Keys to Survival During Times of Financial Stress

If your spouse passed away would you be able to pay your bills? If you were divorced would you be able to pay your bills and take care of your family? If your parents passed away would you be able to pay your bills?

Are you getting married soon? Several of my former students have just gotten married and next month another former student will be marrying his sweetheart. Whether you are single, married, divorced, or your spouse has passed away you need a plan in place for your financial future to protect you and your family.

When I was engaged to be married, my Momma, Romayne Leader Frank, a lawyer specializing in Family Law and Real Estate, was getting ready to give a speech to the local Women's Club on "Financial Success". Mamma had clients who were widowers, widowed, divorced, and single who suddenly had no money or credit in their own name. The credit card and bank accounts were in their deceased spouses name, their divorced spouses name or in their parents name which meant they did not have any money or credit in their own name and were unable to pay their bills and take care of themselves and their families.

My Momma asked me to listen to her speech to see what I thought of it! Momma spoke of the need for women to have credit in their own name, not in their spouse’s name, their former spouse’s name or their parents name but in their own name.

On that particular day Momma was talking to the Women’s Club. When she spoke to other organizations she said “Everyone, meaning both men and women, should always have their own separate checking, savings and credit card accounts in their own name so they would never find themselves without a way to support themselves and their loved ones.

I have over the years called our families’ accounts yours, mine and ours. The same name as the Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda Movie "Yours, Mine and Ours." In the movie the title referred to children though not to money. Over the years, I have shared my Momma's wisdom with many others. Her speech was well received by me and the Women’s Club and has stood the test of time.

What are the secrets my Momma, Romayne Leader Frank taught for women and men to be financially independent?

1) Open a bank account in your name at a secure bank that is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and start immediately to put your money in it for your nest egg.

2) Open a checking account in your own name and put your money in it.

3) Get an American Express and or Visa Card at a very low interest rate in your own name and begin to use it immediately and pay your bill as soon as the statement comes in to establish your credit.

4) If you buy a house make sure your name is on the title and before purchasing your house have a professional title search done to make sure there are no liens or prior owners of the house.

5) If you are paying a mortgage on your house pay the bill on time. If the interest is too high, talk to the holder of your mortgage and get it moved down. Always get a fixed mortgage rate.

6) If you buy a car make sure the title is in your name. If you are paying the car off each month pay the monthly charge on time. If the mortgage on the car is too high, talk to the mortgage company into lowering the rate. Make sure you have a locked in fixed rate.

By Dr. Madeline Frank

Madeline Frank, Ph.D. is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, sought after speaker, business owner, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations discover ways to “Tune Up Your Business”. Her innovative observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your businesses successful.

For more information about booking Dr. Madeline Frank at your next event email her at mfrankviola@gmail.com ,call 757-599-3575 or visit http://madelinefrank.com/

Secrets of Growing Your Business Through Customer and Employee Retention

The bottom line in this shrinking business market is to keep your customers happy. That means the "First Impression" you and your employees make can never be repeated. It takes only a few seconds for a customer to decide if they want to do business with you.

We want our clients to come to us for the solutions to their problems and we want our clients to recommend their friends to be our new clients.

What are the five secrets you need to know to develop "Excellent Customer Service" in your business?

1) In business to retain customers during this shrinking jobs and services market, we need to train sales people to do the following: Smile, be polite, be helpful,be knowledgeable, be clean, well groomed, dress appropriately and make a good first impression so our customers want to continue being our customers.

2) Sales personnel should speak to customers and their family members in a reliable and timely manner.

Examples of what not to do:

Employees should not be talking to their friends on the phone and ignoring their customers.

If your sales personnel are responsible for apartments,rental homes, offices, buildings, or hotel rooms and the toilet is broken it must be repaired immediately. Not tomorrow! Remember leaking pipes only get worse, can destroy buildings, and be costly to repair!

3) If your employees know your customers name call them by name. The customer will feel that you care about their business and they will want to continue doing business with you.

4) If you are answering the phone at a business, answer the phone as quickly as possible. Do not wait for it to ring 4 to 5 times. The customer may be ordering a large shipment of goods or booking a reservation for 40 people. If you wait to answer the phone you will lose the sale!

5) Remember to smile into the phone, be polite (say please and thank you) and be committed to giving excellent service today. Your employee might say "but they cannot see me!" That is true, but they can tell by the inflection in your voice that you are smiling and want to be helpful. If you do not know the answer to their question, tell them you will find out immediately what the answer is and will call them back in 2 minutes. Remember to call back as soon as possible! Your customer will want to do business with you because they can rely on you to keep your word and solve their problem.



Madeline Frank, Ph.D. business owner, teacher, researcher, speaker and concert artist. She writes a monthly newsletter "Madeline's Monthly Article & Musical Tips" and a monthly radio show "Madeline's One Minute Musical Radio Show".

If you need a speaker contact Madeline at mfrankviola@gmail.com