Archives for November 2012

Why is everyone selling more leads?

November 22, 2012 by

I don’t know why but almost every business owner just wants more leads. You ask almost any business owner what will solve all their business problems and they will tell you, “more leads.”

If I could just ‘pour more water into the leaky bucket I might be able to fill it up one day.’

I just finished a consulting day with a client who started out by asking for more leads. Yes, they genuinely needed to put together a lead generation system and conversion system.

However, it turned out that they needed a whole lot more than that. They just didn’t know it. By the end of the day we had addressed his business’s issues in customer retention, and conversion.

If you have an effective conversion system and systems to retain existing customers, grow their value and to get them to refer, you need an awful lot less leads to make the same amount of money – but you can afford to buy a whole lot more.

Everybody in the Guru Space is Hell Bent on ignoring what You ‘need’ and giving You what You ‘want.’

If you go and get any education on business ,what does every marketing guru sell?

More leads.

Right.

If you peer under the hood, most businesses are not capable of handling more leads effectively. However all anyone ever promises is more leads from the internet or from print or from speaking or doing a book.

They are selling what the market says it wants. Cool toys. Results are far harder to get. Good marketing for making a quick dollar, but not for building anything of sustainable and lasting value. But unless you have the ability to improve more than just lead generation you often leave the customer with a sour taste in their mouth.

Think about how the guru’s sales pitch goes – “if you just have enough leads you’ll be a business success.” Every business is unique. It has its own problems that need to be solved. There is a sequence of how to implement changes in order to get the best possible return.

However it is human nature not to want to do all the hard work to fix a business. And it is a lot of hard work. That is the truth. Lots of leads are only the part of the solution. How well you can convert them determines how much you can spend on getting those leads and how well you can retain and, grow your customers while getting them to refer is a much stronger influence on your business’s success.

You’ve just had your first glimpse into what a complete sales and marketing system does. Welcome to the real business world away from marketing gurus getting you to trade your hard earned money for magic beans.

Filed Under: Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention, Relationship Marketing

Go From Sale, To Life Time Customer In Three Easy Steps

November 22, 2012 by

Anything is easy once you know how to do it. Transforming a first time sale to a loyal lifetime customer is just as easy once you know how to do it.

Step 1: Realise that you are in this beyond that first transaction.

Yes I know this sounds obvious but it is the first step. But most sales people and business owners get a bit over excited about the first sale and neglect the super important question of what next?

So know that you are in it with the long haul with the customer and be sure not to jeopardise that first sale.

Step 2: Keep Building that relationship

If somebody buys from your business understand that if they are happy with what you deliver – (yes, you have to have a good product and you need to be able to sell it too) then they know firsthand that you do good work.

Know your main focus in your marketing needs to shift from getting them to buy to making sure that they remember you and want to come back.

Repeat purchasing is largely driven by whether or not the customer likes you. Which is based on their first purchasing experience – so if you delivered good value with your products and services and are working at being liked then you are on to a winner.

Being liked is about making you personally interesting to them as well as being interested in what they are doing. What could be considered high touch – being present without the goal of overtly making a sale. Greeting Cards, Newsletters and interesting and useful information would all be examples of ‘high touch.’

Step 3: Give Them More To Buy From you

Finally, on top of your relationship building you need to be sending your existing clients offers. Good offers to existing customers should be aiming to get them to buy larger value items and to buy from you more often.

The third dimension of customer lifetime value – the length of their lifetime is largely influenced by the quality of what you deliver and how well you do step 2. Build the relationship.

Like I said, easy once you know how isn’t it?

 

Filed Under: Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention, Relationship Marketing

Is Customer Loyalty Dead?

November 22, 2012 by

 

Mythbusters are on the Case!

Is Customer Loyalty is Dead?

While it is true that the consumer has more options than ever, all the gurus claiming that customer loyalty is dead is total lie.

Believing this myth will create a death spiral in your business. What happens is if you believe that a customer won’t come back then it means you can afford to spend less on getting a customer – your marketing becomes less effective.

The customers that do come in will be treated the way the Vikings treated countries they invaded – pillage the land and take everything of value right now and then move on.

The customer feels used and abused and is less likely to come back. So they look to buy from whoever has the cheapest – after all, the product is the same everywhere, right? The service is just as crappy everywhere, they may as well buy on price.

With lots of businesses fighting to be the cheapest in every product category the consumer knows to shop around and to get the lowest price because they know most businesses now operate with a short-term mindset.

See every business that operates this way is getting treated how they get treat their customer.

Just because everyone else is this short sighted doesn’t mean that you need to be.

I will tell you that everybody yearns to be respected and valued. They want a relationship. A genuine real relationship. They are a rare thing these days.

Everybody reminisces about the good ole days when customer service was a real thing, not the job of some snotty teenager with 5 piercings, visible tattoos and a hair colour that looks like it was gotten off a paint chart who clearly would rather be plugged into their iPhone than talking to you. (Yeah, you probably know more about what they are selling than they do too).

The fact they are reminiscing about the good ole days means they still want that experience. You can give it to them. Build a relationship. Offer service, value and reward customer loyalty.

It will make you unique. There always were and always will be disloyal price shoppers. Who needs a client whose sole purpose is to get the best deal?

There is no point to appealing to them. Bunnings, Kmart and their ilk look after that market. Don’t believe the myth that customer loyalty is dead. Realistically there are so few things that are worth being loyal to, that if you go down that path then you are in a league of your own.

Myth: Busted.

Filed Under: Customer Loyalty

Getting Out Of A Rut

November 4, 2012 by

Lapsing into a rut and then finding that we are stuck is, unfortunately, not so much an exception as it is common for the great majority of people. People are always getting stuck in some aspect of their lives, be it hating their current job but being too afraid to leave it, being stuck in an unhealthy or unfulfilling relationship, or being too afraid to take the next step in a healthy one.

The good news is that there are ways to get out of these ruts, perhaps one of the most important being to view any setback you receive in life as nothing more than a temporary inconvenience. One good tip to get back on track is to picture yourself being cheered on by a hero of yours. It doesn’t matter whether this person is male or female, living or dead, real or fictional — just imagine what they would say to you to inspire you or picture what they might do if in the same situation.

Filed Under: ezine

Bend, don’t break: Dealing with inflexible colleagues

November 4, 2012 by

Some people seem unable to see issues from any point of view but their own. Whether they work for you or you work for them, their inflexibility can be a roadblock to your success. Here’s how to work together in harmony:

  • Listen. Give your complete attention to the other person, and show you understand by paraphrasing what he or she says.
  • Focus on the other person’s position, not your own. Resist the urge to argue. Instead, build some good will by showing how you’re trying to understand his or her perspective.
  • Agree when you can. Most of the time you should be able to find common ground. Use this to build the basis for a reasonable discussion.
  • Disagree with tact. Stand your ground when necessary, but try to disagree without creating more tension. Explain your own point of view in positive language.
  • Show some flexibility yourself. Don’t adopt an inflexible stance of your own in response to someone else’s tough attitude. Remind yourself to stay open-minded at all times.
Filed Under: ezine

The Science Of Newsletter Content Part 3: Be A Bearer of Good News.

November 4, 2012 by

be-a-bearer-of-good-newsBad news is everywhere these days. For most of us, our customers will come home at the end of the day exhausted, put on the TV and watch the news. And I don’t know if you have sat down and watched the news of late but it is depressing. The economy is failing, our soldiers are dying, and our sports teams are losing and pensioners can’t afford to both eat and pay for electricity…

It goes on. In 1992 Bill Hicks did a similar piece about 24 hour news channels in Relentless his stand up comedy show at Montreal Comedy Festival. The news has probably gotten worse since then.

There are plenty of places your clients can go to get depressed. They don’t need you for that, in fact you can’t hold a torch to most of them. You can and should be the beacon of good news.

There are plenty of good things going on in your world that are worth sharing aren’t there? Yeah, I bet there are. Nobody other than you is going to be able to tell them about all the good things that are happening right.

Good news makes you a point of difference. Not too many other people are out there talking about good news are they?

In his book “Make Them Laugh and Take Their Money,” Dan Kennedy made the point that an audience in good humour buys more and buys more willingly than an audience that is not in good humour. Although he was talking about that in the context of making a speech he goes on to qualify this rule applies in every selling situation, be it one-on-one, in print or selling from the stage.

Good news and being in good humour make you more attractive to your customers hence more sales.

I will caution you. Don’t lie to your customers. If there is bad news out there that they need to know then you should pass it on. But also be the first to point out the opportunity or the positive spin to borrow from our bad news bearing friends.

For example if you use a headline like: The World Is Going To End Next Tuesday… (Creating new opportunities for you). Lots of places your customers can go to find out about the world ending. There are not too many people would take the extra step to point out the new opportunities (good news) they usually only bother to share the bad news.

There are lots of places your customers can go to be depressed. Do yourself a favour. Don’t be another one of those places. Differentiate yourself by being a bearer of good news.

As part of our service for our clients we provide content that is designed to make your customers happy and to look forward to receiving your newsletter. It automatically makes you and your business more attractive to your customers, making them more likely to want to buy from you again. To find out if you can effectively boost your repeat business and referrals with a newsletter register for a newsletter suitability audit by calling 1300 006 120 or going to www.newslettermarketingsystems.com.au/get-started

Filed Under: Blog

Networking for Business

November 4, 2012 by

Do you need help to generate more leads, referrals and clients from your networking activities?

Are you looking for easy ways to find more time for networking?

If have a responsibility for business development for your employer or your own business you need to get out there and network. But no one ever tells you HOW to network. And, no one tells you HOW to fit networking into your already crammed business routine.

Networking will build your sales revenue, your business, your clientele and your career. Done the right way, networking will help you create a rich network of profitable relationships that bring you a steady flow of new business and referrals, even in a slow economy.

Networking for Business …and finding the time to do it

Public seminar, Tuesday 27th November 2012. Subiaco WA

This business building seminar is a collaboration between business networking expert Ron Gibson and time management specialist Angie Spiteri giving you clear direction on how to generate more business from your networking efforts.

For more information or to register click here: http://networkingforbusinessseminar.eventbrite.com.au/

Filed Under: ezine

Regaining Your Equilibrium

November 4, 2012 by

The relationship between your personal life and professional life can be a difficult one, and trying to maintain a work/life balance is even more so. If you feel you are becoming overwhelmed and that the equilibrium between the two is seriously out of whack, there are a number of tips you can follow to help.

The first tip is very simple — don’t let yourself panic. There are modest, recoverable steps that you can take to address the situation. Now is not the time to fire an employee, get a divorce or purchase a new computer system. Perhaps you could talk to a therapist, coach or even a close friend to try and get perspective.

Another good tip is just to tell the truth. We often get into a pattern of trying to please others or live by standards which are not ours. If you can see the areas where you have been less than forthright, then clean them up and become clear about your motives.

Filed Under: ezine

The Most Important Ingredient of a Successful Customer Newsletter

November 4, 2012 by

the-most-important-ingredientConsistency trumps everything else. Great company newsletters show up like clockwork. You can count on them reaching your customers every month with solid information, helpful tips, and good ideas. Consistency far outweighs the size of a newsletter, whether it’s color or black and white, or even the quality of the content.

A common mistake that many newsletter writers make is the failure to be consistent. If you aren’t consistent with your newsletter, it doesn’t matter what content it contains. It becomes junk mail—just another pest—that your customers receive every once in a while.

You simply must have frequency and consistency to build trust and relationships. That trust and those relationships turn into business success and a long-term competitive edge.

Consider it in these terms. Magazines and other publications arrive monthly on schedule. Junk mail in all of its various forms arrives sporadically. In what category do you want your newsletter to be perceived?

I strongly recommend monthly newsletters because when they are produced monthly on a regular schedule, they have a higher perceived value. They build a stronger bond and brand with your customers, and your customers begin to look forward to them. If you publish less often, you lose that important top-of-mind position. If you publish more often, there will be customers who think you’re bombarding them with marketing messages.

It’s also vital that you publish your newsletter every month. That way you develop habits and get into the rhythm of production. You and your contributors will know when copy and pictures should be done, so you’ll all be on the lookout for good information and pictures. You’ll know when the newsletter will be mailed. Your salespeople will know when the next issue will be available.

That will also set up expectations for your customers. Your customers will get used to hearing from you at the same time every month. They’ll look forward to the fun, interesting, and readable content of your newsletter.

You’ll find that the regular schedule will aid your other marketing efforts too. If you’ve got a special sales promotion planned, for example, you can alert people in the newsletter for two months prior. Then, when it’s promotion time, your promotional efforts will have the way paved for them by your newsletter articles. Your salespeople can hand out newsletters as promotion flyers.

Consistency is the most important characteristic of great company newsletters. Mail them the same time every month. Send your newsletter every month and you’ll build better relationships, improve customer retention, and draw more new customers.

Newsletter Marketing Systems Guarantees that your newsletter arrives at the same time each and every month, and we have all the systems in place to ensure it happens, If you’d like to find out more about our newsletter service, register for a newsletter suitability audit by calling 1300 006 120 or going to www.newslettermarketingsystems.com.au/get-started

Filed Under: Blog