Adelante Newsletter - August 2009 Issue
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HISPANIC CHAMBER TO HONOR CHANCELLOR OF UT SYSTEM
The Harlingen Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a banquet honoring Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., Chancellor of The University of Texas System. The banquet will be held at the Rancho Viejo Resort & Country Club Convention Center on Thursday, September 3, 2009. Dr. Cigarroa will be presented with the prestigious Person of Honor Award, a recognition given to individuals who portray great leadership, innovation, and are an inspiration to all. He will also be speaking of his vision for the future of the UT System.
Dr. Cigarroa, a nationally renowned pediatric and transplant surgeon was previously the president of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He is the first Hispanic in the continental United States to lead a health science university. Dr. Cigarroa has played such a critical role in the growth and development of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and the Regional Academic Health Centers in the Rio Grande Valley.
Tickets for the banquet can be purchased by calling the Harlingen Hispanic Chamber at (956) 421-2400.
10TH ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT - OCTOBER 2, 2009 - "What better way to spend your Friday!"
We have begun preparations for our 10th Annual Golf Tournament fund raiser. Our golf tournament is one of the BIGGEST events of the year. There are many ways you can help in making this years tournament a grand success. You can be a tournament sponsor, sign up a team, donate items for door prizes, silent auction and goodie bags, or volunteer the day of the tournament.
This is a great way to have fun while networking and meeting new people. If you are interested in participating, please call our office at (956) 421-2400 or send us an email at hhcoc@harlingenchamber.com. You don't want to miss out on the fun, festivities, and networking opportunities!
SALES TAX HOLIDAY | AUGUST 21-23, 2009
Texas shoppers get a break from state and local sales taxes on August 21-23, 2009 - the state's annual tax holiday. Lay-away plans can be used again this year to take advantage of the sales tax holiay.
As in previous years, the law exempts most clothing and footwear priced under $100 from sales and use taxes, which could save shoppers about $8 on every $100 they spend. Backpacks under $100 and used by elementary and secondary students are also exempt. A backpack is a pack with straps one wears on the back. The exemption during the sales tax holiday includes backpacks with wheels, provided they can also be worn like a traditional backpack and messenger bags. The exemption does not include items that are reasonably defined as luggage, briefcases, athletic/duffle/gym bags, computer bags, purses or framed backpacks. Ten or fewer backpacks can be purchased tax-free at one time without providing an exemption certificate to seller. School supplies - new in 2009.
The 81st Texas Legislature recently passed HB 1801 (2009) expanding the list of items qualifying for exemption from Texas state and local sales and use taxes during the annual tax holiday in August. Effective this year, in addition to clothes, footwear, and some backpacks, Texas families also get a sales tax break on most school supplies priced at less than $100 purchased for use by an elementary or secondary students.
For a listing of items that are exempt, visit Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts website at www.window.state.tx.us.
BUSINESS ADVICE - CUSTOMER SERVICE
Today, CUSTOMER SERVICE is key to any successful business. Good customer service means offering the customer something extra so that dealing with your business is a pleasant, rewarding, and welcome experience. Customer service adds value to your basic product or service in ways that your competitors cannot or will not provide.
How to Provide Exceptional Customer Service to Gain Loyal Customers
In Your Place of Business:
- Be upbeat...be positive...be cheerful!
- Greet customers to show they are welcome.
- Thank them for their business as they leave.
- Look professional - a neat appearance shows that you value yourself and your customers.
- Treat customers like a guest.
- Value the customer's time.
- Do something the customer doesn't expect.
- Provide satisfaction guarantees for services and goods.
- Be eager to solve their problems.
Strive to Exceed Customer Expectations
12 Ways to Win Customer Confidence:
- Initiate conversation
- Be complimentary
- Call people by their name
- Establish and maintain eye contact
- Ask for feedback
- Listen carefully
- Say "please" and "thank you"
- Reassure the customer's buying decision
- Use appropriate touching behavior
- Enjoy people
- Be positive about selling
- S M I L E
Key Phrases: "How may I help you?" - "I'd be happy to help you with that." - "Is there anything else I can help you with?" - "Thank you for doing business with us."
Helpful Hint: Always seem ready, willing and able to go out of your way for the customer!
BE EVERYWHERE AT ONCE WITH REMOTE ACCESS SOFTWARE
IT management can be a single, big expense for medium, and small businesses; it's an easy target to try to save money. Whether you have in-house IT help, you use offsite contractors, or even if you have a savvy employee who doubles as a help desk, just getting to an afflicted PC can be your biggest cost.
Techinline Remote Desktop gives access through a browser and quick download so that even if you're manning a backyard barbeque on a holiday weekend with one hand, you can instantly help someone in the office with the other.
The initiating PC establishes a Techinline account, downloads and runs a small utility, and can then invite the remote PC to connect. The connection gets made without knowing or setting IP addresses or any other networking functions, and it excrypts everything through an SSL connection. Techinline works with all recent Windows operating systems - - going back to Windows 98 - - and Internet Explorer or Firefox.
You'll likely benefit most by using the software to quickly troubleshoot remote PCs; even if a troubled sustem is in the same building as the IT staff, those quick trips to different desks and floors add into a full day of walking back and forth. And since Techinline shares screen information between PCs, you could also use it for one-to-one presentations with remote clients.
Techinline offers flexible pricing choices, especially for small businesses. You can pay an ongoing subscription fee of $30 each month - or cheaper for longer terms - and get unlimited use. Or if you'd only occassionally use the service, you can buy groups of sessions; theses are 12-hour windows to make a single connection, costing $20 for 5 and getting cheaper if you buy in bulk.
Ultimately, Techinline and other remote access services save you travel costs. You can go anywhere and still reach back to work PCs if needed, without having to leave the barbeque! Source: El Paso Hispanic Chamber E-Newsletter
DEMOGRAPHICS: NEW NUMBERS
The weak economy has taken its toll in an unexpected arena. Following years of robust increases, the rate of growth of the Hispanic population dropped off last year, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The latest figures show the Hispanic population's expansion slowed from 4 percent in 2001 to 3.2 percent in 2008, a drop that is prompting government officials to revise their estimates on when minorities will become the majority in the U.S. The bureau projected last August that white children would become the minority in 2023 and the overall white population would follow in 2042. It now says it will recalculate those figures.
Experts blame the recession and reduced immigration for the slowdown. Among the 36 states that had a lower Hispanic growth than the year before, many were areas where the housing bubble burst and construction jobs were lost. Still, Hispanics remained the largest and fastest-growing minority group, reaching 46.9 million people. In 2008, nearly one in six U.S. residents was Hispanic.
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