Tag Archives: customers

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Keep Your Customers Close

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Adopting customer-centric business practices is now  THE  survival mechanism of necessity for Freelancers,  as well as businesses large and small.  Particularly for service providers,  the battle to escape the dreaded label  “commodity”  is on.  No one can afford to be just another replaceable face in the crowd.  The “me, too”  era  is over.

In order to keep customers coming back for more,  Freelancers are compelled to demonstrate unique value to those with whom we do business.  It’s the best way to stay ahead of the competition and make your name come to mind when a project needs to be done or a referral made.

While providing top quality products and services that meet or exceed customer expectations is our number one mission,  another important mission is to take  a  look at our business practices from the sight lines of our customers—from the outside,  looking in.  Assess the experience that customers have when doing business with you.

To make that happen,  find out all that you can about what really brings them to your door,  or to the door of competitors.  What assumed but unspoken set of objectives and expectations do they have? What alternatives exist that might possibly allow them to achieve those objectives without you? How easy, or cumbersome,  is it to do business with you?

Your website plays a role in this process,  especially if yours is an online business,  or customers typically search the web for your category of business.  List with GoogleMaps and Yahoo Local to help customers and prospects find you.  SEO friendly algorithms and key words will also give your website presence  a boost.

Furthermore,  your website should promote and reflect your brand very well.  Display core products and services prominently,  along with information that will answer frequently asked questions and get customers on the road to doing business with you.

If anything on your site is time sensitive,  e.g. your list of speaking engagements,  keep that updated.  Present  a website that is easy to read,  conveys relevant information in clear and simple language,  is not overly text heavy,  contains an appealing  “call to action”  and is easy to navigate.

Wherever appropriate,  leverage social media tools to provide additional communication channels for your customers.  2.0 is not only for communicating your brand and  message,  but also for letting people holler back.  Another method to get the heads up on customer priorities is through the online service,  Survey Monkey.  A brief  survey that contains well designed questions will elicit useful information and may shatter a few illusions.

A thriving business is built on the customer:  retention,  satisfaction and growth.  The products and services  we sell,  the way these are delivered and the prices  we charge are all based on what our customers need and accept.  To keep the cash flowing,  stay current with customer priorities and learn their thoughts about what your business does well,  what your competitors do poorly,  what you could offer that will make their lives easier  and what they are willing to pay to have it all.  If you can solve those mysteries  Freelancer friend, you will have yourself a nice little business!

Thanks for reading.  To those who are keeping score,  Freelance:  The Consultant’s Diary reached the one year milestone on June 16, 2010.

Kim

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The ROI on 2.0 Part I

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By this time,  nearly every Freelancer has hopped onto the social networking 2.0 bus.   As a matter of fact, a large cohort of Americans has established an online presence in some fashion, possibly even your grandparents.  Your loyal Diarist can be found on LinkedIn.

Still,  among Freelancers and other business owners, nagging little doubts about the meaning of all this will sometimes surface in our conversations.  What does social networking really do for business?   Have you ever gotten so much as a referral,  let alone an actual piece of business, through social networking? Do you know anyone who has? What is the ROI on 2.0?

It appears that much depends upon the business you are in.   Are 12-25 year olds your target market? Are you an athlete or a rock musician looking to build and connect with a fan base? Are you an author of books aimed at the teen and young adult market,  trying to grow your book sales? Do you operate a retail business that sells clothing,  anime or video games to the teen and ‘tween crowd? Then MySpace is where you want to be,  because this is where your target market hangs out.

Visual and performing artists of all types,  plus restaurants and nightclubs,  most often gravitate to Facebook. This site is also popular for personal networking,  providing a nice way to stay connected to family and friends.   Facebook is about the visual.  Here you can post photos of your latest group of paintings or sculptures;  display the bar scene on Tuesday nights at your establishment;  or show off pix of your new haircut,  the baby,  or your new puppy.  Maybe you sent out Thanksgiving greetings to those you have “friended” and will do the same at Christmas and the New Year.

To create in the moment on the ground buzz,  go to Twitter. You can put the word out about performances at your nightclub,   special events at your store,  book signings,  the waves in Perth, Australia or skateboarding at the Xtreme Games.   Wine shops can announce tastings and let customers know that Beaujolais Nouveau c’est arrive.

I even read about a woman in Belfast, Ireland who tweets these great recipes.  In 140 characters,  she will hook you up with good ideas for dinner! Twitter is best used to augment the connections you’ve made on MySpace and Facebook with microblogging. Here’s how to keep your young, short attention span crowd in the loop about interesting happenings at your business that will keep your business at top of mind.

More 2.0 next week,
Kim

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Starting A Business? Consider Your Marketing Strategy Part I

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Once you have identified your customers, done some detective work to check out your main competitors and positioned yourself relative to them, thus claiming a niche for your company, you are ready to devise a marketing plan for your business venture.

The marketing plan supplies the road map that you will use to reach the target customers.  Sales strategy, pricing, product or service positioning, advertising and distribution channels must all be accounted for in relation to what target customers will accept.  The idea is to convince customers that buying your services or products will give them benefits that are worth the cost.

PRODUCT/SERVICE STRATEGY

Describe how your products or services offer more advantages to the customer than what  is offered by competitors.  What’s the hook that will bring customers to your door?

Research the product features and attributes that are important to target customers and what they are willing to pay for them.  Dig a little deeper and brainstorm the benefits—those unspoken and often emotional motivators that will drive customers to buy from or hire you.

What is the challenge or need that customers  face, what is the “pain” that they’re in? Your company must provide solutions that customers determine to be useful. Think about what customers might value in the long run, but remember that tastes and perceived needs are fluid and therefore subject to change

PRICING

Pricing is a tricky issue, especially for consultants and professional service providers.  It may be difficult to find out what competitors charge,  so there is no framework for  comparison.

If you have relationships with those who hire for similar services,  inquire as to what they pay so that you can set your price points.  Competitors are unlikely to help you with pricing, but colleagues who offer similar services may give some guidance.  If you plan to sell a tangible product, canvass the marketplace and learn how similarly positioned products are priced.

Be advised that  it is risky to underprice.  In general, it is not a great way to rapidly build a client list or gain market share.  In services especially, clients may wonder why your rate is so cheap—are you unqualified?  You don’t want to give the impression that you’re less than first rate.  Moreover, raising prices in the future may be met with customer resistance.

Underpricing will also negatively impact your cash flow.  You could find yourself spinning your wheels like mad, overwhelmed with lots of orders, but losing money overall because you have not fully accounted for the cost of goods sold, be it product production and marketing costs or the time and creative energy it costs you to fulfill a contract assignment.

Unless you’re in the grocery business, where profit margins are traditionally thin, make sure that your pricing strategy builds in a profit margin that will sustain the business and eventually you too.

DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS

Think about how your products or services will flow from their source and reach the target customers.  Examine how customers currently buy your type of product.

Do they buy primarily online, from catalogues, from a physical location, by referrals from trusted sources, by contract bids or at trade shows?  Can you access the preferred distribution channel?  How much will it cost you?

Service providers and Freelance consultants must also develop a distribution strategy, so that potential clients and referral sources can be reached.  If you work in professional services, you are on the coattails of the firm’s marketing efforts.  However, these days even junior associates are expected to bring in clients.

Networking and other relationship building strategies will be helpful here.  Put yourself in the places where clients and good referral sources can be found.   Work an expert elevator pitch and see who you can meet.  Visibility counts, so speaking opportunities and leadership roles in business groups will also be important for self promotion.

I’ll be back with Part II of Marketing Strategies next week,
Kim

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Starting a Business? Consider Your Customers and Competition

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Once you’re clear on the difference between an intriguing idea and what may be a genuine business opportunity and you’ve chosen what product or service you will offer,  it is then time to carefully consider who your customers will be.

The entrepreneur must define the customer well,  by using demographic and psychographic (lifestyle) data. The more specific the customer profile that is created, the better the ability to deliver what the target customer wants and will pay you to obtain.

When an entrepreneur fully understands who the customers are,  then he/she can understand what compels them to buy,  how to sell to them (on line or bricks and mortar?),  how to market to them,  how to price the product and how much time and money it will take to win those customers over.

This is why it is always preferable to enter a business in which you have experience.  The best way to know customers is by talking and interacting with them.  That allows you to tailor your services to meet their perceived needs and expectations.

If you’ve already done business with your target customers,  you will have a significant advantage and are better positioned to create a profitable venture.

Be sure to flesh out your customer info by speaking with others who do business with your target customers.  Suppliers and Freelance vendors  can provide lots of useful info. Speaking with your competitors will likewise be very helpful.

Visiting conferences and trade shows that are frequented by your target customers is a smart move,  as those are forums where information is shared.  Competitors may be more forthcoming in these settings.

Analyzing the competition will be a key success  factor for the business.  This is how you’ll find out what customers want from businesses similar to your own,  what benefits they think they’re getting and what price they’ll pay to have what they want.

A thorough competitive analysis allows the entrepreneur to refine the market niche and identify additional competitive advantages.  Good competitive info sets the stage for your marketing and sales strategies.

Visit the stores,  the restaurants and the websites of your direct competitors.  Check out where and how they advertise.  Study their message and methods of interacting with target customers.  Are your competitors making money? How do they make that happen?

Make sure that you have a critical mass of advantages that will improve your chance of success,  be it a hot product,  strong relationships with target customers,  experience in the business,  influential friends or a healthy budget to spend on start up costs.

You probably don’t  hold all of the cards, but before you take the leap  make sure you have enough to give yourself a good chance of winning the game.

More later,
Kim