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Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 256
In this week's issue:
How to turn your guarantee into a competitive weapon One of the reasons people won't buy from you is the perceived risk they believe they are taking in buying your product or service. These risks include:
A strong guarantee makes it less threatening for people to consider your offer. You lower the barriers that prevent people from doing business with you. You give them a compelling reason to buy today without fear of looking bad tomorrow. By removing the risk to buyers through guarantees, your business will stand out. You'll make it easy for people to buy from you and your profits will dramatically increase. Businesses shy away from making strong guarantees because they think a large percentage of their customers will take them up on it. At most, only 1-2% of your customers will ever take you up on your guarantee. Ask yourself the following questions:
You'll find that if your product or service is of acceptable quality (even mediocre quality), you should have few complaints, if any. The notion that your customers will take you up on your guarantee too often is a myth. It doesn't happen. Humans generally shy away from confrontation and don't like to make a big issue of things (there can be a downside to that as well.) If your customers are mostly satisfied now, there's nothing to worry about. By offering a risk-free guarantee you'll simply call more attention to the quality you already have in place. Make the strongest promise you can comfortably live up to. And feature it prominently in all your marketing materials. Don't worry about the myth you'll lose your shirt by repeating services or replacing products. It just doesn't happen. If you think you don't have a guarantee, then you're wrong. Around 99% of all small businesses already have a guarantee - they just don't know or publicise it. If you're honouring an invisible guarantee you need to start publicising it. It's a powerful asset in your business that you're not exploiting. If you're not taking care of your customers, whether you have a guarantee or not, you should take care of them. It just makes sense. Especially when you consider that according to one recent study, a satisfied customer tells just one person about your business, but an unsatisfied customer tells nine people. You need to make those numbers work in your favour. You need to satisfy your customers and a guarantee makes it all possible.
Avoiding sales brush-offs As a small business owner, it's inevitable that you will at some point have to try and expand your customer base. In order to do this, you will have to approach new prospects. You might not like doing so but either way you'll have to prepare yourself for the brush-offs that you no doubt will hear from your prospects. Brush-offs you might hear are:
Some salespeople will put the phone down at this point, thanking the prospect for their time. But what you should really do is persevere. Consider this exchange: Caller: Hello, I'm Joe Bloggs from AB Supplies. We specialise in helping food businesses get all their ingredients from just one supplier. I'd like to ask you a few questions to see if AB Supplies can help you. Prospect: I'm happy with my present supplier thanks. Caller: I see. Who do you use at the moment? Prospect: CC Suppliers. Caller: Can you tell me more about their service? I'd like to see if we can improve on that for you. By asking questions after the prospect has resisted your initial sales attempt, you engage them and soften the resistance. Asking a question is effective because it takes the prospect's focus off resisting and gets them involved in answering specifics. Any time you can change the subject from the brush-off to a substantive topic, you effectively ignore the brush-off and gather useful information at the same time. Try to avoid other potential brush-offs by thinking about common responses you hear from prospects. Think of responses you can use to get the prospect talking again.
Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK and elsewhere around the world.
Regularly improving your vocabulary is not just about learning a new word and its meaning. It will improve your general knowledge and make you feel and act smarter in all sorts of personal and business situations. What is the meaning of the word 'misnomer'? a) the wrong or inappropriate use of a name Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
The following topical business issues have been recently reported in the media. Did your radar pick them up? 1) Findings by the Small Business Research Trust (SBRT) have revealed that smaller firms are struggling to cope in the current credit crisis. According to the SBRT, there has been an increase from 26% to 33% in the number of businesses reporting which type of results? a) a rise in bank charges 2) HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is to get powers to carry out spot checks on self- employed people from April 2009. The new rules will do away with current requirements for inspectors to do what? a) attend with an accountant 3) A graduate recruitment agency says that graduates can be offered good promotional and work-life balance opportunities by working for which type of organisation? a) charities Answers at the end of the Bulletin. Help with reducing business bills Businesses, like consumers, are faced with a seemingly endless stream of price increases and rate rises on gas, electricity, fuel, water and phone rental. The MakeItCheaper.com website helps small business owners to search for the best deal to suit their needs. The added bonus is that it's a free service. Website to help protect your business from fraud The British Security Industry Association has launched a site to help businesses combat the risk of ID fraud. The site delivers practical information on keeping your business secure. There are tips on disposing of waste and using information technology securely. It also has fraud facts and figures and a handy downloads section. Top ten mistakes of a sales person The Forum of Private Business has put together a handy list of the top ten mistakes made by sales people. Read it to make sure you don't make the same mistakes - it includes pointers to keep you on the right track if you're involved in sales or prospecting new customers. Effective Business Info site The Effective Business Info site is full of useful information to help you improve your business. You can access free business information by registering your details, and there's a free business health check you can complete.
Visit www.enterprisequest.com to access all back issues of the EnterQuest bulletin. If you have any feedback or suggestions for us to make this service more relevant please e-mail your comments to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com. If you wish to discontinue your subscription to EnterQuest please click on the 'SafeUnsubscribe' link at the bottom of the bulletin. Remember that we guarantee never to sell or give your e-mail address to anyone else. Good luck The EnterQuest Team This information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the information is accurate and up-to-date and will not be responsible for any errors or omissions in the information nor any consequences of any errors or omissions. Professional advice should be sought where appropriate. |
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