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Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 208
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| Thought for the week: "Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless." Thomas Edison |
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In this week's issue:
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How to keep your customers happy (and increase your sales)
Every small business owner worth his or her salt understands the importance of finding new customers, the need to make the buying process as easy as possible and the benefits of providing a memorable experience that will bring people back to buy from you again.
So why is it that so many owner-managers fail to get this right - or don't do it at all?
Lack of experience generally, and lack of customer empathy specifically, are the usual failure factors in play here.
Here are a few very simple and easy-to-apply tips - mostly based on common sense - that can be used in the majority of small business sales and marketing situations.
1) Make first impressions count
The trick is to make you and your business likeable, so the first impressions a customer gets when visiting your website, opening your brochure or seeing you face-to-face are lasting and important ones. This doesn't mean your sales copy or patter should be cheesy or patronising - just try to be approachable and accessible, professional but friendly. Avoid any hint of superiority, and at all costs don't allow customers to see any signs of frustration you have, no matter how dumb you think they are being.
2) Remember to answer the question "Why?"
It's a damn sight easier to keep on saying what it is you're selling or supplying rather than saying why your prospect or customer should be buying from you. Your customers will generally be smart enough to work out what you're selling, but need to do a bit more work to figure out whether your product or service is exactly what they're looking for. So make it easy for them by letting them know the reasons why your business or your products are precisely for them.
3) Give them choices but don't confuse them
Many sales and marketing studies have produced sufficient evidence to show that the more choices you give people, the less likely they are to make a decision. Hence, while choice and purchasing options are generally considered to be a positive thing for a business to offer, too many options can lead to confusion and a purchasing decision not being made. It's a very fine line to tread but it's vitally important to balance choice with clarity of your offer.
4) Avoid irrelevance and distractions
The old sales adage "the more you tell, the more you sell" is entirely dependent on your sales copy or pitch being 100% relevant and focused on what the customer needs to know and wants to hear. It just does not work where sales copy or pitches are longwinded for the sake of it, or full of diversionary, irrelevant information (or unwanted adverts on your website) that do nothing more than distract your customers' attention away from your primary objective of persuading them to buy your product or service.
5) Make it their product not yours
Too often, sales and marketing pitches deliver a message that confirms it's your product or service, from your business, and with your slant on it that customers will be supplied with. What your prospects and customers really want to read or hear is that you're supplying a product or service specifically for them, with benefits for them, and a customer experience aimed specifically at them. Are your messages and benefits slanted towards you or aimed at them?
6) Be enthusiastic but don't intimidate
Enthusiasm in any situation is infectious and there's nothing better for generating interest, desire and sales for your business than being totally mad about what you're doing and who you're doing it for. Being enthusiastic will generally amplify and magnify everything that is good about your product, service and business. But don't go overboard with this, as it's easy to cross the line where you can end up intimidating and scaring customers away rather than winning the lifelong loyalty you're so desperately trying to achieve.
7) Be prepared to negotiate
It's important to resist the temptation to get into price wars and discount your way out of a problem - as more often than not, you will just go bust more quickly in the process. But that doesn't mean you should never be open to flexibility or willing to negotiate a deal, a sale or engineer a situation that will put you at a distinct advantage over the longer term. Be creative and open to ideas. Look out for opportunities to barter or contra-trade your goods and services. Try to offer a low-cost, entry-level 'front end' for customers, which will pay back profitably in the long run as you build a loyal, repeat-buying customer base.
How to prepare for the WEEE Regulations
If your business produces, re-brands, sells or imports electrical and electronic goods, you need to sign up to an approved take-back scheme before the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations come into force on 1 July.
NetRegs, the Government website that provides guidance on environmental regulations, has also launched a Waste Directory aimed at small businesses in the UK. The directory shows where you can find licensed sites for recycling or disposing of waste. It's free to use and can be searched by postcode or town, as well as by type of waste. Three different directories cater for England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK and elsewhere around the world.
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Carpet recycling services collect and recondition old carpets and floor tiles, either for reuse in homes and business premises, or to be sold on for reprocessing into different materials including lumber, plastic and soundproofing items.
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The latest in an ever-growing line of lifestyle services business ideas catering for cash-rich, time-poor individuals, DoMyStuff is a US online marketplace where busy people can quickly find services willing to take on chores such as mowing the lawn and picking up dry cleaning.
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.
Do you know the meaning of the word 'draconian'?
a) overly elaborate or complicated
b) old fashioned or out of date
c) bare of detail or very basic
d) unreasonably severe or harsh
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) Businesses and employees in which sector are happiest in their jobs, according to a new survey?
a) Hairdressing
b) Construction
c) Catering and hospitality
d) Childcare
2) Which Internet giant has launched a new payment bureau service in an effort to compete with eBay's PayPal?
a) Microsoft
b) Google
c) Apple
d) Yahoo!
3) Which segment of the tourism sector is set to boom over the next two years, according to a new report?
a) Luxury accommodation in renovated country houses
b) Farm-based tours, shops and bed and breakfasts
c) Budget hotels offering no-frills, functional accommodation
d) Holidays with an emphasis on exercise, such as jogging and cycling tours
Answers at the end of the Bulletin.
Buy and sell advice through Skype
Internet telephony service Skype is offering budding entrepreneurs the opportunity to sell spoken advice to customers. The service, which is reported on trend-spotting website Springwise, enables businesses to sell advice for a fixed price to customers willing to pay for it. The advice could come in the form of language lessons, business advice or personal coaching. Both buyers and sellers can benefit from Skype's Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, rather than relying on phone lines.
Web 2.0 tool to create your own web pages
BT's Web 2.0 tool for small businesses, Tradespace, is proving popular among its users. The service allows you to create your own web pages and populate them with content like blogs, photos and podcasts. This sort of content is usually associated with social networking and content-sharing sites such as MySpace and YouTube. However, the Web 2.0 concept is increasingly being used to help businesses communicate with their customers. A BT spokesperson said blogs are popular because they're easy for businesses to use.
Podcast: How to complete the Employer's Annual Return
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has launched a new tax tips podcast service to help employers prepare for the run-up to the deadline for filing their end-of-year returns. The podcast covers topics such as how to complete the Employer's Annual Return, and also provides clear and simple guidance on a range of tax issues. HMRC is one of the first Government departments to launch a podcast. The deadline for end-of-year returns is 19 May.
Microsoft's latest security patches
Microsoft's April security update includes five new security patches. Four of the fixes, which affect the Windows operating system, are deemed to be "critical", while a fifth affects Microsoft's Content Management Server and is also classed under the maximum security rating. An additional emergency patch was issued by Microsoft just before Easter. The software giant has recently come under fire from IT security professionals for failing to issue patches quickly enough.
Just one word answer
The answer is d).
Draconian means unreasonably severe or harsher than is necessary.
Businesses have criticised the draconian measures taken by the Government in extending employment rights. |
How's your business radar? The answers
1) The answer is a) - hairdressers came out top of the 'Happiness Index' poll by City and Guilds, which questioned both businesses and their staff to gauge job satisfaction levels.
2) The answer is b) - Google has launched Google Checkout in the UK to offer cheap payment processing for businesses that advertise via the search engine.
3) The answer is c) - budget hotels are set to lead a major period of expansion in the UK's tourism sector which will result in 23,000 new rooms being created between now and 2009. |
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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. |
