Keep Going When Business is Tough

Businesses experience seasonal challenges. Some industries like retail and shipping follow annual cycles each year. Others experience seasonal cycles that may last years. Even economies experience seasonal cycles ranging from boom to bust. We currently suffer from a major recession. Yet, even recessions follow 7 year cycles. Though the last few recessions come quicker and go deeper, this is a big one.

In addition to seasonal cycles and economies, individual businesses also experience down times. You may anticipate certain downturns depending on the age of the business.

• Startup: It takes time for a business to start generating revenue. Then, the owner needs to plow the revenues back into the business. The startup phase can generate feelings of rejection and despair. It takes time to get the first purchase. It takes even more time to build a strong, sustainable clientele. The continued lack of income breeds uncertainty in the business owner. Their dreams of throngs of clients begging to buy the product or service fade. Absence of sales tempts the owner to close the business. Some businesses should close. Others deserve to succeed.
• Expansion: Periods of growth and expansion also decrease the revenues that go to profit. You have to invest revenues into new facilities, staff, and equipment. Expansion also entails risk. Risk increases feelings of anxiety. Paradoxically, many business owners worry the most about their business during times of expansion.
• Decline: All products, services, and businesses experience periods of growth, sustainability, and decline. Decline results from expired patents, copies or improvement by competitors , market saturation, or loss of interest. The term “new and improved”  represents business owners trying to delay decline. During a business decline business owners may lose confidence. Once again, the temptation to close the doors looms. The decline phase of a business provide opportunities to reassess, explore new options, rejuvenate the brand, or close the business.

Discerning whether to close a business or try to resuscitate it requires objective assessment. Too many business owners blindly make changes without a plan or analysis. If your analysis indicates a change is needed, then make it. If nobody wants your product, either fix it or quit. If your marketing plan contains flaws improve it. If, however, no matter what you do you will not make money. Give up. Do not continue drilling a dry well.

You should not change a strong product, operations, or marketing plan unless you find a flaw in it. Good plans for good products will generate success in time. Reevaluate your plan. Test your product. Refine what you need to. Stick with your business when times get tough.

Modify or Enhance Your Product

The end of one year and the beginning of another provide an excellent opportunity to reevaluate your product or service. People expect change during these seasons. You also have a brief time to contemplate and ponder possible enhancements.

I am not suggesting that you implement all the changes at once. You may begin the process now and complete it later in the year.

Research What Changes You Want to Make

You want to ensure the changes you make will enhance the desirability of your product or service. You want people to buy it. The following actions can help you make the best decisions possible.

• Take time to think through what you want to do
• Make a list of enhancements as ideas come to you (I hope you started the list earlier)
• Research on the Internet, especially in users groups or client comments, for ideas
• Contact your best clients and ask them what changes they suggest for you to make
• Review your competitor’s product or service to see what changes they are making

You may also want to introduce a new product or service In addition to enhancing your current product or service. You can use the same steps that you used to consider changes to introduce new products.

You may need to create a prototype of the product you want to change or introduce. Consider where you want to manufacture or outsource the production. Work with local, state, or national economic development organizations to find production and fulfillment organizations.

Modify Your Marketing Plan to Account for Changes

Once you determine the changes or enhancements you will make, you modify your marketing plan. I suggest that you use the structure of the 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing to guide your marketing enhancements:

1. Conduct the market research on the product (which we already discussed above)
2. Determine the right message for your new or improved product or service
3. Develop a new strategy or incorporate the product into your existing strategy
4. Design new-product or product-enhancement campaigns to introduce your changes
5. Identify both the methods and vehicles you will use to implement the campaigns
6. Create new sales systems if you have to, but incorporate existing ones if possible
7. Capture appropriate client information and survey them for satisfactions & suggestions

The end of the year and the beginning of the next provides excellent opportunities to review, enhance, and introduce new products or services. Make sure you take the time to research the enhancements, verify that your clients will appreciate them, and modify your marketing plan to include them. Remember, you don’t do this all at once, but begin now for the end of next year.

Last Week for Year-End Checklists

I know that I’ve encouraged you in previous posts to take care of your business now to prepare it for a more prosperous 2012.

Let me take this last opportunity to remind you:

• Take care of your clients so they can prepare their businesses for next year
• Send a year-end remembrance to your best clients and an email to the others
• Meet with your tax accountant and review what you can do now
• Meet with your financial planner to review what you can pay down on investments to help with next year
• Pay all outstanding invoices to reduce your tax burden next year
• Ensure that your books are completely up-to-date and in QuickBooks
• Defer income until next year appropriately. Consult your tax expert
• Make business related purchases that will position you well for next year
• Write off obsolete inventory by giving it away or scrapping it. Track the disposal
• Update your business plan, including product enhancement and marketing campaigns
• Update your promotional materials, marketing vehicles, and sales systems
• Update or start a blog to enhance your position in the market and your expertise
• Calendar personal, family, and business activities, meetings, and activities for 2012
• Create a list of new clients or others you would like to add to your business
• Reduce or eliminate the clutter in your office, production and other facilities
• Create a mastermind group, marketing team, business coach, and other supporters

This list may seem intimidating for you during the last six days of the year. That’s why I discussed it earlier in the month.

Choose the things you can do and do those. Good luck.

Merry Christmas & On Earth Peace

For unto us a child is born,

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

He was wounded for our transgression

“He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before here shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:5-9)

“And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here

“But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2: 18)

 

For He is risen, as he said.

I thank God for the gift of His only begotten Son. I rejoice in His birth in Bethlehem.

I praise Him for his grace that saves and redeems me. I know that He lives and sits on the right hand of His Father. I pray that His peace may be upon you this season and all time.

Merry Christmas

On Earth Peace, Goodwill to all

Take Care of Your Employees

During this season people share gifts with one another. We already discussed the benefits of business owners sharing something with their clients. The good feelings engendered by a thoughtful remembrance translates into good word-of-mouth and possible sales. However, that should not be our purpose. It should always remain a side benefit.

We share gifts, thoughts, and connections to express our appreciation and caring for our fellow being. The holiday season highlights peace and good will. Sincere expressions of gratitude kindle similar feelings in others. They in turn, share better feelings with others. We could change the feelings of the community with sufficient sharing of good for others.

Sincere and Perfunctory Expressions Of Appreciation

The same applies to our employees. We should express appreciation for their work on our behalf. While it is true that we compensate them for the work they do, additional expressions of gratitude and concern enhance the warm feelings we want among out staff.

Let me share two examples:

1. One of my daughters works for a pediatric clinic. She had surgery in October. Her office arranged for me to text one of them how the surgery went. That person notified the entire office. Flowers appeared at the hospital from the staff. Two of her co-workers visited her at home during her recovery. The company provided a small potluck Christmas part party for the staff. At the party, management expressed appreciation for all the work the team did. They recognized the sacrifice the staff made to take care of the clients. They gave a small gift to each worker. Their expressions lifted the whole staff. Morale increased. Good feelings prevail, even when some of the staff will have to work through the holidays. They asked who would be willing to keep the doors open. The spirit of volunteerism increased because of the sincere expressions of appreciation.
2. Another daughter works for a school district. Management called all of them into a meeting—not a party—the last day of school this year. They did not express any recognition for the work done by these teachers. They did not acknowledge the sacrifice the teachers make. No sincere efforts were made to bring seasonal cheer to the teachers. Instead, they were informed that they would be working on January 2nd, the national holiday for new year’s eve. They were told that they would not be paid the time and a half normally given for working a holiday. They were told that absences on that day would be strictly reviewed. Then, without a word of appreciation they distributed the teacher’s Christmas bonus—a $1.00 roll of holiday wrapping paper.

Can you guess which of my daughters felt better about her employers. Interestingly, the cost of the gift was not the issue. Both gifts were very inexpensive. The difference came from the expressions, sincere expressions, of gratitude and respect. The gratitude led to staff voluntarily working on holidays.

In the other situation the demands to work on holidays with explicit denial of overtime engendered resentment. The lack of appreciation and gratitude enhanced the feelings. In addition, the lack of sincerity caused the $1.00 gift to feel like slap in the face. The negativity would not have happened with a few sincere expressions of gratitude.

So, this season take care of your employees. Try to be more like “old Fezziwig” rather than Ebenezer Scrooge. You do not need to spend a lot of money. You do need to sincerely thank them for what they do. A small potluck party wouldn’t hurt.

I would like to share a Merry Christmas message to all of you this Saturday

Reserve Time for You & Your Family

I had a great mentor named Keo Chai. He passed on too soon and left a void when he did. I think of him every year at this time because of some great advice he gave me when I was younger.

Keo served as president of a community program I joined. I had just been made president of the local chapter in the district he governed. He knew the time constraints the assignment entailed because he had also served in the same position.

Many Demands for Time and Attention

He correctly warned me that the assignment would take a lot of time. He also cautioned that people in the organization would assume that I served exclusively at their beck and call. Many of them would call for appointments or meetings at their convenience. Most would expect me to drop everything I had planned to cater to their demands. What he told me then, applies to most small- or home-based business owners today.

Then, he gave me the great advice: at the beginning of the year, and at the beginning of each month, schedule personal time in your calendar. In addition, he counseled, schedule time for your family. Set apart time for your children’s recitals, sports, and school activities. Schedule time to court your wife and for family activities. Put that time into your calendar first. (Remember Stephen Covey’s video from last week on First Things First)

“I’m sorry I already have an appointment at that time.”

Now came the genius of the advice. “When anyone asks to meet during the time you already reserved, just say ‘I am sorry. I already have an appointment at that time.” You don’t need to tell them what the appointment is, or who it is with. Just tell them that you cannot meet at that time. He also reminded me that I would not cancel an appointment with someone else just because another person asked. So, why should I cancel an appointment with my family just because someone else asked.

I followed that advice during my tenure in the leadership of that local chapter. I continued to apply it throughout my career. I shared it with every person I mentored since Keo shared it with me. Now, I share it with you as business owners. Too many business owners find their dedication to their business costs them their family. Long hours, skimping to make ends meet, and giving attention to everyone except loved ones; damage relationships at home.

Follow good advice given to me decades ago—take time this week to reserve time for you and your family for all of 2012.

Make sure to read the blog on Thursday when I share another idea to improve your business

You Are Not Alone if You Get Involved

Many small- and home-based business owners work alone. They do not have employees. Perhaps they out source all their labor to offshore production facilities or call centers. They usually work out of their homes, a small storefront, or shared office suites. Most business owners interact with clients face-to-face, but many do not. As a result, a large number of business owners experience feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Business owners working alone lack the camaraderie they experienced working in large companies. They lose the sense of accountability to someone else. They miss the banter and small-talk with other workers. They must stimulate creativity and ingenuity on their own without stimulus from co-workers or project teams. They must draw motivation and discipline from within themselves every hour, every day.

Over time, they wind down and may lose their way. I offer a few simple methods for avoiding this mind-numbing isolation:

1. Join a professional or business association related to your work—and participate in their activities. Most communities maintain a Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, or other service organization. Thousands of associations exist to allow manufacturers, CPAs, retailers, home builders, and even clowns to mingle and share ideas. You can find them by searching for a word that describes your work and the word association or using the Encyclopedia of Associations. You need to attend at least 2 activities a month to feel connected.
2. Form a mastermind group with 3-4 other business owners or friends. Mastermind group consist of 4-5 people who want to move forward and improve their lives or careers. They meet at least once a month for 60-90 minutes. Mastermind groups energize participants to greater success. Groups create synergistic ideas that lift each member. The agenda is simple. Each person in the group
1. Shares what they goal they are working on
2. Lists what they did in the last month to achieve that goal and the results of their efforts
3. Outlines what they plan to do in the next month to achieve the goal
4. Asks the group to brainstorm possible solutions to barriers or challenges
3. Eat lunch with others at least twice a month. Bryan Walden Pope spawned an idea called The Abundance Group (TAG). People register on the web site. They invite one of the other members to a lunch or breakfast. Each of the two bring 2-3 other people to the event. Attendees may not solicit business from the others. The purpose remains connecting with interesting people and learning about them. Sharing ideas and opinions. You may also want to read the book  Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi.
4. Maintain a top 25 list. I learned this technique from Mark LeBlanc the author of Growing Your Business. Review your address book and identify the 25 most important people for you to contact. Add reminders to your calendar to contact each of the 25 at least once a month. You many connect in-person, by phone, email, sending them a gift, sharing an article or good book. But connect with them each month.

You may use any of these methods—or hundreds of others—to connect with people in a non-stressful invigorating way. Connecting with others reduces isolation and loneliness. It stimulates your intellect and social skills. It improves your business. So, as the year ends build a system into your life to connect with others. I know, from personal experience, it really helps.

Avoid Getting Sidetracked

Business owners must maintain multiple priorities. The smaller the business the more fractured the business owner’s attention may become. Trying to balance accounting, marketing, operations, production, management, and supervision demands constant effort. Frequently, business owners lose sight of their priorities. “Putting out fires” distract them from what they wanted to do.

Stephen Covey gave sound advice with his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I suggest you study it again and recommit to make his habits yours. Two of his seven habits help you avoid getting sidetracked.

1. Begin with the end in mind
2. Put first things first

Beginning with the end in mind means that you know before you begin what you want to accomplish. Our last three posts outlined how to establish the end you wish to accomplish:

• Evaluating progress at the end of the year
• Setting goals for the next year
• Creating a plan to achieve those goals

Putting first things first requires great discipline. Covey presents the graphic that illustrates this post. You place each of your tasks, responsibilities, and duties in the appropriate sector. As challenges arise you assign them to the appropriate sector. You try to reduce the number that reside in sector 1 through effective planning.

You focus on the tasks in the 2nd sector. Dealing with important things before they become urgent allows for the best growth. Delegating those activities in the 3rd sector and ignoring those in the 4th sector assigns your personal efforts to the most important activities that will grow your business.

I recommend you set apart time in your monthly, weekly, and daily calendar to work on the activities assigned to sector 2. Dedicating 1-2 hours a day or week will accelerate your progress. Secure both the time and a place that will reduce interruptions and distractions. I go to a college campus, library, or other tranquil place to work on the most important items.

Roger and Rebecca Merrill, under Dr. Covey’s oversight, expanded on the original presentation of the 3rd habit with their book First Things First. I recommend the book to you. I also found Dr. Covey’s video about adding rocks to your jar on YouTube. I hope you enjoy it. I found it still illustrates this vital habit with humor and visual flair. Watch the video clip and then ask yourself:

1. Do I find myself trying to pound my big rocks into a calendar full of small pebbles?
2. Do I push the unimportant activities around thinking that I can create more time?
3. Do I let all the unimportant things fill my calendar before I act on the important ones?
4. What do I need to do to change my paradigm to see a different way to act?

On Saturday we will explore how a mastermind team can accelerate your business growth

Year-End Updates to Business Plans

This continues our series on actions you can take at years end to grow your business next year

Hopefully you have started cleaning up and protecting any tax, legal, and other loose ends before December 31. In addition, you may have implemented your plan to remember and strengthen client relationships. Once you set your goals for next year, you need to update your business plan to achieve the goals you set. I want to help you identify the sections of your plant that need updating.

To achieve the goals you set for next year will require both a plan and action. In a previous post we evaluated the benefits of following your business plan rather than preparing the plan for others. I urged you to ensure that your business plan changes and evolves as your business grows.

Update Sections of Your Business Plan

Year-end provides a perfect opportunity for major updates to your business plan. The changes should lead to achieving the goals you set. You will need to update the following sections of your business plan If you set the goals we discussed last Saturday. You will:

1. Include  new products or services in the summary and operations plan
2. Add any new competitors or changes they made to the market analysis section
3. Refine the human resource portion to accommodate labor transformation
4. Alter the operation plan to include changes to operation flow & production efficiencies
5. Adjust costs, discounts, prices, or vendors in the purchasing section of the financial plan
6. Incorporate market research findings into all appropriate sections of the business plan
7. Add or modify campaigns in the campaigns pillar of the marketing plan
8. Change monthly, quarterly, & yearly forecasts in the sales section of the marketing plan
9. Adapt the pricing section with all of it’s overhead and cost accounting to reflect change
10. Redo the finance sections to reflect new funding and accounting practices

I remind you that these may not represent all the sections of your business plan that will require alteration. I will also remind you that the more you use your plan, the better you will recognize the sections requiring edits based on your year-end goals.

Outline Specific and Clear Action You Will Take

Your changes to the business plan should outline specific actions and tasks that you will either modify or begin performing. You will enhance your success if you include deadlines or milestones in your action plan. Transfer your action steps to your calendar system and incorporate it into your time management system.

We will explore some simple steps of time management in Thursday’s post. Join us!!

Set Goals for Next Year’s Growth

This concludes our 3-part series on year-end activities to improve next year’s business

The end of the year provides you an opportunity to position your business for growth for the next year. We already discussed what you can do financially to prepare your business for the coming year. We also reviewed actions that show appreciation to your clients. Finally, you set business goals and establish an action plan to enhance your business for the next year.

Set Goals for What You Want to Accomplish

Businesses set multiple goals. You set specific goals for each aspect of the business:

• Increase profits your business will generate next year with quarterly milestones
• Lift revenues based on specific number of sales with quarterly/monthly forecasts
• Improve production for number of units manufactured or services rendered
• Reduce costs and overhead through bulk buying, discounts & finding new vendors
• Introduce new products or product enhancements to increase client satisfaction
• Expand a market niche or open a new market niche based on market research
• Increase traffic to your store, web site, or phone bank
• Shorten time needed to process accounts payables & receivables

These represent  merely a sample of the goals you may set for your business.

Create a Business Dashboard with Benchmarks

In addition to setting goals, you may wish to establish a dashboard for your business. Just as the dashboard of a car allows you to monitor the vehicle’s speed, oil, battery, and temperature. Business dashboards allow you to quickly see the vital statistics for your business. Each business monitors different elements. For example, restaurants monitor how frequently they turnover clients per table per day. Clothing stores monitor the number of times a rack of clothes turns over.

Businesses also use a system called benchmarking. Benchmarks establish the base standard for industries. Benchmarks may include table turns for restaurants, clothing turns, times for auto repairs, and more. Benchmarks allow you to compare your production to the norm in your industry. They also provide the standard you work to improve.

Set SMART Goals

The word SMART in SMART Goals is an acronym for

• Specific: Your goal is so clear, specific, and detailed anyone can understand it
• Measurable: You can measure when you achieve the goal, usually with a number
• Achievable:  You can realistically enjoy success because you can achieve the goal
• Relevant: Achieving the goal leads to the purpose & direction of your business
• Timely: You set a deadline—with milestones—for when you will achieve the goal

You may want to consult KPI Dashboard for additional ideas on goals, dashboards, and benchmarks. Your local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) can advise you about your dashboard and benchmarks if needed.

Join me Tuesday to continue the series on year-end activities by updating your business plan

Year End Client Retention Activities

This continues our 3-part series on year-end activities that improve next year’s business

Retaining clients costs less than acquiring new ones. This post assumes you already possess clients to retain. You will have more clients the longer your business operates if you retain them properly. You should take advantage of the generous season to sincerely reach out to your clients. Remembering clients in December can enhance repeat business during the next year. However, your efforts must be sincere, rather than calculated for more business.

Purposes and Practices of Client Retention

We discussed several steps to client retention in Bryan Pope’s The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. Some of these activities lend themselves to year-end efforts. This post builds on the concepts share in those posts.

Building the personal relationship with the client so they continue to do business with you remains the secondary purpose of client retention. Building the personal relationship so that you may learn more about the person, so that you may serve them more effectively and efficiently remains the prime purpose.

You must capture information about your clients and put it in a useful data system. The right information enhances your connection with the client. For example, knowing that someone prefers reading historical biographies, See’s chocolate, or dinning out allows you to give them a more personal remembrance.

The end of the year provides an opportunity to reevaluate your client retention methods. You may

• Examine the effectiveness of your client management system. Perhaps you should modify or upgrade your system
• Analyze the fields of information you gather about clients to verify you gather the right information.
• Review the information you have gathered to see what you lack and gather it
• Install flags in your system to trigger both personal and business important dates

Reach Out to Your Clients at Year’s End

The holiday season provides an excellent opportunity to reconnect with your current clients. People generally share gifts, cards, meals, and other remembrances during the season. Common business practices also accept the same activities. You need to remember the IRS limit on taxable vs. non-taxable gifts. Examples of year-end methods to reach out to your clients include:

• Send a special email with graphics, your logo, or other methods to make it stand out
• Call to wish them the best and thank them for their association throughout the year
• Send them a card for the holidays perhaps including a gift card for your business or something they value (remember the See’s or dining gift card)
• Arrange for a company to send a gift (Amazon sending the historical biography)
• Hand deliver a gift with a card
• Take the client to lunch or dinner
• Invite them to a special client appreciation party or event (one company I knew invited us to a special screening of newly released movie, they rented the entire theater just for their clients)
• Give them tickets to a sporting event, theater, or other cultural event. Better yet, have them accompany you.

In addition, you may establish a branded method of remembering clients. For example, a friend of mine, a corporate landscape architect, gives a large poinsettia to clients every Christmas. Another friend rewards his clients with an assortment pack from Harry and David’s. In both cases, the gift immediately triggers the thought of the giver. You can accomplish the same result by consistently giving the same gift every year.

Join us on Saturday when we explore year-end goal and action plan setting

Year End Expenditures & Protections

This begins a 3-part series on year-end activities to improve next year’s business

As you approach the end of 2011, a few key financial actions can save or protect money for next year. Many business owners know what to do, but don’t do them. Many more do not know the money saving actions they can take. I will try to share the information. You must decide how you will use it. In addition, I strongly encourage you to consult an accounting and financial planning professional to adapt the general ideas in this post to your specific business.

Overview to Year-End Activities

Small Business: Canada published a nice overview of year-end activities that encompasses financial and more:

1. Get your financial books in order
2. Determine the current position of your business: finances, goals, and taxes
3. Plan for the coming year: set next year’s goals, prepare & implement an action plan
4. Get your tax documents prepared

They also offer several links to help you improve the morale, accounting, and balance sheet.

Year-End Tax Planning

Several experts share ideas for reducing taxes you pay next year. Some of the better ones are Karen Klein’s A Checklist for Yearend Tax Planning in Business Week online. Entrepreneur Magazine published A Year-End Tax Checklist last year authored by Bonnie Lee. The Center for Productivity republished Debbie Gilster 2005 article from Financial Management, Time Management titled Year end checklist for a small business. Sue Clement at Ladypens also share some good ideas. Finally, Business News Daily published 8 Small Business Year-End Tax_ Planning Tips.  I’ve combined advice from all of them.

• Get your books in order
  • Create a 2011 file for all tax information
  • Organize your receipts and ensure all vendor information is accurate
  • Check your balance sheets, profit/loss, and return on investment
  • Take physical inventory of your products & make accounting adjustments
  • Verify loan accounts and clean them up if necessary
  • Establish 401K or other retirement programs for yourself and employees
  • Lookout for local tax credits and other opportunities to reduce tax bills
  • Examine your relationship with financial institutions
  • Make end-of-year charitable donations, Roth IRA conversions, etc..
• Meet with your tax and financial planning pro before the December 31
  • Discuss changes in the tax code that may apply to your business
  • Deduct the full amount of purchases upfront rather than depreciate it
  • Explore tax breaks and deductions from research and development
  • The Retained Worker Credit for each retained worker
  • Form 1099 reporting extension for payments after Dec 31 (possible repeal)
  • Small Business Health Tax Credit for providing healthcare for employees
  • New limit for the amount of farming losses a taxpayer has received
  • Requiring taxpayers to electronically file federal tax deposits (EFTPS)
  • Accelerating deductions and deferring income into next year
  • Declare employee bonuses in 2011 but pay them by March 15, 2012
• Reexamine your business units to determine which should be closed
  • Write a list of all the company’s major accomplishments for the year
  • Evaluate marketing efforts & results to decide where to focus next year
  • Check all of the links on your website to make sure they are active

Year-End Legal Issues

Nellie Akalp reposted a guest post that appeared on Mashable explaining “5 Important Tasks for the End of the Year”. She provides excellent ideas for year-end legal entity issues:

1. Close your business before 2012 if you stopped business activity or performance
2. Create a legal entity (LLC or Corporation) before year’s end if you haven’t already
3. Ensure compliance to renewals, licenses, and other local requirements to your business
4. File any amendments to your company (address, phone, etc.) before year end
5. Tie up any legal loose ends (DBA, Tax ID, trademark) before the end of the year

I want to restate the importance of seeing your accounting and financial planning expert early this month. Do not wait until the year ends before you meet with them. You will miss important deadlines for acting.

Join us on Thursday when we review what to do before year-end to retain your best clients

Pillar 7: Client Retention

This concludes our 8-part series on Bryan Pope’s The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. Visit Bryan’s blog and web site to learn more and order your own copy of An Introduction to the 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing.

All 7 pillars culminate in sales. However, you must conclude with the 7th pillar: Client Retention. As Bryan will tell you—in his own word taken from An Introduction to the 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing—it is less expensive to retain a client than to create one.

Create client allegiance & predictable repeat revenue patterns

“Isn’t it a good feeling to know you have an ongoing income stream you can depend
on from loyal clients who are pleased with the products or services with which you are
providing them? If you’re already there, you know what I’m talking about. If you’re not,
I want to help you get there as quickly as possible. In either case, you have the
opportunity to create a pool of fiercely loyal clients who wouldn’t dream of living
without the products or services you are providing to them.

To make this happen, you need a couple of essential tools.

1. You need a data capturing mechanism in your business.
• If you are a business-to-business product or service provider, chances are good you already capture most or all of the data you need in the process of making transactions with your clients.
• If you are a business-to-consumer product or service provider, this may or may not be the case. For instance, a service provider making house calls (like a plumber or carpet cleaner) will likely gather the needed information naturally, while a retail store or restaurant will not.
• Think about it, when was the last time you gave your contact information to a retailer or restaurant operator? It’s a savvy few who consistently collect and use such information.
2. In order to actively nurture a client and help him or her become a loyal advocate of
   your company, you have to able to consistently communicate with the client.
• Therefore, you need the person’s name, company name (if you’re a B2B company), phone number, address, email address, and any other contact information you feel will be helpful in staying in front of the client.
3. Once you have this information, helping a client remain active is much like acquiring
   the client in the first place.
• You need to conduct ongoing market research with your
  clients to make sure you’re continuing to meet their needs.
• You may adjust your message to existing clients from the one you use to attract people who have never heard of your company before.
4. You must devise client retention strategies.
• You’ll mount client loyalty campaigns. You’ll still use the same methods we discussed earlier—promotion, publicity/PR, and advertising—to help retain your clients, although the vehicles you use to deliver your messages may differ from your prospecting activities.
• You’ll still need sales strategies and systems tailored to retaining your clients and keeping them actively purchasing from you, preferably in greater amounts and with more
  frequency.”

Questions to Ask Yourself to Retain Clients

• Do we have a suitable client data acquisition system in place
  to capture all the data we need to stay in front of our clients
  with our message?
• If “Yes,” what is it?
• If “No,” what can we put into place immediately?
• Do we have a data management system in place to manage
  the data we capture in a serviceable way so we can conveniently
  and consistently stay in front of our clients with our messages?
• If “Yes,” what are we using?
• If “No,” what can we begin using immediately?
• Remember to go back to the beginning of The 7 Pillars and use them in creating your
  client retention program for your company.

In Conclusion

“There you have it, the most powerful marketing system in the world. It works for any
business—regardless of size or type—in any industry. Do you feel more powerful—more
in control—just having read this short summary? You should! This is the real deal. If you
will apply just what you’ve read in this brief document, you’ll see differences in the
financial outcomes of your marketing efforts almost immediately.”

I enjoyed sharing what I consider to be one of the best marketing programs around. I hope you appreciated Bryan’s sound and simple approach to million dollar marketing on a shoestring. One last time, I encourage you to buy the download and accompanying PDF and to read Bryan’s blog.

Join me Monday when we begin a series on year-end activities to improve next year’s business

Pillar 6: Sales

This continues our 8-part review of Bryan Pope’s The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. As before most of this post comes from Bryan’s own words from An Introduction to the 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. I still strongly urge you to buy the download with its accompanying PDF for further study. In addition, I think that you will find reading Bryan’s blog very beneficial.

Marketing Must Include Sales

Effective implementation of the first 5 pillars should lead to sales. For that reason, Bryan includes sales as one of The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. He recognizes that some people separate sales from marketing. He shares his feelings on why sales is definitely part of marketing.

“Here it is, plain and simple: Sales is part of the ongoing marketing process. If
marketing is everything I do to get people to notice my company and sales is the act of
closing the deal, where does everything else—you know, important things like client
retention—come into play? For that matter, isn’t stellar client service part of my
marketing strategy? It had better be! The bottom line is this: Every truly successful
company is a marketing company. Let me repeat that. Every truly successful company is
a marketing company. The product or service they are offering is immaterial. If they are
on top of the heap, that’s because they understand marketing. And they understand that
marketing starts long before they opened their doors, it goes on long after each
transaction is made, and it pervades every aspect of their business.

So, yes, we’ve done much in the name of marketing to get our potential clients to
notice us and get them to the sales table, but the act of striking a mutually beneficial deal
and closing the client is as much a part of marketing as everything else that will happen
from that moment forward as you nurture that client and help him or her become fiercely
loyal to you and your company.”

Increase Revenues Using Consistent Sales Systems

“First of all, just as you have overarching strategies for your marketing efforts, you
must also have specific sales strategies. Whether that strategy is

• Driving someone to a well-crafted website where a final transaction will take place
• Getting them to try your product so they realize there’s no way they can live without it
• Allowing them to feel left out if they don’t jump on your bandwagon

The sales function…is the entry point of cash into your company—of course it
is wildly important! You can go through all the motions of marketing you want all day
long, but if you fall down on this one, you lose! You won’t make any money, and,
therefore, your existence as a business will be short-lived.

It is also very important to establish sales systems in your business…If you’re stumbling through every sales transaction—whether “sales” in your business means an outside salesperson closing a deal, someone stepping up to your cash register and handing the clerk cash, or any other way that transaction ultimately transpires—you must have systems in place that streamline the process, make it consistent, and allow you to continue to tweak it as you identify better ways to make sales happen for your company.

Some companies have just one or two sales systems in place. Others may have
dozens. Whatever your situation, see these systems as systems and treat them as systems.
Train everyone consistently in using the best practices that have been discovered and
continue to improve your sales systems as new discoveries are made.”

Questions to Help You Establish Sales Systems

1. What sales strategies do we currently have in place?
2. Are these the best possible strategies?
3. What might work better? What is worth testing?
4. What are the sales systems we currently have in place?
5. What are some ideas for systems we might test to see if we can improve the
   consistency of our sales efforts?
6. As part of my marketing budget, what expenses do I have related to my sales
   strategies and systems?
7. Is that budget where it should be?
8. Am I overspending for my return-on-investment?
9. If I invested more, would I see a greater ROI?

Budget for Your Sales Systems

“There is, of course, a cost to doing sales as well. Establish a sales expense forecast for
your business. Whether that’s travel expenses, meals, etc. for outside salespeople, costs
related to your website as a point-of-sale spot, or any other expenses related to making
sales happen for your business. These expenses will come out of the marketing budget
you’ve established. If you didn’t consider these expenses as part of your marketing
investment, go back and revise your marketing budget.”

Saturday we will conclude our examination of The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing