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How To Gain and Retain Customers for Your Online Business
It's the most basic rule of business: you need to sell some to
earn some. Salesmanship therefore, or the art of closing a
sales, is of paramount importance for any business venture.
After all, we can't expect any earnings if we don't make...
How To Realistically Set Your Fees - Part 4
Effect Of Bad Debts
So far, we have covered the major factors involved in setting your fee structure. We have set a realistic number of billable hours, calculated the effect of expenses and taken into account the cost of a benefit package.
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Outsourcing – A Positive Approach For Small Businesses
Outsourcing is the strategic use of outside resources to perform activities traditionally handled by internal staff and resources. Small business owners can outsource non-core functions to specialized and efficient service providers. It is...
Reach Web Site Goals by Understanding the Customer Decision Making Process (Part 1 of 2)
An important question to answer when creating or revising a Web site is "What are the goals of this site?" because the answer will drive your site design and marketing decisions. A good way to choose the correct goals is to think in terms of the...
When Customers Complain
You probably won't have been in business too long before you get
your first complaint. It just can't help but happen: low-end
customers pay nothing and expect the Earth, while high-end ones
pay a lot but expect an inhuman effort in return. You...
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Connecting With Customers
I just got off the phone with a friend of mine. Business is up he said, but he didn't know why. I asked him a few questions, but the more we spoke about it the more concerned I became.
"What do you mean, you don't know why they're buying?"
"We never know why they buy," he told me.
"Never?"
"Nope. They just do."
My friend thinks he knows what is great about his product. They believe they understand it's applications, they just don't understand what drives sales.
And there's something else - it has to do with pricing and profits.
Since they don't really know why customers buy from them, it follows that they don't understand the full value customers get from their products. So they don't know what to charge! They discount to make sales - since they don't fully understand the customer's pain points - and that means - they always leave lots of money on the table.
When times are tough - and many people are feeling squeezed these days - there is tendency to panic. Who wouldn't? The economy, the financial markets, and now - terrorism. I read where a group of psychiatrists saying the country was on the brink of a nervous breakdown!
That's certainly not what I want for my customers! Is that what you want for yours?
I think this question can be a profitable one. What do you want for your customers? I started thinking about this and came up with a few others for you to ask yourself.
Why do you want to serve your customers? What do you love about your particular customers? Are they perfect customers? If not, who would be? Describe them.
Case Studies and the Value Proposition
So I began thinking about my friend's sales problem - which brought me to thinking about a favorite topic of mine - the value proposition. Not in the sense of your USP, but in the sense of - what is the value of your product (or service) to your customer?
In other words, what is your product worth? How much - in money terms - does your customer save or earn when they use whatever it is you sell? Can you quantify
that?
If you can't, well - you need to. It will make it much easier to sell.
But it's too complicated - we can't really say what they get from it.
No wonder you have trouble selling when times get tough. If you knew what it was worth, and it was worth more than you were selling it for, you'd have customers lining up pounding on your door for it.
You have to go out and do case studies. Exactly why did they buy. Exactly what is the application. Exactly how much more did they earn because of it and how did they earn it. Or, exactly how much did they save because of it and how did they save it. Get five or six of those and you'll be able to build a return-on-investment case for any prospect, and damn the economy. Which brings me to one last thing - the holy trinity of repeat sales.
Up-sell, Re-sell and Cross-sell What is your best possible source of revenue right now, bar none?
Your existing customers, right? Of course - they always are. Which means you should have a regular program to stay in contact.
What are you doing about repeat customer sales? When was the last time you contacted each customer, and made them an offer of some kind? What - you're waiting for them to call you?
Conclusion: You've got to contact your customers. Under any pretext, for any reason.
Why?
To solidify and maintain your relationships, and reconfirm why you want to do business with them. To understand your value from their perspective. And lastly, to make sure they are being served properly and to sell them everything they need.
About the Author: Paul Lemberg is the President of Quantum Growth Coaching: More Profits and More Life for Entrepreneurs, Guaranteed. To get your copy of our free report with detailed steps to grow your business at least 40% faster, go to http://www.fastergrowthnow.com
Source: www.isnare.com
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