Saturday, July 04th, 2009 | Author: Michael

When you are thinking about taking a physician contract, it’s natural to be excited and to look forward to a long career. There can be pitfalls for the unwary, however, and here are some questions wich may help you avoid those pitfalls.

Q: Should I hire a lawyer to review my physician employment contract?

A: In general, yes. The choice of a lawyer is critical. Find someone well versed in medical contract law, as well as the state’s laws in which you will practice. Try to find an attorney recommended by someone else. Also, make sure the attorney has enough time to review the contract in a timely manner. Negotiations could be hampered by a slowed response time.

Q: If I am a resident, when should I decide upon accepting a position?

A: As a general rule, the earlier the better. The more time you have to work on license applications, hospital privileges, finding a new home and moving arrangements, the less stress you’ll encounter. Many hospitals recruit for summer positions in the fall and early winter. Don’t think all of the “good” physician jobs are taken by the end of winter. Physicians throughout the year because contract expirations can occur at any time. Don’t worry. Have confidence that the right position will be available.

Q: Who handles negotiations, me or my recruiter?

A: Whenever possible, your recruiter should handle negotiations for physician practice opportunities. Having a liaison reduces the potential for heated arguments between two parties. Keep in mind, professional recruiters regularly perform this task.

Category: From Good Hands  | Comments off
Friday, July 03rd, 2009 | Author: Michael

An Introduction to Home Working

Ask anyone to describe their perfect job and home working would come high on their wish list. Whether home working is an option provided by your employer or a decision you have taken yourself in starting your own business, the thought of just getting out of bed, walk over to a workstation and just start work is very appealing. No commuting to and from the office and working hours to suit yourself.

But is home or flexible working right for you as an individual, or good for your business as an employer? Well there are many advantages and disadvantages. Home or flexible working brings new responsibilities for both the employer and employee. Equally with advances in mobile technology it has never been easier to set up your own business to work from home.

An Increasing Trend

From a business point of view, allowing staff to work at home on either a full or part-time basis can bring a range of business benefits, from increased productivity, greater staff motivation to effective use of your premises. Advancements in mobile technology has contributed enormously to the increase in opportunities for home working.

The spread of home working using the internet or telephone opens up a new range of possibilities with regards to the way a business works and structures itself. Computers, mobile phones, broadband and mobile broadband all play a role. For the individual, becoming self employed and working from home has also never been easier. If you have a laptop and mobile phone the opportunity is there, it’s just deciding what you want to do. So home working is becoming a way of life for many individuals and businesses, but what is home working?

Some employers will offer selected employees the opportunity to become a teleworker, whereby an employee can undertake their role from home utilising various types of technology, which is provided at the employees home by the employer. The employee will remain in touch with the business and other teleworkers. Some businesses, for example the utility companies who require gas, electric and meter readers, will class employees undertaking this type of work as teleworkers or outworkers.

Some individuals opt for the self-employed work life. The self-employed will operate their business from home, offering a product or service such as web development or business consultancy from home. In these types of roles, the individual can often plan their day to suit their own needs. I know one web developer who often works well into the early hours of the morning as this is when he feels most productive.

Others such as a painter and decorator, plumber or gardener, whilst providing their services away from the home, use home as the office for paperwork such as pricing future jobs and preparing invoices. I know of several painters and decorators who work Monday to Thursday, but use Friday’s to go out and price up future potential work. That is one thing to bear in mind when setting up as self employed, you need to allow time to find or prospect for future work.

Some types of work are more suitable for flexible working than others, the following list is not exhaustive, but will give some guidance:

  • Telesales and Marketing
  • Customer Services
  • Professional services & consultancy i.e. HR Administration & Accountancy
  • Certain types of administration work
  • Data input
  • Creative/Graphics
  • Writing, editing, translation and research.
  • I.T. Support & Programming

Many of the above have a common theme and that is that as long as you have access to a computer and a phone, you can undertake almost all of these tasks from home.

The shift towards flexible working does not mean employees only work from home. Splitting time between the workplace and home is the most productive solution, as you want employees to attend meetings, therefore keeping them informed and involved. Continued face to face interaction within the business remains a key requirement.

With the introduction of flexible working regulations, employers now have to seriously consider employee requests to work flexibly from home, especially if they have parental responsibility for children under 16 years old, disabled children or they are carers for other adults with disabilities.

Employers and individuals also need to consider what equipment will be required to ensure that an efficient business operation and working environment is set up.

Extensive other office furniture components are also available offering more than just desks, chairs and filing cabinets.

The Pros and Cons

So what are the advantages and disadvantages of an employer allowing employees to work from home or use their home as a base for at least part of the working week? It’s clear there are a number of benefits to the employer:

  • Staff Retention is increased
  • Wider pool of applicants to recruit from e.g. disabled people who prefer to work from home.
  • Productivity gains through having fewer interruptions and less commuting time.
  • Reduced stress and sickness increasing staff motivation.
  • Savings on office space and facilities.
  • Sales staff closer to clients, rather than being based at the office which could be miles away.
  • As with life if there are advantages then there are also disadvantages to home/flexible working:
  • Management of staff and monitoring performance
  • Possible deterioration of key skills and quality of work.
  • Capital costs - training and providing suitable equipment, this could include adaptations to meet Health & Safety standards or meet the needs of disabled workers.
  • Difficulties maintaining staff development and upgrading of skills.
  • Information security risks
  • Increased telecommunication and I.T. costs
  • Sense of isolation and communication problems amongst home workers.
  • Staff morale and difficulties in maintaining team spirit.
  • Home working may not be suitable for certain types of jobs.

One thing I particularly miss is the Monday morning office banter about what you did at the weekend of how your football team has fared compared to others. Often the camaraderie that is unique to an office where you get to know people well over many years is also lost where flexible working becomes an option.

Are You Suited o Working at Home?

Having identified the types of work that is suitable for flexible working, the employer must satisfy themselves that employees are suited to this type of work. It’s likely they will need a number of skills in key areas to allow them to work away from base.

  • Time management and self discipline
  • Motivation
  • Communication
  • Technology

We must make it clear that flexible working is not suitable for everyone and care should be taken, because allowing one person to work from home will set a precedent that others will want to follow. Others will see an attraction to working at home particularly on a lovely summer’s day, rather than being stuck in an office. I must confess that as I write this article, I am sitting in our summer house at the bottom of the garden with the laptop on a glorious summer’s day in June.

An employer you must have a clear idea of how home/flexible working could fit in with the needs of the business. A set of house rules need to be established and maintained, i.e. priority is given to requests from parents of young or disabled children. My wife for example, plans her day around the hours of taking the children to school and collecting them later. She maintains that she is extremely focused on what she needs to achieve within those six hours in between. No distractions or idle chit-chat that will occur in an office environment.

In some cases the employer is legally obliged to seriously consider requests for home/flexible workers. Employee with parental responsibility for children aged 16 or under, or disabled children who are under 18 and receive disability living allowances can request a range of flexible working patterns from their employers, this includes the right to work from home. There are similar rights for employees who are carers of adults.

The introduction of flexible working can also lead to an overhaul to employee contract terms and conditions. In a majority of cases an employee’s place of work is listed in the written schedules of their employment contract. It’s important that when an employee starts to work from home it may be necessary to review and amend their employment contract.

The following is a list of contractual aspects an employer should consider when implementing a home/flexible work policy:

  • Stated hours of work
  • Identify core times when employees undertake to work and/or are contactable.
  • Extra duties or responsibilities that may need to be assigned in addition to those already agreed
  • Identify the terms regarding the supply and insurance of any equipment that may be required, these should clearly state ownership and use, especially that its not to be used for personal use.
  • Clearly identify what the employer will reimburse to cover additional expenses the employee may incur, its especially important to identify the calculation method when costs are shared i.e. utility bills and telecommunications
  • Procedures to be put in place if either the employee or employer wishes to terminate the home/flexible working arrangement.

Allowing flexible working the employer should remember that they still have health and safety responsibilities for people who work at or from home; and you are likely to have to provide and maintain equipment for employees to use, these include:

  • Workstation complete with suitable task chair
  • Filing cabinet, shelves or storage
  • PC/Laptop with office software, email and broadband internet connection
  • Dedicated business telephone line
  • Printer & fax machine
  • Stationery and Office Supplies

A study of the impact on the body of a poor seated posture at the desk, has led to the development of the stylish ergonomic office chair which will help to prevent back problems.

IT equipment and software can be expensive so it’s important to ensure it meets your genuine business need and is compatible with your existing systems. Technology changes almost daily and with today’s advances the establishment of virtual teams where employees work together despite working at home can be set up easily and at reasonable expense. These teams could be two employees talking over the phone or you could use more hi-tech solutions like high speed internet, instant messaging, webinar and video conferencing.

Providing all this kit and equipment it is important to ensure your business insurance cover is extended to cover home workers, as their home insurance is unlikely to cover this, however they should check with their insurer and extend their policy to include working from home.It is also a good idea to find out who would be responsible for a claim should you have an accident at home, during working hours.

Workers who undertake home working should check with their local council and mortgage company the position regarding using their home as a work base, and whether they may have to pay business rates for the portion of their home they use as an office. Some self employed businesses will involve use of a vehicle which will need to be parked up at certain times of the day. For example painters and decorators and builders are likely to utilise a transit van or pick up truck in the work. You should therefore ensure that neighbours will not be offended by having the vehicle parked in the street or to block light out of their homes. If you are to park a vehicle at home, let the neighbours know, it may save a lot of hassle later.

The employer needs to ensure that employees take care of business equipment and information in their possession, it’s important to establish procedures to be followed if any item is damaged or lost, especially data and intellectual rights.

We all agree that home working offers a wide range of benefits to both the business and employees, but it needs to be carefully managed to be successful. Procedures should be put in place for managers to monitor and assess home workers, this is the most significant managerial challenge an employer will face. It can be helpful to measure their effectiveness in terms of output rather than the hours of work. Agree set goals and deadlines for particular tasks, and ensure these are being met, give feedback promptly and sensitively if things go wrong.

Ensuring home workers have access to training can prepare and help employees develop the necessary skills they need.For staff who work alone a sense of isolation is one of the main factors most likely to make home working fail, therefore it’s important to ensure procedures are put into place to make people feel part of the team, these should include:

  • Frequent 2-way feedback sessions about work and work related issues
  • Regular visits to the workplace
  • Inclusion in social activities for home based workers.
  • Clear procedures to be followed and contact lists for when things go wrong.

When the employees job is entirely home-based from the start, make sure their induction is undertaken at your premises, this helps the home worker focus and be productive if they have a chance to establish a clear idea of the people they will be working for.

When I decided to work at home, I had to find somewhere I could buy office chair plus other office furniture to get myself set up.

A Brief Health & Safety Obligations Check List for Home Workers

If you use your home as your business workplace, you must carry out a health and safety risk assessment to identify any possible hazards to yourself, workers, visitors and other members of your household.

Possible hazards include:

  • Using work equipment at home, including electrical appliances
  • Your workstation set-up
  • Handling loads
  • Hazardous substances and materials
  • Psychological hazards, such as stress or loneliness
  • Fire
  • Slips, trips and falls
  • Excessive noise or vibration

Slips, trips and falls are one of the most common causes of injury in the work place. Even something we take for granted on a daily basis, such as walking up and down the stairs, should be regarded as a hazard. Evaluate whether a hazard is significant and if it is, whether you have taken enough precautions to make the risk as low as you reasonably can.

You need to consider:

  • Your home and those who live there - including vulnerable persons, e.g. children, the elderly, and new and expectant mothers
  • The work done in your home
  • The equipment in your home
  • Emergency procedures
  • First aid provision

Five steps to a health and safety risk assessment

  1. Identify any hazards.
  2. Decide who might be harmed and how.
  3. Assess the risks and remove them or, otherwise, reduce them as far as is reasonably possible.
  4. Record your findings.
  5. Check the risks regularly and take further steps if needed.

Conclusion

With advancements in mobile technology, working at home has become far easier to do. It can offer a very balanced way of life and the rewards can be significant. In the current economic climate, many who have been unfortunate to suffer redundancy or reduced hours are considering setting up their own business to work at home. Having worked in the corporate world for over twenty years and just suffered redundancy, it is certainly an option to consider.

But working at home needs to be considered carefully. Is it right for you? Is it right for your employer? What impact will it have on your homelife? Many advantages, but also many disadvantages and bear in mind the health and safety requirements and risks. Your health is important so choosing the correct office furniture to meet your needs is a must for any home worker to ensure you have the proper facilities for home working.

For years a friend of mine worked from home with his desk in his living room and eventually he realised that he could never get away from work, which is as important as doing the work in the first place because we all need time away from work.

If you are lucky enough to really love your work the temptation can be to do it all day long. Eventually this can lead to burn out and can also take away some of the pleasure of working, even if it is something you really love. Therefore it is important to have balance in your life, even more so when you work from home. Some suggestions to help to achieve this are to make sure that when you have lunch, for example, remove yourself from the work space and don’t eat at your desk, get some separation from the work when you are not doing it.

Remember that just because you work from home it doesn’t mean that work has to take over your life either.

Category: From Good Hands  | Comments off
Friday, July 03rd, 2009 | Author: Michael

Do you know that dangerous effects are inflicted upon the surrounds owing to the carelessness of waste or refuse? The rate of pollution on the earth, water, air, and the on entire environment would increase if the waste materials or refuse is not handled carefully. Recycling facilities is the answer to handle the level of waste materials.

You might have seen the situation of the landfill site which is always full of waste. Some items just as polythene bags and plastics do not rot in the soil. If not paid proper attention to these materials, they will rightly generate pollution in the earth. Animals for example cows that are set free, generally eat Polythene bags just to get ill. So the thing is these wastes have to be taken care of. You could get hold of trash compactors, shredder, and conveyor for your recycling work according to the needs.

The storage crisis is one of the key issues in most of the industries. Recycling items make it simple for the compression of the waste items. Thus, they assist you reduce the level of your waste. The recycled and dense items occupy less space for storage and make it convenient for transportation. In this manner, recycling can be of immense value in the industrial arena if done properly.

In the same manner, in the agriculture filed, recycling is beneficial. Farmers make use of conveyor and shredder devices for diverse purposes. With shredder devices, they cut their crops into small pieces and they make bales. They move these bales with the help of conveyors to the required site easily and they are used especially the cattle-feeling purpose.

Category: From Good Hands  | Comments off
Thursday, July 02nd, 2009 | Author: Michael

Most companies operate in a highly competitive environment. Therefore, in order to be successful, a business must be able to communicate with their customers about the products or services that they provide. Signage comes in various varieties, and commercial signs are there to identify or attract business for the store, building or vehicle displaying the sign.

Nothing compliments your company image more than high quality signage outside your premises. With everybody attempting to compete for new customers then it is very important that you differentiate yourself from everyone else. Shop signage, window graphics, vehicle signs, car wraps or internal signs should be designed and produced to suit the individual requirements of each business.

Internal signage is often overlooked when people assess their signage requirements. Whilst concentrating on external signs to create the desired image to attract customers, they forget the advantages that internal signage can give. Whether used for advertising, displays, directions or general information then internal signage can help you and your customers find what they need, when they need it.

Vehicle graphics and wraps are a cost effective form of advertising with a potentially huge return. Any company that does not use its vehicles is missing out on a superb way to reach new clients. An advert in any online or telephone directory only reaches the people that are specifically searching for your product, but a company car or van is seen by hundreds and possibly thousands of people every single day. With more vehicles being supplied on lease contracts, imagine how many potential new customers would see your ‘advert’ over the course of a year.

Promotional signage including A-boards, swing signs, window graphics and floor graphics are also a great way to get your business noticed. This type of signage is ideal in situations when attempting to attract passing trade from the general public. Many newsagents, estate agents and travel agents use pavement signs to show their latest offers or best deals.

Category: From Good Hands  | Comments off
Thursday, July 02nd, 2009 | Author: Michael

The Hypertufa How To Manual on How To Become a Creative Mud-Pie Maker Extraordinaire, written by Claudia Brownlie is a sensational ebook that delves into the act of creating amazing mud pies. This book will tell you everything you need to know about creating beautiful hypertufa works of art, ones that will last the entire year, surviving the climate shifts with ease. Anyone who is serious about having a beautiful garden should give this book a look over, for you will not be disappointed. Claudia Brownlie is a creative genius!

This manual is not only successful in teaching you how to create quality works of this specific type of art, hypertufa art, but it’s also very easy to follow even for those new to this pursuit. It contains simple step-by-step information, which means that you can follow it easily. Many how to manuals are convoluted, complicated, and simply hard to follow, which may lead you to give up in frustration and thus not complete your project. However, the Hypertufa How To Manual does not have this problem and is not complex. You’ll be able to easily understand and follow the steps so that you, too, can make hypertufa works of art, easily. Not only is it easy, but it is also fun and something you can enjoy.

Brownlie is a hypertufa creations expert. In her Hypertufa How To Manual, she shares her expertise with us, enabling us, the readers, to create beautiful, sturdy, long lasting hypertufa creations. However, the book is not just limited to one type of garden creation, but instead incorporates many other attributes such as spheres, troughs, steppingstones, rocks, sculpting and free form molding; all of these things make your garden more beautiful. Not only will these things enhance your garden’s beauty, but they will also prove to be beneficial in the efficiency of your garden.

hen you purchase Brownlie’s manual, you’ll receive the manual in e-book form, of course, but you’ll also receive the Hypertufa Leaf Casting Project, which is a bonus e-book also written by Claudia Brownlie, free of charge. No slouch when it comes to writing, Brownlie writes this e-book as concisely and clearly as the Hypertufa How To Manual, and it, too, will be a great addition to your collection of garden books.

Claudia Brownlie is so confident with her Hypertufa How To Manual that she is even offering a very generous sixty day money back guarantee, though I doubt you will need it. Once you get your hands on the information in the Hypertufa How To Manual, I doubt you will be willing to let it go. However, if it should be true that you have some dissatisfaction with the product, you have 60 days to have your money returned — more than enough time to decide if you like the product or not. You’ll receive a full refund, of course, but you’ll also get it with no questions asked as to why a refund is necessary. The author wants you to enjoy her e-book, and if you don’t, she wants to refund your money with no questions asked.

The Hypertufa How To Manual is a necessity to anyone who would like to have a beautiful garden, without the fuss and hard work other manuals can cause. Why wait? Start to create incredible hypertufa products right now, with the very easy to read and follow Hypertufa How To Manual.

Category: From Good Hands  | Comments off
Thursday, July 02nd, 2009 | Author: Michael

Sometimes it is a big pain, getting a contract phone. You will feel delighted, if you were previously rejected and now somebody promises you guaranteed contract phone. You can fail to get a phone contract, mainly because of your poor credit standings. All the retailers of phone plans will check your credit history before signing a contract with you. However, there are now options and workarounds.

Guaranteed Contract Phone Even if You Have Bad Credit History

Your pay as you go phone is giving you major headaches. You can’t top up your phone with enough money, because you can’t find the right shop in the new city you are in. You also hurl curses at the world at large, when you exceed your credit and your phone goes silent. You tried a contract phone and what you repeatedly get is rejection. How can that be when all the phone companies want your business? A guaranteed contract phone is not everyone’s right. Learn to live with it, or continue reading.

The companies that choose to give you contract phone irrespective of your credit history are 3, O2 and T-mobile. However, you just can’t walk into a showroom and get a guaranteed mobile phone. You can, if you have been in the United Kingdom for many years and you have good credit history. If that is not the case, you can go online and get the contract – of as low as £9 a month, for a minimum of 18 months. And that is cool.

And the place is not the website of the mobile phone service providers. It is somewhere else. A few websites offer you Guaranteed Contract Phones.

However, don’t be surprised if you are faced with the requirement of a deposit, higher interest rate and higher per month commitment. Those are the common features almost everywhere. However, with the condition of the economy and business, services are now more than willing to give you a good contract, which lets you stay connected to your friends and family.

At least a few retailers can now give you the regular contracts, even if you have bad credit history to show off. It is because, these phone companies need your business. They have rejected your application only because of the potential risk of lending to you. After all, everybody knows history repeats itself and the phone companies are worried if you will pay them.

Going through certain websites, you can surely get your phone and the ability to chat in the network of your choice. This is because, the phone companies trust these online retailers to sell their products to reliable persons.

With the right kind of online retailer, the only catch you have is to sign a direct debit contract. Of course, you need to submit proof of address and employment. Address proof is a prerequisite for pay as you go plans too.

Get the guaranteed contract phone, even if you have bad credit history. Just make sure you find the website that gives you all the benefits and convenience of a regular application, which is supported by good credit standing.

Category: From Good Hands  | Comments off
Thursday, July 02nd, 2009 | Author: Michael

Why bother?

The life blood of any business is good customer service. Although new customers are very important good customer service will help generate customer loyalty and repeat business. With every satisfied customer your business is likely to go on and secure many more customers through recommendations and if you do not take proper care of your customers there is probably a competitor waiting in the wings that will.

A customer satisfaction survey will demonstrate to your customers that you care and are proactive in looking for ways to improve the service that you provide.

Where to start?

Objective - Before you start compiling your survey consider what the objectives of the survey are, in that way you will remain focused and find it easier to decide what questions to ask.

Analysis - In addition to the objectives consider how you will analyse the answers having completed the survey.

Bare in mind that ‘closed’ questions (where the respondents are asked to choose from a limited number of responses) are easier to analyse than questions that are ‘open’ (where the respondent can reply in anyway they want).

A great deal will depend on the volume of respondents, the higher the volume the more important it is to have an easy method of analysing the results.

Opportunity – Keep in mind that as well as obtaining valuable market research data customer surveys are also a good way to publicise aspects of your service that your customers may not be aware of.

After you have drafted your survey read through the survey from a market research view point and check that you are asking the right questions in the right way and that with the feedback information you will be able to properly analyze the data allowing you to make informed decisions.

Then, from a marketing view point read through the survey, confirm that you have phrased each question so that every opportunity has been taken to promote your business?

The ideal question will perform the following three functions:-

  • Market research - provide valuable feedback to help you improve your customer satisfaction levels and in turn your business
  • Marketing - promote aspects of your business
  • Information/Education - advertise a service that you provide that your customers may not have been unaware of

For example:- Do you find the in-store baby changing facilities useful?

By asking this question not only will the store receive good market research feedback on the facility they provide but they will also promote their facilities and advertise themselves as a family friendly store, even beyond those customers who have a specific need for the baby changing facility that has been provided.

Warts and all – to benefit most from a customer survey you need to be prepared to accept criticism.

A well designed customer satisfaction survey will enable you to identify problems so that they can be addressed; regular customer satisfaction will prevent complacency and give you early warning on where you might be losing out to your competitors initiatives.

What are the questions you should ask?

Depending on their own particular size and makeup each business is likely to have unique factors in relation to providing good customer services however there are common areas relevant to all businesses be they a physical store, online store or a service industry. The following are some key areas to providing good customer service.

Communication - Do customers find it easy to communicate with you?

When a customer telephones is their call answered promptly; are enquiries about products or services handled properly? A good business will make every effort to ensure that whatever the customers query it is resolved by the right person, politely, quickly and fairly.

If a problem cannot be resolvable immediately do you promise to respond in a given time period and do you deliver on your promise?

Use a customer satisfaction survey to ensure that all your staff are considered by your customers to be knowledgeable, courteous and helpful.

Location – Are you doing everything you can to ensure that your customers find it easy to visit you, if a physical store, does it have good access and is it conveniently located?

Making it pleasant, making it easy - For an online business it is important to ensure that your website is easy to use and aesthetically pleasing.

Regardless of the store being a bricks and mortar or purely an online internet store, is the store properly laid out, can your customers find what they need and is there sufficient information and help on hand to explain how a particular product works?

The right quality products – In addition to measuring the quality of the service that you provide you should ensure that the products and services that you provide do fully match your customers’ requirements.

Value for money – Cheap or expensive is rarely a good measure, value for money is.

Do your customers equate your business with value for money, if not, why not?

Speed and attention – The majority of customers will want to be dealt with quickly but attentively.

Are you doing everything to prevent any delays?

Customers like to be treated as individuals, how do you treat your customers? Customers appreciate attention but only if it leads to a quick and satisfactory resolution of the query.

Demographics and Specific issues – Take the opportunity to profile your customers, for example where do they live and what is their age group?

The more knowledge you have of your customers the more information you will have to better target your business.

Provide your customers with an opportunity to document any specific problems that they may have had and provide contact details so that problems can be resolved and followed up.

What is next?

Analyze the results once the survey has been completed.

Trends – Look for common and specific areas where the service is failing.

Ask yourself if any criticism is valid and is there anything that can be done to resolve or minimise the problem?

Training – Are the staff properly trained and do they have sufficient knowledge?

Where employee training programmes have been implemented have they made a positive contribution to the business and improved the customer service?

Follow-up – If a customer has raised a specific issue through completing a survey ensure that they are contacted and that their complaint is properly addressed.

Do not waste an opportunity to resolve a problem and keep a customer.

Continuously Monitor - Make changes based on the survey results and then re-measure by issuing further surveys.

If you are concerned about customer satisfaction and would like to view a sample survey for a store that will demonstrate some of the above advice please view the Sample Customer Survey

Category: From Good Hands  | Comments off
Wednesday, July 01st, 2009 | Author: Michael

One of the world’s oldest and most cherished traditions is sitting down, relaxing, and reading a book. The art of printing books for the public to read has been around for centuries. Now, as with almost everything it seems, a new form of book has been invented. This is the ebook.

Almost everyone is tempted to buy ebooks, but not everyone does. The main reason may be because they don’t understand the benefits involved. To buy ebooks online all that is really needed is a credit card and a computer. This saves the time it takes to get in the car and drive to the book store.

It is also much easier to find the ebooks to buy by searching online. At the store, searching for a book can be a very time consuming process. Online just typing in the subject of the ebook someone is looking for will produce a vast list of where to buy ebooks of that nature. Once the site is found and the ebook is selected, the process becomes a basic online purchase.

After the purchase, just download the ebook and begin reading. So buy an ebook today, and save the time, money, and hassle that is involved when buying traditional books. One of the best places to buy these ebooks online is original-ebooks.com.

At this site a variety of knowledge filled ebooks can be found and purchased for very reasonable prices. They also guarantee the ebook will satisfy, and if it doesn’t, they offer a money back guarantee.

http://www.sanantoniotravelguide.net/

Category: From Good Hands  | Comments off
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | Author: Michael

There’s not many forex training courses on the market that actually deliver what they promise. Most just use rehashed old information and deliver systems that just do not work in the long run.

There are however a couple of forex training courses on the market that goes a long way in giving you what they promise.

One of these is the latest forex mega droid. Not only do you get great educationmaterial, but you get access to live forex trades and coaching. It is par none some of the best forex education on the Internet with hours of training on video and manuals. You even get access to the online version of the training materials when you order so you do not have to wait for the hardcopy to arrive.

The most original program that came out recently that can not be really be classified as a forex education course is FABTURBO forex Robot. It’s a forex signals service that gives buy and sell signals via a EA on your trader platform. You still trade with your normal trading platform and your normal broker account. The robot does the trading for you and will work even while you sleep, as long as you keep your PC on. Get a full fapturbo right here. This Robot works!

The new kid on the block for exponents of forex training is the 10 Minute Forex course. Not just training, but live ongoing support, interaction, training sessions, trader interaction and trade calls with their monthly membership system. It is one of the better products out there that continues to deliver long after you read the manual and watched the video. Did I mention it comes with it’s own custom EA that can help with automated trade signals? You can watch a sneek peek video of the backend exclusive members section on my 10 Minute Forex Review page.

Category: From Good Hands  | Comments off
Monday, June 29th, 2009 | Author: Michael

This is how just about every business grows. Gradually the owners test the market and devise effective marketing strategies. As the company gets more and more clients revenue starts to flow and soon the owners are balancing sales, production, human resources, and accounting.

Most small business owners eventually realize they can’t sustain that sort of hands on involvement. Whether your growing company is in retail, manufacturing, education, IT, distribution, government, or health care, the success and growth of a business requires devolving responsibility and streamlining processes to take the strain off the owners or key people.

Asset tracking, inventory tracking, stock control, and asset management are usually spoken of with reference to large companies with many assets and large inventories. Large firms have had access to sophisticated software solutions for tracking assets and inventory and most come a pretty hefty price tag. But there are asset tracking and inventory control software solutions available for small and medium-sized businesses as well.

If you are in the IT field and struggling with manual tracking and traditional spreadsheets, your company can greatly benefit from computerized asset management software. Where valuable equipment is used it is imperative to track its precise location and keep accurate data regarding ongoing maintenance and repair.

The cost of replacing expensive assets that simply go missing, or are deliberately stolen is substantially reduced when everyone in the company knows that inventory and stock control are marked with a barcode, itemized in a database, and tracked.

With a completely transparent tracking system in place, a company can maintain high standards in every area of business, including customer satisfaction, quality control, and company assets. With tighter controls in place, a entrepreneur gains the ability to confidently expand to larger markets. When this happens, the future can look very bright indeed.

Category: From Good Hands  | Comments off