Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
Okay, quick... what was the first thought that came into your mind when you read that title? A) Peace B) Joy C) Happiness D) Excitement What... you say? You don't like the choices? Well, then... how about an incredibly professional and friendly staff... or a relaxed, caring, customer-centric environment? How about a dental office that is so on-time at 2 o'clock in the afternoon that the patient (me) never felt the fabric of a chair in the waiting area.…
Read More
Tags: best customers, competition, competitors, culture, customer experience, customer service, customers, customers as marketers, excellence, ideal customers, internet, leader, new media, professional development, referral business, referrals, relationships, service, service professionals, small business, small business leadership, small business marketing, small business owner, staff, team, whole team marketing
Posted in leadership, marketing
1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
Okay, so I was speaking with several business consultants... no, that's not really true; I was listening to several business consultants, and hoping that none of what they said would rub off. Here they were, trying to make the point to a handful of business leaders that in an era where everyone is looking to save money, you should never strive to be too good. I'm serious. The goal, they said, was to be absolutely sure…
Read More
Tags: best customers, bottom-line, consultants, good enough, impact players, leaders, processes, reputation, seth godin, small business, small business leadership, small business marketing, small business owner, strategy, top line, turnover
Posted in leadership, marketing
1 Comment »
Monday, February 16th, 2009
In my experience, the top three reasons small business owners cite in not wanting to attend networking events are: 1) They have other uses for their time, but feel an uncomfortable obligation to be there. 2) They believe there is an inadequate ROI associated with the event. 3) They often end up engaged in "selling" behavior with people who are not qualified buyers. In the last several articles, we spoke about the concerns associated with…
Read More
Tags: advertising, benefits, best customers, elevator speech, ideal customers, influence, leader, listening, market, networking, rocket science, ROI, sales, small business, small business marketing, small business owner
Posted in leadership, marketing
No Comments »
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
As I mentioned
yesterday, networking is one of your most powerful tools in creating influence for your business. I find, however, that most small business leaders that I speak with have never thought of it that way. Commonly, they tell me they have always thought of it in terms of lead generation... usually judging the success or failure on the basis of how much…
Read More
Tags: best customers, ideal customers, influence, lead generation, market, networking, niche, opportune moment, profile, ROI, service businesses, small business, small business marketing, small business owner
Posted in marketing
No Comments »
Thursday, February 5th, 2009
Here are the first two sets of numbers I measure when evaluating the health of business relationships: 1) How much of the current year's business is
repeat business? 2) How much of the current year's business is
referral business? The reason is simple... both of these metrics are good…
Read More
Tags: best customers, brand, clients, excellence, hiring success, ideal customers, impact, influence, metrics, mission, priorities, purpose, referral business, relationships, repeat business, small business, small business leadership, small business marketing, small business owner, values, values inventory
Posted in leadership, marketing
No Comments »
Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
In the spirit of
yesterday's article, I thought I would do a little unscientific test today. So I spoke with three random people (I said it was unscientific), and asked them to identify the attributes of an ideal client. Two listed some basic demographics like the annual revenue of the company, industry sector, number of employees, etc. The other…
Read More
Tags: a gig is a gig, best customers, demographics, employees as marketers, ideal customers, objectives, referral business, referrals, relationships, small business, small business leadership, small business marketing, success, team, transactions, wiifm
Posted in leadership, marketing
No Comments »
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
I'm minding my own business, enjoying a coffee at a local
Barnes and Noble when two thirty-something business guys sit down right behind me. It's cramped, and short of cupping my hands over my ears and singing out loud, it would have been impossible not to hear their conversation from eighteen inches away. Inside of the seven or eight minutes I was there, they managed to slam every…
Read More
Tags: admiration, best customers, conversations, customer engagement, customer service, excellence, ideal customers, interactions, lessons, processes, referral business, referrals, relationships, respect, small business, small business leadership, small business marketing
Posted in getting it right, leadership, marketing
No Comments »
Sunday, January 25th, 2009
Competition that is right out front is pretty easy to identify. These are other service businesses that provide similar solutions to exactly the same challenges that we address with our clients. For better or worse, most businesses have developed tactics as part of their marketing plan to compete with them. Unfortunately, they often fail to redraw the lines...…
Read More
Tags: action, best customers, challenges, commoditization, competition, competitive landscape, competitors, customer, customer needs, customers, de-motivation, doubt, fear, ideal customers, inaction, inefficiencies, issues, joy, low-barrier options, marketers, marketing plan, motivation, pricing, processes, profit, razor-thin margins, relationships, risk-reduced, ROI, scenarios, service businesses, services, small business, small business marketing, small business owner, solutions, staff, tactics, unbelief, uncovery
Posted in marketing
No Comments »
Saturday, January 24th, 2009
If you manufacture computer screens... or coffee cups, step ladders... or any other product from feather dusters to construction equipment... it's pretty easy to figure out where your main competition is coming from. Service businesses, on the other hand, have additional challenges when it comes to marketing. We often find that we must compete with the very people that we want to have as customers... an unlikely occurrence in manufacturing or distribution…
Read More
Tags: benefits, best customers, coaching, competition, competitors, customer, customer needs, delivering content, good enough, ideal customers, ideas, in-house, information, insights, marketers, marketing plan, monday morning, processes, relevance, risk-reduced, routines, service businesses, small business, small business marketing, solutions, status quo, value
Posted in marketing
1 Comment »
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
Okay... as small business owners, leaders, and marketers, we all know that in order to soar we need to create a sound
marketing plan. So let's see... what did we learn in Marketing 101 again? Oh yeah, start with a Business Review... that should be simple enough... Uhh... hmmm... here it is... Business Review: Alright... Corporate philosophy and Business Objectives... no problem…
Read More
Tags: advocates, behavior, best customers, business review, competition, competitive landscape, competitors, core competencies, customer, customers, distribution, economy, goals, leaders, lessons, market trends, marketers, marketing 101, marketing plan, marketing professionals, marketing strategy, micro-goals, objectives, philosophy, plans, pricing, product attributes, relationships, results, sales, sales process, service businesses, small business, small business marketing, small business owner, strategic goals, swot analysis, talent
Posted in marketing
No Comments »
