What to Expect in 2009

Ready to Play Leapfrog?

By Roy H. Williams (The Wizard of Ads)

The coming year will be fun, adventure-filled and profitable for people who have their wits about them.

A number of small business owners are positioning themselves to overtake their much larger rivals.

Will one of these companies be yours?

Not many years ago, General Motors and Circuit City were the dominant players in their categories. Today they’re both on their knees, having made the same mistakes:

1. They took their fingers off the pulse of the customer.
When you believe your marketing pipeline will allow you to dictate what the customer will buy, you’re in danger of being leapfrogged. In 1960, General Motors sold nearly 60 percent of all new cars. Today, even though Chevrolet maintains 4,200 dealerships, Toyota sells more cars than all 5 GM brands combined through just 1,400 locations.
LESSON: Having the right product is more important than heritage and convenience.

2. They quit taking risks.
When companies achieve success, they usually quit innovating and become guardians of the status quo. But yesterday’s perfect processes are obsolete tomorrow. Vinyl records were replaced by 8-track tapes. 8-tracks were replaced by cassettes. Cassettes were replaced by CDs. And now CD’s are being replaced by MP3 players. The same is happening with business practices.

LESSON: Success, like failure, is a temporary condition. Never assume you’ve arrived.
The leaders are going into hunker-down mode. They’re cutting back their advertising, assuming that everyone else will cut back as well.

When a leapfrogger sees a leader’s brake lights, he hits the accelerator. Are you beginning to see what I meant when I said, “fun, adventure-filled and profitable?”

Here are the trends to watch in 2009:
1. Frivolous purchases are being delayed.
We’re wearing our clothes longer and keeping the cars we’ve got. We’ll buy what we need, but only after asking whether we really need it.

2. We’re buying fewer things, but better things.
More attention is being paid to quality. Only the poorest are choosing by price alone. Information is king. Details are power. This is good news for makers of better products.

3. “Sustainable” is a concept that will grow in power for at least 10 years.
The lifestyle of the 80’s and 90’s was “upwardly mobile” and its leaders were marked by “conspicuous consumption.” But the chosen lifestyle of the next generation will be “sustainable,” meaning that we’ll strive to live within our means and embrace practices that are environmentally responsible.

Note from Tim: Roy Williams has been tracking societal trends and how they affect business for several decades. He has developed a system of predicting upcoming cycles that has been 100% correct. The coming trend of quality over quantity and more conservative buying habits is nothing new, it is just time for it to occur again in the pendulum of the U.S. business cycle.
Now is the time to consider how you can position your company to provide the kind of quality product and service to leap frog over your competitors.

10 Easy Steps For Better Communication With Your Clients

It has been repetitively said that communication is key. Whether a business is looking to initiate new business or grow relationships within its existing book of business, effective communication is the driving force in helping companies moving their business in the right direction.

Communication should be seen as ongoing starting from the first phone or email contact with a prospect to the completion of a project or throughout the course of your relationship.

It is comprised of many components, many of which are highlighted below. Following these ten important tips will help your company cohesively form a communication strategy that is sure to win over both new and existing clients alike.

1) THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING

Just as it’s been said the best offense is a good defense, the same can be said for communication. Sometimes the best way to reach out to people is simply by listening to them. Clients will never be shy about expressing their needs and concerns. However, a lot of times companies have well developed sales approaches that don’t take into account the dynamic nature of client relations.

It is a good idea to know your strategy and have it firmed up; however, an essential part of that strategy should be formed around listening to what the client has to say on a regular basis. Good listening skills not only allow you to collect valuable information necessary to assist a client and answer their needs, but it also demonstrates sensitivity and understanding.

Listening will set the tone for the rest of your communication. It will direct your efforts. By actively listening to clients, you’ll know the best way to communicate with them. Whether through email or phone, listening skills will foster the next steps in client relations. This can not only help businesses fine tune their sales and implementation techniques but it will also help to create a long term client relationship, increasing visibility, referrals and market share

2) EMAIL ETTIQUETTE

Email has become the most effective and efficient way to communicate within the workplace. Almost 88 percent of all Internet users in the U.S. use email. This information comes from a survey conducted by the UCLA Center for Communication Policy (The UCLA Internet Report: Surveying the Digital Future. UCLA Center for Communication Policy. 2001).

According to the same survey, approximately 90 percent of those who use the Internet at work use it to access business email. It has provided its own unique set of issues to learn to navigate. Although, intended to be used to communicate ideas and concerns, as well as, respond to needs as they arise, if not used correctly email can lead to miscommunication resulting in negative consequences.

The use of email can have a dramatic impact on business, a powerful communication tool. Establishing an email protocol ensures that the client message remains on point and is done so in a The key components to this would be acknowledging emails in a timely matter, using appropriate tone and making sure to check each email for any spelling or grammar errors. Clients often may not notice the extra effort taken to deliver the perfect email; they will, however, be quick to point out any errors, miscommunications or poorly written emails.

3) PHONE ETTIQUETTE

The phone brings a real time approach to client interaction. It allows you to get the true pulse of how a project is headed or what a client needs. Having a team with proper phone skills are essential to any successful business. It isn’t just a matter of picking up a phone and dialing the numbers; it is about having a productive, meaningful and engaging conversation.

A good phone conversation has three key elements

1. The call should be uninterrupted and quiet - It should go without saying that the best place to call a client is from a quiet office and not from a mobile phone in a convertible. However, with technology allowing us to be accessible 24/7, sometimes a quiet office may not always be available. Still though, it is essential to find a location that will allow the topic of the call to be the focus and not background noise. If it is necessary to step out of a room or take a few minutes to find a location, let the client know they will receive a call back shortly. It is better to get back to them in reasonable time then for either party to be distracted.

2. An agenda should to be in place - It is not always the case that a formal agenda needs to be typed up and distributed ahead of time; however, there should always, at a minimum, be an outline of what needs to be taken care of during the conversation. In busy settings, it is important to take time to check in on clients, but also important to be aware of their time constraints too. A focused call will help achieve this. The tone of a call can be as formal or informal as needed; however, it still needs to be driven by objectives and follow-ups.

3. Follow-up - If necessary or requested, it is a good practice to send a follow-up email thanking the client for their time, reviewing the hot topics of the conversation and putting in writing any requirements that need to be addressed in future calls. This gives another opportunity to show clients that by active listening, their needs are being heard and their goals are being worked towards. It also allows an opportunity to clarify any issues or questions that may have come out of the phone call, but still require more information.

4) DEFINE THE PROJECT

Entering into an agreement with a client is the basic function of business. Someone sees a need and decides to fill it. Months are spent creating the perfect branding and marketing plan in preparations for opening the doors. The hard work of running a business is rewarded in the success of expanding a client base.

The most important aspect of doing just that is making sure that the needs of the client are met in the most effective way.

So often a client needs one thing and through a series of miscommunication and internal meetings, the client ends up receiving something other than their vision. Instead of being a business that revisits these issues in postmortems, a proactive way to solve this client killer is to develop a well defined project plan.

Having a definite project scope with appropriate follow-ups will help alleviate the stress of finding out mid course that the client is on a different page. Defining scope can be as simple as meeting with a client to review the basic needs to as extensive as hiring and assigning a project manager to work with the client in a creating and sign off of formal scope document. The level of defining scope will be dependent on the size of the project and the needs of the client. This also goes back to the importance of actively listening.

By taking time early in the process to actively engage the client in what it they require will help to firm up the understanding of the deliverable they are expecting. Putting the communication effort up front, can also be cost effective as there will be less potential for work spent trying to ‘fix’ issues as they arise. A successful project is one that continually moves forward. Moves laterally or backward are financially draining for both client and business owner.

Communicating scope at the beginning of the working relationship ensures that each day the project is active it is moving forward to both the benefit of client and business alike. In the end, a project that is defined will leave less room for error and more opportunity for repeat business and word of mouth referrals.

5) MAKE DEADLINE

Hand in hand with defining project scope is honoring the commitment promised to the client. Scoping out the project ahead of time will allow proper resource allocation to be towards the project from the beginning. Just as time is money for you, the client is dependent on your word to complete their needs in the time promised.

A delayed project not only adds more payrolls to the business expense, but it delays the end goal of the paying client. Whether the business makes t-shirts, hosts websites or performs online trading, the client is dependent on the expertise of the business. One component of that expertise is the ability to listen to the needs the client is presenting and turning that into a functional timeline.

Your business is making money off the needs of the client, however, the client is dependent on a promised turnaround in order to make money. A client is going to seek to hire those companies that not only provide the services they need but do so in the most cost effective manner. They will be taking into account not only price point when making a decision with who to work, but also turn around time.

A business is only as good as its reputation. And its reputation is solely based on that of its clients.

Communicating with clients on what they can expect is only half the battle; letting them know when they can expect it is the other. Everyone knows that not all projects are delivered on time. In fact only a small percentage of projects come in on time and under budget, so although hopeful most clients will be aware that there will be variables beyond control that can push a deadline.

However, how a company communicates that information to a client can be the difference between an angry client and a delayed yet very successful project. Any successful business knows that there will have to be a fair share of adjusting to situations as they present themselves; going into projects clients will be aware they may need to shift from time to time, open and timely communication to them will allow them to make the changes necessary.

6) EXPRESS NEEDS

Working with a client is a mutual relationship. Just as the client is expecting certain things from the business, it is expected that the business will have certain needs for the client. From the onset of the project through its completion, communicating on what is needed from the client will have a direct impact on how things progress.

As it is with the client conveying their requirements, taking the time to freely communicate expectations, concerns and preferences will help create a dynamic approach to the project and help build trust and rapport with the client. Communicating has both an immediate and long lasting impact. Instantly it sets the bar high for the project and lets the client know that they are working with a company they can trust.

7) ADMIT & CORRECT MISTAKES

Throughout the course of a business relationship with a client there are bound to be situations when what the client wants or expects is not done to the client’s expectations and, in turn, satisfaction. When things go amiss, it makes good business sense to take the time to review what went wrong and why. There are going to be times the ‘why’ is because the business made an error.

Never be afraid to step up to the plate and let the client know an error was made, and more importantly that it is being corrected - immediately.

Communicating issues with the client allows them to see that they have selected a company that both sees manages issues as they arise and doesn’t try to cover them up. It is often said that it isn’t the lie that befalls a man, but the cover-up. The same sentiment can hold true for businesses.

It isn’t the error that will hurt your relationship, errors happen; however, an attempted cover-up, denial or lie will have negative implications that can harm the ongoing project, as well as curtail any change of future projects with the client.

There will also be times after careful review it is determined that no real error was done, rather the client miscommunicated, change scope or is just being difficult. Inevitably at some point everyone will run into this situation; the edict, “The customer is ALWAYS right” applies here.

Treat the client as if they are right, even if it means gritting your teeth. Although easier, and often more rewarding to point out no error was made taking that approach, this will not move the project forward. Getting into a back and forth with a client on who was right and who was wrong can stall a project and create a new wave of issues to deal with.

There is no reason to admit fault during these situations, however, a skillful business person will listen to the needs of the client and communicate the desire to fix the issue. Taking steps to rectify the situation without admitting fault will keep the project moving along and will satisfy the concern of the client.

At this point it may become necessary to add more check-in emails or meetings with the client to help alleviate this type of problem in the future. And the good news is once the project is over it the decision can be made to avoid future relations with the client.

PROJECT TRACKING

As the start of the project nears it is a good idea to have a kick-off meeting with the client to review expectations, deadlines, scope, billing, and any other variables that will be tracked over the course of the project. Structuring expectations of the project from day one will help minimize confusion as the project begins to roll out.

One way to do this is to track all components of the project and provide the client updates along the way. For example, remember to track all time spent on the project; if billing is by the hour, make sure to send the client updates.

No client wants to be surprised by a large bill due to miscommunication of time spent working on the project. Keep the client abreast of the time it is taking to move the project forward, by communicating with them, it allows them the opportunity to make adjustments if necessary and will help to avoid any payment issues on the back end.

Also track as much of the client communication as you can too. A good system keeps track of every communication with the client and solves the “didn’t you get my email?” problem. An overall tracking strategy also allows you the freedom to provide feedback to the client on a moment’s notice. If they have questions as to the amount of time, the cost, or the overall efficiency of the project, it will be easy to provide them a quick response addressing all of their concerns.

9) LET IT ROLL OFF YOUR BACK

The business world can be tough. With the best team leading a project, the best efforts in place and the best outcome resulting, there are still going to be situations where it just isn’t good enough for someone. Even with all the best efforts put forward, inevitably a client will ask for a report to be worded a certain way or for a logo to be in neon yellow and orange.

Provide them a professional opinion of what better, however remember at the end of the day (and budget) it is their project and as discussed earlier, ‘the customer is always right” Criticism is bound to happen at all levels of the project, from the client to internal meetings, try not to take it personally and think of criticism as an objective opportunity to make the project better. The more often criticism is presented; the easier it will be to keep it in check, remember its importance and to use it as a tool to move forward.

10) CUSTOMER SERVICE | CUSTOMER SERVICE | CUSTOMER SERVICE

If as if they say, ‘location, location, location’ are the three most important variables in deciding where to start a business, then ‘customer service, customer service, customer service’ are the three most important to keeping it up and running. Communication is the core component to providing top notch customer service. From the moment a prospect calls with an inquiry into the services provided to thank you notes, communicating is the best customer service approach to let the client know they matter are appreciated.

One of the most important customer service skills is the ability to understand and effectively respond to the customer’s needs and concerns. Excellent customer service starts by first taking the time to get to know the customer, his situation, his vision, his frustrations and his goals. Providing great customer service is not difficult nor does it require a lot of effort.

What good customer service requires is a belief in the philosophy that the business is dependent on the client, and in turn will work to make sure the clients needs are the most important thing. Clients want to work with those businesses who demonstrate a sincere desire to help them with anything they need, and they are willing to pay for it. Yes, they want products to work and services that meet their needs. More importantly though, they want someone to care when something goes wrong

Everything discussed thus far in this article lead up to this point. By following the tips as outlined above, you are essentially creating the manual for a customer service plan. It’s important that every member of the team be on the same page with customer service. Proper training complete with guidelines on best practices will make sure customer service is consistent across the company. Making the clients feel appreciated and listened to will keep them coming back for more and in a lot of cases will bring new clients right to the doorstep.

Looking over this article it’s easy to sense a general theme established in the first sentence.

Communication is key!

Communication is the most important tool that a business has to establish, grow and maintain a client base. Communication is found in every aspect of business. In fact it is not just in every aspect of day to day operations; it is the core of them. We are never more than a click or number away from talking to someone about what is needed and how it is going to be delivered.

Technology provides the necessary functions of phone and email. These key tools are used daily to follow up, host meetings, and provide ongoing updates and, if used properly can be used to turn any project into a successful one.

Communicating is not just practiced with clients, internal communication helps to create a team that works within the philosophy the customer is always right. Building a business based on that philosophy, in turn creates a culture that is based on excellent customer service.

Ongoing training keeps all staff up to date with the protocols of the company and makes sure every interaction with a client at each level of the business is the best it can be. Internal communication can also be found by using a third party tool that will help track client communication, helping to avoid issues of lost email or poor follow-up and allow the business to continually improve internal methods.

With clients looking to get the best service for their money, it behooves companies to focus on continually evaluating and improving communication as needed. The tips in this article are a good starting point for companies to review and discuss. Not only do they outline the importance of communication, but they create a basic protocol, that if followed, will help companies firm up a strategy for client communication, training and internal tracking.

Communication can be seen as the most important tool a company can have. It touches each level of the organization and each client it works with. It is the key to making sure that the efforts that were put into the formation of the business are rewarded with long lasting and profitable client relations.

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Publicity & Media For Your Small Business

Building an online business has become one of the most popular forms of entrepreneurship, and with good reason. The statistics clearly show that there’s money to be made on the Internet, in fact, last year’s e-commerce retail sales in the U.S. alone amounted to a whopping $4,495 billion dollars.

With billions of dollars being made through the Internet, it’s not surprising to see new online businesses cropping up by the thousands each and every day. Unfortunately, over 50% of those businesses will fail within the first year.

But why? Why do so many business ventures fail to find success?

Well, there’s usually a number of different reasons that determine the outcome of a business; however, an online business can fail hard and fast without the all important key of marketing.

Marketing is one of the most powerful cards an online business owner can play, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune, in truth, some of the best methods are actually free. But, whether it’s from a lack of marketing, or simply that a business owner’s marketing knowledge and skills aren’t up to par, good businesses are disappearing because their owners aren’t marketing their businesses like they should be.

Of course it’s easy to get caught up in the latest and greatest online marketing methods in the search for success, and things like the Free For All (FFA) listings or surfing in exchange for traffic that were once all the rage, tend to be nothing more than passing fads.

Fortunately, there are time-tested and proven ways to market an online business, and one particular technique that will never phase out as being ineffective, is a press release.

A lot of Internet business owners tend to shy away from offline media outlets purely because they’re businesses are online, so they assume they have to stay within the Internet style of marketing when it’s really not the case.

BENEFITS OF MARKETING WITH PRESS RELEASES

Press releases aren’t just for offline businesses; in reality there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of news related websites filled with stories and videos and those stories have to come from somewhere.

With news hungry journalists scouring the Internet in search of their next great piece, press release submission sites have made it super easy for them to find interesting story leads.

But not only are they looking for pieces to publish online, they need stories to run in their local papers, on their T.V. news programs, and even in magazines.

Obviously the biggest benefit an online business owner can get out of a press release is to be contacted by a newspaper or television program for an interview and it’s FREE exposure. However, if a press release is submitted both offline and online, the rewards for an Internet business will increase.

Not only will you gain the interest of writers looking for stories, but you’ll also be reaching potential customers who read the news online, and you’ll gain valuable links that can boost your rankings within the search engines.

Submitting regular press releases online makes good sense just for the quality incoming links that can be gained through them. It’s also a great way to spread the word about what’s going on in your business.

Whether you’re donating a portion of your sales to a charity, offering a new product, or announcing a hot holiday special, you can weave your business news into an attention getting press release.

WRITING YOUR PRESS RELEASE

If you’ve never written a press release before, it can certainly be a little overwhelming. Of course you can always hire someone to write it for you, but don’t be surprised if you have to invest $100 or more for a 1 page press release.

If you’re business is booming, then by all means use the services of a professional writer to produce regular press releases for you. It will pay for itself in the end. However, if your business is new or you’re just not seeing the kind of profit you want, then it’s likely best if you wing it yourself for awhile.

Once you know the proper format of a press release, and how to pull your information together in an interesting manner, it’ll be a breeze for you to write out a 1 page press release in no time flat.

Here is what your press release should have:

Release Timing: If there is no specific date that your press release must be published by, then use FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. If for instance you are running an event to raise money for a charity in a month, obviously you don’t want your press release published way before the event takes place. Therefore, you would use HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL (the date you want people to know about your event). However, keep in mind that a hold request may not always be honored.

Target: This is not always used on a press release, and is more suited to offline submissions. Here you would put something like ATTENTION LIFESTYLE EDITORS, or whomever you wish to address.

Headline/Title: This is one of the most important aspects of your press release, simply because the headline can be what gets your press release read, or thrown on the “slush” pile. Be sure to use all capital letters for your headline to really grab the reader’s eye. If possible, keep it short and always make it interesting. You want to arouse your reader’s curiosity so that they’re eager to read your press release to find out more. If your headline doesn’t leave them hungry for more, chances are they won’t bother reading your press release, even if it is good.

Sub-Headline: Using a sub-headline is optional on a press release, but if you’d like to expand your main headline use a sub-headline to give a little more detail.

Date: This is the date that you want your press release to be distributed on. For example: May 21, 2008.

Location: This is not where you would put your event, special offer, etc.’s location, it’s where the press release will be distributed from. City, State/Province, Country.

Introductory Paragraph: After your headline, this will be the most important part of your press release. Within this paragraph you need to answer the questions, who, what, when, and where, and do it in an attention getting manner. You want your event or whatever it is you are announcing to sound interesting and exciting to the reader.

Second Paragraph: This section of your press release will contain the details of your announcement. This could be a short description of your products, services, your event, etc. Be sure to include facts that will support the significance of your press release.

Preceding Paragraphs: The paragraphs that follow the first 2 will include the less important facts and information.

For Further Information: This is where you will put your name, phone number, website address, and email address so that the media or whomever can contact you for more information. Always remember to include your website address so that people reading your press release can visit your website, and so that the search engines can index you.

About You/Your Business: Depending on the nature of your press release you may want to provide some information about you and your background. For instance, if you’re donating a portion of the money you earn to a breast cancer foundation by selling pink candles, you may want to mention why you’re doing it. Are you a cancer survivor? Did you have a family member who fought breast cancer?

Including this information will provide readers will more of the story, and writers especially will want to know these things. Be sure to talk about your business as well. Describe your business and what you offer, and cover some key points.

Closing: If your press release needs to be longer than 1 page, you will need to put [more] at the bottom, center of the first page of your release. Once you reach the end of your press release, insert 3 of these: ### at the bottom of the page, aligned in the center.

Now that you have your press release written, you’re probably wondering what the heck to do with it. First you’ll need to decide if you are going to submit online, offline, or both. Once you do that, it’s merely a matter of making a note of where you want to send it.

Offline Submissions: You will need to find out what method each place prefers for press release submissions. Do they want them mailed, emailed, or faxed? Should submissions that are emailed be sent as an attachment, or pasted into the body of the email? Is there a department within the paper that handles press release submissions? If so, who should your press release be addressed to? A little research and/or a phone call should provide you will all the information that you’ll need.

Online Submissions: Submissions done online are much easier, and there are tons of free and paid options. Free is always good, but if you’re looking to reach a wider audience at a much faster rate, spending a few bucks may be worthwhile.

The online press release submission process is typically a cut and paste, or fill-in-the-blank procedure. So it can be done quickly and easily, without investing a lot of time on your part.

PLACES TO SUBMIT YOUR PRESS RELEASE

1. www.24-7pressrelease.com
2. www.prlog.org
3. www.free-press-release.com
4. www.pr9.net
5. www.i-newswire.com
6. www.1888pressrelease.com
7. www.prweb.com
8. www.businesswire.com
9. www.prfree.com
10. www.malebits.com
11. www.marketwire.com
12. www.prnewswire.com
13. www.addpr.com
14. www.pr.com
15. www.pr-inside.com
16. www.pressmethod.com

Here is a break-down of using a press release:

• Decide what you want your press release to announce.
• Write the press release following the proper format, and include all the essential information.
• Write an attention getting headline and sub-headline.
• Include your location (where your distributing the press release from) in your intro paragraph and cover the 4 W’s: Who, What, When, Where.
• Your press release should be about the benefits to the reader. Why should they read about you, what are you offering?
• Write newsworthy information. People don’t want to read about normal business happenings, they want human interest and excitement.
• Keep your release as short and to the point as you possibly can. Long and drawn out press releases can lose your reader’s interest.
• Include your contact information so those interested, can contact you for more information.
• Give some information about you and your company.
• Finally, submit your press release to as many online and offline places as you can to get the word out about your announcement.

Including press releases as a part of your marketing campaign is a great way to gain, in most cases, free exposure. Writing and submitting them on a regular basis is the perfect way to keep your company’s products and/or services in the minds of your customers. It reminds them that you’re still there, ready to give them what they’re looking for.

Five Rules For Being Clever In Ads

You don’t have to spend $2 million dollars on a Super Bowl commercial to have a creative ad that grabs people’s attention. What are some keys to having something that breaks through the clutter?

Try these 5 rules:

1. Surprise your audience. Do something they don’t expect.
2. Make sure it is relevant. Funny for funny sake doesn’t sell more product. Remember your end game.
3. No inside jokes. Everyone should get it.
4. Different medium = different funny. You can be more esoteric in print ads because your audience has time to figure it out. Outdoor — they have about 5 seconds, so get to it quick.
5. Clever funny always wins over mock someone funny.

Because of this medium, my examples are visually creative. But remember, you can create the same effect with words too.

audience, clever ads, jokes, pique your interest, print ads

Are you selling FOR them or TO them?

First, let’s establish this truth. We are all sales people.

I don’t care if you are an engineer, a 3rd grade teacher, a social worker or a copier saleswoman. You are in sales.

Every single one of us needs to sell someone on something. It might be getting your boss to agree to closing the shop early on Fridays or getting your students to study over a week’s time rather than cramming the night before. Or it could be getting a prospect to give your copier a spin for 30 days.

So how do you sell? Where do you start? What questions do you ask yourself?

Whose bottom line do you worry about first? Yours or the customer’s?

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, wrote an excellent article on this point. She suggests that most sales people typically ask questions like:

“What do I need to convince them that we’re the best?”

She goes on to say that questions that are about selling TO a prospect won’t get you there. The real trick to successful sales is actually selling FOR your prospect. Ask yourself questions like:

“What can I (my company’s product) do to contribute to my customer’s success?”

When you worry about your prospect’s bottom line…it will take care of yours.

BONUS: Are you a smart, savvy woman who sells? Check out the Sales Shebang Conference. Just a quick drive to Minneapolis on September 23-24 and you can enjoy presenters like Konrath and many more.

amazon, bottom line, konrath, sales, Sales Shebang Conference, we are all in sales

Help Tech Support, The Sky Has Fallen

It is inevitable. No matter what your business, online or off, technical problems are bound to happen. They will happen without (apparent) rhyme or reason, they will strike at any time - often at most inappropriate times. Yet, many small businesses fail to work out some kind of emergency support.

Here’s what I’m talking about. You are launching a product, tested everything. The first few orders come in without problems but suddenly, all hell breaks lose. Your web site goes down or your order system quits. Irate emails start pouring in. You try to fix it but realize you have no clue what to do.

You call on your trusted developer. Bad news. Since they’ve heard nothing from you nor have you requested to be on their schedule, they’ve booked out their time to other clients who are working on a time sensitive job. She replies she can probably squeeze in an hour to look at the problem end of tomorrow but that’s not a promise of a fix at the end of tomorrow. It’ll all depend on what she finds. On top of that, she’ll have to work around the other clients’ jobs.

One whole day of doing nothing. That’s pure agony. Marketing wise, you may never recover the momentum. You say OK to her but try look for another developer who can look at the problem right now. Maybe ask if your friends on Twitter may know someone. They do and the stand in is hired. But because they themselves are not familiar with your set up, they take more time trying to understand the system, poking around.

Finally, the first developer comes in the next day, fixes the problem in 2 minutes flat. You end up with lots of down time, a ton of stress, lost momentum and 2 bills.

This scenario can so easily be avoided if you had simply negotiated an emergency support option with your existing programmer. And of course, better planning helps.

Most developers know that technical problems to not discriminate nor do they take holidays. Many will help you as soon as they can break free because we know it is frustrating. But a client who always expects you to be there at the drop of the hat during all hours and days of the week is also one who’ll soon be fired.

So what do you do? If you haven’t yet discussed an emergency support plan with your resident techie, do so. Offer to pay a little bit more for being available to you on short notice. You may be paying more per hour for emergencies, but it’ll still be worth it because you have less stress, the problem is taken care of quickly and you don’t look like a poor planner to ‘friends’ on social networks.

Once you have that emergency net set, it’s time to work on the planning. Here are some things you can do to reduce the need to call for emergency tech support.

• When launching anything, always inform tech support ahead of time. If it’s a particularly new item or big launch, something that makes you nervous, consider paying them to be on standby.
• If your web host is upgrading, moving or doing anything. Let your tech team know.
• Keep tech support in the loop. The more they know about what you are working on the easier for them to trace problems.
• Don’t implement anything big during Friday, weekends or holidays if you can help it. If something must be launched for the weekend, makes sure you do a couple of dry runs.

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How To Power Position Your Brand!

Positioning your brand is probably one of the most important aspects of branding. It is the unique strategy that will introduce your target audience to exactly what it is that differentiates your product or service from your competitors. I am working with a number of companies right now developing exactly this.

It is absolutely fascinating what gems come out of discussions on positioning. At the outset, many companies are hard pressed to recognize a difference. All they see is the obvious. My strength is that I want to understand how the product or service is delivered, how is it made, what is the experience that surrounds the product or service? Several times the difference is not in the actual product but the delivery of the product or the follow-up. You have to look at the entire product cycle from conception to happy customer and beyond. There is an opportunity in there. You can count on it.

Compliances offer up positioning opportunities. Training offers up positioning opportunities. Frankly there is much to learn from every angle and nuance. For example, I worked with a consumer food product customer. They felt that their fruit product was much like all their competitors across the world. All were grown exactly the same way, with the same ingredients, under similar conditions using the same technologies and marketing and shipping conditions. I refused to believe that there was no opportunity and so I dug deeper into the industry standards. I wanted to know how one product is rated over another. What was intriguing was that the very standards for grading our produce was the opportunity for a very BIG aha moment. Here is the skinny on fruit standards. They are judged on 3 criteria - size, appearance and firmness.

Consider these criteria again: size - appearance - firmness. Is anything missing? I suggested there was and it was huge.

Taste.

You see, taste isn’t a criteria. That is left up to the individual. I suggested that there must be at least a minimum standard that a good sample must taste like. With watermelon, it’s the sweetness - a lemon, its tarty characteristic. Everyone agreed that we were on to something.

Once this particular fruit standard for taste was established, we then contracted the two leading agricultural universities in Canada and the United States to independently develop processes that tested for taste based on the bar we set. While other competing fruit have may won taste competitions judged by consumers, we now have established a definitive test for taste not unlike the the test for size, appearance and firmness. The processes were legally protected and are now proprietary to us.

We were now the ONLY fruit tested for taste!

Our fruit’s taste was now a guaranteed standard of quality NOT based on differing opinions, but on quantitative data. The bar had been raised.

A very compelling difference. This my friends is positioning. In this case the customer had to change how it did business and in doing so, introduced a new standard to their industry. This is not the work of a follower, but a leader.

Positioning can be very powerful if you are savvy enough to recognize the opportunity and bold enough to implement it. The real gems are far beyond the obvious. Look all around the edges of your product or service.

One other small example I will tantilize you with involves a current customer who has a software product. He is in a saturated market where all developers (including them) use one simple digital tool as the basis for determining solutions inherent to the software. If they carry out one small alteration I am suggesting to this simple tool they will instantly make that common tool the achiles heel for every competitor they have - over night.

This is no small boast. When I suggested it, the customer saw the potential immediately. So simple.

Currently the tool has no real value to the software only to say that it has to be there. Much like a car has to have tires to move smoothly over a road - they are important, but they are a given in every model and simply not seen as important or influential enough to warrant a mention in the marketing of a car. This simple tool is such a animal. We are not complete on this yet, so I can’t mention specifics.

My tease is to inspire you look deep into the soul of your product or service and develop a positioning strategy that goes way beyond fancy advertising slogans and resonates with target audiences, by eliminating pain points (defined in a previous article) and making customers want to work with you. A great positioning strategy will excite you, your company and ultimately lead customers to love you.

Are you up to the challenge?

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Lights, Camera…Sales?

There are many ways to deliver a marketing message. One that is often overlooked or erroneously dismissed as being too expensive is producing a video. YouTube has changed some perceptions in that arena but not so much in the marketing field.

In reality, the return on the investment can be significant, even if you get a top notch professional to shoot your video. Some of the advantages are:

~ Delivers the intimacy of extended one-to-one communication.

~ Compared to TV ads, non-interruptive.

~ Allows three-dimensional views of products, show a product in use or a service provider in action.

~ With music, action and color, generates emotional impact.

~ Can bring your employees and their passion for your business to life.

~ Can be combined with CD, DVD, or streaming video technology to translate to an easy direct mail piece or web page content.

~ Is a powerful storytelling medium.

Wondering where you can use your video? Your lobby. Your website. Your e-mail campaign. Your annual meeting. Staff recruitment. New business pitches. And that’s just the beginning.

emotional impact, intimacy, perceptions, storytelling, streaming video technology, web page content, youTube

The Talking Logo- What You Really Do for a Living

Tell me if this sounds familiar. You’re at a networking event and someone inevitably asks you….”What do you do for a living?” What do you say?

If you’re like most people you have the generic answer, “I’m in the mortgage business” or “I’m an account executive” or ” I own a small business” and you hand them a business card and then you’re either off to the next person or you’re stuck in a conversation with someone that you have no idea if they have a potential want or need for you and your services.

We have been programmed to answer with either our title or our industry. These types of answers offer little or no marketing value. I don’t think that most people comprehend that these moments are actually the first part of the ‘marketing’ process. Let’s flash back to our definition of marketing- “Getting someone with a need to know like and trust us”. By simply answering with a title or industry we’ve missed a very valuable opportunity to actually qualify them to see if they may have a need.

So what is the solution?

We at Sticky Marketing Systems call it the “Talking Logo”. A talking logo is a carefully crafted reply to the question, “what do you do for a living?”. Your Talking Logo is created in two distinct parts. Part 1 addresses your target market, and Part 2 zeros in on a problem, frustration, or want that market has.

You’ll know you have an effective Talking Logo when you tell someone what you do and they respond “Really, how do you do that?”

For example if someone was to ask me what I do for a living, I could respond ” I teach small business owners and service professionals how to get all the clients they want.”

8 out of 10 times someone will ask, “How do you do that?

I answer them, “I use a simple 7 step process that is endorsed by Harvard Business school and Forbes Business Review, to create and install a marketing system .”

A Talking Logo is a short statement (or question) that quickly communicates your firm’s position and forces the listener to want to know more.

The Formula

Here’s the formula to create your own: action verb (I teach, I show, I help), target market (business owners, plumbers, teachers, home owners), how to xxxx (solve a problem or meet a need).

Once you get clarity and comfortable saying your Talking Logo you can even take it on step further by actually getting the suspect to acknowledge the pain point (hot button) during the conversation.

For example some times I will answer their question of “what do you do for living”, with a question, like this: “You know how some small business owners struggle to get all the clients they want?” [wait for them to acknowledge "yes"] “Well I teach them a system to get all the clients they want”.

You will be amazed at how many people say things like “you know my sister is like that….” or “that sounds like my accountant…”

The formula would be: “You know how some Target Market (business owners, plumbers, teachers, home owners) struggle to xxxx(problem or need), I action verb (show, teach, help) to (solve that problem or meet need).

So go ahead and create your Talking Logo today!!

target market, what do you do for a living

Shipping Out Now: Customers’ Information

I’m surprised this news bite I happened to catch on local TV recently didn’t get picked up more. Recently, a lady called our local TV station, to say that a company whom she purchased from, shipped her order with shredded checks used as cushioning for the product.

That on its own is absolutely not OK. To make matters worse, the shredder didn’t even do that good a job - parts of some checks were still intact. Adding insult to injury, the shredder used was one of those old style strip shredders what were about 1/4 inch wide that even a child could easily piece back together.

According to the reporter, they called the company and the owners said they’ve been “using it for years“, that”this is the first time anybody noticed” and “they’ll stop using it now“.

I shudder to think how many uninterested businesses handle my personal information that way. Just because they have been using it for years and nobody noticed doesn’t make it right. The report did not say if they used their own customers’ checks or worse yet, got those from other businesses. Either way, this is outrageous!

In this advanced, technically inclined world of ours today, businesses like to talk about encryption, securing their web site, protecting customer data, tools and methods to keep hackers at bay and restricting access to customer data. These are all important. I am not discounting that. But all this focus on protecting electronic information is not going to help you much when your paper system is flawed.

Protect your customer data, whether it is on paper, verbal or electronic. It is the law. But really, what should be more important than that - you owe it to your customers.

P.S.: You might want to check out “Protecting Personal Information - A Guide for Business” published by the FTC.

P.P.S.: Upgrade your hardware. 80’s style paper shredders are not good enough. Go for cross cuts or confetti cuts at least. The smaller it can shred the better.

electronic information, hackers, paper shredders

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