Simplify: Dig your well before you’re thirsty.

dig your well before thirstySimplify

How would you benefit by knowing, with absolute clarity, who your ideal customers and/or employees are, where they are, how you can reach them and what you need to say to them that sets you apart from your competitors.

Think about this: What would it feel like to have all of these things?
• Less unanticipated problems which will mean less headaches and less stress
• Consistently improving results which will mean consistently improving income and cash flow
• Relationships of trust with every employee, vendor, customer and client.
• Customized Simple Solutions that work for you. Every business and owner is unique.
• Personal 1-on-1 mentoring where you can rely on someone with Competence and Character to help you to ask the right questions, come up with the right solutions, to help you anticipate problems before they happen.

What would your life be like a year from now if you were achieving one of the following:
1. The same results you are now getting but with less time, effort and/or money invested on your part.
Or
2. Better results with the same amount of time, effort and/or money invested on your part.
Or
3. Better results with less time, effort and/or money invested on your part
Or…
4. You might choose to spend more in time, effort and/or money and absolutely DOMINATE your competition.

 The best way to accomplish this is to simplify your business – the principle of simplicity or 80/20.

That is not a simple thing to do nor is it easy and almost impossible to do on your own.

If it were easy, everyone would do it and it’s almost impossible to do from the inside. By that I mean it is very difficult to recognize, diagnose and prescribe solutions for yourself.

Simplification always looks obvious after it’s done…but never before.

It’s almost impossible to re-invent from the inside out, because a fish in water can’t see the water for what it is.

Most (ailing) organizations are not suffering because they cannot resolve their problems but because they cannot see their problems.” – John Gardner

Here are 3 Essential Questions you need answers to when creating a Simple Solution:

  1. Since every business, it’s culture and owner is UNIQUE  you need to ask: How do we treat every problem, person or situation as UNIQUE? Solutions, whether created from scratch or swiped from a “Best Practice” approach, have to be made to Fit the Culture and Structure of each individual organization. Solutions need to be tailored to the uniqueness of the problem, people and situation.
  2. To create the desired solution, what forward-thinking, 3rd alternative and purposeful Information do we need in order to create a future living solution?
  3. How can we think Structurally about the Solution?  In other words, how can we make sure that the solution we come up with fits into the current structure of the business – uses the same language, fits the culture, people, systems, worldview, etc…

The attitude that leads to breakthroughs in your business is: You want to become an expert in the solution rather than the in the problem.

A good business coach or consultant will help you to dig your well before you’re thirsty.    

Contact us right now before the fear of disrupting the status quo sets in.

Let us be what your competitors can’t afford on their own – your virtual marketing department.

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How to Get Your Ideal Customers to Raise Their Hand and Beg You to Sell Them More

The real key to success is not having better answers…it is rather in having better questions.

One of the most effective 80/20 strategies you can utilize is to interview your TOP clients and find out what they wish you could change about your industry, what they wish you could provide them or sell them, what they wish someone, anyone could solve for them, what would make their lives so much easier, what would help them grow and expand their business.

Then, do your very best to fulfill every wish. It isn’t that you disregard everyone else, it’s just that you create your systems and solutions based on what your 20%’ers want and don’t want.

Your other “average” clients will benefit as well due to the trickle-down effect.

If you are going to be the business in your marketplace that dominates, you have to come to the realization that you can’t be all things to all people.

First, you need to go back to your 80/20 Assessment Analysis and pay special attention only with your ideal, top clients.

If you have 1,000 customers, it is likely that as few as 10 or maybe as many as 200 qualify as your ideal, top clients.

You interview these people and you talk to them, ask them smart probing questions and you LISTEN to them.

Ask them why they do business with you?

Ask them if there are any other products or services they would like to see you offer?

Ask them what they like least about your industry in general and you in particular?

Ask them what you do well that really, really pleases them?

Ask them what they hate most about other types of businesses – like restaurants, cleaners, auto dealers, shopping in general?

Ask them about their aspirations, challenges, short and long-term goals?

Our 80/20 Assessment Analysis consists of anywhere from 12 to 15 different qualifiers.   Contact me to learn more.

Never waste your time, staff or resources providing what your top, ideal customers don’t want or don’t care about.

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The Exponential Effect of Combining 8020 Online and Offline Marketing

 

Adding 8020 online marketing and selling to your brick & mortar business has to simply be a part of any marketing and sales process.

Regardless of the business, making sales and providing real service are two of the most vital measurements of any 8020 business.

Yet, the vast majority of small business owners don’t adequately use their online presence (website, social media, Email marketing) to complement and enhance their offline marketing and sales process.

Implementing 8020 online business strategies and tactics is fun, highly leveraged and can be outrageously profitable.

In fact, adding 8020 online sales and marketing strategies, systems and tactics to your brick and mortar business is probably the easiest way to increase your cash flow fast without the aid of a mask and a gun.

Best of all, it is moral, ethical and the easiest way to ensure you never break the laws of God or man.

8020 online marketing helps and serves your prospects and customers while adding extra profits and cash to your bank account while at the same time bringing stability to your business.

Too many small business owners make the mistake of thinking they can make a fortune in their brick and mortar business selling products and services without integrating solid 8020 online marketing methods.

When you combine various elements of 8020 online and offline marketing and sales into your prospecting, sales, and follow-up process the potential to increase your profits and cash flow grows exponentially.

And that can be multiplied by increasing the amount of money each customer spends every time they purchase and increases the likelihood of them referring like-minded new prospects.

There are 3 main ways to increase sales and profits in any business:

  1. Acquire more new customers to buy from you.
  2. Increase the amount of money your customers spend each time they buy from you.
  3. Get your customers to buy from you more often.

Most businesses, small and large, spend the majority of their time, effort and money focused on number 1:  getting more customers.

But by implementing 8020 sales and marketing there is far more money to be made with far less time, effort and expense by focusing on numbers 2 & 3: increasing the amount of money your customers spend and getting them to buy more often.

Also, which I’ll share with you at a later time, when you really take time to build trusting relationships with the 20% that generate 80% of your sales, profits and cash flow, through education and exceptional service, you build a steady stream of high quality 8020 referrals.

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Hire Eagles: 5 Steps to Find, Hire and Keep Only the Best People – the 20% that Generates 80% of Your Results

Hire Only Eagles – 5 Steps to Find, Hire and Keep Only the Best People – the 20% that Generates 80% of Your Results Part One:

In his book “A Little Bit At A Time”, Russell Wright showed that this concept was introduced as early as 1911 by an author named Frederick Taylor who wrote a book titled “The Principles of Scientific Management” where he state four principles.

Here they are paraphrased a bit:

  • Get and Keep the Right People
  • Make clear what needs to be done.
  • Make appropriate training, resources and support available.
  • Remove the obstacles from their path and let them do what needs to be done.

In his book “Good to Great”, autghor Jim Collins found a similar thing with all Great companies:

1st: It starts with having the right leader/leadership skills.

2nd: They then got the “right” people on the “bus” and just as importantly, they got the wrong ones off.

3rd: They had the ability to be honest about current reality.

4th: They kept it simple by adhering to the 80/20 Principle.

5th: They created a culture of discipline.

6th: They understood the concepts of the Principle of Compounding. A little bit at at time, all the time, has the greatest chance of success.

Then in the 1950’s W. Edward Demings and J.M. Juran, American consultants, were invited to Japan to help them rebuild their economy.

It must be noted that American industrialists dismissed their ideas. I’m sure Deming and Juran would have preferred to stay home and help American industry take it to the next level.

This is the Acres of Diamonds syndrome or as Jesus stated “But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown” – Luke 4:24

For whatever reason, we tend to look outside our own backyard for answers.

I’m telling you, you have everything you need to get everything you want already available to you.

To find, hire and keep only the best there is a five step process to follow. [similar to the pattern we follow to help you find, get and keep only the best customers]

  1. Be the best employer in town.  Be the kind of person/business top performers want to be associated with. 
  2. Know your Market– Know who your target audience is. What do the best people look like?
  3. Create your Message– What is your unique story? What makes you appealing to the best people?
  4. Choose your Media– Where do these top performers hang out? Where is the best place to reach them?
  5. Keep them.

In Part Two I will go into more detail as a precursor to my upcoming book of the same title.

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7 Biblical Characteristics of Principle-Centered Leaders

The Law of the Farm is the guiding principle of Principle Centered Leaders

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  2 Corinthians 9:6

  1. They are Constantly Learning. “Principle centered people are constantly educated by their experiences. They read, they seek training, they take classes, they listen to others. They are curious, always asking questions. They continually expand their competence, their ability to do things. They discover that the more they know, the more they don’t know; Most of this learning and growth is self-initiated.” ~Stephen Covey

They live by the Rule-of-Success: Constant Improvement. Be Better today than yesterday. They work at improving at least one dimension of their life every day. Far too many people reach a certain point in their lives where they stop learning and thus stop improving. There are many people who have 20 or 30 years in a certain profession but in terms of expertise really only have one years experience 20 or 30 times. In other words they stopped learning and improving at their profession after the 1st years experience and for the next 20 –30 years just kept repeating that same experience over and over again.

“Intelligent people are always open to new ideas. In fact they look for them. – Proverbs 18:15 NLT

“Formal education will get you a job; self-education will make you rich.” ~ Jim Rohn

  1. They have a Servitude Heart.Every day they look at their life as a “mission” – what can I do to improve the lives of those around me. They understand that in order to get what they want in life, they have to help others get what they want.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility, consider others better than yourself. Each of you should look after not only your own interests but also the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 2:3-5 NIV

  1. They Radiate Positive Energy. They are generally cheerful, pleasant, and happy with their lives; their attitudes are optimistic, positive and upbeat. They look to create rather than tear-down. Their spirit is enthusiastic, hopeful and believing. Their general attitude is “there is a solution to every problem.”

“Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. – Philippians 4:8b NLT

  1. They Believe in Others. “Principle-Centered people don’t overreact to negative behaviors, criticism or human weaknesses.”

Because Principle-centered leaders are also Biblical-centered they understand that every human was created with unique talents. Just as every part of the body has its own unique function, so does the greater body of God’s creation – humans; who each have their own unique skills and talents and when we work Interdependently together we can accomplish SO MUCH more than we can independently or divided.

“God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well.” –Romans 12:6a NLT

  1. They Lead Balanced Lives. “They read voraciously and keep up with current affairs and events. They are active intellectually, having many interests. They read, watch and learn. And have a healthy sense of humor.”

They are self-aware, authentic and self-honest; they have a clear understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. What motivates them and demotivates them so that they can better control their environment and thus results.

They recognize that there are ABSOLUTES and condemn the bad and champion the good.

They know how to make decisions and just as importantly, they know how to live with the decisions they have made.

They are not extremists and do not back themselves into a corner by making everything – all or nothing.

They have no need to manipulate through either intimidation or self-pitying martyrdom.

“There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven:  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to harvest; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to turn away; a time to search and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear and a time to mend; a time to be quiet and a time to speak up; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NIV

  1. They are Intrinsically Motivated.Because they are intrinsically motivated their security comes from within instead of from without. Their true security comes from their initiative, resourcefulness, creativity and natural intelligence (from God their Creator).

They take no man as an IDOL – no one is “Bigger-than-Life” thus they resist become any person’s disciple. One of their fixed Principles is Flexibility. They truly lead an abundant life.

Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master – Christ. Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind  that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you’re really serving God. Good work will get you good pay from the master, regardless of whether you are a slave or free. Ephesians 6: 5-8 NLT

  1. They are Synergistic. Because they understand the Natural Laws of God (Principles) they are “change catalysts”; they improve almost every situation they encounter. They are “Diligent” – they work hard AND smart.

They have traversed the “Maturity Continuum” from the lowest level of : Dependency (lowest level of infant, children, adolescent stage)– to – Independency – to – Interdependcy (the Highest level of the truly MATURE) to be able to skip compromise and arrive right at a Synergistic Solution that is stronger and better.

Read All of Ephesians 4 to give you a real sense of Interdependcy but Ephesians 4:4 alone sums it up. “We are all parts of one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future.” TLB

The Law of the Farm is their guiding principle.

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  2 Corinthians 9:6

Two great experts on this are Stephen Covey in Principle Centered Leadership and John MacArthur, “The Book on Leadership”.

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2/3 of Small Business Owners Don’t Know How to Ask the Right Questions and It’s Costing Them Money

Ask the right questions and you’ll get the right answers. 

A recent survey of 2600 small business owners, conducted in January 2017 by “Small Business Trends” revealed that 62% of them believe Facebook advertising is ineffective.

First, we believe the reason for this is the same reason too many small business marketing strategies don’t work – they don’t ask the right questions.

Our Essential Elements discovery process is designed to help you discover the six elements every small business owner needs to know. The very first element is designed to determine who your ideal target audience is.

There are 6 elements to knowing who your Target Audience is.
In some cases, you’ll need to survey or have conversations with existing customers to accurately flesh out your target audience.

One, Demographic Information: Where do your clients come from specifically?

  • Geographic location
  • Income
  • Gender
  • Education
  • Marital status
  • Occupation
  • Religion
  • Age

Two, Psychographics:

  • Spending habits-where do they shop?
  • Hobbies
  • Values
  • Concerns
  • Desires
  • Lifestyles
  • Associations they might be affiliated with

Three, Sources of Information: Where Does Your Target Client [ideal customer] Get His or Her Information?
Who are the thought leaders they follow like authors, bloggers, magazines, websites, podcasters?
What Facebook pages are liked by your Target Audience?
What Facebook groups do your Target Audience belong to?
What are the most popular online discussion forums in your niche?
What are the most popular LinkedIn groups in your niche?

Four, Pain Point or Challenges: What is their major problem they have that you have a solution to?

Five, Objections In Their Purchase Process: What are the reasons your customer might choose NOT to buy from you or your product or service?

Six, What are their goals and values?
Second, they don’t understand the importance of testing.  One of the great advantages to Facebook advertising is how easy, fast and relatively inexpensive it is to test not only the answers to the  6 elements to knowing who your Target Audience but also the message including the attention grabbing headline.

Testing budgets as small as $5 or $10 a day, focusing on different mixes, can tell you what you need to know before you begin to invest larger amounts in your campaign.

Our Essential Elements discovery process helps you discover these six things which are critical regardless of what media or technology you use.

  • Who is your Target Audience. Your ideal customer. The 20% that generate 80% of your revenue, cash flow and ultimately your profits.
  • The Lifetime Value of your customers. You know exactly how much you can spend or ethically reward someone to become your client or remain a loyal fan.
  • Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). This is what sets you apart from everyone else.  What makes you, your products or services unique?
  • Risk Free Guarantee. This is what makes it easier for your clients to say YES vs
  • 100% Financial Capacity. This clarifies how much money you are potentially leaving on the table and gives you the insight and courage to move forward.
  • 80/20 Principle. Also originally known as the Pareto Principle.
    The vast minority of your customers, employees, products/services, efforts, time, money, resources are generating the vast majority of your results. This process helps you identify them.

The question is always the answer.

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When Trust is High…

When Trust is High, so are your profits.

In his book “The Speed of Trust”, Stephen M.R. Covey said there is an economics to Trust.

Low trust = low speed and high cost

High trust = high speed and low cost

Low trust causes friction whether it is caused by low Character or low Competence or both.

Low trust causes hidden agendas, politics, personal conflicts, win-lose thinking, defensive and protective communication.

Low trust slows everything down – every decision, communication and every relationship.

High Trust on the other hand, produces speed.

There is one thing that is common to every individual, relationship, team, organization, nation, economy and civilization – the one thing that if removed, will destroy the most powerful government, the most successful business, the most thriving economy, the most influential leadership, the greatest friendship, the strongest character, the deepest love.  Trust.

Not long ago I shot a quick video, simply using my iPhone to explain to some of my Real Estate partners why I felt I was so successful in that industry.  (Not to digress, but this simple and inexpensive method of video marketing is a potential gold mine for you. We will teach you and implement it for you.)

Because trust is based off of principles, my message works regardless of the industry, location or time.

Learn more here:

When_Trust_is_High...

Here’s my definition of TRUST

Trust = Competence + Character demonstrated over Time.

When trust is high:

  • Communication is easy and effortless.
  • The emotional bank account with everyone in your Circle of Concern is high so mistakes are more easily forgiven.
  • When mistakes are made, meaning is still understood.
  • Everything in your life goes smoother and momentum is always in a positive direction.

Conversely, when trust is low:

  • Communication is ineffective, time-consuming and difficult.
  • Every little mistake is taken personally by the offended.

In my experience, I have found that people instinctively trust someone whose communication and personality is based on accurate Principles –those founded on God’s Natural Laws.

People recognize when they are being manipulated for the benefit of the manipulator.

15 Habits to cultivate within yourself and your business that will help you build strong meaningful relations – both personal and business:

1. Be Honest & Authentic. Always be straight with people.

2. Act with Kindness & Courtesy. Be Respectful of everyone; even those who might be “in-your-face”. You may have to “fire” a customer one day, but be respectful about it and then move on.

3. Be Transparent – An Educated Customer is the Best Customer. Consistently tell the world what you offer, why you offer it and how it will benefit them.
Tell the complete story about what makes you and your product or service unique. You don’t have to just tell the good, tell some bad as well. Every product or service will not be the right fit for everyone. Admit it right up front. Stating what you can’t do builds trust and alleviates unpleasant problems down the road. I’d rather lose the sale right up front and build a reputation of integrity than lose a client after the sale due to disappointment.

4. Apologize When Wrong. When you screw up, take responsibility, apologize and make some sort of meaningful restitution.

5. Be Loyal – especially to the Absent (never talk badly about anyone behind their back)

6. Deliver Results – One of the best habits you can cultivate in order to accomplish the results your clients/customers/patients expect is to adhere to clarify expectations, the next habit.

7. Clarify Expectations – Make sure everyone fully understands including yourself). Almost all conflicts are a result of violated expectations. Even though most of my business is done with a simple handshake, it is still imperative that the expectations of effort, responsibilities and results are clarified in writing.

8. Be a Student of your Business – Constantly Improve by exposing yourself to new ideas, techniques and people.

9. Be Honest about Reality. Being self-aware is one of the foundations of ever achieving greatness. You have to know what motivates and de-motivates you. What you strengths and weaknesses are.

10. Be Proactive – Take responsibility and hold yourself and others accountable. Learn to “Think Win-Win or No Deal.” Never blame someone else.

11. Listen with the Intent to Understand Rather than Simply to Respond. Ask Smart Questions and listen.

12. Keep your Promises. One of the best ways to accomplish this is under-promise, over-deliver.

13. Extend Trust -Give trust and expect it in return.

14. Actively Seek Complaints – Be open to feedback; That means proactively seek out complaints as an opportunity to build trust.

15. Have an Attitude of Gratitude.

There is a positive velocity to your life that occurs when trust is high that can’t be compensated for in any other way.

 

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Only Immediate Response Marketing

If you are not creating Immediate Response marketing, you are wasting your money.

Most brick & mortar, mom & pop owned and operated businesses advertise and market like the Big Brand boys.   Their marketing is full of platitudes pushing the wrong agenda of Image, Brand and Presence.

 

Dan Kennedy, marketing guru, shared these sad facts that coincidently follow the 80/20 Principle:

1% of Small Business Owners create tremendous income and wealth for themselves.  They DOMINATE their market within their industry.

4% do quite well. They are prosperous and have created a very nice lifestyle for themselves and their families.

15% make a good living.

80% struggle day-to-day or fail altogether.

 

When I owned my new car franchised dealership I fought a continual battle.

The factory charged me several hundred dollars per car/truck that they designated as “co-op advertising funds”.

They would give that money back to me IF I advertised to promote their Image, Brand and Presence.

I can’t adequately communicate how much this irked me and how short-sighted I viewed this.

Like all “Policies & Regulations” there were loopholes, but what a waste of time and energy to have to run my business that way.

Those small businesses in the 20% tiers don’t blindly follow the crowd. They adhere to a different way of doing business and that especially applies to their marketing.

According to Dan Kennedy:  Your Marketing Strategy needs to be and can be much SIMPLER.

  1. Every $1.00 spent on marketing has to provide you an IMMEDIATE Return-on-Investment (ROI) – FAST! Like TODAY preferably.
  2. That ROI must able to be accurately tracked back to that $1.00 spent.
  3. DO NOT spend a $1.00 that does not IMMEDIATELY return more than it costs you.

We will not take on a client where we do not feel confident we can bring them a return 3 to 5x’s what they spend for our advice, strategies and plans.

As a small business owner with limited resources, your sole agenda has to be to SELL SOMETHING TODAY!

You cannot afford any other way of thinking.

Every marketing communication you create from now on must be created with these 7 Rules at the forefront of your thinking:

  1. It must be created with the intent to get a sale TODAY!
  2. Every marketing/advertising communication will have an Intriguing and near Impossible-to-Refuse Offer in it.
  3. Always, always have a reason for the prospect or customer to RESPOND – Immediately.
  4. It must have very clear instructions on What you want them to do, When and How.  Always make it easy to do business with you AND to say YES!
  5. Every marketing/advertising communication will be trackable. “You can’t manage what you don’t or can’t measure.”
  6. Brand-building will only be done using NO-COST methods. Absolutely no platitudes.
  7. Follow-up will be built right into every marketing communication.

 

If you are spending money with agencies, radio stations, television ads, newspaper ads, online advertising, websites, postcards, brochures, etc. and they are not adhering to these rules. Fire them! NOW!   You are on the path to joining or remaining in that 80% that just survive.

Our Desired End Results for every owner we work with is to get them to that 1%.

Only Immediate Response Marketing will get you there.

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Why Businesses Fail

Reason One why businesses fail or at best remain average:

They don’t fully understand their 100% Financial Capacity so they don’t fully realize how much they are actually “leaving on the table” as additional profit to invest in growth.

Let’s look at a simple example of a Restaurant: If you have 30 tables and average 1 hour to turn the table and you are open 10 hours per day, 6 days a week and average ticket is $25 and average table is 2 people.

30 tables x 10 hours x $50 (2x $25) = $15,000 in sales per day would be 100% Capacity….$90,000 per week.

If you are currently averaging $23,000 per week you are 25% of Capacity.

Now I’m not saying it is going to be easy to get to $90,000 in revenue per week, but at least now the owner fully realizes what his full potential is at this very moment.

When I conducted this exercise with my Service Director of my auto dealership, it suddenly took off his blinders as to the full potential of our fixed operations and suddenly there was innovation born of confidence.

It turned out there were a lot of what I call “low-hanging” fruit solutions to dramatically improve our back-end.

Most of us, unless we receive some sort of external stimulation, just see the world based on past experiences and it taints our possibility thinking.

We get stuck in a certain paradigm and unless we are nudged out by some external force, we accept things the way they have always been.

Here is a story to illustrate.

“At a recent family gathering my wife was helping her mom make dinner. As they were about to put the beef roast into the pan, grandma cut the ends off. My wife asked her why she always cut the ends off; was it to somehow let the juices flow more freely? Her mom said no, I’ve always just done it that way, because my mom always did it that way.
As it happened great-grandma was in the living room, so my wife and her mother went and asked her why she always cut the end of the roast off.
‘I cut the ends off because my pot was too small to hold a full roast!”

This is just one of the advantages to having a consultant, coach or adviser on your team.

We’ll take you to a different level of thinking.

Stephen Covey, author of The 7 habits of Highly Effective People said:

If you want to make minor, incremental changes and improvements, work on practices, behavior or attitudes.  But if you want to make significant, quantum improvement, work on paradigms.   

Learn more at my video: 100% Financial Capacity

 

Second Reason: They don’t have a clear understanding of who their Ideal Target Audience is and/or what they want.

I’m sure you are somewhat familiar with the 80/20 Principle.

This principle states that 20% of your customers are generating 80% of your revenue.

These are your champions. And these are the people you want to reward and retain, get referrals from and just as importantly, duplicate.

You can actually take this even a step further and identify the 20% of the 20% (4%) that is generating 64% of your revenue.

It is uncanny how accurate this is.

Remember, the single easiest and cost-effective way to double your business is to have each client bring you another client…preferably just like them (assuming they are a 20% ‘er)

To market and sell your business, product or service properly, the very first thing you must do is get clear on WHO your ideal customer is, where they are hanging out, what their challenges are, etc…Every marketing piece must know what your clients and potential clients “hot buttons” are, where they get their information and what’s important or relevant to them.

Customers only care what’s important to them, not what’s important to you.

Cardinal Rule: Always remember that the customer is thinking What’s In It For Me? (WIIFM)

Once you find who the target truly is then you can know how to create your most intriguing message.

The more you know about this Ideal Target Audience the easier it is to duplicate them.  We have found Facebook’s marketing tool to be one of the most effective ways to accomplish this.

There are 5 major components to help identify  your Ideal Target Audience.

In some cases, you’ll need to survey or have conversations with existing customers to accurately flesh out your target audience.

  1. What are their Goals and Values
  2. Where Does Your Target Client Get His or Her information?
  3. Demographic Information
  4. Challenges and Pain Points
  5. Psychographic information

All we need is an email or phone number of your Ideal customers and with Facebook marketing we can find potential new customers who have similar traits. (think birds of a feather, flock together)

 

That brings us to the third ReasonNot knowing the Lifetime Value of your Customer.

Just like knowing what your 100% Financial Capacity is, knowing what the average Lifetime Value of each customer gives you the advantage over your competition of knowing  exactly how much you can spend or ethically bribe someone to be your client.

And by incorporating our 80/20 Analysis we can help you identify the value of each level of your customers which will allow you to reward each level according to their value to your business.

You won’t believe what an eye-opening experience it is to see in black and white, the difference in values.

I had lunch a few weeks back with the president of a local bank. They inadvertently discovered that approximately 600 of their 12,000 customers were earning them enough to break-even.

Interestingly, this 600 accounted for around 5% of their total clients.

They created 4 categories or quadrants of clients based on their value.

Another interesting thing they found was that in the 4th quadrant, or about 80% of their customers, they were actually losing money on them.

This knowledge allowed them to create different levels of service for each quadrant.

They have pulled out all the stops to learn everything they can about these 600, in terms of the 5 major components to help identify  your Ideal Target Audience.

And they stay in constant and consistent communication with things these 600 individually value.

He told me that within 120 days, they almost doubled the business from these 600.

I then opened his eyes to how we can now help him “duplicate” these 600 and take his business to a whole ‘nother level.

Here’s another thing, don’t think of reward as only free stuff, but what extra services can you invest in to reward your clients.

Let me give you an example…
Let’s say that your average client brings an average profit of $75 on the 1st sale. He or she repurchases three more times a year, with an average order amount of $300 and on each $300 reorder you make $150 gross profit.
With the average life of a customer’s patronage being 2 years, every new client is worth $975.
(Note: You need to determine how many years your average customer stays with you; it may be 10 years)

Theoretically you could spend $975 to bring in new clients and still break even.

If you KNOW you can afford to spend up to $975 in acquiring a new customer then you can create advertising, special offers and deals with that key number in mind…

or, here is an example as an auto dealer:

Let’s say that you make a gross profit of $1400 on the sale of a used car.
This customer then typically spends another $100 in that first year of ownership on normal maintenance of which $70 is gross profit.

The first year Value of your average customer then is $1470.

However, let’s also say that your average customer stays with you 3 years and spends an average of $400 a year on service work at $210 gross profit for each visit.

Now you have a Lifetime Value (LTV) of $1470 first year + $210 GP x 3 years = $630, for a total LTV of $2100.

This does not include the number of people he refers to you over that 3 year period that you really didn’t have to spend any money chasing and convincing to buy from you and they have the same $2100 value. 

Now, think of what you might learn if we were to go thru an 80/20 Analysis on these customers and help you discover who the 4% are that are generating 64% of your revenue.

Do you begin to see the why it really is not that hard to DOMINATE your market?

Your competitors who don’t know these Essential Elements will either lose their nerve or lose serious money trying to compete with you because the key metrics for every business are different.

 

The fourth element that most business owners fail at is not knowing your Unique Message.

Every business and business owner is unique and has a unique story to tell.

It is thinking about and articulating, in every advertising, marketing and sales presentation a consistent message of what makes you and/or what you sell UNIQUE and it’s commonly called your USP.
Learn more here:  USP! What is Your Unique Selling proposition? 

The more clearly you communicate what makes you the better choice (benefits, advantages, guarantee, etc) the more often people will choose you over your competition and see you as more valuable.

You can easily tell people why they should choose you in your marketing and have them come in presold.

All your marketing should be built around explaining and reinforcing your USP to your prospects and current customers.

Here is a great example: An Educated Customer is the Best Customer. The Schlitz Brewery story 

 

Fifth, is failing to Make it Easy for your customers or clients to do business with you.

Having a Risk Free Guarantee gives you a clear and compelling advantage over your competition.

A Risk Free Guarantee makes it Easier for your clients to say YES than NO.

Look at every aspect of your business from the products or services you provide to your clients and even your employees and make a list of all the obstacles to your clients or employees that could prevent any of them from purchasing from you, dealing with you or choosing you over your competition.

We have a whole series of questions that lead you thru discovering and creating your Risk Free Guarantee.

Learn more here: Always Make It Easy To Do Business With You

 

Finally, the sixth element, is the failure to realize It’s all about relationships.

Principles, Consistency and Innovation are usually lacking.

Two huge mistakes almost all businesses do that are essential to creating trusting relationships because without these two low-hanging fruit activities, you can’t know enough about who your customers or clients are to build meaningful long-term relationships.

  1. Failure to capture contact information of everyone, and I mean everyone, that visits your web site or your brick & mortar part of your business.
    (You need: name, address, phone# and/or email)
  2. Failure to create a consistent Marketing strategy and system for follow-up.

Building trusting relationships takes constant and consistent communication with information of value to each particular customer.

This is a lot easier than you may think, especially once we’ve helped you create SIMPLE, SIMPLE systems and processes for each of the 6 Essential Elements that are unique to our Principle Centered Marketing, Selling and Business Practices advisory and consulting business.

Not having a trusted adviser or coach on your team certainly isn’t the death knell of your business. But, not having someone on your team who can constantly challenge you and hold you accountable is definitely going to hold you back from ever DOMINATING your market within your industry.

 

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Crap…I’m Paralyzed!

In my 30+ years of leading, managing and training people, I have helped hundreds create a personal “Vision Map” for their own Desired End Results.

The biggest stumbling block is always their being PARALYZED with fear of the unknown or unknowable.

One…they either can’t visualize an end result they think they can achieve.
(This is where I have to convince them that they want what they want  and
for the time-being just forget about whether they think it’s possible or not.)

OR

Two…they can visualize what they want BUT can’t see themselves going
from where they are to where they want to be.
The GAP is just too wide….so they get PARALYZED  and do nothing.

 

Think: The Six Days of Creation
(ideas paraphrased from “Principle Centered Leadership” by Stephen Covey)

“A little bit at a time all the time has the greatest possibility of success.”

“Persist without exception.”

Aesop’s fable: “The Tortoise and the Hare.”

K.I.S.S.  – Keep It Simple Stupid

These are all maxims that demonstrate the Principle of The Law of the Farm
(sequential development process)
that is the key to success.

As recorded in Genesis, God created the earth in six days.
Each day was important and each in its own time:
First day:  light
Second day: sky and water
Third day: land and seas
Fourth day: sun, moon and stars
Fifth day: fish and birds
Sixth day: animals and man

  • As children, we learn to turn over then sit up, then crawl, then walk
    and then run. Each step is important and critical. No step can be skipped.
  • In school we study basic math before algebra, algebra before calculus.
    We simply cannot do calculus until we understand algebra.
  • In construction we build a strong foundation before doing any framing
    and finishing work.

The notion here is that there is a natural sequence to succeeding.

Progress in any endeavor means you have to accept that you may be at Day 2 in knowledge or experience and it would be foolish to try expect Day 6 results.

To conquer this “paralysis” that prevents most people from even starting much less “finishing” –  think about and understand these six “implications” of this “six-day” principle.

Growth is a natural process – You reap what you sow; algebra before calculus; crawling before walking.

Comparisons are Dangerous – compare yourself only to yourself.
The Principle of Constant Improvement is: Be better today than yesterday
and be better tomorrow that today.

Remember “there is no wrong way; there is Good – there is Better – and then there is Best.”

We are all at different “days” in our creation process – I may be at day
one in one area of my personal growth development and someone else may
be at day 5 in that area; whereas, I may be at day six in one area and that
same person is only at day one.

Your day four may be my day two.                     .

There is no short cut – If I am at day two and desire to move to day six
I must go thru the sequence of day three, four and five in order.
This where being HONEST is critical.

If you are not honest and authentic you will lose – PERIOD.

To improve we must start from where we are – By doing “one more push-up” than I did the day before, I can more easily get to 30 in a month’s time.
Just start from where you’re at and keep moving forward and improving as you go.

Be a Student of your business.

Be honest about Current Reality – we need to understand our strengths and
weaknesses and be honest about them. Know what motivates us and what
de-motivates us. Almost everyone I have ever worked with in this process
just simply did not know where to start so they developed paralysis.

The key to not being paralyzed is always begin where you are, at your day one.

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