The Power of Referrals

Talk with your customers often. That’s not the message of this article, but it did provide the impetus for it.

A recent conversation with a customer generated some gratifying commentary about our product and how it has benefited her organization. It also provided an important reminder of how she became a customer – a referral.

This particular organization was using an online survey tool to manage invites to its events for clients, until it heard about ABC Signup from a reputable company (and current ABC customer) in the same industry. The now-customer switched to ABC Signup, loves it for functionality that better serves her needs, and will likely do some referring down the road. “If I come across something that works this well, I’ll sing it from the hills,” she said.

Referrals sell. They have since Eve told Adam how good that apple tasted. Today, with the advent of social media and the reach of the Internet, they can sell like proverbial hotcakes. In Seth Grodin’s book “Purple Cow,” he talks about creating buzz for remarkable products (purple cows) by having early adopters (“Sneezers”) spread the word. Think of some of the products and services that have exploded recently in part because of viral affirmations – Apple’s gadgets, Netflix, Facebook, Youtube, Pandora and even Angry Birds come to mind.

For the rest of this article and some great tips, jump to our blog.

‘Reporting’ on our Survey Follow-up

As an initial follow-up to our June survey, we e-mailed customers seeking specific ideas for improvements in ABC Signup’s reporting functionality. Thirty percent of survey respondents had indicated “reporting” as one area within our software that they would like to see enhanced.

We requested specific capabilities or issues to be addressed, and have received several ideas we are reviewing now. If you missed that communiqué but have reporting features you think would be beneficial, just send us an e-mail at support@abcsignup.com.

Next New User Training August 23

The next New User Training will be held Tuesday, August 23, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., via GoToMeeting.com. The program is typically for program registration administrators new to ABC Signup. We will review system tools such as administrative setup, event setup and management, calendar/event listing maintenance, and report options. Register here.

More Functionality for Events with Multiple Dates

The description information on the “Additional Calendar Dates” option will now appear in the multi-date, drop-down list in Attendance. This will make it easier to differentiate attendance for each date (or time). You can find this feature in the ABC Signup system here: Event > Event Setup > Advanced > Click Here to Setup Additional Calendar Dates and here: Event > Event Control Panel > Attendance.

How to Add ‘Bullets’ in the Text Editor

It’s easy to add bulleted items or a numbered list using the ABC Signup text editor, if you know one simple trick.

Type the first line of text and insert the first bullet point using the Unordered List feature on the text editor toolbar. Then, as you hit Enter, hold the Shift key. This will give you an organized items list, just as you would have in an offline text editor such as Microsoft® Word.

ABC Signup a Finalist for 'Inc.credible Awards' for Small Businesses

More than 1,600 organizations were nominated for the 2011 Inc.credible awards, the annual business recognition program created by Greater Louisville Inc., the Louisville metro area's chamber of commerce. Last Friday, five finalists were named in eight categories, including ABC Signup in the smaller business segment.

“It’s exciting and an honor to be named a finalist among so many nominees,” said Todd Chandler, president of ABC Signup.

The awards program, now in its 11^th year, showcases growing small businesses in the Louisville area. The winners, which are selected by a panel of 40 judges, will be announced at the 2011 Celebration of Small Business luncheon on Wednesday, August 31.