Growing fast is not nearly as important as growing strong

People always ask me for ideas that can grow their sales fast which is very easy for me. The problem is they get annoyed when I tell them to slow down and build great systems underneath the business before I build or while I build the sales. Here’s the thing everybody doesn’t realize to many sales can kill you your business faster than low sales because if the systems/ methods /structure you have in place can’t handle the growth. It will crush you and your customers will be very upset and probably leave . So I ask my clients “Do you  want to be here in five years or do you just want me to double your sales now?” If you interest in working with me be prepared with an answer I’m going to ask you as well.

the Next big thing in business — Advertising revolution

Marketing and advertising is going thru the biggest changes right now you just don’t see it yet.  Within every failure there is a greater opportunity that rises from the ashes. Right now there many failures that are happening as our world transitions from a physical world into a purely virtual one. we have literally destroyed the value of many of the products that we used to own are now a completely invisible medium. your going from a world where you used to touch and feel things in order to understand their value to a world that is going to completely become dependent on how companies communicate to us why and how things will be valuable. Think about that because it is by far the most mind blowing thing I have  ever written in this blog. You used to judge the value of things by their physical medium and look at this list of the things where  you used to literally “judge a book by its cover” but can’t anymore, CD’s books, newspapers, balancing your checkbook, faxes, hand written letters, waiting AT HOME for a phone call or walking through a shopping mall. Now how are you going to judge the value of things because you are not personally invested? The less involved and invested you are the more dependent you become on the world around you to show you what the value of things are. You want proof –the housing crisis. This is crazy but the whole entire thing was predicated upon changing your belief of what your house was actually worth. Up until that point the value of your home was based on what you could afford with your paycheck but at some point we stopped believing in living in our housing and value of  a lifetime of memories it become a tool of which we could just make incredible money fast. All of the sudden we went around and started looking at looking at how much money we could be making and here is the key we somehow bought into the belief that housing prices were going to continue to accelerate like an Ebay auction. The whole time our income never double but our cost of our houses did and we believed that somehow we were going to be able to afford it. We trusted  what everybody around us was doing and saying we stopped trusting ourselves and what we could afford. So we learned our lesson hopefully but it still brought to the surface a much bigger truth that our lives are going to become more and more or new ways of perceiving value. True value is built on trust and since we learned a huge lesson in who we can’t trust the opportunity  NOW is in learning who we can. The new business model will be based on TRUST since being able to touch is no longer the medium we can judge products on. FOCUS on building TRUST in your communication. Thats why Apple has Microsoft scared. APPLE is based on one thing TRUST of the customer by delivering products that do one thing they ALWAYS work better then you expect.

U R L—-Ubiquity now –Revenue Later–

URL– early internet term had a hidden meaning during the dot com days that I feel is unbelievably relevant with the state of the economy to every small business now.

 

I was on the phone with a client of mine and we we talking about the fact the everybody is in complete budget lockdown right now. No company is will to spend any money they can’t recoup immediately that line –cash is KING is the only truth in business right now. He said I remember this speaker years ago when the internet was first taking hold and it was all about getting people to remember your URL or (website address) and people just beginning to see the possibilities of making money online. He had this great quote that literally became the foundation of the “dotcom” era — URL–Ubiquity now –Revenue Later.

The idea making a business that people not only remember its so strong they can’t forget it if they tried.  

 

As a pure statement it is great but it also allowed bad investments in that era cause nobody knew what the financial payback of what that ubiquity was worth caused alot of turmoil. However on the flip side you could  never forget the pets.com puppet that now staring in in car insurance commericals–now that ubiquity. Great companies use downturns to exploit mindshare and marketshare of their customers. It was the companies that didn’t go broke and those that  came in right afterwards that reap the greatest benefits of that ubiquity.

 

Now to the present day when the nobody is going to be making money now is a great time to build the uniqueness of your business so that when consumer confidence does come back you’ll be the first business of your kind to make money ask yourself “what do I really want this business to be remembered for ?” Use the bad economy to build brand share, customer service excellence, going above and beyond for the customer BEFORE they have to ask you too, or heck ask your customer what times works best for them to shop be there, or personally deliver the product when they would never expect you to. Build the Ubiquity is easy now because everybody is so focused on their fears that when you go above and beyond for them you are literally saying “I still have a lot of faith in you right now” EVERYBODY needs to hear that right now. When you say it with your deeds customers Hear you big time!

Five Guys Burgers — How to Absolutely ensure Customer Happiness

 In yet another great and revolutionary statement “5 Guys Burgers” does it again!!!!   This is the sign in the famous eatery.YOU DESERVE TO BE 100% SATISFIED– If not please inform the manager who will make things right.  I love that last part “WHO WILL MAKE THINGS RIGHT” there is no doubt to what their intent is when it comes to your satisfaction. All small business should adopt this very strong stand when it comes to the customers experience while they are guests in your establishment.

How many customers have you lost in the last year?

This is a question that focuses one the harder facts in business but shouldn’t be avoided out of fear. Actually this tough question has the enormous potential of really growing your business once again. It stems from that quote” you don’t know what you got till its gone”. You need to find out what your attrition rate is.If you are adding new customers to your business but not looking at the ones you are losing and more importantly the reasons why they are leaving then its like catching fish in a boat that has a leak in it (it does you no good cause you will still drown.)

The first part of this inventory is looking at how big that leak is and then determining what it will take to fix it. Find out what percentage of customers are leaving is crucial to putting programs in place to find out what you are doing wrong in their eyes so you can make your business stronger. There are only a few reasons why they left and often times the fix is so simple it will amaze you. #1 reason they don’t feel they have a need for your product or service anymore. In this case all you need to do is follow up with them and show them they are still important to you and how they can still use you business to their advantage in their life. It’s strange how the only thing that businesses FAIL to do is follow up with existing customers to find out what is it going to take for them to purchase another product or a second time . All you need to do is create an AUTOMATIC process for you business to do this. If you write to me at tom4change@gmail.com I can show you exactly how to do this to get the best return of customers possible. 

How much is it REALLY Worth? A guide for SERVICES pricing PART 1

I have many clients that all the time undercut their value to give customers great pricing. Unfortunately it completely BACKFIRES on them and here is why. The job you do is directly tied to your price. Customer can’t see a service so they HAVE NOTHING to compare it against except itself. What I mean is this — if a customer has had the same service done in the past then they will judge your price and quality against that. However that being said if they have never needed a service like you offer in the past (and the majority of the time they haven’t) them they have nothing to compare it to. They can’t SEE the product before you complete the work they can only see the problem or challenge that they need to be solved. So they are really trying to your compare price against the RESULTS that you will produce for them.  The old FEAR about “you get what you pay for” is definitely true in the service sector your clients are scared that you are not going to be able to solve their problem to their satisfaction AND they will have to pay for your services. 

So when you undercut your price it direct correlates in their mind to the quality and your ability to deliver. Customers do not shop around for services the way they do for products because they do not understand what it will take to resolve their challenge (that’s why they are calling you). So NEVER EVER say to the customer you are the cheapest . What you perceive as helping them out actually does the opposite it provokes fear. This is why you may find customers don’t end up choosing you. So what do you do?

First of all spend more time with your customers understanding how much solving this problem is worth(more on this in future parts). Show them how you can solve their problem a little better then they expect(fear reducer). Guarantee your RESULTS (not enough service people do) it builds serious confidence in your potential customers in your ability because you are TAKING the risk(fear) away from them. Then OVER DELIVER and ask for referrals when they feel that you have.

 

Why Steve Jobs and Apple’s success has NOTHING to do with the Ipod,Iphone,Imac or any Iproduct they make

Yep you heard me right. The reason why they are growing so fast has (almost)nothing to do with products they make. Tom Titlow  you have officially fallen off your rocker I can hear you now– no I haven’t just hear me out. What I am about say will blow your mind then make so much sense.  Then you can use it to grow your business with same exponential power that Mr. Jobs has used to grow Apple from pretty much broke to $165 Billion dollar company in less then 10 years. He used and continue to use a very few extremely simple rule to grow his company which EVERY business owner should be LIVING everyday they open their doors and yet they DON’T. Hopefully this post will show you why right now is the time for change. But first things first … the Apple products.

Do you realize how many amazing products are created every year that would have a greater impact on your life than your iphone or ipod and yet you never see them?  Hundreds if not thousands. 

So why don’t you find out about them somebody along the way lost the TRUE BENEFITING VALUE or the idea. They started believing in the product and lost sight of the abilities of the idea they had at its birth.

For example the idea of the cellphone was to be able to get in contact with people you wanted to WHERE you wanted and when you wanted. So to define this– it made human communication monumentally easier than it was when you had to use a landline phone. Then over the next 20+ years they added features to that device that made it much more than a phone (speakers, colors , internet, camera.. there are thousands of new features) these manufaturers[yes thats right becausue they just added fat to the idea if the phone--no true value to the original concept]. All the while because they where giving you all this stuff they made it HARDER to use so you were less likely to go to a competitor when a new feature arrived. They put so much on this thing you stopped using it for the original idea –Easier Communication. Finally somebody got frustrated enough to do something about it and he asked one question that NOBODY had bothered to in twenty years. How can I make this device Simple, easy to use and  give people back the ability to communicate with each other? Really dumb question but has caused epic shifts in a several industries. The key to what Steve Jobs does is this he look at things at the purest level of human interaction and has pretty much one goal how can we make this as simple yet universal as possible. Just goes to show you that the greatest ideas are usually those that rely on simple, profound truths that we all experience as human beings.  

OHH just wait for the SDK then your WHOLE idea of what a computer is will change too!!!

NEXT UP the IPOD- Getting music OUT of the Physical world–Finally  

5 steps to the BEST customer service EVER!!!

Do these SIMPLE things and customers will rave about your business to their friends.1. DON’T make them wait AT ALL — people that already own your product take precedence over everything because they have the most to gain from your expertise in solving their problem and you have the most to lose if they aren’t happy(that sale, customer and risk anybody they talk to about it). When you are agitated already WAITING just makes it worse.2. Understand how they are feeling because of this complaint. Identify then empathize with how they are feeling now. NEVER EVER act , say or think that it is their fault(unless you really want to lose a customer without any chance EVER of getting them back and a badly bruised reputation too). Remember the more they feel YOU APPRECIATE what they are going through the more willing they will be toward letting you solve their problem3. Your goal is to build the trust that has been destroy as quickly and STRONGLY as possible. You want them to feel GLAD for having this complaint because it make them a better more informed customer of yours. You want the customer to see you as a friend that is trying to help you instead of connected to the product they are having an issue with. Here’s a simple way to build trust — be humble enough to take the blame (whether your wrong or not) while giving the customer all the credit for all the right decisions. People trust those who allow themselves to be willing to take on fault and don’t to those who always act like it’s never their fault but yours. The next part is your can never genuinely build peoples worth in themselves without them inherently trusting you. In both cases your putting the customers first and yourself second which is rule#1 for earning trust in any area of business.4.Separate out their emotions and the actual challenge that you are both facing. Should be mostly done if you did the last two steps correctly. Ask them specifically what the problem is. Ask if its okay if so your both clear if you can repeat your understanding of it back to them. It’s unbelievable how many complaints remain unresolved just because of mis-communication. Remember if the customer feels like you don’t understand they can’t and won’t let you resolve their issue(s). 5. Solve the problem to the customers expectation not yours. Give them something above and beyond they don’t expect for their inconvenience. Call them to make sure that they have made the right decision. A week afterwards send them a gift certificate or exclusive coupon for them to use the next time they make a purchase. The most important thing is to give them a great reason for them to comeback into your store so that they can remember again why it is that they love doing business with you. If you have the ability to go out of your way to make them feel special when they make that next trip in.  

Promotional Tip#1 — How use your top seller to get a new product the attention it DESERVES

I just was trying to help a small business owner market a brand new product so people would try it. Now this a product that once they try it once they can decide from there but we thought they would like it. So what I suggested was simple– launch the new product but to take away some of the risk tell the customer that you’ll discount the top seller if they try it. I am going to add here that over 50% of all the customers purchased the top product so the people would be purchasing the top product regardless. This way if they were willing to try something new they could have it at a lower price.

In this case it worked with great success because once people tried the new product they loved it almost as much as the old one. The idea was to generate interest to see if the customer would like it as much as we thought they would or not. The key here is that we were able to speed up the feedback by discounting the favorite product. Now they have two top sellers that don’t compete with each other directly but actually complement each other so now customers come in an ask for BOTH products.

It’s like getting 2 sales for the price of 1.

Giving meaningful gifts to your employees to show your appreciation of their hard work

I’m sure that you would agree the the two most important things in your business are your employees and customers. You know the great ones are rare and hard to find and only after you lost one do you see the impact they created to overall well being of your company. So finding ways to show them how much you value what they contribute to your success as a small business owner is of extremely high importance. If your one of my regular readers you probably have read my other post on customer value so here is the other part of the equation. If you haven’t read my primer on understanding my view points it is here.

I wanted to save this post because this is the time of year most SBO’s are looking for gift giving ideas for the most important people in their business or professional life. Finding unique and powerful way to show employee how much you value them can truly create less employee turnover and a more positive work environment than you may realize until it happens. This is truly something that giving once in the right ways can last you for the rest of the year … and next year. The power to make a difference in someones life with just a small but well thought out token is something that may last for their lifetime you never know. However it has to be WELL THOUGHT OUT _-not expensive to gain full effect. Most employers give bonuses and I say when they see the benefit to this way they wouldn’t never give a bonus again as a way to show employees you care. Why? it’s only money and it will be forgotten about two minutes after its spent so shelf life is a week max. I show you reasons/thoughts, others examples and a simple way to create your own way of starting to give thought–fully. Don’t get me wrong employees should definitely get bonuses but not a way to say thank you but rather as pay for the work they accomplished. The two should NEVER be confused with each other.

So getting back to the gifts– the personal the better shows how much you are really paying attention to them. Try your best to give memories not things. What I mean by that is anybody can get you something off a list so your goal is to be powerful and unique. You want the memory of the experience to last for the next 180 days at least. However if you do have to pick a present get them something that nobody else would think to get them. For example you notice that once every two weeks your co worker goes to the same place for lunch because they like it get them a gift certificate for two lunches at least. You save them money and they be thinking while eating those lunches.

Now for the great gifts the memories. Find favorite activities of hobbies that your employees have. Or sometimes if you find other things they are passionate about. Then give them the experience as a gift. So let me give you an example –I found out that one of my employees favorite baseball player was Tony Gwynn how ironic the same as mine. So I found out when the Padres where in Philadelphia playing the Phillies then I got us field seats. Now for the great part the surprise. When I scheduled I overstaffed he thought it was because of a big shipment coming in. When he showed up I handed him a Padres cap and said lets go needless to say he was blown away. One afternoon that YEARS later we still reminisce about.

Now he was a good employee before but afterwards if their was anything I needed he volunteered –I didn’t even have to ask. I can honestly tell you that $100 gift made and saved me a couple thousand. Now that’s not what I had in mind but after it happened I realize the magnitude of my gratitude combined with my thoughtful gift giving. When ever I do it the benefits FAR outweigh the cost. Whenever I need something my employees want to help me out because they know how much I care, how much of an impact they have and that I’m willing to sacrifice to show them that.

So the lesson is this give with your values and heart instead of just with your money and your company will grow in ways you can never imagine.

AS always if you need any ideas for your employees PLEASE email me — Tom Titlow Jr @ Tom4change@gmail.com

Do this one thing and your customers will become “Raving Fans”

Take personal responsibility for giving your customers the best experience possible.  Simple sounding but hard to transfer to Real Life you say? Yes and no. Yes because it will have you make fundamental changes in every aspect of your business to get started. No because once you go from ‘delivering customer service to creating an positive experience for your customer no matter what the circumstances are the mindset the work takes care of itself. Most people don’t stop and notice that changing your perspective about any aspect of your life is completely free and all you have to do decide to. Just remember this –there is nothing a customer appreciates more than somebody that understands THEM and seeing the world from their perspective. People love to talk about experience that they were expecting a negative and you create something positive for them where there wasn’t something previously. So step out and take RESPONSIBILITY for them and then watch all you gain from it.

Why you need to look at Apple retail stores if you want to run a great(and hugely profitable)business

Here are a list of just some things that you need to incorporate into your business Right NOW. I have picked them all up from Steve Jobs design of Apple retail business but they run a better business then anybody on the planet and it’s not because they make great products(wait that’s another post). Instead they understand what all customers want more than anything. An experience that literally transcends any other business (or human) interaction you have had before. Just look at this ever growing list of things they have given society.

1. The close when the last customer(s) leave not when a clock tells them to<shows customers they are #1>

2. The don’t sell they educate <people are mature enough to know when they are ready to buy>

3. They have instore classes all the time <even though you own their product that are not satisfied until you are in using it>

4. The use the clearest and lightest colors in their store <to make it some place you want to come in for the atmosphere and show you they HAVE nothing to hide>

5. You can stay as long or as little as you want with or without an employees help<please make yourself at home and I’m ONLY here if YOU would like me to be–to make your visit more ENJOYABLE >

6. All employees are armed(literally) with a credit card device that is ready where ever you are WITHOUT HAVING TO STAND IN ANY LINE(that’s a 1st–no waiting in line imagine that one)

7. They make ALL APPLE Store grand openings the EXPERIENCE of a life time. <Just like Disney World once in your life you have to attend an Apple store grand opening —you WILL feel the same emotion that YOU are KING>

8. If you Ipod breaks under warranty they replace it <they Don’t make you suffer because their product is defective or breaks–others try and find a way to put the blame on your actions and not honor the warranty–They feel it’s more important doing whatever it takes to keep the customer happy>

9. All employees are HAPPY to be there <makes the fact that you might need help less threatening because they WANT to give you anything you desire, instead of making you feel that they are only there because it’s their job requirement(ahem WALMART excuse me).

I’ll continue this list as I think of more great ideas

How can you make your customers lives easier this time of year?

we all how extremely stressful this time of year can be. However for small business owners it can create several opportunities that the benefits of can last the whole next year though. People remember the intangible things you did to create VALUE in their lives. what did you do out of the ordinary for them? What did you give they they couldn’t find anywhere else?( ex muscle relaxation through having a massage therapist on site as a free service on busy days, holding your customers gifts until they find a way to hide them or having a gift wrapping party –you supply the wrapping paper free of charge they get to wrap their presents in a fun environment where they are away from home and getting to network with other customers) I have tons of other ideas for you just email me. The overall idea is this–

In what completely UNIQUE ways can I make my customers lives more fun, less stressful and /or more productive during the holiday season?

How am I making my customer lives better?

Something that everybody related to your business should be asking themselves everyday. Great answers to this question build solid strong businesses regardless of everything else because your intention is a perfect one. If you don’t know the answer then you better start thinking about it cause sooner or later your going to have a identity crisis with your business that you built from scratch. I’ll explain it if you want me to just ask.

3.75 keys to eliminating sales objections

One of the toughest parts in business is overcoming objections that your potential customer has about your products, people or your company.  So here are three general key I use without fail to save the customer.

1.Build confidence in the customer objections.Just remember that all an objection is them trying to find a reason NOT to buy. THEY WANT to buy if they didn’t they just walk away without saying anything. Most salespeople think the customer is saying no where they are trying to say yes they just need more information to back up their willingness to do so. I love objections because the customer is trying to buy what I have. It’s my job to make it as easy as possible to do so. So I always tell them I welcome objections and then when they occur I always start with ” I’m glad you brought that up” or “Many of my customers feel the same way you do….” I want them to feel good and confident for bringing up these points. Most people are scared at this time because they want to buy but they don’t want to here they aren’t able to.

2.Face the challenge head on. Customer are trying to see if you really stand behind the product because if you do then they can. ALWAYS be honest!!! If your not the customer will see it no matter how good you think you are. Make sure that if you put the objection do for now you get the customer to agree to it. Say something like ” That’s an good point you have brought up and I will get to it in minute okay?” Then make sure you do.

3.If your are ever unsure to the answer to an objection say this” That is an excellent point that I hadn’t considered,I don’t know the answer but I will find it out for you.” Then find out.

0.75 — Never make something seem less than ( ex a competitor) in order to make your product look stronger. It make your look weak and pushes their decision more toward them. They see it as you think they are better that’s why you have to knock them down you can’t compete on a level playing field.