Oct 13, 2014 | Marketing, Self, Team, Time Management
Here are 5 business mistakes to avoid (now more than ever):
1. Ignore your customers. If you neglect your customers, someone else will be happy to take them. Did you know that 68% of customers leave due to perceived indifference – they think you don’t care!
Instead of focusing all your efforts chasing new ones, cut yourself a great deal and focus on keeping your existing clients. Its 6 times more expensive to get a new client than it is to keep the one you have now. By the way, have you graded your customers A – D? Focus on A & B, convert C’s, and let the D’s go!
The general rule is to keep some kind of contact at least every 90 days. That could be a call, visit, card, or email, or even try JibJab. You are only limited by your imagination.
2. Stop advertising, marketing, promoting. Avoid the knee-jerk panic reaction to stop promoting your business. It just accelerates the downward spiral. Remember, real marketing starts long before the sale and continues long after.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money. You just have to be selective and track your results.
Contact me and I will be glad to share inexpensive ways to get noticed. By the way, any advertising you do should include a “call to action”. Forget image, ring the cash register! Focus on your target, communicate a compelling offer, and drive the sale!
3. Neglect your team. Now more than ever, the team has to “hit on all cylinders”. You need to have less tolerance for under-performance and waste. There are a lot of great people looking for jobs. One advantage of economic downturns is the opportunity to select some strong talent.
As the leader, you must strike a careful balance, encouraging and motivating the team while sharing feedback and holding them accountable. Don’t forget training and development either. Your team is one of your greatest assets; invest in them now to pay dividends in the future.
4. Waste your time. Your only non-renewable resource is your time. You can always make more money, but you can never create more time. Once today is gone, it is gone forever. Ask yourself: What is the best use of my time for the business right now? Ask that every day, especially as you plan the next one.
By the way, the best time to plan tomorrow is at the end of today. Another suggestion: Turn off automatic downloading and notification of email. The time you save each day from that distraction will startle you. One more thing: When was the last time you updated your default calendar? Take control – do it today!
5. Make excuses for doing any of the above. Who are you kidding? If you are guilty of succumbing to the temptations above, I have two things to say to you: One, congratulations, you are human. Two, you can do something about it.
Decide to start now, take ownership and be accountable.
All of us choose how we respond to the challenges that our business throws at us. If what you have been doing is not yielding the results you want, something has to change. Nothing will change until you do.
Are you involved in or committed to your business? Involvement means we take action when it is convenient, commitment means we accept no excuses, only results.
Now, get out there and do what you do best.
Oct 6, 2014 | Marketing
“I don’t generate leads, all my business is word of mouth”. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this response from business owners when asked how they generate leads. “Word of Mouth”, otherwise known as a referral, is one of the best sources of leads, but one you can’t take for granted.
Referrals are one of the most powerful way to generate leads in the world. It is a cheap and very effective, not to mention, extremely desirable situation when people start spreading the word for you.
If you are already getting referrals, it means you are probably offering exceptional value and service. But you can get much more business out of referral leads by using a purposeful, specific program designed to generate referral leads.
Step One: Ask!
Your satisfied customers, happy employees and devoted friends/family will want you to succeed in your business endeavors. But don’t sit back and wait for them to take action. Set up a program with specific timing, offers and sequence. Ask your customers if they are happy. If they are, ask if they know of other like-minded customers who have interest in your products or services. Make an offer that will entice them to take action. People like being viewed as having knowledge or expertise. If you help them do that by recommending your product or service, most are usually willing to help you.
When asking for referrals in your network, be specific. For example, ask them, “I am looking for people interested in getting in better health through new exercise programs”, or “My ideal client is a retail business owner with revenues between $1 million and $10 million.”
- Identify a number of potential referral sources for the next year.
- Schedule a lunch/breakfast with each referral, each month.
- That will result in 12+ meetings and exponentially more new business contacts.
Step Two: Hints and Tips
- Be specific with rewards; for example give someone who introduces his or her friend to your yoga studio with a free one week membership, or it could even be a “finder’s” fee paid in the form of a gift voucher.
- Offer a reward that is simple, easy to administer and clear, so people know exactly what they get for a referral.
- Be very generous with those who spread the word. Consider what you would have to spend on advertising to get the same results.
- Talk to other businesses that complement yours’ (ie; workout clothes or juice bar if you own a yoga studio). There are great opportunities to do a little reciprocal referring.
- Test and Measure, as always!
Test & Measure:
Just like any program designed to generate leads, make sure you are tracking the source of your referrals. Knowing where your customers come from gives you the power to make smart decisions about what to spend your marketing money on and where to further cultivate your referral system.
Hints and Tips:
- Keep meticulous records of where all leads come from and how much those customers spend.
- Monitor how well every single product sells, and WHY it’s selling.
- Keep running a referral program that works, even if YOU are bored of it.
The key is not taking referrals for granted and rewarding those who are your best ambassadors.
To learn more about how to generate leads and referral program marketing, join ActionClub starting next week on Oct 14, 2014.
Jul 1, 2014 | Marketing
There are three keys to creating predictable and consistent cashflow through marketing:
1. Strong and sustainable Unique Selling Proposition: A strong USP is one that cuts through the clutter of our everyday lives. A USP is like a beacon that calls you like an irresistible force. It is the lighthouse that brightens the night sky after you were lost at sea and thought that all was lost. Do you get the picture?
In his book, Purple Cow, Seth Godin explains that the USP must be as remarkable as seeing a Purple Cow. So, if you do not have a USP or you believe your USP is weak, try this exercise by Jay Conrad Levinson, author of Guerilla Marketing. First, write down everything you possibly could think of that you do that would possibly be unique and put it into seven paragraphs.
Next, take the most unique ideas and reduce it down to seven sentences. Finally, take the seven sentences and use only seven words that describe your uniqueness. Going through this exercise, will give you a good starting point for a powerful USP.
2. Overwhelming a particular niche: Many entrepreneurs that start out with their first company make the mistake of focusing too narrowly on a specific target market.
Hang on, shouldn’t we be very specific about our target market? The answer is yes, and no. When starting a new marketing campaign the target market should be small and very focused. However, having this narrow focus for a marketing campaign does not mean that the company should have a very narrow focus.
A new company or new product may not have yet realized exactly what target market has the strongest demand for it. Once you identify a target market or a niche, then you can further develop the niche until you master it.
Seth Godin refers to this process as “overwhelming the hive”. As when bees protect and swarm their hive, the same is true about how similar people tend to congregate as a target market. People within the hive naturally spread the word about you until everyone is talking about you and your product and services.
In planning your marketing, what are the top three target markets or hives that your company is determined to overwhelm? Identify them in excruciating detail.
3. Multiple strategies producing balanced lead generation: Once you have a strong USP and you know who and where your target markets exists, then determine what specific lead generation strategies you can put to work.
How often have you heard a business owner say that they get all their business from referrals? Well, if you think of the example of a diving board and its one leg, how much spring would the diving board have compared to having multiple legs prop it up? This example is true in business too.
If you have one strategy or leg supporting your marketing diving board, how much bounce in your cashflow are you going to experience?
For businesses, which rely solely on one referral strategy, cashflow will go up and down. Drive predictable cashflow by using well thought out strategies that equally produce a balanced set of leads. Just like your financial adviser tells you, a balanced portfolio will smooth out your returns.
In the event that one strategy does not work in a particular month, there are several other strategies that could. We at ActionCOACH like to use a 10 x 10 lead generation plan which means that a business should have 10 lead generation strategies that each produces 10 percent of the company’s leads.
To learn more about lead generation strategies, come to the next ActionClub seminar.
May 12, 2014 | Marketing
In my meetings with business owners, I will often ask if they would hire an employee for $40,000 a year and then never check to see if they accomplished anything or even showed up to work. They usually look at me as if I have three heads, and say “Of course not!” Then I ask why they do just that with their marketing budget. Then I get the ‘aha’ moment from them.
Obviously some marketing budgets are significantly more and others are less, but the principle remains the same. Our marketing expenditures are often determined by what we have done in the past, or what we feel is too expensive. I spoke to a business owner who told me they stopped advertising in the Yellow Pages completely after previously having a full-page ad. When I asked why, they said it was too expensive. I asked what type of results they had gotten, and if they received any type of reporting. The business owner indicated the reporting was excellent, but they were too busy to ever look at the reports.
I’m not promoting one advertising medium over another as they all have their strengths and applications. I am saying that unless you want a $40,000 employee that does not show up, it is imperative that we test and measure the results from our marketing to make informed decisions on what to increase, decrease, add and subtract. Here are a few simple concepts to start the process.
- Define your purpose for the marketing investment: If the purpose of the marketing is to drive revenues and profits, then the measurements of success need to reflect that. If the purpose is something else, then adjust your measurements accordingly.
- Track your leads and record the prospect’s data: At the very minimum always ask the prospect some version of “How did you hear about?” Collect their information and put it in a database. The goal is to know how many leads (and ultimately how much profit) per week are coming from each marketing medium and be able to continue to contact those leads. I know from my mystery shopping this is a huge leak in the pipeline for most businesses.
- Know your key numbers: Marketing is simply a matter of buying clients for less than their lifetime values. Many businesses will not break even until after a new client makes more than two purchases. A chiropractor and a hair salon are two good examples where loyal clients have many transactions over a period of years. The two key numbers are acquisition cost (cost of gaining a new client) and lifetime value (how much the average new client will spend as your client). The key to making marketing an investment is to keep the acquisition cost as low as possible while driving the lifetime value as high as possible. Do you know your numbers?
- Use the information you collect to make educated decisions: Once we record the information over time, we will know the acquisition cost for each marketing technique as well as the number of new clients driven by each technique. You will likely notice a significant difference in the lifetime value of clients from different techniques. Build the information over time and use it to determine how to allocate your budget.
Obviously there are entire books written about these concepts. The key is to start systematically recording your information now to increase your revenues and build your decision making database.
Whatever you do, make sure you’re getting a great return on your investment from that $40,000 employee! Learn more.
Apr 21, 2014 | Marketing
How can you do great marketing on a budget? If you find yourself cutting back heavily on your marketing budget because of the need to reduce costs, it does not mean that you also need to cut back on your marketing activities. Marketing is paramount in times of economic distress.
How then can you keep your marketing efforts alive despite a dwindling fund?
There are many marketing initiatives available that are free of hard costs or have a minimal cash outlay with a relatively high return that small businesses can effectively employ to remain competitive.
Here are nine such techniques that can help you survive and thrive through tough times.
- Networking – Networking with local business groups, local ‘service’ groups such as Round Table, Lions, local business associations etc, or even at your children’s school or the church, etc. can be a great marketing technique that does not cost a thing.
- Referral Program – Ask your existing customers to recommend you to a friend and, if necessary, give them some form of reward (high perceived value to them, low cost to you) for doing this.
- Targeted Direct Mail – A carefully written letter sent to a tightly targeted list and then followed up by phone to increase response rate can work wonders for your business.
- “A” Board – An “A” board in front of your premises if you have a retail location.
- Improved Signage – Improve your signage to cover more of the services you offer or be more visible.
- Marketing Collateral – A small brochure or flyer promoting all of your services sent out with invoices (some of your customers may not be aware of everything you offer) or direct to your customer base is a cost-effective marketing technique.
- Email Newsletters – While it can cost a small amount to set up a template or get an email service, email newsletters come with only a small cost to use as long as you have the time to write the content yourself. There is no postage associated and they are typically free to send.
- Vehicle Signs – Post signs on your vehicles – you have a free poster site, why not use it! Car signs can be made relatively inexpensively.
- Internet/Online Marketing – There are a plethora of free/low cost options available online, such as blogs, social media, membership communities like LinkedIN, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Meetup, Yelp etc. where you can market your products and services. YouTube can be used effectively to demonstrate your product and with the help of social media tools, these videos can reach a newer, wider audience.
It is important to remember that reducing your marketing budget does not mean that you must also minimize your marketing initiatives. The biggest mistake businesses make during a downturn is to cut down on their marketing activities. Using these free, or low cost marketing techniques will help your company stay afloat during rocky times. Get in touch with me if you want more ideas.
Mar 25, 2014 | Marketing
We live in a time and place where our relevance and popularity can be measured by our number of Facebook fans or social media followers.
As a business owner it looks and feels better to have 500 Facebook fans instead of 50. With that said, have you ever wondered how many of your fans are actually paying attention to your posts? Is Facebook worth your time, and are your posts hitting the mark?
The following was discovered in recent benchmark reports from a Facebook analytic tool PageLever:
• 1 out of 50 post views earn a negative response.
• Negative responses most likely result in all your page stories being blocked, which is 60 times more likely than clicking “unlike” on your page.
• Post are more often reported as spam instead of the page being “unliked”.
For every 50 posts you are unsubscribed by 2% of your fans. This doesn’t mean that your number of Facebook fans is shrinking necessarily, but that the number of those fans hiding from you without your knowledge is growing.
If you were to make one post a day every day for one full year, 15% of your fans would be hiding from you by year’s end. Why is this happening? And what can you do to keep your fans engaged?
Don’t feel discouraged! Just a few tweaks in your approach moving forward will make a world of difference. It’s time to take the blinders off and focus on maximizing fan engagement instead of fan count. Are we giving our fans relevant brand content, setting frequency expectations and offering them the things they care about? Here are a few tips to keep your fans loyal and engaged.
1. Quality over quantity: Your current Facebook fans are just that…your current fans. Some of them are hiding from you and some are not. Focus your efforts on your fans who are actually paying attention or engaging you, post the kinds of content that they are responding to over time. This will grow the quantity of your qualified fans.
2. Frequency doesn’t always sell: Your Facebook fan page is not a traditional form of advertising like radio, TV or print. Set consistent frequency expectations for your fans. This can be done by posting once a day at the same time of day. Think about the time you most often visit your page, or look at the times when your most engaged followers are visiting…post then.
3. Talk the talk: When you make a post be sure that it reads the way you would talk to someone. For example, if you own a flower shop you are by no stretch of the imagination a professional copy writer, so you don’t need to sound like one…..post the way YOU talk. Your fans like you for a reason.
4. Own your brand: Your fans do not want to hear your political views. They are not a fan of your page to be entertained, unless your brand is entertaining. Be sure to keep all of your posts in line with your brand. Keep your fans up to date with product trends, new products or services, your promotions, events etc.
5. Ask for feedback: As a good rule of thumb you should post at least one poll on your page per quarter. This poll should ask your fans what they want to see more of from you. Measuring your products or services this way is very beneficial as well.
Finally, be sure to have fun. While marketing is a serious subject when it comes to the success of your business, we are still talking about Facebook. Don’t take yourself too seriously, stick to the fundamental tips above and treat your fans to a great page that they will want to engage over the long run.
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