27. July 2009 by The Original Bulldog - Bob Griffin.

What if you didn’t need to use coupons to get customers?

Coupons are the lazy man’s way of growing a business. New customers are critical to keeping your doors open and I am not saying you don’t need to entice them in.  I am, however, saying that you don’t need to focus on new customers to get new customers.  You just need to change the way you operate. Think about your existing customers and what they mean to growing your base. What if repeat customers did your marketing for you?

Having repeat customers is like being married.  The more often they are around you the less you actually notice them.  You don’t look at them like you do a new customer.  You don’t spend time talking with them to get to know them. You take them for granted.  (Can you tell I have thought A LOT about my marriage and how to be a better husband?) Existing customers expect the same service and you expect that they will always be your loyal customer.  That is the point at which you lose.  Good service and attention is what any business can offer.  But, what if you spent the time to look at them, notice them, talk with them and find out more about them?

If you changed the way you treated existing customers you would fundamentally change the way your marketing worked.  How so???  The power of a customer who is awestruck with exceptional customer service is all the marketing you need to drive more customers in the front doors than any coupon you can create - including a free offer.  Paying attention to customers, remembering the details of, and acting on the information from your customers will create a well worn path to your store. Everyone knows word-of-mouth marketing. Almost no one uses it.

Stop for a second!! Did I say that a free offer is not as powerful as insanely customer -focused service?  Yes, I did say that and I mean it 100%.  There is a value to your service.  By discounting it to nothing, you offer nothing - no expectations, no memory, no impression other than your business is cheap. Giveaways are not a horrible idea, but they aren’t good either. Keep your value and have your employees entice customers to use their senses. If a waiter talks about a new dessert with descriptive words in a slow, intentional way, you will sell more than just giving the dessert away. People want to know they are buying something of value.

Do you still want to use coupons? Yes. There is a segment of your customers who want coupons and they pay attention to coupons. What you need to know is that you can get them to come back without a coupon if you focus on these customers and who they are. Quit trying to get money out of them. They came in to spend money. Spend your time getting them to talk about your business once they leave. If you keep doing this the time between coupon offers will grow and so will your customer counts.

Train your employees to know how to ask questions and listen to the answers and customers will bring customers and that is a great reason to forget the coupon.

Posted in Marketing, Customer Service, Creating the Culture | Print | 1 Comment »

19. July 2009 by The Original Bulldog - Bob Griffin.

I have gone many rounds with franchisees, small business owners, and fellow employees on this one question.  If you think everyone is a potential customer, you may be right.  You also may be wasting time, money, and energy in the pursuit of everyone and get no one.

The funny thing is most people don’t think about who a customer really is and then act on it.

Is a customer someone who thinks about your business when they have a need to fill? No!  Just thinking about your business is nice, but not very profitable. They aren’t anywhere near your business to spend money and you have no way to sell more to someone just thinking about your services (although technology is advancing daily).  This is point where you can get good word-of-mouth advertising - as long as the words they are saying make someone want to visit your business.

Is a customer someone who enters your store?  Nope, sorry. That is still a POTENTIAL customer and can just as easily walk right back out. To that point, are you sure you really know how many people walk in and do not buy anything? You always hope you do, but there can be a number of customers who are ignored, seen but not talked to, or even talked to with the useless phrase, “Can I help you with something?” In any case, this is not a customer.

How about when a customer pays for a product or service? We are getting closer, but this is still not a customer. How can that be? Many people just visit a location to “check it out” and see if the service and the products are good. But, they may be shopping around for a store to buy from and not be a customer yet. Buying from a business once just makes you a spy. They come in, look around, take a mental note of the quality of the operation and then leave. This person can not be considered a customer.

Since the readers of Business Bulldog are above average, I can now confirm what you are already thinking.  A customer is a person who spends money with you repeatedly.  This also implies that you must keep the customer coming back.  I asked a manager recently, “If a celebrity were to walk into your establishment how would you treat him or her?”  The answer was that she would so everything imaginable to make it an amazing experience.  I then asked who a regular customer is and how do you treat him or her?  The reaction I got was decidedly different.  Many people say, “Why spend money on people who are already going to come in?” The answer is clear when you consider that they may not come in if you do not treat them well.  Also, think about the money they spend trying out your competition. 

A customer is only a customer when they come back.  Treat them well, give them reasons to come back, go beyond their expectations, and ask them to come back often. You may only have one chance at a good first impression, but you have many more chances to lose a customer because you have not defined what a customer is.

Posted in Marketing, Customer Service, Creating the Culture, Training, Making Money | Print | 2 Comments »

15. July 2009 by Noel Guilford.

As a business owner have you ever asked yourself any of these questions? How to I get my employees to go above and beyond my expectations? How do I maintain loyalty and develop my employees potential? How do I control job turnover and create longevity among my staff? Well as that business owner I’m willing to wager that you have all of these answers already. Many business owners have seen a business model that they either believe they can duplicate or improve upon, that’s why they believe they are capable of being successful. Take some time and solve these and other issues that you may be facing with this very simple exercise. Approach this with an open mind and be as detailed in your responses and you can.

Step 1: Take a regular 8×11 sheet of paper and turn it length wise. Now draw one vertical line down the middle and another horizontal line through the middle of the paper creating for quadrants. If all else fails just fold the paper to create the quadrants, this will help you as you complete the exercise.

Step 2: Take a moment to reflect on every thing that you enjoyed about your previous employment experiences that pertain to the organization itself. In the top left quadrant write down as many of these things that you can remember. For example, did they offer an excellent training program that allowed you to easily become comfortable performing  a required task or tasks.

Step 3: Now take another moment and in the top right quadrant list all of those thing that made you or others feel disconnected from an organization. How was the overall morale and why, are easy ways to dig deeper into this quadrant.

Step 4: Each of us at some point or another has had a superior that has inspired us to be greater than we are. Those who are lucky have had many of these leaders guiding them through their professional career. In the bottom left quadrant list all of the characteristics of these leaders whom have earned your respect. Yes this quadrant might be a little more difficult that the others, but the next one should go rather smoothly.

Step 5: Lastly, it shouldn’t be very difficult to think of all the characteristic of those leaders whom no one respected and no one followed for whatever reason. List these qualities in the bottom right quadrant to finish your assessment.

Now here comes the hard part. Just rip the paper right down the middle from top to bottom. You should be holding in your right hand the potential reasons for all of the problems that you possess and in your left hand you hold all of the answers.  Take some time to really look at your business with an objective eye and ask if any of the things in you right hand are festering within your own organization and just how soon can you begin to replace them with more of the things in your right. Take the challenge, go for it!

Posted in Creating the Culture, Being the Boss | Print | 1 Comment »