Belk “Chamber Night” to Include Home Based Businesses

Belk Department Store will be hosting a new event; “Chamber Night” on Tuesday, August 11 from 5:00-9:00pm. Not only will guests at this event enjoy special discounts, but they have also included a unique opportunity for our Home Based Business Members as well. Store Manager Jeff Perry has invited any HBB Member to set up a display in their store during this event. This is a VERY unique event and the HBB Council hopes you will stop by and show your support.

The HBB Council is a relatively new program offered by the Chamber in order to better serve those businesses which do not have a store front. For more information on how to participate in this event, please call or email Mark. The deadline to reserve your spot is Wednesday, August 5. There is no cost to participate; all we ask is that you let us know in advance that you plan to be present.  This is an extremely generous offer and everyone involved is very grateful.

Calling all Retailers!

The Chamber of Commerce had had a Retail Council now for almost 12 months. This committee has already held two very successful events; a Chamber Days over the Christmas Holidays in 2008 and a Spring Chamber Days promotion this past May. If you are in the retail business and a member of the Chamber of Commerce, your ideas, experience, and help is needed to keep the momentum and to help plan the next promotion.

The Retail Council (RC) meets on the 1st Thursday of each month from 8-9:15 AM. The RC is working hard to promote and advance the retail sales in our community and can use your support. The Chamber understands that the needs of a retailer are not the same as a Home Based Business, nor are either or their needs the same as a non-profit or professional services member and so on. The leadership of the Chamber is aggressively pursuing those programs and services which continue to provide the best ROI to as many of our customers as possible.

If a committee is put into place which is targeting a particular interest, and your business can benefit from this program, by all means please help make it the best it can be by participating to whatever degree you can. At the very least, if attending a monthly meeting is not possible, we would ask that you please pass along your thoughts and suggestions to those who can attend so that your voice may be heard. For more information regarding the RC or any other committee, please call, email or stop by the CO office at your convenience.

 Upcoming Events

DAVID HAYES APPOINTED BY GOVERNOR 

David Hayes of Mt. Juliet has been appointed by Governor Phil Bredesen to serve on the State Workforce Development Board, announced District 57 State Representative Susan Lynn (R-Lebanon) on July 29, 2009. Hayes was recommended for the position by Lynn who stated, “I have great confidence that David will do an excellent job for Tennessee, and that his service on this important commission will make our community proud.”

The State Workforce Development Board coordinates, consolidates and improves employment, training, literacy and vocational rehabilitation programs and assists in the development of the state’s plan to increase the employment, retention and earnings of program participants, increase occupational skill attainment by program participants and, as a result, improve the quality of the workforce, reduce welfare dependency, and enhance Tennessee’s productivity and competitiveness.

“I believe it is very important for private citizens to serve their community, their state, and their country.  I look forward to this opportunity” said David Hayes. 

The board consists of 36 members appointed by the governor in conformation with the membership requirements of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998.  Hayes is among 14 new appointees to the Board.

“I appreciate the willingness of these Tennesseans to serve the state through its boards and commissions,” said Bredesen. “I am confident they have the skills, experience and knowledge necessary to become valuable members of their respective boards and commissions. Tennessee is fortunate to have citizens willing to serve the state in this capacity.”

Hayes will serve a term of four.  Other appointment terms vary based on statutory recommendations or term limits specified by geographic or other qualifications.

2009 Ambassadors

Ambassador Spotlight: Tori Goddard - Office Manager, Goddard Construction Co., LLC

 New Investors

Mt. Juliet Animal Control Facility
115 Industrial Drive
773-5533
Sgt. Keith Youmans - Supervisor

The Mt. Juliet Police Department Animal Control Division employs four civilian animal control officers and has many helpful volunteers. They are responsible for investigating animal cruelty cases, reports of rabid animals, and animal bites. The animal control officers enforce the leash law and other city ordinances regulating dogs, cats and other animals. The new 4577 square foot, state of the art animal control facility includes 32 kennels and over 30 cages. The facility can house approximately 100 animals. At the facility there are animal viewing rooms, pet familiarization rooms, on-site grooming facility, on-site clinic, animal quarantine rooms, air conditioned/heated kennel area, 1,000 square foot outside dog run, secure sally port for unloading animals, stainless-steel cages, epoxy-coated blocked walls & floors, floor drains throughout, Fresh-Air-High-Efficiency Heat and Air Conditioning, and a EPA approved Incineration Facility.

For pets available for adoption, click here.

Mt. Juliet Police Unveil New Tip Lines

The Mt. Juliet Police Department has just created two new phone numbers for citizens to leave tips or information on crimes, drugs, or anything else that might be of interest to the police. The following numbers will be answered by voicemail, and citizens can remain completely anonymous if they wish. Call 754-TIPS (8477) for general information on crimes already committed (or crimes in planning) that you have information on. Call 773-DOPE (3673) for illegal drug related information.

NOTE: You can also use the CrimeStoppers Action Line form on the City of Mt. Juliet website homepage to anonymously report crime issues to the police department.

 Chairman's Chat

YOU ARE THE GREATEST!

Like most red blooded American boys, I spent a great deal of my youth at the ballpark, on a football field or on the hardwood.  I loved it.  I spent a lot of time in the class room looking out the window, day dreaming about making that next great catch or hitting a homerun.  Suffice it to say, I would salivate at the opportunity to play year round “travel” sports like a lot of kids play today. Sign me up!  


read more

Visit InsideOut Construction Co., Inc.

The Journey is the Reward

Be sure to join us for our Women in Business Luncheon on Tuesday, September 1 @ Victory Baptist Church from 11:15am-12:30pm. Our Guest Speaker is Amanda Butler (a MJHS graduate), head coach of the Florida Gator's Women's Basketball team.  

REINVESTORS

A Savory Table Personal Chef Service
Church Alive
F&M Bank
Hermitage Family & Cosmetic Dentistry
HiLites Salon
Mt. Juliet Family Care & WalkIn Clinic
Sellars Funeral Home @ Mt. Juliet
Village Veterinary Hospital, LLC

Blogs from Coffee Talk - CRM Technology

I've had several requests to tackle the topic of CRM Technology. While I know my way around most CRM systems and am happy to compare software applications, I would do my constituents a grave disservice if I didn't first encourage you to leave the software to the side and first, develop your CRM strategy.

How does one develop a CRM strategy?
It starts with your business philosophy - are your customers the most important part of your business? Do you value your existing customers more or less as much as you value the salespeople who find new customers for you? No one has ever asked you that question have they? Consider for a moment - how much do you pay a salesperson to find you a new customer/client? How much do you reward a customer/client when they bring you a referral? A little lopsided isn't it...While I'm not advocating that you pay your customers/clients a salesperson's commission for referrals, demonstrating appreciation is the key to motivating the behavior. Rewarding them in some manner is critical or they won't continue to refer you. Personal thank you's, gifts, discounts on future purchases, recognition of their business to your network of contacts - all of these are potential ways to demonstrate appreciation.

Now that you have your philosophy defined, it's time to look at your customers/clients and profile them. What are the demographics of your customer-base? How do they buy from you, online, person-to-person or mail order? At what intervals do they buy? Do you see trends like "those who buy service A tend to also be interested in buying product Z"? How do they pay - quickly/slowly, cash/credit? What does this information tell you? It's the basis for your retention strategy. Once you know who your customers are, why, how and at what interval they buy from you, you are in a better position to motivate loyalty. It also helps define the "best customer profile" which can be used by your sales team to drive better business into your business.

Now it's time to define your business rules. What is the overall plan to motivating retention, increased spending and longevity with your customer/client-base? It starts at the moment the order is "sold" - and it doesn't matter if you are selling t-shirts to teenagers, or software implementations to Fortune 100 companies - the retention strategy begins at the time the sale is made. So, what is step 1, step 2, step 3, and so on? What will you say and how will you deliver the message? How soon after step 1 does step 2 occur? What will you say and how will you deliver the message? At what point do you try to upsell or cross-sell and what does that "offer" look like? At what point will you ask for a referral, how do you do it and what is the reward?

Just like a salesperson requires a framework or sales model to be successful (cold call, set the appt, deliver a presentation, follow up with a phone call, answer questions, negotiate, close), your marketing department needs a model to execute as well. One successful model that I continue to use is 3/30/30 - Make 3 contacts with a new customers in the first 30 days and every 30 days thereafter for the first year. You will see a 78% higher likelihood of retaining that customer/client for life. I've seen businesses increase their retention rate by as much at 5-10% which can equate to millions of dollars each year in some industries. How much more revenue would 5% or 10% mean to your business?

One in particular comes to mind - I used to work for a Top Ten newspaper in the late 90's. We had a circulation of more than 300,000 Sunday subscribers. We implemented a Retention Strategy to improve our subscriber retention rate. The strategy consisted of intelligently placed and carefully crafted messages through the first year of a new subscriber's tenure with us - 3 contacts within the first 30 days and every 30 days thereafter. Within the first year, we moved the retention percentage 2 points - which equated to $800,000 in added revenue. In the second year, we increased another 2 points adding $1.2 million in revenue. By the third year, we were driving $1.5 million in added revenue into the organization and held our retention rate at 69%, which was quite high for the industry at that period in time.

Whether you are a multi-million business or a one-man shop - you will be rewarded for implementing a CRM strategy, whether you implement CRM technology or not. Obviously, the more customers/clients you have, the more efficiently you will work if you have technology in place to help you execute.

Stay tuned... next month, I will compare a few CRM tools accessible for small and middle markets.

Get an extra bang for your buck with Newsletter AND web site ads!

When you purchase an ad in our Networking News newsletter, you now get the added bonus of placing the same ad on the Chamber website FREE of charge! The web ads will run for 30 days. The charge for a newsletter ad and a FREE web ad is $75. For more info, contact Anita at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 758-3478.

Chamber Ribbon Cuttings 

Divine Boutique



Berkshire Ridge Community