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Goal - Make It All Year Long
Do you know your customers and have a great relationship with them? Simple question, but hard to make a reality right! Pay close attention and start this year out equipped with some simple but very important concepts that will make a difference. iComEx is here to serve you. Leveraging technology is our goal for you. Whether it's high tech or low tech, it's about you and your needs this year.
Many sound business tactics insure your customers are well taken care of. Phone calls, emails, newsletters, polls, special offers, new services, customer loyalty offers, referrals programs, and more are just a few of the many ways the business community at large insures every customer has their needs met. If you are not providing this type of service currently, you may be missing out. Below are 15 ways to make sure your customers know how valuable they are to you and your business.
We invite you to consider a new attitude for 2018. Remember that your customers are your lifeblood.They are the reason for keeping the shelves stocked, the doors open and the reason we are always looking for new services to provide to you. We believe that you, our customers here at iComEx are our biggest asset. Keeping that in mind, we also believe that your must have a positive experience when you contact us. If you do, each time we speak, send information, educate, and follow up, you will know we are grateful that you have chosen us to work on your behalf...
A planned positive impact is how we maintain your business, and ours in turn. In addition, we also believe that if you are a happy positive client, you are much more inclined to recommend your business to others through word of mouth and online reviews. That is always a great asset. Customer retention and making sure we are educated about your industry may be difficult at times, and we may not always be on the leading edge but we try our best. How? We hope to understand how to apply what we learn from your customer reviews so we can begin to turn it into customer retention on our part. It all starts with taking customer relations seriously. And that means that we contact you as much as we can every day of the year.
15 Ways To Stay In Touch
- The first and most important is Remember This List - Unless you do something each month or every time you have contact with your clients it will do no good. Having a planned strategy every month is the beginning of developing the kind of relationship that means something for all parties concerned. If you have a marketing person who is in charge of this, then you need to meet personally with that person, get involved in January and work out a way to meet, educate, greet, follow up, and then continue with a plan as often as you can. Setting goals which include you personally goes a long way with your clients. Taking the time to make sure they know you personally appreciate their business is a must.
- Customer Touch Points All Year Long - Don't make it about one month or even a quarter. They like you run your business year round, and put in place best accepted business practices that will benefit your business and revenue models as you learn about them. It's really all about you. We hear you, plan, execute and then thank you for your business.
- We need to be in contact with your or your delegated representative - Small courtesies can go a long way. A friendly greeting, and if you come to our facility we must make sure someone is with you to answer any questions you may have. If a retail location is available we do recommend a top sales person on our front to make that happen. A great first impression can provide you peace of mind about each experience you have with our company.
- It is common for us to ask you for feedback or even your input and opinion. New products, campaigns, recommendations from you are all attempts to provide to you what will be considered a success. If you provide input at the decision making process, we have made it successful from the start. So, be sure to let us know if we forget something as well.
- Remember social media postings on a regular basis, newsletters, and a thank you go a long way toward better customer relations. We encourage participation and leveraging technology on your behalf will benefit both of us. Point of sale contact for benefits everyone, and polling for more information each time we see you is our best bet at keeping ourselves educated about your special needs for your industry at large.
- Set up a recommendation box at your front desk or point of sale and hold a drawing for a coupon or freebie to encourage participation. Post a poll on social media to see what products most interest your customers.
- What type of experience do you have when making purchases with us? By creating an experience with you by having meetings, classes, projects, or DIY projects are a few ways to organize creativity for you and for our business in meeting your needs as our client. Keeping our sales department aware of your specific needs mean we understand what matters to you as well as what will be required in order for meeting that need. As consumers continue to value experiences over things, giving them a unique activity will demonstrate you understand what matters to them.
- Connect with your audience as often and in as many ways as you can. Social Media is hot right now. Customer Appreciation recognition is easy and very cost effective when you set up a schedule to connect with your main audience. Asking your customers for photos, videos, MP3's and even new brochures they print means that customers to share their photos and videos involving your services or products with a unique hashtag relating to your business. A repost of their content, giving them credit in the caption is another way to help leverage the best of the best information around.
- Be sure to keep your contacts engaged - New and diverse content, and that you encourage customers to spread the word about your business by sharing photos or videos with their social networks.
- Remember to reward customer loyalty at every turn - If they refer clients to you, send them a gift card to a favorite restaurant or business as an example. Whatever you do, keep it simple. Most business owners belong to more than one program, less is more in this case. Easy to participate, easy to understand, and track participation for thank you notes for new clients they bring.
- Be sure to encourage referrals, which are different than simply loyalty clients. Rewards for friends and family's that do refer new potential clients to you can participate in things that are considered low tech like coupons on newsletters, retention offer's, bonus items for new contracts are just a few options.
- Discover Your Clients Seasonal Trends - Business is seasonal for everyone. Learn who your customers are means knowing their peak seasons and planning customer touch points around those seasons. Chilled wine, special cocktails at get together' s, and even a cup of coffee on a cold morning for a quick meeting are possible.
- Make your customers dollars they spend with you go as far as they can - Your best clients need to be expressing a positive attitude about doing business with you. Paying for a product, meal or service is critical in daily activity and is a great cause of interest. If you are giving back to the community perhaps it could be directed to something your client told you about or that they think is important.
- Step Up at the right time - Please remember that the normal business cycle has ups and downs. If low points are reached in your clients communities maybe you can help by stepping in to support them in a particular manner; you have gained an ally. Lending a hand for local relief efforts may spur them to see you in a different light and offer a symbol of hope to something you believe is important to their industry or community where they do business.
- Flexible should be your middle name in business - The second point of contact, needs to be as positive as the first has been. Keeping your eye on the ball for your company and for your clients both is critical to success for both parties involved. Make sure return issues are resolved to their satisfaction, and be sure to replace the return with the right product that is functioning properly.
Now that you are reminded about so many practical ways to work with your customers, remember that simply put, building customer relationships often means being aware of their feelings and specific needs. Needs meeting needs, is and always has been an easy way to differentiate you from the pack. Never forget your clients keep your business running. Small or large makes no difference; it's about long term satisfaction. If you have 100 clients, and have been in business 20 years, how many of those 100 have been your client the whole time? Make that your goal for this new year.
Keeping a solid core base of clients that will never be able to find the type of customer service they have with you anywhere else. Seriously, who can compete with that? In today's world it is all about identifying needs, education yourself and your client, and understanding the economic benefits of meeting those needs all year long. They know your support matters and respect your business ethic and practices. It doesn't get any better than this.
Applying proven, results techniques and industry best practices to every engagement, iComEx has been helping clients achieve success by attracting targeted traffic, delivering compelling content and converting visitors into prospects since 1999. Disruptive technology can be used to leverage an advantage to you and your clients. Make it reality in your business today. Call iComEx today and work out a long term plan to secure better business strategy actions for your company.
972-712-2100 Serving North Texas, Dallas, Frisco, Plano Richardson and Texas since 1999.
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Protection Options Can Help
Protect Your Computer
Today everyone who operates needs to make sure they are doing all they can to protect every computer, phone, laptop, and device as best they can. With so much information out there let's talk about where you can go, and what you can do to make that happen in your home, business, or organization.
Below are some key steps to protecting your computer from intrusion:
Keep Your Firewall Turned On: A firewall helps protect your computer from hackers who might try to gain access to crash it, delete information, or even steal passwords or other sensitive information. Software firewalls are widely recommended for single computers. The software is prepackaged on some operating systems or can be purchased for individual computers. For multiple networked computers, hardware routers typically provide firewall protection.
Install or Update Your Antivirus Software: Antivirus software is designed to prevent malicious software programs from embedding on your computer. If it detects malicious code, like a virus or a worm, it works to disarm or remove it. Viruses can infect computers without users’ knowledge. Most types of antivirus software can be set up to update automatically.
Install or Update Your Antispyware Technology: Spyware is just what it sounds like—software that is surreptitiously installed on your computer to let others peer into your activities on the computer. Some spyware collects information about you without your consent or produces unwanted pop-up ads on your web browser. Some operating systems offer free spyware protection, and inexpensive software is readily available for download on the Internet or at your local computer store. Be wary of ads on the Internet offering downloadable antispyware—in some cases these products may be fake and may actually contain spyware or other malicious code. It’s like buying groceries—shop where you trust.
Keep Your Operating System Up to Date: Computer operating systems are periodically updated to stay in tune with technology requirements and to fix security holes. Be sure to install the updates to ensure your computer has the latest protection.
Be Careful What You Download: Carelessly downloading e-mail attachments can circumvent even the most vigilant anti-virus software. Never open an e-mail attachment from someone you don’t know, and be wary of forwarded attachments from people you do know. They may have unwittingly advanced malicious code.
Turn Off Your Computer: With the growth of high-speed Internet connections, many opt to leave their computers on and ready for action. The downside is that being “always on” renders computers more susceptible. Beyond firewall protection, which is designed to fend off unwanted attacks, turning the computer off effectively severs an attacker’s connection—be it spyware or a botnet that employs your computer’s resources to reach out to other unwitting users.
FBI-SOS is a free, fun, and informative program that promotes cyber citizenship by educating students in third to eighth grades on the essentials of online security.
Safe Online Surfing - The FBI Safe Online Surfing (FBI-SOS) program is a nationwide initiative designed to educate children in grades 3 to 8 about the dangers they face on the Internet and to help prevent crimes against children.
It promotes cyber citizenship among students by engaging them in a fun, age-appropriate, competitive online program where they learn how to safely and responsibly use the Internet.
The program emphasizes the importance of cyber safety topics such as password security, smart surfing habits, and the safeguarding of personal information.
For more information, visit the Safe Online Surfing website. https://sos.fbi.gov/ Thanks to the FBI website for the content contained in this article.
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Cyber Attacks
Who Investigates For Us?
The FBI is the lead federal agency for investigating cyber attacks by criminals, overseas adversaries, and terrorists. The threat is incredibly serious—and growing. Cyber intrusions are becoming more commonplace, more dangerous, and more sophisticated.
Our nation’s critical infrastructure, including both private and public sector networks, are targeted by adversaries. American companies are targeted for trade secrets and other sensitive corporate data, and universities for their cutting-edge research and development. Citizens are targeted by fraudsters and identity thieves, and children are targeted by online predators.
Just as the FBI transformed itself to better address the terrorist threat after the 9/11 attacks, it is undertaking a similar transformation to address the pervasive and evolving cyber threat. This means enhancing the Cyber Division’s investigative capacity to sharpen its focus on intrusions into government and private computer networks.
Key Priorities - Computer and Network Intrusions
The collective impact is staggering. Billions of dollars are lost every year repairing systems hit by such attacks. Some take down vital systems, disrupting and sometimes disabling the work of hospitals, banks, and 9-1-1 services around the country.
Who is behind such attacks? It runs the gamut—from computer geeks looking for bragging rights…to businesses trying to gain an upper hand in the marketplace by hacking competitor websites, from rings of criminals wanting to steal your personal information and sell it on black markets…to spies and terrorists looking to rob our nation of vital information or launch cyber strikes.
Today, these computer intrusion cases—counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal—are the paramount priorities of our cyber program because of their potential relationship to national security.
Combating the threat. In recent years, we’ve built a whole new set of technological and investigative capabilities and partnerships—so we’re as comfortable chasing outlaws in cyberspace as we are down back alleys and across continents. That includes:
- A Cyber Division at FBI Headquarters “to address cyber crime in a coordinated and cohesive manner”;
- Specially trained cyber squads at FBI headquarters and in each of our 56 field offices, staffed with “agents and analysts who protect against investigate computer intrusions, theft of intellectual property and personal information, child pornography and exploitation, and online fraud”;
- New Cyber Action Teams that “travel around the world on a moment’s notice to assist in computer intrusion cases” and that “gather vital intelligence that helps us identify the cyber crimes that are most dangerous to our national security and to our economy;”
- Our 93 Computer Crimes Task Forces nationwide that “combine state-of-the-art technology and the resources of our federal, state, and local counterparts”;
- A growing partnership with other federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and others—which share similar concerns and resolve in combating cyber crime.
Cyber Agent - Ransomware
Hospitals, school districts, state and local governments, law enforcement agencies, small businesses, large businesses—these are just some of the entities impacted by ransomware, an insidious type of malware that encrypts, or locks, valuable digital files and demands a ransom to release them.
The inability to access the important data these kinds of organizations keep can be catastrophic in terms of the loss of sensitive or proprietary information, the disruption to regular operations, financial losses incurred to restore systems and files, and the potential harm to an organization’s reputation. Home computers are just as susceptible to ransomware and the loss of access to personal and often irreplaceable items— including family photos, videos, and other data—can be devastating for individuals as well.
In a ransomware attack, victims—upon seeing an e-mail addressed to them—will open it and may click on an attachment that appears legitimate, like an invoice or an electronic fax, but which actually contains the malicious ransomware code. Or the e-mail might contain a legitimate-looking URL, but when a victim clicks on it, they are directed to a website that infects their computer with malicious software.
One the infection is present, the malware begins encrypting files and folders on local drives, any attached drives, backup drives, and potentially other computers on the same network that the victim computer is attached to. Users and organizations are generally not aware they have been infected until they can no longer access their data or until they begin to see computer messages advising them of the attack and demands for a ransom payment in exchange for a decryption key. These messages include instructions on how to pay the ransom, usually with bitcoins because of the anonymity this virtual currency provides.
Ransomware attacks are not only proliferating, they’re becoming more sophisticated. Several years ago, ransomware was normally delivered through spam e-mails, but because e-mail systems got better at filtering out spam, cyber criminals turned to spear phishing e-mails targeting specific individuals. And in newer instances of ransomware, some cyber criminals aren’t using e-mails at all—they can bypass the need for an individual to click on a link by seeding legitimate websites with malicious code, taking advantage of unpatched software on end-user computers.
The FBI doesn’t support paying a ransom in response to a ransomware attack. Paying a ransom doesn’t guarantee an organization that it will get its data back—there have been cases where organizations never got a decryption key after having paid the ransom. Paying a ransom not only emboldens current cyber criminals to target more organizations, it also offers an incentive for other criminals to get involved in this type of illegal activity. And by paying a ransom, an organization might inadvertently be funding other illicit activity associated with criminals.
So what does the FBI recommend? As ransomware techniques and malware continue to evolve—and because it’s difficult to detect a ransomware compromise before it’s too late—organizations in particular should focus on two main areas:
Prevention efforts—both in both in terms of awareness training for employees and robust technical prevention controls; and
The creation of a solid business continuity plan in the event of a ransomware attack.
Here are some tips for dealing with ransomware (primarily aimed at organizations and their employees, but some are also applicable to individual users):
- Make sure employees are aware of ransomware and of their critical roles in protecting the organization’s data.
- Patch operating system, software, and firmware on digital devices (which may be made easier through a centralized patch management system).
- Ensure antivirus and anti-malware solutions are set to automatically update and conduct regular scans.
- Manage the use of privileged accounts—no users should be assigned administrative access unless absolutely needed, and only use administrator accounts when necessary.
- Configure access controls, including file, directory, and network share permissions appropriately. If users only need read specific information, they don’t need write-access to those files or directories.
- Disable macro scripts from office files transmitted over e-mail.
- Implement software restriction policies or other controls to prevent programs from executing from common ransomware locations (e.g., temporary folders supporting popular Internet browsers, compression/decompression programs).
- Back up data regularly and verify the integrity of those backups regularly.
- Secure your backups. Make sure they aren’t connected to the computers and networks they are backing up.
This article is reprinted directly from the FBI website for your information. https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/cyberhttps://www.fbi.gov/investigate/cyber
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Grayson County Shelter 30th Anniversary Charity Gala
Hope Lives Here
Grayson County Shelter is a non-profit homeless shelter for displaced families and singles that serves Grayson and surrounding counties in North Texas and Southern Oklahoma. All services are provided free of charge to our clients. The Grayson County Shelter is not affiliated with any government agency (local, state or federal) and relies on the goodwill donations of our community, grants, and revenue from the resale shop, "The Crowded Closet," to cover all operating expenses.
Please open your hearts in support of the services offered at the Grayson County Shelter. Your donation can be a tremendous help to give families and individuals a chance to become self-sufficient once again.
Join us for a plated dinner, dancing, silent auction, raffle, donor prizes and fun!
This very special event will be held on November 11th, 2017 from 6-9 pm at the Texoma Event Center. The address is 5015 S US 75, Denison, Tx 75020. Tickets are $25 per person, and you can even sponsor our event.
Buy a table for your company and it includes 10 tickets, or purchase one of our four sponsorship levels. Please ask your Shelter representative or call 903-465-6041 for details.
Grayson County Shelter
331 W Morton St.
Denison, TX 75020
903-465-6041
We are a 501(c)3 non-profit
Not affiliated with any government agency (Local, State, or Federal)
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Give Generously!
KXII Channel 12 News here in the North Texas region has posted information to do your part in giving for the Hurricane Harvey & Irma victims today and we are passing this on to you. Our hearts and prayers go out to everyone who has been affected by these historic storms. Unprecedented in our lifetimes, this type of damage is a reminder that loving our neighbor begins by giving to those who have lost everything.
Here is list of places accepting donations for Hurricane Harvey & Irma relief listed below. If you have questions, please contact your local Police Departments or the American Red Cross.
Cash donations
To donate cash to help contact the Red Cross directly. To donate by phone, text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief, which helps people affected by disasters such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires and tornadoes. Charges will appear on your wireless bill, or be deducted from your prepaid balance.
All purchases must be authorized by account holder. Must be 18 years of age or have parental permission to participate. Message and Data Rates May Apply. Text STOP to 90999 to STOP. Text HELP to 90999 for HELP.
Grayson County Location Drop Offs:
US Aviation Academy
5501 Airport Drive, Denison
In connection with Texas Baptist Men and the Red Cross, the school is accepting non-perishable food, toiletries, diapers, clean clothes
Ramey Chevrolet
600 E Lamberth Rd., Sherman
Ramey Chevrolet will have multiple trucks and trailers being used for donation efforts. Food, clothing, medical, water anything will help.
Master Key Ministries
209 S Heritage Pkwy.
Consider giving food and monetary donations locally to Master Key Ministries.
The North Texas Food Bank has alerted the Ministry that because they are responding to the dire needs of people in the Houston area, they will have to sharply curtail the food available to this pantry until at least mid-September. As a result, pantry supplies are running out.
Ministry directors said they expect an influx of people in the Sherman area coming from the Houston area, which could increase demand for its services.
Back Alley Custom Cycles
704 S Sam Rayburn Fwy. Sherman
Accepting donations of bottled water, clothing, shelf stable food, toilet paper, soap, shampoo.
Donation trailer is next to the shop.
Brittany Dawn Fitness Heart for Harvey Drive
Trying to fill a 15 ft. U-haul with supplies to take to the Dallas shelter next Tuesday.
Bottled water, canned vegetables, toilitries, twin blankets, twin XL shhet sets, crib sheets, new socks and under garments, baby formula & wipes, baby diapers & bottles, backpacks.
Drop off next Monday outside Sherman target 4 -8 or Nautilus 1 2-8 or donate online. online.
Wilson N. Jones Regional Medical Center
500 N Highland Ave,, Sherman
They are a drop site for cases of bottled water to be sent down to Houston. Drive through the main entrance to find the drop off location.
Drop Off Locations In Lamar County:
House of Hope, Blossom
Open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. -2 p.m. but if you can't make it during those hours we're told you may drop off your donations on the front porch as long as you label your donations for Harvey victims.
Specific items include: Baby clothes, kid's clothes, canned foods, formula, diapers, baby food, sanitary items.
Paris
You can also drop off items at Paris Ford and Rent A Center, Everett Toyota, Woodby Insurance, Cullum's Auto Parts, Jazzercise Fitness Center, Paris Glam, Roadhouse, Mike's Custom Paint and Body
Denny's and IFul accepting donations from Friday -Sunday.
Comfort Inn and Suites Paris accepting donations until Sept. 4.
RPM Staffing accepting Donations through Sept. 5.
Reno
Lifeline Worship Center
Red River County
Detroit City Hall
Bryan County
Texoma Educators Federal Credit Union and Bushwackers Land Clearing
Texoma Educators Federal Credit Union is partnering with Bushwackers Land Clearing to help provide relief for individuals and families affected by Hurricane Harvey.
Trailers will be stationed at Walmart in Durant, 3712 W Main St, taking donations beginning at 4 p.m. on Thursday, August 31.
Texoma Educators Federal Credit Union will also be accepting donations at all of their branches until 4 p.m. on Aug. 31.
Branches are located in Sherman at 506 W Lamar St., in Denison at 530 W Woodard St, and in Durant at 424 N Washington Ave.
Supplies needed at this time are: Cleaning supplies, Bleach, Dish detergent, Laundry detergent, Sponges, Mops, Brooms,Tarps, Gloves, Box cutters, Razor blades, Trash bags, Towels, Bedding and new pillows, Toiletries, Back-to-school supplies, Water, Canned goods, Baby foods and medicines, Diapers (baby and adult), Wipes.
Bryan County United Way
101 W. Main Street, Suite 1, Durant
Accepting money donations at the Bryan County United Way headquarters. All money donated will be sent to Houston.
Carter County
Carter County Courthouse Annex, Chamber of Commerce, Petit Machinery (all locations) are collecting non-perishable items, water, Gatorade and clothing to take to areas affected by Hurricane Harvey.
