WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (UPI) — The man who made Pakistan’s nuclear bomb is in trouble. Recent reports in the Western media blame Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan for assisting Iran, Iraq and North Korea, the states described as the “axis of evil” by Pres. George W. Bush. A pamphlet, seen by the United Press International, indicates Khan had also put nuclear related technology on sale on the open market. Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times reported that U.S. officials believe Khan has been secretly cooperating with Iran, Iraq and North Korea. The L.A. Times report said U.S. intelligence has long known of Khan’s activities but North Korea’s declaration last month that it was reviving its nuclear weapons program drew international attention to the Pakistani scientist. The 66-year-old metallurgist is a national hero in Pakistan where children and places are named after him. But U.S. officials disagree. “If the international community had a proliferation most-wanted list, A. Q. Khan would be most wanted on the list,” says Robert Einhorn, who was assistant secretary of state for non-proliferation in the Clinton administration. Meanwhile, UPI has received the copy of a pamphlet purportedly distributed by A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, the organization Khan used to head, offering vacuum technology for sale. Experts say the technology can also be used in nuclear plants and thus the offer can be interpreted as promoting nuclear technology. The pamphlet has a Rawalpindi, Pakistani, address, P.O. Box 502, and has pictures of the equipment it promotes. It also has a picture of Dr. Khan on the extreme right corner wearing the medals awarded by the government of Pakistan. A message distributed with the pamphlet says: “Besides manufacturing of vacuum components and systems, our vacuum consultancy services are also available for system design, operational troubleshooting, quality assurance, maintenance, system development and human resource training.” Experts in Washington seem particularly concerned about the offer of “human resource training” because they claimed it was offering to train people for making a key component of a nuclear plant. David Albright of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security says that Khan learned centrifugal technology he used for building Pakistan’s nuclear reactor while working at a plant in Holland in the 1970s. In 1998, Ernest Piffl, managing director of the German firm GmbH near Stuttgart received a three-and-half-year sentence for illegally exporting thousands of performs for gas centrifuge scoops to Pakistan’s secret uranium enrichment program. Performs are partially finished cast or machined components and the ones sent to Pakistan were made of a special aluminum alloy and looked like small thin-wall pipes. Bending and finishing these little pipes would have been done at the point of assembly of the centrifuge. Talking to reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said if the allegation that Pakistan has transferred nuclear technology to North Korea in return for North Korean missiles was proven, it will have affect Tokyo’s relations with Islamabad. “This would naturally have an impact on bilateral relations between Japan and Pakistan if this was continuing or taking place,” said Kawaguchi after talks with her Indian counterpart, Yashwant Sinha. “Japan is the only country that has suffered the consequences of nuclear bombs. We remain committed to opposing all forms of nuclear proliferation,” she said. The United States, however, refused to talk “specifically” about Dr. Khan. “We talked to Pakistan about transfers of nuclear technology,” a State Department official told UPI. “Pakistan recognizes the serious of any kind of proliferation activity involving North Korea,” he added. The official said that Secretary of State Colin Powell talked about this issue in Mexico City back in November, when the U.S. media first reported that Pakistan had assisted North Korea’s nuclear program. “Secretary Powell said at that time that he had had very specific conversations with Pakistan’s Pres. Pervez Musharraf in recent months in which President Musharraf assured us that Pakistan was not participating in any activity of that nature,” the official said. In Islamabad, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs said that all such allegations were baseless and said that neither Khan nor any Pakistani scientist had offered “nuclear or nuclear related technology to any country in the world.” Last year, Pres. Pervez Musharraf abruptly removed Khan as head of Pakistan’s nuclear program, causing speculations that it was done under U.S. pressure because Washington was getting uncomfortable with Khan’s activities. Khan also has shrugged off the charges. “I built a weapon of peace, which seems hard to understand until you realize Pakistan’s nuclear capability is a deterrent to aggressors. There has not been a war in the last 30 years, and I don’t expect one in the future. The stakes are too high,” he said. Despite these denials, recent media reports blamed Khan also for helping Iran and Iraq. In 1986, Pakistan and Iran signed a nuclear cooperation agreement after Khan visited Bushehr, a nuclear power plant that Teheran is building with Russian help. The reports say that Khan’s name also appeared in a letter offering to “manufacture a nuclear weapon” for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. ”Anwar Iqbal is the UPI South Asian Affairs Analyst.” Copyright 2003 by United Press International. All rights reserved.

CrimeStoppers and the Honolulu Police Department want the public?s assistance in locating William Barnes. Barnes, 38, is wanted for a no bail parole revocation warrant. Barnes has 16 felony convictions including assault, criminal property damage, theft, auto theft and accidents involving death or serious bodily injury. Barnes frequents Waikiki and Chinatown areas. Anonymous calls may be made to CrimeStoppers at 955-8300, *CRIME on your cellular phone. Free cellular calls are provided by AT&T, Nextel Hawaii, and Verizon Wireless Hawaii. Description: William Jackson Barnes aka Billi Barnes, Barry Barnes, Kaleo Ho, Billi Keam Reeder Brent James, Sanithiravuth Keam, Sanithiravuth Keqm, William Mars, Kalani Billy Mendes, Brent James Reeder, Keam Sanithiravuth, Caucasian male, 51 5’8″, 135 lbs., Medium build, Brown receding hair, Brown eyes Glasses, Mustache, Goatee Honolulu CrimeStoppers Inc., will pay a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information which results in the arrest of a wanted person or the solving of case(s) reported to CrimeStoppers Honolulu Inc. All calls are confidential. Do not approach any suspect. All suspects and wanted fugitives should be considered armed and dangerous. All calls are confidential and anonymous. Persons who participate in the crime, or are victims of the crime are ineligible to receive CrimeStoppers rewards. Be a CrimeStopper and call the hot line at 955-8300 or *Crime on your cellular telephone. Access the CrimeStoppers Web site at https://www.crimestoppers-honolulu.org or the Student CrimeStoppers Web site at https://www.studentcrimestoppers.org

“Suzanne Gelb Image”

”Seething Inside — How Can I Better Handle Dissatisfaction?”

Q: Dear Dr. Gelb:

Quite frequently when I am in the restaurant and order breakfast and I ask for my eggs over medium and they come back mutilated with lace around the edges, I go ahead and eat them, but what I really want to do is shove them in somebody’s face.

Hopeless At The Restaurant

A: Dr. Gelb says . . .

Dear Hopeless:

It is perfectly appropriate to bring to a waiter or waitress’s attention the fact that the food one received does not conform to the original order. Most restaurants are more than willing to correct a patron’s order without charge, and many even offer the meal for free to compensate for errors.

However, a lot of people feel uncomfortable about expressing their dissatisfaction about mistakes made by an establishment. They would rather tolerate or endure any discontentment. A healthier approach would be for such individuals to consider strengthening their sense of authority so that they can be more aggressive when it comes to meeting their needs. As one person who took such action with his personal growth put it, “It’s a good thing I resolved my passivity because I think I was heading for an ulcer with all the seething that was going on inside me about other people’s mistakes.”

”Bad Manners in Public — Why Does This Nauseate Me?”

Q: Dear Dr. Gelb:

I am sitting in a restaurant, just received my order from the brunch menu and my very most favorite is eggs benedict. Just as I am about to take a bite of my delicious benedict somebody across the way blows his nose and I hear the awful sound of mucous streaming from his face. That ends my breakfast, I have to push it away because I am so nauseated by this behavior in a public restaurant.

Sick Again

A: Dr. Gelb says . . .

Dear Sick Again:

I certainly understand your response. Fortunately, my nerves are no longer that sensitive. I believe that because of the gross absence in manners and consideration for others that is unfortunately all too prevalent in today’s society, it has become necessary to develop an iron stomach to endure vulgarities such as you describe. This process has been identified as selective responsiveness, whereby one develops the ability to “tune out” or “ignore” certain aspects of our experience.

”’Suzanne J. Gelb, Ph.D., J.D. authors this daily column, Dr. Gelb Says, which answers questions about daily living and behavior issues. Dr. Gelb is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Honolulu. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Human Services. Dr. Gelb is also a published author of a book on Overcoming Addictions and a book on Relationships.”’

”’This column is intended for entertainment use only and is not intended for the purpose of psychological diagnosis, treatment or personalized advice. For more about the column’s purpose, see”’ “An Online Intro to Dr. Gelb Says”

”’Email your questions to mailto:DrGelbSays@hawaiireporter.com More information on Dr. Gelb’s services and related resources available at”’ https://www.DrGelbSays.com

Dick Rowland Image ‘Shoots (News, Views and Quotes)’ – Off Welfare, Better Off Welfare rolls nationwide have fallen by more than 50 percent since welfare reform was enacted in 1996. The goal of reform was to move families on welfare — the vast majority of which are headed by single women — from dependency to independence through work. How successful has reform been? *1. Both national surveys and state data show that the women most at risk for long-term welfare receipt have left the welfare rolls at rates as fast as or faster than women who are much less at risk. *2. In the states studied in depth, most of those leaving the welfare rolls have found employment, increased their incomes relative to welfare recipients and are gradually moving up the income; majority of those who have left say they feel they are better off. During the booming economy of the late 1990s, welfare reform critics claimed that the good economy was primarily responsible for the fall in welfare rolls. They predicted that if the good times ended, welfare rolls would rise. Yet despite the increase in unemployment following the 2001 recession, many states continued to reduce their welfare rolls. That is because most significant factor in caseload reduction is state policies. The states that have been less successful have had ineffective sanctions, high benefit levels and other counterproductive policies. Without any changes in federal law, the states that have failed to reduce their welfare rolls by as much as the average could adopt more effective policies. The impact would be significant: *1. If the 23 less-than-average states had done as well as the average state, more than 800,000 additional people would have left welfare. *2. Instead of a 59 percent reduction in welfare rolls since 1993, the United States would have 66 percent fewer welfare recipients. Source: www.ncpa.org 10/1/02 Daily Digest, Joe Barnett, “Better Off Welfare,” NCPA Policy Report No. 255, October 2002 – Build It and They Will Come Both Hawaii and Washington state tap public coffers to build high speed Net systems in hopes that someone will someday need them. Around $400 million will be spent in Hawaii. Small utilities in Washington are looking at piecemeal projects of $5 million each. Source: Reason magazine 10/02 – The National Research Council addresses the shortage of science and math teachers in the U.S. with a make-work plan for educrats. Even full Ph.D.s in the field should get two more years of training on how to teach, a report recommends. Source: Reason magazine 10/02 ‘Roots (Food for Thought)’ Book Review By George C. Leef, August, 2002 By Order of the President by Greg Robinson (Harvard University Press, 2001); 322 pages; $27.95. If you go to the FDR Memorial in Washington, D.C., you will see numerous statues, including one depicting men standing in a bread line. But you won’t see any statue showing Americans of Japanese ancestry staring out from behind barbed wire in one of the “internment camps” where they were imprisoned during World War II under Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. The memorial gives us a sanitized version of FDR: no cigarettes, and no mention of one of the most egregious violations of the rights of American citizens in our history. The fact that the rights of so many Americans could be destroyed with a presidential signature is inconvenient history for the idolators of Roosevelt and the imperial executive that he left us. It might just remind people that Jefferson was right in saying, “A government big enough to give us everything we want is big enough to take away everything we’ve got.” Better to just sweep it under the rug. History professor Greg Robinson of the University of Quebec is determined to bring the Japanese internment case back into the open. His By Order of the President is a brilliant reexamination of the circumstances surrounding Roosevelt’s infamous order of Feb. 19, 1942. Where his book particularly shines is its probing of Roosevelt’s mind. What did the president think about the Japanese and Japanese-Americans? What information did he have about the alleged disloyalty of the latter? What political influences entered into his calculations? The book that emerges from his careful research is one that shows FDR to be anything but a paragon of virtue and sharply underscores the fragility of our rights. Robinson writes that Roosevelt “deplored open prejudice” but, above all, he was a practical politician who needed to play to public opinion. Defeated as the Democratic candidate for vice president in 1920, he kept himself in the public eye, and his pronouncements on the wave of nativist jingoism that swept the country were crafted with a view toward appealing to those sentiments while offending as few voters as possible. While Roosevelt did not support an end to immigration, for instance, Robinson writes that he hailed the addition of new European “blood of the right sort.” Furthermore, Roosevelt favored a policy of dispersing immigrants rather than allowing them to settle together in cities, which would supposedly “eliminate racial prejudice by eradicating the immigrants’ cultural difference and enabling them to adopt American manners and customs,” the author writes. With regard to immigrants from the Orient, Roosevelt held to a view that, to use an overworked word accurately, was racist. According to Robinson, “FDR’s underlying assumption was that intermarriage was dangerous because it would break down the unified racial character on which social cohesion and culture of a nation depended.” He favored banning land purchases by Japanese immigrants on the ground that doing so would help to safeguard against a “mingling of the blood.” Moreover, and crucial to his later actions, Roosevelt thought that people of Japanese ancestry were “innately Japanese” and would remain loyal to their ancestral land no matter where they were born and raised, and no matter how “Americanized” they might seem. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the pressure on Roosevelt to do something about the suspicious-looking “foreigners” rapidly increased in its intensity. The military feared sabotage and fifth-column activities and put out inflammatory reports that were based on conjecture and even fabricated stories of clandestine cooperation between Japanese-Americans and ships of the Japanese Navy. Secretary of War Henry Stimson and others in the cabinet agitated for a policy of removal of all Japanese from locations near military installations. Soon that demand escalated to removal from the West Coast entirely. Another source of pressure on FDR came from California politicians whose constituents had just discovered a perfect way of eliminating competitors. Robinson writes, “Greed and economic rivalry played a significant part in the anti-Japanese movement. To white farmers in California, organized into groups such as the Western Growers Protective Association, the Grower Shipper Vegetable Association, and the White American Nurserymen of Los Angeles, the war emergency offered an opportunity to ‘kick the Japs out,’ rid the area of their hardworking competitors, and take over the fertile Japanese-operated lands.” Radio broadcasters did their part by proclaiming that there was a Japanese plot to poison the produce they sent to market. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” Roosevelt declared, but he never did anything to allay the panic that those interest groups and their political allies were spreading. FDR did receive information and counsel going in the opposite direction. The FBI had done a careful study on actions of the Japanese in Hawaii and concluded that there was no evidence of disloyalty or plots to aid the Japanese forces. Attorney General Francis Biddle argued against internment on moral and constitutional grounds. But the groundswell of anti-Japanese feeling was too much to ignore, let alone fight against. Roosevelt decided in favor of ordering the internment of Japanese-Americans in areas far removed from the Pacific. (Robinson notes that the order, strangely, did not pertain to Hawaii, where one would have thought the likelihood of collaboration with the Japanese military would have been greatest.) Executive Order 9066 authorized the secretary of war and military commanders he designated to prescribe military areas “from which any or all persons may be excluded, and with respect to which, the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions” they might decide were warranted. The text did not specifically mention Japanese-Americans or the West Coast, but everyone knew that the order was designed to allow the military to round up Japanese-Americans and imprison them somewhere inland. Robinson comments scathingly, “The order’s bland language concealed an unprecedented assertion of executive power. Under its provisions, the President imposed military rule on civilians without a declaration of martial law, and he sentenced a segment of the population to internal exile (and ultimately forced incarceration) under armed guard, notwithstanding that the writ of habeas corpus had not been suspended by Congress (to whom such power was reserved by the Constitution). More importantly, Executive Order 9066 was unprecedented in the extent of its racially defined infringement of the basic rights of American citizens.” As the war against Japan turned in favor of the United States in 1944, the military declared that the West Coast was no longer “endangered” by the presence of Japanese-Americans and several of Roosevelt’s advisors pressed him to end the internment. Significantly, Secretary of War Stimson had become convinced that his earlier support for the policy was based on false information and hysteria. He argued that the internment should be terminated. Nevertheless, FDR remained unmoved. Ending the internment with the war still raging would have been politically troublesome for the president and his party. “Concerned with election-year politics,” Robinson writes, “FDR eventually ordered all action on ending exclusion from the West Coast halted until after the November election. Meanwhile, as the internees remained confined, Roosevelt explored various politically palatable alternatives to opening the West Coast” (emphasis added). The administration even went so far as to perpetrate a fraud upon the U.S. Supreme Court. A young man, Fred Korematsu, had been arrested and convicted for disobeying the order for all Japanese-Americans to report for deportation in 1942. In 1944 his case would be heard by the Supreme Court. Lawyers in the Justice Department received a report stating that there had in fact been no evidence of communications between Japanese-Americans and ships of the Japanese navy, contrary to assertions in the army’s report which was being cited as the justification for the government’s action. The lawyers were told by Solicitor General Charles Fahy to present “the best possible case,” and the damning information was buried in a footnote. The Court subsequently ruled that the internment was legal. By Order of the President deals a devastating blow to the myth of FDR as the great humanitarian. Robinson makes it clear that the internment order and the handling of the Japanese-Americans and their property was a part of the great political game at which Roosevelt excelled. The tragic consequences for 110,000 people didn’t matter. More important, the book should compel Americans to think about the ease with which our rights can be extinguished. Clinton advisor Paul Begala once remarked, apropos of one of Clinton’s many executive orders, “Stroke of the pen, law of the land. Kind of cool.” But those strokes of the pen often bring about the loss of life, liberty, or property for citizens. Robinson’s excellent book deals with an egregious example of a president willing to exert unrestrained power over innocent people just because it was “good politics” to do so. That power, we should be mindful, still exists. George C. Leef is the book review editor of Ideas on Liberty magazine. ‘Evergreen (Today’s Quote)’ Freedom of men under government is to have a standing rule to live by, common to every one of that society, and made by legislative power vested in it; a liberty to follow my own will in all things, when the rules prescribes not, and not to be subject to the innocent, uncertain, unknown, arbitrary will of another man. – John Locke, Freedom Daily, September 2002 ”See Web site” https://www.grassrootinstitute.org ”for further information. Join its efforts at “Nurturing the rights and responsibilities of the individual in a civil society. …” or email or call Grassroot of Hawaii Institute President Richard O. Rowland at mailto:grassroot@hawaii.rr.com or (808) 487-4959.”

Suzanne Gelb Image ‘Seething Inside — How Can I Better Handle Dissatisfaction?’ Q: Dear Dr. Gelb: Quite frequently when I am in the restaurant and order breakfast and I ask for my eggs over medium and they come back mutilated with lace around the edges, I go ahead and eat them, but what I really want to do is shove them in somebody’s face. Hopeless At The Restaurant A: Dr. Gelb says . . . Dear Hopeless: It is perfectly appropriate to bring to a waiter or waitress’s attention the fact that the food one received does not conform to the original order. Most restaurants are more than willing to correct a patron’s order without charge, and many even offer the meal for free to compensate for errors. However, a lot of people feel uncomfortable about expressing their dissatisfaction about mistakes made by an establishment. They would rather tolerate or endure any discontentment. A healthier approach would be for such individuals to consider strengthening their sense of authority so that they can be more aggressive when it comes to meeting their needs. As one person who took such action with his personal growth put it, “It’s a good thing I resolved my passivity because I think I was heading for an ulcer with all the seething that was going on inside me about other people’s mistakes.” ‘Bad Manners in Public — Why Does This Nauseate Me?’ Q: Dear Dr. Gelb: I am sitting in a restaurant, just received my order from the brunch menu and my very most favorite is eggs benedict. Just as I am about to take a bite of my delicious benedict somebody across the way blows his nose and I hear the awful sound of mucous streaming from his face. That ends my breakfast, I have to push it away because I am so nauseated by this behavior in a public restaurant. Sick Again A: Dr. Gelb says . . . Dear Sick Again: I certainly understand your response. Fortunately, my nerves are no longer that sensitive. I believe that because of the gross absence in manners and consideration for others that is unfortunately all too prevalent in today’s society, it has become necessary to develop an iron stomach to endure vulgarities such as you describe. This process has been identified as selective responsiveness, whereby one develops the ability to “tune out” or “ignore” certain aspects of our experience. ”Suzanne J. Gelb, Ph.D., J.D. authors this daily column, Dr. Gelb Says, which answers questions about daily living and behavior issues. Dr. Gelb is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Honolulu. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Human Services. Dr. Gelb is also a published author of a book on Overcoming Addictions and a book on Relationships.” ”This column is intended for entertainment use only and is not intended for the purpose of psychological diagnosis, treatment or personalized advice. For more about the column’s purpose, see” “An Online Intro to Dr. Gelb Says” ”Email your questions to mailto:DrGelbSays@hawaiireporter.com More information on Dr. Gelb’s services and related resources available at” https://www.DrGelbSays.com

“Laura Brown Image”

The Hawaii state Legislature can make a big step toward reforming and making more effective Hawaii’ s public school system by addressing Hawaii’ s flawed charter school law.

However, it will take cooperation and leadership of both parties in the state Legislature, the Board of Education and Department of Education School Superintendent Pat Hamamoto to steer the system, away from the Titanic-like path it is now on, toward school choice and student achievement.

Hawaii’s minority party in the state Legislature said yesterday it is ready to do its part to help further the success of Hawaii’s charter schools.

House Republicans plan to introduce legislation that raises the limit of new century charter schools from 23 to at least 30, establishes a charter school commission, and amends the law to mandate a small school subsidy.

Senate Republicans have similar ideas. Senators say they want to double the authorized amount of charter schools and require the state Department of Education and state Board of Education keep separate charter school and regular public school legislative budget requests so they can be monitored to ensure proper funding. They also want to require a budget report from the auditor’s office within 30 days of the release of the second round of charter school funds. For teachers, they have plans to ensure equal benefits, tenure, probationary status, seniority and accrued retirement transfer from the public schools to the charter schools or vice versa.

While the assistance to charter schools is welcomed by those working to forward school choice, they say many charter schools are in crisis because the state Legislature completely missed the boat in the late 1990s when creating the charter school law.

The state Legislature weakened the charter movement substantially by including collective bargaining, capping the number of schools allowed and restricting the schools through mandates that charters could only be established through “conversions” of existing public schools.

Other problems with the law included making the Board of Education accountable for the charter schools while leaving the Department of Education’s superintendent off the hook and omitting any measurable goals, objectives or benchmarks.

Most damaging is the per pupil funding formula minus expenditures that left charter schools with essentially half the funding of regular public schools from the state, while relying on federal funding that was not dependable to make up the difference. Due to its weak charter school law, Hawaii reportedly lost out on $12 million dollars in federal funding, money desperately needed by the schools.

To fix the glaring problems, the state Legislature and Board of Education must do some of what was proposed by Republican lawmakers and more.

They must review existing charter school contracts and remove the cap on the number of charter schools as well as the requirement for collective bargaining. Lawmakers also must create chartering agencies; remove Board of Education members from the New Century Charter Review Panel; create well-defined procedures, rules and regulations; and legislate equal funding formulas for all students, meaning students in regular public schools will receive the same backing by taxpayers as their charter school peers. Schools also must be held accountable through an annual evaluation of charter schools for public and legislative review. However, more than fixing regulations, what is required to boost Hawaii’s charter schools and ensure the choice movement not only lasts, but flourishes, is so far lacking in Hawaii. That is a “can-do” attitude.

”’Laura Brown is the education reporter for HawaiiReporter.com and can be reached via email at”’ mailto:LauraBrown@hawaii.rr.com

Do you know what single factor is responsible for virtually every refund request and nearly every piece of returned merchandise?

Buyer’s Remorse.

Buyer’s remorse is emotionally rooted, so conventional business practices will not do. You need a high-powered, emotion-based solution.

When does Buyer’s Remorse take place? The minute money has transferred hands. Fear enters the heart of your client; wheels start spinning. Warning sirens sound, and they wonder if they made the right decision. People do not want to be wrong, especially if it affects their finances.

Buyers Remorse is very common and it occurs because most people have been burned before. It’s natural for them to have thoughts of skepticism and concern. Plus, it’s human nature to look for something negative in a situation. They are almost waiting for something to go wrong.

What’s worse is when they get home, friends and family may question their purchase. If your client is already feeling as if they can’t accurately justify their purchase to themselves, how can they possibly defend their purchase to their acquaintances or business associates?

Studies have consistently shown that 90% of what we worry about never comes to pass. Never. Yet, people still worry.

So whose job is it to put your client’s fears and concerns to rest? If you want to slash returns and refunds to the bone … it’s your job! After all, why should they worry when you know beyond a doubt that you’re going to take care of them — no matter what.

One of the best ways to put your client’s concerns to rest is to provide an iron-clad guarantee that clearly states what your product or service will deliver. This simple, yet unbelievably powerful gesture stops potential doubt in the minds of your clients dead in its tracks. They are able to tell themselves, “Hey, if something does go wrong, I don’t need to fret, because all I need to do is come back, and they’ll replace it for free.”

The other thought that goes through their mind, and often seals the deal more easily than you can imagine is, “Well, if they’re going to provide a lifetime guarantee, than they must be pretty confident that this is an excellent product! I’m going to trust this company with my hard earned money, because they stand behind their product or service.” By explaining the specific benefits they are going to gain with your product or service, you’re starting to arm your clients with the information they need to justify their purchase to themselves and defend it, if need be, to their family, friends or business associates.

Another brilliant way to reassure your client, and honor them for choosing your business is by instituting a thoughtfully created follow up plan to keep your company name associated with positive thoughts in the minds and hearts of your clients.

One company that understands this concept fully is BMW and its subsidiary, Mini. Have you seen their newest car that came out this past year? A friend bought a Mini recently, and raved about the customer follow up he received. Even before he received the car BMW/Mini kept him up to date with regular updates on his car as it went through the production process. Since he’s taken delivery on his car, he’s received more follow up letters and useful gifts than from any other company he’s ever dealt with.

These aren’t necessarily big, luxurious gifts. They are more like small tokens of appreciation to share with your friends and family who like your new toy. Mugs, post cards, notepads, and other small gifts — always coming with a “Thank You for being our valued customer” letter along with the package.

Think about it. Who doesn’t enjoy receiving surprise gifts in the mail? Not too many people, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Coaches Corner: What type of system do you have in place that prevents Buyer’s Remorse in your clients/customers? If the majority of people experience buyers remorse, then why don’t more business owners have some type of plan to address this for their own client base?

If you take the time to make this a priority in your business, I can assure you, the positive impact on your marketing, public image and bottom line will be nothing short of incredible.

”’Deborah Cole Micek is a Business Strategist with RPM Success Group