Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

The magic of Christmas is in the air and New Year is just round the corner and we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and trust throughout 2008 and we are hopeful of more opportunities to work together in the year ahead.

From all of us at Precision Group, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!

Save A Life

submitted by Ford Sukamto, Senior Account Executive, Precision Language

Awhile ago, I attended a charity society event over in Hotel Mulia that was even attended by the Minister of Social Welfare, H. Bachtiar Chamsyah with TV stations broadcasting this major event.

The speaker was a wise Guru who flew all the way from India to Jakarta with a purpose to express his wisdom about “Love”. Although, the event was mainly for the Indonesia Hindu Society, many non-Hindus came to this rare once in two years event. The atmosphere was truly memorable when the event was officially announced by the Minister himself.

What really caught my attention that night was the short screening they put up that was about a guy named “Ahmad” (not his real name) who used to have a normal life and had a job as a messenger until a fatal road accident struck him that day where he ended up losing a leg. After he recovered from his accident, his former employer decided to dismiss him as he has lost his capability to work since he had lost one of his legs. Having to lose his job, his wife and daughter decided to leave him as he was unable to support his family with his joblessness and being permanently disabled.

With disaster struck him so badly and the pain was unbearable, he started to lose his faith in life and started drinking till he was broke. He ended up begging for food and sleeping with no roof over his head. This unbearable misery had taken a toll one night where he almost decided to end his life now rather than continue to live such a painful life, but he did not do it. Eventually, he prayed to God that night asking why he had to suffer so miserably and yet it seems God forbid him to take his own life.

He finally got his redemption the following day while he was begging, a kind-hearted hawker gave him a packet of food and he came across an article that was placed in the newpaper that was used to wrap his food. The article was an advert about a non-profit organisation giving away artificial limbs and hands for the handicapped poor. “Ahmad” finally got an artificial limb from the non-profit organisation and was able to secure a job on top of that. “Ahmad” was given a second chance to live because of faith as well as there are organisations like the ‘Limbs for the Limbless’ exists to aid others like “Ahmad”.

“Ahmad’s” life changing experience has taught us the value of life and giving love to those who need it most. Let us play a part in our society by giving SELFLESSLY to those who need our hand the most. For those interested in donating or who would simply like to find out more information about this organisation, please do not hesitate to contact me or Amrit.

5 Tips for Getting Your Prospects’ Attention

submitted by Leci, Senior Administrator, Corporate Services

Many sales people recognize that they need to get the prospective client’s attention in order to initiate the sale. In fact, the prevailing mindset today is how you open a sales call is more vital than how you close the call.

So if you’re trying to get a call back from a voicemail, introduce yourself to a new contact on the phone or trying to get introduced into a new company, what is the best way to get the contact’s attention?

Here are 5 ways to get your prospect’s attention whether you are leaving a voicemail or establishing a relationship:

1. Use a compliment. People love to hear compliments, and they appreciate the fact that you noticed a certain fact about their accomplishments.  Give your prospect a sincere compliment and, in their minds, you will become extremely significant, not to mention extremely perceptive and intelligent.
2. Ask a question. Asking a question of your prospect immediately turns their attention to finding an answer.  Make the question relevant to a common challenge in their industry.  And please refrain from asking the standard question, “If there were a way to increase your revenue/income, would you be interested?”   This question is just too trite, and your prospect just may hang up the phone on you.
3. Use a referral. Using a referral is transference of credibility.  If your prospect respects the person you are referencing, then you attain some of your client’s credibility and gain your prospect’s respect.  The key here is knowing how your prospect views the client who gave you the prospect’s name.  If you are with a client and asking for a referral, be sure to ask about the relationship, how they know the person they are referencing, and some of what you can expect when you visit the prospect.
4. Educate. Opening with a statement that provides information is establishing value.  You are showing that you have done your homework and that you are a valued resource in the industry.
5. A startling statement. This type of opening can be an analogy, a statistic or a little recognized fact that reaches out and grabs your prospect attention by changing their perspective.  Again, make sure that the statement has relevancy to the industry or the challenge that you are solving.

If you want a good source for finding attention getting statements, look no further than you junk mail pile.  Direct copywriters use the text on the front of the envelope to get your attention and open it up.  Then the copy on the inside has to

How Often Should You Email Your Recipients?

by Janine Popick

At VerticalResponse, we get this question all the time, should it be twice per month, twice per week, once per quarter? The truth is that we don’t have a perfect answer to this question. What we do know is that it all depends on the relationship you’ve built with your recipients.

Over-mailing your recipients is a very effective way to lose subscribers! A bored or annoyed recipient is one step away from becoming an unsubscribe and you really don’t want to alienate your subscribers.

Under-mailing your recipients can be as equally dangerous, especially if you’ve spent a lot of time and money to convert new leads to newsletter subscribers. Don’t wait too long before sending an initial welcome email because you want your recipients to get familiar with your content and your static “From Label” right away.

In addition, the sooner you get your recipients to whitelist your from address, the better your chances will be for ensuring that your emails are received in the format you intended. You may also find that you waited to communicate with them too long and by the time you’ve emailed them, they’ve moved or changed email addresses. The result? Your hard work to capture new subscribers has left you with a “Bounce”.

Here are some suggestions:

• Hit ’em quick – As soon as members subscribe, make sure you email them and begin a relationship so recipients get used to seeing your email.
• Do what you promised – Did you tell people that they’d get a weekly newsletter? Email them weekly so they expect it.
• Keep it relevant - If you promised “useful” tips, give them information they can’t get anywhere else. Go ahead and put offers in the email if you must, but the main objective should be to deliver a piece of valuable information that helps your recipients in some way.
• Keep a schedule - If you get too busy and can’t get your email out on time, don’t lag more than a few months in emailing your subscribers. They may forget they signed up and unsubscribe, or worse yet, complain to their ISP about you.
• Retailers beware! – Most retailers email more frequently during the holiday season, and that’s ok. As a matter of fact, this is what consumers expect and even in some cases need for the shopping season. But don’t neglect them in the summer months; you may lose them as a result.
• Pick a day - Tuesdays and Wednesdays seem to be popular days to mail for many businesses, but your best bet is to “test” emailing one day versus another. Don’t completely discount emailing later in the week, weekends or on Friday, especially if your event is happening on the weekend and you’d like to send a reminder. We have many event customers and realtors that email closer to the weekend of the event, or to refresh the memory of someone who may be viewing properties on Sunday.

The bottom line is that in order to keep your list clean and responsive, you’ll want to keep your bounce rates and unsubscribes low. An opt-in subscriber is a valuable asset; so make sure you cultivate these relationships so they continue to grow. Do what you promised, keep the email regular (however you define that) and keep it relevant. You’ll have a happy recipient who can’t wait for your email.

Janine Popick is the founder and CEO of Vertical Response. VerticalResponse, Inc. is a leading provider of self-service email marketing and direct mail services empowering businesses of all sizes to create, manage and analyze their own direct marketing campaigns.

VerticalResponse’s flagship product, which allows customers to deliver sophisticated yet easily deployed email campaigns, is the most intuitive and affordable Web-based direct marketing solution available. VerticalResponse is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For additional information, please visit www.verticalresponse.com.

Staff Announcement – December 2008

It is with great pleasure that we announce Syella Sinsilia, Eka Anita & Jeniwati are joining the Accounting Team.

Syella Sinsilia

Eka Anita

Jeniwati

Our new accounts team will manage our accounts as well as providing outsourced solutions to Financial Partners in managing their local accounts.

Please join me in congratulating them in this exciting transition; they will be working hard over the coming months to establish sound procedures for our accounting process.

Kind regards,

Jeremy Kemp
Managing Director