What compelling reason do you give your prospects to actually contact you?

Most of the advertising we see for small business is pretty much the same, company name at the top, years in business next, best customer service, address and phone number. Any medium size newspaper or the yellow pages are full of these “tombstone adverts” (seriously that is what they are called!)

When prospects are looking at the myriad of different adverts and messages to try and make a decision on who to call, we need to make sure that we give them a compelling reason to actually pick up the phone or walk through our doors.

Most offers we see are things like 10% off, call now for a free colour brochure or buy 9 and get your 10th for free. Blah blah blah, how boring.

The thing to keep in mind is that we are looking to buy a new customer with this advertising, so how much are you willing to pay? Ideally we have an offer that has a high perceived value to our clients but a relatively low dollar cost to us. Examples of this include packaging offers, buy one and get one free, Get a FREE consultation valued at $65 or actually give something away for FREE. Remember we need to make an investment to buy a customer.

Generally speaking the offer section of your advert should take up around 20% of your advert at the bottom, even better for testing and measuring is to have a dashed line around the offer for the prospect to cut out and bring in, which also then allows an easy pathway for testing and measuring the effectiveness of your add.

If you would like to learn more about how to write advertising with powerful offers, send me an email  bradflynn at actioncoach.com and i will send you a free copy of our ebook “Instant Flyer Examples” valued at $29.90.

There are two things that business people find very challenging: thinking ahead and doing things in order of importance.

Doing these two things makes the difference between success in business and just surviving. And the same is true for all areas of our lives.

Leadership trainer and author John Maxwell says, “thinking ahead and prioritizing responsibilities marks the major differences between a leader and a follower.”

Most people have heard of the Pareto Principle, more commonly known as the 80/20 Principle. Roughly stated this says that in most businesses 80% of your business comes from 20 % of your customers.

Other examples of the Pareto Principle are:

Reading: 20 percent of the book contains 80 percent of the content.

Job: 20 percent of our work gives us 80 percent of our satisfaction.

Products: 20 percent of the products bring in 80 percent of the profits.

Picnic: 20 percent of the people will eat 80 percent of the food!

So… when it comes to your priorities, 20 percent of your priorities will give you 80 percent of your production IF you spend your time, energy, money and personnel on the top 20 percent of your priorities.

When you do this you are getting a 400% or fourfold return in productivity. Think what this would mean in your business!

Every business person needs to understand the Pareto Principle as it applies to the areas of customers, team and leadership.

In the area of customers, it is vital to identify the 20 percent who account for 80 percent of your business. These are your “raving fans” and strategies must be put in place to care for them appropriately.

For your team, you must identify the top 20 percent producers. Spend 80 percent of your people time with these people to develop them to their full potential.

In leadership, take an honest look at the question “What do I have to do that no one else can do?” Remember a leader can give up everything except final responsibility. You can decide whether you will be reactive or proactive when it comes to the use of your time. The question is not, “Will I be busy?” but “How will I invest my time?” It’s not “Will my calendar be full?,” but “Who will fill my calendar?,” It’s not “Will I see people?,” but “Who will I see?”

Do this and watch your productivity and personal satisfaction rise to new heights!

If taking a day off is a long-forgotten concept and your business is working you to the bone, you may be in need of business systemization. Business systemization can give you freedom from tedious tasks and extensive hours by helping to ensure your business runs like a well-oiled machine with the least amount of effort. Think of a business system as a little cog in the great machine of your business, a cog that churns around doing its job regardless if you’re watching it or not.

A business system is a small, organized sub-set of the business that functions seamlessly, easily and with neither prompting from outside forces nor nagging from the boss. A business system can be likened to any other system within a whole, such as your body’s endocrine system or nervous system, both which function on their own while contributing to the overall functioning of your body. Business systems can be simple or more complex, but they should all share the same trait of consistency. Once a task or duty is systemized, it should be performed in the same habitual way by everyone who performs it.

How to Choose What You Systemize

Routine tasks that all people can complete in a consistent manner are the best choices for functions you can systemize. You don’t want to start systemizing business functions that need a human touch, such as responding to a very specific complaint, strange request or creating a personalized order. Filing paperwork, reading emails, sending out routine correspondence or even answering the phone are ideal choices for systemization.

How You Implement a System

Implementing a system requires coming up with instructions on how to properly implement a given task. Let’s say you’re going to systemize answering the phone. Your instructions should include implicit instructions on the entire process, right down to the last detail of how many times the phone is allowed to ring before someone picks it up.

Your instructions will cover the greeting, the tone of voice, and a script that outlines how employees should ask questions to ensure the phone call is handled in a professional manner. Instructions for answering the phone should also include a system on how to take messages, how to transfer calls, how and when to place a caller on hold and the proper way to end the call. Include a consistent policy that dictates how and when phone calls are returned and any other tangential tasks that may stem from an incoming phone call.

Once the instructions are set, it’s time to train your employees. Offering handouts of any scripts is a good idea, as is producing a text version of all the instructions in a manual and in the company handbook. When it comes to actually learning the process, employees may fare better if they actually see the process in action, which you can easily do by creating a video on your flip phone and posting it on the company’s website. Make it required viewing. Posting photos of specific systems is also a good idea for tasks that need visual aids.

How to Get Employees to Work the Systems

Breaking each part of the system into even smaller parts is the best way to introduce employees to the new system without overwhelming them. Have them learn and master each specific portion of the overall task in small doses. Also make it very clear that following each system is company policy, including it any employee handbook.

Engaging them in the creation of the system can further enhance their participation. Ask them to keep notes on how the system is working and suggest any changes that may be beneficial. Then amend the system as necessary. Hold regular meetings where employees are encouraged to provide feedback and constructive criticism on the systems, both from themselves and from customers or clients who may have commented on the way a certain system is functioning.

How to Know the Systems Work

Once you systemize your business, you’ll know it’s working when you end up with loads of free time, employees happily buzzing along like worker bees and mounds of profits rolling in. At least that could be the end result in the best case scenario. Since most changes take a bit of time to show results, the free time, buzzing bees and profits may be slow and steady – but still exist.

You may have to monitor your employees in the early days of a system to ensure they are following instructions and to answer any questions or address concerns they may have. Watching what works and what doesn’t gives you further insight on amendments that could be made to better streamline your systemization.

Business Systemization Benefits

Systemizing your business can eliminate the tedious tasks from your daily plate, a move that comes with a host of benefits. For starters, you won’t have to worry about performing each and every task on your own just to ensure it is being done properly, as an established system will ensure that it is. Training employees to successfully work a number of the established systems also makes them more valuable by placing them where they are most needed at the moment.

There’s little downtime in a systemized business since trained employees can always jump in to pick up a task that needs to be done. Rather than being trained in one or just a few specific tasks that only a particularly employee performs, all of your employees will be trained in all the systems. Instead of scrambling to hire someone to answer the phone when your front desk person leaves, phone duties are being taken care of by the system. Your staff members become individual jack-of-all-trades that work together for a cohesive and profitable whole.

The consistency of your systems contributes to the consistency of your business. Customers and clients will be pleased to find your business runs in a steady, expected fashion so they are never at a loss at what to expect in terms of quality and service. Training your employees in each system also means each system is being done how you want it to be done. There’s no more guessing why a phone call was answered with a “Yo” instead of a “Hello” or one employee decided to suddenly file the paperwork from Z to A instead of A to Z.

Systems take care of the little things that may seem less significant than larger tasks but can still help sink your business if they are ignored, forgotten or done carelessly. Ever call a company only to have the phone answered by someone who was chomping gum and didn’t even know how to put you on hold? If so, you are probably not calling back.

The grandest reward for systemizing your business is the freedom you’ll find. You will no longer need to focus large amounts of time on small tasks or scramble to do everything yourself just to ensure it is being done your way. You can then pick and choose to perform only the work you truly enjoy doing or, in the best case scenario, actually take that long-forgotten day off.

ActionCOACH CEO - Jodie Shaw

Everyone in business has heard the phrase, “you need to be working on your business and not in it”. But what kinds of activities are working on your business.

The easiest way to define whether or not you are working on your business is to use a race car analogy. You can think of your business as the race car and the market as the race track with all of your competitors in the other race cars. The cars that are winning the race are fastest with the most skilled drivers. Just like in business, the winners have the best business and the most skilled owners.

So when you work on your business it is like coming in for a pit stop and having some work done on your vehicle to make it faster. For example, does your business have a dashboard? As a minimum your business dashboard should show have information other than just bank balance (fuel gauge). Information such as current P & L statement, cash flow projections, No. of leads and conversion rate, average dollar sale figures and average client retention as a minimum.

What if you were to develop a system in your business that reduced the amount of wastage or design an ongoing training system that boosts the retention of your team. What about reading a book and applying what you learn in your business. Getting a business coach is a perfect example of having somebody make sure that you do work on your business.

Some examples of working in your business include, doing the books, making sales calls, doing the work of employees and restocking the biscuit barrel!

So next time you decide to work on your business, ask yourself this fundamental question, “is what I am about to do going to help me get around my industry race course faster?”

Women control the majority of purchasing decisions in a household and their influence is growing. Women across the world are expanding beyond traditional roles to influence decisions in the home, in business and in politics. Marketers have a massive opportunity to better connect women with the products they buy and the media technologies they use to make a positive impact both in their lives and in the bottom line.

So what makes female consumers different from their male counterparts?

Mirror neurons are complex cells that send messages to a brain when we see, hear, or sense actions of other people. When I see you lift a glass of water, the part of my brain that says “Reach for glass, move my arm, lift glass to mouth” gets activated, even though my conscious mind doesn’t actually tell my arm to move. Mirror neurons are the biological basis for empathy and compassion. In general, women demonstrate stronger mirror neuron responses as compared to men. However, it would be more accurate to refer to feminine (more empathic) vs. masculine (problem-solving oriented) traits that are present in both men and women.

So, how can you apply these trends to improve your own marketing efforts? Here are 2 places to start:
• Women read more than men
• Women respond more strongly to ads that include images of other people.

Nielsen, the audience measurement firm, surveyed women in 21 countries representing 78 percent of global spending. What they found is that women want to participate in something bigger and proactive to make the world a better place. This is an area that businesses can use to build a deeper emotional connection to their customers. According to Nielsen, there are 5 Key Learnings to Better Engage with Women: 1. Invest in her tomorrow. 2. Ease her worry. 3. Giver her back time. 4. Earn her trust. 5. Connect to the bigger picture.

One large brand has started to become an ally to women by using visualizations that paint a more realistic picture of actual life rather than emphasizing unattainable images of beauty. Another campaign is the “The Joy Project”, which helps women remember the joys of parenthood and provides an opportunity to give back with donations to improve the lives of children.

In what ways are you making an effort to market directly to the real needs of women?

According to the Harvard Business Review, 67 percent of customers who choose a new supplier said they were satisfied with their former supplier! On an average, most U.S. companies lose half their customer base every five years. So why would customers who are satisfied stop doing business with you? Well consider this: Customers go where they are wanted and stay where they are appreciated.

Varying estimates place the cost of acquiring new customers at six to ten times more than selling to existing customers. Losing customers can drastically affect your company’s reputation, credibility, referrals, sales, and profitability.

Seven Ways to Retain Your Valued Customers:

1. Never assume you know what customers want ask them! Customer surveys are a great tool for understanding customer needs and identifying innovative ways to solve their problems or exceed their expectations.

2. Measure and reward customer satisfaction.If customer satisfaction is really a priority in your business, demonstrate this to your team. Develop a method to measure it, set goals for improvement and reward the team when the goal is accomplished.

3. When you hire people to interact with your customers, make sure they possess good customer service skills like trust, empathy, flexibility and verbal communication proficiency. Each customer contact with your team is an opportunity to build your reputation or destroy it.

4. Say Thank You. Sounds obvious but consider this. When was the last time you received a thank-you note from a company you do business with? This simple strategy can really make an impact and says a lot about your company and the value you place on customers.

5. Stay connected with your customers by phone, mail or email. While the frequency may vary, every customer should receive a “touch” at least once per quarter.

6. Make valuable customers feel more appreciated than non-customers or prospects. While new customers are critical to growth, make sure current customers get some VIP treatment. Programs, offers or specials just for current customers work well.

7. Look for opportunities to sell multiple products or services to your existing customers to create the perception of a one-stop solution provider. Research shows this builds loyalty and retention. It’s also a great way to increase revenue and profit!

Finally, make customer service everyone’s responsibility especially in a small business where team members wear many hats. Train your team on customer service. From the receptionist to the delivery driver, your team will make an impression. The kind of impression they make is up to you.

Before we begin, it is probably pertinent to ask do your team members answer the phone in a consistent manner? For every 10 times i called your business, how many different greetings and process’ would i encounter.

Scripts help to make your clients feel comfortable in that they are going to get the same experience each and every time. One of the most important parts of business mastery, is consistent delivery. McDonald’s are the greatest at this, it doesnt matter which restaurant in the world you go to, you know you will get the same experience.

Watch this video to learn about the most important question in your phone scripts

There are only 2 reasons why your clients will talk about you to there friends, they will think you are fantastic or they think you suck. If your clients are not saying great things about you then there is room for your competitors to come in and steal them from right under your nose and begin giving them what they really want.

I was at a barbeque recently doing the general chit chat thing when the conversation swung around to real estate agents. This one couple began raving about the agent they had just used to sell their house. All the little things that he had done along the way to make the process so much easier and less stressful for them. It turns out that another couple also had the same experience with the same agent and they then began to sing his praises. Amongst the people in this conversation was a guy who had decided to sell his house in the next couple of months. Needless to say, he had the aforementioned agents details happily passed on by the Raving Fans and that he would be calling him first thing Monday morning.

So how is the Barbeque Factor for your business?

Are your clients Raving Fans, singing your praises and doing the selling for you at social gatherings? If they are not, how can you ignite their passion for your business and what you do and at the same time save a fortune on marketing to get customers into your business.

There is a dentist here in Brisbane called Paddi Lund who has some fantastic ideas and information on how to get your clients talking about you, take a look at his website or of course call your coach.

How often do you tell people that you ran out of time to do something?

Lets be brutally honest here, its not that you ran out of time, its just that whatever it was that didn’t get accomplished just wasn’t important enough to you, otherwise you would have allotted the time accordingly.

We all have exactly the same amount of time in a day, so why is that some people make millions of dollars a day with their time, where as others make excuses?

Fundamentally, time management is about self management. It is about having the discipline to always focus on your most important tasks first, then if you do have time left over do the rest. Jim Rohn said it best when he said “Things that matter most, must never be at the mercy of things that matter least”.

You need to know what are the most important tasks for you to get the best results. As a hint, they will usually be things you keep putting off. Get in and get them done first as they will usually have the greatest effect.

If you would like a copy of my time management system please feel free to email me and i will send it through to you.

At the very least from here moving forward, stop using the excuse that you didn’t have time (below the line), acknowledge that you didn’t get it done and commit to when you will have it done (above the line).

Have you seen the movie “The Bucket List” with Jack Nicholas and Morgan Freeman? In short its about 2 guys who discover that they both have terminal illness’ and decide that they still have some things to do. So they make a list of all the things they want to do before they kick the bucket.

For most of the population, its not until its too late that we actually get serious about what we really want from our lives. One of my favourite quotes is “Hell on earth would be meeting the person that you could have become”. Imagine that, your 80 years old, looking back over your life and you realise you have only half lived it!

So if this blog makes you feel a little uncomfortable then that’s good! Get out a blank piece of paper and start writing out your list. Write out the numbers from 1 to 101 and beside them write of all the things you want to BE, DO or HAVE in your life. Maybe you want to HAVE a house in the mountains, maybe you want run with the bulls in Pamplona, maybe you want to become a pilot and learn how to fly.

When that little voice inside your head says “How are we going to do that?” just thank it and tell it to go and sit in the corner and be quiet. To often we get bogged down in the how, when all we really need to be clear on is where we are going.

There are some great websites on things you can add to your bucket list. It may take some time to get to 101 on your list so be patient. Then work out what the first steps are and start taking them, no matter how small they may seem as long as they are in the right direction.

Have some FUN with this, life and business are supposed to be FUN after all.