new csutomers

Yottaquest- an American small business success story!

April 14, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

YottaQuest Fantasy Gaming Let’s start by saying thanks to Matthew Fay, the owner of Yottaquest, for his time in answering some questions about his shop and his success story.

YottaQuest, LLC
7607 Hamilton Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio
45231
513-923-1985

1)Today we hear a lot of economic gloom and doom, and most of it frankly has good reasoning behind it; However, America is still the land of opportunity even for small retailing stores for owners who work both hard and smart. One of these in the Cincinnati area is Matt Fay owner of Yottaquest, a specialty retailer, dealing mostly in games.

Matthew Fay: Our store is a specialty retail store, but it is also very much a service business. Our customers actually refer to Yottaquest as” their” game store; they have taken “ownership” of the experience here. This is a community where they belong.

2)Tell about some of your store’s prestigious awards:

Matthew Fay: Yottaquest won Goodman Games award of being
“America’s Favorite Game Store.” The City of Mount Healthy has declared a Matthew Fay day.

3)What was your idea for the store?

Matthew Fay: One day I just wanted a game store-How hard can it be? I made many mistakes, but I learned from each one of them very quickly; I had no choice. . I talked to all sorts of people, other game store owners, distributors, game designers, and gamers/customers. I asked, “What did they like about a store.” I also drew on my prior experience. I worked at a White Castle and I learned about customer service there. From my time in the US Navy, I learned how to lead people.

4)Let’s go back to the beginning; one thing every prospective new business owner wants to know is how did you raise the initial cash to launch the store?

Matthew Fay: I used a home equity loan to raise the initial capital, but that went pretty fast. I also had signature loans and things like that to help get me through. Mostly, I had help from my family, my parents, who helped me when I was at the store a great deal of the time and my children who began as “unpaid labor.” Yottaquest truly is a family store.

5)The first 6 months to a year is vital when did you know that “Hey, I think we’re off and running?

Matthew Fay: Part of the success is when I learned to say no. Some times I said no to things repeatedly. If I wanted or needed something, then I did the research, and then went out to purchase game lines or equipment, anything.
I really think our 5 year anniversary was the day that I thought,” we are up and running.” Our sales tripled our best day ever, but I put all that money back into the business.

6)How important is networking for your business?

Matthew Fay: Well, I am President of the Mount Healthy Business Association, President of the Northwest Kiwanis, Active in American Legion, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Free Masons, A mentor in GAMA (the Game Manufacturers Association) , and Co-Leader of Celebrate Mount Healthy, and a member of the Better Business Bureau. Being a member of these groups is like taking a college class in business, I have learned a lot and continue to learn.

6)You seem to have a specialized clientele, what is your approach to customer service?

Matthew Fay: This business is a service industry. You are servicing the gaming community. Another group I sponsor through meetup.com is the local gaming community in our area. This store provides a place for like minded people to meet, and meet and play, that’s what this is all about. One of the biggest hurdles in playing games is finding people to play with, Yottaquest fills that need.

Recommended reading:
Professionals Prefer Phones to… Everything

Looking for a GeoVison Security Camera System to help secure your small or medium business? Call www.CameraSecurityNow.com today at 877-422-1907 for a free phone consultation. Ask about the new Hybrid DVR/NVR surveillance solutions.

The first voice on the phone matters!

April 9, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Probably the least paid person in any organization is the company receptionist, but having a good person at this post is vital to your business. We have all heard the old adage that “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” If you are hiring a receptionist for the first time here are some things you might want to consider.

Is this person polite? I don’t know about you, but politeness always works with me. A person could probably tell me to go jump off a cliff, and if it was said with a smile and polite demeanor, I would probably at least take a look at the ledge. Politeness includes good grammar and pleasant respectful tone of voice and demeanor.

Is this person technically adept? There is nothing more irritating to me than a receptionist that mistakenly hangs up on me, or leaves me on hold for more than 1 minute. Another receptionist sin is sending a potential customer call to the wrong person. Doing any of the above wastes your sales and marketing efforts and can cast your business in a bad light.

Does the potential receptionist know the area? This is a very important skill when potential customers are trying to find your business. A good interview question for a receptionist might be “describe to a lost but important potential customer how to arrive at our location.” If he/she can do that, you have a potential winner!

Finally, many customer service trainers will counsel new customer service representatives to smile while they are on the phone. Some companies like GE buy mirrors for representatives, so that customer service people can check to see if they are smiling. It helps to keep a pleasant attitude especially if they are primarily on the telephone which is a main job function of the company receptionist.

Try these tips next time you are looking for a potential receptionist and may your find a winner!

So Now You Have A New Customer!

March 10, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

So now you have a new customer!

So now you have a new customer, congratulations! You or your sales person has now taken an order; you have not necessarily made a sale because a sale isn’t a sale until the invoice has been paid. Which beings us to the point, especially if your company is being asked to extend credit terms, how do you know that your new customer is going to pay or pay within the terms that you set? If your company is going to extend credit terms, you should develop a credit application which your customer should fill out in detail and sign! (Many large businesses already have a form, just ask them to attach the form and sign your credit application).

If you don’t have one-you can get one here.

There are some things you need to add, most importantly is a bank reference and a Dun’s number.

A bank check allows your business to talk with your potential client’s banker. This form will need to be signed by a company officer, not merely a purchasing agent or buyer. This form should include the checking account balance, long term notes or loans, and/or a revolving credit facility (and how much is being used at this time). Unfortunately, bank checks are becoming more difficult to do and some banks are insisting that they will only do this with other banks, so you may have to get your banker to do this for you.

If you are given a Dun’s number, your customer is expecting you to run a Dun and Bradstreet report (this is called the Business Information Report, D & B insiders call it a BIR (like beer)). This is great information (usually) but do you know how to read the report? Here is what to look for (without becoming a Commercial Credit Analyst) without going through it in fine detail. At the top of the report, the BIR will list the address and contact numbers-verify them-this means CALL THEM! Next it will list the year the business started, how many employees, last financial date (which might be blank), net worth (which could negative-warning sign), Sales, and History. History is important, it can be clear (this is what you want), business (which means that there has been a business failure in the past by one of the businesses principles), or personal (there has been a personal financial failure in a principles past). Also there will be financing which will either be secured (this means a bank or banks, or a entity holding a senior debt instrument (like a corporate bond) take precedence over trade credit-what your company is being asked to grant), unsecured, or both

Also at the top will be a number called a PAYDEX. This is a measure that Dun & Bradstreet developed to measure how promptly a business pays. A rating of 80 is pays on time. D & B will also give you the trend: toward promptness or tardiness.
D & B will also show all the trade reporting and you can see for yourself if the company is paying on time. If D & B has a financial statement it will give the Current and Quick ratios which measure the ability to turn assets into cash (these should be 2:1 and 1:1 respectively).

So if the PAYDEX is close to 80, Current & Quick ratios are in line, trade reporting is mostly solid, and the bank and references checks look good, your business stands a good chance of being paid, and paid mostly on time for the invoices that you send to your new customer.