Small Business

Don’t make a sale, make a long-term customer

Posted by tlcoles on January 26, 2009   |   No Comments

Establishing ongoing relationships with customers enhances the long-term success of most small companies. It’s more cost-effective and a lot less stressful to serve ongoing accounts than it is to continually search for new business. Cash flows are more stable, and increased operational efficiencies can reduce internal costs, increasing profitability.

To secure a long-term customer, sales personnel need to “look beyond the sale.” They need to form a relationship with the customer, solving all of the customer’s needs and providing ongoing value of products and services.

The basis for establishing such a relationship is to address the five key needs of every customer. These include…Don’t Make a Sale, Make a Long-Term Customer – NFIB.com (http://www NULL.nfib NULL.com/object/IO_39770 NULL.html).

Flickr photo credit: KateMonkey (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/katemonkey/2357244681/)

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Companies from Mars, customers from Venus

Posted by tlcoles on January 24, 2009   |   No Comments

Companies too often hinder their own success by focusing too narrowly on selling products and not on what their customers actually need, says Dev Patnaik, a business strategist. Businesses could be more successful — and see competitive opportunities faster than their rivals — if they looked differently at what they were doing.

Mr. Patnaik, founder and chief executive of Jump Associates, a firm in San Mateo, Calif., that advises companies on growth strategies, and a part-time professor at Stanford, has written a book, Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy (http://www NULL.amazon NULL.com/gp/product/013714234X?ie=UTF8&tag=archcom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=013714234X), scheduled for release this month.

Saturday Interview – Companies From Mars, Customers From Venus – NYTimes.com (http://www NULL.nytimes NULL.com/2009/01/24/business/24interview NULL.html). Flickr photo credit: Melork (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/patrob/2320283831/)

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Six ways to get people to say “yes”

Posted by tlcoles on January 22, 2009   |   No Comments

In Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert B. Cialdini, a respected social scientist and specialist in the area of compliance psychology, says that “… automatic, stereotyped behavior is prevalent in much of human action …”

He cites an experiment by Harvard social psychologist Ellen Langer, where you can see this concept in action. Langer approached people waiting in line to use a copy machine and asked, “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?” About 60% said “yes.”

Under similar circumstances, she did the same thing, but instead asked, “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?” In this case, an overwhelming 93% said “yes.”

What happened to increase the “yes” response so dramatically? …read more at Copyblogger (http://cli NULL.gs/WeeXdr). Flickr photo credit: It’sGreg (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/itsgreg/707054525/).

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Podcast: improving your cold calling results

Posted by tlcoles on January 21, 2009   |   No Comments

StartupNation talks to Mari Anne Vanella about how to improve your cold calling techniques and how to get better results. Her company, The Vanella Group, is an outsourcing telesales firm serving the high-tech industry based in Silicon Valley. She’s compiled and analyzed data from 10s of thousands of cold calls and has come up with “42 Rules of Cold Calling Executives,” which she’s distilled into a simple little book by the same name. …more from Startup Nation (http://cli NULL.gs/vqrJn9). Flickr photo credit: Smithcam (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/jack79_mi/423095294/)

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Steal your competitors’ clients

Posted by tlcoles on January 19, 2009   |   No Comments

If your best prospects are someone else’s customers, you better have a strategy for wooing them away.

Sadly, despite all the advances in the fields of manufacturing and DNA research, there is still no new client factory. It’s up to entrepreneurs to attract and retain customers, and all your most profitable future clients already exist. Many of them probably belong to your competitors, so it’s up to you to persuade them to do business with you instead.

This is a skill business owners can learn. At its base, it comes down to advertising, something successful entrepreneurs are doing anyway. Plus, if you’re going after your competitors’ clients, your chances for success increase for two reasons: You’re targeting only those prospects who have already purchased or are in the process of purchasing a product or service similar to yours, and you’re rewarding the competition’s best clients for taking immediate action while showing you proof of their purchasing intent.

To reach those prospects interested in making a purchase, here are five ideas you can use right now in your display or internet advertisements …read more at Entrepreneur.com (http://cli NULL.gs/GjAd1E). Flickr photo credit: Joseph Hoetzl (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/josephhoetzl/2048711494/)

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Why social media is worth small business owners’ time

Posted by tlcoles on January 16, 2009   |   No Comments

YouTube. Flickr. Digg. Metacafe. Stumbleupon. Technorati. Del.icio.us. Kaboodle. Fark. Furl. Swik. Mixx. Are social media tools (http://bx NULL.businessweek NULL.com/web-20/) like these the future or simply new ways to waste time? Can’t we slow this train down?

Unfortunately, we can’t. But if you think about it, we don’t want to either. The Web is a vital source of innovation, and it levels the playing field between small businesses and corporate giants. The only problem is keeping up with the pace of its rapid (some would say rabid) advances. Taking advantage of all the Web has to offer is like eating your vegetables or getting exercise—most of us don’t do enough, and even those that do could always do more.

Why Social Media Is Worth Small Business Owners’ Time – BusinessWeek (http://www NULL.businessweek NULL.com/smallbiz/content/jan2009/sb20090116_666697 NULL.htm). Flickr photo credit: laffy4k (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/laffy4k/367822192/)

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How to advertise now.

Posted by tlcoles on January 13, 2009   |   No Comments

Unsure what to cut and what to keep? This smart, 4-point checklist is your guide to recession-era advertising.

When money’s tight, the knee-jerk reaction for many entrepreneurs is to cut back on advertising. Unfortunately, the businesses that stop advertising simply drop out of sight, taking these entrepreneurs from slow sales to no sales–fast. It’s a risky move many may not recover from. Rather than eliminate your advertising in a recession, cut the fat from your campaign, and focus on the right media choices for the highest ROI. To figure out what to cut and what to keep, use this checklist to choose the right media for your business in this challenging economy…” more from Entrepreneur.com (http://cli NULL.gs/UX33ut). Photo credit: brianandmia (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/elizardi/1580611892/)

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Here’s How Word-of-Mouth Marketing Really Works

Posted by tlcoles on January 13, 2009   |   No Comments

There’s an old saying in the world of advertising: Tell your story, or someone else will tell it for you. Now that mass marketing channels have fragmented and social media has blossomed, getting someone else to tell your story sounds pretty damn good. But, from the look of things, most companies just don’t get how this stuff works… more from Copyblogger (http://cli NULL.gs/0g5nt0). Photo credit: martinhoward (http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/martinhoward/100597002/)

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How to network, beyond the basics

Posted by tlcoles on January 2, 2009   |   No Comments

As a small business professional, you want each networking event to yield more than a few handshakes, a couple of cocktails and some snacks. Here are 3 tips for taking your networking to the next level.

Define your goals. Networking events will be critical to the development of your small business. It will be a way to introduce potential clients to your work, to meet new business partners, and to learn from the lessons of your industry peers. So before you sign up, know why you want to go, who you want to meet there, and why.

Be prepared to “sell” your business. At any networking event, someone is bound to ask you that ever-pervasive question: “so, what do you do?” With your expected audience and your goals in mind, plan in advance how you will talk about your business. Make it a brief, but persuasive statement that will open the discussion to even greater interest in your work. Have doubts? Practice with your friends and business confidants.

Follow up the Web 2.0 Way. While well-designed business cards are an important part of the Networking 101 toolkit, an ever-growing number of professionals see the future online. LinkedIn (http://www NULL.linkedin NULL.com/) claims more than 30 million professional networkers from more than 150 industries. Its major European competitor, Xing (http://www NULL.xing NULL.com/), claims 16 million. And social-oriented portals such as MySpace (http://www NULL.myspace NULL.com/) and Facebook (http://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/)are investing considerable capital to themselves create business-friendly communities that automate “let’s keep in touch.” Don’t be left out: get online and invite your new business contacts to link up.

Author: Tammi L. Coles

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Better marketing pays off for beef jerky biz

Posted by tlcoles on December 11, 2008   |   No Comments

Last spring, Gregory Nemitz asked Fortune Small Business to help him boost revenues for his online beef jerky business (“Space Jerky?” March 2008). Nemitz, 51, was frustrated with his sales, which totaled about $150,000 in 2007. There were plenty of unique visitors to his Web site, beefjerky.com, but about 99% of them weren’t buying anything. How could he get them to spend their money?

People like a bargain, one expert told Nemitz, adding that he should help the consumer understand that his premium jerky is an outstanding value. That’s exactly what Nemitz did – to great effect. …more from CNNMoney.com (http://cli NULL.gs/ub1ZWQ). Photo credit: beefjerky.com (http://beefjerky NULL.com)

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