How Many Times Should We Say Thanks?
November 29, 2008
Marketing research often points out that customers like and remember being thanked for their purchase. Now that we all know (I hope we all know!) that finding and keeping customers is all about building relationship, we might wonder how often we need to thank someone if they purchase from us over and over again.
Well, the answer is “you can’t say thank you enough,” and here are a few stories to underscore that fact. I spent Thanksgiving Day with a life-long friend (www.bobgifford.com) who is an A-list realtor. Were we talking business? Of course! He and I have been entrepreneurial since we rescued old, cast-off copy machines from schools, reworked them, and sold them to churches around Huntsville. But back to the point – his customer relationship program prompts him to thank or “touch” each and every client 33 times a year. That, along with his creativity and focus, makes Bob the successful businessman he is. Thirty-three times – even I was impressed with that number!
In my decade-old massage therapy business I’ve long made it a point to say thanks as every single client walks out the door – no matter that I see many of the same people week after week, month after month, year after year. (Some of my massage clients have had the same standing appointment time for nine years or longer now.) Last year just before Christmas a client called – someone I had not seen in several years. She wanted to come by and purchase ten hours of massage therapy as gift certificates for friends. At the end of our call she told me that she came to my business for the 10 gift certificates because she knew I would thank her for the purchase – something she didn’t think a nearby local spa would do. This woman remembered my simple “thank you” for several years and that alone drove a substantial purchase.
Along with simply being good manners, reaching out to touch someone with a word of thanks keeps us in the energy of gratefulness. And from a business perspective, those times we touch someone with a kind word helps drive our business to top-of-mind awareness (TOPA). TOPA most definitely helps your business thrive.
Oh, and thank you for reading this!
Your Business and the Web – Can You Grow Without It?
November 19, 2008
I was a little shocked today to hear that PC Magazine will cease print publication after the January 2009
issue. The magazine is going online only. Last month, I received my last print issue of Scrapbook Retailer magazine – even a magazine devoted to paper artists is taking itself online only. I myself quit snail-mailing newsletters for all three of my businesses well over a year ago, relying only on e-zines.
Last night we punched the button on our built-in microwave oven and it black out and died. This morning, rather than running all over Knoxville looking for a Jenn-Air microwave that would fit into the now-empty hole, I went online, did an online chat with Peter A. of Jenn-Air, talked to a very helpful Sherry, and ordered the replacement microwave and the trim kit. I didn’t even think about driving around in traffic hoping to find a local store with this particular model in inventory.
Seems to me that an online presence for nearly any business is an idea whose times has come. Even if it’s just a simple e-brochure, a website gives you the ability to reach and influence far more potential customers than you will ever be able to do face-to-face, or could afford to do via snail-mail. Internet – it’s here, it’s real, it’s now. if you don’t have a site at all, it’s time to embrace the web.
There are dozens of great web designers out there, here’s a link to someone I trust (you can click this link just to buy a website domain name, too!). The point, though, is to educate yourself about how to effectively use a site to increase the breath and depth of your business. I’ve learned dozens of useful tips from the best designers, here are two that I commonly do not see used on business sites:
- Have a “contact us” or “sign up for our news” block on every single page, not just on the “contact us” page at the back.
- Spread your customer testimonials throughout your site, onto every page. If you have a separate page called “testimonials” few people will take the time to click and read through it. And, match your testimonials with a picture of the person if you can. It adds instant warmth and credibility.
If you want to know more about building a decent website stay tuned, I’ll have more tips in upcoming blogs and will have a web designer talking to my Bet You Build Your Business Mastermind Group soon after the first of the year. Meanwhile, budget site development if you don’t have a site, and budget updating the site if you already have one you don’t visit very often. More about both, later. Web presence is definitely on the list of how to make your business thrive.
Sue P.
Can You Go It Alone?
November 15, 2008
I’m in Los Angeles right now at Ali Brown’s Blueprint Success Workshop. Imagine being in a room with 450 other entrepreneurs, all of whom are here to develop themselves and their business. The energy level is very high! Introductions, new product ideas, and discussions for joint ventures are going on here 24/7. Honestly, after two long days (one more to go) I’m both juiced up and worn out!
Entrepreneurs who work their business vision get caught in a conundrum fairly early on. What is it?
* We like to control everything from conception to creation in our business. Entrepreneurs are often
perfectionists and we just can’t let go!
* In order for us to succeed at the highest level, we must build support, community, a team. And doing
that means personal growth in — guess what — learning to let go.
I’ve seen many a great business idea flounder and eventually fail because the budding entrepreneur doesn’t get this very basic truth – to succeed in a big way requires power greater than yours alone. It requires stepping out, letting others in, and creating community to support you. The truth is, you cannot go it alone.
One way to measure someone’s commitment to their business is to assess their willingness to grow a team. If I hear “I can’t afford it” I know right away that person’s gut commitment to their own business is weaker than it needs to be. Refusing to get help is a very subtle form of self-sabotage. It usually means that you are based in fear.
Building one’s own business is so much fun, I love it – but it is also hard work. It requires a continual, steady level of energy, the willingness to step out and take risks that make your stomach turn over sometimes, and quick decision making. It’s rare to find an individual who can do all that all alone. We need others. We create synergy and open possibilities when we tap into what others can offer us. We free our own energy to focus on the thing WE do best – the ideas and vision of creating something new. No, 99.9% of the time, you can’t go it alone. Fully commit to your vision, and search for those who will support you, challenge you, and help you. That’s the way to make your business thrive.
It’s Your Business – Today’s Economy
November 12, 2008
Consumer Reports (www.consumerreports.org) did a poll the other day, which tells us that 76% of Americans will cut spending over this holiday season. This means that purchases, travel, parties, gifts, cards and all the related ways we spend at this time of year will be down quite a bit. The poll also points out that about 6% of us (that’s roughly 12 million) still owe credit card debt from last Christmas!
Consumers get savvy in tight times – that’s a fact you can take to the bank. What else will you be taking to the bank over the holiday season, though? As an entrepreneur, you have several advantages over large, lumbering, inflexible businesses. Use these advantages wisely, and you can thrive in the upcoming holiday season that everyone says will be tough.
- Stay close to your customers and listen very carefully to what they need. In tight times, people shift their spending somewhat to things they really need rather than fulfilling wants. I guarantee you have the opportunity to listen better than 90% of large businesses. Listen and learn – and create a program or a product that answers the needs you hear.
- Offer unique, personalized service that no big-box store can hope to match. Deliver, wrap, offer a wish list sign-up, send e-mail messages with “hints” to friends and family. Have more than one special event which you publicize well, with door prizes that make it worth the customer’s time to come by. Offer a small gift if your customer brings a friend. Have live music to set an open and relaxed mood – which offers a gig to a local pianist or other musicians who might be hurting. If you don’t have a store-front, point out that you can help with gift lists via e-commerce, which helps your customer save time and gas money. Collaborate with other entrepreneurs to put together packages and cross-market to each other’s customers.
- Offer your products and services in new ways. If you’re a coach, pull together an hour-long session focused on the New Year and offer it on a gift card. Use your e-zine to point out that friends and family want VALUE in gifts, which your expertise can provide. Offer services to people outside your normal target – advice to kids or elders, for example.
Ask for the referral – ask customers to pass along your name and the unique things you have to offer. Word of mouth advertising is the best you can get, and the cheapest, too!
Use the mantra “listen, create, respond” with every customer and every potential customer. Your willingness to be unique and creative will show and will naturally attract people to you. These tips and your own attitude will create a holiday season in which your business thrives.
Sue P.
How to Benefit from Changing Times
November 6, 2008
On Monday, the United States elected a new president and many new members of the U.S. Congress. How
Americans voted brought us to the threshold of change. There was another big change for those connected to the University of Tennessee this week, as its long-time football coach Phil Fulmer resigned from what is no doubt the most visible and highest paid position at that university.
No matter what our preferences and beliefs about these two changes, each brings opportunity to look at ourselves and how we react to large shifts in the environment around us. Our habitual reactions to change and the behaviors we exhibit at these times have enormous impact, not just on us personally but also in our businesses. Here are ways to benefit from changing times.
- Honor the departing person
No matter whether I am very glad to see the person go or not, it benefits me to take stock of what that
person has accomplished or failed to accomplish, the traits I admire or truly detest, the strengths of the person, and the weaknesses that caused the change to occur. Noticing and reflecting on these things teaches me to see good in all beings, to be aware of my own hot buttons, to dissect for myself what I am drawn to and what repels me. Knowing these things strengthens me and helps me to navigate both personal and business relationships with more honestly and clarity.
- Acknowledge that change opens the door for new possibilities
Even when the situation causes anguish, anger, or sadness there is still a different energy and a different situation that absolutely WILL bring new possibilities to all parties – even the departing one! The trick is to step back from our attachment to what we wanted. So long as my energy is bound up in holding on to my preferences and desires, there is little energy free to see the opportunities and possibilities embedded within the change. If you think that there are NO good opportunities in the new order of things, it is a sure sign that you are clinging to your wants. Sometimes, we cling to our point of view for or against the change very strongly, talking about it and trying to prove our point of view over and over again. Often, this is a defense against feeling and letting go of the strong emotions we hold toward someone or something. Our energy is stuck until we are willing to let go.
- Honor the new person
Even when the person is one you don’t like and have not supported, it’s much more beneficial to you to build relationship with the person than to hunker down and refuse to deal. The new person has both good and bad points, same as the previous person and the same as you. Getting to know the new person gives you insight into what these good and bad points are and how to most effectively work together. Assume the positive – that the relationship will be beneficial to you and to the other person. People in new positions are sensitive to how others are reacting – if that person feels your support and interest at the outset, you will set a good foundation. In time, having built on what you can, you might even be able to influence their beliefs and behaviors – perhaps the very ones you do not like! Honoring creates openness and possibility.
Taking stock of your reactions, beliefs, and behaviors during times of change strengthens you and provides the best framework for moving forward. Doesn’t that sound like a good way to help your business thrive?
Giving Customers the Right Thing
November 2, 2008
I had an early Christmas gift given to me this week. A long-time client brought it, the stylish pink and beige wrapping reflecting the stylish person she is. It was, hands down, one of the most perfect gifts I’ve received for Christmas, ever. I felt this little rush of pure delight when I opened it, and I anticipate enjoying and using it for many years to come. It made me happy and it let me share a moment of pleasure and fun with the giver. The gift and the giving were satisfying to us both.
This early-Christmas event got me thinking about satisfying customers and clients. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this holds the formula for perfectly serving our customers well, creating one of a series of satisfying moments that meet and even exceed our customer’s expectations. Here are the elements that lead to pleasing me (the ersatz customer):
- The giver knew my interests well, having paid close attention over time to what I talked about
- She was vested in giving me something she knew would be on target
- The gift was useful and allied with one of my interests and activities
- It was something new, just out, and not likely to be something I already had or knew of
- It met a need in me for more information on an activity I often do
- It was timely – she gave it to me before I went out and stumbled across it myself
- The gift gave me the feeling that she cared about me and wanted to please me
- I am left with a feeling of anticipation, looking forward to using it
- The giving built an increased sense of connection and pleasure between the two of us
Do you see how the gift giver did what savvy entrepreneurs do? Following her formula, we’d hit the nail on the head with our customers every single time, and do it in a way that proves to the customer that we are useful to him (or her). We would have a full stable of loyal customers who looked to us to know them and be able to meet their needs. What else could we ask for? We’d be happy, they’d be happy – just like my gift giver and I were.
Over the next month, try serving every customer as if you were seeking and giving them the perfect gift. The step back and evaluate. I’d bet you’ll find that this is another way to make your business thrive.
And to Anna, many thanks.