Hello Everyone!

It doesn't take a crystal ball to know what it takes to be successful in business. It takes a lot of common sense and making sure the client/customer is satified with your services. My philosophy is a customer does not pay me for for my work until they are 100% satisfied. One to One Consulting has been servicing the local community for over 12 years. We currently have a customer base of 200 or more clients. Our clients range from small, large, home businesses as well as personal home systems. In this seven years I am very privilaged to announce we have sustained a 100% customer satisfaction rate. This is not to say everything has run perfectly on every job. There have been many ocassions where I have had to put in extra hours at no cost for various reasons to complete a project. These unpaid hours have paid off greatly because those clients are some of my largest accounts today. The client knows we will do what is needed to get the job done or I will find someone who can. I may not have all the answers when it comes to running a successful consulting business, I do know what has worked for me.

Something I have done from day one of my business is listen and read motivational books, tapes, videos. I have also attended many motivational seminars in my seven years of business. My car is an institution for business and personal development. Some of my professors have been Zig Ziglar, Anthony Robbins, Jim Rohn, Brian Tracy, Les Brown, Dr. Denis Waitley, Harvey MacKay, Mark Victor Hanson, Tod Barnhardt, Roger Dawson, Jay Levinson, Stephen Covey, Dale Carnegie, Napolean Hill, Dr. Robert Schuller, any many, many others.

The following business tip is very profound! However it has literally allowed me the opportunity to become a very successful business owner. I started my Graphic/Computer Consulting Business by word of mouth advertising. Now eight years later I have built a rather large loyal customer base. To this day I have yet to place an ad of a flyer of any kind to advertise my services. My success tip is the customer/client "Thank You" note. Simple steps of this idea is....

STEP #1

You can purchase some very nice inexpensive Thank You cards from your local Hallmark store (Have to put in a plug for my wifes company!!Grin). You can also be creative and design your own, as I have done see above sample. I personally hand write a very simple thank you message to the customers I see that day. I might mention something we discussed during our meeting. The trick is being consistant, filling out cards that same evening. Put them in the mailbox that night (Some clients may get them them the very next day in some locations). I make no guarentees on behalf of our US Postal Service.

STEP #2

Make sure you handwrite the thank you note as well as addressing the envelope. Do not use pre-printed labels that would make your thank you note to automated and less sincere. The purpose of this thank you card is to show your appreciation to the client for hiring your company. Keeping the note short and as personal as possible the better results you will receive. I always include 2-3 business cards (I leave one with the client during the meeting). Why send business cards you ask? Well some strange things will happen, those cards seem to end up in the strangest places. Most cases they are given to the friends and associates of your clients. This my friend is the magic result of the Thank You card. You will find yourself receiving more calls from unexpected new potential clients and simply keeping this ritual repeated will produce some very amazing things! There is something I left out. When addressing the envelope I will stamp the bottom right hand corner of the envelope with a stamp like CONFIDENTIAL or PERSONAL or PRIORITY. You can pick these stamps up usually at your local office supply store (I use the red ink).

NOTE: Do not repeat this method after every job! For regular clients I may send out different motivational type cards that you can get from a company called "Successories" call 1-800-621-1423 Ext. 5287 and ask for Jane Steinbrecher and ask for a FREE catalog! (Tell them George Marsh from One to One Consulting in Williamsburg, Virginia sent ya!) This comapny has some amazing products for Your Career, Your Business, Your Life!!!

This profound Thank You card idea works for just about any business. As I mentioned this idea caused my company to grow to well over 250 in about 7 years..no other advertising!! I do not guarentee any drastic results, however I am very confident you will see some very interesting results if you use this method consistantly. Even better results if you get creative and using products from "Successories" on a regular basis! (I am no way compensated for referring people to this company, I simply like to give credit where credit is due). If you should happen to adopt this idea and use it in your business, I would love to hear your testimonials. Visit my internet page often because I plan to share more business and marketing tips that have made me a successful entrepreneur in three companies.....

Successfully yours,

George