Guilty Pleasure or Just Good Conduct?

"Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best." - Tim Duncan, Professional Basketball Player

Last week I blogged about Tabatha Coffey and her reality show, Tabatha’s Salon Takeover. The gist was that most entrepreneurs need reality checks to make sure they are not putting up with what’s not working in their businesses.

This week I had the chance to talk with two experts who had heard Tabatha speak last month at a conference. Like me, they were impressed with her no-nonsense, back to basics business style. She used the opportunity, not to plug herself or her television show, but to speak about good business conduct.

Once again, Tabatha hit on some concepts that hold true for any business. You have to conduct yourself as though you are the tops in your field. Treat your customers with respect. Keep your place of business clean and inviting. Invest in employees who will respect your vision and provide quality customer service.

Dress the part. If you want high end customers, you need to draw high end customers with your demeanor, speech and appearance. In this age of casual every day, it’s easy to slip into habits that make it seem like we just don’t care. If you want to stand out from the crowd, look and dress the part of a leader.

I had a friend once who was looking to hire a house painter. She watched the painting company trucks she saw while sitting in traffic. She took the numbers of the trucks that were clean, in good repair and with good signage. She figured that if the company took pride in its trucks, it would take pride in painting her house.

It goes to show you that there still is a place for good business conduct, manners and pride. If you exhibit these characteristics in your business, your business will be a reflection of that behavior. And that is a sure fire way to win.

Are you ready to win?

Guilty Pleasure or Common Sense Business?

“Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you’re willing to pay the price.” Vince Lombardi, Professional Football Coach 

Even business professionals have to indulge in a guilty pleasure every now and then. One of mine is Tabatha’s Salon Takeover, a reality show where a seasoned veteran salon owner comes in to a struggling hair studio and whips the whole place into shape in the space of one week.

Let’s admit it, the fun of reality TV has to do with the exaggerated personalities and situations. Tabatha is no different. How she finds these salons teetering on the brink of ruin week after week, is a mystery to me. The stylists are mostly larger than life characters whose spandex-wrapped egos invariably clash with Tabatha’s reality checks.

The challenges, however, often mirror those we find when we work with entrepreneurs and business owners:

• Employees are not functioning as a winning team.
• The manager is caught up in day-to-day details and doesn’t have a handle on the numbers.
• The manager isn’t actively marketing the salon.
• There are no systems and structures in place to insure quality, financial stability, or even safety.
• The employees have no written job descriptions and are not committed to the salon’s success.

And that’s the tip of Tabatha’s iceberg. What I found interesting as I watched the show, is how Tabatha gets real with the salon owners. She challenges them to look at how much money they need to make and how many customers they need to pull in. She gets them to see that the current situation isn’t working, and then leads them down a new path to what will work.

This is the very thing we stress to our own clients. There is no room in business to put up with what isn’t working. And it’s everyone’s responsibility to be aware of what isn’t working. You have to be committed to what will work, even if that means making tough decisions like letting go of poor performers or firing problem clients.

While Tabatha’s world may be a bit more colorful than most business environments, the principles are still the same. Commit to a result you want to achieve in your business, and then work hard every day to achieve that result. Working with a coach is one of the best ways to hold yourself accountable to what you have set out to do. We make sure that you deliver on your intentions, and that you are always doing what works.

Even a guilty pleasure can have winning results!

Are you ready to win?

20 Reasons to Connect With Clients

“Don’t give up at halftime. Concentrate on winning the second half.” Paul “Bear” Bryant, Legendary Alabama Head Football Coach

We’ve blogged before about client retention. Getting repeat business is far less costly than finding new customers. You have to take care of existing clients and stay in touch with them frequently to make sure they are happy.

But what if you can’t think of a reason to call? No one has time to “just say hi” or to indulge in meaningless conversations. Before you call to check in on your client, make sure you have a reason to do so.

Here are 20 ideas to keep in your back pocket when you know you should touch base but you don’t know what to say:

1. You have a new opportunity to share. A way to partner or work together you haven’t previously explored.
2. You have a new product to introduce.
3. You have additional options to offer on products they buy.
4. You have a success story to share about a similar company and how your business was able to solve their problem.
5. You have updates on existing orders. Maybe they haven’t ordered in a while and you know they should have run out of your product by now.
6. Your pricing has changed, or your volume discounts have changed.
7. You have market information that would influence a buying decision.
8. Your have discontinued items they might be interested in.
9. You can offer them a sample of your product.
10. You have a referral for them.
11. You want them to give you a referral.
12. There have been management or other personnel changes that impact their account.
13. Your website has been updated or has new features they might want to use.
14. You will be in the area and want to meet in person to deliver a new contract, sample, etc.
15. Your company has purchased new technology that will make the relationship run smoother.
16. You want to invite them to tour your facility and see how their orders get filled.
17. You have tickets to a seminar that you know will interest them.
18. You are planning a vacation and want them to know who to contact in your absence.
19. Your company has a press release to share.
20. You have a customer service survey that you want them to complete.

There are a million good reasons to stay in touch. Sometimes you have to get creative. Most clients will appreciate getting good information and good customer service on a regular basis. It shows them that their business matters to you. Be careful not to go overboard. Ask your client how often they expect to hear from you and make a note of that in your CRM system.

Retaining business is essential in any economy and is always a good way to win. Develop a client retention strategy and stick to it. Soon you’ll have a portfolio of loyal customers who appreciate the good service they’ve come to expect from you.

Are you ready to win?

Use Your Website to Interact with Customers

Websites these days are no longer just brochureware. They do tell the story of your company, but more than that, they have become a vehicle for interacting with your customers.

With the advent of content management systems (Joomla, Wordpress, etc), it has become easier than ever to incorporate interactive elements into your website. With the integration of content management systems with CRM (customer relationship management) systems, the web becomes the vehicle for providing the public arm of your customer service activities.

10 Ways to Interact with Customers Online

1. Polls
Online polls are a great way to ask questions and receive feedback. It only takes a second to answer a poll, so it's a great way to show your customers that you care about what they think.

2. Commenting/Reviews
Allow commenting on articles within your website. If you have a product website, allow users to give ratings or feedback on your products. This provides an opportunity to learn from your customers, and a great way to show that you value their opinion.

3. Company Blog

Creating a blog gives you the opportunity to support your customers, while also sharing your expertise. If you are a service industry, let your blog extend your service and resolve problems that your customers have. A blog creates an opportunity for interactive dialogue since customers can comment on your posts. At Landau Design, our blog was specifically created to answer client questions around web design and social media. It has not only saved us time, it has established us as an expert in our niche.

4. Offer Interactive FAQs

Many companies offer FAQ pages on their site, but extend this opportunity by inviting questions from your customers. Soliciting questions not only gives them the opportunity to inquire, but it provides you the chance to provide great service. Categorize your FAQs into groups, which will make it easier for users to find and read them.

5. Knowledge Base

Are you in an industry with particularly detailed information? A self-service knowledge base has been shown to increase confidence of customers by 30% or more. A knowledge base is like Wikipedia, an encyclopedia of information that can be easily searched and found by your customers. Like the FAQs, a knowledge base can be customer-driven if you offer the opportunity to submit additional questions.

6. Click-to-Chat support

It has become really common to provide live, written support through an instant-message type of interface, also known as click-to-chat support. Many websites have "talk to us now" links, which bring up the instant message box and notify an internal sales person. This is an excellent way to interact and provide customer service.

7. Message Boards 

Do you have the type of business that requires a lot of back and forth conversation to resolve issues? Would it be beneficial to have an interaction with more than just you and your customer? Message boards are an excellent way to start conversations and creating a whole community for your customers.

For example, perhaps you're in the construction trade but many customers want help with small fix-it projects in their home. An online message board could be a way to post specific projects, which other customers offering input on what worked for them.

8. Social Media

Providing links to your social media presence is another great way to connect. You can also pull in your Twitter or Facebook feed, which shows customers how active you are in the social media arena. While the interaction may take place off your website, your website can be the portal that allows customers to find you in the social media world.

9. Resource Database

Are there complimentary businesses to your own that your customers might be interested in? A resource database is an excellent way to share this information. You can set up a database organized by business type, and allow other businesses to input their information. Customers could then use the resource database to find trusted services, and they can also input comments and ratings on the businesses they have tried.

This would be especially powerful if your customers needed a resource database to network with each other. For example, if you were a business coach, you might create a resource database of your clientele, which offers then networking opportunities as well as a chance to interact with you.

10. Online Video

Websites are no longer static content. Media is the new "it", so bring some of this into your web design environment. A custom-produced video introducing your company is a fabulous way to connect personally with a potential customer. Even more trendy is what's known as a  video walk on - a person who actually walks across your website while talking about the company or the content of the page.

Conclusion

There are many ways you can connect with customers through your website. The web has moved into the realm of interactive media, so utilize these technologies to show your customers that you care of reaching them.