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Top 3 Business Challenges http://bit.ly/1e33H3o Need answers? We can help!

Top 3 Business Challenges

The post Top 3 Business Challenges was authored by Drew Almy.

Owning a small business is hard enough these days. Three out of five of them fail within the first two years then another two out of five fail within the first five years.

Overwhelming odds to start a business to say the least but, more importantly, staying in business is the big picture.

There are hundreds of responsibilities in owning a business, I know I don’t have to tell you that. However, the top three business challenges shouldn’t be on that list.

My hope is that by listing them out, breaking them down and showing you the most successful way to manage them, I can help in some small way in your lasting success.

The top three business marketing challenges are knowledge, time, and money. Sounds familiar, right?

I’ve heard plenty of small business owners say the same thing – “I don’t have time for this.” “There is no money in the budget.” “Who are you again?” Some of the most classic responses.

In my case, it feels like trying to ice skate uphill most of the time. However, Zig Ziglar once said: “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” I truly believe that so that’s why I want to help.

Let’s discuss the issues one by one and come up with some proven techniques that will make your life easier, sound good?

Knowledge

The old adage is that “knowledge is power” however, in my humble option, that is only half correct. It is the implementation or action based on that knowledge that gives you power. Here is an example – “Hi, I would like for you to invest in my idea, I need one million dollars, please. Thanks”

Would you do it? Probably not, even if you had the money to spare. Now, what if I told you the person that was asking for it was Warren Buffet? How about Mark Zuckerberg? Maybe, maybe not, but you’re at least thinking about it.

See the knowledge is what makes or breaks people and businesses. The difference between a hero and a goat, right?

Case in point, this year SuperBowl, who passes on the one-yard line when you have the number one running back in the league? Knowledge and action.

So, for you, it’s knowledge of a product or service that will keep you in business by bringing you more customers or getting the upsell from your current customer base.

You have two options that will help you do just that. Search engine optimization and/or social media re-targeting.

This is what allows you to focus on your business while these tools, systematically work for you. Growing your business and re-engaging your customer base.

These are the best employees since they work around the clock, they don’t put undue stress on your customers and you can manage them effectively.

If you’d like to know more about SEO and social media please click on the links provided or here, so we can talk in more detail about your needs.

Time

One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned is that it doesn’t matter how much you want it, how much you deserve it or how hard you’ve worked for it – if the timing isn’t right then it’s not going to happen.

So, you’d better be prepared for when the time comes to start or grow your business. “I don’t have time for this” is an excuse and you’re really saying “I don’t want to spend time on this”.

You’re considered the professional in your field, right? We are too. So we can setup the “digital handshake”, which is your website. It will be information giving but also provide “call to actions” for your customers to set an appointment or straight out buy from you.

We paint a buying picture using your reputation from reviews and customer testimonials so you can present your best foot forward and guide the visitor to buy.

All of this takes time. We’ve dedicated our time to helping you become, and stay, successful. That way, you can focus on what matters most you, your business.

Money

I get it. Most businesses feel that it’s about the money. Sometimes, it is. Other times, it’s a combination of all three challenges. You don’t understand the value or have time to get the information so, you go for the easy out, which is “I don’t have any money for this”.

I know, for a fact, that small business owners are not afraid to make a decision – they’re afraid of making the wrong decision.

That makes perfect sense. A wrong decision could make or break a business. Remember hero or goat? However you don’t have the knowledge or time to become informed, so what do you do?

Two options – either make the time or hire a professional. The worst thing I’ve seen is an owner that does nothing. Can you believe it?! Nothing! People don’t start or grow a business by doing nothing, they do it by acting.

Minimal risk because they are informed or have the right team on staff. Ties back into “knowledge is power”, right?

Final Thoughts

I hope this blog has helped. Either shed some light and provide some direction on your current situation. Or even better, allowed you to accept that you need help. Understand the top 3 business challenges is the tricky part.

Correcting them is a breeze because know you have the knowledge to do so and the time to do it right.

Helping small business become and stay successful is what I do and it’s what I love. Zig Ziglar was right because I have everything I want in this world because I help people get what they want, first.

The post 4 ways Small Business can Compete was authored by Kris Fulmore.

There may be some truth to the maxim, “The bigger the better,” in the world of marketing. However, not in the conventional sense. In an effort to hold one’s own in the global marketplace, businesses are encouraged to be big—because being big implies success, and success implies growth. Yet being big does not make a company immune to failure. It could even be said that the bigger the company, the bigger the fall. The latter is true because big companies are not always the wisest decision makers and they are not always pioneers in the industry.

Personally, I am of the persuasion that the size of your business should pale in comparison to the size of your brand. The positive repercussions of having a larger than life brand are seemingly endless. Big brands are almost guaranteed to command attention and respect. A small company swimming in a sector dominated by companies that are large and powerful can still reap the benefits of a large brand—and they must to survive. In terms of mass a small fish will not win, that is why the small fish (i.e. small company) must learn to play the game differently. Pushing boundaries, leveraging scheduling apps, Internet marketing along with developing a brand will help to amass presence and garner attachment from consumers that would otherwise have been lost to larger competitors. There are four methods to increase a company’s size of the market share, without actually increasing in size. All options revolve around the idea of competitive radicalism—a trend that rewards innovative ideas and attitudes regardless of size.

These four methods are: • Be the monster: a company whose brand demands attention • Be the upstart: a company whose brand is a hidden pearl • Be a monstrous upstart: a company whose brand is louder than it looks • Be an upstart monster: a company whose brand innovates from within

Companies who allow their size, or lack thereof, to hinder development are not taking advantage of the aforementioned methods. Choosing to project a big brand can build a bigger and better future for an otherwise small company.

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Sales: Old School or New School? http://bit.ly/1GOL6Pg Change is here, don't you want to be apart of it?

Sales: Old School or New School?

The post Sales: Old School or New School? was authored by Drew Almy.

There has been a lot of debate over the last few years, decades even, about sales as a profession in any industry. Where is it going? Where has it been? Do we still develop the “old school” mentality of “knuckles to wood” or do we take the sage advice of “work smart, not harder”?

I was brought up in the old school. 200 + cold calls a day, feet in the street in 100 degree weather, channeling Jack Lemmons character from Glengarry Glen Ross on the phones or even worse, the in home sales pitch from Tin Men with Richard Dreyfuss. If you don’t know either of those movies, you’re too young to be in sales kid.

However, the new school, brings so much more fun to the table. You can track the work, see the results and replicate. Just a fancy way of “apply, rinse, repeat” but effective none the less.

You can track the work, see the results and replicate. Just a fancy way of “apply, rinse, repeat” but effective none the less.

Let’s compare the two schools of thought and see which one makes sense for your business, fair enough?

We’ll do three points for each school. First, prospecting then we have to do the demo and finally, we’ll talk about customer service and fulfillment.

You can track the work, see the results and replicate. Just a fancy way of “apply, rinse, repeat” but effective none the less.

Let’s compare the two schools of thought and see which one makes sense for your business, fair enough?

We’ll do three points for each school. First, prospecting then we have to do the demo and finally, we’ll talk about customer service and fulfillment.

 Old School Sales Model

Back in my day . . . no, I’m kidding. There are a lot of things to be said about the old-school. The good salesmen, even the great ones, had to hustle like you wouldn’t believe. Getting their hands a lead was so difficult back then and getting a qualified one as well? Forget about it. They were happy with just a phone number! More importantly, they made it work. They made a living out of it.

Prospecting. Finding people who were interested in their product or service. Where was the first place they looked? That’s right, the yellow/white pages. Call after call, blindly dialing into the night. Handwriting everything, paper upon paper. Rolodex, remember those? The lead pool of a salesmen. Networking at its finest.

What did it teach us? Build a system! That’s the dirty little secret of being successful at prospecting. Hard work and figuring it out turned into a systematic approach. Turning the art of “spray and pray” into a traceable one for leads.

Sales demonstration. Alright, you have your qualified lead and now it’s time to build value. Old school was to talk and talk and talk …. you get the picture. Show them “facts” and fancy pictures, spin a good yarn and someone will buy. You also got verbally beat up a lot more too. “My friends, brothers, cousins, mothers, dog walker said you could do it for 30% less!” No way to fact check here. It was more of a dance of patience and wits than about closing a deal.

What did it teach us? People are people and they want to be entertained. They want to experience something different but relatable. It taught us that the perfect sales is based on emotion and supported by logic. It’s the cornerstone of the industry today.

Customer service and fulfillment. Back then, if you were able to satisfy half of your accounts you were considered a great salesmen. Can you believe that? HALF! Customer service wasn’t as important then because you were the “guru” of whatever we were selling and who would know more about it than you? Some knew it wasn’t going to last and others didn’t care. Most importantly, the camp that new change was on the horizon greatly outnumbered those that buried their heads in the sand.

What did it teach us? Innovation. My daughter was watching Sesame Street and the word of the day was “innovation”. Today, at such a young age, we are teaching children the importance of innovation. Improving on what some already did well was the direction only the great ones knew we were going in.  Everyone else hid behind the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality. However, in the end, it lead to a whole new world of sales.

New School Sales Model

Now for the good stuff. Old school is where I cut my teeth, but new school, that’s where I excelled. New idea’s, new technology, new . . . everything! The only way to truly appreciate what you have is to understand and remember, always, where you’ve been. I’ve called out of the phone book, I’ve knocked doors in the high noon sun too. However, the new school is how you cover the same ground in a fraction of the time.

Prospecting. “I have an idea, instead of us calling them, let’s have them call us?” You would have been fired on the spot in the old school. Now with the new school, the sky is the limit. You could setup an EDDM campaign. It works just like direct mail, but it’s a fraction of the cost. PLUS, you cover more ground than a direct mailer. Oh, and did I mention that it’s a fraction of the cost?! Old school approach with the new school twist. Also, let’s not forget about SEO.

Search engine optimization is the best. It makes your product or service available to the consumer 24/7. See, Google has a responsibility to user looking for you. So, you have to make sure that people can find you on the first page. That’s the power of SEO.

What does it teach us? It is the purest form of “work smarter, not harder”. The internet and revolutionary mail approach has people looking for you, rather than the other way around. Why spend the man hours looking for prospects, am I right?

Sales demonstration. Great! You’ve invested in online marketing along with an EDDM program that has people, who want to spend their money, looking for you. Now what? Make sure you provide them with the greatest sales demo ever. Your website. It has the low pressure, information giving aspect that prospects of today demand. Now, the trick is to make sure that everything you’ve done so far is going to provide enough value to the customer to close them.

What does it teach us? You better ask yourself: Does my website explain who you are? What it is that you do? How much does it cost? Well it should because your website is the literal “online first impression” the customer will take into consideration when they are ready to buy. You have to make sure that your first impression is the best.

Customer service and fulfillment. Like I’ve mentioned before, only 50% knew what kind of customer service and fulfillment was available way back when. Now, it’s the corner stone of every single business. Next to cost, customer service is the most important asset to your business. Fulfillment is a very close third because if you don’t have the valued price, GREAT customer service and deliver on what your promise, then you’re business is done. Period. Again the internet casts such a wide net between, social media, online reviews and blogs, you just can’t get away from it.

What does it teach us? You figuratively and literally have to expect the best from yourself and business. Every single day.  Today’s market is too competitive and the consumer is too knowledgeable to “fake it until you make it”. Perfect customer service is the standard of today and fulfillment nipping at it’s heels.

Final Thoughts

Internet marketing is the here to stay and businesses that are old school will soon feel the pressure of the new school. Number one rule of the jungle: survival of the fittest. Do you feel that you’re ready? If not, let’s talk about it. Our approach is remembering where we came from but using the tools of today to help businesses grow to where they’ve always wanted to be. Doesn’t you and your business deserve the same? I think so. I also think that “coffee’s is for closers only.”

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