Protecting Your Company from Fraud

Stressful times often bring out the worst in people.  People who are desperate to support their family may make bad decisions and turn to crime as a solution.  And then there’s the usual cast of thieves and scammers who do things like that on a daily basis.  It’s unfortunate, but many businesses will become the target of crime this year.  As a business owner or employee it is in your best interest not to leave your company unprotected.

As technology provides the business world with new opportunities, it also opens the door for new threats.  It’s not enough to rely on the security measures of yesterday to protect your computers and sensitive data.  If you do not have a properly configured firewall isolating your computer network from the Internet, then you might as well hook up a networked computer in the parking lot for anyone to use.  Employee training and good communication about threats is also important.  Employees can open the door from within the company network and unleash all manner of evil upon you if they are not closely monitored and educated.  Spend the time and money to hire an IT professional or train someone within your company to perform in that role.

How secure is the building where you work?  Are there monitored security cameras?  Locked gates and doors?  Keypad entry protection?  These are not really options but rather necessities unless you work hundreds of miles from civilization.  Companies should keep all doors locked to keep intruders out.  Special measures should be used to keep sensitive information and company equipment from leaving the premises as well.  All important company documents should be destroyed instead of just thrown away.  Familiarize yourself with different types of fraud, like check washing, and identity theft.

Another key protection is to have a good legal representation in place to assist with legal decisions.  Don’t trust your skills with searching the Internet to know the right decision to make.  Know exactly what the law entitles you before you go in any new direction and keep your company from being the target of frivolous lawsuits.  Also, educate each employee as to the level of authority they have and do not let them make decisions for you, especially when they are dealing with an unknown caller.  Monitor all bills, especially from utility companies, who under law can now allow third-party billing by other companies in most states.

As strict and tedious as this all sounds, it is in the best interest of your employees and the company as a whole.  Good prevention keeps your company from having to apologize for stupid mistakes later.

How to Design an Inexpensive Trade Show Backdrop

A trade show is an excellent place to meet new prospects and advertise a business. Without an attractive backdrop and signage, many prospective customers will pass you by.

Promoting a business at a trade show requires special equipment to attract visitors, including a backdrop, signs, lights, and other advertisements. There are now many companies that will build trade show displays in a variety of shapes and sizes. The problem is that these solutions often exceed a small business' advertising budget.

Visit a local provider of retail store equipment. In addition to the ideas mentioned in this article, you may discover many useful pieces of equipment to promote your business through simply browsing their inventory. We chose 4 pieces of black powder coated steel grid panels, measuring 8 feet by 2 feet. Also, we purchased grid connectors and specially designed lights that connected easily to the top of each grid panel.

Arrange the grid panels so that each stands 8 feet tall. Connect the panels using special grid connectors to form the shape of a letter "W." Use at least 3 connectors between each panel. This structure is very sturdy and will stand on its own with no support. To increase the strength and add additional safety, special "L" shaped footers may be purchased which attach to the bottom of 2 grid panels and hold them together in a right angle. Using two of these footers will allow the four grid panels to stand together, connected as a "W" shape.

 

Contract a local sign manufacturer to produce several signs with your company logo and some information about your products. If you provide the art work, this should be relatively inexpensive. The material called "sentra" is very sturdy and makes an attractive sign. The signs that were made for us used a white sentra board with vinyl printed stickers attached to it. Drill a hole in each of the upper corners to allow the sign to hang on the grid panel using cable ties.

Attach the signs to the grid panels and position a light above each one to illuminate it. This is very important as a dark sign looks very uninviting. Now all that is needed is a table, some sample products, brochures, and several sales people to work the booth.

• Don't spend more money than necessary!
• Visitors are attracted to brightly illuminated and attractive booths.
• Use your imagination to decorate your booth and make it unique.
• Do not hang heavy articles from the grid panels that may cause them to become unstable.
• Follow safe wiring practices when connecting lights and other electrical equipment!

How to Demonstrate a Product to New Customers

How do salespeople make someone see the value in a product that they’ve never seen or heard of before?  It’s not that difficult for the average person to do when they follow several easy steps.

Learn everything that there is to know about your new product.  Have several associates write down as many questions as possible and then determine the answers for each one.  Know all associated facts, figures, and test data that is relevant.  Be an expert on your product and know a lot more about it than your competitors.  Practice your demonstration in front of a test audience who has no prior knowledge of your product.  If you are performing this demonstration at a trade show, try to condense the most important parts of the presentation into the first 15 to 20 seconds.  You may not have much more time than that initially.

Do not assume that your potential customers know anything at all about this new product.  Begin by asking several pointed questions to evaluate how well they know the type of product that you are presenting.  Adjust your communication with them appropriately and speak on their level.  Now, identify a problem area in their life or in their job that your product will satisfy.

Use as many visual aids as possible.  The majority of the world learns easier when you show them something rather than just tell them about it.  Find a way to demonstrate your product that will defy their logic.  Try to determine the best visual display to impress them and help them to remember what they saw for at least for several days.  Don’t leave them hanging with unanswered questions, though.  Form a bridge of thought that will lead them back to the practical use of your product to meet their needs.

The most important thing to do is to collect the potential customer’s contact information so that you can follow-up with them later.  When you do call, be sure to reference something memorable from your demonstration that will help them to remember who you are.  Be sure you are the one to call.  Don’t leave this important follow-up to someone else.

Get the business and then be sure to thank your new customer.

Tips

• Know everything about your product

• Be aggressive, but not obnoxious

• Even if you know that someone probably won’t buy your product, tell them about it anyway and do it with enthusiasm.  They just may tell their friends and who knows where that will lead?