Do your customers pay it forward?

I wasn’t going to do a tax post, but something unprecedented and rather special happened this week.

One of my newest clients asked if she could pay me a chunk of change now for work I’ll do next year.

After deliberating for several nanoseconds, I agreed.

I like this deal very much.

Your customers may too.

Tax Effective

Why would they pay in advance?

To claim you as an expense this financial year.

It seems some clients are real people, just like us.

I pay all my claimable bills by 30 June, even if they’re not due for weeks. I’ve seen this tactic described in every tax-tip article I’ve read.

It makes sense for my clients to do this too.

Of course, not everyone does it. Some accounts payable systems (and people) can’t (or won’t) exceed glacial speed for any reason.

But those who do get a handy tax break.

Future Fund

My client’s pay-it-forward idea is an elegant extension of this principle.

She’s working on a long, complicated article which she plans to let me whack into shape.

As she knows she’ll be using me, why not claim me now?

If you have regular customers, or know they’ll be using you next year, you could float this idea (naturally emphasising the benefit to them).

Risks

If I were a cad, I could make off with my client’s cash and live the high life in Koo Wee Rup – perhaps tormenting her with tart postcards.

Alternatively, she could accost me when I’m elbow-deep in another client’s website and demand that I drop what I’m doing to serve her.

The thing is (and please don’t laugh) we trust each other: we’ll conclude this deal when it’s mutually convenient.

When I sought her permission to write this post she said:

You may want to mention there’s a high level of trust, I wouldn’t do this with every man and his dog.

Also I got the idea because several years ago someone called and asked if they could send me a payment of $5K upfront for some marketing help.

I had no idea who this person was but someone had recommended me! It’s a good way to give yourself a kick up the butt to get work done ASAP.

I heartily concur.

Your Call

For all you know, some of your customers may be awash with funds, teetering on the threshold of a higher tax rate and desperate to pay something (anything!) forward.

I know that some corporate budgets, if not fully spent, reduce subsequent allocations.

As many managers are petrified of diminished funding, this could be your in.

As we’ve learnt from previous posts, you may have only to ask.

Maybe you already have.

• Have you?
• Will you?
• Why not?
• Couldn’t you use the loot?!

I see a bright future, adorned with your comments.

Ideally sooner, rather than later.

But better late than never.

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

                                                  

                                                     I had it, but lost it.

Early adopters are where it’s at.

While fairly hip to the groove, I got a very nasty shock on dipping my toe in the iTunes pool.

The following lesson may save you from losing your entire music collection.

It also teaches the value of taking extra special care of customers new to what you do.

Apple Virgin

As a former DJ, married to a dancing queen, I had many CDs.

Long a PC advocate (despite their many failings) I was wary of Apple iTunes.

Then Fonnie inexplicably received a free iPod shuffle when buying jeans.

Suddenly there was no barrier to exploring this extraordinary new technology.

Hats off to Apple, I thought.

Learning the Steps

We worked out how to load some of our CDs onto iTunes.

We bought a few new iTune songs for good measure.

Then we transferred 281 tracks to our free aluminium fragment.

Suddenly, we had enough music to drive us interstate. And back.

The Great Declutter

I was sold.

Very soon, so were our CDs.

After months of persuasion, Fonnie agreed to burn all our CDs to her PC, after which I liquidated them on eBay.

I revelled in reclaimed space. Never had I been paid to tech up.

Fonnie was less enthusiastic, fearing for the safety of our 3,173 hits and memories.

The Great Promise

No worries! I cried. We can back up our music to your new iPhone!

If the iPhone goes down, we’ve got the PC.

If the PC goes down, we’ve got the iPhone.

She’ll be right, Mate!

Then the PC went down.

I replaced the hard drive and reinstalled all software.

But I could NOT back up from the iPhone.

The Great Depression

Two lifetimes of music, gone in a heartbeat.

I called my Hardware Guy.

Then my Software Guy.

Neither could help.

My Hardware Guy asked an Apple Store Guy who said:

If you buy songs from iTunes, you can get them back, but if you acquire songs from CDs you lose them. Welcome to the Kingdom of Apple!

I was extremely upset.

And too terrified to tell Fonnie her worst fear had been realised.

Forensic Foray

After two weeks of deep sadness, an IT colleague offered to recover our music files from the damaged hard drive.

I’d read that the only way to secure private data was to smash dead drives with a large hammer.

I’d been keen to do this, but something had stopped me.

The following evening, all our songs were restored – minus the CD artwork I’d painstakingly scanned, cropped and optimised.

Decision

Words can’t describe my relief.

What I can describe is my decision to abort our imminent iPad and MacBook Pro purchases.

I was on the brink of becoming an Apple convert.

But a system, however elegant, which compels newbies to abandon their old worlds is not for me.

It’s like me telling new clients they’re forbidden to use the words ‘expert’ and ‘service’ on their websites.

This saga concerns CDs. Imagine if I’d moved my entire business to a new system, then lost everything because I missed something in the manual.

Early adoption has its place. But from now on I plan to do a bit more looking before I leap. Lest I end up an orphan.

I’ll also be taking much greater care of new customers unfamiliar with my wares.

What say you?

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

                                                   Are cheques dumb?

A cheque (check) arrived in my letterbox last week.

It triggered good and bad thoughts.

And you know what that means.

Yes! It’s time to play …

Fortunately Unfortunately!

Fortunately

I’d been waiting on this payment for over two months. I was happy to get the money in any form.

I may even have accepted flour, sugar or tea.

I counted my blessings and recalled that California is ‘paying’ its suppliers with IOUs!

Unfortunately

The cheque compelled me to leave Empire House and venture into The World.

I had to ride my bike to the bank to deposit it.

This cost me time and effort and broke my concentration for the job I was doing.

Fortunately

It was a glorious sunny day.

The 5 km round trip was good, well-needed exercise and there wasn’t a queue (ckueue) at the bank.

I was there and back in 20 minutes.

Unfortunately

The bank told me the cheque would take three business days to clear.

So, even though I could see the money in my online banking account, I couldn’t use it to pay my suppliers.

This made me cross. It also made me wonder if some organisations deliberately use cheques to hang on to their money for a few more days.

Could this be the case, do you think?

Fortunately

I had room on my line of credit to pay all my bills on or before time.

I’m proud of this policy, but it has been harder to follow these last 18 months.

Unfortunately

While happy to have my loot at last, I felt the whole cheque thing was a bit archaic.

Why couldn’t this (quite large) company do electronic funds transfer (EFT) like everyone else?

Were they too slow, scared or set in their ways to get with the program?

Or was I missing something?

Do some firms find cheques faster, safer or easier to reconcile than EFT?

Do cheques offer some other magical advantage?

I’ve written just two cheques in two years.

I hate waiting and watching for them to be presented.

Am I’m being too precious?

Fortunately

I have your vast expertise to elicit.

What are your views on and experiences with cheques?

Are you paper or ether?

For or agin?

Come on …

Show me the money!

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

Let’s assume for a mad instant that you’re taking time out from your business this holiday season.

‘Time out’ can mean you’re:

1. Uncontactable for the duration.
2. Planning to check in from time to time.
3. In the next room and not really having a break at all.
4. At your desk, playing Company of Heroes, until the next job hits your inbox. Or doesn’t.

What you do will affect what you tell your customers.

In a happy confluence of our recent ecard and letter posts, I received this email yesterday from a graphic artist with whom I share a client:

Great Stuff!

I was very impressed with Rob’s content and execution.

I like it because it:

• is novel and fun.
• is grateful.
• contains no hard sell. (In fact, it doesn’t even include a link to his website!)
• showcases Rob’s design talent. (And he’s no slouch with words, either.)
• details everything Rob will do to look after his clients.
• is effective. (What cad would hassle him during community work?)

Could it be Better?

Maybe, but not much.

The ALL CAPITAL BOLDED ITALICS are a little hard to read, but these elements are essential to the comic effect.

I think 19 December beats December 19^th any day of the week, but that’s no biggie.

As with Tom’s letter, there’s no salutation. But I’m a big boy.

And though it’s ‘only’ an email, I reckon its many meritorious elements carry the day.

Holiday Schmoliday

Because the sun never sets on The Empire, I’m working right through.

It’s Hay Season. The first in two years. So I’m ruddy well going to make some.

How about you?

Are you a 1, 2, 3 or 4 person this year?

What will you do?

And what will you tell your customers?

We can’t wait to hear.

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

                                                 Change = Opportunity.

I just bought a printer.

Usually, this fact would excite only if you needed a printer too.

What should excite everyone is how I bought it.

My method got me a 90%+ user-rated product for 66% of recommended retail price (RRP).

I believe you can replicate this pleasing outcome on other business equipment purchases.

Problem

My HP d145 printer/scanner/fax/copier was aging and thirsty.

These traits I could handle. I dutifully bought expensive ink cartridges and even replaced a print head to revive flagging performance.

But when the d145 told me my barely-used black cartridge was ‘old’ (and therefore unusable) I saw magenta.

And having recently gained three huge new clients, I needed a polite, reliable replacement.

Fast.

Research

I assumed that in six years since buying my d145, printers had changed beyond recognition.

But because I was so busy (and am not very technical) I didn’t want to spend days researching and comparing myriad models.

So I got onto Twitter and said something like:

My d145 is old & cranky. I need a reliable replacement. Any ideas?

In minutes I had three responses. Two pointed to the same solution: a Canon Pixma.

I asked for details and got glowing reports. I didn’t know these people, but for some reason I trusted them.

I guess it was like offering a prayer, then following instructions.

Choice

With only four Pixma models described on Canon’s clear, well designed website, I swiftly narrowed my choice to the MX870.

Having been told to trust God but tie my camel, I Googled ‘MX870 review’. The ratings were universally high (and uncommonly so for such a potent source of office angst).

I was convinced.

Price

Confident I could do better than $299 RRP, I sussed prices using my old mates shopbot and getprice.

Right away I found $250 plus delivery.

I next checked JB Hi-Fi, who offered $249 with free delivery.

I was getting warm, but wanted MORE.

So I visited Officeworks as a control* and Lo! There it was: $199 delivered.

SOLD!

Joy

This entire exercise took 1.5 hours.

Decades ago, to get bang for my capital buck, I’d have to ring around (then physically visit) multiple retailers. What business owner has time for that?!

The internet has truly made shopping a breeze.

Tech-savvy readers will be familiar with my method.

If you’ve picked up a tip or two, please tell us.

And if you’ve more wisdom to share, please do so.

I can’t wait

to print it!

* And because they impressed me here.

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

Today we welcome Leon Noone to the Small Business Owner blog. Leon helps managers in small-medium business to improve on-job staff performance without training courses. Leon once told me that some people think his thoughts are unconventional, and as we love sharing other people’s thoughts and experiences related to business we invited Leon to contribute to the blog.  Today Leon shares his thoughts and tips for recruitment. Welcome Leon!  Naomi

Staff selection is a complicated business. Most managers aren’t naturally good at it. It’s very expensive. The cost of “mistakes” is huge and haunting. Poor staff selection erodes profitability. And it increases pressure on other staff. Managing employee performance starts with staff selection.

An Unconventional Approach

You’ll find that these tips don’t follow many of the conventional wisdoms. But they result from my experience. Conventional selection demands a “good application” and “good interview performance”. Sadly, not too many jobs require those skills. This approach will remove most of the costly mystique that shrouds so much selection. I want staff selection to be much less of a gamble for you.

1. Know What You’re Trying To Achieve

The purpose of staff selection is to achieve job goals. It is not to choose a person. The person you choose is the resource you use to achieve the job goals. You are the buyer. Candidates are sellers. Behave as you would if you were buying hardware or software. Let’s face it. If you were buying a new company car, would you ask every car dealer in the state to write to you?

2. Prepare An Output Centred Job Analysis

A job analysis contains a clear statement of

• the goals of the job: what the job exists to achieve
• the experience and qualifications essential to achieve the job goals
• the knowledge required to achieve the job goals
• specific requirements and/or limitations that would prevent successful achievement of job goals.

3. Use The Job Ad As A Screen

The prime purpose of the job ad is to attract only “ideal” candidates and deter everyone else. Base your ad on your job analysis. It’s quite OK to say, “only apply if …” or “don’t apply unless…” Put your name and phone number in the ad. Ask candidates to phone you. It’ll save you time and money. You want your ad to attract only suitable candidates. Applications from unsuitable candidates simply waste your time.

4. Never, Ever Ask For Written Applications

I believe that written applications cause more selection “mistakes” than anything else. Think about it. You place a job ad. You ask complete strangers to write to you. On the basis of what they – or their professional resume writer – write about themselves, you rank the strangers in order of suitability. But you don’t have the faintest idea of whether they can do what they say they can or even if they’re being truthful. Does that make sense?

5. Prepared A Telephone Script

Write a list of questions you’ll ask everyone who calls you. Base your questions on your job analysis. Decide what constitutes “acceptable” answers. Decide how you’ll tell any candidate who fails to provide “acceptable answers” that they’re unsuccessful.

6. Conduct Telephone Screening Interviews

Speak to every candidate who calls. Use the same list of questions with each one. If necessary, write down their answers. If ten years working as a driller on an oil rig off East Timor is essential, don’t accept nine years. Tell unsuccessful candidates there and then that they’re unsuccessful. They prefer to know rather than wait for weeks then be told they’ve failed. Explain the broad salary or wages and conditions to those applicants you want to continue with. If they’re acceptable to them, ascertain their contact details and tell them that you’ll contact them again within a specific time period. Honour that commitment.

7. Design And Conduct Competency Tests

Please understand this. There’s only one failsafe way of discovering whether applicants can actually do what they say they can do. Get them to do it. No matter what people tell you or how much faith you have in your own prescience, you cannot tell what someone can do merely by talking with them. You must test their competence based on actual performance no matter what the job role.

8. Focus The Face To Face Interview

The face to face interview is a privilege. It should be extended only to applicants who’ve demonstrated proven competence: people whom you believe can do the job based on your testing. The main purpose of the interview is for you to decide whether the applicant is likely to fit the culture, to clarify any minor issues you’re concerned about, to answer candidates’ questions and for candidates to decide whether they still wish to proceed.

9. Advise Unsuccessful Candidates

Advise unsuccessful candidates as soon as possible. You create a bad image for your business if you fail to advise unsuccessful applicants as soon as possible after making your decision.

10. Suspect The Reference

Beware of written references and reference checks unless you’re personally acquainted with the reference writer or the nominated referee. No candidate is going to present a “poor” written reference or nominate a referee who’ll speak ill of them. If they did, it would raise serious issues about their professional judgement. Conducting competency tests is far more reliable.

A Final Comment

Remember, the whole selection process is about whether a candidate will be a successful achiever with your business in the future. Keep the past in that perspective.

Leon Noone helps managers in small-medium business to improve on-job staff performance without training courses. His ideas are quite unconventional. Read his free Special Report “49 Practical Tips for Removing Employee Apathy, Aggravation And Resistance In Your Business”. Simply visit http://managingemployeeperformance.com/ and download your free copy now. 

                                                      Safe and sound.

                                                           FINALLY!

For years I’ve lived in fear of losing the Empire Über Komputer to fire, theft, lightning, coffee or head crash.

The loss of my data and documents would be commercially (and emotionally) cataclysmic.

Despite this, my back-up efforts have been patchy.

Until now.

Chequered Past

In the Pre-Feistian Period, I backed up treasured works by printing them.

My first electronic back-ups were so modest, they fitted onto 3.5 inch floppy disks.

Then came the relative awesomeness of the Iomega Zip drive.

This was soon eclipsed by CD ROMs.

Which gave way to DVDs.

Even these wilted before the might of the Maxtor external hard drive.

Which turned out to be a lot more hassle to use than the 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 (etc) gigabyte USB sticks (thumb drives) I collected.

Now yet another methodology has come to the fore.

And for the first time in history, I’m backed to the hilt.

Hairy Potter

My approach to backing up was as fragmented as the above media list.

I did it when I remembered.

Or had nothing better to do.

Or when I created something of such beauty and value I couldn’t bear the thought of losing it.

On average, I’d say I backed up once a quarter. Tops.

BAD copywriter!

But wait, there’s more …

The results of these sporadic back-ups were variously stored – in folders behind me, or draws beside me.

Sometimes I hid them in Building B of The Empire Buildings (my tool shed).

Once I even invoked the power of offsite storage by handing a back-up to my parents who, having misplaced it, denied ever having received it!

Reviewing this fragmentary record, I’m damned lucky I didn’t come seriously unstuck.

Line Call

You may have seen Arthur from Carbonite commenting on this blog.

Thanks to him, I’ve just completed my first online back-up.

As of last Friday, double-encrypted duplicates of every file I have are stored somewhere in America.

Hopefully in Alaska or Nevada or … Midway!

Any time I change one of my files, its US doppelganger mirrors that change soon after.

It’s early days, but this appears to be rather cool.

When I first heard of Carbonite, I did NOT like the idea of zapping my personal and business files through the ether.

Let alone to some unknown crowd in Yankeeland (no offence to our American friends).

But Arthur put a local face to this newfangled approach.

Guiding me on Twitter, he diffused my fear and ignorance to the point where I felt confident enough to give it a shot.

I’m running out of space in this post. But if you’re interested in my Carbonite experience, I can detail it in a follow-up.

Back Me Up Here

For now, I’d just like to say I’m delighted to have ditched my chronic, nagging data loss dread.

Can you say the same?

What’s your back-up regime (if any)?

Do you stick to it?

What would happen if the Great Spirit smote your IT with drive-frying thunderbolts?

And what do you know about this online* back-up caper?

Think back.

And come forward.

Your call will be recorded.

* If you feel online back-ups aren’t for you, perhaps I can interest you in a pre-loved, easy-to-use Maxtor!

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

Here’s an old chestnut I hope we can crack:

Can you charge clients for travelling time?

I’ve had bags of trouble with this issue.

My hairdresser has an elegant answer. I’d like to see if you’ve a better one.

Fly Buys

When I started freelancing, I had a weekly two-day gig at a client’s site.

I figured driving to this was a normal commute, so only billed for the time I spent at their desk.

Then I developed a training course.

One day, the client asked me to run it interstate.

I added travelling time to my proposal and all hell broke loose.

As far as they were concerned, I was lucky to get the job.

None of their staff were paid to travel to work; why should a mere contractor?

I explained that, while I was eager to please:

• On normal days, I sat happily at Empire House being paid for every second.
• Heading interstate for them would mean a 5.00 am start, two flights, four cab rides and a 14-hour day for me.

But the more I tried to defend my case, the angrier they got.

I folded, and only got paid for the two-hour training session (plus receipted costs).

The course was a big success. This led to more bookings. And fights.

I never managed to get reimbursed for leaving my HQ, enduring traffic, queues and crowds, waiting in airports and trotting the globe.

Was that a fair cop?

Hair Tonic

Philippe* the hairdresser (whom we met last week) travels to clients all the time – especially for weddings.

Like me, the instant he steps from his chair, he haemorrhages ‘opportunity cost’ income.

Unlike me, he recoups this.

But HOW?

One little word.

Fee.

Fee Be

While clients detest the thought of businesspeople raking in loot while sitting in their cars, they apparently don’t mind the concept of a travel fee.

In his firm-but-fair fashion, Philippe explains that he’d love to do the bride in her bathroom, but that his home visit will occasion a charge additional to that for the service rendered.

‘No problem!’ she says.

Doctors do it.

Vets.

Hell, even plumbers do it.

When I worked at a gas utility, they got paid a minimum of four hours for every call-out, even if it was just a 20-minute false alarm!

And now I see hairdressers can time-travel too.

So why not me?

And what about you?

Perhaps my error lies in giving too much information.

Penny for your thoughts?

* Not his real name.

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

                                                   Do not collect $200.

Naomi asked how my end of financial year (EOFY) was going.

I reflected that it was rather less cheery than the current crop of pay TV ads.

The source of my ennui is a large sum of money which I’ve earned, but not received.

For the first time in Empire history, I’m thinking debt collection.

I wonder if I’m alone in this.

Belt up

When seatbelts became mandatory, my dad had a belt installation business.

One client owed him ten pounds – a lot of loot in those days.

After trying everything else, Dad hired a debt collector.

This burly but very quiet man had a big van emblazoned with DEBT COLLECTOR.

His non-violent approach was instructive.

He simply parked at the offending party’s front door – in full view of his neighbours – and waited.

Soon enough, the debtor appeared. Eventually, so did the ten pounds.

Dad got nine of them and was well pleased.

Collect call

A few months ago a debt collector cold-called to ask if I had outstanding invoices.

I didn’t, but now I do.

Then I got a business card in my letter box. I’m looking at it now. It says:

DCS. Debt Collection Services. We collect debts. That’s all we do.

Always a fan of clear, concise communication, I’m doubly impressed today. On the back it says:

Fast debt recovery. Email your problem debts to us for action.

I’ve just checked their website; their services look highly effective and seductively easy to invoke.

I’ll send them this post and invite their comments.

Collateral damage

Of course, summoning the cavalry will do little for client relations. Perhaps I should send another polite email.

That’s what I’ve always done; the money almost always turns up eventually.

I’ve had a few bad debts over the years, but the circumstances have been so hideous that I’ve preferred to walk away rather than squander more time and energy on the offenders.

But dollars seem more precious these days.

Worry wart?

Of course, this whole question could be academic.

Everyone could simply be holding off until the very end of the month.

By this time next week, I could be rolling in it.

And won’t I look silly?

Then again, maybe my clients are waiting to be paid by their clients, who are waiting to be paid by theirs.

We could all be in for a nasty knock-on effect.

Tough questions

How are you travelling as the year ends?

Are you waiting to pay or be paid?

Do you have advice or anecdotes?

I’ll be forever in your

debt.

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

Each decision you automate frees you for higher thinking.

After reading The E Myth by Michael Gerber a few years ago, I plunged into a flurry of business systemisation.

Adam codified my thoughts and added his own and we ended up with a 199-page brain dump called The Ways of Empire.

Today, I mainly use this mighty tome for buying pens and acknowledging client payments.

Broken Dreams

Gone are my dreams of franchising for $100K or selling for $2M.

Perfect copywriting seems way too nebulous and complicated to lay out in a manual ‘normal’ people can use successfully.

Our systemisation work wasn’t entirely in vain, however. There are many decisions I no longer have to think about.

Pen Pal

Take the ‘magic red pen’ I use to pierce authors’ hearts. The Ways of Empire says:

When editing or proofing, use red pen Uniball UB-120. It’s sharp and clean, it works on most papers and you can write really small with it.

Bingo! I order these little beauties in boxes of ten. Once I’ve coloured in a few dozen government tenders, I buy another box.

I never have to spend energy trying other pens or choosing from several options.

And if anyone handles an Empire overflow job, they get a pen that makes their work easier (while keeping it in sync with my style).

The good thing is, this stuff is a no-brainer. It’s automatic.

Many Thanks

Another handy area of systemisation is client policy. One Empire policy is to give thanks for every client payment I receive.

I got this idea from Malcolm.

Even if a client has been with me for years, I thank them for every cheque or EFT payment they send. I don’t feel silly, and I never forget, because it’s a written policy.

It’s the way I do things.

While my clients don’t go nuts over these thank-you emails, they do seem to appreciate them.

I don’t think there’s a lot of it about.

Well, that’s how I operate. How does all this look to you?

1. Smart move.
2. Dumb idea.
3. You’re a freak!

Please express your views in writing.

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire