Help Your Clients Plan for the Unplanned
In the case of a disaster, failing to plan may be planning to fail
Disasters like hurricanes and floods are beyond anyone's control. Preparing beforehand is anything but. Comprehensive, detailed disaster-or continuity-planning is essential for any business--and it means a lot more than having a flashlight and an extra set of batteries on hand. Chances are good you're prepared, but does that go for your clients and prospects? Here's a checklist you can share to help them deal with disaster before it deals with them.
What to do After a Disaster
You can't prevent an unexpected calamity, but you can move quickly to ensure that it doesn't sink you
Try as any business owner may to prevent it, disaster can hit in any number of forms, from a fire that takes out a mainframe computer to a hurricane that guts an entire region. Disasters happen and response means more than quickly repairing damaged networks and systems. But their aftereffects don't have to be crippling.
Locking Down Mobile Data Security
Here's how to keep sensitive mobile device data in the right hands
With advances in mobile computing and devices, productivity boosters like netbooks, laptops and smart phones could actually be putting your customers' companies at risk. With the data storage capabilities these devices have, they may be chock-full of sensitive information that, in the wrong hands, could lead to anything from disclosure of trade secrets to identity theft, says computer security consultant Alex Zaltsman, CEO of Experior Data Security & Encryption, a New York City-based computer data security firm.
Protecting Your Customer Data
Best practices in defensive data management keep you and your customers covered
From 2005 to 2008, average costs associated with data security breakdowns rose from $138 per record to $202 per record, or from $4.45 million to $6.65 million per incident. That's the bad news from the Ponemon Institute, an organization dedicated to privacy, data protection and information-security policy, which conducts an annual cost-of-a-data-breach study. Mike Spinney, the Institute's senior privacy analyst, predicts that "many companies are in for a rude awakening" in 2010, when he anticipates that the cost of a data breach will "spike."
Record Retention: What to Save, What to Toss
One look around the office, with its stacks of files, documents, statements and other records, may tempt you to purge the paper. But before you fire up the shredder for some good old-fashioned de-cluttering, you'd better know a thing or two about which records you need to keep and which you can ditch, says tax attorney Frederick W. Daily, author of Tax Savvy for Small Business.
Dell FastTrack: For Customers Who Want Systems Now
Want to give your clients speedier delivery on systems orders? Consider FastTrack. Benefits include:
- free next-business-day delivery,
- available with popular upgrades, such as Windows Vista Business Bonus with Windows XP Professional downgrade, and
- covers a variety of models, so you can help your customers choose the right solutions for their business.
Click here to learn more
Know Thy Customer
From hungry upstarts to established players weathering the winds of economic storms, many businesses don't realize that not all customers are good customers, says Thomas Ritter, professor of marketing at Copenhagen Business School, and co-author of Inside the Customer Universe: How to Build Unique Customer Insight for Profitable Growth and Market Leadership. Successful businesses know the hallmarks of their best customers, he says, and seek out more of them instead of taking on every piece of new business that comes in the door.
Making Social Marketing Work
Are your social media marketing strategies well targeted, or are they backfiring? Many small businesses have embraced blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other online networking technologies as new ways to deliver marketing messages. But experts say most of these efforts are counter-productive. In new media, they agree, it's listening—not talking—that scores sales.
Developing the "Devoted" Customer
"Loyalty is probably the most misunderstood and under-utilized strategy and tactic in business," says Aldy Keene, co-founder of the Loyalty Research Center. "Everybody thinks they're doing something about customer loyalty, but very few of them actually are."
DIY PR
A public relations plan is an essential component in the growth of your small business. Maintaining a public posture keeps you in the eyes of all sorts of prospects and customers, from first-time buyers to established clients.
Winning Over the Technophobe
They're out there. Maybe not as many as there used to be, but, make no mistake—they're still there. They're technophobes—those who look at a computer and burst into an icy sweat, people for whom the term 'ethernet' carries dark, murky connotations.
Innovation Nation
Is your company as innovative as it can be? Lately, the word "innovation"—like its cohorts "branding" and "value"—seems to be used so much and so inappropriately that its true meaning has been obscured. A 2008 report by management consulting firm McKinsey & Company states that while 70% of senior executives believe that innovation is essential to growth, fully 65% were only "somewhat" or less confident in the decisions they make with regard to innovation.
Building the SMB Technology Purchasing Profile
It's obvious enough that you'll maximize your sales if you know what your customers need to buy. But the average small business owner has trouble keeping up with technology and knowing what he or she truly needs, versus what's simply the newest thing on the market. To maximize your sales and your customers' productivity, you need to begin by gaining their confidence.
Upselling: Dig Deeper into Your Customer Base
If convincing your current customers to spend more seems like a hopeless uphill climb, consider this: A recent Gallup Global Management study found it costs five times as much to win over a new client than it does to serve an existing one.
Driving Sales with Data: How to Profit from Information You Already Have
When it's time to drum up new customers, some business owners or managers may start putting pressure on the sales team or turn to pricey consultants to cook up a new marketing strategy.
About Channel Intelligence
In this premier issue, brought you by Dell and Inc., you'll find information about fostering innovation in your business; upselling to gain more from your customers; understanding the purchasing patterns and technology needs of small business owners; and more.
Bring More to Your Customers with PartnerDirect
Dell's PartnerDirect program brings a wide range of resources to your business. Once you register, you gain access to a Partner-only portal that provides a single destination for product information, ordering and technical support, along with reporting and transaction history; free, downloadable marketing materials; pre- and post-sales support; and much more.
Registered Partners can choose to become certified in one of Dell's Certified Practice Areas - technology specializations that map to areas of substantial business opportunity for Partners. Dell currently offers three certification streams - Enterprise Architecture, Managed Services and Federal. Certified Partners receive receive a higher level of benefits than Registered Partners, and in return for making a deeper commitment to Dell products and solutions, can also work directly with Dell to help develop their business.
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