Telephone Tools

This post is devoted entirely to reducing telephone costs.

Magic Jack
This tool is a real cost reducer.It allows you to plug the magicJack into your PC using a USB port and then you can plug your telephone wire into the Magic Jack and make unlimited calls for free to anywhere to the USA or Canada.So you could be in the USA or anywhere else in the WORLD and log on to the Internet using Wireless network or any other Internet connection and then start making telephone calls to land lines or cell phones in the USA or Canada.You could also run the wire out from your magicJack to the line into your home or office and all the phones would be able to make calls immediately.The magicJack costs around $40 USD for the unit and then $20 USD each year thereafter. You can find more information at MagicJack.com

Skype
By now, everyone should be familiar with Skype available from http://www.skype.com/
I have tested it and it shows video from a web cam much faster than Yahoo Messenger and, presumably, other IM sites. No stuttering of the video frames and great FREE talking over the Internet with a microphone, either built-in or a plug-in.

netTalk TK6000
This tool is an even better cost reducer.This device does not require a PC. You simply plug this into the back or your cable modem or or other Internet router and them plug your phone line into the TK6000 and immediately make phone calls to anywhere in the USA or Canada for free. You can also receive calls from anywhere in the US or Canada since netTalk will give you a phone number to use so you can be called.You could also run the wire out from your TK6000 to the line into your home or office and all the phones would be able to make calls immediately.The TK6000 costs a one-time $100 USD for then all calls are free for life. And there is no need to have a PC running to use it. You can find more information at netTalk.com

Phone Number Parking
There are a number of Internet services where you can "Park" you phone number so you do not lose it or so you can forward calls to the number to another phone number such as you cell phone.These services do NOT charge the high monthly fees that ATT or other phone line services charge.Among these services are: NumberGarage.com and ParkMyPhone.com

Creating Continual Value for Your Clients(From Neil Rackham, founder of Huthwaite)

Want to increase market share? Want to increase revenue per account? Want to build referrals? Of course: what organization wouldn’t? Building a strategic and tactical plan to retain and grow your existing clients will do all three. Building one plan, to fit all your clients, will do none.
Are your client retention activities carefully segmented by both profitability and buyer type? In his ground breaking research, Creating Real Value for Customers Neil Rackham, Huthwaite’s founder, argued that there are three core buyer types:
1. Intrinsic value buyers: the value is intrinsic to the product alone, they already understand what they are buying and how to use it, the sales force adds nothing. One of the most well known intrinsic value buyers is Wal-Mart. These are called "Transactional" customers.
2. Extrinsic value buyers: the value is not so much in the product, but chiefly in how it is used. These customers put a premium on help and advice. These are called "Consultative" customers.
3. Strategic value buyers: they demand an extraordinary level of value offering, the product or advise is insufficient, they are looking to leverage all of their partner’s core competencies and will transform their own organization and strategies to make the most of their strategic value relationship. These are called "Enterprise" customers.
The successful sales organization will sell to each buyer type differently, creating real value in the sales process itself. The successful whole organization, will manage the on-going client relationship to each buyer type differently, thereby creating continual value for its clients.
Think of your single most profitable intrinsic value client. Now think of your single most profitable strategic value client. These are your two extremes. Given that the value they purchased was dramatically different, it is highly probable that what they will continue to value, will be dramatically different. Therefore, if your client retention activities look the same for both these clients, you have a fundamental problem. They do not value the same things.
For example, offering on-going nuggets of advise to an intrinsic value buyer is more likely to build irritation then retention. In the same way, sending weekly product schematics with no explanation or support to an extrinsic buyer suggests that you do not understand them as a client.
Continual is the key. After all, what they value is not a surprise. You know the value that you sold and that they bought. You know their needs and their perceptions. Now, you just have to embed them throughout every touch point in your organization. Client focus by buyer type needs to become habitual.