A GOOD CODE OF ETHICS FOR MAIL ORDER BUSINESSES

1. I will give my customers friendly and fast service; making sure to process their orders within 3 days after receipt. If I cannot process their orders during that period of time, I will send them a postcard that acknowledges receipt of their order and the approximate time I’ll ship the completed order.
2. As a publisher, I will provide my advertisers with checking copies (either for free or a nominal charge for postage) so they will know where their ad was run.
3. I will make my telephone number available to my customers or a comparable method of contacting me personally concerning their order (i.e., FAX or voice mail.)
4. I will refer my customers to other dealers who can handle their needs if I cannot provide the service or product they are looking for. (This generates good will among dealers and helps support our mail order industry as a whole.)
5. I will purchase as many products and services (for my personal use) as I can from either small local businesses in my area or through mail order. (This helps keep our industry growing.)
6. I will thoroughly investigate any programs or dealerships before getting involved in promoting them. Because my company’s reputation is based on the products I introduce to my customers, I make sure everything I sell is something I would buy myself.
7. If I decide to enter into any commission-type dealerships, I will order the product or service (or request a sample from the company) before placing my company name on outgoing circulars. (This is necessary so you can answer questions your customers may have, and is essential in determining the quality and professionalism of the prime source. Note: Lots of people place their name on commission circulars without verifying the product or service from the prime source. If you do this, the prime source may keep your money and not fill your orders. If this happens, your customers will come back to you for a refund and not deal with your company anymore.)
8. I will not copy another dealer’s advertisement, or other materials without writing him/her first for permission. (Often, the dealer will give you permission if you use his/her name/address as a reference.)
9. In any correspondence, advertisements or other methods of using the “printed word,” I will cite another company’s or individual’s efforts when referring to their product or service. I will be sure to provide the reader or customer with the full name, address or telephone number for recognition purposes. (Wouldn’t you want someone to do this for you too?)
10. I’ll always enclose a first-class stamp or self-addressed stamped envelope when replying to dealers providing free information. Otherwise, I would be asking the dealer to PAY to GIVE me something.
11. If a complaint should evolve with another dealer, I will contact that dealer immediately for an explanation before talking to anyone else about it.
12. If a check of mine should ever bounce, for whatever reason, I will contact the recipient immediately and make the check good. In addition, I will offer to pay any additional charges their bank charged them for the handling of my bounced check.
13. Regardless of how financially broke I am, I will never “use” another dealer for the sole purpose of talking them into free services. Instead, if I find a “good, hearted soul,” I will treat him/her with the utmost respect and courtesy — and barter with them only when I have something comparable.
14. I will never attempt to lie, cheat or steal from anyone during the course of my business for I know if I do, my business will be short-lived. I am in business for the long-haul and will therefore conduct all my affairs fairly, ethically and morally.
15. If I don’t understand something, I am never too proud to ask. I know the mail order industry is a people-helping-people business and I intend to provide my fair share.

DO YOU GIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS ENOUGH INFORMATION TO WORK YOUR PROGRAM?

Of course you do — right? Check again! More often than not I have watched people join a program, receive a camera-ready circular and are expected to know what to do with it. While the originator of the program knows exactly what to do, most of your customers do not. What may seem like common sense to you is not as understandable to others who purchase it.

Every program you sell should come with an instruction sheet. Just like any product you purchase will come with an instruction sheet. The blow dryer for my hair even came with an instruction sheet and who doesn’t know how to operate a blow dryer? It just makes good business sense to include an instruction sheet or booklet with anything you sell.

And guess what? This sheet or booklet can be used to YOUR advantage. By explaining step-by-step how the program works, what it’s goals are, the benefits of working it and what steps to take in order to work it properly, you can offer different options to your customer to help them. If you supply camera-ready circulars, you could offer to print copies, supply pre-printed envelopes and mailing list names for an additional price. This is called “back-end” sales.

And if you don’t provide these items, you can find a wide range of mail order dealers that can. Hook up with a good supplier who will reduce their prices slightly so you can make a profit and send orders directly to them from your “back-end” sales. This little bit of extra money is what helps your program become more financially solid.

One problem that so many programs fail is because they are not managed and structured properly. Remember the old saying: “A 3-legged stool is not easily broken?” It’s true. The more “branches” you have in a program that generates some cash flow the better. DON’T get this confused with nickel-and-diming people to death. Just give them the product they pay for and offer them extra products they can purchase that compliments what they already have.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when you are the Prime Source of any program is to promote the program your dealers are also promoting. Instead of it bringing in more money it has the opposite effect — it destroys the program!

Let’s say that Melanie joins Jeff’s program. Jeff is the Prime Source and provides Melanie with a camera-ready circular with her name on it. Melanie begins printing and mailing the circular in her own mailings but one day she spots Jeff advertising his own circular in a tabloid. What does Melanie do? She STOPS mailing her circular.

Why? Because Jeff looks like a greedy dealer who is after all the profit. Jeff is only giving Melanie 50% when people respond to her circular and Jeff gets 100% if people respond to his circular. Also — Melanie does not want to be in competition with Jeff and drops out of the program. It’s not fair to Melanie.

And what happens to Jeff’s potential income when all his dealers see the circulars with his name on them? You got it — they all drop out. Now what happens to Jeff’s income? Right again — it drops considerably!

Instead, Jeff should pick out a few of his dealers who are trying their best to make money with his program and offer to mail pre-printed circulars for them free of charge. Remember that Jeff is making money from every sale generated by his dealers, so by promoting his own product he is still making money. Besides — if he helps his dealers make a few dollars, what will his dealers do? That’s right — they’ll keep participating in Jeff’s program and most of them will re-invest the commission money they make into printing and mailing more of them.

Also, when they begin to make a little money, they will tell everybody they know what a wonderful program Jeff has. And guess what? Jeff will get more dealers promoting his program — which means more money for Jeff in the long run. Jeff’s a success because he made his dealers a success.

And finally — Jeff’s reputation will be escalated because all his dealers will know he’s an honest guy to do business with. Guess what? Jeff’s business income increases! Not just because of the program but because people are interested in other things Jeff sells.

It’s only good business sense to help your dealers by providing them with tips and information to work your program. Sure, there will always be people who buy into your program and not work them — but you’ll lose a lot more money if you step on their toes and become their competition! Be wise!

BE NICE – GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE TIPS!!

So often we forget that our customers are our boss. I think I discovered one significant reason why most of us fall into this “rut.”

The day we began our business we were as happy as could be. The customer was king! We didn’t have many orders so we bent over backwards to make sure that all our customers were happy. Some of us might have even went overboard and “went into the hole” just because we were so overjoyed that we had received a customer order! What a thrill!

But, later on, we became much busier. We were putting in long hours, neglecting family and social life and realizing that being in business does have it’s gloomy side. While we tried our best to give each customer personal attention, some customers couldn’t be pleased if we hung ourselves with a new rope!

Therefore, new policies had to be established. Prices had to increase for you to invest into business growth. And somewhere in-between all this we lost the zeal for customer satisfaction. Instead of the customer being “king” he/she was now a “pawn.”

What originally began as an eager desire to please your customers has now turned into a daily struggle. But who could blame you? You can remember spending $100 and 30 hours of time trying to help a beginner get started in mail order. However, after that beginner learned all your trade secrets they left owing you money and never giving you the time of day again. This made you cautious.

Then how about the customer that pretended they were going to send you a $500 order, wasted an hour or so of your time (and long-distance phone charges) just to get them quotes before they sent in their money. Then — after all the toil and added expenses, you never heard from the customer again. How irritating! At least, you thought, they could have sent you a “Thank You Note” for all the trouble they put you though.

But 20 minutes later, you get another phone call from a customer wanting to put you through the same thing. Only this time — the guy is serious. Do you give this guy the same treatment you gave to the first customer? As a human being — you normally can’t because you are ruled by emotion. It takes someone with a lot of self-confidence in their own character to treat each customer like a big business!

Hey — that’s it! Just treat every customer you talk to the same way you would treat someone from a big business — who was getting ready to send you a $10,000 order! That will do it!

Unfortunately, some business owners allow owning a business to go to their heads. After they start becoming successful, the owner will think he/she is “king” and makes all the rules. He/she feels that their reputation speaks for itself and customer’s are eager just to do business with them.

This normally happens because income increases and you don’t “need” certain customers who you feel have been a thorn in your side. But although it is perfectly fine to do this — if you dispel a customer solely based on the “amount” and “quantity” of orders he or she sends you — that’s a BIG mistake. Those small guys and gals might just grow up and become BIGGER businesses than you someday! Wouldn’t you rather have them on your side? Wouldn’t you rather be in a position to work with them — perhaps on a multi-million-dollar contract together? One never knows what the future holds so try to BE NICE — even if you have to grin and bear it!

That’s why it’s even more important to stop and think again. Are you guilty of having a business ownership ego? If you allow it to go too far you could lose your business entirely. Egos are a very tricky thing to deal with. A hurt ego’s downside is normally jealousy, deceit and even criminal activity. Rage does nothing but tear you up emotionally inside and always erupts in bad behavior and lost relationships. Never, ever, go into a rage over the phone. If other people are screaming at you — you will either calm them down by remaining calm ourselves or show them up for being emotionally unstable. Rage is truly the result of an unstable personality trait. It’s really NOT normal. So get with the program and be calm (and nice.)

Everyone is in business to make money — however, making it at someone else’s expense is suicide! Perhaps some of you reading this are laughing inside yourself. You know I speak the truth! If you are the least bit intelligent you can easily see that making a fast buck through the expense of other people is a way to live a very short life. If you can only see the moment and not the future in your life — you belong back in grade school, perhaps kindergarten! It’s true that . . .

Humility Demonstrates Superiority!