A question I often hear is how do I eliminate negative information about my company on the Internet? That's one of those questions that has many answers, but there a few general concepts we can address here.
There are usually 3 types of negative information that appear on the Web about companies.
The first is a legitimate complaint. No one's perfect. No matter how hard you try, sometimes you or your staff mess up. Maybe your product or service didn't work properly. People are more likely to complain online than to you directly. It's human nature - anonymity emboldens us. Road rage is a great example of this.
Legitimate complaints can actually be the most beneficial for your company. These are things you can act on. If someone has a complaint, solve it. Go above and beyond. And make it public. For instance, let's say you own a restaurant. Your staff was having an off day, the service wasn't up to par, and someone wrote a negative review. Instead of letting it go, follow up with this customer through the same online venue they complained through. Give them a gift certificate, or offer to buy their next meal. Take a specific action to rectify the situation. Don't make excuses - make it right. And do it in the public square. Many people now rely exclusively on online reviews to make a buying decision. If they see a complaint and a solution, they'll know you are a business owner who actually cares and listens. You're willing to do the right thing. And don't argue. A free meal to a disgruntled client is going to cost you a lot less than proving your point. The customer, after all, is always right. Especially when they're wrong.
Don't let legitimate complaints fester. The faster you solve them, the better the outcome. Consider posting your Facebook or Twitter address in your business and encouraging customers to share their experience, positive or negative. This can seem counterintuitive to a business owner, but airing your dirty laundry in public can allow you to take situations that would otherwise fester and turn them into positive, customer-building opportunities.
The second type of negative information that appears is the dreaded anonymous complaint. Someone has a bad experience with your company, or has an axe to grind with you personally (or one of your employees) and writes terrible things. The dark side of the Internet is that everything is essentially permanent. There are exceptions, and it's possible to remove derogatory comments, but it's a difficult and lengthy process. It's similar in scope to identity fraud. There are companies that promote reputation fixing services, but there are limits to these processes, and the cost can be quite high.
In these cases, the best defense is a good offense. Most reviews that have any meaning to potential customers are weighted. Negative reviews can be overwhelmed by positive reviews. People are more likely to take action when they're complaining rather than when they've had a positive experience. Anger is a more actionable emotion than happiness. However, many people will write positive reviews if you ask them. Use your social media venues, signs in your physical location(s), printed notes on receipts and invoices, etc. to ask people to create positive reviews. You can incentivize this, as well, by offering something for your customers to do this. Depending on your industry, you will need to be aware of any restrictions that exists (health care, government, etc.), but giving people who write positive reviews a small reward will often motivate them. Keep in mind that people will usually do a great deal for very little - you don't have to give them a car. Something small, something they'll use, will motivate them to take the ten minutes they'll need to write a review. Enough of these will, over time, virtually eliminate negative reviews. It's a time consuming process, but it is effective.
The third type of negative information found on the Web are comments from former and current employees. These can range from ridiculous comments that are essentially blowing off steam, to the divulging of company trade secrets. It's important to weigh the severity of information being shared. If the comments are coming from a disgruntled worker, it might be best to let the comments go. If you've fired this person, they'll likely want to vent. You fired them for a reason, and this will only reinforce why you did. The more dangerous types of former employee comments come when they share private company information online. There are specific laws that govern this type of information and, depending on the data and the implications, you have the option of taking legal action. Keep in mind that the punishment should match the crime - there will often be repercussions beyond the scope of a simple web post if you decide to pursue legal action. Social media postings as they relate to current or former employers is an emerging area of the law and, although several cases have sided with employers recently, you should weigh the fact that you'll be helping set legal precedent, and can receive more negative attention via the news media than you ever would by letting the online comment(s) go. Every situation is unique, and only you as the business owner know what's at stake. Keep in mind it's not personal, it's business.
There isn't a magic bullet for eliminating negative comments online. And this information is the tip of the iceberg. Keep in mind that some people are complainers. That's their nature, that's how they find pleasure in their lives. No matter what you do, you won't make them happy. But if the negative comments are legitimate, act on them. You can use these negatives to grow as a business. They may also give you insight into how your company is perceived in the public. That kind of wake-up call can be a game-changer, if you look at it honestly.
Marketing your business comes down to a single question - what does your customer need you to do? Award winning marketing and design expert Jeff Rosenplot offers practical, in-the-trenches advice for businesses of any size, and budgets to match.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Change Is Good
For many businesses, change can be a four-letter word. If you're a business owner, you had a clear idea of what you wanted to do when you started your business. You had a vision and you expected potential clients would beat down your door as soon as you started. No matter how much preparation went into your business plan, however, there are always factors that don't play nicely. Things like the economic climate, competition, public awareness, outdated technology and even staffing issues can potentially derail the best laid plans. As a business owner or the manager of a business division, you need to be able to turn on a dime. And you need to be able to keep the core values and business focus in mind when you make these turns.
There's a time when sticking to your guns no matter what is effective - and there's a time when it's necessary to throw the whole works up in the air. Embracing change is often the determining factor in the success of any business. So where do you start? Change for change sake is reckless - change that is dictated by quality intel is what will set your business apart. Start with processes. These are things that you control and are designed to make your entire business run smoothly. If your answer to the question, "why do we do this" is "because we've always done it that way", that's the first thing to target. Don't hold on to outdated processes simply because they've always been there. Consequently, don't abandon processes that actually work. The point with the "because we've always done it that way" question is to actively understand why your business does what it does. There can be a perfectly valid reason why process X is done - process Y and Z may depend on it. If so, that's a good process. But if process X exists simply because it seemed like a good idea at the time, try something else. Start by eliminating this process. Does work still get done? Does it get done better?
An important exercise many businesses engage in is what's called a "process walk". If it's done properly, it's a time consuming thing. But the value to your business can be monumental. Start with the beginning of your business process - is it manufacturing? Retail delivery? Client order? Using Post-It notes and a wall, document each step of your business process. For complex areas, break it down into simple, single line descriptions. If you can't describe the process in a single line, that means it's a complex process and has steps you'll need to document. Color code like items - is there a decision point? A client interaction point? A vendor contact point? Walk through your entire business process. Involve as many members of your team as is necessary. The more robust the organization, the more compartmentalized it can become. The process walk can serve also to illuminate and educate your staff on what actually goes on. Remember that you hired the staff you did because you wanted their input. The more brains you have involved, the more likely you are to start thinking outside the box. And that's what the process walk is all about.
When you stand back and look at your wall of Post-It notes, take a look for duplication. That's the low-hanging fruit you can eliminate. Then look for other ways to streamline. Does the physical location of staff isolate them from each other? Can different departments merge? Can functions from one department migrate to another?
Look at the Post-It notes in another way. Where does your product or service get bogged down? Is it slow vendors? Are you waiting on customer approvals? External sources of delay are harder to address, but not impossible. Consider incentivizing early approvals. Offering a small discount if a project is moved forward more quickly may initially cut into your bottom line, but the idea is you'll be able to move more projects forward faster. A minimal discount can allow you to produce and invoice more within a shorter period of time.
The process walk is a commitment. It will take time and it will take staff away from their specific duties. The impact of this, however, can be a game changer. By simply knowing each step of your business process, you can clearly see opportunities to tighten and, in some cases, eliminate processes altogether. A week of your staff's time could save your company a ridiculous amount of money, and can eliminate huge amounts of waste.
Change is good. Smart change is the difference between growth and stagnation.
There's a time when sticking to your guns no matter what is effective - and there's a time when it's necessary to throw the whole works up in the air. Embracing change is often the determining factor in the success of any business. So where do you start? Change for change sake is reckless - change that is dictated by quality intel is what will set your business apart. Start with processes. These are things that you control and are designed to make your entire business run smoothly. If your answer to the question, "why do we do this" is "because we've always done it that way", that's the first thing to target. Don't hold on to outdated processes simply because they've always been there. Consequently, don't abandon processes that actually work. The point with the "because we've always done it that way" question is to actively understand why your business does what it does. There can be a perfectly valid reason why process X is done - process Y and Z may depend on it. If so, that's a good process. But if process X exists simply because it seemed like a good idea at the time, try something else. Start by eliminating this process. Does work still get done? Does it get done better?
An important exercise many businesses engage in is what's called a "process walk". If it's done properly, it's a time consuming thing. But the value to your business can be monumental. Start with the beginning of your business process - is it manufacturing? Retail delivery? Client order? Using Post-It notes and a wall, document each step of your business process. For complex areas, break it down into simple, single line descriptions. If you can't describe the process in a single line, that means it's a complex process and has steps you'll need to document. Color code like items - is there a decision point? A client interaction point? A vendor contact point? Walk through your entire business process. Involve as many members of your team as is necessary. The more robust the organization, the more compartmentalized it can become. The process walk can serve also to illuminate and educate your staff on what actually goes on. Remember that you hired the staff you did because you wanted their input. The more brains you have involved, the more likely you are to start thinking outside the box. And that's what the process walk is all about.
When you stand back and look at your wall of Post-It notes, take a look for duplication. That's the low-hanging fruit you can eliminate. Then look for other ways to streamline. Does the physical location of staff isolate them from each other? Can different departments merge? Can functions from one department migrate to another?
Look at the Post-It notes in another way. Where does your product or service get bogged down? Is it slow vendors? Are you waiting on customer approvals? External sources of delay are harder to address, but not impossible. Consider incentivizing early approvals. Offering a small discount if a project is moved forward more quickly may initially cut into your bottom line, but the idea is you'll be able to move more projects forward faster. A minimal discount can allow you to produce and invoice more within a shorter period of time.
The process walk is a commitment. It will take time and it will take staff away from their specific duties. The impact of this, however, can be a game changer. By simply knowing each step of your business process, you can clearly see opportunities to tighten and, in some cases, eliminate processes altogether. A week of your staff's time could save your company a ridiculous amount of money, and can eliminate huge amounts of waste.
Change is good. Smart change is the difference between growth and stagnation.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
What's In A Name? Ask BOTOX®.
We're all familiar with BOTOX®. The magic injection that makes us look instantly younger. BOTOX® itself has become a word similar to Kleenex® or Xerox®, a brand name used to broadly identify its product category. There are many other uses for BOTOX® than the most commonly prescribed, but it's the very fact of the BOTOX® omnipotence that makes it such a marketing success story.
The name BOTOX® seems innocent enough. But BOTOX® is short for Botulinum Toxin, or botulism. Botulism, among its other traits, paralyzes you. Food-borne botulism is contracted due to poor hygiene (usually involving canning or food packaging).
And yet BOTOX® is one of the most popular elective medical treatments on the market. It's also one of the most impressive marketing success stories out there. Imagine if you were the agency in charge of introducing Botulinum toxin to the general public - the pitch meeting would go something like this:
"What's the new product?"
"Botulism."
"Botulism like the deadly botulism?"
"No, this is perfectly safe."
"What makes it safe?"
"You inject it into your face."
"Why?"
"It gets rid of wrinkles for a while."
"But it's botulism."
"Aside from the name, it's a great idea."
BOTOX® had a name problem. There was no way in the world they could market their product, no matter how effective it was, by calling it by its real name. It would be like introducing a new cereal called "Plague Flakes". So they came up with BOTOX®, a softer, gentler version of its key ingredient. Two syllables, rolls off the tongue, has no negative connotations, and is completely ambiguous. Millions of BOTOX® injections later, the name has done the trick.
It works the same way with your business. Sometimes calling yourself "Jones & Son" works. Sometimes it doesn't. If you run a mom-and-pop operation that builds relationships on a micro level, "Jones & Son" works. You have a small operation, your customers are usually dealing with either Jones or his son, and the business is designed to be small. For a larger organization, "Jones & Son" doesn't work. The more faces a customer has the potential to see means the company has a broader scope. Something like "Andrew Jones Incorporated" works if the name is well known - but a broader name, a less specific name, allows the company to have its own identity separate from the original owner.
If you are weighing the balance between having the name mean something and having the name sound good rolling off the tongue, rolling off the tongue wins. Look at "Google". Or "Yahoo." Or "Bing." Sometimes simply having a name that is unique will be the thing that gets you remembered.
There are benefits to having a simple, meaningful name. "Rosenplot Design", for instance, is purposely named because I establish personal relationships with my clients. My name is my company. My reputation is tied into it. As my business expands, it is quite possible my company name would change to reflect the broader influence of new partners. Another benefit of my name being the name of my business is that Rosenplot is an uncommon name. "Jones & Son" doesn't carry the same uniqueness as "Rosenplot Design".
Your name should also be dependent on your industry. The name of a technology company will and should be very different from a bakery, or a moving company, or a Realtor®. Keep in mind the vernacular of your market. What are your customers expecting? A bakery called "MotorGears" or a moving and storage company called "Fluffy Puppies" probably wouldn't connect with their customers. Choosing a name that's both unique and appropriate allows you to tap into the cultural references and language of your customers.
Take a lesson from BOTOX®. Sometimes a name is more than just a name.
The name BOTOX® seems innocent enough. But BOTOX® is short for Botulinum Toxin, or botulism. Botulism, among its other traits, paralyzes you. Food-borne botulism is contracted due to poor hygiene (usually involving canning or food packaging).
And yet BOTOX® is one of the most popular elective medical treatments on the market. It's also one of the most impressive marketing success stories out there. Imagine if you were the agency in charge of introducing Botulinum toxin to the general public - the pitch meeting would go something like this:
"What's the new product?"
"Botulism."
"Botulism like the deadly botulism?"
"No, this is perfectly safe."
"What makes it safe?"
"You inject it into your face."
"Why?"
"It gets rid of wrinkles for a while."
"But it's botulism."
"Aside from the name, it's a great idea."
BOTOX® had a name problem. There was no way in the world they could market their product, no matter how effective it was, by calling it by its real name. It would be like introducing a new cereal called "Plague Flakes". So they came up with BOTOX®, a softer, gentler version of its key ingredient. Two syllables, rolls off the tongue, has no negative connotations, and is completely ambiguous. Millions of BOTOX® injections later, the name has done the trick.
It works the same way with your business. Sometimes calling yourself "Jones & Son" works. Sometimes it doesn't. If you run a mom-and-pop operation that builds relationships on a micro level, "Jones & Son" works. You have a small operation, your customers are usually dealing with either Jones or his son, and the business is designed to be small. For a larger organization, "Jones & Son" doesn't work. The more faces a customer has the potential to see means the company has a broader scope. Something like "Andrew Jones Incorporated" works if the name is well known - but a broader name, a less specific name, allows the company to have its own identity separate from the original owner.
If you are weighing the balance between having the name mean something and having the name sound good rolling off the tongue, rolling off the tongue wins. Look at "Google". Or "Yahoo." Or "Bing." Sometimes simply having a name that is unique will be the thing that gets you remembered.
There are benefits to having a simple, meaningful name. "Rosenplot Design", for instance, is purposely named because I establish personal relationships with my clients. My name is my company. My reputation is tied into it. As my business expands, it is quite possible my company name would change to reflect the broader influence of new partners. Another benefit of my name being the name of my business is that Rosenplot is an uncommon name. "Jones & Son" doesn't carry the same uniqueness as "Rosenplot Design".
Your name should also be dependent on your industry. The name of a technology company will and should be very different from a bakery, or a moving company, or a Realtor®. Keep in mind the vernacular of your market. What are your customers expecting? A bakery called "MotorGears" or a moving and storage company called "Fluffy Puppies" probably wouldn't connect with their customers. Choosing a name that's both unique and appropriate allows you to tap into the cultural references and language of your customers.
Take a lesson from BOTOX®. Sometimes a name is more than just a name.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Patience, Grasshopper
When you begin any marketing or brand awareness campaign, patience is not always foremost in your mind. Your product or service or company is the best ever and simply opening the doors will leave you flooded with customers. As anyone who's ever introduced a product or started a company understands, that is not the case. Brand awareness takes time. Lots of time. And during that time, you'll be forced to spend gobs of money that you can't afford on media that looks great when the salesperson is in your office but shows absolutely no signs of life once your campaign begins.
Unfortunately, there's no easy way around this. Introducing something new is very difficult. Even if you don't have direct competition, you have perceived competition. If you're the only Italian restaurant in town, for instance, you may think you've got a corner on the market. But you're competing against a finite number of customers who are either not aware of your restaurant, not in the mood for your style of food, want to eat somewhere tried and true, have a coupon, don't want to hassle with parking ... the list goes on. You may be the only one of your kind, but you are certainly not immune to competition. Your food may be incredible and your service out of this world, but if you aren't "top of mind", you will lose business.
So how do you become top of mind? The answer? With lots and lots of patience.
DEFINE YOUR GOALS
What are you hoping to achieve? Think both long term and short. Your overall goal may be to franchise your Italian restaurant, but there are many, many steps between here and there. What do you hope to achieve in the next month? The next three months? The next six? Be reasonable. Having seven restaurants in six months is not only very difficult to achieve financially, it's also very difficult to manage. Your first Italian restaurant is where you work out your processes. It's where you fall flat on your face a few times. What's a reasonable goal? It's something achievable. It requires you to stretch, but doesn't require you to break.
POINT YOURSELF IN THAT DIRECTION
Your closest goal is the one you focus on. Your three month goal is to increase dinner reservations by 30%, let's say. Point yourself that way. Focus exclusively on promoting your dinner menu. Invite movers and shakers from the community to dine at a special opening event. Use social media to generate a buzz. You have a Facebook page - enlist your friends. Ask them to enlist their friends. It's a network - that's how it works. Keep in mind that any broad marketing you do will have a very low feedback rate. You're not just starting a restaurant - you're establishing a brand.
Remember to set your baseline. You can't measure success unless you know where you've been.
LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
You may know the best way to cook lasagna, but if your customers don't like it, you have to change. Your customers will not change, and shame on the business owner who demands that. Your customers will tell you what works and what doesn't. All you need to do is listen.
MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE
Allow your strategy to work. Whatever combination of promotional material, word-of-mouth, social media, etc. you choose to use, let it work. It takes time. There are various environmental factors that can contribute to why people aren't seeking you out. Using our Italian restaurant as an example, it may be that your potential customers have a favorite place and haven't discovered you yet; it may be that it's too hot outside and Italian food seems too heavy; it may be that people are on vacation; there might be something happening on American Idol. The point is, don't throw away your plan simply because you don't have instant gratification. You won't. Branding takes time.
FOCUS ON SHORT TERM CASH FLOW
Most new business owners cut their startup investment very close to the wire. By the time all the expenses have tripled and the marketing budget comes around, business owners are so tired of spending money with no return that they demand something immediate from the marketing. Creating your identity takes time. Most businesses will not see a profit for at least two or three years. How do you mitigate this? Focus on keeping afloat. Working for cost or just above cost will allow you to keep yourself above water long enough for you to catch on. Every day you stay in business is another victory. Celebrate that. Your franchise may be years away, but you will have earned your business by fighting in the trenches. Successful business owners are those who make failure a four-letter word. Failure and falling on your face are two different things. Failure means you don't get back up. Falling on your face means you take your blows and live to fight another day.
Unfortunately, there's no easy way around this. Introducing something new is very difficult. Even if you don't have direct competition, you have perceived competition. If you're the only Italian restaurant in town, for instance, you may think you've got a corner on the market. But you're competing against a finite number of customers who are either not aware of your restaurant, not in the mood for your style of food, want to eat somewhere tried and true, have a coupon, don't want to hassle with parking ... the list goes on. You may be the only one of your kind, but you are certainly not immune to competition. Your food may be incredible and your service out of this world, but if you aren't "top of mind", you will lose business.
So how do you become top of mind? The answer? With lots and lots of patience.
DEFINE YOUR GOALS
What are you hoping to achieve? Think both long term and short. Your overall goal may be to franchise your Italian restaurant, but there are many, many steps between here and there. What do you hope to achieve in the next month? The next three months? The next six? Be reasonable. Having seven restaurants in six months is not only very difficult to achieve financially, it's also very difficult to manage. Your first Italian restaurant is where you work out your processes. It's where you fall flat on your face a few times. What's a reasonable goal? It's something achievable. It requires you to stretch, but doesn't require you to break.
POINT YOURSELF IN THAT DIRECTION
Your closest goal is the one you focus on. Your three month goal is to increase dinner reservations by 30%, let's say. Point yourself that way. Focus exclusively on promoting your dinner menu. Invite movers and shakers from the community to dine at a special opening event. Use social media to generate a buzz. You have a Facebook page - enlist your friends. Ask them to enlist their friends. It's a network - that's how it works. Keep in mind that any broad marketing you do will have a very low feedback rate. You're not just starting a restaurant - you're establishing a brand.
Remember to set your baseline. You can't measure success unless you know where you've been.
LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
You may know the best way to cook lasagna, but if your customers don't like it, you have to change. Your customers will not change, and shame on the business owner who demands that. Your customers will tell you what works and what doesn't. All you need to do is listen.
MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE
Allow your strategy to work. Whatever combination of promotional material, word-of-mouth, social media, etc. you choose to use, let it work. It takes time. There are various environmental factors that can contribute to why people aren't seeking you out. Using our Italian restaurant as an example, it may be that your potential customers have a favorite place and haven't discovered you yet; it may be that it's too hot outside and Italian food seems too heavy; it may be that people are on vacation; there might be something happening on American Idol. The point is, don't throw away your plan simply because you don't have instant gratification. You won't. Branding takes time.
FOCUS ON SHORT TERM CASH FLOW
Most new business owners cut their startup investment very close to the wire. By the time all the expenses have tripled and the marketing budget comes around, business owners are so tired of spending money with no return that they demand something immediate from the marketing. Creating your identity takes time. Most businesses will not see a profit for at least two or three years. How do you mitigate this? Focus on keeping afloat. Working for cost or just above cost will allow you to keep yourself above water long enough for you to catch on. Every day you stay in business is another victory. Celebrate that. Your franchise may be years away, but you will have earned your business by fighting in the trenches. Successful business owners are those who make failure a four-letter word. Failure and falling on your face are two different things. Failure means you don't get back up. Falling on your face means you take your blows and live to fight another day.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
My Customers Will Always Buy Local. Won't They?
Local businesses tend to believe that if they build it, their customers will come. Everyone wants to support local businesses, right? That works when the economy is good. The moment the economy goes south, most consumers will throw their social conscience out the window in exchange for lower prices. In the real world, simply being local doesn't always cut it. In the age of the Internet, your competition is not just the local megastore, but can be any online outlet store anywhere in the world. How do you compete?
It's important to not rely on the implied guilt trip of being local. There are lots of good reasons to shop locally, but a majority of people do so only during times of abundance. It's the same thing as buying organic. Unless your customers have a specific moral reason to do so, buying local and buying organic are the first things that people stop doing. So the question becomes how to ensure your customers have more reasons to use your services than the fact that you're their neighbor.
Your overhead and limited buying power will likely not allow you to compete with megastores on price. You have to figure out a way to set your business apart. The simplest and most effective is by offering incredible service. Keep in mind that service extends to every member of your team, every sale you make and every issue that comes up with your products or services. If you lose a sale because your service is not exemplary, understand that you are likely losing the business of every person in that customer's sphere of influence. It will be nearly impossible to win them back.
Another way to remain competitive is to offer a wider selection. Consumers are used to shopping in locations that allow them to multitask when they shop. The days of visiting multiple small retailers for a single item are gone. Listen to your customers. What else do they need from you? If you sell shoes, have all related supplies available. If you sell cookware, also sell gadgets and ingredients your customers will need. Be as complete as you can in your stock.
If you can't compete on price, compete on quality. Sell higher quality merchandise than the megastore. Offer free classes on how to properly use the merchandise. Educate potential customers about the benefits of your higher end products. Offer follow up classes.
Set your business apart by using real differentiators. Don't rely on the fact that your shop is local. It might work when times are good, but the moment there's a hiccup in the economy, your business will be the first to go.
It's important to not rely on the implied guilt trip of being local. There are lots of good reasons to shop locally, but a majority of people do so only during times of abundance. It's the same thing as buying organic. Unless your customers have a specific moral reason to do so, buying local and buying organic are the first things that people stop doing. So the question becomes how to ensure your customers have more reasons to use your services than the fact that you're their neighbor.
Your overhead and limited buying power will likely not allow you to compete with megastores on price. You have to figure out a way to set your business apart. The simplest and most effective is by offering incredible service. Keep in mind that service extends to every member of your team, every sale you make and every issue that comes up with your products or services. If you lose a sale because your service is not exemplary, understand that you are likely losing the business of every person in that customer's sphere of influence. It will be nearly impossible to win them back.
Another way to remain competitive is to offer a wider selection. Consumers are used to shopping in locations that allow them to multitask when they shop. The days of visiting multiple small retailers for a single item are gone. Listen to your customers. What else do they need from you? If you sell shoes, have all related supplies available. If you sell cookware, also sell gadgets and ingredients your customers will need. Be as complete as you can in your stock.
If you can't compete on price, compete on quality. Sell higher quality merchandise than the megastore. Offer free classes on how to properly use the merchandise. Educate potential customers about the benefits of your higher end products. Offer follow up classes.
Set your business apart by using real differentiators. Don't rely on the fact that your shop is local. It might work when times are good, but the moment there's a hiccup in the economy, your business will be the first to go.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
What Else Does Your Customer Do?
Your customers don't live in a vacuum. People have multiple interests - often disparate interests. Your product or service is one small part of what makes your customers whole. If you sell a consumer product, your customers will have multiple related consumer products they view as a part of a whole. If you sell business products or services, your customers will have and need multiple related things. Your business customers are also people. The decision makers have families. They have pets. They have parents. They have lives outside their business. Consumer customers can also be business people.
Talking to your customers in their language means you have to understand their entire world. Now, you can't customize your marketing plan to a specific individual. There are certain generalities you make based on what your customers are most likely to do. Marketing is about stereotypes - not in a negative way, but as a means of targeting a group of individuals in a broad way. It's about hitting the widest target with the least amount of ammo.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Let's say you run a small cafe in a downtown area. Your cafe isn't isolated. Potential customers are generally not coming downtown to visit your cafe exclusively. They are likely shopping or going to a show at the theater or visiting a museum or visiting an art gallery. Your customers have multiple other interests. You can be part of their experience by tapping into how they're using downtown. They are visiting for specific reasons - you can make your cafe fit into their day. You achieve this by being aware of events that are going on, patterns throughout the day and week and promote your cafe according to how your potential customers are experiencing the entire area. Partner with some of the venues to help customers make the connection between visiting these places and visiting your place. Link yourself to where your customers are and you become part of what they're doing. You become part of their experience.
Another example - your shop sells a specific type of product - let's say a specific line of athletic shoes. You've noticed that sales are way down. Because your athletic shoes are so good, they don't need to be replaced often. Your clients are thrilled, but repeat business is way down. Your existing customers would buy more product from you but don't need it. Expanding your product line to include additional related products such as dress shoes, hiking boots and other high quality footwear allows you to tap into the goodwill of your existing client base and increase multiple sales. People have multiple footwear needs - people buying athletic shoes also need dress shoes. By understanding that your customers have multiple interests and mutiple needs, you can offer product lines that satisfy each of them. You increase your sales by increasing the per-customer sales. You know your customer has multiple needs and you're satisfying them.
Business owners tend to have tunnel vision. They establish their business because they want to sell one certain thing. While that is the impetus for starting a business, don't forget that your customers have many other interests. Figuring out what else your customer needs and providing it for them will increase your bottom line and your customer loyalty.
Talking to your customers in their language means you have to understand their entire world. Now, you can't customize your marketing plan to a specific individual. There are certain generalities you make based on what your customers are most likely to do. Marketing is about stereotypes - not in a negative way, but as a means of targeting a group of individuals in a broad way. It's about hitting the widest target with the least amount of ammo.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Let's say you run a small cafe in a downtown area. Your cafe isn't isolated. Potential customers are generally not coming downtown to visit your cafe exclusively. They are likely shopping or going to a show at the theater or visiting a museum or visiting an art gallery. Your customers have multiple other interests. You can be part of their experience by tapping into how they're using downtown. They are visiting for specific reasons - you can make your cafe fit into their day. You achieve this by being aware of events that are going on, patterns throughout the day and week and promote your cafe according to how your potential customers are experiencing the entire area. Partner with some of the venues to help customers make the connection between visiting these places and visiting your place. Link yourself to where your customers are and you become part of what they're doing. You become part of their experience.
Another example - your shop sells a specific type of product - let's say a specific line of athletic shoes. You've noticed that sales are way down. Because your athletic shoes are so good, they don't need to be replaced often. Your clients are thrilled, but repeat business is way down. Your existing customers would buy more product from you but don't need it. Expanding your product line to include additional related products such as dress shoes, hiking boots and other high quality footwear allows you to tap into the goodwill of your existing client base and increase multiple sales. People have multiple footwear needs - people buying athletic shoes also need dress shoes. By understanding that your customers have multiple interests and mutiple needs, you can offer product lines that satisfy each of them. You increase your sales by increasing the per-customer sales. You know your customer has multiple needs and you're satisfying them.
Business owners tend to have tunnel vision. They establish their business because they want to sell one certain thing. While that is the impetus for starting a business, don't forget that your customers have many other interests. Figuring out what else your customer needs and providing it for them will increase your bottom line and your customer loyalty.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Antisocial Media - A Case Study
Recently a local restaurant owner had customers in her restaurant that brought an infant child into the restaurant. The child obviously didn't want to be there, and cried and screamed the whole time. The incident itself is repeated every day all across the world. What sets this one apart is that the owner posted a lengthy complaint about these guests on her Facebook business page. In the post, the owner stated that other customers were disrupted, and that she overcharged the customers for their meal to compensate for her staff's trouble. Unfortunately, the subject of the post turned out to be a fan of the page.
If you don't think social media matters to your business, try doing something like this. Social media is a phenomenal tool - and can also be a nightmare. For businesses that want to increase word-of-mouth traffic, spreading their message across social media is worth its weight in gold. The benefit of re-posts recommendations and sharing is that your business is being introduced into the lives of your customers' friends. In essence, your customer is working for you. The downside, of course, is that one blunder can spread worldwide in a matter of moments. Social media, like the Internet itself, is perpetual. Everything you've ever done online, every mistake you've ever made, every embarrassment, is forever captured and cataloged and archived.
Let's start with the basics - never, ever, ever post a complaint about a customer anywhere. Don't even send it in an email. If you can help it, don't put it in writing. The customer may not always be right, (and quite often isn't), but they're your boss. Social media gives us the feeling of invulnerability - the same feeling we have when we're in our car. But like driving our cars, accidents happen when we're careless. And for crying out loud, don't post it on your business page. Especially if the person you're posting about is a fan of your page.
The business owner had the ability to salvage the situation at several points. First, as the owner of the business, she had a responsibility to the majority of her clientele who were being disrupted. Much like the captain of a ship, the business owner has absolute authority in a situation like this. Simply explaining privately to the parent that the child's unhappiness was disruptive to the other guests and asking the parent to quiet the child or come back another time without the child would likely have solved everything. At worst, the restauranteur would have lost one customer instead of the dozens she now has lost.
Second, the business owner should never in a million years have posted the customer complaint. Once the customer commented on the post and the comments began to fly, she should have immediately removed the post. She should then have called the customer directly and offered a full apology. Offering a free meal or two wouldn't hurt, either. Although the customer was originally at fault for the disruption by not listening to the needs of her child and having the common courtesy to leave the situation without disrupting everyone else around her, the business owner made cardinal mistakes in handling this situation. (And I know many people will argue that point, that the customer was at fault. But as a business owner, you are responsible for the satisfaction of everyone, not a single person. As a customer, you need to recognize when your behavior or the behavior of those in your party - whether they are capable of stopping the behavior or not - is disruptive. And as a parent, your responsibility is the well being of your child. If your infant child is incapable of handling a high stress social situation, it is your responsibility to remove your child from that situation. Unfortunately, your social life goes on hold in many ways when you are the parent of a small child. It doesn't last forever.)
I didn't hear about this story firsthand. A friend reposted the link. As did many others. A relatively small circle of people suddenly grew into a huge group of people with most now having a strong negative opinion of the restaurant. Social media travels fast. Impossibly fast.
The best way to avoid negative publicity is to not do something that will cause it. Never complain about customers, even on your personal social media pages. If a customer is unhappy, make them happy. No matter what. It is far easier and less expensive to give away a few meals than to have to undo catastrophic damage. If you're at fault, make it right. Make the solution exceed the problem. Make the customer remember the solution.
If you don't think social media matters to your business, try doing something like this. Social media is a phenomenal tool - and can also be a nightmare. For businesses that want to increase word-of-mouth traffic, spreading their message across social media is worth its weight in gold. The benefit of re-posts recommendations and sharing is that your business is being introduced into the lives of your customers' friends. In essence, your customer is working for you. The downside, of course, is that one blunder can spread worldwide in a matter of moments. Social media, like the Internet itself, is perpetual. Everything you've ever done online, every mistake you've ever made, every embarrassment, is forever captured and cataloged and archived.
Let's start with the basics - never, ever, ever post a complaint about a customer anywhere. Don't even send it in an email. If you can help it, don't put it in writing. The customer may not always be right, (and quite often isn't), but they're your boss. Social media gives us the feeling of invulnerability - the same feeling we have when we're in our car. But like driving our cars, accidents happen when we're careless. And for crying out loud, don't post it on your business page. Especially if the person you're posting about is a fan of your page.
The business owner had the ability to salvage the situation at several points. First, as the owner of the business, she had a responsibility to the majority of her clientele who were being disrupted. Much like the captain of a ship, the business owner has absolute authority in a situation like this. Simply explaining privately to the parent that the child's unhappiness was disruptive to the other guests and asking the parent to quiet the child or come back another time without the child would likely have solved everything. At worst, the restauranteur would have lost one customer instead of the dozens she now has lost.
Second, the business owner should never in a million years have posted the customer complaint. Once the customer commented on the post and the comments began to fly, she should have immediately removed the post. She should then have called the customer directly and offered a full apology. Offering a free meal or two wouldn't hurt, either. Although the customer was originally at fault for the disruption by not listening to the needs of her child and having the common courtesy to leave the situation without disrupting everyone else around her, the business owner made cardinal mistakes in handling this situation. (And I know many people will argue that point, that the customer was at fault. But as a business owner, you are responsible for the satisfaction of everyone, not a single person. As a customer, you need to recognize when your behavior or the behavior of those in your party - whether they are capable of stopping the behavior or not - is disruptive. And as a parent, your responsibility is the well being of your child. If your infant child is incapable of handling a high stress social situation, it is your responsibility to remove your child from that situation. Unfortunately, your social life goes on hold in many ways when you are the parent of a small child. It doesn't last forever.)
I didn't hear about this story firsthand. A friend reposted the link. As did many others. A relatively small circle of people suddenly grew into a huge group of people with most now having a strong negative opinion of the restaurant. Social media travels fast. Impossibly fast.
The best way to avoid negative publicity is to not do something that will cause it. Never complain about customers, even on your personal social media pages. If a customer is unhappy, make them happy. No matter what. It is far easier and less expensive to give away a few meals than to have to undo catastrophic damage. If you're at fault, make it right. Make the solution exceed the problem. Make the customer remember the solution.
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