Tag Archives: customer retention

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Client Relationship Building 2025: 10 Holiday Gifts @ $40 or Less

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The December holiday season presents an excellent opportunity to demonstrate to your clients that you appreciate the value they bring to your business. In fact, it can be argued successfully that your clients are your business—what would you have without them? Not billable hours and revenue, that’s for sure! Can we agree that in the waning days of November, Freelance professionals have some shopping to do, no matter how modest your budget? No Freelancer can let this occasion pass without showing gratitude for the business clients have done with you—and subtly encourage them to contact you in the new year and make a referral or two, as well.

In our hypercompetitive B2B marketplace, where buyer expectations continue to rise, it was found that78% of companies reported that thoughtful December holiday gifts given to clients improve their retention rates and promote stronger business relationships. It was also found that approximately 62% of business owners feel that the quality of gifts given is important and that holiday gifts can increase client lifetime value (by promoting client loyalty and retention).

Boxing up some generic “gift” will not suffice in our hypercompetitive B2B marketplace, where buyer expectations continue to rise. Today’s B2B clients expect a holiday gift that demonstrates thoughtfulness, relevance and quality. They want to know you’ve considered their preferences, industry and company culture. Consider your December holiday gift and card as an integral component of your marketing strategy.

When putting together your marketing budget for the new year, you may even want to make holiday gifting a line item, to ensure that you’ll have the funding to make an impression that aligns with the customer experience your company provides and its brand reputation. Your holiday gift needn’t be extravagant— over-doing it will likely leave the wrong impression. You want to find the sweet spot between professional and personal, memorable and appropriate, impressive and budget-friendly. You also want to present your clients with a gift they want to use. To that end, I’ve combed through numerous websites and discovered 10 items that should help you express this important element of your marketing strategy.

  1. Expandable Packing Cube Set – Medium/Large $34.95

Organization is integral to travel preparation and the REI Co-op Medium/Large Expandable Packing Cube Set makes it easy to pack—and find—items in your luggage. The set includes one medium and one large packing cube that can expand or compress by three inches to adjust packing volume as needed. Mesh on top lets you see what’s inside and there’s a handle to allow for easy carrying. FYI, the REI Co-op brand is certified to The Climate Label. The company funds efforts to reduce carbon emissions across its business and supports climate projects around the world.

2. Stay Cool Adjustable Laptop Desk $39.00

Clients who work from home or travel for business will appreciate this practical and attractive bamboo portable workstation desk. Its adjustable height and tilt settings accommodate laptops from 11 to 16 inches. There’s enough workspace to keep a notebook, mobile phone, or drink within reach and the anti-slip surface with cup holder indent keeps drinks and devices in place. A built-in side drawer keeps office essentials like pens and earbuds organized. The Stay Cool Adjustable Laptop Desk is also designed with ventilation holes and a pair of built-in USB-powered fans to help maintain your laptop’s temperature and prevent its hot surface from disrupting the workflow (USB to USB-C adaptor required.)

3. Stonewall Kitchen Holiday Sampler $34.95

Perfect for pleasing all sorts of palates and elegantly packaged in a white-and-green gift box that features a festive winter design, the Stonewall Kitchen Holiday Sampler gift set contains mini-sized versions of six Stonewall best-sellers: Wild Maine Blueberry Jam, Raspberry Peach Champagne Jam, Holiday Jam, Red Pepper Jelly, Maine Maple Champagne Mustard and Caramelized Onion Mustard. This ready-to-give gift box is a perfect holiday gift.

4. Mongolian Cashmere Gloves $29.90

Your clients will be happy that you’ve taken a hands-on approach when you gift them with lovely and practical Mongolian Cashmere Gloves. The gloves have a long cuff that make wearers feel extra cozy on a cold winter day. They are made of good quality cashmere that is incredibly soft, long-lasting and three times as warm as wool. They are also sourced sustainably and ethically.

5. Holiday Hygge Gift Box $40.00

Made by BeyondGiftsCo. and sold on Etsy, the Boho Mini Holiday Hygge Gift Box is a warm and wonderful winter care package that will sustain the recipient when the snow piles high and the cold wind blows. The Boho Mini contains items that make those fortunate enough to receive one feel good on a cold and wind-swept day: a nice mug, tea (inside a burlap bag), a gold tea spoon, cozy socks, salted caramels and a holiday-themed wood ornament.


6. Ice bucket $39.20

Elevate entertaining with the timeless elegance of the Asti Ice Bucket. Designed in 1972 by Sergio Asti and crafted from 100% recycled plastic and fully compostable, this sustainable design is a true work of art. Its versatile use as an ice bucket, storage container, or even a vase makes it a must-have for any occasion. Works by the late Sergio Asti, Italian-born industrial designer and architect, can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York City, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the RI School of Design Museum in Providence, RI.

7. Tabletop Dwarf Lemon Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa Wilma Goldcrest) $28.95

The Tabletop Dwarf Lemon Cypress adds a festive touch of nature’s elegance that illuminates holiday decor. The narrow, bright green foliage has a subtle lemon scent and its compact size make it perfect decoration for small spaces, such as tabletops, mantels, buffet tables, or a centerpiece. The pre-wrapped, gift-ready Tabletop Dwarf Lemon Cypress is a memorable client gift that keeps on giving.

With proper care, the plant can retain its vibrant color and health throughout the season and beyond, bringing good cheer to your client’s home or office. Designed to require minimal maintenance, your client can enjoy the Dwarf Lemon Cypress indoors during the holidays and then move it to a patio or plant it outdoors when spring arrives. Your client will be delighted with this gift for years to come—and experience a happy feeling about your brand time and again!

8. Blanket Scarf $14.97

This luxuriously oversized Italian-made Blanket Scarf is true to its name: it’s part scarf, part blanket and made in Florence, Italy from warm and super-soft woven fabric. Including its 4 inch fringe, the Blanket Scarf is 30″ w x 90″ h, made of 100% acrylic and makes a stellar festive statement when the weather turns chilly. You may add your business name and logo, beautifully embroidered monogram for a personal touch by emailing WSIB2BGift@wsgc.com.

9. Cheery Umbrella $22.99

Classy coverage through wind and rain, your clients will be happy to be protected from the elements by the wide, waterproof and wind resistant shield of a Cheery Umbrella. Drawing inspiration from the timeless wooden cane umbrellas but with a modern flair, this rain gear is will add comfort and style to dreary wet weather days.

10. Scout Soft Tote Cooler $39

Pleasure Chest is the perfect size for small family outings, road trips, or a 12-hour work shift—this tall, square cooler is a great shape for stacking containers. Stash napkins, utensils, or chocolate bars (no judgement!) in the outside pockets for quick access. Remember to take ice packs! Because it squishes flat in a suitcase, your client will love the Pleasure Chest for travel—and it makes a great leave-behind hostess gift. Please note that an additional 5-7 days of processing time will be added to your order due to personalization, regardless of shipping method.

  • 9″ W x 12.5″ H x 9″ D
  • Weight: 0.8 lbs
  • Handle drop: 12.5 “
  • Holds up to 30 lbs.
  • Foam insulation layer helps to keep contents cool (ice packs recommended)
  • Fits: 12-oz cans: 15 | skinny cans: 18 | 16.9-oz. water bottles: 8 | wine bottles: 4-5
  • Two exterior pockets: one zip (front) and one slip (back)
  • Heat-sealed, food-safe liner
  • Reinforced straps with velcro fabric handle wrap
  • Zips closed

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate. To everyone, thanks for reading!

Kim

Image: Filene’s Department Store (Boston, MA) toy department, 1938

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Curb Customer Churn

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Does your business exist in a one-off world? Once you’ve had the pleasure of bringing in a new customer, completed the transaction and received payment, what’s the likelihood of that customer doing business with you again? Acquiring new customers are a feather in your cap and your reason for being but as Dad told me, when it comes to money it’s not what you make, it’s what you keep. That bit of wisdom refers not only to business and living expenses: it also refers to your ability to keep customers coming back.

The expected percentage of repeat customers is different for every business, but it’s widely known that customer loyalty, demonstrated by repeat business, is a success factor and customer churn, also known as customer attrition and refers to the rate that customers disappear from your business, ought to be limited. Nurturing customer loyalty that translates into repeat business and adds to the long-term value of your customers is a much better use of your resources than constantly chasing new customers—even though attracting new customers is an eternal business necessity. See below a sample of customer retention statistics sorted by industry. How does your customer list look in comparison?

Top Customer Retention Stats in 2025 (source: Exploding Topics September 12, 2025)

  • Media services customer retention rate (84%).
  • Professional services customer retention rate (84%)
  • Tech/IT services customer retention rate 81%
  • IT/software services customer retention rate 77%
  • Consumer services customer retention rate 67%
  • Hospitality/travel/restaurant customer retention rate 55%.
  • Facebook 24-month user retention rate 69.6%
  • LinkedIn 24-month user retention rate 59% (estimate–LinkedIn does not release this metric)
  • Instagram 24-month user retention rate 39.1%
  • Pinterest 24-month user retention rate 37.5%
  • Snapchat 24-month user retention rate 30.2%
  • Twitter/ X 24-month user retention rate 22.9%
  • Customers who have a positive experience spend 140% more than those who have a bad experience.
  • Email is the top delivery method used to contact customers and encourage retention (89%)
  • 75% is the average customer retention rate across all industries
  • 60% of customers believe that good customer service is essential to promote customer retention.

Owners and leaders of what is probably the majority of commercial enterprises are inclined to believe the prevailing opinion that claims it costs the average business entity 5x more to bring in a new customer than it costs to keep an existing customer. In fact, research done by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company found that increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can increase profit anywhere from 25% to as much as 95%. The standard advice about customer retention appears to be still valid, but thought leaders now warn that hyper-prioritizing customer retention introduces the risk of losing focus on what really matters—connecting with customers and delivering value. Freelancers and business leaders must understand which customers are worthy of receiving resources intended to recruit their business and which are worthy of resources intended to keep their business. In that way, finding a balance between the two apparently opposed, but nevertheless important, customer segments can be achieved.

When considering how much to spend to either acquire or retain customers, it’s essential to consider the customer’s lifetime value (CLV), the long-term revenue potential of a customer. When discussing business decisions about attracting new customers and keeping existing customers, University of Pennsylvania/ Wharton Business School Marketing Professor Peter Fader told Forbes Magazine Senior Contributor Blake Morgan, “Here’s my take on that old belief: who cares? Decisions about customer acquisition, retention and development shouldn’t be driven by cost considerations—they should be based on future value.”

Still, getting ghosted by customers is not to be disingenuously explained away. You need to know what motivated now former customers to stop doing business with you. Then you must fix the problem(s). Unfulfilled expectations are known to result in high churn rates as customers jump ship and either take up with a competitor or do without. You can calculate your company’s churn rate by dividing the number of customers you worked with during a specific time period by the number of customers you worked with at the start of that time period. Quarterly, semi-annual, or annual churn calculations will give useful insights to Freelance professionals and other business owners.

Common causes of customer churn

  • Difficult user experience: if some aspect of using the product or service is frustrating, customers are likely to use the product/service less often and they’ll be unlikely to recommend it to friends.
  • Unsatisfying customer experience: if customers do not feel welcome, or if the process of doing business is disorganized and appears unprofessional, it leaves a bad impression. Furthermore, many customers expect a personalized experience and would like your company to periodically introduce new features or upgrades to your product or service that add functionality, luxury, or other distinction that heightens the experience. If this expectation is unfulfilled, some customers will leave.
  • Competitor intervention: every business has competitors, but it is important to discover why customers think the grass is greener somewhere else. Are those customers a bad fit for your business, or was your offering a poor product/market fit for them all along? Alternatively, might some customers be more price-sensitive of late and feel compelled to explore lower-priced solutions? Or, is there something you are doing—or not doing? Once you figure out the cause of the ghosting, you can decide who is worth working to keep and who can be let go.
  • Incomplete onboarding: it is beneficial to teach buyers how to appropriately utilize the product or service that’s been purchased and coaching them on the optimal use of the service or product purchased is especially urgent when the customer has paid several hundred to several thousand dollars. An onboarding process that provides adequate user education will also address customer expectations of personalization and counteract difficult user experiences and, in most cases, head off an unsatisfactory customer experience.

Minimize customer churn

There will always be customers who leave your company to take up with another and the reasons for that are varied—needs evolve, budgets shrink, competitors appear. Nevertheless, directing your focus to customer priorities and expectations to shape your delivery of positive experiences will minimize customer churn and maximize customer satisfaction and retention. In short, make it rewarding to do business with your organization. It has been shown (see above) that the impact of a satisfying and memorable customer experience is enormous— customers spend 140% more if their past experience with a business is positive compared to those customers who encounter a negative experience. Top companies know how important customer experience is in maintaining high retention. The marketing pros at Hubspot suggest a short list of practices that will limit customer churn.

  • Invite customer feedback by creating a short survey to send to customers you’ve worked with over the past four or five years. It’s important to know what customers perceive as your company’s strengths and weaknesses and get insight into how their needs and expectations have evolved. Besides, you might even provide incentive for a lapsed client to return!
  • Provide excellent customer service, from onboading to after-sale support. Define a user roadmap, especially for new customers.
  • Create a welcoming and supportive customer experience. Community building is a powerful engagement strategy that keeps customers talking about your brand. Use social media to create a community for customers and use it to generate loyalty that creates referrals and repeat business.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © SCMP Pictures. Shoppers riding the escalators in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island (2015).

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Help Customers Trust Subscription Pricing

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The mere thought of guaranteed revenue arriving each month like clockwork will bring a smile to the face of every business owner. Recurring revenue is a dream come true; now you’ve got the cash-flow to pay expenses on time and in full. You can replace or upgrade business equipment when necessary. You can invest in professional development that makes you more knowledgeable, and therefore more useful to customers, and more respected in your professional community as well. Recurring revenue enables you to plan for the future of your business with confidence—and sleep well at night.

The leading way to generate recurring revenue is by introducing a subscription payment option to your business. Savvy Freelancers and SMBs are reviewing the buying habits of their best customers to determine if converting certain of their products or services to the subscription model can be successful. In the B2B sector, subscription pricing is a payment option where customers pay a recurring fee, typically monthly or annually, to receive access to a product or service, most often cloud-based software or storage, i.e., software as a service (SaaS). Freelancers and SMBs might offer subscription pricing for coaching, marketing, network and website management, or bookkeeping services.  

Thoughts of a subscription payment plan may make business owners salivate, but the process requires careful thought and planning. You’ve got to get things right from Day One and that is especially true for service-based businesses where value is not always immediately recognized. SaaS subscriptions, network and/or website management and bookkeeping services, on the other hand, have a readily apparent value that customers and prospects can picture themselves needing on a regular basis. For this reason, non-IT related service-based subscriptions may face challenges.

  • Value perception: To establish trust in a subscription payment plan, the business must demonstrate unambiguous value to prospective customers. If the customer begins to feel that s/he is not getting their money’s worth, there will be a risk of service cancellation. 
  • Service enhancements: There’s an ongoing customer expectation to continually sweeten the pot with (free) service upgrades. Global enterprise companies (like credit card companies and banks) can afford this strategy and the expectation has been set. SMBs and Freelancers may struggle to fulfill this wish, however.

Talk up value

Your subscription pricing model and everything related to it must align with the perceived value of what customers get in return. Customers must be able to see and/or believe the value of your product or service, consistently and at every touch point. Your job, Freelancer or SMB owner, is to continuously communicate that value, so customers will understand the benefits they’ll receive when opting-in to the subscription. Only when that is achieved will customer concerns fade and trust in your subscription grow.

Communicating value begins at the introduction of the subscription model sales process; the offer of a free trial will play a pivotal role in building the value you want to demonstrate. A short free trial invites prospective subscription customers to test the product or service, if it is new to them, or experience how subscription pricing can work to their benefit. Businesses acquired 50.0% of subscribers through trials, making it one of the most effective customer acquisition strategies. Additionally, as customization has become a growing preference, add-ons have become an essential part of personalized offers and 28.1% of customers offered add-on options to allow customers to tailor the subscription to their needs.

Prioritize quality control

The engine of a successful subscription-based payment model is customers who feel confident and happy to use and pay for your service or product. Your quality control procedures will play an integral part of making that possible. You must be forever vigilant and closely monitor the quality of your product or service performance and delivery, customer service/customer experience and the payment process.

Embed quality control into your workflow by making it part of someone’s job description (yours, Freelancer friend!) to confirm that customer expectations are met, respond to and document glitches and monitor the turnaround time for resolving issues. BTW, attentive quality control will make you quickly aware of brewing customer concerns, knowledge that can, for example, reveal service enhancements that customers may appreciate. You may discover another way to instill trust and value in your company. 

Expectations and the customer experience

Begin setting expectations when prospective customers first interact with your subscription sales funnel. Life is about managing expectations and it’s in your interest that every customer understands what is (and is not) included in the subscription you want them to buy—e.g., accessible services, products, tools, supporting technologies, change orders and how to reach customer service on the phone. In order to make an informed decision, subscription prospects must understand and accept what the service offers, channels for contact and the level of support offered by your organization.

Be advised that available payment methods are now an essential part of the customer experience. Economic uncertainty has made customers exceptionally price-sensitive and potentially influenced by their satisfaction, or disappointment, with the payment options you make available, along with the add-ons or upgrade options and other customization features. Debit cards remain the most popular payment method (68.6%), but the desire for access to alternative payment methods is now undeniable. Including subscription payment methods that were once seldom available can address the growing preference for a convenient, seamless payment experience that recognizes customer needs.  Alternative payment methods have been proven to generate more revenue (5.0% renewal invoice decline rate) and help prevent fraud (0.9% of failed fraud transactions). 

Customer retention

The smartest business owners will implement customer retention strategies designed to discourage customer churn and grow the subscriber base. The customer experience presents numerous opportunities to appeal to customers by offering potent sweeteners that may include loyalty rewards, product or service bundling, hybrid models, subscription pausing options, or other special offers designed to promote customer satisfaction and loyalty. In 2023, the average consumer churn rate was 4.1%, staying consistent year-over-year. As customers become more particular with spending, their purchases become more intentional, making them less likely to churn once a decision to buy has been made.

BTW, subscription pauses are a convenient alternative to sidestep cancellation when a customer needs relief from monthly payments or product deliveries. 39.7% of merchant sites enabled the pause functionality and prevented over 400,000 plan cancellations.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Lucy Lambriex /Getty Images 2015

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Customer Loyalty = Competitive Advantage

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No doubt about it, being in business is about the customers and nearly all of your important functions as a business leader are customer-driven. Customers are the fuel that sustains your enterprise and they are worth their weight in gold. In exchange for just a few basic necessities that your organization provides—high-quality products and services, pleasant and efficient service end to end and prompt follow-up to whatever questions or problems, chief among them—your customers will be pleased. They’ll reward you by doing more business with you.

Some will become your cheerleaders and happily spread the good news of their positive experience with you. They’ll write glowing reviews and award your company five stars. Not only will they give you repeat business, they’ll also refer their colleagues and grow your list of customers. Good customers are the foundation of a successful enterprise and in particular for small and midsize businesses they are one of your most impactful competitive advantages.

Now, you may have built a strong brand that within your target market commands admirable brand awareness, but it is undeniable that small and midsize entities do not have the powerful brand influence wielded by even regional companies, let alone the multinationals. Furthermore, in the big picture, the products and services offered by Freelancers and other small entities are seldom perceived as unique. For the most part, small and midsize companies are all-too-often uncomfortably close to being considered a mere commodity and more or less interchangeable with competitors. Ouch.

So how can Freelancers and other owner – operators of small entities distinguish themselves and get positioned to thrive in an increasingly globalized marketplace? Fortunately, one of the most attainable and effective competitive advantages you can bring to your brand to rescue it from the taint of mediocrity is the loyalty of your customers. You nurture and sustain that powerful competitive advantage by the customer experience that you (and your team) present. When your organization gives the gift of a first-rate customer experience to those who do business with you, that happy feeling will become the defining memory that customers have of your organization.

A strategy, not an afterthought

You can showcase as competitive advantages any attributes or resources that your business holds, but the particulars of the customer service and experience your organization offers are personally and uniquely yours. What you do, how you do it and how your customers feel as a result will distinguish you from all competitors.

The customer experience you present is an extension of your company values and culture. When your guiding principles direct you to place the customer at the center of how you interpret best practices, you’ll incorporate that perspective into your business decisions, strategic directions and every customer touch-point. The customer service training you provide to customer-facing employees will reflect your standards of customer service best practices. The desired result is a rewarding customer experience that encourages customer loyalty and customer retention.

Products and services that consistently deliver

It is a given that the quality of your products and services is the leading factor in creating customer loyalty. Excellence is the expectation and customers will quickly abandon your organization if its solutions do not meet that standard.

If for some reason a product or service fails (as the customer defines it), your best defense is to respond quickly, deliver an apology that expresses genuine empathy for the inconvenience and provide a well-delivered correction that exceeds customer expectations.

Surprise and delight

It is always good business to thank your customers for their business and show them that you appreciate their confidence in you and your organization. That they choose to do business with you is the most sincere compliment. A thoughtful gesture costs very little and has the power to repay you many times over with customer loyalty, retention and referrals made.

Providing perks or VIP status is one way you can show gratitude to your best customers and it’s known to encourage repeat purchases and create enthusiastic brand advocates. Depending on your product or service line, consider inviting certain customers to have pre-release access to a new product or service. You might offer those customers a small discount in exchange for their inclusion in a case study that you’ll publish or appearing in a social media campaign.

Another way to show gratitude to customers is by sending a hand written note to thank them for their business. A short, simply written thank you note is an elegant and powerful way to express your appreciation for the opportunity to work with them. At the December holidays, remember to send a (secular) holiday card to customers you’ve worked with over the past four or five years.

The little extras you provide are an expression of your guiding principles, an extension of the memorable customer experience that your organization presents and a welcome change of pace from the digital realm, where most business interactions now take place.

Enable community

When your company’s guiding principles point you toward a customer engagement focus that is centered on customers, you won’t limit yourself to one-way broadcasting of company updates. Instead, you’ll spark conversations that have the potential to inspire your customers and motivate them to interact with each other, along with you and your customer-facing employees. Engagement means that customers feel that they’re part of a community, one that welcomes them with bonding activities that can include interesting conversations, receiving cards and personal notes, or gaining access to special product or service offerings.

Because your customers will find it most convenient to have these types of conversations online, take care to participate in social media platforms that first, make this type of communication accessible in terms of text and images, as does Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok and second, that your platform is one that customers are comfortable using.

When you take steps to build and nurture a satisfying and memorable customer experience, you can be certain that your brand will be recognized and appreciated by customers and prospects alike, who will be delighted to do business with your entity again again. Their loyalty will become one of your most powerful competitive advantages.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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90 Day Business Tune-Up

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Memorial Day Weekend is over and summer is here—-yay! The fourth quarter, which has the most revenue potential for most Freelance and other business entities, will arrive at the close of this short, sweet season and whether it brings you a feast or something less than, you’d better be ready. There’s a lot to prepare for this year.

Inflation has been eating your profits for at least two years. The shakeup that followed the recent collapse of three big banks still lingers and talk of recession refuses to subside. So maybe it’s time to take some defensive action to insulate your enterprise against the turbulence? Ya think?

Then again, you may have reason to feel optimistic. Are you one who anticipates a potentially robust fourth quarter? That happy thought may inspire you to consider scaling your operation, maybe hiring one or more part-time or even full-time employees, to ensure that your organization will seamlessly meet the increased demand for your products and services.

In either scenario, you’ll have some planning to do and it makes sense to start the process now and guess what? You can make a few smart moves that will give your business a summertime tune-up that will start showing the results you want in just 90 days! Analyzing key performance index metrics, numbers that reveal what’s really going on in your business, is Step One. You’ll want to verify the customers who bring you the most business, the average dollar amount of invoices, the average length of your sales cycle and the average number of days it takes to collect receivables, for example. That and other KPIs will help you decide what should be done to capitalize on your advantages, minimize potential obstacles and give some wiggle room when it’s needed.

SWOT Analysis

Objectively evaluating your business on a monthly or at least quarterly basis is always time well spent, regardless of the economic conditions you face. Since the 1970s, the SWOT Analysis has enabled business owners and leaders to account for the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that a business should focus on and manage. FYI, there are many free online tools that make it faster and easier to conduct a credible SWOT Analysis, ensuring that you evaluate all aspects of your business and help you consider goals and next steps.

Taking a peek at two or three major competitors can also unearth useful information and may even help you recognize previously undiscovered opportunities to pursue or other potential advantages to explore. Look for what can help your business stand out, including product or service add-ons and upgrades, customer loyalty rewards and customer experience and after-sale support.

Once the SWOT has been completed, identify what can be implemented in the short-term and develop strategies that include action plans and a timetable to keep you on schedule and drive results. Other areas that may benefit from scrutiny and are known to produce tangible results quickly are below.

Cash-flow

Insufficient cash-flow makes it difficult to manage your accounts payable and other fixed expenses and can result in late fees. Two strategies that you can institute immediately are known to improve your business cash-flow— 1.) speed up collection of accounts receivable, usually by timely invoicing and 2.) control spending.

Re: invoicing, time tracking software often has invoicing capability and it’s a timesaver for B2B service providers. Alternatively, you can develop the practice of creating a draft invoice when you send a contract to customers. The services you provide will be described and will be the basis of your invoices. Mostly, you’ll only need to add the time spent on the tasks.

Coaxing customers to pay on time may also mean that you need to broaden your company’s payment systems. Accepting two or three payment formats (e.g., mobile and online in addition to checks) could shorten the average number of days it takes to collect outstanding receivables. In addition to meeting customer expectations and helping to increase sales conversion, digital payments also mean money is deposited to your account within 48 hours.

Re: spending, examine your budget and look for what can be reduced or eliminated. For example, have you been a user of premium services and if so, are the upgrades meaningful? Also, you might consider renegotiating your contracts with suppliers, asking for a lower credit card interest rate if you always pay on time and reduce any discretionary spending.

Finally, money saved allows you to build a nice cash reserve, oh happy day! That means you’ll face the most favorable conditions should you look to obtain a line of credit that provides additional cash reserve. With a line of credit, you can draw from it on an as-needed basis but only have to repay what you actually borrowed.

Pricing

We all know that prices are rising and this gives you “permission” to raise yours—-maybe by 10% -20%? Your customers probably won’t complain, unless they are especially price sensitive. Consumers don’t stop purchasing when prices increase—-they simply adapt to what’s within their budget.

Consider designing a premium and a budget version of your services and add two new price points to the mix. Consumer behavior surveys have demonstrated that shoppers of B2B and B2C products and services appreciate the options of multiple price points. It’s highly unlikely that the majority of your buyers will gravitate to the lower price and in fact, if you design your premium services to reflect what buyers value most, a majority will probably choose to pay the higher price in order to obtain what’s important to them.

Customer experience and retention

If business slows down, it’s imperative that you step up your customer retention activities. Keeping a customer is always less expensive than acquiring a new one, so do whatever possible to persuade customers to keep doing business with you.

Prioritize customer satisfaction. Along with providing high-quality products and services, attentive customer service and beneficial after-sale support will result in significant improvement in customer satisfaction. Furthermore, everything from a website that navigates intuitively, to quick follow-up on questions asked on social media will positively impact the customer experience and the good reviews, repeat business and referrals that every business needs.

Get free advice

I’m honored that you read my blog (thank you!) but there are other sources you can explore and they’ll have information and advice well beyond what I offer. Small Business Development Centers and SCORE, both affiliated with the Small Business Association, offer free technical assistance and resources to owners of businesses of every size and what you learn can make a real difference. .https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-locations/headquarters-offices/office-small-business-development-centers

Your local chamber of commerce or neighborhood business association will charge a (reasonable) annual dues plus a per event ticket price, but you’ll get a good ROI. There will be at least a few events that justify the money invested and you’ll get to meet fellow business owners and Freelancer peers. You might event meet your next client.

Finally, remember that the professionals you hire to provide business support services—your banker, accountant, bookkeeper, HR or IT specialist— also have expertise in addition to the specific service that convinced you to work with them. I’m sure that within their spectrum of expertise, they’ll be delighted to share valuable insights and maybe even help you to recognize new opportunities.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Kelley Wholesale Florist at The New England Flower Exchange in Chelsea, MA.

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Navigating Difficult Business Conditions

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As business conditions in the US and the world continue to deteriorate, it becomes increasingly important for business owners to devise and implement strategies to shield their entity as much as possible from the economic fallout. When the going gets tough, the smart start planning. In general, encouraging sales revenue and figuring out which expenses can be trimmed are primary ingredients of your business survival recipe. There are other actions you are also advised to consider.

Review financials

Reviewing and interpreting your financial data enables you to make wise decisions that will protect your company. To understand which protective strategies may be sensible and possible for your entity, the planning process begins by first consulting your financial data. Refer to the overview of the big three financial statements in the April 18 post. Trust the story the data tells you and plan accordingly.

The Cash–flow Statement shows the ebb and flow of money through your business and allows you to predict when the most cash will be available and when cash will be at a low point. The tidal flow of money is critical to surviving a business slowdown. The Income (Profit & Loss) Statement reveals which products, services and other activities are most lucrative and you’ll want that information, too, as you construct the plan. On the Balance Sheet, you’ll find company assets, liabilities and outstanding debts or loans. Now you can determine where the business stands financially and how the possibility of decreased revenue could affect you. Your survival plan will start to take shape.

Study the previous 24-36 months of business performance history and use that information to project 24-36 months into a future that will be colored by a degree of turbulence. Each month, monitor relevant KPI (key performance indicator) values that reflect income and expenses, including:

  • top line revenues (gross sales)
  • accounts receivable (outstanding invoices)
  • accounts payable (bills owed by the business)
  • payroll (W2 and 1099NEC)
  • rent
  • utilities
  • software subscriptions
  • taxes

It is imperative that you’ll be able to cover accounts payable obligations and payroll for employees and/or Freelance outsourced help. You do that by doing whatever possible to ensure that accounts receivable are paid on schedule. Invoice on time and include a line that states payment is due upon its receipt. In reality, an invoice that is 45 or fewer days old isn’t past due. However it’s always in your interest, particularly when business is slow, to collect receivables quickly, to promote the timely payment of what’s payable.

Create action plan

Planning for an expected economic slowdown is how to prepare your business for survival. Don’t wait until you’re underwater. To power difficult a difficult business climate, business owners are advised to take a view from 30,000 feet look at the operation. See the suggestions below for tried-and-true recommendations that could help you save the day. If you have the money, it’s also a very smart idea to create an emergency fund and purchase business interruption insurance, to cushion the blow if disaster strikes. Who could have predicted either the events of September 11, 2001, or the arrival of the coronavirus and the subsequent months-long shutdown?

Trim operating expenses

Trimming operating expenses is an obvious and effective way to soften the impact of a sluggish economy. Examine your budget and reduce or eliminate paying for what you don’t need. Also, pick up the phone and attempt to negotiate lower credit card and/ or loan interest payments, cell phone rate and more favorable vendor contract terms (if your payment record is good). Marketing automation and other software as a service subscriptions might also be lowered by a modest amount each month.

Business travel, maintaining membership in certain business or professional organizations and attending certain conferences and trade shows may be expenses that you should continue, if possible, if the ROI is good. Don’t bite your nose off to spite your face. If you can cut even $50/ month your accounts payable tab, it’s a victory.

 Prioritize customer retention

It’s been convincingly demonstrated that it costs 5x more of your valuable time and money to bring in a new client than it does to retain the client you already have. Your relationship with existing clients will be an important asset during turbulent times. Keep them coming back by not only offering the products and services that deliver the solutions they need, but also by providing the customer experience they value.

Invite feedback, sometimes by finding opportunities where conversation with your clients can take place or by sending out a quick survey, maybe with your next invoice, so that you can learn how clients feel about doing business with your organization. Client feedback may alert you to problems that need your attention, information that is crucial. Inviting feedback also demonstrates that customer satisfaction is a priority at your company and it further enhances the customer experience.

Focus on best-sellers

In an economic downturn, promoting your best-selling products and services is a prudent strategy for both attracting new clients and maintaining current clients. Let the top line revenue on your P&L be your guide. Furthermore, support your top line by ramping up your customer retention strategy (or create one). Next, evaluate and optimize the customer experience your company provides as well, including after-sale support. Make the most of every touch point.

Revamp leadgen marketing

Don’t let tough economic times diminish your brand’s success. Instead, reassess your marketing strategies to stay ahead of the competition. If you’re working with a tighter budget, narrow marketing focus to enhance customer loyalty and encourage retention. Energize social media presence and digital marketing solutions to increase your brand’s visibility. Keep your finger on the pulse of the latest trends in marketing to tap into what’s capturing the attention of your target audience.

If you or a friend are adept at shooting and editing visually-engaging short videos, revitalize your marketing on YouTube (if your A/V skills are good), TikTok, or Instagram. They key is getting creative in your marketing messages to stand apart from competitors. By all means necessary, during the adverse economic conditions (and also when things improve), stay visible, watch your financials, be agile, look viable stay relevant and be cautiously optimistic.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image © Susan Doyle (pictured), founder and owner of Go Paddle in County Wexford, Ireland is an avid kayaker, coach, outdoor educator and a paddling ambassador for Canoeing Ireland through the Bridge the Gap program.

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Back to Basics: Content Marketing 2023

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The inbound marketing strategy known as content marketing has the power to bring paying customers into your business. The results you see might happen quickly or over a somewhat longer period of time but if you put a content marketing strategy in motion, it’s close to a guarantee that customers will arrive, checkbooks in hand.

What will it do for you?

As you must do for all business initiatives, you need goals, tangible or intangible—your wish list!—and a recipe to make them happen. If you’re like many Freelancers and small business owners, however, you may be a little flummoxed by how to get content marketing going, of deciding what it makes sense to do. so FYI, the focus of a content marketing strategy is simple and straight forward:

  • Encouraging brand awareness, trust and loyalty
  • Generating leads within your target market
  • Converting leads into customers (sales)
  • Inspiring good word of mouth, repeat business (customer retention) and referrals

A content marketing plan is a journey. You’ll want to keep your destination in mind (goals) as you map the easiest and most effective path (strategies and actions) to get you there. Think of a 12-18 month campaign time frame. Develop the content narrative , perhaps quickly summarized by bullet points, to persuade the target audience. Moreover, choose relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will document your progress—or give a red flag to let you know that a course correction is needed. B2B marketers primarily use website traffic to measure success (60%).

Demand Metric, a content marketing firm headquartered in Ontario, Canada, recently reported that 91% of B2B companies engage in content marketing, spending 25+ % of marketing budget on the format. Demand Metric research also found that 68% of people read about brands that interest them and 60% will follow-up on a product or service after reading content marketing info. 70% of potential buyers prefer to read an article about your product or service than see an advertisement. 82% feel more positive about a company after reading content and 90% feel that such content is useful. High quality, interesting content inspires potential buyers to follow your content on social media and makes them more likely to do business–become a customer.

So what do potential buyers consider appealing content? Demand Metric research points to blogs, finding that 59% of B2B marketers produce more leads with blog posts. FYI, I don’t want to ruin your day, but Demand Metric research also found that 91% of email marketing recipients opt-out (hint—develop a good list and keep in mind that a small yet robust list still has value).

Remember your audience

Your content is for your target buyers. Therefore, you have to know who your target buyers are so you can decide the best way to sell your content to them. tailor your content marketing strategy to accommodate your ideal buyer’s content preferences and behavior. Your content is meant to push your brand as a trustworthy expert in your industry. This means you have to set yourself apart from competitors in the industry. To do this, you have to let your audience know what makes you unique through your content while showing them you are trustworthy by solving their problems. Most users look at the content to find solutions. Therefore, your content should indicate that you understand their pain point and you are able to solve it because you have the solution. Content that portrays such confidence is instrumental to generating conversions for your products.

Depending on your target audience, your content format can come as infographics, videos, podcasts or more. This also goes for the platforms you choose to deliver your content. For example, TikTok is predominantly used by young people, which means it could be the ideal delivery channel for your content if your audience falls within that demographic of users. In addition, it means your content has to be predominantly videos.

Monitor and fine-tune

Finally, you’ll want to make decisions about what success or missing the mark looks like. You can choose to follow whatever metrics are available to you but I suggest you keep in mind the most common goals of content marketing campaigns and choose metrics that reveal their performance. Depending on what you learn each month about your campaign’s ability to deliver, or not, gives you the flexibility to make adjustments along the way.

You can track the progress of your content marketing campaign by using your website and social media platform traffic data, as well as making note of the leads you’ve received and deals closed by way of leads generated.

If budget allows, do yourself a favor and invest in marketing services company such as HubSpot or Buzz Sumo. Among the metrics you’ll follow will be:

  • Social media shares
  • Website traffic
  • Click-through rate
  • Content engagement—- comments , shares, likes of your content
  • Backlinks— which high- traffic sites link to yours and increase the activity and credibility of your website and social platforms? Google E.A.T. (expertise, authority, trust) remains an influential
  • Time spent on time, another demonstration of engagement with your content. Pay attention to the topics that readers prefer, based on the time spent reading certain posts.
  • Bounce rate (tidy up your email list)

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Jane Wyman (L) 1917 – 2007 won the 1948 Academy Award for Best Actress in the title role of Johnny Belinda. Wyman was married to Ronald Reagan 1940-1949, they are the parents of Maureen and Michael. Superstar Hollywood costume designer Edith Head and Wyman review designs for Lucy Gallant (1955). Head (1897-1981) was the recipient of eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, including All About Eve (1950) and The Sting (1973).

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Use Customer Service to Grow Your Business

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The quality of customer service that your organization delivers reveals more than you may suspect about your organization— the quality of the products and services offered, your commitment to quality control, your respect for those who buy from you, your appreciation of the value of building and maintaining good customer relationships, your brand and your management skills.

Of the many tasks that a business owner must examine and address, few are more representative of your business acumen than customer service. You owe it to customers, prospective customers (you want to convert them, yes?) and yourself to analyze your company’s buyer’s journey and after- sale service and ensure that every customer touch point reflects your commitment to providing a solution to the needs of those who might become your customers and your goal to promote confidence and trust in your company.

Encourage customer feedback—-distribute a survey when you send an invoice, initiate conversations about what might make doing business with you even better. Read on and remind yourself of why customer service matters.

It’s good business

While there are many factors that contribute to the success or failure of a business, good customer service is always a positive. When customers are pleased to do business with your establishment, they’re likely to say good things about you, your team and your products or services. Remember to ask your happy customers to write online reviews, make referrals and also contribute testimonials or participate in a case study.

Prospects, too

The buyer’s journey requires the engagement of you or your team once prospects move from stage 1 Top of Funnel to stage 2 Middle of Funnel. As prospects become more serious about doing business, personal interaction begins. Prospects may want to have a 30 minute (free) consultation, or they may have a question or two. You and your team must respond to inquiries from prospective customers promptly, professionally and pleasantly.

Prospects who’ve maintained an interest in your product or service and entered stage 3 Bottom of Funnel are especially deserving of superior customer service. It can help you win the sale, or cause you to lose it, if you don’t perform to expectations. Converting someone from consideration to commitment is a careful balancing act that’s eased along with good customer service.

They remember

The customer may forget what they bought and when they bought it, but memories of the interactions between you, or your staff, and the customer will have a long life. It is therefore in your interest to take all possible steps to leave customers and also prospective customers, with pleasant memories of your establishment. I’m sorry to say that memories of poor customer service have the longest life. Many marketing experts estimate that 12 positive experiences are necessary to make up for just one unsatisfactory customer service experience.

They matter

Providing good customer service is the ultimate demonstration of courtesy and respect. Part of the value that you deliver to customers (and prospects) is communicating that you value their business and their interest in doing business with you, even if you ultimately cannot fulfill their need at this time. Treat customers and prospects well and you’ll leave them with a good feeling. They will trust you and will be more likely to refer you to others who may become your customers.

They return

Depending on which study you believe, and what industry you’re in, acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. Research done by Frederick Reichheld of Bain and Company in Boston, MA concluded that increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.

Good customer service is an important ingredient of your customer development strategy. It encourages good customer relationships, good online reviews, good word of mouth, repeat business and referrals. In other words, good customer service is worth money. I believe making money is why you went into business?

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Nick Briggs, Carnival Film & Television Ltd. Members of the Downton Abbey household staff

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Support Customers After the Sale

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Now that you’ve signed the contract and brought a new customer to your business, you may feel a mixture of pride and relief. You’re thrilled that your marketing tactics and sales talking points were persuasive. The customer is in-house and you’re ready to exhale.

But not yet. In fact, the real work is just beginning. Whether you’ve sold a product or a service, the smooth execution of project work or the product performance and ease of use are only part of the story. To declare a sustainable victory, you must ensure that the customer is pleased with the decision to do business with your organization. You and your team must enable the feel-good with a series of actions collectively known as after sales service.

The customer experience operates on several levels, including what is traditionally called customer service. In our increasingly competitive business environment, business owners and leaders are now motivated to also manage what happens after the sale because it has impact. The facet of customer service known as after-sales service is the follow-up support that customers receive after they’ve bought your product or contracted to receive your services.

Business owners and leaders typically focus attention on filling the sales pipeline and strive to convert prospects into customers. That approach makes lots of sense, but it is to your advantage to devote a portion of your resources to what happens after the ink dries and payment is received. After-sales service is an important aspect of your customer retention strategy. It is a principal factor in cultivating repeat business, generating positive word-of-mouth that leads to referrals and enhancing the company brand.

Abandon customers once you have their money and it’s highly likely that they won’t return. It’s well-known that dissatisfied customers are bad for future sales, to say nothing of your brand’s reputation. But happy customers are your friends, the most valuable asset in your sales funnel.

The after-sales service your company provides might include advice on how to properly use the product or suggestions on how to get started with implementing the service. After-sales service often amounts to listening to customer feedback and being available to answer questions or give encouragement. In short, it’s a check-in to find out if the customer is satisfied with the purchase and helping to correct any glitches. After-sales service can make the difference between a happy customer who loves doing business with your organization, or one who is underwhelmed or even frustrated.

Customers who appreciate the way you and your team treat them are more likely to share their positive experience with your company and refer you to friends and associates. A 2016 survey conducted by The New York Times revealed that 65% of new business leads come from referrals. A 2011 study of 10,000 customers of a German bank found that customers who were referred to the bank by someone they know had a 16% higher lifetime revenue value than those who were not referred.

So how can you and your team build a winning after-sale service experience for your customers?Depending on your business, you can start the good vibes by sending business-appropriate thank you notes (paper or electronic) to express how much you appreciate that the customer chose to work with your organization.

Create a responsive new customer onboarding system, in which you welcome the customer, as discussed above, confirm customer priorities or must-haves, and also verify time table deadlines (if applicable) and project milestones. Do whatever is possible to make working with your organization easy. Encourage client feedback and listen to identify the onboarding experiences and information that your customers value. Standardize the process and use it consistently to set the stage for a positive working relationship.

Whether or not you send a note, your customer may be very happy to receive a follow-up call or email to get feedback on how, or if, the product or service is delivering and if expectations are being met. When performing project work, communicating progress, with a quick email or phone call on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, demonstrates your professionalism and commitment to excellence.

If the experience is a little bumpy, be ready to make suggestions, offer coaching or training, or even make an exchange. What surfaces in these conversations can be used to evaluate and, if necessary, to build or tweak more responsive after-sale service protocols.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: In Barcelona, Spain a flamenco instructor coaches students

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Defining and Delivering Good Customer Service

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Superior customer service is a cornerstone of the customer experience and the customer experience is a foundational element of the sales journey. I see the customer experience as governing everything that leads up to the sale and customer service as governing what happens after the sale. Along with designing a confidence-building customer experience that persuades prospects to become customers once the need for your products or services is established, to remain viable, every business must develop customer service protocols that support customer retention and encourage referrals.

As reported in Forbes Magazine in May 2018, American businesses lose $75 billion annually due to poor customer service and the U.S. Small Business https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2018/05/17/businesses-lose-75-billion-due-to-poor-customer-service/#5777314e16f9 Association reported in 2018 that 68% of customers stopped doing business with a company due to poor customer service. It is worthwhile to review your company’s customer service from time to time. Below are suggestions that might guide a refresh of your company’s approach to customer service:

  1. Answer the phone.  When a prospective customer calls for information, s/he does not want to leave a voicemail message and wait for an answer. The prospect wants to speak with a live person now who can answer questions quickly and correctly, in a friendly and professional manner. Hiring the optimal number of front-line staff is the antidote. Freelancers who work alone and receive a fair amount of incoming calls can hire a telephone answering service to take calls when you cannot.

2. Take the extra step. When the intention is to help a prospective customer, understand that doing the minimum is not enough. For example, when speaking with a prospect who has questions about your products or services, merely directing him/her to the company website to obtain more information does not exemplify good customer service. Instead, ask the customer about the problem that must be solved, inquire as to what s/he would like to achieve and then discuss how your product or service can (or cannot) provide the desired solution.

3. Be helpful. If it is discovered while speaking with a prospect that your product or service cannot provide the necessary solution, do not be afraid to refer the prospect to a competitor or another company that can meet his/her needs. Your generosity will be remembered and may be returned with future business and referrals.

4. Listen. Let the customer talk. Allow the customer to ask questions or describe a problem. You (or front-line staff) ask clarifying questions along the way, to demonstrate that you are listening and evaluating how your products or services might be useful (or not) to the customer. The more front-line staff know about your customers and their needs, the more of an asset they will be to your company and customers. Prospects and customers will appreciate the empathy and product knowledge and that will almost certainly increase customer retention, new business and referrals.

5. Resolve problems quickly. No business owner enjoys receiving complaints, but those complaints reveal product or process breakdowns that you have the opportunity to fix. Customers gain confidence when a business quickly responds to and resolves complaints. Apologize profusely and throw in something extra (an upgrade or gift certificate, based on the price of the item purchased) to demonstrate that you value the customer and regret the inconvenience that you’ve caused. If handled correctly, you will win repeat business and a source of referrals (instead of bad-mouthing on Yelp).

6. Train staff. Make training a key element of front-line staff on-boarding. Conduct a product boot camp for new hires, plus an annual refresh for all staff, to ensure that employees are familiar with your product and service lines (bring in a Freelance colleague with sales training experience to conduct the annual training session). Give front-line staff the tools and information they need to support customers as efficiently as possible. Empower them to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so they’ll rarely have to say, “I don’t know, but the owner will be back at…”

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Photograph: Date night at the malt shoppe 1930s USA