Be The Boss March_April
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Be The Boss Magazine was created to inspire people to become their own boss and to inform business professionals on ways to start a business, improve a business and to grow a business. Also, this magazine is about connecting business professionals. Our live directory is a great way to grow your network, instantly! Designed and published by: Right Brain Publishing
Transcript of Be The Boss March_April
Be the Boss Magazine
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The Life Changing Conference ................4
The Times are Changin ..............................6
Caterina Rando ...........................................7
12 Simple Ways to Supercharge your Business Sucess ...........................................8
Are Your Customers a 1 Night Stand? ....12
Do You Treat Your Business as a Business or as a Hobby? ...............................................16
Look Good & Inspire Others to Act ........17
SECRETS TO CREATING A THRIVING 6 OR 7 FIGURE BUSINESS ....................20
Strategize- Save Time with Templates ....29
Thoughts Before Coffee .............................30
PREFERRED Business Directory .............32
PUBLISHERS
Right Brain Publishing
Shelly Rice and Margie Baxley
CONTRIBUTORSRobert ChristiansenDayna OffuttNancy BecherRobert NewMichelle KettermanCaterina RandoPeter BiadaszSandy LawrenceCarol Smith
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June 18-Columbus, OH 25-Louisville, KY
August 8-Atlanta, GA 13-Orlando, FL
It's a pretty bold move to call an event ‘The Life Changing Conference’ but this is a bold event and I am a woman on a mission.
A note from Shelly Rice… In the last 24 years, I have produced hundreds of events that have taken place in more than 50 U.S. cities. Out of all of these events, The Life Changing Conference is my proudest business accomplishment. I have put my entire heart and soul into creating this event and I have set very high standards for every aspect of the conference. My goal is that every single woman who attends will walk away inspired, motivated, empowered and armed with strategies to make powerful changes in their lives and in their businesses.
I have been blessed with incredible business mentors and success partners. Most of my mentors cringed when I told them that I was only charging $25 for this full day conference. My response was "I would do this free, if I could. I realize that most business conferences of this caliber cost hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars, but my goal is bigger than making a bunch of money. My goal for this conference is to arm business women with tools, strategies, information and connections that can improve and grow their companies and their lives.
I believe very few of us, including myself are living to our true potential. I believe we are all capable of greater accomplishments, and there's no time like now to embrace change. I hope you and your women business friends will join me at a conference near you. You have my promise that I will do everything within my means to make this a life changing day for you.
Produced by Shelly Rice & Associates and Women Who Mean Business November
6-Franklyn/Nashville,TN
September 17-Sacramento, CA19-Anaheim, CA
October 17-Dallas, TX19-San Antonio,TX 24-Houston, TX 29-Indianapolis, IN
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ARE YOU KEEPING UP?THE TIMES ARE CHANGIN’
I got an email today that has gone the rounds many times before, but I actually took the time to read it today and was amazed at what it had to say. You know the one…kids in high school
today never knew a world without cell phones and mp3 players…that email. It was full of really interesting information; things that I grew up with that my folks didn’t have (yeah, the story “when I was your age I walked 10 miles to school each day and it was uphill both ways), and things that were new in their time. Our world is an amazing place.
Unfortunately, recently I’ve come across an attitude that scares me a bit as it is the antithesis of this email. It is an attitude of “I don’t want to change”. “I’ve done it this way for 18 years, why should I change now”. True not only for personal lives, but for us in the business world as well. I understand that with the world in such a precarious spot right now (and with the economy still in turmoil), we take comfort in doing the things that we’ve done in the past. Things we know how they’ll turn out. But, one thing I can attest to is the fact that we do NOT live in stagnation. From looking at the email I saw clearly that the world is not standing still. There are enormous changes that have occurred in the near past and many more that will be happening in our futures. Just because we did something one way before, doesn’t mean that it will have the same impact tomorrow.
For example, a great many of us grew up without the benefit of computers, tablets or iPods. Yet, today who among us doesn’t have a cell phone (many holding smartphones where they access
their emails, the web and many apps for different things). I know I couldn’t get along without my iPhone. Laptops are everywhere: McDonalds, Starbucks, even hospitals have wi-fi for folks to log onto and surf while waiting for tests, or loved ones’ surgeries and more. It’s just not our parents’ world any more.
The world is moving ahead at tremendous speeds – but if we don’t jump on board we’re going to be left in the dust. For businesses, that might be all right if you have all the customers you want, and if you’re happy with where you are on the success ladder. But for many people who say, “I’ve been doing it this way for X years”, when the question is asked – How’s it working for you? The answer is, “I REALLY need to get more business coming in the door.” If what you’ve been doing for X years isn’t bringing in the work that you want it to, then perhaps it’s time to think about looking at new ways and new techniques.
Why not find a business support group that will share ideas, leads, contacts? How about being part of a program that connects you with the community, getting out and helping others while building your own reputation and brand. There’s a lot to be said for groups like the Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Business Association and Business Success Unlimited. They’re all there to help businesses in the community grow and prosper, and perhaps, by looking at things a bit differently than you have in the past, you will grow and prosper too.
Written by: NANCY BECHER
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caterinarandoThe Three Cs of Excellent Client Care
Excellent client service is not something you only deliver when the client is in front of you. It is something you must do all the time—even with clients who have not purchased your products or services in a while. In fact, those are the very clients to whom you need to deliver extraordinary client service!Nurturing the client over the long term is the key to success. The 3 C’s of
excellent client service come easily for most women. Connecting, creating rapport and communicating are generally female strengths. Use your strengths in your business to create clients for life.
Connect Make sure you do something every week that connects you to your current and past clients. Post blog updates, send emails, update social networking sites and make sure your clients are following you! Always invite them to join your online networks.
Create Rapport Once you have a client, you have to get to know them and build trust. Note their birthdays, anniversaries, kids’ names and send snail mail cards. So few people send notes anymore, they will remember this simple, gracious gesture! Another way to think about client service is consider it client care. When your clients know you care they will stay your clients.
Create Champions
You want to under promise and over deliver with your clients, you know that. You want to ask treat them better than you treat guests in your home. Love them and appreciate them and they will never want to leave you. Better yet they will be loud and proud about the value you bring them, they will send you clients who they have already warmed up for you.
Look now at your current clients. Do you have a strong rapport with them? Do you stay in regular contact so they remember you? Are they champions for you are your work? If so great, think about where you can do even better If not, start now to reinforce the three Cs of excellent client care and watch your business grow. Caterina shows women entrepreneurs how to build thriving businesses. She is the creator of the Business Breakthrough Summit and the Sought After Speaker Summit. Download your free audio on Ten Business Breakthrough Secrets to Apply Today at www.bizbreakthrough.com Caterina can be reached at 415-668-4535 or [email protected]
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12 Simple WaysTo Supercharge Your Business Success
7. Let customers know what to think about your company. We make conclusions by making comparisons. If you don’t let prospective clients know why they should do business with, they won’t. Wise companies spend time, effort, and money consciously influencing the way they are perceived by clients, prospects, and the general public.
8. Make outstanding offers. Customers are cautious. They don’t like being put on the spot; they don’t want to make a mistake. This is why guarantees and warrantees are essential. The goal is to overcome the customer’s reluctance.
9. Make prospect identification your mission. The single most important daily activity in any business is prospect identification. By making prospecting a continuing process, you can produce a steady flow of new sales leads.
10. Scrutinize your identity. Yes, how a company presents itself makes a difference. Corporate identity is the face you put on your company.
11. Super Tight Marketing. The secret to successful marketing is getting to the right people. Scoring a bull’s eye means making contact with the right individuals and is the only way to make the sale. Taking time to be highly targeted in business communication is essential.
12. Write customer-centered letters and emails. Most business letters have cold, impersonal words. “As per our conversation...” “Pursuant to our agreement...” When was the last time you heard anyone talk this way at lunch (other than maybe an attorney)? There is no reason why business correspondence should not be warm, friendly, conversational, interesting--and customer-centered. Write as if you were the one reading it.
1. “Same-Old” is out - Getting attention with something new is in. To get new business, you must be innovative and dramatic. For example, a company offered “the biggest steak dinner in town” if it couldn’t save you money. This was enough to get the telephone ringing and generate new leads.
2. Be generous. No one wants to do business with anyone operating on a one-way street. Send thank you cards or small, inexpensive gifts or help promote your clients, partners, etc. and send a powerful message--our customers are important.
3. Be in the right place at the right time. You can’t be in the right place every time, right? Wrong! Develop a consistent way to stay in front of clients regularly.
4. Be relentless. Persistence is power. Too many people don’t follow through long enough to produce proper results. Marketing momentum comes from a consistent effort. It takes time for customers to comprehend what you are doing and for prospects to get acquainted and comfortable with you.
5. Creativity. Pushing direct-mail pieces out the door or sending the newsletter isn’t doing the job. Ask this: “Will anyone be intrigued enough to read the mailer before tossing it in the trash?” A highly creative approach is necessary to be different and distinctive…which leads to more people reading your content.
6. Focus on clients. Keep a running list of the 50 most frequently asked questions in your industry...and answer them! Whether creating an ad, a brochure, or a sales presentation, knowing what the customer wants, needs, and expects is what works…every single time.
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Michelle Ketterman
ABOUT MICHELLE:
A Home Based Business Strategist, Michelle Ketterman is an award winning entrepreneur and passionate advocate, Michelle is a category creator, successful entrepreneur, trainer, author, speaker, mentor, and gardener. She has spent her life never accepting no for an answer. Michelle Ketterman teaches how each define our unique definition of success. Michelle offers FREE monthly webinars along with $7 monthly webinars. She shares useful, free, and most important: proven strategies, resources, and approaches.
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Are YourCustomers AOne Night Stand?
Robert New
In the last issue we talked about celebrating our successes of 2012 and planning for 2013. I hope
you had many victories to celebrate last year. In this issue we are going to look at some statistics that may help you in setting some of your goals for this year.First, let’s take a look at some milestones from 2012 in social media.
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First, let’s take a look at some milestones from 2012 in social media.
Last year Facebook reached 1 billion users and purchased Instagram for $1 billion. Twitter surpassed the 500 million user mark and Pinterest was the fastest growing site to reach the 10 million unique visitor mark. I think we can say social networking had a good year.
But what is happening now?
Facebook mobile has 488 million regular users. Every day there are 175 million tweets sent. There are 575 likes and 81 comments being posted on Instagram EVERY SECOND! Pinterest users in the U.S. spend an average of 1 hour and 17 minutes on the site every day.
I still get people who don’t understand Twitter. They still use arguments like, “I don’t care what people had for lunch.” If you sold lunch meat or were in the food business you might care. The facts say otherwise though. Eighty percent of social media users prefer to connect with brands using Facebook. Seventy-seven percent of B2C and forty-three percent of B2B compoanies acquire customers on Facebook. Here is a frightening statistic for you, 56% of customer tweets to companies are bing ignored. Thirty-four percent of marketers have generated leads using Twitter. And Twitter users are brand loyal. Seventy-nine percent of U.S.
Twitter users are more likely to recommend brands they follow and 67% are more likely to buy from brands they follow.
As you can see from these statistics there are is a lot of growth going on in social media and a lot of opportunities to connect. If your strategic plan doesn’t include social media, you may want to seriously reconsider. It doesn’t matter if you are a consultant, in sales, or own a bakery, there are tools you can use. It may seem overwhelming at first because there are so many platforms to pick from. But you really need a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
Take a look at your strategic plan and see where social media fits in. I once heard someone make a statement that stuck with me, social media is a relationship not a one night stand. Are you building relationships with your customers? Let us know at Be The Boss magazine how you are using social media in your plan.
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One of my favorite TV programs is Shark Tank. During the course of a show 4 or 5 entrepreneurs will present their businesses to 5 “sharks” (actually multimillionaire investors) in hopes of gaining capital for their company in exchange for giving up some equity. After the slick presentations by
the business owners the real fun begins. The sharks will ask questions any professional business owner should be able to answer about their own business, but many fall embarrassingly on their face on national television. This is how the sharks determine if you have a business, or a hobby you think is a business.So I ask you the same questions – What were your sales last year? What is your cost to produce your goods/services? What is your customer acquisition cost? What is your true profit after you pay yourself? What is your business/marketing/customer acquisition plan? What are your projected sales? What is your background?
Those are the basic questions; the show gets more fun as money negotiations begin!
Based on your answers to these questions are you a professional at what you do, or are you trying to make a living doing a hobby? Whether you are the owner or an employee, taking ownership of what you do is the first step in reaching the next level of success. The good news is that no matter how you run your business, starting today you can make the decision and take the necessary actions to become better at what you do.
I once had a boss who, as a coaching ploy, told me that because I was not working up to my potential she would give me 2 weeks to get my act together or she was going to fire me. Even though I was the top sales performer in our office, she knew this tactic would motivate me. In 2 weeks, thanks to some amazing networking, my sales ranking for this multi-state corporation went from the mid 300’s out of 650 sales people to #5. This opened up some amazing doors for me.
I encourage you to examine how you treat your business and take the necessary steps to improve it the next level or two. Work at your fullest potential so your business can reach it greatest heights.
Do You Treat Your Business as a Business or As a Hobby?
Peter Biadasz, author of such book as Write Your First Book (available on Amazon), More Leads and Increase Your Sales And Lower Your Golf Score, is President of Total Publishing And Media.
To discuss with Peter publishing or marketing your book idea, or to inquire about having Peter speak to your organization or meeting, feel free to contact him at: [email protected]
By Peter Biadasz, Author/Speaker/ Publisher
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Writing news releases is equal parts science and art, and as you write more of them, you’ll improve and enjoy what you’re doing, as they can be fun to write. The format of the release is standard, but the topics, quotations, and purpose of each release vary.
You can easily find guidelines online for writing and formatting news releases, but it’s more difficult to find ideas for creatively writing a release. Here are a few tips to help you write an effective press release your readers will enjoy.
1. Don’t be afraid to be imaginative
Go a little bit wild when you write your headlines and summaries. Try something a little bit outrageous, because it just might work. Headlines that grab your reader’s attention means your press release will be read. Don’t be deceptive or needlessly irreverent in your headlines, but do have fun with them. Your creative juices will flow, which will ensure you craft the best headline you can.
Here’s an example of an imaginative press release:
“4 Workshops That Will Help you Identify Your Most Desired Prospects, Make You The Clear Choice Above Your Competitor and Double Your Revenue…No Kidding”
Limit industry vocabulary and acronyms. Use words that the average reader will know. If you need to use jargon, explain it in layman’s terms.
2. Choose keywords carefully
If you’re already at the top of Google for specific keywords, choose variations of those—or new ones—for your press release. By choosing different keywords, you’ll have an opportunity to rank in the search engines all over again.
3. Tell a story
Readers want entertainment or education more than anything else, so give it to them. Tell the story behind your new website, but make it sound like news. Tell them how your company founder accidentally stumbled upon its latest product, but give it an objective tone such like what you hear on the 6 o’clock news.
4. Make your quotes memorable.
If you’re using quotes in your press release (and you should be), make them interesting and relevant, but don’t sound corporate. The quotes should describe the benefits your company brings to its clients and what your service or product will do for them.
5. Tell your story in your About section.
At the end of the press release, you have the opportunity to tell the reader a little about your company. Whatever you do, make it fascinating and leave the reader wanting to know more. Don’t forget to include a link to your company’s website.
With just a little creativity, your press release will be not only newsworthy, but also captivating and much more effective than if you used corporate speak.
Note: When you have written a few press releases for your company, you practically have a template. Leave the About Us section the same (unless there have been changes) and change the message in the “Most Important” first paragraph.
Contact me if you have any questions or thoughts!
Sandy Lawrence
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.perceptivemarketing.com
Look Good & Inspire Others to Act5 Tips From a Succesful Press Release Writer Sandy Lawrence
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SECRETS TO CREATING A thriving 6 or 7 Figure Business
written by: Carol Smith
Fact: 4% of US Small Businesses make $250K or more per year.
Fact: 1.8% of Women Owned Business generate One Million+ per year.
Fact: Did you know that it’s as easy to create a thriving six or seven figure business as it is to create a five figure business?
My passion is helping people thrive by creating clear paths to success. The more people I can help the better. Why? When businesses are successful, they hire people and buy products and services. Those people can then pay mortgages, feed their families, send their children to school, go on vaca-tions and spend their money so others can do the same.
It’s a winning system. It also feels really good to see an entrepreneur go from ho hum to living the life they really want and deserve.
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SECRETS TO CREATING A thriving 6 or 7 Figure Business
So that got me thinking -- how can I best gift you the busy entrepreneur with some of my 20 years of business knowledge? What if I just share some case studies so you can easily see the step-by-step proven processes, feel the real life struggles, and hear the final results?
My first gift to you is the Revenue Acceleration Wheel. Print out a copy so you can keep it on your desk for easy fast reference. Next are the two case studies. You’ll see that the results achieved are very different - but I don’t want to spoil the ending. Enjoy reading and ask yourself, “What am I going to do differently? and “What am I waiting for?”
Case Study: Big Al
One of my favorite success stories is about a guy we’ll call “Big Al”. This is nothing much special about Al. He is an average guy. Fin-ished High School. Almost. His hands are per-manently stained from his work. Most days he can be found covered in black soot and grease.
Al enjoys his work and has a strong sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. He is an upbeat personable guy with an easy man-ner and is always ready to share tips and sto-ries with clients.
Al had a dream. He wanted to create a thriv-ing business which allowed him to live in a great neighborhood and spent winters at his second home in a sunny warm location.
Al is a chimney sweep.
How much money do you think a chimney sweep makes in a year? Think about that for
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a moment. If you assume he takes home $100 for cleaning a chimney and he does an average of 4 per day, 240 working days a year that’s about $96,000. Not bad if he can find the clients and book 4 each day. Nights and weekends are devoted to doing the book keeping, marketing, scheduling clients, cleaning gear, and maintaining equipment. Al like most small business owners is a busy guy and the budget is tight.
$100 per chimney X 4 cleaned per day X 240 working days = $96,000
Al was smart enough to know he didn’t have the skills, tools, or knowledge to make his dream a reality without some expert business advice.Why is Big Al one of my favorite business success stories? Al is a basic guy, doing something he loves, and the result was he created a multi-million dollar business.
“Diligence Trumps brilliance.”
What did Al do right? First, he’s doing something he loves, cleaning chimneys. Second, he believed his life was worth the investment of an expert to help him, and was willing to the do the work to be successful. Third, Al capitalized on his strength and the market need: people skills, organizational skills, attention to detail, diligence and client satisfaction (clean chim-neys at a reasonable price, in a predictable manner with zero mess or drama).
Al’s business is highly referral based. His clients actively promoted him to friends and neigh-bors.
Al provided education to clients. He created a basic black and white handout telling clients how often chimney’s should be cleaned, how to avoid chimney fires and what types of wood to burn or not burn.
Al followed up every year to see if clients wanted to have their chimney’s cleaned. Al was the master of consultative sales. He never pushed clients. Just reminded them that chimney’s needed to be cleaned every year to minimize the risk of fires.
Al created an up sell service, checking chimney’s for cracks. Realtors loved him because their clients loved him. Their clients loved him because he did a full cleaning without leaving one speck of soot anywhere.
How was Al going to achieve his goals? After reviewing Al’s strengths and the market, a customized plan and defined processes emerged. Not all chimney sweeps were good with people, nor did they all have strong organizational skills. They spend most of their time cov-ered in soot, looking up or down a black pipe, crawling around on roofs, or trying to avoid getting the client’s white carpet dirty.
Al’s competitors needed clients. Al had many clients. One by one, he invited competitors to join his business. Al would be responsible for marketing, sales, operations, and bookkeep-ing. His now former competitors would clean chimneys, for Al’s business, using his newly developed proprietary processes.
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Ready to join the 1% Million Dollar Business Club?
Al retired a multi-millionaire as a lifelong chimney sweep. He was smart enough to invest in a mentor to help him because he knew he didn’t have the skills or ability to create the dream life he wanted. He courageously set a financial goal that most people would have thought was ridiculous for a chimney sweep.
“Revenue and profitability enables freedom and influence.”
Did Al work nonstop, nights, weekends and holidays? Nope. Al learned to set up processes and resources so he didn’t need to do all of the work. Ultimately, Al had a home in one state where he did his business and has a winter retreat where he was able to run the business while enjoying golf and time with his family.
People who build companies past the million-dollar mark take certain predictable actions.
They surround themselves with people who inspire them to greatness, hire a mentor, advisor or coach who’s actually been successful themselves, write a business plan (Al’s was one page), hire great employees, define goals and processes and they build strong relationships.
Is Big Al glad he hired a mentor and spent time on each facet of the Revenue Acceleration Wheel? You bet he is. Today he is comfortably retired former multi-million dollar former chimney sweep.
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Revenue Acceleration Wheel Big Al Overview
Customers: Transformed customers into advocates and referral partners.
Sales: Met with clients personally and developed strong relationships.
Operations: Instituted clear processes and policies across the company.
Culture: Created an organization with a military-like precision implementation.
Finance: Hired a bookkeeper to track and raise alerts as necessary.
Goals: Courageously created inspiring stretch goals and declared them to others.
Competitors: Turned competitors into highly trained efficient employees.
Leadership: Understood that leadership started with him and hired a mentor.
Marketing: Placed ads in places where homes had multiple fireplaces.
Strategy: Focused on what he did well, and what the market wanted.
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Case Study: How I lost a client
Sally was a dream client. She was smart, funny, engaging, ethical and humble about what she didn’t know. Sally was also the co-founder of a company who provided highly technical, security sensitive services to global giants like FedEx, and Coca-Cola.
Sally was exhausted. She traveled around the globe extensively and spent most of her quality time in nondescript beige hotel rooms or airports. She was in her mid 60‘s, high energy, the buck stops here, control focused, non-stop whirling dervish type of business owner.
1.8% of Women Owned Business generate One Million+ per year.
Sally’s company was profitable but competitors were looming. Sally and the co-founder had kept tight controls over all customer interface and delivery because of the security and confidential na-ture of their business. One client security breach could destroy their reputation and the company.
Customers: 100% Service Quality Reputation
Sally wanted to grow the company’s revenue, maintain the current error free quality customer service, while reducing the amount of time she spent traveling, and protect against competitors or sell out at a great price.
Strategy sessions using the Revenue Acceleration Wheel as a guide confirmed that Sally was doing the following correctly:
Sales: Founders have strong client relationships.
Operations: Clear processes and policies across the company.
Finance: Hired accountants and CPA’s to track and raise alerts as necessary.
Marketing: Recognized industry leader, spoke at industry trade associations.
Many businesses believe that if they can crack the code on sales, marketing and operations, they will be able to grow, scale, and continue to increase revenues.
Sales and marketing are critical to an organizations success. Most small businesses fail because they don’t include the 10 areas of focus identified on the Revenue Acceleration Wheel such as effective leadership, strategic planning, goal setting, and competitor analysis. When one piece of the wheel is missing the entire structure is at risk for failure. It’s the business equivalent to a flat tire - it keeps rolling but it’s only a matter of time before it blows up.
Here is another way to think about it: If your company doesn’t have strong foundational structure, like a house, it will ultimately fall down. The world famous Tower of Pisa is a freestanding bell tower, in Italy known worldwide for its unintended tilt to one side. Construction began in 1178, and immediately the ground sunk on one side condemning the building to tilt and ultimately fall
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unless drastic measures were taken. It’s always easier to fix problems with companies and build-ings in the early stages. The Tower of Pisa has been declared a World Heritage site and after nearly 30 years of engineering studies and fixes has been reopened to the public.
Sally’s business faced a host of issues:
Competitors: Stronger, larger with easy access to capital.
Goals: Didn’t set compelling big picture goals.
Leadership: Busy traveling, and doing versus planning, thinking, and leading.
Culture: Trained staff and clients to always come to founders to solve problems.
Strategy: Focused on client delivery, not what was needed to do to be successful.
The first challenge was to change the culture and reduce Sally’s workload by hiring top notch staff. Sally had a very real concern about quality. In her business there were no second chances: one mistake could cost shut the company down. The result was that Sally didn’t want to risk losing her company so she did everything herself.
“Words and assumptions determine your life’s experiences.”
Sally’s focus was to protect her company by asking, “what could go wrong?” Instead she learned to ask, “What had to happen to make the goal possible?” and “How can I do this?” The results were stunning, and fast.
“What had to happen to make the goal possible?”
Sally hired someone who understood about the critical nature of her business, had the technical expertise and delighted in traveling at this point in their career. He was the first of many and Sally was able to focus on other aspects of the business.
Ask “How can I do this?”
Sally was now running a multi-million dollar global corporation. She’d learned to delegate and trust her staff, modified her leadership style, and took a well earned vacation.
She was learning to trust her mentor on a deeper level. When we began talking about leadership, and goals we focused on the business. It was time to talk about what Sally wanted to achieve in her life and how that mapped to her business life. Suddenly it all became clear to Sally. She had no time for her family, and wasn’t doing what she really dreamed about doing. Sally wanted to open a technical school for underprivileged students in a poor rural community.
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“What goal is so large it excites all five of your senses?”
Sally had been talking about signing a $5 million dollar contract with a stipulation that she remain with the company for the contract duration. In essence she was committing $5 million dollars and 5 years of her life. The question I posed was, “When are you going to start that school?”
“The quality of your life is dependent on the questions you ask and your courage in taking action.”
Sally was a courageous and inspirational person. She recognized that time is a finite commodity. Sally had enough money. It was time she was running out of. Sally didn’t sign the contract, started working on the school, spent time with her family and moved onto a new chapter in her life.
Sally was fortunate. She realized that while money is good to have, it’s an enabler for freedom and influence.
“Life is today. Use it wisely. This is not a dry run.”
Is Sally glad she hired a mentor and advisor? Yes. She’s realized what’s important to her and is liv-ing the life she wants with no regrets.
Plan for success. Invest in yourself. What are you waiting for?
Carol Smith, CEO, Revenue Attraction helping businesses thrive by creating clear paths to success. You can engage Carol through her group, Emerald Mentorship Program for business owners with revenue goals of six and seven figures. Carol also offers consulting by the minute for those burning questions you need answers to now. Special 2 or 3-day Transformational Business Breakthrough Masterminds retreats are offered to those on her exclusive mailing list.
Emerald Mentorship Program: http://www.carolsmith.com/emerald_mentorship_program_carol_smith_revenue_attraction/ http://www.CarolSmith.com http://www.RevenueAttraction.com
Note: Case studies are composites with the names changed to protect confidentiality. Results vary.
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How often have we wasted countless hours or dollars by trying to reinvent the wheel with the DIY (do-it-yourself) method? Many business owners neglect to use their resources wisely, by simply updating existing documents for future use. Planning ahead in this way may create a window of opportunity to do something else productive with that time. If this sounds familiar in any way, then consider using templates for your business documents as a cost effective solution to working smarter versus harder.
If you lack the time or patience, you may prefer to budget funds and outsource graphic design projects. Working with a graphic designer to have a set of templates available for future use, would be a time and money saving asset. With templates available, it may be as easy as sending an email or making a phone call to order a minor change to your documents. Once these templates are available, only basic information may need to be changed such as, location, event, time, or just the body of a document.
If you are a computer savvy entrepreneur with minimal graphic design skills, you may opt to hire a designer to create a set of general templates. Ask for a customized document produced in a software program that you are comfortable using. Any editing (other than the major graphics) you will have the option to DIY. With an easy to edit template, it will be simple to add basic images and text information. When handling the updated information, it will take far less time and provide your organization with a clean and professional image. Having an editable template readily available would be a great business strategy for a less stressful workflow. Have a graphic design question? Send an email to Dayna: [email protected]
Be the Boss Magazine
30
If there was one strategy that I would recommend to guarantee success for your business, it would be to provide extraordinary customer service for your clients at every opportunity! Although there are a hundred or more business strategies out in the world ranging from lean management techniques to lead generation to increasing workplace productivity – A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all. - Michael LeBoeuf
Building your business for the short-term is simply having a good product or service that people want and can afford, then you go out into the marketplace and compete against everyone else who has a product or service just as good as yours. A strategy based on price points and profit margins keeps you looking inside your business, not outside where your market lives. You’ll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can’t be copied. - Jerry Fritz
Undoubtedly, when the customers you attract are more concerned with price than quality, you’ll encounter an above average level of complaints. The more ‘average’ your goods are, the more complaints you’ll get. This isn’t the worst thing in the world, but if you’re willing to actually listen to the complaints, you’ll find exactly what you need to do to raise your customer services levels quickly and effectively. Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. - Bill Gates
The quality of your products or services is not as important as the quality of your customer service. Only a small percentage of your customers care to know every nuance and detail of your products features – what they are all interested in knowing is how well they are treated and left feeling about their purchase decisions. Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it. - Peter Drucker
Long-term business success is generated through great experiences and positive word-of-mouth referrals by your customers. Every massively successful business understands this concept and focuses entirely on it in every customer engagement. Communications is a two-way street as the saying goes; there’s the message your business communicates and how the message is repeated by clients. Do this well and your business will grow great!
Robert ‘Bob’ Christiansen, Jr. is a dreamer, imaginer and optimist WHO’S greatest strength is inspiring others to believe in their ideas. A native of Long Island New York, his simple yet inspired event and ‘ninja marketing’™ practices produce real positive results. Consistently raising the bar and bringing it crashing down on stagnating anachronisms, Bob personifies possibility – “See Something, Do Something.”
Contact Robert Christiansen by E-mail at [email protected] or by phone 631-334-1766. Let’s Connect! Via facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rchristiansenjr
Thoughts Before Coffee
Be the Boss Magazine
31
STORY
If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful. - Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon.com
Communicating as an extraordinary customer service experience isn’t a one-time event, it’s continuous and always in context with the customer’s expectations. How can you know their expectations? Ask them! While offering your products or services and from the very beginning also offer a way to obtain feedback, whether in a store front or online, ask them about their experience. Keep it simple and to the point. The more you engage with customers the clearer things become and the easier it is to determine what you should be doing. - John Russell, President, Harley Davidson
As an idea, perhaps offer purchase points equivalent to store credits or discounts on future purchases for each response given. Make up a contest available only to those who have made a purchase from your business that enters them into a contest. Make it engaging using plain language and keep the scientific-like questions for your internal analysis work. The goal is to engage your customers, make them part of the customer service experience without boring them.
Loyal customers, they don’t just come back, they don’t simply recommend you, they insist that their friends do business with you. - Chip Bell, Founder Chip Bell Group
Given the routine ups and downs of the economy - combined with the pace of technology development and the growing competition – taking a stand for exceptional customer service isn’t going ‘old school’, it’s the only school that ever mattered. Maybe you think this is taking a risk, that you’re opening your business to criticism. It isn’t. Being a provider of incredible customer service is being amazing! The biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks. - Mark Zuckerberg
In conclusion, by committing to success is committing to being a provider of extraordinary customer service to your clientele, such that they are compelled to promote your business because you listened to them, adjusted your services for them, and communicated with them more often than your competitors ever dreamed of, you will succeed! Do this and you’ll join the ranks of the ultra-successful, make a lot of money, but most importantly, you’ll build a long-term, lasting enterprise that will be well-spoken of for years to come! For us, our most important stakeholder is not our stockholders, it is our customers. We’re in business to serve the needs and desires of our core customer base. - John Mackey
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PREFERREDBusiness Directory
The Preferred Business Directory is no ordinary
directory. This is not just a list of businesses.
This directory is designed to help you to grow your professional network instantly. Everyone in our directory is a business owner who is a true ‘business connector’, dedicated to helping others succeed while they grow their own businesses.
Each listing features a live link that will take you directly to the person’s Facebook fan page or to their website. When you join their fan pages, be sure to leave a note and introduce yourself.
Building a strong network is vital to business today. Be sure to connect with each person in our directory and start the process of building new friendships, alliances and referral partners.
Marla StochXocai
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Bob New Linton-Cole
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Patty FarmerBiz Link Global
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Katie WeggSocial Outbreak
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Dayna OffuttDay of Designing
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Julia HullCalifornia Real Estate Mart
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Catherine MorganPoint A to Point B Transitions Inc.
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Mark Werner Miracles Through Water
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Kristi WillisRodan and Fields Dermatologists
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Michael BattagliaInsureYouToo
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Robert ChristiansenChocolate Blues Director
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Caterina RandoThrive with Caterina Rando
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James BoggusGenesis Life Travel
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Dana MazurekSoZo Life
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Cindy Metzger30secondtuneup.comConnect with Cindy
Dale LittleBusiness StrategistConnect with Dale
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Errol AllenErrol Allen Consulting
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K. Andre AnktonInnovarus Media
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Debbie MurlinItWorks!
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Ronette WoodOrgana Gold
Craig ThomasLegal Shield
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