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This is important stuff for everyone who owns a computer.
Last week, I specifically talked about backing up your Cash Register Express (CRE) or Aldelo Pro database.
If you own CRE or Aldelo, you should read last week’s newsletter.
If you own a computer, you probably have some important data on it. You may have photos, music, spreadsheets, word processor documents, and other important data that you would not want to lose.
Here’s what you need to do. Get a piece a paper. Now pretend that your computer or laptop has been lost, stolen, or just stopped working. What have you lost? Write it down on this piece of paper. It’s all gone. Your photos of your girlfriend, graduation photos, your favorite music, your homework assignments, your spreadsheets showing your business sales for the past 10 years…it’s all gone.
There are lots of solutions. I have offered many solutions in the past. Now…I have a new solution for you.
Well, it’s not actually new. It’s just become my new favorite solution.
You’ve probably heard of it before. It’s called Dropbox.
Dropbox is one of many f*r*e*e cloud based file backup solutions available. I recommend Dropbox because I think it is the best and easiest solution to use. Alternatives include SugarSync, Cubby, Huddle, SkyDrive, and Google Drive. You can probably find a dozen more Dropbox competitors with cloud based file backup. If you find one that you like better than Dropbox, use it. What’s important is that you have some sort of file backup plan to insure that you will never lose your irreplaceable files.
Here’s how Dropbox works. You go to Dropbox.com, give them your name, email address and a password and you are all set.
Dropbox will add a folder to your computer called Dropbox.
Any file that you copy to your Dropbox folder will automatically be backed up to the cloud (a Dropbox folder on the Internet controlled by Dropbox).
If you use programs such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or most any other software, you can make the Dropbox directory your default directory. Whenever you save or change a file, it will automatically get backed up by Dropbox.
If you install Dropbox on more than one of your computers, they are automatically synchronized. All of your files on Computer A will automatically be copied to Computer B. Add a laptop and all of your files will automatically be added to your laptop.
Use Dropbox on your smart phone, iPad, iPhone or other tablet type devices. Dropbox will let you read your files on almost any device anywhere. To access your files, all you need is your email address and password.
Use Dropbox to share your files with others. You can keep your files (music, photos, and all other documents) private or share them with others.
Amateur computer users may find it difficult to figure out where your Dropbox folder is on your computer. You can get help, tutorials or instructions at the Dropbox website, or just ask your computer literate friend to give you a 60 second lesson in finding the folder.
Now here are some important things you should know about Dropbox.
Dropbox gives you 2 GBs of f*r*e*e storage. That’s enough to store hundreds of files. However, if you are storing lots of photos and larger documents, it’s going to cost you $9.95 a month. That will give you 100 GBs of storage space. It’s a small price to pay for safety.
Dropbox has a 300 MB limit on file size. This is plenty for most files. Almost all of your documents, photos, music will be far smaller than 300 MBs. However, if you are using software such as CRE, Aldelo and other database intensive software, Dropbox will not work. Read last week’s newsletter to back up those large files.
Dropbox is absolutely secure. Your data is encrypted. No one without your password can access your files. However, if you have some really private information, you may want to check with a security expert related to Dropbox safety and security.
Dropbox gets great reviews from the experts. Using Dropbox (or any alternative cloud based file storage programs) is one of the best ways to insure that you won’t lose your essential photos, music and documents.
Once you set it up, it works automatically.
I eat hamburgers, hot dogs and bacon. I can also lose a couple of pounds. I don’t particularly like healthy type restaurants. I feel obligated to tell you this because I know that whenever I write about “Healthy Menus”, I hear from people with alternative views.
That being said, “A leaner menu may lead to a fatter wallet for those invested in the restaurant industry, research suggests.”
“The chains that increased their reduced-calorie options saw a boost in business, including a 5.5 percent jump in same-store sales, a nearly 11 percent increase in customer traffic and about a 9 percent increase in total food and beverage servings.”
“Meanwhile, the chains that offered fewer lower-calorie servings had a 5.5 percent drop in same-store sales, a nearly 15 percent decline in traffic and about a 16 percent reduction in total servings, the investigators found.
The restaurants involved in the survey included
McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Applebee’s, Olive Garden, Chili’s, Outback Steakhouse and others.
Are the researchers right? As you probably know, I am pretty good with statistics. I don’t doubt that healthier food is a good thing. I do doubt that the healthier menus are as healthy as advertised. I do know that McDonald’s and Burger King make their menus look healthier by offering apple slices to customers. Parents feel much better about bringing their kids to a fast food establishment that offers apple slices. I’m not so sure that too many kids are going for the apple slices.
It appears that those eating establishments offering healthier menus are gaining from the trend. There are plenty of people who choose only those restaurants with healthy menus. So, no matter how you feel about it, it’s a very strong trend that all restaurants need to participate in.
It can’t get easier.
If you are the owner or manager of a retail store or restaurant, this may be all you need to improve sales. It can’t get easier.
Take this test. Go visit the competition. Many people do it. You need to go to the competition and see what they are doing better than you. Steal the best ideas. Other countries do it to the United States all the time.
Think of retail and restaurant competition as a good thing. If you have competition, that just makes it easier for your business to succeed. Just do what they are doing, but better.
Competition should be your friend. Check out your local mall. It is likely that you will find many shoe stores close to each other. You will notice that most of the eating places are in the “food court.” Competition works. If lots of businesses are doing the same thing, you must have a winner.
So, all you need to do is visit the competition and do it better.
If you can’t figure out how to do it better, close down and do something else.
Perhaps the #1 way to do better is to make sure that your sales people are enthusiastic. Enthusiasm doesn’t mean that your sales person has to be bubbly or “get in the customer’s face.”
Enthusiasm means that your sales people are happy to see customers walk into your business and happy to help them make their experience more positive.
A good sales person believes in the products that they are representing. A good waiter or waitress believes in the food that they are serving.
McDonald’s. I rarely see an enthusiastic McDonald’s order taker. McDonald’s is an exception. They have good locations, an inexpensive product, and have relatively good food at their price point. They may not need enthusiastic employees.
However, if you own a shoe store located in a mall, having enthusiastic employees make the difference between a successful shoe store and one soon to go out of business.
So, I urge you to visit the competition and check out the employees. You can tell the difference between a real enthusiastic employee and a phony. You customers can also tell the difference.
There are some restaurants that just have a great wait staff. People actually like them and visit the restaurant for that reason.
pcAmerica has succeeded because we have developed an exceptional sales staff. Each of our long term sales-people have great and unique assets. When we first started advertising Point of Sale products in Computer Shopper Magazine, we managed to outsell about two dozen competitors. We became the company that all others had to beat due to the skills and enthusiasm of our sales team.
Finding enthusiastic employees is not easy. You hire and you fire until you have the right employees for your business.
A salesperson minus enthusiasm is just a clerk. It’s your business. Reward the best and fire the others.
Tip #3: Shut-Up
This tip will bring up your sales by 25%.
Remember how your mother told you that interrupting is rude?
Remember how your marriage counselor told you to listen to your spouse (before you got divorced and had to pay big alimony bills)?
Why should we listen? We already know what customers are going to say. We already know what employees have to say. We all know what our spouse is about to say. Isn’t it a waste of time to listen to those things that we already know?
If you are the boss, owner or manager of a retail store or restaurant, your employees already know what you are going to say. Why say it?
The best way to see is to listen to your customers. You must train your employees to listen to customers Let your customers complete their sentences and thoughts. Wait until they are finished talking before you respond. Don’t interrupt.
This doesn’t mean that you are not allowed to speak. It does mean that you should allow your customers to take the lead.
When a customer asks you a question, you don’t need to give them a lecture which shows how much you know. It’s best to listen, digest, and possibly come back with short replies that may help you best understand your customer needs.
The best sales people, the best managers, and the best teachers all learn to listen and respond appropriately.
I don’t want to give you a lecture so…I’m going to Shut-Up and Listen.
As a goal:
Talk 25% of the time
Listen 75% of the time
What’s the #1 way to turn off your customers?
It’s the bathroom.
Conversely, the #1 way to turn on your customers is to provide them with a clean bathroom.
Remember, everyone who enters your store is a customer or potential customer. Having signs prohibiting the use of your bathrooms to customers only is a big negative for your store. Yes. On occasion, you may find unwanted customers using your bathroom. It’s just bad to ban all non-customers.
You never know when a potential customer will use your bathroom and actually become a customer or recommend your store to others.
I do remember those stores and restaurants that have suitable bathrooms. I also remember to give those businesses more of my business whenever possible.
Having clean bathrooms in your retail store or restaurant is extremely important. I’ve been talking about it for years. I hate going into a dirty bathroom.
How much is a clean bathroom worth?
What you sell 40%
Service 20%
Location 10%
Price 20%
Bathrooms 10%
What you sell (or food if you own a restaurant) accounts for 40% of your sales and profits.
Service accounts for another 20% of your business. If you have good service but bad products, service won’t help you. On the other hand, you can have great products or food, but bad service.
Location is worth 10%. You can have great service and great products or food, but a bad location can ruin you.
Price is very important to lots of potential buyers. Great products, service and location all influence how much your buyers are willing to pay.
Finally, we have bathrooms. I think it can account for 10% of your business. Having clean bathrooms (especially if you own a restaurant) makes a big difference to lots of customer.
Here’s a chart to make this more visual. You can disagree with me if you want. Retail store owners, just substitute Items you Sell instead of Food.
When operating your store, just think about these categories. Just don’t discount your bathrooms.
Sneaky ways restaurants get you to spend more
The ideas below come from a website called Bankrate.com which is devoted to monitoring and comparing mortgage and savings rates. The site contains some nifty calculators to help you calculate your payments. Get advice on educational loans, insurance and taxes. If you visit the site, click on The Lighter Side where you can read interesting articles about what to buy this month (January) and what not to buy, 5 stores with great return policies, and other very interesting consumer tips. Visit the site. I think you will like it.
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By: Connie Prater
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the first mass mailing of credit cards. As Patrick May at the San Jose Mecury News notes in his article, it all started in Fresno, Calif., when Bank of America sent a mass mailing of a small plastic card called the BankAmericard.
Credit cards actually have their roots much earlier in history, with the 1946 “Charg-It” card issued by a Brooklyn bank. As we know, the concept — giving Americans the ability to spend money they did not have based on a revolving signature loan — caught on big time. Today, the credit card industry is a nearly one trillion-dollar money machine.
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By Ben Woolsey and Emily Starbuck Gerson
As far back as the late 1800s, consumers and merchants exchanged goods through the concept of credit, using credit coins and charge plates as currency. It wasn’t until about half a century ago that plastic payments as we know them today became a way of life.
Early beginnings
In the early 1900s, oil companies and department stories issued their own proprietary cards, according to Stan Sienkiewicz, in a paper for the Philadelphia Federal Reserve entitled “Credit Cards and Payment Efficiency.” Such cards were accepted only at the business that issued the card and in limited locations. While modern credit cards are mainly used for convenience, these predecessor cards were developed as a means of creating customer loyalty and improving customer service, Sienkiewicz says.
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Tip #4: Your Best Customers are your Current Customers
Stop worrying about finding new customers.
Don’t pay for newspaper advertising. Don’t participate in those mailers.
Concentrate on those customers who enter your store.
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