How to Prepare for Gift Wrapping

If you're planning to begin offering a gift wrapping option at your store for the holiday season, you'll need to do several things to get prepared. Even the quietest shops can become a madhouse when Christmas is around the corner. While customers appreciate free gift wrapping services, a big advantage can turn sour if you aren't ready for the influx. One of the most important things to have in place is a good retail store supply. This is where you'll get the materials you need to make your gift wrapping a success. Next, you'll need to train your employees in the art of fast, attractive wrapping. Finally, you'll need to get the word out.

Retail Store Supply 

Before you can begin providing gift wrap options for your customers, you'll need a good retail store supply company from whom you can purchase the ribbons, wrapping paper, and boxes for your endeavor. If you look around, you'll be able to find companies that provide these materials at a wholesale price, which is exactly what you want. It is already going to be a monetary loss to provide these services for free. While it can be beneficial from a goodwill standpoint (and can even potentially draw customers into the store), you can afford to spend unlimited amounts of money on the project. Look for a company that can give you good prices on your materials.

Training Employees 

For the gift-wrapping table, you will either need to hire seasonal employees or have some of your existing employees provide the service. If you run a busy shop, you'll need people dedicated only to working the table. In slower shops, you may be able to simply have the clerk gift wrap purchases as requested by the customer. Either way, they will need to know what they're doing. The important thing here is to have uniformity. If hiring employees, make giftwrapping skill a condition of hire. If not, take one evening and ensure anyone who will be working the table knows what they are doing.

Advertising 

If you're going to provide a special, free service like gift wrapping, you want customers to know about it. Not only should there be signs in the shop guiding people to the gift wrapping table, but you should go out of your way to advertise the service. Mention it within your regular advertising schedule, put a sign out front, and do anything else you can to get the word out. You don't want to spend a fortune on retail store supply and seasonal hires only to have no one use the service.

Looking into retail store supply companies is a good idea. Let http://www.citypapercompany.com help you with your branded paper needs.

Spot Quality Customer Service

Customer service is inherent in any business. I can't imagine a company reaping success without offering customer care as a guaranteed service before and after sales.

In fact, I tend to believe that the "Contact Us" section of any business website is an open invitation for clients to avail of customer service. It is the client's gateway to gain support or bring to attention any issues concerning the products or services that were availed from the company.

While every business would claim that they have the best service or product, not every could be considered giving out quality customer service. It is a must to find out how company provides care to its customer before and after the sale.

Do you know how to spot quality customer service? Here are some tell-tale signs of a company that offers the kind of service that you deserve.

Does the company consider customer care part of their corporate culture?

It is good to find out before spending your well-earned dime buying their products or services. You can easily perceive this through how they provide support to their patrons. They consider it their expression of good business sense.

Does the company give ear to feedbacks?

A company that desires to be globally competitive has an updated open communication system with the end users. Also, what you have to say about their products and other offers matter to them.

Take note that you will know they are listening to your feedbacks if you could easily find venues where you can share your comments, suggestions or any issues you would want to mention.

Does the company use information technology to improve customer relation?

A company makes itself available to its constituents in many ways. With the onset of modern information technology and internet, services shall be innovative to enhance its customer reach.

Know whether the company integrates IT help desks, feedback form, and social media in interacting with customers. Try to use their toll-free numbers and talk to their customer sales representatives to have first hand customer service experience and basis for evaluation.

Does the company reply promptly to concerns and inquiries?

Quality customer care means giving premium to response time for concerns and inquiries. Know how they respond to clients through social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

Better still, get in touch with them yourself and find out how fast and systematic they respond to you. Call their support centers to get the feel how their customer service representative deal with your concern. Evaluate how fast and systematic they respond to you.

Well, I hope that knowing the answers to the qualifying questions above has given you ideas on the kind of customer service a company has. Take note that a globally competitive company understands the importance of information technology in providing solutions to basic business processes, especially, quality customer service.

Jonan is a freelance writer, researcher, editor, ghostwriter, PR writer who has the passion to write about any topic. He currently writes about business software solutions in the aspect of customer service, feedback form, and IT help desk.

Customer service, feedback form, and IT help desk are parts of One Desk, a unified suite of social product development applications that supports collaboration between customers, business partners and employees.

Cara Paling Mudah dan Murah Berbisnis Online

Halo teman-teman, kali ini saya akan berbagi saran dan pendapat dengan teman-teman sekalian mengenai cara paling mudah dan murah untuk "Berbisnis Online". Sekarang ini, kebanyakan orang lebih cenderung untuk mencari pekerjaan yang lebih mudah, praktis, dan tidak melelahkan tapi hasilnya besar, serta memilih meninggalkan atau menghindari pekerjaan yang cenderung menghabiskan tenaga, melelahkan, ribet, dan hasil yang kecil pula. Salah satu yang menjadi alternatif kebanyakan orang pada masa sekarang ini adalah dengan memulai berbisnis online.

Banyak kita jumpai layanan penyedia bisnis online dengan berbagai cara untuk memulai bisnisnya. Tapi, kebanyakan dari layanan tersebut kurang praktis dan cenderung ribet karena biasanya pengguna internet yang ingin mendaftar harus mempunyai beberapa syarat mutlak, di antaranya seperti di bawah ini :

1. Harus benar-benar memahami seluk beluk dunia maya (Padahal kebanyakan orang yang ingin memulai bisnis ini adalah orang "biasa" dalam dunia maya)

2. Harus mempunyai kartu kredit (Padahal kebanyakan orang yang ingin memulai bisnis ini tidak mempunyai kartu kredit dikarenakan persyaratan untuk mempunyai penghasilan di atas 3 juta jika ingin memiliki kartu kredit)

3. Biasanya harus berusia 18 tahun keatas (Padahal, banyak anak-anak muda di bawah 18 tahun yang ingin mencari pengalaman dengan mencoba untuk berbisnis online)

4. Biaya pendaftaran, persyaratan, dsb yang tidak murah (Inilah yang banyak dikeluhkan oleh para calon pebisnis di internet)

Jujur saja, sebenarnya, beberapa syarat di atasi tulah yang juga menghalangi dan mambuat saya untuk menguurungkan niat setiap saya ingin memulai berbisnis secara online.

Tapi, karena saya sudah terlanjur terobsesi untuk menjadi seorang bisnisman, saya tidak menyerah sampai disitu saja. Dan akhirnya, saat saya iseng-iseng membuka website yang bermodus bisnis online, saya sangat senang sekali karena telah menemukan bisnis online yang bisa saya jalankan dengan sangat praktis dan persyaratan yang nggak muluk-muluk. Bayangkan saja, untuk memulai bisnis online hanya membutuhkan modal Rp. 50.000,- . Tak Cuma itu saja, syarat untuk bisa memulai bisnis online yang satu ini juga sangat mudah, karena syarat utamanya hanyalah :

1.     Bisa Mengetik

2.     Bisa Mengakses Internet

Tentu saja, dengan syarat semudah itu siapapun pasti memenuhi syarat termasuk saya. Yang lebih menakjubkannya dari bisnis online yang saya cerita kan ini, bisnis ini tidak perlu waktu online yang banyak, bahkan anda cukup online sesempatnya saja. Tidak harus mempunyai koneksi internet sendiri di rumah. Serta 99 % pekerjaan dari bisnis ini dilakukan oleh marketer online.

Jadi, buattemen-temen yang berminat untuk memulai bisnis online dengan modal yang paling sedikit dan pekerjaan yang paling praktis, saya sarankan untuk membuka link ini : http://raihimpianmu.com/ Selamat Berbisnis Online dan salam SUKSES !

Making "Better" Business

At some level of the process, every company is involved in sales. You may be the head of a major manufacturing plant, but if no one is buying your manufactured products at some point in the chain, you don't have a business any longer. The name of the game in business is to maximize profits. Some believe that American corporations have taken this to an extreme, but that doesn't mean that making a profit is inherently wrong. Without that central component, no companies would exist. If you want new and exciting methods to improve your company's efficiency, Lean certification for your management and employees may be just the ticket.

Improve Cash Flow

One of the central components of having a successful business is to ensure the company has strong organizational cash flow. This is part of the primary focus of Lean certification and the Six Sigma program in general. When cash is tied up in ways that is can't be used, projects meet delays and employees may not get the funds they need to move forward. This is the death knell for any company that is trying to grow.

Improving Profit Margins

Whether you sell products that cost under a hundred dollars or over a million, the most important thing to your company is making sure you have a healthy profit margin. While loss leaders have a place in a successful company, the bulk of your product needs to be sold in a way that makes money. Lean certification provides the tools and organizational skills necessary to know how to price your products in a way that maximizes this profit without driving you out of competition.

Decrease Costs

If you want to improve the books at the end of the day, you have two choices. You can raise revenue or you can cut expenses. In a best case scenario, you do both. This allows you to sidestep the tricky business of raising prices (which can sometimes drive away customers) and slashing workforce or salaries, which can have a negative effect on morale. Decreasing costs is an art, and it should be one that every manager is adept in. Lean certification enables those who go through the course to learn the best principles behind cutting costs and maximizing revenue simultaneously.

Improving Customer Satisfaction

If you're in a company that sells the same basic product as your competition, you need something to set you apart. Undercutting price only works for so long before something has to give. What you need is a way to increase customer satisfaction. What Lean certification gives you is the tools to do just that.

Find a lean certification Alabama center to give your career a boost. Learn more at http://atn.org

The Best Ways for Capital Raising

Capital raising is essential to meet the expenses of setting up and running a small business, but it is not easy. The lack of sufficient funds has caused many small companies to fail miserably. Money is required for everything including property, equipment and other basics for a small business. You may be looking for the solid ways for funding so that your small company can start as soon as possible.

There are two main sources of funding you are seeking for your low level company: equity investment and debt financing. Below are given different ways of capital raising for a small business including debt financing and equity investment. You need to consider each option individually and decide which one is right for your type of small company.

Effective ways For Capital Raising

1. Accumulate your own cash - While starting your business, you may not have sufficient money to meet the start up costs. However, you should use the money accumulated for starting your small company. Banks or lending institutions are skeptic about the industrialists who don't make investment in their own businesses. When you don't invest, some of them can even refuse to grant you a business loan.

2. Applying for a business loan - Most of the entrepreneurs like to go this route while trying for capital raising to meet the small business expenditure. Before applying a business loan you should have a clear idea about the factors that are associated with small company loans like late charges, interest rates, and collateral. You can also approach local community banks as they are always a great place to find a small business loan.

3. Make a business partnership for capital raising - Another method of raising funds for small business expenditure is to make a business partner who is willing to invest in your new business. Try to impress the person with a nice presentation and maintain a persuasive approach to make him/her join your business fast.

4. Go for business incorporation - Most of the savviest entrepreneurs want to incorporate their businesses for saving money on taxes, securing their personal assets with limited liability option, and establishing reliability with customers, employees and vendors. Through incorporation you can run your business as a sole proprietorship, C corporation or an LLC and sell the company shares instead of your personal assets to meet the debts and/or liabilities of your business. This is how, it serves in capital raising to some extent.

5. Look for opportunities in small company investment companies - These are mainly venture capitalists that are targeted for establishing small companies. They have government partnership and give small business owners good opportunities for capital raising in return for a percentage of business ownership.

6. Find an angel investor - Angel investors can also help you to raise capital for small business expenditure. They are just private investors who want to invest in your business with a hope and belief that they will get a significant return on the investment in a limited time period.

7. Consider invoice factoring - Invoice factoring helps small companies with an immediate flow of working capital. As compared to traditional financing, it is a better alternative for business financing. It involves the selling of outstanding invoices or credit card receipts to any invoice factoring firm for getting an immediate cash flow.

Buying a Safe

1. Determine if the safe(s) will be used for business or residential use. Many businesses will use a depository or "drop safe" to quickly secure cash and prevent employee theft and burglary. High-security safes are used most often against home invasion, providing resistance to fire as well.

2. Consider the risk factors such as burglary, fire, moisture, theft, or safety. Having a safe is a type of insurance, often required by insurance companies who cover businesses who handle very valuable items. Knowing what will be inside, will help you find the right type of safe to use.

3. Know what rating of safe will be needed and how they are specifically constructed. The most common ratings are B, C, E, or UL tested/certified. There are many resources online you will be able to find more specific information on this. The best way to be sure is to call the company and ask a sales rep if you aren't completely sure.

4. Measure the location the safe will be installed, which type of safe will fit, and how it will be moved to that space. There are under counter safes, wall safes, and floor safes to think about. If space is an issue or concern, one of these types of safes might be a good idea to consider. A quality safe will be much heavier than a cheap safe and will be need special care when it is being moved.

5. If you have certain needs such as convenience, or a time-delay, make sure the types of lock and keypad combinations are available to accommodate them. Many have the ability to enable multiple users, and access times/days, and limit when the safe can be operated.

6. Make sure the safe has a re-locker, steel construction, and steel bolt-work. When the re-lockers are triggered, the safe remains locked and would require hours of drilling in-case of an attack.

7. Many safes are not constructed with solid steel, and some even have materials inside the walls of the safe that are designed to prevent moisture, or dissipate heat, finding out the different types of materials used will help you make an informed decision.

7. Research the internet, call the manufacturers, and know your specific needs to determine the right safe. For the right type of protection there are many factors to consider, luckily there are many types of safes and options.

For custom-designed Depository Safes or High-Security Safes visit the manufacturer www.bluedotsafes.com to find out more about safes made in the USA, and a factory that can make or service your safe.

How To Make " The Special" Green Tea

Green tea is a beverage made by steeping green tea leaves in hot or warm water. It is drunk recreationally, to maintain alertness or for health benefits.
It contains caffeine, plus other phytochemicals like flavonoids, polyphenols and catechins that are considered by some to provide many health benefits.
It also contains caffeine - a stimulant. A single cup of green tea contains less than your average cup of drip coffee.
Making Green Tea
Preparing an excellent brew requires following certain rules. In fact, some of these rules have been observed for thousands of years and are deeply ingrained in tradition of tea cultures in many regions around the world.
Using the Correct Tea Hardware
Traditional preparation of green tea calls for certain accessories. Both for aesthetics and practical purposes.
Gaiwan - a large bowl with flared edges. It is used to contain the water and tea leaves, used for infusing. It has a lid and saucer; the lid is used to block the leaves while drinking the tea straight from the Gaiwan. The best ones are made from Yixing clay or jade.
Teapots - traditionally made from porcelain or clay, also used for steeping the tea. Teapot is never used for boiling water for tea or boiling water with tea.
Cup - green tea can be taken from the cup, filled from the Gaiwan. There are many styles of tea cups, but the best ones are made from glazed porcelain to retain heat.
Today, traditional hardware is mostly replaced with modern accessories like tea balls, strainers, tea bags and smart tea makers. So, use the best option you have available.
Use The Best Water
Water quality is very important for your beverage. When possible, use spring water, not distilled water. The water you use dramatically influences the taste and the aroma of your tea.
Water Temperature
Use water heated to 180 degrees F (80 degrees C). This is cooler than full boiling point. You can usually tell visually: when little bubble appear on the surface of the water you're in the right ballpark.
Be sure to boil your water in a non-reactive pot. Ideally something made of glass or stainless steel.
Quantity Per Cup
The measurement for a perfect cup of is beautifully simple to remember: Use 1 Teaspoon (5 grams) per drinking cup of tea.
Steeping
You should allow it to steep for two or three minutes. Any longer and you're likely to end up with a bitter cup.
Enjoy
Remove the tea from the water and allow it to settle for a minute or two and enjoy your perfect cup of green tea.

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Choosing A New Place To Eat

In choosing a new place to eat you should consider a number of factors before making your choice. Eating out is expensive and none of us have bottom less pockets to fund making mistakes. So prior to creating a short list of two or three to contact before making your decision review the following points, taking into consideration the needs of your guests and yourself.
Point 1. Are there any special dietary needs?
If you are eating with someone for the first time it is unlikely that you will know all of, or any, of their dietary needs. Are they vegetarian, vegan, fruit eaters, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Rastafarian, Sikh? Do they need food free of dairy products or gluten, low salt or fat, without nuts and suitable for diabetes sufferers?
Point 2. What is the location for the new eating place?
Are you looking for somewhere new that is close by, in the country or the city centre? How do you intend to travel to and from the venue? Is there public transport, or satisfactory parking facilities?
Point 3. How much do you in tend to spend?
If you are so lucky the meal might be funded out of and expenses claim, but they have limits and it is likely that your boss will not pay for a top priced meal because you did not realise that the eating place was three star Michelin. Set a budget.
Point 4. Do you want to reserve a table?
Check that it is possible to make a reservation, and if there are any restrictions and limitations depending upon the number in your party. Do they expect some form of payment in advance, how is the booking confirmed by both you and them, by email? What are their cancellation terms both in terms of time and costs?
Point 5. Check the menu and drinks lists.
It is pointless ending up at a burger outlet if you want a romantic meal, and likewise sitting in a candlelit booth if you are with the bank manager. Although the latter might be a good idea if you are desperate for some financing! Does the menu change regularly or is it constant? Both of these options might be important for differing reasons such as, you like change or you want to rely on a particular item being available.
Point 6. Consider the sources of information to help you decide.
Friends, family or work associates might offer recommendations based upon experiences, good or bad. Search the Internet using your key words, however be aware that a Website will be set up by the organisation, so totally impartiality will not exist. Do not take too much notice of any "Independent Testimonials", since probably the last thing that they will be is independent - the good ones could be set up by the proprietor and the bad ones people looking for a freebie. Review the food guides published by organisations with professional food inspectors, and are not reliant on comments from the public. Take note that in a year may eating places change ownership and style, so the guide might be out of date before it reaches the book store. Try to visit the premises to see if they are clean and look good and importantly have some customers.
Assuming that you now have details of your requirements and have short listed two or three eating places. Ring the outlets to check the response. How quickly is the phone answered, is the response polite, are all of your questions answered, do the staff appear to be knowledgeable. Complete the exercise with all the short listed outlets and make your decision. After the effort you will have put in, I hope that the new eating place lives up to your expectations.

About the author: Henry Lord is a fanatical enthusiast and lover of all things seafood. He has been a professional chef for nearly twenty five years, so has experienced many traditional and innovative ways to cook and present food. He is also keen to promote seafood as a healthy source of our daily eating needs. The website http://www.cookingseafoodathome.com is written by him. It provides lots of tips on all aspects to helping you put a great seafood meal in front of your family or friends. Additionally if you visit the website now and enter your name and email address, you will receive for FREE the e Booklet on "Home Curing Of Fish". Other FREE e Booklets will follow each month.