Mitchell & Son Wine Mechants
Check out our special offers to celebrate Father’s Day! Very first day at the Taste of Dublin today, we hope to see you there this week-end! http://mad.ly/a480d3

Bortolomiol IUS Naturae Prosecco Was €26.99 Now €19.99 Bortolomiol’s first organic Prosecco! Fine and persistent mousse, pale straw yellow colour. Deep austere bouquet of fragrant fruity, flowery and mineral notes of acacia honey and almond flower that follows through the palate. Sweetness is controlled and its zest, combined with a lovely freshness, brings a solid, vigorous and lasting flavour. To drink as an aperitif.

Raventos Rosell Brut Nature Cava, Penedès, Spain Was €21.99 Now €17.99 “Lovely herby apple nose, and a toasty herby palate. Mouthfilling mousse and a good finish.” Bronze Medal, International Wine Challenge. Very dry on the palate with delicate fruit flavours. A cava without compromise! To be enjoyed with friends… * Check out the full list of offers here! *

Mitchell & Son Wine Merchants Est’d 1805

Ireland Oldest Fine Wine and Spirit Merchant

IFSC Dublin 1 and Glastule Co. Dublin
http://www.mitchellandson.com/
http://www.qbpages.ie/ads/mitchell-and-son-wines/

During your first conversation with a prospective customer, your job is to discover if they’ve got the money to buy your offering and if you’re talking to the person who has the authority to buy.

To this end, there are fourteen questions that you should memorize so that you can introduce one or more of them during your initial customer conversation.

1. How does your company purchase products of this type?
2. How does your company make the decision to buy?
3. What are the organizational relationships that influence the decision?
4. Who are the people typically involved in this decision making process?
5. What ego or ownership issues come up that need to be managed and respected that I need to be mindful of?
6. If you don’t buy at this time, what remedial actions do you plan to take?
7. How will your current vendors react to the possibility you’ll buy from us?
8. What are the concerns or roadblocks that could crop up down the road and get in the way of us working together?
9. What are the timely and relevant issues that are going on internally?
10. What is the overall mood of the company and its leaders?
11. Who else in your company should I be presenting to and following up with?
12. What challenges are you still faced with that your current solution still does not solve or address as effectively as you would like?
13. What internal resources can you leverage to try and resolve this issue on your own?
14. What will it cost you and your company if you keep things the way they are today?

The beauty of these questions is that they’re likely to spark a conversation that will allow you to assess whether there’s a real need for what you’re selling and whether there’s already some budget allocated to buy it.

Note: don’t pepper the customers with these questions like an interrogator giving a prisoner the “third degree.” Work them into the conversation as you discuss the customer’s situation and business goals.

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/14-ways-to-qualify-a-sales-lead.html

We have a great team working for us both in the office and the drivers out on the road.

We provide a friendly, helpful and above all safe service and we strive to make each and every customer happy.

We have a great customer service policy which enables our customers to contact us directly and let us know if we could do anything better.

All client related calls into VIP Taxis are recorded for account purposes and for the ongoing training and development of our staff.

Over the past 25 years we have provided a taxi service to all parts of Dublin from Dun Laoghaire to Blanchardstown, from Killiney to Santry.

Dublin Airport Taxi Runs

Individual taxis or family friendly 6 seater Cabs or 7 seater Taxis that are secure, reliable and trustworthy, we can offer pickups across the city. The first thing we built with our clients is trust and all VIP Taxi drivers are fully vetted by An Garda Siochana.

Airport One Way from €35

Airport Return Journey from €68

(Within Dublin City)

VIP Taxis always offer a Return Service run so why not take a card from one of our drivers and we will be delighted to offer you the same service and value on the way back as well as your journey out to the airport.

There is 5 minutes “Waiting Time” allowed after which a charge of 30 cents per minute i.e., 10mins €3.00, is included.

No charge for luggage or extra passengers unless it’s a van then €5.00 surcharge will apply.

VIP Taxis is the company who believe in a fair fare for both the customer and the driver.

We value quality over quantity when it comes to recruiting drivers so that when you order a VIP Taxi the driver you get is a good quality driver.

The 9 year old vehicle rule may have been abandoned but VIP will continue to set standards and improve our taxi company and the industry in which we operate.

Almost two thirds of our fleet is 6 years and newer and VIP Taxis are currently implementing a 7 year old rule, where all new vehicles entering the company will have to be less than 7 years old.

As a company we are currently working towards achieving ISO Certification which promises the guarantee of the highest standard of service to all of our clients, private or corporate.

Services Provided:

Professional Clients

CORPORATE
TAILORED

Female Clients

CORPORATE
SOCIAL
FAMILY

To view our website CLICK

Conatct us:

Call: 01 478 3333
Text: 087 2233333
Email: info@viptaxis.ie
Website: www.viptaxis.ie

Irish Rail are offering QBA Members a 10% discount off on-line Intercity
fares during the month of July.

*        Go to www.irishrail.ie<http://www.irishrail.ie/>
*        Select your journey and your seat.
*        Input promotional code “QBA2246″ on the payments page.

*        You will receive 10% OFF the on-line fare.

*        Print your Reservation Number

*        Collect your ticket at any Booking Office or ticket machine.

This promotional code will be live from Monday 17th June to Saturday 22nd
June 2013.

Remember during these dates, tickets can be purchased up to 60 days in
advance of travel on www.irishrail.ie<http://www.irishrail.ie>

* Discount applies to all bookings, except special offers.

NODE Architects

Dave Egan
Dave is a graduate of Bolton Street School of Architecture and a member of the RIAI. He worked with Noel O’Dwyer in Sam Stephenson & Company for two years after graduating and joined Duffy Mitchell Architects (later DMOD) in 1997.
Over the course of 11 years with DMA/DMOD Dave designed and project managed a wide range of projects including the renovation of a protected structure in Distillery Road in North Dublin to create a mixed development of 78 apartments and 1,200 sq.m. of office space, the extension to Bridge House at Bagott Bridge, Dublin and a number of fit-out projects including the Headquarters of Canada Life in Blackrock. Dave became an associate and later a partner in the practice and in 2001 he received an award from the RIAI and a special mention from the AAI for 17 Priory Avenue, the extension and refurbishment of a house in Stillorgan.

node

NODE is the partnership of Noel O’Dwyer, formerly principal of O’Dwyer Architects and DaveEgan. The practice is committed to excellence in design and the provision of the highest quality of professional service in all aspects of construction.

It is our policy to work closely with clients and their representatives to achieve design solutions that are innovative, functional, environmentally sensitive and cost effective and to ensure that our Client’s needs are met and quality buildings are delivered on time and within budget.

42 Dawson Street, Dublin 2

t: +353 1 7645 945
f: +353 1 6711 770
e: mail@node.ie
w: www.node.ie

QBpages: http://www.qbpages.ie/ads/node-architecture/

€65 bouquets of your choice will now cost

ONLY €50.

Pop in, give us a call or get us on the website

Promotion code: yvonne.

So read up, because these happen enough to really put a crimp in some business’ success.

1. Sending Email From Outlook/Gmail/[Insert Email Program Here]

One of the worst business faux pas is cc’ing a long list of contacts with news/an offer/anything but a one-to-one (or one-to-very-few) message.

It’s unprofessional – your signature at the bottom does not make it a marketing email and all it says is that you couldn’t spring for the twenty bucks and five minutes it would have taken to send an email from a real provider.

It’s a privacy issue – most people cc and don’t bcc, which means that everyone on your contact list gets to see everyone else’s email address. And not everyone is honest enough not to pilfer those. They might not be your competition but imagine everyone on your contact list suddenly getting marketing spam from other people on your contact list.

It can backfire – someone I know once triggered a war of words with a recipient who didn’t appreciate being on the list and very publicly hit “reply all” to voice every insult and complaint.

What to do instead: sign up for a service like Constant Contact or Mailchimp. You’ll avoid this whole darn mess and be able to send legitimate marketing emails.

2. Sending To People Who Haven’t Opted In

Pulling down a list of emails from your Facebook friend list… grabbing email addresses off websites… adding prospects you’ve just met because you assume they’ll think you’re awesome and want your corporate newsletters…

All of those things smack of unprofessionalism and can just plain piss people off.

We all get enough emails without unsolicited ones showing up. Besides being ethically questionable, it won’t do your business any favors if you annoy people and they either opt out of doing business with you or log complaints against you with your email provider.

What to do instead: let people join your list through a signup box on your website, by writing their email address on the list by your cash register or by politely asking your next prospect if she’d like to receive your newsletters.

3. Failing To Provide An Opt-Out

The CAN-SPAM Act requires that you make it clear to people how to opt out of receiving your emails and simple for them to do so.

Plenty of companies get away with borderline practices (have you ever tried to unsubscribe from a company’s emails only to realize that you’re on about 12 different “sub lists”, you know, based on your “interests”, and you have to unsubscribe from each one?)

But those companies aren’t making any friends.

Some companies put the unsubscribe link in the farthest possible corner of an email in the tiniest possible font of the most illegible shade of color because presumably they think that if they make it really, really annoying to find the unsubscribe link you’ll suddenly change our mind and decide you want to stay on the list.

What to do instead: include an opt-out link at the bottom of every marketing email. Make sure it’s easy to find and make the process of unsubscribing as simple as clicking that link… once. No strings, no questions!

4. Writing Spammy Subject Lines

Do you know what spammers do to (attempt to) get around spam filters? Instead of using trigger words like “Viagra” they’ll write something like “V1agra”. Which, besides not working anymore is kind of desperately dumb.

But you don’t have to do something as obvious to be flirting with the spam filter.

All caps, too many oddball symbols or lots of !!!!!!!!! can look just as spammy. Even if you get through the filter, your recipient isn’t likely to be amused.

And don’t try to be cute or clever by writing “FR33 offer!” because you’re afraid the word “free” will get filtered. If you have to think about tricking a spam filter to get your message read, it’s probably the wrong message.

What to do instead: write a subject line in plain English that tells your readers what’s in the email or makes them curious to find out. Spend some time thinking about how you can interest and entice your readers instead of tricking or coercing them.

5. Omitting A Call To Action

Telling your email list what your business is up to is nice. Showcasing your products and services is nice, too. But wouldn’t it be better if there was a point to all that?

Presumably you want someone to hire you/buy from you/contact you/do something other than scan a few lines and delete.

An artist I know began email marketing with a beautiful email full of great information and lovely photos. But there wasn’t a single call to action.

No “buy a print”. No “see my artwork”. No “find me on Facebook”. Without those action words people didn’t have a directive and so they didn’t take any action.

Leaving out a call to action will lose you opportunities every time. You may even train people to ignore you and end up with a bunch of zombie subscribers.

What to do instead: include at least one specific call to action in every single marketing email. Whether it’s getting people back to your site for more information, bringing them to your Facebook page or just getting them to reply with a question or comment, get people in the habit of acting.

6. Sending From A Do-Not-Reply Address

Big brands can afford to do this.  Assuming you’re not Williams-Sonoma, Macy’s or some equally large and impersonal brand, why would you not want your subscribers to reply?

The whole idea of building an email list – at least for a small business – is, in part, to build a community around your brand. You can’t do that if you make communication a one-way street.

You could also be missing out on opportunities to generate business, learn more about what your prospects want and need, mitigate complaints or answer questions.

Remember, people do business with people – not with email addresses.

What to do instead: use a real email address where you can receive replies and respond to them. Let people know they can communicate directly with you. Be human.

7. Skipping The Test Send

Never (really, never) send a marketing email without first sending a test to yourself.

You may catch typos you didn’t see as you were composing the email.

You may catch formatting issues that won’t be apparent until you see the email in your inbox.

You may give yourself the five minutes you needed to perfect the subject line after you’ve seen it in context and it doesn’t seem quite as brilliant or compelling anymore.

I don’t think I’ve ever sent a single email that I haven’t edited at least once after sending and viewing the test.

What to do instead: send yourself a test email. If you’re using both HTML and plain text, send a test for each one. If you make any edits, run through another test.  Send a test to your Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo mail, Outlook mail… as many accounts as you can, and make sure the email looks correct in every one. Never hit send until you’re 100% happy with the test.

8. Messing Up Merge Tags

It’s occasionally irritating, often laughable and can make you look foolish, uncaring and unprofessional. I’m talking about sending out an email that says, “Hello <<first name>>!”

Just… don’t.

What to do instead: insert your merge tags carefully when you use them. Test them before you send and never assume that just because they worked in one email, that you can copy/paste and expect them to work in another.

9. Sending After A Long Hiatus

Sometimes it can’t be helped. If you haven’t sent a marketing email in a long time and you’re ready to pick it up again, you’re going to have to send that first one.

But you can probably expect a lot of unsubscribes. If you’ve been gone for a while, there’s a good chance people have forgotten about you, forgotten they signed up for your list in the first place, and maybe even think your email is spam.

You may have to brace for some spam complaints, too. People don’t appreciate unsolicited emails and after a long absence, sadly, yours may appear to be one of them.

What to do instead: stick to a regular email schedule, even if it’s just once a quarter. Even that may be pushing it, but it’s better than sending sporadically every 3, 4, 5 or 6 months. Aim for once a month minimum for better consistency.

10. Giving Away The Farm

Do you know why we don’t put our full blog posts in an email, and include only a teaser with a “read more” link? It’s not to save space or make the emails more readable… it’s not to annoy our subscribers and force them to work for the information… it’s to draw people back to our site. Our site is where we can entice people to read more, sign up for a service, buy a product.

Some people want eyeballs on their site for the sake of ad revenue.

Either way, an email is not the place to say everything about everything.

It’s the place to tease something and call people to an action that will move them along your funnel, get them invested and encourage them to do more.

This ties into your call to action because the “do more” can be whatever you decide it is. The point is to use your email as part of a bigger experience that you create for your subscribers.

It’s only when you get your readers acting that you can begin to measure results via clicks and start to set and achieve marketing goals beyond “opened email. Hopefully read.”

What to do instead: get clear on your call to action then include only what you need to entice people to take take action. A single paragraph… even a single provocative statement or question… can be a lot more powerful and productive than laying it all out in the email. Always give people a reason to click through to your website, social network, sales page or something else of your choosing.

10 (Too) Common Email Marketing Mistakes

May 20, 2013 by Carol Lynn Rivera

http://www.websearchsocial.com/10-too-common-email-marketing-mistakes

The best teams have a balance of all four styles. And the best organizations have many well-balanced teams who are confident in their working style and understand the necessity of divergent types or work. So, what’s your style?

Doing

Doers execute. They come alive when tasks are complete, lists are checked, or projects are tackled. They typically have intense focus and are detailed in their efforts.

Doers are usually so focused, however, they may forget to look up and communicate what they’re doing. Doers also tend to dive into work with little forethought. They believe that everyone should “Shoot, Fire, Aim” and tend to devalue the important work of planning.

Leading

Leaders create the vision and inspire others to believe in it. You can’t help but listen to, admire, and follow the Leaders. Without Leaders, we would be spinning in a hamster wheel with no real vision.

Leaders can be detached from others, not completely understanding all that goes into executing their vision. Because they’re out in front, they sometimes forget to check in with the people following them.

Loving

Lovers are relationship-builders. Believing that we’re stronger together, they thrive in harmony and work hard to manage relationships and build consensus.

People strong in the Loving working style are sensitive and empathic. They have an unconscious finger on the pulse of every other person on the team. If you want to know how others on your team are really feeling, ask the Lover.

But Lovers can suck at follow through and more detail-oriented work. Left to their own devices, they can out-empathize anyone and make people feel great, but not provide “tangible” work.

Learning

Learners are the researchers. These engineer types love learning and meticulously understanding the nuances of a problem.

They are deliberate, disciplined, and tend to think more strategically than most people.

Without others, however, Learners wouldn’t get much done. In order to execute their best-laid plans, they need a team ready to act. Their strategy is only as good as the problems they actually solve–not in theory, but in reality.

Theologian Howard Thurman says, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

So, let’s get over the notion that all work looks one way. It does not. Nor should it. You need many people doing many things to accomplish many goals.

Everyone has unique strengths that become super-charged once they’re aligned with other people’s strengths. Rather than critique someone who you believe “isn’t working,” make sure you’re living out your unique contribution in a powerful and sustainable way. Just do what makes you come alive.

http://www.inc.com/shelley-prevost/4-unique-working-styles-whats-yours.html

Bill Dawson Opticians is a modern practice located in the heart of Rathfarnham. We pride ourselves in offering a wide choice of products and services to suit everyones needs, from budget to designer frames.Being an independent practice we provide a premium service with great emphasis on professional service.

Contact Us

Feel free to call or email us with your query or to book a consultation/test.

Unit 17, Rathfarnham Shopping Centre, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14

Tel: 01 493 9081

Web: http://www.billdawsonopticians.ie

Email: info@billdawsonopticians.ie

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Twitter: @bdawsonoptician

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