Archive for the ‘Business Strategies’ Category

Newer Entries »

Three Common Problems of Marketing in Small Business

Friday, November 20th, 2009

I’m not good with strangers.

Your real problem is you don’t understand the nature of marketing: it doesn’t necessarily require you to become a media personality or to personally interact with others. While you and your business are closely related, they aren’t identical. It’s possible, and quite often sound practice, to market the business rather than marketing yourself. Even a personal service business can be promoted without turning the principal into a media personality. That being said, if you’re in a business that deals with the public and you’re uncomfortable with strangers you’re going to have lots of problems. No matter how big your family or how large your circle of friends, at some points you’re going to need to reach beyond your immediate circle to get customers and clients.

I’ll look pushy (or) It’s unsophisticated.

You’re viewing this problem emotionally rather than rationally. Marketing consists of far more than “hard sell” advertising. Much of what you can do to promote yourself will give you an even more refined image in a very subtle way. You could simply wear better suits, or buy better stationery. You could publish an article in a peer-reviewed professional journal. Sponsoring a program on your local public television or radio station, or donating to a local theater or concert group can give you a cultured image in an eminently tasteful manner.

I won’t have the time.

Your real problem is you don’t understand the nature of marketing: it’s not something you do when you have the time, it’s an essential element of your business and should be a fixed part of your schedule.

If you spend all your time “doing” work, and none “getting” work, you’ll soon run out of work to do. You need to realize that if you want to succeed, “getting” work must be as much a part of your work as anything else. If you don’t spend a regular portion of your schedule on marketing you’ll eventually be forced to throw yourself into a full-time marketing program. If you don’t integrate marketing into your daily or weekly business life, then you’ll find your business, and income, running in fits and starts.

What if I get more work than I can handle?

You’re putting a roadblock in your own path to success. Having more work than you can handle, or selling more products than you yourself can produce, simply means you need to either farm out work or production.

You’re viewing this problem emotionally rather than rationally. Having launched a small business, perhaps just a one-person operation, you’re afraid of getting any larger. The fact is that your business’s share of a market can either grow or it can shrink, it cannot just stay the same. That would be like playing a game not to lose. Either you can continually reach out for a larger share of your existing market, and expand your operation to match it, or you can charge more and try to get a larger share of a smaller, but more profitable, market. The moment you stop trying to get more business, you’ll run yourself out of business.

Tags: ,
Posted in Business Strategies | Comments Off

How to Land a Client or Customer in Small Business

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Landing a client or customer is one of the most difficult tasks facing any businessperson. Unfortunately, keeping that client or customer is even tougher. That’s because you can’t control all the factors influencing customer and client decisions. You can do an excellent job for a customer, but if someone else opens up shop ten minutes closer to the customer’s home or business, you can lose him. You may have created an incredible bond of trust with a client, but if someone else offers to provide the same service for less money you can lose her. You can do a great job, have wonderful rapport, and provide a terrific value, all in a convenient location, and yet lose the business because the client, or even her spouse, thinks it’s better to spend those funds in another manner. All you can do is your best . . . and remain an expert in the needs of your clients or customers.

It’s this search for constant expertise that serves as the solution to forestalling every common customer or client problem. Keep asking your clients how they feel about the service you’re providing. Solicit constant feedback from customers. A suggestion box isn’t sufficient. Regularly ask all of them if they are happy, if there is anything further you can do for them, of if there is anything you can do to make your product or service better. This can’t just be a facade of concern; it must be a real effort to nip any snags or qualms in the bud before they blossom into full problems.

Once a problem with a customer or client has developed, whatever it is, you’ll need to treat it in the same manner: as an appeal for reconsideration, based on new facts. The underlying no in every one of these situations is that the client or customer is in some way unhappy. The specific problem is just the immediate manifestation of that unhappiness. You need to find out what is wrong and offer to cure it.

They won’t hire me (or) theyI’ve fired me.

When a customer or client chooses not to buy your product or service, or to stop buying, it’s a real problem. In fact, it’s about as real a problem as you can have. Without customers or clients your business will die.

If you’re addressing the fact that one particular customer or client won’t or will no longer do business with you, then this is probably a single problem involving the reason for the refusal. However, if you’ve run into a regular pattern of customer or client refusals and terminations then you’re apt to be facing a cluster of problems: all the reasons for the refusals.

In order to solve this problem you must move beyond the feeling that you’ve been rejected and focus instead on why you’ve been turned down or fired. Framing the problem in a general manner won’t do you any good. Instead you must sharpen your description of the problem. You need to focus on why they won’t hire you or why they’ve chosen to fire you.

If you haven’t already created an environment of trust with this customer or client, you now need to double your efforts in order to get the true reason behind their no. Humbly ask them for help in improving your business. Beseech them to tell you whatever it was that turned them off. Bring up the most sensitive possibilities yourself such as garb, grooming, or pricing.

Whatever reason you’re given for the no, express your thanks for the response. If it was a personal failing, offer apologies, and ask the client or customer to reconsider, based on your assurance that such behavior will never happen again. If the reason for the rejection is an area where you have some latitude maybe you can do the work speedier than you’d originally promised again ask for a reconsideration based on changing facts. Many times, customers and clients are so flattered by the importance with which you now so obviously hold them, and the dedicated customer service you’re demonstrating, that they quickly turn their no into a yes. However, if their no is based on something you cannot change perhaps your hourly feel simply express thanks for their honesty, and acceptance of their decision.

Tags: ,
Posted in Business Strategies | Comments Off

How to Create an Environment of Trust with using Body Language

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Body language is instinctive. However, for some reason, it is easier to consciously control. Unfortunately, most people don’t take full advantage of that control. Few of us need to be told to sit up straight rather than slouch in a chair during a business meeting, to not touch our faces, to look at someone when they’re speaking, or to keep from crossing our arms across our chests. Those are all defensive maneuvers, designed to keep from creating negative perceptions. In order to show that you care about another person you need to go one step further and create positive perceptions. I suggest doing this through the angle of your upper body when seated and the way you say good-bye.

When you’re sitting down in a meeting pay attention to the distance between your upper body and the other party. When they’re speaking, don’t just make eye contact, lean a bit forward as well. This demonstrates rapt interest and extreme attention. When it’s time for you to answer a question, break eye contact momentarily and lean slightly backward. This conveys deep thought. Then, when it’s time for you to deliver a message to the other party, reestablish eye contact and lean forward once again, displaying your concern and conviction.

When you first meet someone, a firm handshake is expected. But at the conclusion of the meeting take it one step further … or one hand further. When I’m saying good-bye to a male client I look him in the eye, shake his hand with my right hand, and put my left hand either on his forearm or his right shoulder. When I’m saying good-bye to a female client I also make eye contact, and shake her right hand, but in this instance I bow slightly from the waist and put my left hand on top of our two shaking right hands. This slight variation from the inirial greeting conveys gratitude and solidifies the new level of intimacy we’ve achieved.

Here is an example: Bill Schneider’s problem wasn’t solidifying intimacy, it was inspiring confidence: an unusual problem for someone six foot eight and over three hundred pounds. I had gotten to know Bill when he was a successful advertising space salesman for a weekly news magazine: he worked on some special small business sections. Bill had come up through the ranks and had spent the past fifteen years selling to the same group of customers. His clients had come up through the ranks along with him. They all knew and liked one another. In that kind of environment Bill’s soft-spoken, mild manner played very well. In fact, it contributed to his persona as a “gentle giant.” Unfortunately, this gentle giant was laid off” during a round of corporate downsizing,. After a year of being unable to find another job.

Bill’s experience and resume had won him many interviews over the past twelve months, but every one had resulted in a no. He wanted to learn how to turn those nos into at least one yes. I told him to arrive at my office for his appointment as if he were meeting me for a job interview. From the moment I went out to greet him his problem was obvious. Due to his height, Bill had a habit of slouching. And because of his sheer physical size he went out of his way to shake hands very gently. Once you knew him, these traits were endearing. At first, however, they were off-putting. His size accentuated the limpness of his handshake.

Couple that with his slouch and he seemed totally lacking in confidence: the last thing you’d want in a salesperson. I told Bill what I thought and encouraged him to use his size rather than be embarrassed by it, to physically dominate the room when he entered it. All we did for the rest of his appointment was block out his actions and movements for future interviews. Bill’s first interview after our meeting landed him a new position.

Tags: ,
Posted in Business Strategies | Comments Off

Newer Entries »