlogTalkRadio media player to the right of this posting.  For more information about mentoring, check out the company blog: www.centerformentoringexcellence.com/blog

Have a great week!