The last few posts have talked about how to multiply the resources that you’ve worked hard to maximize. So far we’ve covered:
Today we’ll finish up this series with the last three ways to multiply your maximized resources. We’ll cover:
These areas are all key to keep up the momentum you’ve found in making what you have work harder for you. Finding Your Pot of Gold You must always have a goal you’re working toward in order to stay on course. Your goal needs to be something you can attain and utilize your full potential. Don’t be afraid to aim high, just make sure you are clear on what your goal is and exactly what you need to do to get there. You need to continue to hold yourself accountable to your goal and raise the bar as you accomplish the steps to your goal. Stay at the Top of Your Game Once you’ve mastered these areas, you need to make sure you are staying competitive and constantly coming up with new ways to use your new tools. Don’t rest on one success when there are more on the horizon. To continue to be successful your business must continue to learn and revolve. Wealth from the Inside Out Wealth and riches are defined within yourself, not by your profits or the world beyond. You can use all these strategies in both your business and life to find a greater level of success. When you naturally reflect who you are and what you mean, you will automatically attract the right people to you. This will happen in life and in business. You are capable of reaching your goals as long as they are well-defined and a solid road is built to them. Throughout the last seven lessons we’ve talked about how to take a hard look at the resources you currently have right in front of you and maximize them to get the most out of what you already have. Then turning around and multiplying those maximized resources to take them to the next level. If you need help with any of these areas, steps or processes, try our FREE test drive to gain access to our resources, tools and business coaches-All there to help you succeed.
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Over the last few posts we talked about how to multiply the resources that you’ve worked hard to maximize. So far we’ve covered:
Go Big Online There are businesses who solely operate online; there are those with only physical addresses and there are those who do both. Those who do both are by far more successful than the previous two. When you take the time to establish an online presence you open up your business to the entire world, through a few clicks of the mouse. To successfully sell products online, you need to:
Bartering with the Best If you’ve ever gone to a yard sale and paid the sticker price, then you need to up your bartering game. Everything is negotiable and you need to take the time to barter with your suppliers. Companies are always open to bartering and when all is said and done you could find yourself saving significantly on the things your business needs to operate smoothly. Give Away the Farm Ok, not literally, but you have to be willing to stay in contact with prospective clients and offer them products and services they are going to need. You don’t know what they need until you offer them everything you’ve got, then work with them to put together the perfect package the fit their needs. When you take the time to put yourself at the front of their minds, they are more likely to work with you going forward. You can do this by offering free newsletters, a free consulting session or other valuable tool. This wraps up these three areas of multiplying the resources you’ve maximized. If you’re not sure where to start or are feeling a bit overwhelmed, try our FREE test drive to work with one of our amazing business coaches who can help you navigate these peaceful waters. Next time we’ll finish up this series with the last three ways to multiply your maximized resources. We’ll cover:
Last time we talked about how to start multiplying on the resources you worked on maximizing. We covered the following areas:
Olympic-Size Sales Staff Now we all know you can’t have a sales staff of 10,000 who work around the clock for free, but there is a tool that will do exactly that-direct mail marketing. Direct mail is a written piece of sales and informative copy that offers information about your company and your products/services to potential customers/clients. You have sales letters, brochures or proposals that can be mailed out to a list of leads. This approach can not only open your door to thousands of new customers/clients, it can save you thousands of dollars in advertising. Open Water Fishing You have to be careful not to waste your time on clients who are simply not interested. You must focus on bigger fish. Remember, the previous lessons talked about how you should always be targeting higher-quality prospects. To do this you have to take the time to research and learn about your potential clients to make sure you are targeting the right companies to work with. Make sure they are companies who will benefit from your products/services over a long period of time. If you’re not sure where to start in finding big fish clients, go back over our previous lessons or look into purchasing a direct mailing list that specifically targets the clients you need. You can purchase or rent lists with name, title, job specs and contact information. This gives you a jumping off point in finding high-quality clients. Call for Back-Up Don’t be afraid of telemarketing. It’s a powerful tool than can be done tastefully and be highly effective. However, keep in mind, when not handled correctly can bring about negative reactions. To be successful with telemarketing you need to use these tips: 1. Your first line of defense should be mail marketing. 2. Test before you start a telemarketing campaign. 3. Set the price for your offer. 4. Use a progressive approach with your campaign. Progressive contact helps build trust and allow the potential customer/client to establish a positive relationship with you. These are the progressive steps you should take:
This wraps up these three areas of multiplying your resources. We’ll continue with this series for the next two posts to give you all the resources you need to get the most out of your current resources. If you need help working through any of these processes or areas, try our FREE test drive to get access to our wealth of resources and tools. The next series of posts will cover how to take maximizing resources and multiply them for even bigger results.
In this first of the four part series we’ll cover:
Call in the Troops Finding and securing new clients can be exhausting and expensive. Instead work with other companies to help you find new clients. Find solid companies with secure, positive relationships with their customers/clients. Also, ensure that their products/services are not directly competitive with yours. Contact prospective partner companies and talk with them about helping promote your products/services to their clients. Always offer them a commission on the sales that come from their client lists. Make sure to include these key points in your proposal: · Ensure that your products/services don’t compete with theirs. · The partnership will not take away from their current or future sales. · The partnership will increase their profits. · They won’t have to do nor spend anything on the partnership. · You will produce all needed marketing materials. · You will offer an unconditional guarantee on all products/services. Bring ‘Em Out of the Woodwork If you take the time to put together a solid referral system you’ll draw new customers/clients out of the woodwork through everyone you already know. You can start doing this through first showing all your current clients how much you care about them. Then show them how your products/services can significantly improve their lives or businesses. If you can do this consistently, they will naturally and comfortably bring new clients right to you. Black Sheep Clients One of the best ways to rejuvenate business is to find your stray clients and offer them something amazing. First you need to understand why they strayed and are no longer purchasing from you. There are generally three reasons why customers/clients leave. They are:
The best way to bring these clients back is to simply contact them. If you don’t make the first move, they’ll never come back. You make an appointment to visit them or call them if it’s not possible to meet in person. Talk openly with your stray clients. Let them know you noticed they were no longer working with you and that you’d like to talk with them about their experiences with you and how you can improve things to work together again. Take the time to make them feel special and work hard to make sure their experiences with you going forward are the best ever. This wraps up the first three areas on how to multiply your maximized resources. If you need help working on any of these ideas or processes, try our FREE test drive to work with an experienced business coach. Next time we’ll talk about the next three areas of multiplying your resources. They include: Olympic-Size Sales Staff, Open Sea Fishing and Call for Back-Up. In the last post we talked about three more ways you can work on maximizing your current resources. They included:
· Reveal your business’s soul · From breaking even to breaking the bank · Stand up and stand out Today we’ll talk about the last three areas you can work on to maximize your current resources. They are: · An offer they can’t refuse. · Would you like fries with that? · Stay away from the edge of the cliff. An Offer They Can’t Refuse The secret to success is to stay ahead of your competitors by maintaining the competitive edge. To do that, you need to make it easier for your customers/clients to say “yes” rather than “no”. You do this by eliminating all the psychological, financial, physical, emotional and other roadblocks they may have. You can take the risks for them by offering warranties and guarantees that make the customer feel more confident in you, your business and your products/services. You also must be serious about your offer and follow through if a situation does arise. The quickest way to the bottom is to play games or take back a warranty or guarantee. Would You Like Fries With That? It’s the oldest trick in the book. I mean, really, how many times a week do you fall for it? Every time you sell a product or service, you need to offer an add-on, upgrade or back-end product to go with it. These products must be complementary to the original product being purchased and must create a higher perceived value. Avoid the Edge of the Cliff Continuing to test and measure your systems, products, marketing methods and all other aspects of your business allow you to see problems before they happen and therefore avoid falling off the edge of the cliff. Here are a few specific areas you can test for potential improvements: · Marketing · Sales Copy · Customer Service · Sales Letters · Sales Presentations · Employee-Customer Interaction Through testing these different areas, you will find products/services where you can raise the price, maybe others where you can lower the price or offer that product as an incentive item and find many other areas for improvement that will better utilize your current resources. This wraps up our series on how to maximize on your current resources. If you need help working through any of these or the previous areas, try our FREE test drive to work with one of our amazing business coaches. Last time we talked about the first three areas to work through in maximizing your current resources. They were:
· Recognize the obvious · Unconventional breakthroughs · Face the facts Today we'll cover the next three, which are: · Reveal your business’ soul · From breaking even to breaking the bank · Stand up and stand out Reveal Your Business’ Soul Every business has a soul and you likely felt it the strongest when your business was just starting. It’s that passion, newness and momentum you had at the very beginning. Sometimes that can get lost along the way as your business gets stagnant and set in its ways. You have to break out of that rut and get back to your business’ true soul. The philosophy of putting your client’s needs above your own is the true key to success. You need to serve your clients not sell to them. They want to build a relationship based on trust, not a used car. Add to these responsibilities your ability to solve problems, handle special situations, be a friend to your clients and focus on offering valuable, high quality products/services. Only then will you get back to the basics and find you have more resources than you thought. From Breaking Even to Breaking the Bank One of the classic and most used ways to attract clients is to offer them a ridiculously low price on their initial purchase and lock them in for future purchases. You see this approach with movie or book clubs and even credit card companies who offer lower interest rates for the first six months. Essentially, you are offering them a deal on their first purchase and then you offer them back-end and add-on products along the way. These are naturally higher prices and will bring them in to more of an intimate relationship with you and your company. Stand Up and Stand Out You need to stand out from the pack among your competitors. They only way you can do this through consistency and value. You do this by discovering what your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is and perfecting it. Here are some tips to help you find and develop your USP:
Over the next few posts we’re going to talk about how to take a hard look at your current resources and get the most out of them. This can help your capital go further and increase your profit margin.
Today we’ll cover three different ways to maximize what you already have. These include: · Recognize the obvious · Unconventional breakthroughs · Face the facts Recognize the Obvious Sometimes when you are too close to something, you can’t make out the big picture. You need to step back and really take a hard look at the resources you currently have in front of you. You are surrounded by opportunities that can boost your career and help your business become more successful. Unconventional Breakthroughs Don’t sit around waiting for breakthroughs you need to create them yourself. A breakthrough is merely a new way of doing things or finding a new thing to do for the same or better results. You should be having regular brainstorming sessions and encouraging your team to come forward with breakthroughs or ideas any time they have them. Some great examples of breakthroughs are: · A health and beauty company discovers a side effect of a product that can be re-marketed and sold. · A company creates a roll-on deodorant inspired by the shape and size of a ball point pen. · The founder of Nike poured rubber onto a waffle iron and created the most innovative and successful running shoe ever. When attracting or strategizing for a breakthrough there are some key objectives you need to keep in mind. They are:
Face the Facts Before you can put your breakthroughs to work you need to face the facts of the processes and systems that are not working for you and work to correct or get rid of them. System analysis is a good way to do this. Once you have a listing of your strengths and weaknesses, you need to compare those to the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors. There are some great questions you can present to you and your team to get a handle on where your business is right now. They are:
Once you’ve got some answers to these questions, you’ll know better how to approach your weaknesses. These three areas we’ve gone over give you a jumping off point for how to utilize your current resources to their fullest potential. If you need any help with your strategic or systems analysis, try our FREE test drive to work with one of our amazing business coaches. The last 2 posts covered the first four of the killer mistakes you can make that will not only make you lose your fish, but possibly your entire company. Today we’re going to talk about the fifth killer mistake: Up Cash Creek Without a Paddle.
Even when business is good, there’s still a chance of running out of cash flow. You have to always be prepared for a slow in sales or a surge in expenses. One of the keys to balancing your cash flow is to get your clients to pay on time. This can seem like a nightmare but is absolutely essential to a successful business. Here are some tips to speed up the payment process: · Always send invoices on time and adjust your records for potential audits. · Learn how the client processes payments on their side and find out precisely where to send invoices. · Find out who’s in charge of processing orders and payment, so you know who to contact if needed. · Have a follow-up procedure in place, just in case. · As a last resort, call your contact to ask questions. · Always make sure your invoices are correct before sending them out. You also need to make sure your cash flow is protected. You can do this by: · Always know which accounts need paid and when. · Negotiate with your suppliers for the lowest cost possible. · Have a bank contingency plan in place. · Build your own investor network. These are all great ways to protect the cash flow of your business and prepare for fish transitions and slow sales. These last few lessons are all about finding and catching your big fish clients. These clients are essential to your success and you need to take the time to work through each of these steps carefully and correctly for the best success. If you need help with any step of the process of catching your fish or subsequent big fish clients, try our FREE test drive for access to a wealth of great tools and resources as well as our business coaching staff. In the last post, we covered the first two of the 5 biggest mistakes you can make in dealing with big fish clients. Today we’ll cover the third and fourth ones: Taking on More Than You Can Handle.
When you take on too much, your business can’t keep up and therefore you can easily lose control of everything and find yourself barely functioning. You want your business to be successful, no doubt, but you need to have a plan for how you will handle the growth. Your clients expect great customer service and high-quality products/services, they don’t know or care about your behind-the-scenes operations to get those things done.
There is a trick called the Mock Fish Plan. This plan can help you react positively when you are facing some or all of these things and help you get your business back on track. This plan will:
All Your Eggs in One Basket You can allow your company to become dependent on any one fish. Eventually or for certain periods there is going to be a slowing down period with your fish. To stay in the game, you need to diversify. If you’ve ever mishandled a fish, you could drive away potential fish as well. In order to keep balance and prepare for a strong future, there are a few things you can do.
These are the ways you can help avoid the killer mistakes that can make you lose it all. If you need help with any of these tips or tricks, try our FREE test drive to get the help you need fast. Next time we’ll talk about the last of the killer mistakes and how to combat them from hitting your business hard. There are 5 big mistakes that will kill a deal with a big fish. They are:
Any one or combination of these can not only kill the partnership but have the ability to take down your company as well. We’re going to take a bit of time to talk about each one of these, in this lesson we’ll cover the first two. Not Meeting Client’s Expectations It’s essential you give your client’s exactly what you promised during the negotiation portion of your relationship. If an event does happen where there is no way to meet the client’s expectations, not only do you have to find a way to fix the situation, but you also have to find out where it all went wrong. A couple of things could have contributed to this problem:
· Think before you speak. · Give yourself a break. · Perfect your process. · Pre-format over-deliverables. · Stay hands-on throughout the entire process. · Define success. Mishandling a Client Crisis Crises will happen, but how you respond and fix them will define your company and interaction with your clients. You need to respond quickly and effectively. This will help you gain even more trust and confidence from your client. Some simple tips can help you deal with any client crisis: · Take responsibility and apologize no matter who is at fault. · Act swiftly and effectively. · Step in and take control of the situation. · Never point fingers or place blame. · Stay in constant communication with your client. · Stay calm throughout the situation. · Keep your eye on the ball. Now, that you know the top two mistakes you can make to kill a big fish deal, you’ll know better how to avoid making these mistakes in the first place and know how to put a plan of action into place in case of a crisis. If you need help with any of this, try our FREE test drive to get all the help you could ever need. Next time we’ll talk about the 3rd and 4th killer mistake you can make in working with big fish clients. |
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AuthorI have always been fascinated how people work and why. I believe I have found some of the answers. Nothing really new, and hopefully assembled in a way that makes the guy sitting next to you, easier to understand. Archives
October 2022
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