The following is a re-post of a blog by my buddy, Ron Silver of  Solution Focused Selling (SFS). I have been through Ron’s two-day boot camp on SFS and I got to tell you, it’s good stuff; it works! I use his approach daily as I meet new business people in person or via the phone. I thought our readers might enjoy reading Ron’s excellent blog post on how to make calling suspects both enjoyable and successful.

And now, Cold Calling = Dialing for Dollars…

B2B cold calling fails because most people sound like they are making a cold call.

“Cold Calling” implies something less than “warm” and pleasant. I prefer to think of it as “Dialing for Dollars”. “Dollars” is a more positive mental image than anything that is “cold”!

When dialing for dollars, most people are trying to “get” something from someone. They are trying to “get” an appointment or “get” an order. No one wants to “give” something to someone they do not know, like, trust and respect. This is why most salespeople fail miserably at this process.

But “Getting” is not the purpose of dialing for dollars.

Dialing for dollars is a “discarding” or “disqualifying” process. It is just like panning for gold or digging for diamonds. You have to turn over a lot of dirt before you find the gems. If you do not understand this principle, then you will become frustrated and think that your efforts are not working. Your objective in dialing for dollars is to “disqualify” as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. That eliminates the time, money wasted sending literature to people who will never buy, and it stops the fruitless “follow-up” calls that lead nowhere but to frustration.

You only have 30-45 seconds to deliver a specific and compelling reason for the person on the other end to “want” to continue the conversation. Skip the small talk and get right to the point.

You will be most effective when your 30-45 seconds causes the prospect to identify a problem in their business that you can help them fix. People will talk to you if you illuminate a problem they need to have fixed. Problems in business typically focus around loss of money, wasted time, inefficiencies in business processes or equipment, loss of market share, etc.

If the prospect (not you) identifies something that is having negative ramifications on their business (a problem) AND they are serious about getting rid of that problem, then you “may” have a possible reason to continue.

If there is a possible fit, then you can set an appointment to explore the possibilities of helping that prospect in some way get rid of that problem.

A few essentials:

* Tell them your name and company
* Ask permission for 45 seconds and tell them they can end the conversation after that if they want to.
* Get right to the point
* Help them identify their business problems by offering a short [menu of possibilities]
* Never try to convince a prospect; instead let them convince you it is worth your time and effort to meet with them.
* Honor your agreement and let them off the hook if they do not want to engage,

Here’s an example:

Rick, this is Josh Snider from Ace Delivery. May I take 45 seconds to tell you why I am calling and then you can tell me if we should continue speaking? I work with owners of small manufacturing companies that from time to time are frustrated because their customers do not get their shipments on time as promised, even though you completed the job on time. They are concerned about retaining their customers in the face of more competition and they are looking for ways to increase the reliability and consistency of product delivery. Rick, are any of the things I mentioned issues for you or is everything running 100% smoothly?”

In less than 45 seconds you will know if you have someone on the line who you can help or not. If they do not have any problems that you can fix, then it’s over (for now). Remember, they may not have a problem today, but they may have it in the future.

If you make dialing for dollars, a scheduled event in your calendar and you do it with consistency you will be amazed how much new business you will dig up.

The best thing about “cold calling” is that you do not have to do it forever. Once you have a client base and they are more than satisfied with your products and services, they will, with your nurturing, become promoters of your business and you will have more referrals and less need for “cold calls”.

Good Selling!

Ron Silver - Solution Focused Selling

#ilm

** ALERT ** ALERT ** ALERT ** ALERT ** ALERT ** ALERT ** ALERT **

Star VARs Ease Switch to Intuit QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions

Eight Hours of Free Consulting Through National Solution Provider Network to Companies Switching from Sage, Microsoft, NetSuite, SAP or Oracle

Research shows that thousands of mid-market businesses in the U.S. are currently managing their finances on software that is too complex for their needs. Businesses are often reluctant to switch systems because they’re worried about implementation costs and learning new workflows. Now, Intuit is making it even easier to switch to its powerful and affordable mid-market business management system by offering up to eight hours in free one-on-one consulting through Intuit’s network of local Solution Providers with purchase of QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions.

BJ Schaknowski, director of sales for Intuit’s Mid Market Group explained, “We are doing everything possible to break down the barriers and help businesses switch to QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions - including making an initial investment in our Solution Providers to provide personal support. With free local support plus an easy-to-use, powerful and scalable business management system that can save thousands of dollars in upfront and ongoing costs, the choice to switch is simple.”

Intuit Solution Providers are authorized local experts who help businesses get up and running fast with services including, planning, data conversion, installation and configuration, system integration and training.

The offer is available through the end of March 2009 for companies using ERP solutions from Sage, Microsoft, NetSuite, SAP or Oracle. Companies can purchase QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions directly from Intuit or through a local Intuit Solution Provider. Listings of Solution Providers can be found at http://enterprisesuite.intuit.com/resources/experts/.

About QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions

QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions helps streamline critical business operations, including finances, inventory, sales, purchasing and paying employees - at a fraction of the cost of other systems. In addition, businesses can go beyond financial management with a new line of business software from Intuit that works seamlessly with Enterprise Solutions to help manage sales pipelines, track inventory across multiple warehouses, schedule more jobs in the field and analyze business performance.

Additional information about QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions as well as resources about switching can be found at www.enterprisesuite.com.

#ilm

I just received notification from our merchant service provider that there is a new scheme to defraud merchants and cardholders. Read about it…

Avoid “Cash Back” Fraud

A new scheme to defraud merchants and cardholders has been identified as “cash back” fraud. The fraudsters are targeting gift and flower shops but other business types have been and could be affected. The transaction amounts identified in this scheme have been ranging $2000.00 and $4000.00. As Mother’s Day approaches we expect to see increased reports of this type of fraud.

This is how the scheme works…first, typically a gift or flower shop will receive a faxed, emailed or even “relayed” calling used by the hearing impaired.

Next, the “cardholder” ordering the flowers or gift will ask for “cash back” with their payment card order. They ask that this “cash back” be used to wrap the flowers or gift being purchased. The victim merchant will be asked to wrap the gift in $10, $20, $50, or even $100 bills as a special “surprise”. The victim merchant may even be asked to send cash via Western Union or by bank wire to another party.

The “cardholder” pays for this order by stolen or compromised card numbers and may even request the victim merchant to accept more than one card for payment. “Ship to” address is provided and in some variations the fraudster may advise the merchant that someone will be coming in to pick up the order.

If you find your business in a similar situation, or any one that is unusual or suspicious, contact the merchant service department. You will be advised how to handle the situation accordingly. Remember it is against the payment card association rules to provide cash back on non-pin debit transactions.

For more information about fraud prevention visit the Visa website at http://USA.Visa.com/Merchants/, click on card acceptance guide or Mastercard at http://www.Mastercard.com/US/Gateway.html, click on Mastercard worldwide rules to learn more about card acceptance.

—Intuit Payment Solutions

Have you, or someone you know, run into a situation like this before? Post your comments here.

#ilm

In February of 2009, Congress announced that it would soon be allocating $255 million via the Small Business Administration. These funds are to be used for a short-term emergency lending initiative, and gave the Small Business Administration less than three weeks to create guidelines for it. You can read the full story at CNN

#ilm

I just read a blog post that I thought was so true. It talks about two companies that are in the same type of business. They are located in the same town. But what’s different are the results they are getting.

I don’t know about you and your business but Jim, our team and I are, as Reggie says in his blog, ‘rocking the house’. We aren’t listening to all the talk about the economy being bad. We are going at with the attitude that we’ll get out of it what we put into it. And you know what, our phones keep ringing. We keep getting new clients. Our business is good, the economy is good.

Here’s the link to the blog. I hope it inspires you to ‘rock the house’!

#ilm

YES! I passed the…

QuickBooks Advanced Certification ProAdvisor Exam!

QuickBooks Advanced Certification ProAdvisor

This Certification is designed to deepen the expertise of ProAdvisors who are already knowledgeable in QuickBooks, and distinguish these “QuickBooks experts” as highly proficient in this field. To qualify for this advanced certification, you must have successfully completed 2007, 2008 and 2009 QuickBooks ProAdvisor Certification Courses. In addition to those certifications, I hold certifications in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006.

This certification tests your knowledge in the areas of Reporting, Payroll, Troubleshooting, Setup and Import/Export, Job Costing and Integration with Third Party Applications. When I say, “This certification tests your knowledge”, I mean it really “tests” your knowledge. This is a difficult exam! From start to finish, I had ~22 hours in taking this exam.

As of this writing, there is only one other QuickBooks Advanced Certification ProAdvisor within a 100 mile radius of Wilmington, NC.

Please, please understand I truly am not trying to boast; rather, I just want our clients, prospects, suspects and other readers to understand that QuickTrainer is dedicated to being the best we can be in the community we serve. We take QuickBooks and your QuickBooks needs seriously.

…Jim
#ilm

I had the pleasure of teaching QuickTrainer’s first QuickBooks Pro class at Affordable Computer Help, Inc., and their new Professional Learning Center in Wilmington, NC on January 22, 2009.  The facilities exceeded my expectations!  The atmosphere is casual and comfortable, making it easier for students to focus on learning.  Professional Learning Center can accomodate up to twelve students in each class and the computer equipment is top notch.  I am excited about the opportunity to work with many more QuickBooks users in such a great learning environment!

Here are some comments from two students of  the class:

“Very informative. Nice relaxed atmosphere - lots of useful information!”, said Patti Outlaw.

“I am not nearly as lost in QuickBooks as I was.  It is much more interesting with more knowledge.  I will be back in touch!”, said Kelly Howe.

For more information about QuickTrainer or to sign up for a class please visit the QuickTrainer website at www.quicktrainer.biz.

Happy Accounting!,

Kim Ward

#ilm

Once again QuickTrainer has been selected by Intuit Inc. (the developers of QuickBooks) as a source of reference. Specifically, Intuit has selected QuickTrainer’s Business Testimonial Video posted on YouTube.

“The upcoming issue of the QuickBooks ProAdvisor Newsletter shows how [QuickTrainer] and others are using YouTube to extend their reach; I wanted to share [QuickTrainer's] excellent promotional video in this context]” says Intuit’s, Bill Teague, Managing Editor, Newsletters.

“We are honored, once again, that Intuit chose QuickTrainer.” says Jim Merritt, President and CEO of QuickTrainer. “We are highly focused on social media these days. Such tools as Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Digg and YouTube have proven to be a profitable avenue for us in a very short time. People find us on these media venues; click to our website and in short time they’ve called us on the phone and we have a new client engagement”, says Merritt.

#ilm

QuickTrainer is known for its expertise in everything QuickBooks. Our clients understand we offer QuickBooks Classes, Bookkeeping Services, One-on-One Training and Point of Sale Training. We are proud to announce a strategic move we have made in partnering with Affordable Computer Help, Inc., and their new Professional Learning Center.

“We are proud to be partnering with QuickTrainer, Southeastern North Carolina’s Premier Trainer in QuickBooks and Payroll Services” says Mike George, President of Affordable Computer Help.

This partnership allows for several positive things:

• QuickTrainer can hold its classes in a state-of-the-art computer center which can house up to 12 students.
• QuickTrainer Class attendees will be exposed to Professional Learning Center’s, thereby making them well aware of other numerous training opportunities in which they can partake.

Begining Thursday, January 22nd, QuickTrainer will conduct its first QuickBooks Class at this new facility. The following Wednesday, January 28th, QuickTrainer will hold its new QuickBooks Payroll Class at the new facility. For more information on QuickTrainer Classes, or to signup now, visit our website at www.quicktrainer.biz.

#ilm

Intuit, the developers of QuickBooks, elected to link to a blog article written by Jim Merritt, President & CEO of QuickTrainer in its January 14, 2009 newsletter, “Intuit ProConnection Newsletter.”

“This is certainly an honor for QuickTrainer to get this level of recognition from a company we so admire and whose products are at the core of our business”, said Merritt.

Following, is the article in its original form:

Client Data Review and Time-Savings in Workflow

Hours of Your Life Back with Every Client. QuickBooks accountants and bookkeepers tell us they are saving hours on every client when cleaning up client files, using Client Data Review, now that they are dealing with year end cleanup.

QuickBooks 2009: Reasonable. Hours of Your Life Back: Priceless. Early users of Client Data Review gave us their thumbs up as shown in this sampling of comments (see more here):

• This feature is such a HUGE timesaver and I plan to use it regularly. ~ Brenda Ellis, Ellis Accounting & Tax
• The client review feature is initiative and easy to use and understand. It will save much time. ~ Ralph Zink, Own Account
• I just did a corporate tax return and it probably dropped an hour off of the time to complete!. ~ Bryce Forney, CPA, Forney Accountancy

Don’t Take Our Word For It. See this blog posting, “Why QuickBooks 2009 Is Upgrade Worthy” from QuickTrainer, Inc. QuickTrainer’s CEO is Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor Jim Merritt in North Carolina. QuickTrainer has posted a whole list of reasons for business owners to upgrade to QuickBooks 2009, and Client Data Review tops the list.

Next Step: Upgrade to QuickBooks Accountant Edition 2009 and have clients upgrade to QuickBooks 2009, too.

#ilm

Jim’s grandfather, “Papa”, over the years owned and operated many local diners such as The Chic-Chic, one of Wilmington’s first fast-food drive-ins in the 1950’s. Other restaurants he owned were White Front Breakfast House, originally on 3^rd Street, Merritt’s Barbeque House on Carolina Beach Road, The Chow-Box and numerous others.

My parents remember some good times spent at some of these restaurants when they were growing up and dating each other here in Wilmington. Maybe you are familiar with one or two of them and have some fond memories. The restaurants have changed owners over the years or are long gone due to changes in the community’s needs.

Papa was a smart business man. But more than that, he enjoyed people and making them happy. He was a long time member of Lake Forest Baptist Church where his pockets were always full of candy and gum as he greeted people at the front door.

Papa was a strong but gentle man who loved his family, loved working in his garden and loved his Lord Jesus Christ. Well, tomorrow afternoon we are burying Papa, but today we are celebrating and praising God. You see, Papa has been waiting for years in his tired, sick, old body to go Home. At the age of 95, he is finally Home.

I wonder Papa, did you know that Jim would one day be a business owner like you?

I love you Papa,

Denise

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 pm on Monday, January 12, 2009 at Andrews Mortuary Market Street Chapel. A memorial service will be held 1 pm Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at Andrews Mortuary Market Street Chapel followed by a graveside service at Greenlawn Memorial Park.

The family wishes to express their gratitude to the entire staff of Autumn Care as well as Lower Cape Fear Hospice for their care and support.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial made to Lower Cape Fear Hospice.

QuickTrainer is now offering a QuickBooks Payroll class every other month. Our first one is this month—January 28th. This class is for the QuickBooks user who wants to learn QuickBooks Payroll.

We begin our class time by ensuring we understand what each student hopes to gain from their QuickBooks class. If you have specific areas of interest, we’ll be sure to cover those areas. While learning QuickBooks, we build a “faux” company based on the students present during that days class, ensuring we cover the facets of their specific business.

Sign Up Now and Enjoy These and Other Benefits You’ll Receive From Our QuickBooks Payroll Class!

What You Can Expect To Learn In Our Payroll Class…

• Setting up payroll items the right way
• Setting up Employees
• Setting up payroll schedules
• Paying payroll liabilities (again, the right way)
• When and where do I pay my payroll liabilties?

Frequently asked Questions

Q. What time does the payroll class begin and end?
A. Our Payroll Class begins at 9:00 AM and typically concludes ~1:00 PM, but we’ll stay
until your last question is answered.

Q. Where is your payroll class taught?
A. Our classes are taught, primarily, at The Connection Internet Cafe, located at 250 Racine
Drive, Wilmington, NC. The Connection has a nice conference room, great food and
beverage and is simply a cool place to hang out anytime.

Q. Do I need my own computer and QuickBooks software to take this payroll class?
A. No. QuickTrainer provides each student a laptop computer, pre-loaded with the QuickBooks
software. This will be your computer for the day while in class. We also provide you a nice
environment and a “comfy” chair to sit while taking our class.

Q. What happens if I have questions post-class?
A. QuickTrainer prides itself on the fact we never nickel and dime our clients. If you need to call
or email us with a few questions, you’ll never see an invoice from us. Obviously, if you have
questions daily, we probably need to have another conversation.

Q. Do you cover other areas of QuickBooks in this payroll?
A. No. This class deals with QuickBooks payroll and will only touch on those areas specific to implementing and conducting payroll. If you have a desire to learn the additional functionality of QuickBooks, we highly recommend our QuickBooks Class.

#ilm

You know, I love WordPress and all of its powerful functionality. But all of this power and the pleasure of learning WordPress has come with a price. A very steep price indeed, when you consider the learning curve which I personally have had to endure.

You see, for the second time since I began working with WordPress, I have managed to wipe out this entire blog site in which you are now reading from. The first time was simply stupidity on my part. As much as I preach the importance of backing up your QuickBooks data, I failed to back up my WordPress blog data files and database before making a major change. It wasn’t pretty on my end. Lesson learned, so I thought.

The second time I wiped out this blog site, I was prepared. So I thought! I had fresh backups of the data files and the database. I was ready! In this instance, I was upgrading from WordPress 2.6.5 -to- 2.7. The latest and greatest release of WordPress. A MAJOR release at that. New, cool and improved features.

I first upgraded the QuickTrainer website (which also utilizes WordPress) to this 2.7 version. You can see this site at www.quicktrainer.biz (shameless plug). I encountered absolutely 0 issues with this upgrade. I was feeling very good about myself. I even had the patience and foresight to wait a day and test the new upgrade; making sure all features within the site worked as before. They did. So, now it was time!

I made the data file backup. I made the database backup. I deactivated all WordPress plugins within this blog site (something WordPress tells you to do). I was following all instructions to the letter. Granted, this was my second time upgrading a WordPress site, I was feeling good about this process. Not cocky; but confident. Then it happened! When I began the installation procedure, I received an error message. Never mind the message; you just need to know something was not right. I researched the message and found the remedy. Hooray! Problem resolved. I now make my second attempt. No GO! A different message is encountered this time.

I try this and I try that. I post to the WordPress forum. I get some suggestions, but most are things I’ve already tried. Finally, I resolve to “let me just put this blog site back to the way it was”. I succesfully resintall WordPress 2.6.5. Next I restore the backed up WordPress files needed. Finally, I restore the database. Ready to see my restored work, I attempt to login to my word WordPress blog site. The key word is “Attempt”. I can’t. It won’t let me. Now, I’m nervous; perhaps scared is a better word. Scared of ALL of the blog postings I might never see again.

Bottom line here is, I have no idea what went wrong. With the help of my friend, Jimmy Hossinger of Bluetone Media, we were able to upgrade the site to 2.7 and restore most of the blogs. Our many mucho and heart-felt appreciation to Jimmy for his help. I could not have done this without him!

So, this is my first official blog since we got back up and running. So, I just wanted to let everyone know… We’re Back!

Jim

#ilm

QuickTrainer offers those looking to learn QuickBooks a QuickBooks Class. We call our class, “QuickBooks Starting Point”. And while our class is geared toward the newer user, we guarantee those who find themselves somewhat familiar with QuickBooks will find this class to be an excellent investment of their time as well.We begin our class time by ensuring we understand what each student hopes to gain from their QuickBooks class. If you have specific areas of interest, we’ll be sure to cover those areas. While learning QuickBooks, we build a “faux” company based on the students present during that days class, ensuring we cover the facets of their specific business.

7 Benefits You’ll Gain from Our QuickBooks Class…

1. Take control of your business finances, while saving time & money with your CPA.
2. Enjoy meaningful, accurate data for reviewing the financial health of your business.
3. Relieve the stress you feel when using QuickBooks.
4. Learn numerous QuickBooks tips & tricks you will use frequently.
5. Grow competent and confident with QuickBooks.
6. Focus on your business passion, knowing your QuickBooks accounting is under control.

7. Enjoy Peace of Mind!

Sign Up Now and Enjoy These and Other Benefits You’ll Receive From Our Class!

What You Can Expect To Learn In Our QuickBooks Class…

• What is a Chart of Accounts and what should yours look like?
• Invoices - How to create a custom invoice and how to properly utilize invoices.
• Receiving Payments - How to apply payments, shortages, discounts, overages, etc.
• Entering and Paying Bills.
• Banking - Reconciling, dealing with deposits posted incorrectly, what to do when the balances don’t match.
• Monthly Closing - Balance Sheet and P&L Analysis, Reconciling A/R, A/P & Inventory to the General Ledger
• Setting a Closing Date and Password.
• Setting up Items (Inventory, Non-Inventory, Service, etc.)
• Job Costing - Setting-up Job Costing, Posting Transactions, and Analyzing Job Cost Reports.
• Reports - Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, Sales History, Trial Balance, and Customizing Reports.

Additionally, we’ll spend time exploring the various businesses of the students present for the day; how each business is similar from an accounting standpoint and how each is different. Finally, we’ll spend ample time covering and resolving students “real-world” issues.

Got Questions? We have Answers…

Q. What time does class begin and end?
A. Our QuickBooks Class begins at 9:00 AM and typically concludes ~4:30 PM, but we’ll stay
until your last question is answered.

Q. Is this a class for beginners?
A. The QuickTrainer QuickBooks class is for the newbie to QuickBooks to the intermediate QuickBooks user. This QuickBooks training class focuses on the fundamentals of QuickBooks and some basic accounting concepts. For those who need more advanced QuickBooks help, we highly recommend our QuickBooks Training services.

Q. Do I need my own computer and QuickBooks software to take this class?
A. No. QuickTrainer provides each student a laptop computer, pre-loaded with the QuickBooks software. This will be your computer for the day while in class. We also provide you a nice environment and a “comfy” chair to sit while taking our class.

Q. Where is your QuickBooks class taught?
A. Our classes are taught, primarily, at The Internet Connection Cafe, located at 250 Racine Drive, Wilmington, NC. The Connection has a nice conference room, great food and beverage and is simply a cool place to hang out anytime.

Q. What happens if I have questions post-class?
A. QuickTrainer prides itself on the fact we never nickel and dime our clients. If you need to call or email us with a few questions, you’ll never see an invoice from us. Obviously, if you have questions daily, we probably need to have another conversation.

Q. Do you sell a book on QuickBooks?
A. We call ours a “manual”. QuickTrainer offers students the opportunity to purchase our QuickBooks manual, “Effectively Navigating QuickBooks” after they have enrolled in our class. Our manual was written by Jim Merritt, President & CEO of QuickTrainer. Jim developed this manual with daily users of QuickBooks in mind. The cost of this manual $29.95.

Q. Do you cover payroll in this class?
A. While we do not cover payroll in this class, we do offer QuickBooks Training on payroll. We teach payroll typically on a 1-on-1 basis. Payroll typically takes about two to three hours to teach and deserves its own separate session.

If you are a QuickBooks user, you will want to read this article regarding new features available in the new release of Intuit’s QuickBooks 2009. As a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, I am always intrigued from year to year what benefits these new releases bring to the end-user experience. In years past, with exception of few, I have always advised users who were on a current year’s release to skip a year (sometimes two) before updating to the latest and greatest release of this software. The logic being why spend money every year, unless there is a specific benefit for doing so. In other words, don’t upgrade just for the sake of upgrading. The new QuickBooks 2009 release is an exception to this rule for many end-users.

So why do I take this position? What new functions and features are available that makes it worth considering an upgrade?

• Client Data Review (CDR) - While this new feature is geared towards helping your CPA, Accountant or ProAdvisor find issues, it certainly benefits the business owner and end-user responsible for keeping the books. Why? These tasks can be handled in a more efficient manner. Saved time equates to money saved! CDR allows you to quickly troubleshoot account balances, review list changes, quickly resolve issues with Accounts Receivables or Accounts Payable, and resolve issues with Sales Tax, Inventory, Payroll, and Bank Reconciliations. Note: The CDR feature is only available in QuickBooks Premier Accountants Edition. However, your QuickBooks Pro or Premier data can be opened in the QB Accountants Edition (perhaps installed on your provider’s laptop) which allows for adjustments to be made and then re-opened in QB Pro or Premier.
• Improved Bank Reconciliation - This is personally one of my favorite improvements. From the reconciliation screen, you can now sort any of the available columns in ascending or descending order. This new feature has already proven to be a tremendous time saver for me as I tend to sort by the “Amount” columns. Again, saving time equates to saving money and allows you to do other things.
• Company Snapshot - Another favorite…You can now display a snapshot of your business, showing at a glance, account balances, A/R, A/P, reminders, and a cool bar graph showing income vs. expenses for time periods you can set. No need to pull multiple reports with this extremely useful information at your disposal every time you open QuickBooks 2009.
• Online Banking - The entire online banking interface has been drastically improved. Additionally, the end-user experience is much improved. QuickBooks has given us the ability to automatically map transactions to the proper QuickBooks G/L accounts to improve accuracy. There is also a new wizard which simplifies the online banking setup experience.
• Have you ever found yourself attempting to close a report or some other window in QuickBooks only to accidentally click on the top right “X” thereby closing the QuickBooks application? We all have done this more times than we might care to admit. QuickBooks heard us, frustrated users, and did something about this annoying little “feature” (or lack thereof). Yes, if you click to close QuickBooks by clicking on the “X”, a nice little dialog box opens asking, “Are you sure you want to exit QuickBooks?” Simply click, “Yes” or “No” So simple, yet so very useful.
• How about a neat little feature new to QuickBooks which allows instant messaging between other users logged into QuickBooks?
• If you already have a website, this feature will likely not be of interest to you. However, if your business does not have a website, without question, it should. And here’s the good news. QuickBooks offers you a FREE template-based website via QuickBooks. Intuit, who originally teamed with Homestead (a provider of website services) and then last year acquired Homestead, offers QuickBooks customers the ability to quickly and easily create a free and functional website to reflect your business. While this feature will not be for the majority, it can certainly be of use for a minority.
• The NEW Intuit Statement Writer (ISW) - OK, I admit, this feature is for accountants and CPA’s (and you must utilize QuickBooks for Accountants 2009). But it IS a great feature, allowing you to create very nice financials statements for your clients. ISW is a separate application within QuickBooks and it uses Excel to display and build your reports. Therefore, you need to be comfortable with Excel. A free 30 day trial is available. The cost of ISW as of this writing is $149.95.

There are some additional new features of which the jury is still out for me. These features are multi-user currency and an improved accountant’s copy (I’ve never been a fan of the accountant’s copy in the past), just to name a few. However, I am completely sold on the eight features I have mentioned here. QuickBooks 2009 is by far the best feature-rich major release I’ve seen in a long time. If you would like to purchase any flavor of QuickBooks 2009 at a discounted price, with free shipping, please visit the QuickTrainer Web Sites Product Page.

#ilm

I found out this morning that Staples has a special offer this Monday, December 22 from QuickBooks. I spoke to the Store Manager at the Monkey Junction location and he said he has only 15 in-stock.

If you are using 2006 version, you must upgrade especially if you are using any of their payroll subscriptions. If you want to upgrade because of the wonderful enhancements, I recommend you do it NOW!

Denise

Free QuickBooks at Staples

I love analyzing our business in various ways to see how we are doing and what areas we can improve upon. I recently conducted an analysis to determine where our clients come from. This is important because it provides valuable feedback such as (a) how are our advertising dollars doing?; (b) are our SEO/SEM efforts paying dividends?; (c) are our strategic alliance efforts working?; (d) are direct mail campaigns working?

Here is what our analysis revealed:

• Referrals (20%)
• QB ProAdvisor Website (19%)
• QuickTrainer Website/Google SEO (16%)
• Networking (10%)
• Walk-Ins (9%)
• Print Advertising (7%)
• CPA’s (5%)
• Word of Mouth (4%)
• Chamber of Commerce (2%)
• Dialing for Dollars (2%)
• Expo’s (2%)
• Informational Workshops (2%) - These efforts are relatively new for us.
• Direct Mail (2%)

As you can see, we get a lot of business from our ProAdvisor listing. Now granted, I have been doing this since 2001 and have numerous ProAdvisor Certifications. Also, we are listed in the #1 position for our geographical location.

I will also reveal that our website, coupled with our SEO efforts, is quickly increasing the number of new clients we get from this resource, and will likely surpass our ProAdvisor listing before year-end. This has happened because I love the art of SEO and have been studying SEO diligently.

When I look at the above numbers, there are some things which stand out to me. I believe we can improve on our networking efforts. I wish this number was higher. Over the past two years, I’ve gained some valuable insight. Here are some things I’ve gleaned:

1. It’s all about forming relationships and establishing a rapport with people.
2. People typically do business with those they like and trust.
3. Never be anxious to sell your services when networking. Rather, show a genuine interest in people you meet; ask lot’s of questions, letting them know you are interested in them.
4. By asking lots of questions, you can determine if they have pain in the area of your business expertise.
5. It’s about helping people with their problems and helping them succeed.
6. You never know when the person you met six months ago (or longer) will call you in need of your help.

I could go on and on with lessons learned. But, I think I shall stop here.

You can do an analysis like this too using information from your QuickBooks file. I’ll tell you how in a future blog.

…Jim

QuickTrainer’s Jim Merritt along with ActionCOACH Reggie Shropshire and guest host SunTrust Bank Manager Jackie Reynolds presented an informative workshop: Increase Customers, Increase Cash Flow, Increase Profits!

“7 Tips to QuickBooks Success!”
Jim Merritt – President and CEO of QuickTrainer Inc. explained tips and tricks for getting the most out of QuickBooks Financial Software. And…how business owners can make informed decisions by looking at key reports found in QuickBooks. QuickTrainer Inc. specializes in QuickBooks classes, one-on-one training, bookkeeping and Point of Sale.

“Succeed on Your Own Terms by Learning to Stretch Your Money”
Jackie Reynolds - SunTrust V.P. and Bank Manager, specializes in helping business owners manage growth, leverage their time and maximize their profits. Jackie offered three keys to business owner success:

1. Measure, manage, and forecast cash: Make a plan (30, 60 and 90 days ahead), take advantage of simple tools and learn to optimize your cash.

2. Extract additional investment capital: offer an incentive for early-pay to your customers, ask for payment options and discounts from your vendors, invest your spare cash and share your resources to reduce capital expenses.

3. Create a capital plan before you need it: Plan ahead by establishing lines of credit when times are good and cash is flowing well, include your banker as an extension of your team and…ask for referrals from everyone!

“10 Biggest Sales & Marketing Mistakes…and How to Avoid Them!”
Reggie Shropshire – ActionCOACH BusinessCOACH discussed marketing “do’s and don’ts”. Reggie challenged attendees to defy the odds of small business by avoiding the most common mistakes. Several tips included learning how to become a marketing genius, how to create a niche, how to write ads that sell, and the first step in building a marketing campaign.

Jim Merritt, Owner, QuickTrainer Inc.
910-338-0488
jim.merritt@quicktrainer.biz
www.quicktrainer.biz

Reggie Shropshire, ActionCOACH BusinessCOACH
910-796-6734
reggieshropshire@actioncoach.com
www.coachreggiewilmington.com

Jackie Reynolds, SunTrust V.P and Bank Manager (Ogden)
910-686-1017
7081 Market St Wilmington, NC 28411
jackie.reynolds@suntrust.com
www.suntrust.com

Jim recently invited me to add to the QuickTrainer blog.  Since that time I have spent some time each evening thinking about how I wanted to begin. After all, I have never written for a blog before! Apparently the more I think about what to write, the less I know. I call this “blog fog”. So with my “blog fog”  in full swing, I considered writing about things that inspire me. And then it was clear to me!

I was inspired today by my experience in watching Jim solve a sales tax issue for a client.  For approximately two hours I observed as Jim patiently and expertly found a solution for what turned out to be a very complicated mess! After careful analysis of all the potential problems, he began trying different options to fix them. It took a lot of trial and error to get this straightened out!! He reassured our client that during the time it took him to analyze the issues and devise a plan, they were not being charged for his time.

There were several things that really impressed me about watching Jim work. One thing was just the high level of experience and skill that Jim possesses! Another thing is the way that he happily relieved his client of the “learning curve time”. All of that, to me, is impressive; but what I really feel like expressing is what inspired me about the experience.

I was inspired by the fact that Jim kept at it until the problem was solved. In other words, he persevered! He made lots of attempts that didn’t work out. He simply went back to the beginning and started over until he was satisfied with the results. Many people - probably even most people, would have become frustrated and possibly even given up. I have been inspired to strive for this patience and “controlled stubbornness”  when I approach problems in the future.

While Jim was working he mentioned that if he wasn’t able to find a solution, he would contact his mentor for advice. I don’t know if Jim is aware of this, but that is what he has become to me - not just my employer, but my mentor.

Last Friday night, I packed up my scrapbooking supplies and made a beeline to my friend Judy’s house. We worked on our scrapbooks from 5pm to midnight. (No, that’s not a typo.)

On this evening, two other women were there. One, Arlene, I’ve scrapped with several times. She’s a very sweet, giving woman.

The other woman, was Paige (on the right-Judy’s on the left). This was the first time I had scrapped with Paige. She was very sweet too.

The topic of what we do always tends to come up in conversation. So, I always have the opportunity to tell others that I am a QuickBooks consultant/bookkeeper. When Paige heard this she got all excited! You see, her husband has his own small business, puts in a lot of hours and uses QuickBooks to keep up with his financials. She, like most wives, would love to be able to spend more time with her husband.

So, Paige and I had a discussion about how we, QuickTrainer, could help her get more time with her husband. She went right home and started talking us up. I’ll be hearing from Paige soon.

This scrapbooking hobby of mine is sometimes expensive, but you know what? I’m making good contacts. As a matter of fact, I met one of our current bookkeeping clients, Proficient Learning, there. Pam, co-owner of Proficient is a fellow scrapbooker.

So, you never know where you might find you’re next client.

On Wednesday, September 10th, QuickTrainer, Inc., along with ActionCOACH held an informational workshop called:

B usiness Is Good

The workshop was well attended by local business owners, or in some cases, persons wishing to start a business. The workshop was hosted by QuickTrainer, Inc., Jim Merritt; ActionCOACH, Reggie Shropshire; and special guest hostess, Margaret B. Hunter, CPA PA.

 7 TIPS TO QUICKBOOKS SUCCESS!

Jim discussed tips and tricks for getting the most out of QuickBooks financial software. And…how business owners can make informed decisions by looking at key reports found in QuickBooks. QuickTrainer specializes in QuickBooks classes, QuickBooks 1-on-1 training, QuickBooks bookkeeping services and QuickBooks point of sale.

 10 BIGGEST SALES & MARKETING MISTAKES…AND HOW TO AVOID THEM!

Reggie discussed marketing “do’s and don’ts”. He challenged attendees to defy the odds of small business by avoiding the most common mistakes. Several tips included learning how to become a marketing genius, how to create a niche, how to write ads that sell, and the first step in building a marketing campaign.

 SOLID BUSINES FUNDAMENTALS

Margaret explained the various business entity options (e.g., Sole Proprietorship, S Corps, LLC). She also offered helpful information for business owners on many topics including tax planning, preparation and successful business financial management.

Jim Merritt, QuickTrainer, Inc.
910-338-0488
jim.merritt@quicktrainer.biz
www.quicktrainer.biz
www.quicktrainer.biz/qtiblog/

Reggie Shropshire, BusinessCOACH, ActionCOACH
910-796-6734
reggieshropshire@actioncoach.com
www.coachreggiewilmington.com
www.coachreggieblog.com

Margaret B. Hunter, CPA, PA
910-392-1900
margaret@wilmingtoncpas.com
www.wilmingtoncpas.com

If you are a Wilmingtonian, you have likely tried, or at least heard of Flaming Amy’s Burrito Barn (FABB). When our family and I relocated back to Wilmington, Flaming Amy’s was my favorite casual restaurant. As an aside, my late father, after selling the White Front Breakfast House, managed a Bonanza Steak House. Where was that steak house located? It was the first restaurant to occupy the building where FABB now resides. But i digress.

Flaming Amy (Amy Muxworthy) has now used her name to create another winner restaurant; Flaming Amy’s Bowl. Located at 4418 Shipyard Blvd, behind Firestone Tire at Longleaf Mall (why they call this a mall, i don’t know), you’ll find her latest creation.

Ok, so here’s the deal… each visitor receives a bowl from their server, and then fills it with a variety of vegetables and some starches, and then meat. next. You handover your bowl to one of three cooks. He or she cooks your meat and other ingredients and you then inform them about your choice of rice or noodles. Then, you select a sauce. It’s the sauce which makes your dish come to life (imntbho).

There are 10 sauces to select from (thai peanut, red curry, teriyaki, and lemon basil, just to name a few). I counted 30+ vegetables along with numerous proteins (chicken, tilapia, pork, beef, bacon and tofu).

While there is a menu, in which the sauce gives the dish its flavor as well as the ‘ideal” ingredients, my approach thus far has simply been to put whatever appeals to me in the bowl and then have them “cook it up”.

If you haven’t guessed yet, I am a huge fan of Flaming Amy’s Bowl. After three visits, I am hooked. My only critique is I wish the sauces I like best (i.e., thai and red curry) were not so spicy hot. However, the restaurant has only been open for less than a month now and I suspect they are still tweaking the model. So who knows, perhaps they will offer a mild, medium and how variety sometime in the not so distant future. Now, if they only had banana pudding.

Today, denise and I are meeting with a wonderful client of ours, Joe and Pat pane from Medical Insurance Assistance (MIA). What’s different about today is Denise and I will be the client instead of Joe and Pat. That’s great, as we love doing business with clients when the fit is right.

I will confess I am somewhat skeptical. Not of MIA’s services, but in holding out any hope that anyone in this world can actually help us with our healthcare dilemma. You see, I am diabetic (need i say more?), And while denise and our two girls are healthy and insurable, I am not insurable because of diabetes.

When we started this business, Denise worked for Bank of America. The health benefits were excellent. But after many months, we decided Denise’s skills would be better utilized (much better) working in the business (as well as on the business). Therefore, we opted for her Cobra. This cobra thing essentially says, we are guaranteed insurance for 18 months as long as we pay the full cost +1%. No problem; expensive (~$1,100 /mo), but doable.

In preparation for our insurance expiring (our 18 months is up in july), we have met with several insurance agents and the message is always the same. Insurance for Denise and the girls; no problem. Jim, you’re on your own. I suppose I’ll be getting a 2nd job at Starbucks. Not sure when i will work there, since I already work 12-16 hours a day, including most weekend as of late. However, I do love Starbucks coffee and they do offer part-time employees health benefits.

BTW: I’m not complaining about the long hours I work. I really do love being a business owner and I love the services we provide. It’s actually very fun!

What can we do about the cost of healthcare? I am not one for the government resolving this issue. The thought makes me want to gag. But something has to be done. Any thoughts are welcome.

Welcome to “The QTi QuickBooks Blog”, the official blog site for QuickTrainer, Inc. What or who is a QuickTrainer? It has nothing to do with physical fitness, but everything to do with QuickBooks and accounting.

Now wait, before you start yawning or clicking on to another site or page, we realize QuickBooks and accounting are not the most exciting topics in the world. However, if you are a small business owner, or anyone who uses, or wants to use QuickBooks and use it well, then we beliver you will find our site of interest.

Furthermore, at QuickTrainer, we absolutely, positively LOVE what we do. And, QuickTrainer is comprised of fun people. We do our best to make learning QuickBooks fun and enjoyable. In the end, you will be able to celebrate your accomplishments with QuickBooks and accounting.

So join in and tell us what you are thinking. Tell us about your QuickBooks experience. Tell us what you think of our website, blog site, or my twitter spot. But be polite and play above the line.