No More Complaining

A great article and a super resource. ComplainLess - Just Sell®... it's all about sales®

Fire Your Customers

Increasing sales may not be good for your business. Are you crazy, you say? Not at all. We often are concerned that we have more customers than ever before but aren't making more money. There is a very easy answer. The solution can be found in an analysis of your customers. There are a certain level of customers or clients that make you money; about 20% and a group of about 10% that are costing you money. These are the one time buyer or the small quantity user. Costs that are amortized across the whole sales process decrease per unit when tied to larger quantities. That means that the 80% of small customers are costing you more than you are making.
You need to analyze your customers to see which group they
each belong to.It is important that you direct your best marketing efforts at the 20% of customers who are improving your bottom line. Your middle group probably tends to be very loyal so special attention is not necessary. The bottom group is the customers that you fire. You can easily reduce your number of un-profitable clients by increasing minimum orders or convenience fees. In time your customer list will contain fewer names, but they will be the most valuable.

Dirty Windows

I was recently strolling thru a local shopping center window shopping. One of the shops was a pet store. I would usually go in to see the critters; this time I didn’t. The windows were very dirty. Not just a few finger prints but real dirt 5” high. It actually made the store look it wasn’t open.
That brought to mind how you present yourselves. Not your personal style, there is a lot of information available about that, but your business style. What do your current, and more importantly your future customers think when they approach your business? Is it welcoming?

The first thing a client will see is the look of the premises; are the gardens well tended, is the signage good, is the parking lot clean. The next thing is your door; if its glass is it clean, if not is the paint fresh and clean. Your lobby or reception area are next; carpets clean, plants healthy, inviting chairs, desks not too cluttered. If you are in retail your customers will want to see clean, well-lit areas, good signage, and an easy to navigate floor plan.

The response may be subliminal, but it will color your relationship. They might just decide that your lack of attention to your environment indicates will be reflected in your work.

If you have had tunnel vision about your work take a minute to look around. Try to see your space as a customer might see it. You need not invest a lot of money for your work space, but a little thought and awareness will definitely be returned in your bottom line.

Brain Fade-Where & What

Oops-I think my brain has sprung a leak. More and more often I walk into a room and then don’t know what I am doing there. Dates get mixed up in my head. And where did I leave my glasses?

This can be attributed to one of three things; either I’m getting old, I’m not paying attention and letting life happen to me, or maybe my brain is wearing out. Since I know that I’m not as old as my calendar says I am; I know the problem can’t be blamed on age and I am shown daily that my brain is still functioning; I must just be moving too fast for my angel to keep up with me.
I do know that when I have too much on my plate I tend to run in circles, getting nothing done. How do I learn to pace myself so I’m pleasantly busy, but not buried in projects?

Check lists help, calendars help, and sticky notes are god sent. I’ve read that prioritizing helps, but what is really more important than what? Everything wants to be done, now, or sooner.

Short of having someone follow me around with a pad, I think I have to just concentrate more on the now and hope I have enough room in my brain to store all the things that I’m putting off ‘til later. And hope too, that my brain doesn’t spring a leak and let all the good stuff escape.

Announcing

I have always loved to give. I could carry a $25.00 bill for several weeks and then spend most of it on others. Now you and I will both be able to share in a BIG way.

After years of planning, Other Creations Foundation, Inc. was launched this week. The Foundation, and its partners are dedicated to making the world a better place and educating women so they have the power to improve their family's standard of living and help their communities develop and grow.

Your small contribution of $25.00 will be used to fund the program of your choice; education, water treatment, micro loans, or special projects. More than one half of the World’s population does not have clean water. In many parts of the World it doesn’t take much to start a business to improve the standard of life for your family. Minimum education not only builds strong communities, but it lets student know that they have choices. These are all conditions we are trying to change.
Check out the success stories on our new site, recommend projects for consideration or just leave your comments. We really appreciate your interest and help. You too can really make a difference for women and their families and communities. Please do whatever you can.

Marketing in Tough Times

Are you sitting in your store or office wondering where all the customers/clients went? In normal times we typically lose about 10% of our customers in any given year to competition, their changing needs, or other mysterious reasons; but these are not "normal" times. Our lack of customers is just a snapshot of the greater economy. When the economy is struggling you can also expect to be struggling. That is "normal."
During tough times it is imperative that you reach out more, do more to attract business. This also may mean spending money that is scarce. However, DO NOT consider anything that you have to spend on advertising or marketing as an expense. It may affect your cash flow, but it is not an expense, it is an investment in your future success. Without ongoing marketing efforts you can be sure that the 10% client loss will increase substantially.
When available cash for marketing or advertising becomes a challenge it is time to get creative. There are a number of avenues you can take to get your name out there that are free. They make an investment of time, but you have that if your traffic is down.

Take a look at social media, using your computer to reach out, newsletters to keep in touch, surveys to be sure you are offering what your customers want, blogging or article marketing, networking or press releases.
If you need some ideas that match your goals contact me. We never charge for the first hour of consultation and that may be all you need to get headed in the right direction.

Are You Prepared?

Having recently spent over a week cleaning, sorting, donating and gifting my brother’s stuff, I had an exceptional “in your face” lesson about how important it is to plan our exit at least as well as we plan our lives. This chore just reinforced the message of how important it is for us all to be prepared.

None of us want to think about our own morality so we tend to not get organized; it is critical that we do. Even if we don’t think we have any heirs there is a still a need to take care of this stuff. It is very hard on whoever has to go through all your papers and stuff to find all the pieces of the puzzle.

In my Brother’s case he didn’t have children or exes and his estate is not very big, but he had a lot invested in collectibles and there is no indication of how he wanted to share it. Unfortunately, there is also no inventory to go along with the collections. This oversight leaves someone with a big project of evaluating and sorting and purging. A simple list or even the original purchase receipts shoved in an envelope somewhere would lessen the stress of this challenge. Not only will this be a monumental chore, it will keep the loss up front and interfere with a healthy mourning process.

Although a legally executed will would be the best choice of documentation, simple lists or notes can serve well to take some of the strain out of the project. The lists can assure that you are able to share with your friends after you have gone in the same ways you would if you were still around. Sharing your wishes with others is the extra special gift you can leave for the ones you love.

And keep in mind that not leaving a valid will forces heirs to have to deal with probate and courts. The government gets lots of money and the family gets lots af anxiety and heartache. Do you really want to leave this legacy? Acting now is much easier than having your family re-act later.