These days, when it comes to customer service, “good enough” seems to be what most businesses strive for. Franchises have been hugely successful, revolutionizing the idea of a “cookie cutter” business where every aspect is systemized to produce a specific result. Visit any McDonalds or Starbucks in the country, and you should get the same friendly level of service and the same tasting product. These businesses don’t “wow” us when we visit, they just provide a good, predictable product.
So what’s the problem with all this? We have been so programmed to accept “good enough” service from so many franchises and chain retailers, that this phenomenon has trickled down to the small business as well. For so many retail stores, small businesses, or restaurants I visit, the goal seems to be to get the job done, but nothing more – and as a society we have lowered our standards and have learned to accept it.
Here’s a personal example: For years, I had been going to the same dry cleaner every week. I’d bring my clothes in, the lady at the counter would proceed to give me a ticket, and I’d turn around and leave. I’d return in 2 or 3 days to pick it up, hand her the ticket, she’d return with my clothes, and I would leave. It was the same routine week after week. On a lucky day I might get a brief smile, but nothing more.
Don’t get me wrong – I was happy with the service. My shirts always came out clean and nicely pressed – but there was nothing else keeping me coming back. One day I saw a coupon for another dry cleaner offering 25% off, so I decided to try it out. When I entered the store, I got a nice “good morning, how can I help you, sir?” with a big smile. There was a bowl of candy at the counter. There were some funny signs hanging up which made me laugh as I waited for my ticket. When I returned in a few days to pick up my dry cleaning, that same person at the counter greeted me by my name! I was handed my clothes, and again was wished well with a smile.
I must say, I was wowed by that experience. My clothes were just as clean as they had been with my previous dry cleaner, but the experience made me feel entirely different. Today, even if I see a coupon for cheaper dry cleaning, I don’t go anywhere else. That dry cleaner has truly earned my business. Why? Because he understands that it’s not about dry cleaning – anybody can do that – it’s about how I feel doing business with him.
Do your customers have a reason to keep coming back to you? Will they leave you for the next competitor that undercuts your price? Are you providing them with just “good enough” service? How can you make them smile? What can you give them that goes beyond your product? What can you do to wow your customers? Start coming up with some answers, and the result will be loyal customers that will come back to you time and time again.
The new year is an exciting time to strategize and plan for your business. Here are 15 marketing ideas that may help you think “outside the box.” If just one creates a spark and helps you, then I’ve succeeded in this article.
1. Always carry business cards with you. You never know when an opportunity will arise to hand one out.
2. Publish a newsletter for customers and prospects – people trust an authority.
3. Hold a seminar at your office for clients and prospects.
4. Send hand written thank you notes.
5. Promote your business jointly with other professionals via cooperative direct mail.
6. Sponsor and promote a contest.
7. Get a booth at a tradeshow attended by your target market.
8. Follow up on your direct mailings, and e-mail messages with a friendly phone call.
9. Join your local Chamber of Commerce. (you’ll find me there!)
10. Call your clients “just to say hello” and see if they are satisfied. (how rare that is these days!)
11. Put time aside each day for “cold calling” prospects. All you need is 15 minutes a day – if you make just 5 to 10 calls a day, think of how much you can accomplish in a year! (This is something that will guarantee results, but 99.9% of business people don’t do it.)
12. Join an association of a particular industry (niche marketing).
13. Place an ad in your church or synagogue newsletter.
14. Sponsor a little league team.
15. Is there something that you know will get you results, but you’ve been putting off? Do it today!
Recently, my 5-year old son told me that he wanted to plant an orange tree in our backyard. Excited about his new interest, I proudly took him to the nursery to buy a small tree to plant. “When will the oranges grow, Daddy?” he asked as I was watering the tree. “It’ll take some time,” I said. “We have to water the tree every few days, and in a few weeks, you’ll see the oranges start to grow.”
Of course, my 5-year old son has no concept of how long 2 weeks is. The next morning, he got out of bed and anxiously ran to the back window, looking for the oranges. He came to my bed and woke me. “Daddy, how come the oranges didn’t grow yet?” “It’ll take some time,” I said. “You have to be patient.”
By the third day I realized that maybe planting a tree wasn’t the best pastime for a 5-year old. At his age, it’s all about instant gratification – when my wife and I promise to buy him a toy, we know we have to get it for him right away. When we make plans to go on vacation, we make sure not to tell him about it until a few days before. You can’t make a kid to wait a few weeks to go to Disney World.
Personal networking is no different. When I was a new Chamber member 4 years ago, I wanted instant gratification. When I showed up to a networking event, I expected the phone to ring the next day. Like my son, I wanted instant results and had no patience to wait. As a networker, I was too immature to comprehend that great things could happen later on.
After all, other marketing techniques don’t take as long. Print advertising, phone solicitation, and direct mail – if done correctly – lead to immediate results. Personal networking takes longer, and therefore requires a greater level of patience and maturity. However, the quality of business received from networking is by far superior because nothing beats a personal referral. If done properly and with patience, the results could be phenomenal.
The concept is simple – people know people, and those people know more people. By introducing myself to someone, my hope is not merely that I will do business with that person, but that maybe they know someone else (or a few people) who I can do business with. The more people who know about the services I provide, the better. It may take some time until someone needs my service, but when they or someone they know does, I know they will call me.
And it really works! Some of my biggest clients came to me as a referral from someone I know. When I need a service, I think of who I know personally that performs that service. If I can’t think of anyone, I’ll ask someone I trust for a referral.It’s so simple, but not always obvious how effective networking can be. So keep at it – just as I know my son will be in awe at the sight of that tree as it produces oranges, I know you will be delighted with the fruits of your labor.
There is no doubt that one of the toughest challenges for the small business owner is making the transition from a one-person business to one with several employees. This growth phase is so difficult that many businesses fail at this point, or in frustration, just go back to their original one-person stage. The reason this is so tough is that in order to make the business grow, you must hire other people to do the things that you’ve been doing all along. You’ve been the sales rep, the customer service rep, and the technician all by yourself, and you must now replace yourself in those positions with other people. It’s not easy letting go!
In order to hire other sales reps, for example, and grow the business, you must eventually stop (or decrease) selling so you can manage your sales people. In other words, you must stop doing what has made your business successful up to this point, and become a manager, which requires learning an entirely new set of skills. That is scary!
Many business owners tell me in frustration that it is impossible to find quality people to hire. After all, “no one will do the job that I can do. No one can care as I much as I care.” While that is probably true, a successful business need not be comprised of employees who are as talented and personally invested as you are.
In E-myth, an excellent book by Michael E. Gerber, the author explains that for your business to be successful as a “real” business, you must first develop a “system” in every facet of your business. Having a system means that every task can be easily duplicated by anyone. If I hire a super talented one-of-a-kind person, what happens if that person quits? A business cannot depend on one specific individual. Rather, each job should be able to be duplicated by anyone else. Don’t search for the employee who is as special as you are – because not only is she tough to find, but she will be very expensive to employ. Rather, hire good, average people who are teachable.
Gerber goes on to explain that a perfect example of this concept is the franchise. Let’s take McDonalds, for example. A McDonalds franchise is made up of a set of guidelines to follow for every aspect of the restaurant – how to greet the customers, how to cook the hamburgers, how long to cook the french fries, how many pickles to put on the hamburger, and so on. Every aspect is systemized so that every single customer can always expect the exact same results when he visits the restaurant.
McDonald’s is the most successful franchise, and it has inspired thousands of other businesses to attempt to duplicate its success.As long as your business is comprised of systems which can be taught and carried out by anybody, you can slowly start letting go and delegating your responsibilities to others, leaving you to manage the entire operation.
Our local business community is predominantly comprised of small business owners, with more home-based businesses than ever before. Today, image is extremely important, and most small and home-based businesses strive to convey the most professional image in order to give their prospects confidence in doing business with them.
There are so many subtle nuances that can give off an image of professionalism. Here are a few ideas:
1. Did you print out your business cards yourself in an effort to save money? Remember, your business card is often the first chance for a prospect to judge your company. And yes, people do notice the perforated ends! Spring for the $30 – you can’t afford not to have professional business cards!
2. For self employed or home based businesses – do you answer your phone with a simple “hello”? Think about the impression that makes. If you want to seem bigger, answer with the company name.
3. How does your literature look? Does it look like it was done at home? You don’t have to spend a lot to get sharp looking brochures. With the right paper and layout, you can do it at home and have it look like the pros….or you may want to get it done at a printer.
4. When talking about your services, instead of saying, “I can do this” or “I offer this”, use “we”. If you want to be a “we” someday, then think and talk like a “we” now.
5. When asking for a sales appointment, do you say, “sure i can do it any day this week, i have nothing else going on all week.?” How about, “I have several appointments this week, but maybe I can squeeze you in on Wednesday…”
6. For home based businesses – Do you have young children or babies at home? Nothing makes it more obvious to someone that they are dealing with a home-based business than hearing children crying or screaming in the background while you’re on the phone. I know you want to give them that personal family feeling, but remember that you’re trying to gain their trust and confidence. Here’s a creative way around this problem: insulate your door jamb with inexpensive weather striping, and close your door when the phone rings…you’ll be amazed at how good this sound proofing technique works.
7. Do you conduct all business calls on your cell phone? That may be OK for some businesses, but keep in mind that it’s usually obvious to someone that you’re on a cell phone.
8. Do you use call-waiting on your business line? Most businesses do not use call waiting, but instead have multiple phone lines. It’s just another subtle thing that can make it obvious that you only have one phone line. Instead, consider having that second call go directly to voice-mail. It’s a bit more professional.
We’ve all experienced it before – a sales seminar by a dynamic speaker who motivates you into thinking beyond what you ever thought was possible. You leave the seminar all fired up to take your business to the next level. You go to work the next morning, still excited and motivated, and you convert that exuberant energy into jotting down your strategy in the form of some concrete goals; maybe you even write the business plan you should’ve written so long ago.
For the next few days, you’re still motivated, but as the days pass, and the weeks go by, the motivation fades little by little, until you’re back to your routine with no inspiration at all. You’re now back in that rut, just working, just thinking about your day to day business affairs, with no time to think outside the box and get yourself pumped up the way you were several weeks ago.
So what happened to the motivation? How can you succeed if that feeling keeps going away every time you’re on track toward accomplishing something great? The problem is that motivation is a fleeting emotion. While we all need to be motivated at times, and those moments are wonderful sparks of creativity…when huge dreams find their first sign of life….where you feel unstoppable as though you can accomplish anything, motivation is not enough to carry out the goals you’ve dreamed of. A mere two weeks later, you’re not as inspired, and two weeks after that you’ve forgotten what that great feeling even felt like.
What will help you carry out your plan and really succeed? The answer is something just as important as motivation – FOCUS. Focus is they key to carrying out a plan which was born out of motivation. Once you have a goal, you must now break it down to the execution stage – down to mini-weekly goals which will dictate a daily plan. For example, if I’m feeling enthusiastic and make a goal to acquire 120 new clients this year, first, I divide that by each month, so I know my monthly goal is 10 new clients, or 2.5 per week. Now, how do I accomplish that? Hopefully, I have a system which will tell me that if my sales force makes a certain number of calls, I will gain a specific number of new accounts. Now I break that down into a daily plan. The daily plan is simple and straight forward, and not nearly as overwhelming as thinking of the huge annual goal – but the beauty of it all lies in the fact that if the daily plan is carried out, the big goal will be met.
The next time you get inspired – enjoy that feeling, and convert it into a detailed plan. This way, when the inspiration leaves you, FOCUS will keep you going.
A few months ago, I wrote an article about the importance of writing a business plan. My basic message was that for the small business owner, such a plan will greatly increase your chances of success, and to not have one is foolish. I was amazed at the positive feedback I received, as many of you were able to relate with one’s procrastination in writing a business plan. I received one particularly interesting e-mail from Mr. Malcolm Lauder from Boca Raton, who spent many years in a sales management role for an international company. “I read with a lot of interest your article about having a business plan. It was of course, right on the money. I wonder if, however, you might not have a follow up article that makes it easier for the small business owner to actually create a plan!” wrote Lauder, and was even nice enough to include some of his ideas.
So now that we know the importance of writing a business plan, how exactly do we go about creating one? The following are some paraphrased excerpts of Mr. Lauder’s e-mail: The very idea of a ‘business plan’ is uncomfortable for many, since it is based on future speculation. Entrepreneurs and natural sales people like things that they can get their teeth into. They are good with tactical stuff but have trouble with strategic planning.
Here’s a rather simple technique to help you write such an annual plan – sort of a “plan for planning:” Answer the following questions: 1. Where do we want to go? 2. How are we going to get there? 3. Who is going to help us get there? 4. How much will it cost? Any business owner can follow that outline. It forces him/her to answer with simple replies.
Let’s look at each question –
1. Where do we want to go? In other words, what is your annual goal, stated simply? Both in revenue (dollar amount) and in number of sales, or number of new accounts?
2. How are we going to get there? Increase advertising, get better sales and service training, add x-number of salespeople, etc. Get specific here – break your goal into monthly, and weekly ‘baby’ goals, which are much less intimidating than the big annual one.
3. Who is going to help us get there? Now the business owner can look at past performance and results and start writing a plan that says: interview and select an ad agency, identify and send people to training, identify and get rid of poor or non-performers and hire a combination of new, young and older, experienced salespeople.
4. How much will it cost? Now it is a lot easier for you to pull together your budget for the next year. Examine current expenses, cut where results have been disappointing, figure new people costs, etc.
The important thing about writing this plan is to keep it simple. It’s important that this be a document that you can pull out and review every month, to see if things are on track, or if maybe you should change track altogether if something isn’t working the way you hoped. My thanks to Mr. Malcolm Lauder for contributing to this article. Good luck with your planning!
Do you have a business plan? Most small businesses fail largely due to lack of proper planning. It seems rather obvious – imagine trying to build a house without a plan. How will you know if you’re on the right track while you’re building it? What will it look like when it’s done? To increase your chances of success, it is essential that you write a business plan which will include short and long term goals, as well as clear ways of tracking your results. Even if you’ve been in business for a number of years, it’s not too late.
There are, of course, business owners that do very well without ever having written a business plan. They basically fly by the seat of their pants, don’t know where they are going, but somehow business is good. Just because some businesses do well without planning does not make their method a prescription for success. Had these business owners implemented a well thought out plan, they would have been much more focused, organized, and no doubt even more profitable.
There are many good books out there that can help you with your business plan. These go into great detail about how to conduct market research, a statistical analysis of your target demographic’s buying habits, how to design pricing for your product or service, and much more.
Your business plan can be long and detailed, but it need not be. At the very least, it should include your goal for the year, a 5-year goal, and a marketing strategy to be implemented to meet these goals. It’s amazing how much focus and control you will gain over the direction of your business once you begin the process.
For example – “In 2005 XYZ company would like to add 1,000 new accounts and increase revenue by $200,000. To do so, we will do direct mail, telemarketing, and an extensive radio ad campaign.” This should be followed by details of how specifically this will be implemented, broken down into monthly and weekly mini-goals . Will sales people have to be hired? How many? How much will the direct mail and radio ads cost, and how much revenue should they generate? What is plan B if any aspect of your marketing plan fails? All of this should be included in your basic plan.
Most important of all, keep in mind that your business plan is not written in stone. Rather, it’s a living, breathing document which should be reviewed often and changed when necessary. If, during the course of the year you find that a particular goal is too high or too low, simply adjust it. If a marketing technique doesn’t work the way you hoped it would, change it or try something else. Rather than allowing luck to determine your success, YOU will be in control! Happy planning!