Radio is Gaining First-Time Advertisers

In a time when advertising dollars are being reevaluated and stretched, many advertisers are turning to radio for the first time as a way to promote their brand and get the word out. These clients are realizing just how important radio is in a media plan. With the latest research showing that over 190 million people, or 73.8% of the population ages 12 and up, hear at least one radio commercial a week (RADAR 106 9/20), and that a majority of shoppers are listening to radio shortly before shopping (Nielsen and the Council for Research Excellence 6/16), advertisers are finding their messages reaching more ears and making an impact. CBS RADIO often finds that once a company advertises on radio for the first time, they are so pleased with the results that they become repeat advertisers.

Recently, CBS RADIO teamed up with Hayneedle.com, a web destination for furniture specializing in both indoor and outdoor home needs with an emphasis on variety. This marked the first time that Hayneedle.com pursued radio advertising. Through a complex marketing plan, Hayneedle.com was featured prominently on 16 CBS RADIO stations in some of the nation’s top markets. Marquee talent such as WWFS’ [NYC] Jim and Kim, KRTH’s [LA] Gary Bryan, WCFS’ [Chicago] Steve Fisher and KMLE’s [Phoenix] JJ helped promote the site and introduce listeners to featured furniture items, in addition to participating in interactive interviews. Through a combination of on-air messaging, banner advertisements, social media and on-air and online contesting on several of the Company’s stations, Hayneedle.com was able to reach their target audience and expand their brand awareness. As a client new to radio, Hayneedle.com experienced the power of the medium first hand.

Because of radio’s ability to target listeners both demographically and psycho-graphically, in addition to on a local or national level, CBS RADIO is able to deliver and meet clients’ needs through a variety of advertising options.

In the instance of Hayneedle.com, they were looking to gain increased exposure for their brand and drive sales for their many divisions, especially outdoor furniture during the summer season. As a result of Hayneedle.com’s advertising campaign on CBS RADIO stations and websites across the country, as well as various other media outlets, the company saw searches for Hayneedle.com triple. Furthermore, Hayneedle.com saw a 50% lift in visits during the campaign vs. year to date average. In addition, radio markets participating in the Hayneedle.com campaign showed a nearly 10% lift in revenue while on air, compared to rest of the country.

Said Hayneedle.com Marketing Director, Donna Faust: “I found CBS RADIO to be a true business partner in the campaign. They really understood our business objectives and built a program that exceeded our expectations.”

Radio can help bring a campaign to life! With the available content, breadth, reach and resources available to radio, companies can seamlessly integrate their brands into content, achieve results and meet the goals and objectives they have set. Radio is always ready to deliver bold messages to the masses.

-- Sue McNamara, Senior Vice President of Sales, CBS RADIO

Increase Credibility Of Your Offerings With Video Testimonials

Nothing adds credibility like word-of-mouth. One advertiser talking to another over lunch at a Kiwanis meeting about successes using your station's advertising is the best. The next best is having a testimonial from a happy advertiser you can share with prospects.

It is easy to capture video testimonials with today's available technology. If you don't have the equipment, you can buy what you need for less than $160:

1. Video camera (Kodak pocket camera Zi8 with external mic input is $120 on Amazon.)
2. Tripod (Digital Concepts 5SE-SLV7 is a collapsible tripod that can be carried in a briefcase, yet extend to 41 -- enough to put on the floor and shoot a client sitting. On Amazon for $14.)
3. Lavaliere microphone (Audio Technica omnidirectional condenser mic is $17 on Amazon.)

Next time you visit one of your satisfied clients, ask if you could video their comments in an interview. Ask them about results from advertising with you, how they found your service, what they like best about your station's advertising, and any follow-up questions. Here are tips for recording:

1. Use a tripod to hold the camera steady.
2. Use an external mic to get best audio quality -- or get within about 3 feet of the client if using a built-in mic.
3. Make sure there is as much light as possible on the client.
4. Have the client look at you as you are just to the side of the camera.
5. Keep the videos short -- generally no more than a minute.
6. Edit your video (Windows Movie Maker is free from Microsoft).
7. Post your video on your website and YouTube and other video sharing sites.
8. Have a smart phone? Copy your video to your phone so you can play it for a prospect on the spot.

FOR A GREAT VIDEOGRAPHER CALL SHELLY SOMERSET TODAY @ 818-430-5968 OR GO TO SOMERSETPRODUCTIONS.NET

On buying unmeasurable media

Should you invest in TV, radio, billboards and other media where you can't measure whether your ad works? Is an ad in New York magazine worth 1,000 times as much as a text link on Google? If you're doing the comparison directly, that's how much extra you're paying if you're only measuring direct web visits...

One school of thought is to measure everything. If you can't measure it, don't do it. This is the direct marketer method and there's no doubt it can work.

There's another thought, though: Most businesses (including your competitors) are afraid of big investments in unmeasurable media. Therefore, if you have the resources and the guts, it's a home run waiting to be hit.

Ralph Lauren is a billion dollar brand. Totally unmeasurable. So are Revlon, LVMH, Donald Trump, Anderson Windows, Lada Gaga and hundreds of other mass market brands.

There are two things you should never do:

1. Try to measure unmeasurable media and use that to make decisions. You'll get it wrong. Sure, some sophisticated marketers get good hints from their measurements, but it's still an art, not a science.
2. Compromise on your investment. Small investments in unmeasurable media almost always fail. Go big or stay home.

WE'VE ALL HEARD IT SAID...

Radio is a marathon runner. Try to use it as a sprinter AND expect it to perform for you over the long haul, and you're dead meat.

Meaning that, the way radio works best is when you come up with an engaging, salient brand message. Then, you repeat that message endlessly until you worm your way into the hearts and minds of your market. In the end, you gain category dominance (i.e., you win the marathon) by becoming the first name people think of when they need whatever it is you sell.

A perfectly valid model.

However, what about a campaign that spans various media?

Not just radio but, say, print and web as well?

Is it still a marathon?

I say, yes--and no.

Consider this: a proper ad campaign is a triathlon.

WE'VE JUST HEARD ONE OF THE BEST THINGS A CUSTOMER CAN SAY

One of our clients is a New England optometrist. He was mentioned here about a month ago when discussing expectation management.

We presently have him running on radio, in local print media and online.

Each of the radio commercials is the good doctor talking about a different aspect of eye care.

Each of the print ads is a "quote" from the good doctor, talking about a different aspect of eye care--reflecting what's in the radio.

The website is all about the good doctor's particular brand of eye care, and maintains the same simple, folksy language as the radio and the print.

It's all working together.

And recently, a new patient was asked how she had found the good doctor.

Most business owners are waiting to hear something like, "Well, I heard you on Joe Blow's WXYZ Morning Zoo yesterday at 8:12, and I immediately picked up the phone and called for an appointment."

This, of course is not what she said. (Almost nobody ever says anything this specific and if they do, they're probably mistaken.)

What she said was, "You've been popping up all over the place. Your advertising is working."

WELCOME TO THE BRAND

For the last 10 weeks, this woman has been routinely pelted with the doctor's message.

It's on her radio.

It's in her newspaper and her local supermarket giveaway rag.

If she's been to the website, she's finding the same messages coming out of her computer.

There has been absolutely NO offer-driven advertising of any kind.

No "mention this ad for 10% off" inanity that so many advertisers try to push into their ads in an effort to "prove" one particular medium is working better than another.

What this woman has been hearing and seeing is a man who has no interest in anything other than delivering good care at a fair price with a respectful and comfortable manner.

The doctor has been running each event in his marketing triathlon consistently and intelligently--and it's paying off very nicely.

RUNNING THE TRIATHLON IS ALSO PAYING OFF IN ANOTHER WAY...

We were recently talking with the doctor's operations manager (who also happens to be the doctor's wife), and she said something very interesting.

It seems the good doctor is "becoming something of a local celebrity."

You want to talk about feeding a client's ego?

You want to talk about "proving" that his advertising is working?

Put the man (or woman) in the advertising in an intelligent and engaging way, and watch the fun begin.

But the good doctor's celebrity is only the icing on the cake.

The real substance of the campaign's results?

DOUBLE THE NUMBER OF NEW PATIENTS FOR THE LAST TWO MONTHS

That's right.

This is one of those "useless" brand-building ad campaigns we're always told to avoid--and it has doubled the number of new patients for August and September.

Which medium is working better?

Who cares.

All the advertising is of a piece and it's all working in concert to produce the desired result: endlessly reminding the local populous that the good doctor is there for them when they finally decide they want proper eye care.

Now, let's also put this into local perspective.

One of the good doctor's main competitors was running this offer on their website: a contest to "Design our new logo and win a $100 gift certificate."

Really? You want to entrust your marketing image to an amateur artist willing to take a chance at $100 worth of product and service at your business?

I'm sure this was entirely well intentioned. It's also dangerously naïve.

WINNING A TRIATHLON REQUIRES STRENGTH IN ALL EVENTS

I am an amateur triathlete. And I mean Amateur with a capital "A."

Last August, I went into my first triathlon knowing my weaknesses and having exactly one goal: finish in the middle third of the pack.

Understand this: I have never been a competitive runner. But I have run hard on frequent occasions. I have never, ever been a competitive cyclist, but I have frequently ridden hard. I have absolutely never been a competitive swimmer by any stretch of the imagination, and I can't even begin to say I've ever swum hard.

In my first triathlon, I had no hope in hell of winning anything other than the free t-shirt they hand to everyone who crosses the finish line.

But I put it all together as best as I could, knowing exactly where my strengths and weaknesses lay.

And I finished solidly in the middle third of the pack my first time out.

Goal attained.

THE MARKETING TRIATHLON ISN'T ANY EASIER

Few businesses are going to do blazingly stupendous advertising across all media, especially their first time out.

But it is learnable.

If a small business can run it smart and understand why they're saying what they're saying and make all media work together, they can do something most of their competitors can't: they can raise their profile and be noticed.

They can go from being a struggling non-starter to being a reckoning force. They can get their competitors running scared.

BUT THE FIRST REQUIREMENT IS KNOWING ONE'S STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Then it requires not treating your audience like they're idiots.

Don't ask them to design your logo for a hundred bucks worth of your product.

There's plenty of material out there on how to do marketing properly.

There are plenty of examples of businesses who are doing it well.

One must go into it realizing that no matter how much communication media change, the fundamentals still apply.

Be fundamental and aim to finish solidly in the middle third of the pack--and climb to the top from there.

As always,

Blaine Parker Your Lean, Mean Creative Director in Park City

Michael Harrison annual State of Talk Radio event at the NAB-RAB Radio Show

drew a packed house in the Latrobe room, and the future-thinker and Talkers magazine publisher didn’t disappoint. He offered “ten principles”, and I don’t think he’d mind being quoted. I thought #7 was particularity interesting! wanted to share...

#7 – Qualitative is the new quantitative. “You can make a fortune with a small audience, or lose your shirt with a big audience.”

Charles Osgood signs off on his CBS Sunday Morning TV show with the line: “See you on the radio.” Osgood, a member of the Radio Hall of Fame, explain

No television set that’s made

No screen that you can find

Can compare with that of radio:

The theatre of the mind

Where the pictures are so vivid

So spectacular and real

That there isn’t any contest

Or at least that’s how I feel

Resilience and the incredible power of slow change

Most existing systems (organizations, cities, careers, governments) are resilient to external shocks. If they weren't, they wouldn't still be here. Earthquakes, edicts and emergencies come and they go, but the systems remain.

And yet, it's the emergencies we pay attention to.

No single event demolished the music business. It was a series of slow changes over the course of two decades, all the way back to the CD.

Smoking killed far more people than terrorists ever did. It's just not as dramatic.

No single technology destroyed the business model for newspapers. Sure, Craigslist hastened their demise, but the writing has been on the wall for a decade or more.

Your career won't be made or broken on the back of one interview, one meeting, one sales call. Sure, it might help (or hurt), but the sudden impact of one event isn't sufficient to change everything forever.

The slow changes in the media landscape are accelerating and virtually every pre-digital system is in danger. The slow changes in the marketing landscape are in their second decade and these changes will have their effects on every business and cause as well.

Cultural shifts create long terms evolutionary changes. Cultural shifts, changes in habits, technologies that slowly obsolete a product or a system are the ones that change our lives. Watch for shifts in systems and processes and expectations. That's what makes change, not big events.

Don't worry about what happened yesterday (or five minutes ago). Focus on what happened ten years ago and think about what you can do that will make a huge impact in six months. The breaking news mindset isn't just annoying, it may be distracting you from what really matters. As the world gets faster, it turns out that the glacial changes of years and decades are become more important, not less.

Good joke....

A man walks into a pet store and says, "I want a talking parrot."

The clerk says, "Yes sir, I have several birds that talk. This large green parrot here is quite a talker." He taps on the cage, and the bird says, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." He knows the entire Bible by heart. "This red one here is young, but he's learning." He prompted, "Polly wants a cracker." And the bird repeated back, "Polly will want a cracker." Then I've got a mynah bird but he belongs to a sailor, so if you have children you won't want that one."

The man says, "I'll take the younger one, if you can teach me how to make him talk."

"Sure, I can teach you," said the pet store owner. He sat down with the man and spent hours teaching him how to train the parrot. Then he put the bird in the cage, took his money, and sent the man home to start his training regimen.

After a week the man came back into the store very irritated. "The bird you sold me doesn't talk."

"He doesn't? Did you follow my instructions?" asked the clerk.

"Yep, to the letter," replied the man.

"Well, maybe that bird is lonely. I tell you what. I'll sell you this little mirror here and you put it in the cage. The bird will see his reflection and he will start talking right away," responded the clerk.

The man did as he was told but three days later was back in the shop. "I'm thinking of asking for my money back, that bird won't talk."

The shop owner pondered a bit and said, "I bet that bird is bored. He needs some toys. Here, take this bell-no charge. Put it in the bird's cage. I bet he'll start talking once he has something to do."

In a week, the man was back angrier than ever. He walked in carrying a shoebox. "That bird you sold me died." He opened the shoebox and there was his poor little dead parrot. "I want my money back."

The show owner was horrified. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know what happened. But. . . tell me . . . did the bird ever even try to talk?"

"Well," said the man, "he did say one word, right before he fell off his perch and died."

"What did he say?" the clerk inquired.

The mean replied, "Fo-o-o-od."

Five Reasons to Advertise on the Radio!

Reason 1: Control Brand Image

Traditional media, like radio, provides a valuable platform for brand managers eager to build and sustain an image in the midst of this era today of commercial free subscription radio, ipods and mobile TV. Radio is messaging in one direction. Advertisers control the message and therefore the brand image.

Reason 2: Association Control

Many brands, especially luxury ones, take great care to ensure that their advertisements are found in places that support the brand image. Here’s where radio steps in. Radio allows brands to ‘place’ their ad in the traditional sense. Not just how they want them, but where they want them. Image creation requires strategic placement, not just a great creative.

Reason 3- Back to What We know

As much as people love the new, in times of crisis, people tend to go back to what they know. Traditional media buys bring comfort in crumbling times and rather than try to convince their clients to try something different, advertising agencies suggest the fundamentals. Even if traditional media was imperfect, no one considers it the cause of the crash and frankly, we know it works.

Reason 4: The Internet is Still Hard to Measure!

One of the greatest digital phenomenon of the past decade, the viral advertising campaign, has an unquestionably powerful reach and impact that will never be predictable or measurable. In radio, you think of a funny or brand-appropriate creative, put together an entertaining little pitch, place it, estimate your GRPs and do it again until you reach your desired reach and frequency. It may be simple, clean, and less sexy, but it is effective.

Reason 5: Internet and Digital Revive Radio


More people are turning to the Internet for streaming radio. Just as consumers listen to the radio while driving, they listen to digital radio while surfing the web. According to the RAB’s study, digital radio’s returns increased by 18% during the recession.

Why Radio???

First, radio’s reach as a mass medium, combined with its reasonable cost structure, makes it an attractive medium to raise awareness. An effective broadcast schedule is affordable for all potential advertisers, large and small. We don’t require the creative investment that television or cable does, and a bit of creativity goes a long way. Live spots and personal endorsement spots have proven highly effective for local businesses talked about by local personalities.

We’re transforming our business into an extraordinary local capability to provide an advertiser with a turnkey and affordable integrated solution to their marketing problem.

Radio’s toolkit has expanded to include video and audio, both streaming and on demand; engagement tools like online games; texting and mobile solutions that can drive listeners to specific advertiser locations; and e-mail and social media marketing efforts that can single out interested listeners and deliver them through online platforms to the advertiser to close the sale. And that’s just scratching the surface

On the air, online and onsite, we want to be available to our listeners and increase their loyalty and involvement with our brands.
And advertisers still need the reach of radio to spread the awareness!

Our medium sits at the intersection of broadcast mass media and hyper targeted digital media. I, for one, cannot think of a better place to be.

We're the same, we're the same, we're...

Take a look at just about any industry with many competitors--colleges, hotels, sedans, accounting firms (especially accounting firms)...

The websites bend over backwards to be just like all the others. You can't identify one hotel website from another if you delete the name of the hotel (unless there's a beach or a snow-capped mountain in the background).

Sometimes, we try so hard to fit in we give consumers no choice but to seek out the cheapest. After all, if everything is the same, why not buy what's cheap and close?

How about a site that says, "Here's why we're different." And means it.

Have you thought about your margin?

Gross margin is an often confused concept but a powerful tool in figuring out how to market your business (and decide what to make, who to hire and how to fund it). Few people understand it, while others use a definition I don't find very useful.

I like to think of margin as the money left over after you've paid the direct costs for making an item, the last one of the day.

If you run a pizza place and a large pie costs $10, your gross margin is $10 minus the cost of flour, water, yeast, tomatoes and cheese. And maybe salt. That's it.

If you're not operating at capacity, the key word here is margin. The marginal profit of one more pizza is high. You've already paid for the rent, the oven, the sign, the ad in the Yellow Pages, the hourly wage, the uniforms, all of it. Whether you sell that last pizza of the day or not, all those costs are fixed. So, if your ingredients cost $2, your gross margin is $8.

This is vital to understand, because it tells you how flexible you can be with a promotional strategy. Some people (like me) prefer businesses with high gross margins, even if we're less busy. Others make billions on companies that run on the tiniest of margins.

If someone offers to run a coupon in the Welcome Wagon envelope that goes to new residents, and the rules are, "one per customer, new customers only", and the coupon offers a large pizza for $2, is it worth it for you to run it? That's 80% off! Surely, this is too expensive. You can't afford 80% off.

On the margin, of course you can. You got a new customer for free. Unless your store is at capacity, with people waiting in line, one more pizza sold at cost is a great way to build your business (unless there are too many coupons and unless it changes your positioning as a high-end place, but that's a story for a different day).

You probably already guessed this part: for digital goods, the gross margin is 100%. Cell phone calls? The same.

One more customer costs you nothing. That doesn't mean you should price accordingly, but it surely means you should understand how high your margins are.

RAB touts radio’s ability to drive web traffic

RAB is Radio Advertising Bureau…They do studies constantly on radio and what works…

According to RAB they have research showing that radio advertising can boost “brand browsing” by as much as 52%.

RAB’s Simon Redican said, “Since we launched the Online Multiplier research earlier this year, we’ve had great feedback from advertisers and agencies that we have presented the results to; we wanted to get the message out to a wider audience that allocating just 10% of media budget to radio can boost brand browsing by 52%.”

The study compared the likelihood of consumers to browse online for a product after radio exposure with others who did not hear a radio ad, arriving at the 52% result in that manner. It also found that radio-generated browsing was quick – 58% of those going online after hearing an ad did so within 24 hours.

RBR-TVBR observation: Some may remember that is was precisely radio’s ability to drive internet business that contributed to radio’s last boom. It came at the end of the internet bubble, when online companies were battling for their very existence. Radio was a key component in their battle for survival.

.
Radio remains an excellent driver of internet traffic

Do you have video up on your website? If not, contact me I can help you!!!

Video, social media are increasingly attractive to local radio buyers. In a bit of irony nearly 30 years in the making, video may not have killed the radio star but instead is helping to sell the medium. “It is attractive for advertisers because it offers another dimension to the standard radio commercial,” says Beasley’s “Wired 96.5” WRDW, Philadelphia sales manager Rob Keegan. In one execution, WRDW morning co-host G-N Kang interviews the owners of an upscale hair salon in a video posted on the station’s website. The produced, edited clip shows customers getting Japanese straightening and Brazilian keratin treatments. It’s part of Style Watch, the morning personality’s online video feature that showcases boutiques, websites and salons. Kang promotes the video feature on the morning show and drives traffic to the station website where listeners can connect with Salon 4th and other merchants that jibe with the lifestyle of the rhythmic CHR station’s listeners. It’s only one example of how local advertisers are using video and interactive components in their radio campaigns. “Video is becoming more popular in our presentations to our advertisers. It’s the one way where we can have real people and our jocks experience our clients’ products and see it played out through the star power of our jocks,” says Keegan. A Tropicana Reality Star campaign designed to promote the Atlantic City casino’s nightclubs as hip destinations involved contest winners and jocks making amateur videos of their night out at the casino. The reality show-style videos — think MTV’s “Jersey Shore” — were posted on the station’s website. Mentions on personalities’ social media pages also hold cache for local clients and Keegan notes some even want them written into sales contracts. Jocks also Twitter about their club and car dealer appearances. “If you’re live and local and you serve the community, you have influence and advertisers can capitalize on that,” Keegan says. “You’re doing it with more than just through the airwaves

P.S.

TREAT YOUR CLIENTS LIKE GOLD!!!!

THEY ARE!!!!!!!!!!

Recession-weary consumers looking for value

The late ‘90s mantra of “Show me the money” has morphed into “Show me the value,” reflecting a new focus by consumers hungry for value in all its forms, according to Convergys’ recently completed 2010 Consumer Scorecard Research study. Recession-weary American consumers want the companies with which they do business to value them, value their time, value their money, and value their preferences, say the study findings, released by Convergys Corporation.

“Today’s consumer expectations are clear. They expect good value for their money and timely acknowledgement and resolution of their issues by knowledgeable employees,” said Jim Boyce, President, Global Sales and Services, Convergys. “Consumers will simply take their business elsewhere when their needs are not met. At the same time, the companies that have the customer service mechanisms in place to give their customers what they want are the companies that will retain and even grow market share,” he said of the study findings.

Convergys, a global company which calls its business “relationship management,” conducts primary research to advise its clients on how best they can differentiate themselves and win through the customer service experience. Results from Convergys’ second annual consumer research study demonstrate that the recession has increased consumer demand for excellence in customer service. 46% of the study respondents reported that they are worse off than they were a year ago, and the key word for today’s consumers is “value:”

Value my time: Consumers continue to expect superior customer service experiences, with 33% of survey respondents choosing “addresses my needs on first contact” as the top customer service attribute, up slightly from the 2008 pre-recession research. Since they are key to first-contact resolution, “knowledgeable employees” also ranked high, chosen by 25% of consumers as the third most important customer service attribute, up from 22% in 2008.

Value my money: Recession-weary consumers are not just looking for the lowest cost but the best value in their customer transactions. 31% of survey respondents chose “good value for the money” as the second most important customer service attribute, up significantly from 2008. 33% of respondents rated reliable service as more important than price in their definition of what constitutes “good value for money.” Only 5% of customers defined good value as “paying the lowest price.”

Value me: “Treats me like a valued customer” was the fourth most important attribute, cited by 22% of survey respondents, up from 13% in 2008 and the fastest growing attribute of choice for consumers who want positive acknowledgment from the companies that win their business.

Value my preferences: Survey respondents’ contact channel preferences point to an increasing need for multiple customer care solutions that combine agent-assisted service with automation and self-service options. While consumers still prefer to speak with a customer service agent, customer service via self- service, live web chat, automated phone systems, and e-mail with response is also gaining traction.

Despite consumers’ clear preferences for value and efficient issue resolution, bad customer experiences continue to frustrate consumers, 57% of whom reported having a bad experience with a company, up slightly from 2008. In response, today’s value-minded consumer is more likely to speak with his or her wallet: 44% of the survey respondents who had a bad experience reported that they stopped doing business with that company, up from 38% in 2008. THAT'S HUGE!!!

Those who stay are more likely to seek and expect resolution from a company when they do not receive the service and value they expect. Survey respondents reported that they informed companies of their bad experiences 66% of the time, up from 58% in 2008. Companies that were not equipped to resolve or respond to customer complaints paid the price in customer defections. 57% of survey respondents who reported a bad experience and did not receive a response from the company stopped doing business with the offending party, as did 50% of respondents who received a response without resolution.

80% of survey respondents who had a bad experience with a company also told their friends and colleagues about it, ( Pay attention to this...)spreading the word through face-to-face chats, e-mails, text messages, and social media, which has immense power to amplify the voice of the frustrated consumer widely among a company’s customers and potential customers.

“There is a silver lining,” says Boyce. “Our research found that a meaningful number of customers who stopped doing business with a company after a bad experience would do business with that company again if the company made an effort to win them back.”

Convergys’ Customer Intelligence Services surveyed 2,500 customers, 1,500 employees, and 120 executives of large companies in the United States and the United Kingdom in January 2010.

It's been a while!!

WOW! Sorry I've been gone so long! I got married October 24th 2009... And as you can see my last blog was the end of September...If anyone reading this has ever planned a wedding and worked full time they may understand why I didn't have much time to blog...let only think about it for that matter...BUT I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!! And now officially Mrs. Bevacqua :)
So just a few words of encouragement for the day..........

PREPARE YOURSELF FOR SUCCESS.
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Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.
Don't miss out on an opportunity because you're not prepared.
There is no shortage of opportunity.
Everyday you're presented with countless opportunities to be,
or do whatever you desire.
Your preparation is absolutely essential.
To achieve success, you must have self discipline.
You must increase your knowledge and develop your skills.
When you're prepared,
you're always at the right place at the right time.
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