After the Sale

       Is your sincere thank you the end of the sale? NO. How you treat your customer after the sale is crucial to the success of your business.People do business with people who they know and trust.Encouraging them to be repeat customers is much easier, and less expensive, than cultivating new customers.

       Absolutely essential is a Thank You Note, within three days.  This applies to both business and personal transactions. If you only do business on the internet you might get away with email; hopefully not an auto responder that is cold and generic.  Someone in your Organization should be in charge of making sure this is done properly.

       Smaller Organization s can easily add this activity to their work flow. They also have more of an opportunity for personalization.  The people who actually interacted with the client should be sending out the thank you notes, or gifts where appropriate; that's all part of relationship building.

       The really smart salesperson will take the time to hand write (horrors!) and personalize their ThankYou notes.  Include a comment that indicates that you were really paying attention. Send it by snail mail; your message will stand out because hand written mail is so rare today in our electronic age.

       Then, depending on the lifespan of your product, you should contact your customer again.  I don't however recommend a Christmas/Holiday card; your message will get lost in the pile.  Try any other holiday or regular event, like daylight savings time or the change of the seasons. And, of course, don't miss their birthday or any articles you see written about them.  That gives you at least two contacts per year, three if you send holiday cards.

       Seasoned, successful salesmen/women also pick up the phone occasionally.  "Just thinking of you", "this reminded me of you", or congratulations on your new position/baby/whatever. 

These professionals have worked with these same customers or clients for several years and sometimes even multiple generations.        

       Think of the security of knowing that half your income is already made for the year because of this business that you have cultivated, tended, and watched grow.  You can now spend your time planting the seeds of new customers to grow your business.

Networking forFun and Profit

hAs we have discussed, although Social Media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are terrific tools, there is one that is more powerful than any of them; old fashioned personal contact. The answer is Networking. Networking gives you the opportunity of meeting your clients and associates on a personal level that is not available over the internet.

Of course you do have to depend on the internet to stay in touch with distant contacts, but even a phone call can strengthen that bond. Checking in just to say hello, see how you can help, or share a referral adds a personalization otherwise not available.

Face to face contacts make for much stronger relationships; whether business or personal. This is where Networking comes in. Mixers, meet and greets, and seminars are all great places to solidify existing contacts and make new ones.

Just like any other activity, there are rules of conduct that apply to Networking. Remember: “you only have one chance to make a good impression.” Some things must be avoided at all costs, including hogging the conversation, drinking or eating too much (unless you are at a dinner meeting), selling, bragging, not listening, hanging out with people you already know, or spending time on your phone. (anything except a true emergency can wait).

Networking is all about building relationships; people buy from people they know and trust. You are there to make new friends, enhance your reputation, and share local knowledge. You should be prepared (investigate the event before you attend), be approachable, be enthusiastic, write your thank you notes and do your follow-up, and by all means remember your manners.

Besides making new friends and strengthening existing relationships, you are likely to have a good time. They used to say in New Zealand that ”a change is as good as a rest” so get out of your comfort zone and try Networking. You will be amazed how your life will expand as a result.

Who knew...The Power of Facebook

They say "you can't teach an old dog new tricks", but look at me. It's taken a while to get on board the blogosphere and we are still learning, but we are moving forward. I consider social media another tool to help you grow your business by my sharing ideas and concepts. FaceBook has proven to be an amazing tool. It is not just for finding and connecting with old friends and family; a lot of business is getting done. There are over 500 million people now using it; some of them are your future customers.

One local eatery in my community promoted his business on FaceBook for three months before he opened. We all cheered and booed as he did, and didn't get the permits he needed. Delays were lamented, successes cheered. By the time he opened he had a huge following and has been growing ever since. This is a terrific example of using social media to grow a business.

Writing a blog (web journal) is another very powerful tool to use to promote your success. Writing on interesting subjects, related to your field of expertise, lead readers into knowing you. Consumers like to do business with the people they know, and trust. Delivering useful information is a good way to create that trust.

Check out my website http://www.othercreations.com/ if you need help figuring out how social media and blogging can make money for you, and for more helpful hints.

Ina

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.

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.

Advertising vs. Public Relations

This question has been bandied around for as many years as there has been commerce. Public Relations (PR) and advertising are cousins. They serve the same master (Aunt Profit) but with different approaches.

Once men started creating surpluses that they could trade for needed goods that they didn’t have the earliest tradesmen “advertised” to their neighbors what they were going to have available at the next market. Once they established trusting relationships they was more reliance on public relations to drive the commerce machine. People will always do business with those they know and trust.

Jumping ahead, I have always found that advertising is great for getting instant results. It is where you put your coupons to attract new shoppers (and some savvy ones) to introduce to your products. The accounting is built into the campaign, because it is easy to quantify the results, and is very reliable. Advertising gives you "instant" results.

PR on the other hand is more of a long term investment. It can entail "free" advertising if you use press releases judiciously. It has a lot to do with who you know and who knows you. The newer arena of social networking is a terrific platform for PR efforts. A PR campaign is where you foster friendships and relationships. These connections may not become clients or customers for quite a while, but they are likely to be very faithful when they do.

It appears to me that customers come from an advertising base and clients come from a PR base. Both aspects are important for the success of your business; each has its strengths and weaknesses. Your business development strategies should include a mix of both methods depending on your predetermined goals. Relationships have a significant impact on your bottom line.

For more in depth information contact me: or at least leave a comment here. I'll be looking forward to hearing from you.

Do You Have Your Hat on Backwards?

In today’s tough economy you have done your due diligence, thoroughly analyzed your income and out go, and sorted your numbers every which-way. You have discovered that your Widget A only accounts for 12% of your business. Should you drop this product line?
WAIT! There are other areas to consider before you pull the plug. Have you done a full analysis of the total potential market? You are likely to find that although Widget A only represents 12% of your business, it actually represents 90% of the total market. Whether by design or happenstance you have discovered a niche and filled it. This has long been the mantra of product designers and sales teams-“find a niche and fill it.”
With this knowledge on hand would you still want to pull the plug on Widget A? What are the chances for add-on sales of your other products? Are your Widget A customers likely to recommend your to their friends and associates? How much of the infrastructure of Widget A overlaps other products in your line? It may only represent 12% of your income, but how much of your outgo does it represent, probably a lot less than 12%.
A major car manufacturer I worked for several years ago made just this mistake and has never been the same since. These are all questions they should have asked as part of their strategic planning analysis. Your Widget A may not be your most profitable product, but it may have a great value to you in the whole scheme of things, in capturing extra business, or in just filling a need that nobody else is able to do, thus making you a hero and a successful commercial enterprise.
A lot of the success of your business will depend on this balancing act. It is critical that you due your due diligence, but not make any decisions until you look at the picture from both sides, yours and the client’s.