Other Issues Related to Clients

This concludes our 3-part series on issues related to clients

Your business depends on your clients. You know that, but how well do you know your clients. We mentioned in our last post that client loyalty depends on relationships more than price or service. Many wonder how to develop relationships in today’s virtual world.

While many businesses depend on the Internet to receive, process, and collect on orders, most do not. Most do not and even most of those that do, still sell more based on relationships. The ability to anticipate, retain, and relate with your clients will increase revenues significantly.

Anticipate Your Client’s Needs

Several years ago, I visited the Temecula Oil Company. I bought 5 bars of olive oil based soap. Almost six months later—the week before I opened the last bar of soap. I received an email from Temecula Oil Company. They asked if I enjoyed the quality of their soap.

They astounded me when they mentioned that we should be using the last bar and asked if we wanted to order more soap online. The email also suggested 4-5 other items (not the whole catalogue). They understood their product enough to anticipate when I would run out. I bought 6 bars of soap plus a bottle of balsamic olive oil. They accurately repeated the process every 5-6 months for the past three years.

Practice Restraint and Do Not Overdo It

Too much contact irritates clients. Practice restraint in your communications. Too many businesses overdo their communications. For example:

• 1 organization sent me 6 emails in two days advertising just 2 events
• 2 real estate agents from different agencies send us the same newsletter each month

• 3 clothes companies each send my wife a catalogue a week—she throws them away

In addition to the frequency of contacts, be careful about the complexity or length of messages. I received 3 email in the past 3 weeks that were so long and so complicated that I could not comprehend the message. Short messages that they can read—and click through—without opening, may win appreciation and sales.

Dealing with Vanishing Client Loyalty

This continues my 3-part series on soothing client relations

I shared some ideas for calming irate clients last post. I would like to discuss the challenges you may face with today’s views of client loyalty. Technology changed purchasing forever. Amazon, EBay, and other sites allow you to buy books, electronics, and more without leaving your home. Technology also allows people to compare your prices with others with the click of keyboard.

Build Your House of Straw, Sticks, or Bricks

My good friends Jared and Sarah Stewart authored City of Influence. In the book they liken the story of the three little pigs to client loyalty. They liken the pig that built its house of

• Straw to owners that build their business on price
• Sticks to owners that build their business on service
• Bricks to owners that build their business on relationships

Lasting loyalty stems from relationships rather than price or service. Loyalty built on price lasts only until a lower price appears. Loyalty built on service can also be supplanted by better service. As the Stewarts wisely comment “People do business with people they know, like, and trust.”

Personal Experiences

I have pondered this concept the last few months. My daughter-in-law opened my eyes to a saving money on our shopping list. Her approach involves:

1. A combination of using Internet sites and newspapers to find the lowest prices
2. Making a list of the items that we want and have lowest prices from each store
3. Taking the list to Wal-Mart who will match all of the other store’s prices

Yet, the front-end manager, the baker, and the deli manager all greet me by name at the locally-owned grocery store. I keep going back to the local grocer because of their welcome. Relationship truly trumps price and service for a lot of us.

I suggest you read City of Influence. I also recommend Ken Blanchard’s book Raving Fans and Jeffrey Gitomer’s book Customer Satisfaction is Worthless; Customer Loyalty is Priceless.

I will conclude this series on client relationships on Saturday. Don’t miss it.

Dealing with Upset or Irate Clients

This week we will discuss how to deal with problems with clients

Every business owner deals with clients that become frustrated, upset, or irate. Even the best run companies run afoul of a client every now and then. Several situations can create the problem: poor service, product flaws or delays, miscommunication, unfilled expectations, and more.

Many times your company did nothing wrong. You just happened to be the next person they talked to after a fight with their spouse or partner. Maybe someone cut them off as they were turning into your parking lot. Perhaps they hate their Internet speed and yours was the site that triggered the response.

What to Do When Clients Get Upset

You cannot anticipate every reason a client becomes upset. You can, however, prepare your staff well for when that moment occurs:

1. Listen to the client and allow them to express their feelings without escalating them
• Be sympathetic (acknowledge feelings) and empathetic (feel concerns)
• Ask questions to confirm that you correctly understand the facts & concerns
• Apologize sincerely when appropriate. but do not assume liability
• Thank the client for bringing the situation to your attention
2. Ask what would satisfy their concern and offer to try (don’t promise) to fix the problem
• Gain agreement and verify you both understand what will resolve the situation
• Record the incident & agreement so that others understand what happened
• Deliver what you agreed to deliver when you said you would
3. Follow-up with the client later to verify the solution satisfied their concern
• Resolve any problems that may still linger
• Express appreciation for their continued patronage
• Offer a simple gift, discount, or other item to express your gratitude

Additional Sources

Thousands of training programs, books, and other materials exist to help you learn how to work with irate clients. I particularly enjoy the following:

Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles (Talks about Irate clients and so much more)

It’s the Customer Stupid!: 34 Wake-up Calls to Help you Stay Client-focused by Michael Aun and Jeffrey Gitomer

Join me on Thursday when we discuss today’s challenges with client loyalty

Discern Valid & Inaccurate Forecasts

Tuesday we reminded you to explore industry future trends and Thursday how to find forecasts. Today we present some ideas on how to decide which forecasts to believe.

You need to discern accuracy amid all the articles, blogs, and broadcasts about forecasts and future trends in any industry. Today I share a few ideas that can help you choose which ones you will believe.

Strong  economic forecasting models exist, but most small- or home-based business owners do not have time or skill to process the algorithms of such validation models. I share easier and simpler methods.

• By their fruits you shall know them: You may check a forecaster’s accuracy by analyzing their past forecasts. Then, compare their forecasts with what actually happened. You can find their past forecasts by searching their name and the type of forecasts you desire. You can trust them if you find a consistent record of accuracy.
• Do the people you trust believe them: Ask people you trust to share who they listen to about industry trends. Do not rely on just one person’s opinion. Ask 4-5.
• Do other forecasters cite them: As you read forecasts and trend analysis, look for who they quote. Follow the lead to the source. Of course, ensure that you follow positive quotes and avoid citations of inaccuracy.
• Does their projection for future trends match your own forecasts: Do not let your own emotions taint the research. However, you can believe the information if your personal research and information corroborates theirs.
• Even accurate sources make mistakes: Even the most accurate forecasters make mistakes. Times and circumstances may change. Outside drivers or restraints may create unforeseen factors. Anticipate the possibility of errors.

Economic and industry forecasting using statistical models function better than fortune telling. Once you find sources that exhibit consistent accuracy, follow them—recognizing that nobody forecasts perfectly.

Next week we will talk about dealing with client problems: disloyalty, irate, & other

Find Future Industry Trends

Tuesday we explored the importance of evaluating trends in your industry. Today, we discover how to find or identify the trends that will affect your business.

You recognize that you should analyze future trends in your industry. Finding trustworthy sources of information presents more difficulties. A variety of sources assaults the senses. Let me share some the sources of trends. Then, on Saturday, we will analyze how to discern the more credible and trustworthy sources.

Sources of Trend Information

The Internet and ability to access, survey, and analyze data quickly created an explosion of economic analysts. For example, the Internet abounds with 6,910,000 references to “bookstore future trends” alone. So, let me share just a few quick sources (use their search feature to find archived articles):

1. Your industry association: Most professional and industry associations will track trends for members of the association.  Find you local chapter or join the national association.
2. Marketplace, Money.CNN, Small Business.Fox Business.com, TED.com, and YouTube. Beware of bias and political leaning in all of these.
3. Kiplinger Newsletters provides one of my favorite trend forecasting. Click on the Your Business tab if you go to the home page. My link takes you straight to Your Business. Don’t miss the Economic Outlook, Small Business Solutions, and other sections. 
4. Wall Street Journal offers trend analysis under the Business tab click on the popup menu rather than rollover the tab to see the widest variety of topics.
5. Market Watch.com: The web site has and Industries tab that allows you to easily see articles on a variety of industries.
6. Bloomberg/BusinessWeek can be confusing. I find their format more difficult to navigate. Make sure you use “” on the search or the results may frustrate you.
7. Google Scholar: Use the more credible section of Google. Type in your industry and the words Industry Forecasters or Industry Trends

These present just a few of the sources of industry trends, however, they will provide enough information for most needs. Start with these, then we’ll share more.

We’ll discuss how to discern good sources from scurrilous sources on Saturday.

Evaluate Future Industry Trends

You need to evaluate the future trends in your industry. Several incidents recently impressed me with that message. I share two of them with you.

Future Trends of the Printing Industry

The following details indicate that printing companies may need to reevaluate their business. I thank Book Baby.com for sharing the information in their publication eBook-publishing-guide.pdf:

• Opening day sales for Dan Brown’s The Last Symbol sold more copies for Amazon’s Kindle than in hardcover.
• Amazon announced in July 2010 that its overall eBook sales topped hardcovers.
• For 3 months in 2010 Amazon sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books.
• Amazon announced in January 2011 that it sold more eBooks than paperbacks in the US during the final three months of 2010.
• Amazon sold more eBooks than hardcover and paperback books combined during the first six months of 2011.

Based on those statistics what plans should printing businesses make for the future?

Future Trends for Grocery and Retail

My daughter-in-law taught me how to use a web site to evaluate food and other sales and discounts. We use a web site called Pinching Your Pennies to find the lowest prices in all of the local and national stores. I then peruse four papers that come in the mail for coupons indicated on the web site. I write all the products and prices onto one sheet. Finally I take my papers and the newspapers to one store that matches the prices of all other stores.

Recently, I’ve seen many stores offer to match the ads of their competitors. Technology allows people to share prices, and stores match other prices. Client loyalty changes with such price matching.

Based on those trends what plans should grocery and other retail stores make for the future?

Future Trends Will Affect Your Business

Business owners should not ask “If future trends will affect their business?”. They should ask “What future trends will affect my business? How and when will they affect it?” You can find the answers to these questions from a variety of sources.

We will discuss how to find trends for your industry in our post on Thursday

Running a Business Takes Time

I meet with people who want to start a business—or have already started a business—every week. They frequently describe one of the reasons for starting the business so that they can have more time with their family, on their own, or to pursue hobbies.

Their answer indicates a lack of understanding about starting and running a business. I grew up surrounded by self-employed entrepreneurs or business owners. My brothers-in-law and cousins own their own businesses. Many of my friends and clients run their own businesses. I’ve watched the dedication and time they apply to run their businesses.

Business Owners Fulfill Several Responsibilities.

Small- and home-based business owners do all the work of the business. They

• Produce the product or deliver the service
• Market the business and make the sales
• Process the accounts payables and receivables
• Maintain the records, inventory, and contacts
• Perform purchasing, receiving, and shipping

I remember when my grandmother died. Her five sons came to the funeral. Three stayed for a week to help their father adjust the affairs of the mother. All three of them had a three-day funeral leave from work and vacation time to spend with their father. The other two stayed for the funeral and had to leave immediately. They owned their own business. Time away from the business reduced money earned.

Multiple Demands on Time

Seldom do business owners start their day later than 7:30am or end it earlier than 7pm. Many women decide to start a home-based business to add to the family income and stay home with children. Many men decide to do the same. They fail to consider the demands of children, neighbors, and others who require attention during work hours.

Many of us start a business while still working full or part-time jobs. Which means that we work 40-60 hours on our job. Then, we work another 15-30 hours a week on our business. We lose sleep working and we lose sleep worrying.

If you decide to start a business, consider carefully the amount of time you will need to dedicate to starting and running it. Every now and then, we need to remember that.

Don’t Forget Your Business License

I post a very short blog today to compensate for all the very long ones I posted the last three weeks.

I received my business license renewal in the mail last month. I immediately paid it using my online billpay, or so I thought. I distinctly remember paying it because last year I had to pay a penalty for paying the license late.

Four weeks later, I receive a reminder to pay the license. I figure the city made a mistake, and file it for two weeks to go over the next time I pay bills. I pulled the reminder last night. I checked it against the invoice to see if it was paid. We filed the invoice with last years accounts payables/receivables for 2011.

So, instead of pulling the files from last year out of storage (a closet), I decide to check the bank account. I’m certain I’ll find the record of the check or the image of the cashed check. In fact, in some irreverent part of my soul, I anticipated the sweet feeling of revenge for last year, when I prove to them made a mistake in sending me the delinquency notice.

I could find no record of the check or the payment. I could not find a scheduled payment. Evidently, the memory of paying the license account was false. If I’m not careful, I will have to pay another penalty for being late this year.

I, therefore, pass this advice to you. Check your accounting processes. Take a moment at the first of the year to ensure that nothing drops through the cracks—especially your business license.

Join me Saturday when I share some links to training materials on project management

How Others Help Grow Your Business

We already discussed how participating in a mastermind group and marketing team can help you grow your business with almost no cost. Today I would like to share three others ways that other people will collaborate with you.

Some people doubt my claim that others will help them achieve their goals. I acknowledge that  not all people will selflessly share, collaborate, or serve others. I also maintain that a lot of people will help. I ask a simple question “Would you help someone if they asked, you knew that all they needed were a few ideas, and that it would not take too long?” Most people answer that they would help others.

So, if you and others will help others, why do you believe others will not help you?

Focus Groups of Current or Potential Clients

Focus provide one method for evaluating you product, service, or business. A focus group allows current or potential clients to share their answers to questions you prepare. Several organizations will help you run your focus group. You can learn more through

• Georgia Tech offers a wonderful PDF guiding you through the process
• George Silverman’s Marketing Secrets
• Chron.com
• Pragmatic Marketing
• Waterwiki

Study the web sites. Try setting up your own focus group.

Phone Long-Term Clients, Vendors & Others

You can also involve clients, vendors, and suppliers through simple, short email or phone surveys. You may use MonkeySurvey, Zoomerang, LinkedIn, or even Facebook to prepare and distribute your survey. None of the ones mentioned charge a fee. Phone calls receive better and higher quality responses, but take more time.

• Decide what you want to learn from your survey
• Keep your surveys short. Keep your survey to less than 5 minutes
• Mix your questions with multiple choice, yes/no, with only a few open ended ones
• Test your survey with a few clients first. Ask them for feedback on the survey.
• Edit it and test it again with the same group, and ask for more feedback
• Edit it and test it a third time with a new group of clients
• Then, send it to a good representation of your clients

Tours of Your Manufacturing Line

I know groups in several cities that host professional or business associations to hold monthly or quarterly luncheons in their facilities. The simple agenda follows this pattern:

• The host provides the meal, or everyone pays for or brings their own lunch
• The group takes a tour of the facility before the meal
• The hosts takes 10 minutes to ask questions, opinions, and feedback from the guests
• The group continues with a speaker, networking, or other activity

All of three of these processes cost almost no money. They involve other people to help you evaluate your business and brainstorm ideas. You would help others with their needs. They will help you with yours.

Join me on Thursday when we share several books that could help you improve your business

Create a Marketing Team

Bryan Walden Pope, the architect of The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing, first introduced the concept of marketing teams to me and others 6 years ago.

He suggested that you identify 5-6 people that could help you improve your marketing and sales. You choose people with special expertise you need. You invite them to meet as needed (over a meal you pay for works best). Other than the meal they volunteer and serve without compensation. They give you ideas or brainstorm solutions.

Experience Serving on a Marketing Team

I want to share an experience I had this week that I think could help each of you build your business. Doyle, an owner of a small chain of bookstores in four states, invited me to participate in a marketing team meeting. He also invited five others to participate:

• Three of the people own retail stores of various types
• One teaches at the Center for Entrepreneurship at a local university
• Bryan Walden Pope helps business owners improve their marketing and sales
• I work with people who want to improve their business and get better jobs

We met at a restaurant. Doyle paid for all seven breakfasts. He let Bryan Pope facilitate the meeting. They wanted some ideas about how to increase client loyalty in Doyle’s stores and on his web site. The group generated more than 23 ideas in 90 minutes . Those 23 ideas cost Doyle the price of 7 breakfasts. If any of the ideas generate even $4,000, Doyle would realize a 400% return on investment.

All of us felt wonderful about helping Doyle. We cheerfully shared our expertise, experiences, and ideas. Helping a friend gave great satisfaction. Besides, we enjoyed having breakfast together.

Help from My Marketing Team

A marketing team differs from a mastermind team in the focus on your business rather than each member seeking assistance. For example, when I created my marketing team five years ago, I chose friends who worked in

• Video production
• Pod casting
• Book publishing
• Social media
• Printing

I meet with my full group once a month. I consult with individual members of the team occasionally throughout the month. I consult one of them once a week. They helped me learn how to pod cast and upload my weekly pod casts. Another introduced me to many marketing tools that I use in my business. Another helps me publish my books. Still another taught me how to publish eBooks

None of them ask for compensation except for hard products. I would pay them. In fact, I’ve offered. Just as I would not accept compensation to give them ideas or suggestions, they do not accept it either.

Analyze what expertise you need. Make a list of people you would invite to your team. Then, invite them to a lunch or breakfast. Explain the concept and what you would like. Then, listen. Don’t defend, argue, or contend. Just listen. Write down the ideas. Then, implement the best ones. It works.

Comeback on Tuesday for our 3rd part to learn how others can help you grow your business

Build a Mastermind Group

This begins a series on involving other people to help you grow your business

A few posts ago, I discussed that business owners sometimes feel isolated and alone. I shared several methods of connecting with people to reduce the solitary nature of running your own small- or home-based business. One of the methods I mentioned included creating a mastermind group. Comments from readers indicated that you wanted more about this concept. So, I wanted to share a little more about mastermind groups.

Personal Experience with a Mastermind Group

I speak from personal experience. Three friends of mine and I formed a mastermind group a little over four years ago. All four of us owned businesses. We meet once a month for 90 minutes. One of us acts as scribe. While each of us records notes, his notebook maintains the official record of the group.

We follow a simple agenda. We each take turns to:

1. Report on the goals we set in the last meeting, what we did, and the progress we made towards our goal
2. Share a challenge, question, or idea. The group brainstorms ideas that might help
3. Set 1-4 things we will do in the coming month to progress towards our goal

Each of us experienced remarkable growth in our businesses, but also in our personal lives. We found strength within our companionship. We got through hard times with our families, businesses, and more. Let me share just a few of the things we accomplished because of our group:

• Two of us went back to school and earned graduate degrees
• Two of us started brand new businesses that earned even more money than before
• One of us expanded his business into a new market niche that has tripled profits
• One of us expanded his business into 12 additional states
• One fulfilled a lifelong dream to earn a counseling degree and work with addicts to overcome their addictions
• One rejuvenated his passion to grow his business and finds more joy now than ever
• One created a program to connect people for their personal and business growth

Create Your Own Mastermind Group

You choice of members in your group determines your success. You only want 3-5 people (including you) in the group. Each person must possess a desire to improve. They must believe in the goal setting process. They must accept the ability to change and learn from mistakes without giving up. Sadly, experience proves that mastermind groups consisting of close family members rarely hold together.

Set a time for your meeting that will allow you 90 uninterrupted and undistracted minutes. Many groups hold their meetings around meals or refreshments. If you choose to do so, do not let the meal distract you from the purpose. Ensure that each person takes their time. No one sacrifices their goals for someone else. Each member’s goals share equally.

You can find lots of information on mastermind groups. Some of my personal favorites include:

1. Napoleon Hill published the concept in 1928 in his work The Law of Success in 16 Lessons and Think and Grow Rich. I first read his book in the 1970s. I’ve read it 3 times since. 
2. Barbara Sher from her book Wishcraft. Pay particular attention to chapter 10 especially pages 228-229.

Others put unique spins on the concept. Evan Carmichael shares Creating Online Mastermind Groups 6 Basic Steps. Ariel Hyatt of Ariel Publicity highlights for all businesses, but emphasizes mastermind groups for performing artists. Articlesbase and Bright Hub provide excellent materials on choosing partners and setting up your group.

Do not waste a moment longer. Create your group and meet this month. Begin to gain the benefits of a mastermind group.

Don’t miss this Saturday’s post on Marketing Teams. I’ll share how one business owner gained 23 marketing ideas for the price of 6 breakfasts.

The New Year is Here

I’ve been talking for the past month about what to do at year’s end to prepare your business to grow this year. Well, the new year is here. You rang it in. You celebrated. You may have even taken some time off. But, the year arrived punctual as the lunar phases.

Act to Improve Your Business

So, now you need to implement the business plans you made or modified. The following steps will help your business grow:

• Keep your accounts payable and receivable posted and current
• Begin the process of introducing a new product or enhancing a current one
• Act on the marketing strategies, campaigns, methods, and vehicles you developed
• Strengthen your sales systems to increase sales per client and dollars per transaction
• Take good care of your existing clients with reminders, gifts, contact, and service
• Ask your current clients what they like about your product and how to improve it
• Discover how to speed up your manufacturing or processing systems to reduce costs
• Lower costs by taking advantage of purchasing discounts and less expensive vendors
• Hire the right people either as employees, contract workers, or virtual assistants
• Consult with professional tax, legal, financial planning, and other experts
• Join appropriate business or professional associations and attend meetings
• Choose 1-2 new skills to develop through classes, workshops,  or conferences

Don’t Try to Do Everything all at Once

The list above includes a lot of things you can do. I suggest that trying to do all of them at once could overextend your time and resources. Select 2-3 a month and focus on them. Add a few tasks to your To-Do List each week. Either try some new tasks or stop doing ineffective tasks that do not generate your desired results.

Anticipate the tasks that will lead to the desired results. Plan which tasks will give you the best return on investment. Evaluate the success of each task to measure progress towards the desired goal.

Remember that obstacles will arise. Not every task will lead to success. Many tasks will require multiple attempts. You may need to revise your plan or try a different approach to achieve your goals. You will require persistence, adaptability, and endurance to accomplish  what you want.

You have a year or more to do so. Take advantage of the year.

Please read Thursday’s post about how a mastermind group can accelerate your success