What percentage of influence do my words have on people?

There are many factors that influence our interaction with other people. Here are the three primary drivers:

1) Words
2) Voice tone, quality and pacing
3) Facial expressions and body language

We interact with people all day long every day in business. So which one of these is more important than the other? It’s a great question with some answers that might surprise you.

Let’s say you tell someone they’re doing a good job….now that’s a pretty good one to make someone feel good. How much influence do you think you have on them with those words? 90%, 60, 50?

How about if you tell them they’re doing a good job and your voice emphasizes the “good job” part, what percent do you think that will affect them? 50%, 75, 100?

Now how about if you smile, shake their hand and tell them they’re doing a good job, what percent do you think that will affect them? 100%, 90, 10%?

There have been all kinds of studies about this kind of thing and here is how our ability to influence people breaks down in the three primary areas:

1) Words 7%
2) Voice tone & Quality 38%
3) Facial expressions and Body Language 55%

Words don’t mean as much as we think without a good tone in our voice and some good facial expressions to go along with it! Keep in mind your facial expressions and body language should still be in “full force” and working even when you’re on the phone.

Make it happen!


© 2010 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

Is changing your website Killing you?

We get lots of calls from people who are absolutely frustrated with the company they bought their website from. They purchase a website from a website building company and then they pull out their hair trying to make changes to the site. That’s because most website builders are not business people or content creators...they are website builders. They don’t know what a small business person goes through and how frustrating it can be trying to make changes to a website or get customer service on a website you bought.

That’s why we make all of our websites at eMarketing 4 Business with the small business owner in mind. We know they will want to make changes to their website every now and then and we have an easy to use interface and tool so they can make changes. But if the small business owner needs our help we will make the changes for them.

We are here for the small business owner, we answer our phones and best of all, we get you results!

Call us to find out how we can get you your own website or how we can help you with your current website. Please call Vince at: 262.513.5220 for a free consultation.


© 2010 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

How come getting new business isn’t as clear to me as getting a new car?

When you decide to get a new car your emotions get involved. We start focusing on the car we want and we can see the shiny paint color, smell the leather, and hear the roar of the engine. Basically, we see ourselves driving it and emotionally we begin to crave this product. Very quickly, our minds become trained to notice these cars more often and soon we begin to see the same car everywhere!

Funny thing is, there aren’t any more of these cars on the road now then when they first peaked your interest. Your brain has just started to “pay more attention” now. This is human nature; the more thought and emotion you put behind something, the more your brain figures you want it, so it starts picking out and noticing those kinds of things.

Think about your business, do you put this much energy and emotion into getting new customers? If not, that may be why you’re not getting as many as you would like. Start projecting out all the benefits and enjoyment you will have by adding new customers to your business. Think about how happy those new customers will be enjoying your products or services and the positive experience they will receive working with you or someone else on your team. Do you find it hard to get emotional about this? If so, you’ve found your answer: lack of passion.

Time to re-invigorate and remind yourself about all the reasons you went into business for yourself in the first place! All those same emotions and passion need to resurface so your brain can once again get excited about it. Remember, you get what you focus on, so focus on the right things! Make it happen!

© 2010 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

What are the top 3 financial questions you must be able to answer about your company?

1) Are you making money?

In many new businesses, the owner is putting so many of the companies expenses on credit cards that answering this question is more difficult than just looking at the business check book balance. They never spend the time to create a profit and loss statement to figure out if they are REALLY making money! Whether you are or not, the profit and loss statement should give ideas of where to focus your time. That may mean watching expenses or increasing sales of more profitable items.

2) How much does a new sale cost you?

I am always surprised at how many business owners can not answer this question. To get the answer, you need to add up all of your expenses associated with a sale. Many people want to just include the price of the lead, but don’t forget to include items such as: costs of leads that didn’t close, other advertising you do, salaries/commissions for sales staff, cost of item sold (product or service). It is best to know these costs per product/service line. This helps you know if the selling expenses associated with a particular product/service is eating up all your profit margins for that product/service.

3) What is the future value, in terms of revenue, of each of your customers?

This means how much business can you plan on getting from each of your new customers in the future? If you have consumable products, how often can you expect each customer to reorder? If you provide a service, when can you expect to do more work for each customer? Knowing the amount and frequency of repeat business allows you to better plan your company’s growth with each new customer won!

Having the answers to each of these questions will help keep you on top of the financial well being of your company.

© 2009 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

How fast should I return phone calls and emails?

As soon as you can. By getting in the habit of returning your phone calls and emails as soon as practical, you will get more things done and less things will fall in the cracks. For sure there are times when you need to do some research, think about things before you do it or commit to it but in general you want to respond sooner rather than later. I know people who like to wait several hours or a day before returning emails.

Keep in mind you are setting an expectation with the people you communicate with that it is okay to wait half a day or a full day before responding to any communication from YOU. Treat others as you would like to be treated. Be careful what message you are sending to people with the way you return calls and emails.

When in doubt, always respond as soon as possible.

© 2009 eMarketing 4 Business LLC