Tag Archives: customers

Business Strategy , , , Leave a comment

Your Business Needs Referrals

by

Whether your business is B2B or B2C, getting referrals is hands-down the best way to bring in new customers. When someone you’ve done business with recommends your company to their colleagues, friends, or family, your chance of getting the project or sale is greatly improved. Referrals demonstrate trust—they’re a big vote of confidence and one of the the greatest compliments your company can receive.

Most businesses receive referrals at least occasionally and for some, nearly all customers are referred, but the importance of referrals should not be underestimated. Savvy Freelancers and business owners are proactive and develop strategies to encourage a steady intake of referrals. The objective is to identify and motivate high-quality referrers and persuade them to recommend your products or services to those in their network who are in search of a solution your company provides.

Leverage your network

Keep in mind, BTW, that a degree of finesse is necessary when looking to stimulate referrals; you must be sensitive to the fact that referrals are earned and not an entitlement. That said, Freelancers and business owners who’ve been operating for maybe just a year or two will probably not be seen as pushy when reaching out to friends, family, or even former co-workers to let them know that referrals of prospective customers would be appreciated.

Those in your network surely know business owners, decision-makers and other professionals; some will be happy to make introductions that allow you to expand your network and, if possible, will also make a referral for you. Make it easy for those who know you best and are motivated to help you succeed by sharing basic facts about your business:

  • Explain what you do using terms they will understand
  • Create a professional looking website and LinkedIn profile
  • Concisely and clearly describe projects you’re qualified for and interested in
  • Give examples of the industries you typically work with, if that is a relevant factor (e.g., hospitality, defense industry, higher education, publishing) and the job titles of those who typically hire or interview you (e.g., CEO, Executive Director, Marketing Director, VP Human Resources)

Invite new relationships

Good referrals can also be made by people you’re not especially close with; meeting new colleagues at conferences and other professional settings can present opportunities to grow your network. When networking, do yourself (and everyone!) a favor and squelch the temptation to push your business card onto all you encounter as you “work the room.” Instead, show a genuine interest in those you meet, as demonstrated by asking questions and listening to those you chat with. Adopt a mind-set that includes generosity along with self-interest. Be willing to help others as you would like to be helped. Try these relationship-building tactics to expand your network and potentially generate referrals:

  • Invite certain of your LinkedIn connections to in-person or virtual coffee dates to learn more about them and discuss how the two of you might help each other’s business.
  • Explore local organizations related to your industry and/or the business community. Chambers of commerce are a good starting point. Attend business education programs, meet & greets, and/or virtual events and introduce yourself.
  • If you listen to podcasts or webinars, start building a relationship with the host(s) by commenting or asking questions. If you especially enjoyed the program, invite the host(s) into your LinkedIn network. If a program attendee or guest stands out to you, get his/her name and introduce yourself in a private chat and propose follow-up.

Social media promotes referrals

Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X (Twitter) enable you to nurture relationships with both your new and long-lasting contacts and make it easy to occasionally say hello and also remind them that you’re on the lookout for referrals. Periodically revisit and update your social media profiles, to ensure that your online presence will inspire confidence when new connections check out your organization as they consider referring you to one of their contacts.

As noted above, pave the way for contacts to refer you by clarifying the work you do and the job titles of those with the authority to green light your projects. You might also provide samples of your work, when appropriate. Create profile-enhancing posts that have the potential to cultivate your standing as an expert and encourage referrals:

  • Share industry news and thought leadership articles to establish yourself as an authority in your space
  • Participate in discussions that relate to your work and industry
  • Add customer testimonials or recommendations to your sites (and offer to make recommendations for others in return)

Exceed expectations

Referrals are 100 percent dependent on your ability to fulfill (or exceed) the expectations of customers. Whether your business occupies the B2B or B2C sector, you must ensure that the buyer’s journey, the quality and delivery of the products or services purchased and all touchpoints please the customers. Taken together, these elements comprise the customer experience; the customer’s perception of that experience determines whether referrals on your behalf will be made.

It is in the interest of business owners and Freelance consultants to both provide an exceptional end-to-end customer experience and also cultivate good relationships with customers. At stake are the potential for repeat business and referrals—important sources of revenue. You have ample motivation to keep lapsed customers on your mailing list, to give business updates when appropriate and to send December holiday cards to customers you’ve worked with (maybe within the past five years).

Remind customers that you welcome referrals

Once you have customers who are happy with your services or products, they may be willing to become a referral source when opportunities arise. Because they have direct experience working with you, they can speak with authority about the quality of work you produce and customer experience that you provide. Do you have a customer who’s told you they’re thrilled with the outcomes of a recent project? That’s the perfect time to ask for a referral!

  • Ask customers to write a LinkedIn recommendation for you (and offer to return the favor).
  • Ask customers to give you a written or verbal testimonial or participate in a case study that will appear on your website. Offer to include their company logo and website link, as a way to increase awareness of their company brand and provide a quality backlink for their company website
  • Tell happy customers that you’re thrilled they’re pleased with your products or services. Let them know that you’re open to performing similar work and that you’d appreciate their referrals if they know of anyone with a need for the products or services you provide.

Make referrals for others

If you are aware of an upcoming project for which you are not a fit, or that current commitments prevent you from accepting, there may be someone in your network for whom that project would be ideal. That’s why forming relationships with other Freelancers and business owners and leaders is essential. When you refer a project or customer to a colleague, it reflects well on you—enhances your professional reputation and portrays you as a true professional. Furthermore, When you refer work to others, you’ll be at top of mind the next time a project comes along that you’d be a good fit for.

Avoid a mindset that’s based in scarcity, envy, or other negative feelings toward business colleagues, including direct competitors. It’s draining and does not insulate your entity from competition. Instead, be cordial and cooperative with business colleagues. Get to know what they specialize in and the types of customers they work with. Become the business owner who colleagues and contacts enjoy referring.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©Natee Meepian

Marketing , Leave a comment

Confronting the Competition—Do You Scrutinize Or Ignore?

by

Business owners and leaders expect that competition will be a factor in their marketplace. The most successful among them have learned to not fear competition but instead recognize the hide-in-plain-sight gift that competition reveals—we can make money here! In fact, experienced business owners can even rely on the presence of competitors to help them discover a potentially lucrative customer segment for their line of products and services. But the question remains—when confronting the competition, what course of action would a smart business owner be wise to follow? Does it make more sense to closely monitor the activities of key business rivals or is it smarter to be a contrarian and take scant notice of competitors’ activities?

No matter how you choose to look at it, you will look— competition demands your attention. Even declining to closely follow and respond to competitors is an action that requires both thought and decision-making. Some people say that competition will bring out either your best or your worse. Whether you go head-2-head with an ambitious competitor or avoid a showdown and decide to play to your strengths instead, competition will test your mettle. Information—your company’s Key Performance Indicators, the results of customer surveys, industry sales trends and even the appearance of a social media meme that somehow influences your marketplace—is your best ammunition but how you use that resource is your decision. Let’s look at both possible responses.

The benefits of monitoring the competition

  • You may need to stay on top of things When you plan to carry out a mission-critical initiative—expanding into a niche market or launching a new product or service, for instance—then any key moves made by either direct or indirect competitors will be of keen interest to you. Your launch timetable may need to be adjusted, for example. When there’s a lot on the line, it is imperative that you closely follow all significant competitors, so that you’ll be apprised of any activity that might impact your strategy. Take steps to gather the intel that will allow you to respond decisively to an unexpected challenge.
  • Identify key competitors Conduct enough research to determine your top four or five competitors. Visit their website and social media sites to learn how they communicate with customers and also to refine your thoughts about your organization’s ideal customer. You can also get insight into the depth of customer loyalty, the power of the customer experience they offer and the strength of their brand—all qualities that you may want to incorporate, or avoid, at your company. Keeping an eye on certain competitors can make doing business better for you.
  • Learn from competitors’ mistakes Even if your product or service is poised to rock the marketplace, it’s a good idea to remain humble and prepare for what might go wrong. Business history is filled with examples of products that were expected to become The Next Big Thing and instead, they tanked. Allow yourself to learn from the failures and successes of others (check out competitors that have something in common with your own entity, rather than a multinational). It would be a useful exercise to discover the keywords that propelled them to the top of an internet search (Google Alerts is a great tool for keeping on top of this) and the content they post that attracts sizeable traffic and shares?

Don’t stress out over the competition

It’s often a given that a business owners and Freelancers will to some extent follow the activities of one or more direct and/or indirect competitors. It’s usually considered good business to be somewhat familiar with the solutions that your prospects may have used to resolve their challenges and achieve objectives. With that competitive info in mind, you can create realistic and more effective talking points that can win new customers.

Still, close monitoring of your competition can potentially become too much of a good thing; the strategy may at some point result in diminishing returns. It’s useful to cultivate a certain awareness of what leading competitors are doing and who their clients are but ultimately, the type of products and services you provide, your method of delivering those products and services and the customer service and experience that your company presents are the value that personifies your brand and attracts loyal customers. When your response to the competitive landscape guides you to have confidence in your company’s vision and mission and perfect the delivery of what your customers value, you’ll always be positioned to rule the day. Find inspiration in the pointers below.

  • Optimize use of resources Obsessively researching and tracking competitors requires time and energy that may not produce a convincing return on investment. It is prudent to direct valuable (and often limited) resources to factors and events that you can control, rather than attempting to influence that which is beyond reach—that is, the behavior of your competitors. You may discover that adapting your products and/or services to better anticipate and meet the evolving preferences and priorities of your customers and prospects. As well, seek ways to improve your customer service protocols as you enhance your customer experience.
  • Focus on customers not competitors The majority of your marketing focus should be on your target customer groups. Conduct demographic and purchasing history research to update your basic customer knowledge and use the intel to ensure that your marketing tells the story that resonates with customers and prospects because it addresses what they value, want (or will want) and what they’ll pay to have it. Moreover, researching your target customers inadvertently reveals a lot about competitors and what it takes to stay ahead of them.

Taking a balanced approach

As with so much that we do in life, finding the middle ground and achieving balance proves to be the most pragmatic and successful approach. When you remember what is most important you can then set your priorities, direct your resources and become more efficient and successful when managing your business.

  • Your Brand Is Your Competitive Advantage Monitoring the competition should be the second priority behind promoting your brand and delivering what customers value. For service businesses, brand reputation and positive word-of-mouth are among the most powerful competitive advantages. That’s what drives referrals, good reviews and leads to more sales revenue. That’s what you want!
  • Competitive Intel Analyzing competitor’s is the core of competitive intelligence. While 99 % of your business’s day-to-day should be delegated on your own core business development, monthly or quarterly competitive intelligence sessions might be allotted to investigating what your significant competitors are doing. It will be your choice to either respond in kind, or emphasize your corresponding strengths and attempt to prevail that way.
  • Google Alerts You’ll cast a wide net and achieve operational efficiency in your competitive intel research when you automate the process and let the results come to you—and that means setting up Google Alerts as a component of your quest to monitor competitors. Set up by industry keywords, competitors’ names and business names or branded product or service and let Google serves up nearly all the info you’ll need. In the meantime, you can focus most of your time on nurturing and promoting your brand in ways drive home the core mission and positioning.
  • Segment Your Time 80/20 One way to keep the time you spend on each of these essential business functions that teach you how to better regard both customers and competitors is to recognize that once again, The 80/20 Rule, formally known as the Pareto Principle and developed in 1896, will guide the division of your attention and resources. From a pragmatic perspective, it will make sense to spend 80 % of your time working on expanding your brand and enhancing other aspects of your business—operational, financial, marketing, tech—and 20 % of your time researching competitors. Developing goals and an action plan for competitive intel could be very useful and will encourage you to focus and streamline your research efforts.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Cary Chu Photography. Jousters at King Richards Faire in Carver, MA September 17. 2023

Business Strategy , , Leave a comment

You Can Own the Change

by

The ability to envision future growth opportunities for your company and devise credible strategies to enable their realization can sometimes seem daunting to Freelancers and small business owners. Chances are, you do not have the financial resources to ride out unforeseen obstacles or changes in your marketplace that can derail your progress. That observation is especially true during extended periods of economic instability. How can you position your entity to thrive when even the present is a moving target? Attempting to devise reasonable strategies to guide your enterprise through the next 6-12 months may feel as if you’re mapping a course through a minefield, instead of merely figuring out how to dodge the usual slings and arrows of marketplace competition.

As business, political and environmental conditions continue to fluctuate, you may find it helpful to adopt a new frame of reference, a new approach that is in tune with the times, a mindset that can help you adapt to the inevitability of change. The zeitgeist of the moment seems to recommend three must-have leadership qualities—agility, innovation and communication. These characteristics enable you to have an open mind, let go of the past and encourage you to recognize where and how elements of unavoidable change might work in your favor.

Forward-thinking leaders have always found opportunity hidden by uncertainty. Hard work and determination alone have never guaranteed success. You must face up to the inevitability of change and own it. Hall of Fame hockey player Wayne Gretzky said it best— “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

Communication

As is frequently noted in these posts, cultivating mutually rewarding relationships with clients is the foundation of a good business. Good relationships are built on trust. You open the door by ensuring that your company’s solutions deliver results that exceed client expectations, by going the extra mile to provide superior customer service, including after-sale service and/ or training and when you invite client feedback.

Make it possible for clients to feel that you and your organization are dependable, demonstrate that you value their business and they will be happy to share with you honest feedback that keeps you updated re: any number of changes—how their organizations operate now, shifts in focus and priorities, regulatory updates in their industry, or technological innovations—-factors that may change how your solutions fit their needs.

Communicating regularly with clients represents a competitive advantage because the information you receive can be used to get you out in front of impactful changes. Time and information are money. Conversations with your clients can inspire you to evaluate the feasibility of launching innovations, large scale or incremental, upgrades, or modifications that can position your products and services to more effectively meet client needs and enhance your revenues and long- term viability.

Agility

Let’s step into the agile mindset noted above and acknowledge that fluctuations in the business climate present an opportunity to re-imagine your enterprise and find new ways to deliver value to clients! It has always been true that uncertainty is the only certainty. Your agile mindset will guide you to incorporate a collaborative, cross-functional and communicative workflow style that keeps your organization nimble and responsive to the evolving needs of your clients. In the world of business, the clock never moves backward. You can’t afford to be left behind as the world moves on.

Innovative

Changing circumstances are known to result in new or reimagined products and services coming to market. The most reliable source you can tap into to get ideas about new products, services, or adjustments you can make to your current line is your clients. Be advised, however, that what a client suggests may not be the best change to make—remember that you see the big picture of your business in a way that no one else can.

But from time to time a great idea will surface, perhaps just a small, uncomplicated tweak, that makes your clients more satisfied with how your products and services address their needs. Invite your clients to share the backstory of what they’re facing now and brainstorm how your organization might you make their job easier and less stressful. That’s the real meaning of innovation.

By thoughtfully considering potential product or service modifications you might make, new technological tools you might introduce, or how you can update your delivery model (for example) on a case-by-case basis, you can support innovation, agile practices and beneficial communication with your clients. Best of all, you’ll ensure that your company stays ahead of the curve as you integrate what works to deliver value to your clients now.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Master’s degree students in the Medical Device Design Program at Duke University March 2021

Marketing , , , 2 Comments

Trendspotting: 5 Sales and Marketing Benchmarks

by

Your prospects are continuing to increase their control over the buyer’s journey, enabled by the internet and the work from home culture. That said, it makes sense for marketers to confirm our understanding of how buyers respond to your marketing activities. A few key data points, culled from a large and well-selected cohort, can provide to Freelancers and others who oversee marketing or sales functions valid insights into how buyers are responding to commonly used inbound and outbound marketing tactics in the post-COVID marketplace.

The content marketing company HubSpot, based near Boston, MA, began collecting marketing and sales outcomes data from its 100,000 + customers in January 2020 which was, as it turned out, a most interesting time to begin. Barely three months later the world would change radically. Billion dollar industries, most notably travel, hotel, restaurant and fitness, would crater. Those enterprises lucky enough to have survived, or thrived, have entered a changed business environment.

Benchmark data can provide guide posts that help you to get your bearings in the new business environment. The post-shutdown business climate demands a recalibrated understanding of customer expectations. How do prospects and customers want to experience the buyer’s journey now? How do they want to be sold? Find answers here in May 2021 data.

  • Sales meetings. The number of sales meetings in May 2021 (overwhelmingly made by videoconference call) was 21% higher than what was done last May and have risen 18% since March of this year. Knees were buckling in March 2020 and nearly every company was reeling, including those that were emerging as winners, such as grocery and liquor stores. Small business owners and leaders tended to reach out to customers sooner than larger companies. It is theorized that small business owners immediately realized that if they wanted their venture to survive, it was imperative that a plan to generate revenue had to be put into action, which usually meant figuring out a polite way to contact customers (I did the same). May 2020 was not the time to pursue new business, but rather to offer empathy and reinforce relationships that one hoped could be leveraged at some point, including relationships with those who cancelled contracts just 60 days previously.
  • Prospecting. Small business (1-25 employees) got busy prospecting at a frequency that was 31% higher in May 2021 compared to May 2020 and up 26% as compared to March 2021. Companies with 26-200 employees also saw an increase in prospecting activity of 18% as compared to May 2020, with a 17% increase as compared to March 2021.
  • Website traffic. Perfect your landing page! Website traffic was 34% higher in May 2021 than it was in May 2020. Further, website traffic increased by 25% between March and May 2021. Online shopping of various kinds, from home decor at Wayfair to the take-out dinner you’ll pick up in 20 minutes at a favorite local restaurant seems to have accounted for a big chunk of the increase. Software companies accounted for 51% of website traffic seen by HubSpot customers.
  • Chat bot. Speaking of your website’s landing page, a useful tool to add there would be a chat bot. Business moved online in a big way in March 2020, but the trend has been building for 20 years. Business owners and marketers are stepping up the functionality of company websites and adding a chat bot is a leading upgrade. Customers appreciate them because through chat, they’re able to get basic questions answered quickly and without paging through the website, which can be time-consuming. The volume of chat conversations rose 16% year-over-year May 2021 compared to May 2020.
  • Marketing emails. Reports of the death of email marketing have been greatly exaggerated and marketers are reinvesting in the genre (again!). Since the start of the pandemic shutdown in mid-March 2020, marketing email volume has increased 49% through May 2021 and is 52% higher pre-COVID volume. The open rate hovers at around 15% and that is 10% – 20% higher than April 2021.
  • Sales outcomes. U.S. Businesses adapted extremely well to the numerous protocols required by the shutdown, most dramatically demonstrated by the quick and often well- executed pivot to working from home. America means business! However, unreliable cash-flow prevented many customers from buying and that resulted in sluggish sales revenue in many organizations. In April 2020, sales outcomes bottomed out at 36% lower than 1Q20 benchmarks. Positive sales outcomes rose gradually throughout 2020 and May 2021 finished with a 10% increase in deals done (national or international companies). Deal creation (proposals) climbed 35% above benchmark.

So how do these statistics apply to you? They definitively show that the shutdown has ended, that money is being made agin and that you can make money again, too. Reboot your operation by using what have become standard marketing and sales strategies and actions.

Develop a powerful digital presence for your company. Employ Inbound and Outbound marketing and sales tactics. Optimize your website to help prospects easily find information about your products and services. Post and distribute relevant marketing content to confirm your expertise. Send emails to promote engagement with customers and prospects. Work hard, work smart.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: A young lady gets serious about researching benchmark data.

Sales , , , Leave a comment

5 Smart Sales Questions

by

“To get the right answers, you have to ask the right questions,” said business strategy and management expert Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005), author of pioneering management insights and founder of the Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont College in California. When your goal is to sell a product or service to a prospective client, knowing which questions to ask and when to ask them can make a big difference in your ability to make sales and generate revenue that keeps your company alive. Actionable information is worth money, even when you learn that who you hoped would be a prospect is not. Knowing when to cut bait and pursue other avenues is a good thing.

Ask a handful of questions that first, confirm that your prospect is ready to do business and next, guides the prospect through the sales (buying) journey is a pillar of the thriving company you want to build.

“How long have you been in business? Who are/ what kind of customers do you serve? What big plans are in the works now?”

Set the stage for your sales conversation by obtaining background info that gives context to why there is a need for your product or service and the role it would play in achieving company objectives, or solving/ avoiding a problem.

“You appear to have steered your company successfully through the pandemic troubles. Was there a big change, or two, that you decided had to be made to adjust to the new business reality?”

The coronavirus pandemic left no business unscathed, not even those that saw a big increase in profits, like liquor stores and delivery services. That you’ve thought to ask this question and the preceding demonstrates to the prospect that you’re interested in the business and that it’s success means something to you. Successful sales professionals, including business owners and Freelance consultants, usually aim to become a collaborative partner, a reliable and trusted resource, for the client.

“Did anything fall through the cracks as you shifted gears during the pandemic? Is there anything that was not previously a worry now emerging as a challenge?”

Here is the question where the pain is revealed. Now you’ll learn what’s keeping your prospect awake at night and what your solution must address. You continue to earn your prospect’s trust, which is invaluable. You are closing in on the sale because you’ve shown that you care enough to want to understand company leaders are grappling with and are trying to do.

“So, what will success look like?”

This question helps the prospect to define the desired outcomes and deliverables of the project, something that, surprisingly, the prospective client and his/ her team may be a little fuzzy on, Maybe the decision to ask for a meeting with you was to find out what you, and perhaps a competitor or two, can offer in terms of helping the company achieve necessary outcomes?

“What’s new? What’s next? What help might you need to make it happen?”

A question designed to do more business with clients you’ve worked before, that is, repeat business. It really is easier in terms of time and money spent to do more business with clients who know you than to bring in new clients (but a business needs both types of clients).

“What’s new?” lets the client update you on what’s been happening with the business since the last time you’ve worked together. “What’s next?” opens the door to the future—- what initiatives are on the drawing board? “What help might you need to make it happen?” is, you guessed it, a way to help the client envision a role for you as plans for a sustainably profitable future are made.

Whether you’ll speak with your prospect on line or face2face, the questions presented here will politely and unambiguously get the sales process flowing in the right direction. Your prospect will be called upon to reveal his/ her intentions about doing business. In an always-appreciated show of empathy, your questions will invite the prospect to acknowledge the impact of the pandemic on his/ her organization.

Describing the pain point that (could be) a factor driving the necessity of the project you’re there to discuss and clarifying the expected outcomes (success) and the deliverables of the project will be confirmed. If you’re trying to get back in the door and get repeat business, the final 3-part question will help you and the client to segue into that possibility. You can continue on with question two and address the impact of the pandemic or question three and get an understanding of pain points that may be driving factors. You’ll have a good chance of making a sale!

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Spices and rice bring women to the market.

Uncategorized , , Leave a comment

Touch Point Touché

by

Listen, even before the coronavirus shutdown crashed our Income Statements, Freelancers were always on the lookout for opportunities that look promising. Few among us could afford to leave money on the table. We’ve always understood hustle.

Savvy Freelancers are able to spot not only external, but also internal, opportunities. I’m talking about the most basic level of Inbound Marketing and the Customer Experience. Meaning, successful Freelancers will pose the question—once I have the prospect’s attention, or I’ve converted the prospect into a customer, then what? Every interaction that a prospect has with your company—-website, social media, newsletter, email, phone call, employee—represents a marketing or sales opportunity.

Those interactions are known as touch points. Individually and collectively, touch points are powerful. They impact the ROI of marketing campaigns and they shape the customer experience. They guide prospects through the marketing/ sales funnel, i.e., the buyer’s journey, or disable it.

Touch points must first be identified and then managed carefully and assessed periodically, to monitor their resonance. Touch points nourish, or undermine, your company brand in many ways, including perceived trust, dependability and competence. They have the power to encourage, or discourage, repeat business, referrals and good word of mouth, ingredients that add to the bottom line. Let’s discuss some common touch points.

Website

Lead generation is fed by numerous streams but let’s consider the most basic leadgen tool—-your website. Regardless of how many pages yours contains, most visitors start with the home page. Your home page feeds the top of your marketing funnel, the TOFU, the widest part that gets the most visits of every website. Most visitors will go no further and ghost the site.

Make your home page a leadgen magnet by making it useful and relevant and maybe even exciting with links to meaningful content and visible at eye-level Calls to Action. Depending on your business, consider inviting visitors to click and schedule a free 30 minute consultation, click to read your blog or newsletter, click to RSVP for your upcoming webinar, or click to hear the YouTube replay of your recent podcast. Add a chat bot programmed to quickly answer common questions and save visitors time. Engage and inform your website visitors and make them want more. Maximize the potential of your home page touch points.

Follow-up

If half of life is showing up, the other half is follow-up. It seems obvious, but many business owners and Freelancers fail to respond to inquiries about doing business. Many neglect to reply to phone or email messages. They lose business cards they should keep. They don’t send that private chat message to ask for the best time and follow-up method when they’ve met a potential prospect.

Unless you’ve been hospitalized and the anesthesia is still in effect, give a prospect or current customer a timely reply, ideally on the same day or within 24 hours. If you’ve been unwell, or if there’s been a family emergency, respond as soon as possible and offer profuse apologies. Use follow-up touch points to demonstrate your professionalism.

Invoicing and payment

Three years ago, I (finally) made time to search for a B2B services invoice that could serve as the starting point for a design I would customize and lucky for me, I found something. I’m pleased with my new invoice and feel that it communicates my business name and brand well. I consider my invoice to be a great send-off touch point at the close of a project.

How payments are made is another consideration. Going paperless is an option that certain of your customers may find preferable to writing and mailing a check. Some will pay faster. If payments can be made on your website or Facebook, WhatsApp, or Instagram account, make it known that the process offers impeccable security protocols. Again, make the touch point that is the payment process secure and easy.

Customer service

Identify the kind of support that customers need and/ or appreciate after they’ve purchased your product or service. It is imperative that you enable the results and experience that your customer expects.

Invite the always useful feedback derived from a short, well-written customer survey, which is an element of customer service. Show customers that you appreciate that they’ve done business with your company and that you care about their post-purchase experience.

Employees and helpers

Train customer-facing staff. Clearly describe your expectations regarding the level of service that will be provided (white glove) and your interpretation of a positive attitude. Devise (and refine along the way) problem resolution protocols and empower employees to approve small, relatively inexpensive fixes without your involvement, to resolve uncomplicated issues quickly and enhance customer satisfaction.

While it is unacceptable to expect anyone to tolerate disrespect, encourage those who represent the company on your behalf to go the extra mile and give the benefit of the doubt to customers. Model the behavior you expect in how you treat them.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Detail of The Creation of Adam (Michelangelo c. 1508-1512) ceiling fresco in the Sistine Chapel Vatican City (Rome) Italy

Survival Strategies , , Leave a comment

Forget About Bouncing Back—Bounce Forward!

by

A pandemic viral infection stalking the earth is not the only beast that can give any business a deadly wallop. An aggressive competitor, economic instability, technological advances that makes your biggest product obsolete, or the bankruptcy of an important client can take a business under like a riptide.

It’s a scary moment and no business is immune to a set-back. How can the business founders or leaders right the ship and head for calmer waters? Let’s take a couple of deep cleansing breaths, tap into your storehouse of resilience and figure out how to not just bounce back from business troubles, but bounce forward and stage a re-entry on higher ground.

When the realization sets in that the business is in a perhaps irreversible tailspin, the most common emotions the business founders/ leaders will ordinarily feel are fear and panic, followed closely by sadness and feeling like a failure. The enterprise that once made them so proud has been wrenched away. The body and soul ache.

You are encouraged to own your feelings. Denial, as revealed by a “take it in stride, carry on as usual” attitude is not recommended, but it is inadvisable to wallow in sorrow for an extended period. Recovery, personal and professional, lie in a rational examination of what went wrong and an informed decision about what to do next.

Start with SWOT

The old chestnut strategic planning technique that was first popularized in the early 1970s is still relevant today. Use SWOT to tally and measure the value of resources available to the company, assess current and projected business conditions and decide how to rebuild. A well-chosen and executed pivot or strengthening of the original business model, perhaps with the addition of an untapped niche market or infusion of capital, may be the healing recipe.

Strengths are valuable resources that can be leveraged—-still popular products or services; skills held by the founder and team members; the company brand/ reputation; strategic relationships; the client list; the email list; well-developed social media networks; cash reserves. Bundle the right set of strengths and propel your enterprise toward a profitable bounce forward.

Weaknesses are gaps and shortcomings that put the company at a disadvantage relative to competitors. Some organizational weaknesses cannot be eliminated because attempting to do so would not be practical. Instead, do what is possible in the near term to shore up, minimize, spin, or work around them. Primarily, it’s important to honestly and fully take stock of and plan around what has the potential to derail a forward bounce.

Opportunities are developments or circumstances in the environment that the company may be able to use to its advantage. Pursuing an opportunity is an offensive strategy that facilitates a bounce forward. However, one may search the horizon and find not a single lifeboat in sight. It may be necessary to pause and figure out how to create an opportunity, or wait for one to arrive.

While in limbo, finding a part-time j.o.b. may be the stopgap solution you need. I’ve been there and can testify that the strategy can aid a bounce forward. Search for a low-visibility gig that offers a desirable benefit in addition to money (which is probably inadequate). The idea is to get paid to discover and learn something that can contribute to the relaunch of the business and your professional life.

At my low-paid, part-time j.o.b., I eventually realized that my public speaking skills were greatly improving. That led me to search for and obtain a teaching position that continues to provide an intermittent but helpful revenue stream. Teaching enhances the brand and the cash-flow of Freelancers and business owners. That same j.o.b. required me to work with groups and I also came to realize that I could lead mastermind groups, where non-competing business owners and independent consultants meet each week or month to share experiences and insights that serve to support and inspire one other to achieve goals and become more effective leaders.

Threats are obstacles, challenges, or other developments in the environment that stand to undermine a company’s profitability and survival. Changing demographics, tornadoes and earthquakes, political or economic developments, computer hacking or data breach and the coronavirus pandemic are examples of threats. A company typically has little or no control over these events, which are external.

Guarding against threats is a risk management, defensive strategy. The best offense is a good defense. Keeping an eye on technology developments that may impact the desirability of the company’s products and services as well as being aware of potentially influential direct or indirect competitors who could cut into the client list are essential defensive actions. The idea is to limit or avoid the impact of harmful business conditions.

Market research

When you’ve discovered what appears to be the best direction for the company, curb your enthusiasm and take time to investigate the most advantageous business strategy before taking action. You owe it to yourself to lay the groundwork for sustainable success.

Research the market size, target market purchasing habits, the competitive landscape and your ability to access customers. Confirm that demand for your products or services is growing and not flat or shrinking. Consider business model possibilities that could work well. Talk to someone at the Small Business Association’s (free) SCORE business development mentoring program and discuss your restart plan with experienced business leaders before investing time and money.

Market strategy

Articulate an appealing marketing message and pencil in the olaunch campaign. Will the business have a new name? How will you introduce this newly configured venture? How will you describe and explain your pivot or redesign to current customers? A from the ground up marketing plan must expertly package, explain, persuade and promote to enable the bounce forward.

Budget

Whether it becomes necessary to build a new website, order new business cards, or take a workshop that will enhance your credentials and perceived credibility in the minds of new and original customers, it’s important to project business start- up costs.

Develop a 24-36 month financial plan and ensure that working capital will be available. Plan to have income as the new business ramps up. This could mean remaining employed in the j.o.b. for another year. When escaping a set-back, one must do what one must do to nail a successful bounce forward.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Photograph: Kim Clark

Business Strategy , Leave a comment

Anatomy of a Pivot

by

As was reported in a July 20, 2020 post featured in the Harvard Business Review, companies are scrambling to minimize the damage caused by the COVID-19 shutdown. There is determination to survive and get in position for the expected recovery. Owners and leaders are taking a close look business models, to tease out a clever pivot that will first, start some cash-flow ASAP and second, open the door to sustainable long- term profitability and growth.

Talk of engineering a pivot always sounds impressive when discussed in a strategy meeting but as we know, not every pivot leads to success. One can pivot the enterprise into a ditch, unfortunately, if an unwise choice or sloppy execution take place.

The HBR authors explain that a pivot is a lateral move that creates a logical extension of the products or services that the venture is already known for, making it comfortable for customers to trust the updates.

Music streaming platforms such as I ♥️ Radio and Spotify have long provided loads of advertising-funded free online music and both companies were able to convert freebie loving listeners to subscribers with a pivot into podcasts and specialized playlists. Fees generated by those subscription services softened the blow caused by advertisers who vanished during the shutdown.

Barnes and Noble bookstores long ago pivoted into the coffee shop business through a hybrid franchise deal with Starbucks. Don’t we all love to sit down and have an artisanal coffee as we look over the new books and magazines we just bought?

My favorite pivot was pulled off at Diva by Cindy, a hair care products company based in Washington, DC. Founder Cindy Tawiah left the salon business, a field where she’d found only intermittent success, and dropped all hairstyling services. Tawiah’s company now focuses exclusively on what are normally salon revenue enhancers, hair products.

The reformatted business now sells the newly created private label Diva by Cindy line of hair care products. Her pivot also incorporated an innovative sales strategy that places the shampoos, conditioners, hairsprays and such only in vending machines and kiosks stationed in airports and malls.

Three conditions are required to set up a good pivot:

1. The pivot will align the company with one or more long-term trends.

A pivot that reflects how we’re living and working during the COVID-19 era may help to pull your organization through an immediate billable hours and cash-flow crisis and allow the company to survive long enough for improved business conditions to arrive.

When trying to envision your company’s pivot, think about how working from home has caused many to rely more on technology and spend more time at home. Think about how shorter supply chains have made the locavore movement, which began 25 years ago, still more attractive. Remember also the Do It Yourself and craft movements, which began a few years ago and are significantly increasing.

Can you see how your business pivot can make use of these trends, which are predicted to be with us for three years or more?

2. The pivot will be a logical extension of the company’s core products or services.

Your venture’s pivot must align with the company’s core products or services and add value for customers by creating or transitioning to a logical adaptation.

Diva by Cindy already had deep experience in the hairstyling sector and a roster of clients. The company already knew what customers valued and the acceptable product price points. Her breakout was to develop her own private label line, which was an extension of her brand, along with the daring and innovative sales strategy of using vending machines stationed at the Baltimore Washington Airport.

3. The pivot offers recognized value and opens a door to sustainable profits.

It goes without saying that the pivot is not successful unless it strengthens the value of the brand, as evidenced through increased market share and sales revenue. The HBR authors predict that while the COVID-19 crisis will not necessarily spell the end of entire industries, there will be a weeding out of companies unable to keep up with the trends of social distancing and virtual communication, remote work, shorter supply chains and an increased, more highly sophisticated use of technology.

Thanks for reading.

Kim

Photograph: Kim Clark. Canada geese swim into a pivot on the Muddy River in the Emerald Necklace, Boston, MA.

Business Plan , , , , Leave a comment

Guiding Light: Your Business Plan

by

Business plans and email marketing have something in common. The two stalwarts have often been declared dead by so-called experts, yet both continue to demonstrate value to current and aspiring business owners. Despite the naysayers, business plans are the foundation of business success, for the unavoidable reason that many new businesses fail.

Of the 400,000 companies started in 2014, 44% had failed by year four and just 18% of first-time Entrepreneurs were able to launch and sustain a successful entity. As the saying goes, “No one plans to fail. They just fail to plan.” Don’t let that be you, Dear.

The primary reason for aspiring Freelance consultants and Entrepreneurs to write a business plan is to test assumptions about the viability of the business idea against credible information that reveals the likely demand for the product or service and customer groups that have the money and possible motive to buy those products and services. The potential viability of a business is revealed in factors such as the size of the market (i.e., those with money and motive to buy), the founder’s access to potential customers (a big factor in B2B and B2G sales), competitors who sell an identical or similar product or service (are they thriving or just hanging on?) and the amount of money required to set up shop and start doing business.

A second compelling reason to write a business plan is to develop strategies that provide a roadmap, or blueprint, that will guide the founder as s/he builds and launches the venture. Confirming target customers, identifying possible niche markets, choosing the pricing strategy and the sales strategy; creating the financial plan, the operations plan, a realistic business model and selecting the most advantageous legal structure will also be thought through in advance of the company launch.

During the process, the founder will make discoveries that may persuade him/her to refine certain aspects of the products and services intended to be sold, or adjust perceptions of who the ideal customers will be. This information may have the power to substantively improve the venture’s chances of success and sustainability.

A third reason that motivates aspiring Freelance consultants and Entrepreneurs to write a business plan is the need to seek financing for their venture, whether the funds will be used to launch or scale the company. The financing source may be a bank or credit union, a micro financing organization, private investment (friends and family), or even self-financing. Those holding money will use the business plan to make funding decisions, so founders would be wise to develop a realistic financial blueprint that projects three years into the future, as well as a credible marketing plan that accurately defines target customer groups and identifies key competitors.

In sum, a powerful business plan needs to be three-dimensional, so it distills lessons from the real world and allows the founder(s) to test and when necessary revise assumptions. This ongoing process will give the business the highest chance of success while also increasing your credibility with investors, your team and most of all, yourself.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Ubisoft Entertainment SA, artist’s rendering of the Lighthouse of Alexandria. The lighthouse stood on the island of Pharos, guiding ships as they entered the harbors of Alexandria, Egypt on the Mediterranean coast. The structure was built during the reigns of Ptolemy I and II, c. 300 – 280 BC. With a height of over 330 feet, the lighthouse was so impressive that it was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Now lost, the lighthouse was a welcomed navigational aid for over 1600 years.