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Follow Up
On Sales
I am sure
every business person reading this newsletter is already
following up on sales. Then why include this as a marketing
tip? It is especially important that we follow up on internet
based sales and inquiries due to the impersonal nature of the
medium.
When we
receive a sales order or an inquiry through our web site there
is no personal contact involved. Not even a hand written
response. Email is a great tool, but it certainly has it's
drawbacks. One of the major drawbacks is the fact that it is
so impersonal. Imagine typing a letter to your mother! It's
just not the same as writing to her using the old fashioned
method. I love email, I am not a letter writer, but I stay in
touch with friends and family using email. (I am pretty sure
my Mother would rather receive several emails, including
pictures, than one handwritten letter)
How do we
translate the personal touch into an electronic medium? I
don't think we can! To make up for what email lacks I believe
it is necessary to be prepared, in advance, for all sales and
inquiries. A well developed post sale and or post inquiry
response will not add a personal touch to the transaction but
it will establish a business as professional and competent.
Most people, including myself, don't expect to get the
"personal touch" when we make transactions on the
internet. The next best thing is a well thought out
professional response. That is all we can expect from an
impersonal medium.
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XP SP2
Do you use Windows XP? Have
you updated using the rollout of SP2? If so, you may or may
not already be experiencing problems. That was definitive
wasn't it! The vague nature of some problems associated with
the rollout of SP2 is actually at the very core of the updates
problems. It appears that some people experience problems
after updating while others do not. The two main problems
appear to be software that stops working (it worked before the
update but won't work after) and driver incompatibilities.
Tech Republic offers
information regarding the problems here.
Microsoft is aware of
the situation and has a web page with a list of programs that
stop working when updating with SP2. You
can find the list here.
Notice on the top of the web
page Microsoft instructs you to contact the software vendor if
there is a problem. Evidently Microsoft has no intention of
trying to solve any of the problems, even though some of the
programs that don't work after the upgrade are made by
Microsoft.
The upgrade has been touted
as a security upgrade but not everyone agrees. ZDNet, a
respected online tech site features an article discussing the
new security SP2 offers. You
can find it here.
Be careful when considering
the update, make sure your essential software and servers will
work with the upgraded XP.
More Resources:
Using programs and hardware with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
Block
Windows XP Service Pack 2 on Multiple Computers
Can You Live with Windows XP SP2?
How to set a program to work with the Windows Firewall
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