FM Walsh & Associates Inc.

Are You Kidding Me?

I recently sent some handouts to Staples (www.staples.ca) online service for printing.  These documents were for a conference I was speaking at.  The documents were emailed on a Thursday and I got confirmation that they had been received by Staples production centre and that they were going into production.  I had requested a Saturday pickup.  More emails came in assuring me that my job had entered production.

So you can imagine my surprise when I show up at the Staples store on Sunday ( a full 24 hours after the Saturday pickup time I requested in my email) only to be told that the copies were not ready.  This was an issue as I was travelling to the conference on Monday morning at 6AM.   Apparently the production centre had decided on Friday night that they didn’t have time to do my job so they simply did not do it.  It was claimed a staff member at the store had phoned me to inform me of this but I never received a phone call.

To make things even worse, when I asked Heather, the staff member at the copy centre counter, if she could simply print my order on the spot, I was told that the production centre had deleted my files once they decided they were not going to bother doing my print job!!!  Fortunately I was able to get hold of my admin assistant on a Sunday and she emailed over the files to Heather, who immediately printed off my handouts.

What makes it likely that I will do business again with Staples is Heather’s response.  She handled the situation very well – apologized for what had happened, explained how she could fix it, and then did it quickly for me.   Heather Hilton is an outstanding employee and a great example of how extraordinary customer service can bring customers back, even when there has been a total mess up.

Why Selling Doesn’t Work for a Lot of Business Owners

As a Ghost CEO business coach, I often hear clients telling me that they are really bad at sales, that the prospects they speak to just do not get it. What most of these people are doing wrong is that they focus on talking about features only. They tell their prospects all about the attributes and qualities of their product. Yes it is good information, but people only buy when they understand the benefits of what you are selling to them.

There is a great quote by Zig Ziglar that I always keep in mind when approaching a sales situation: “People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.” To succeed in any sales situation, I have to be able to step into my customer’s shoes and look at my product through their eyes. Once I understand the benefits to them, I know the reasons they want to buy. Successful selling is not about convincing people to part with money, it is about presenting solutions that make prospects feel confident that buying from you feels good.

Small Business Marketing Success

I recently ran a seminar – Small Business Marketing for Women Business Owners. Had a great group of enthusiastic women join me and as always I learned a thing or two. What I notice over and over at these seminars is how often business owners make marketing more complicated than it has to be. They think they have to have big budgets and big brands before they can start marketing their business. Absolutely not!

1. Figure out who your ideal customer is.
2. Figure out where they are located and how to connect with them.
3. Determine what your message is – clearly outline the benefits they are going to get from your product or service.
4. Get out into the market and let these people know about you. You can do this with simply tools such as showing up at networking events for that industry, sending out postcards, or inviting them for a coffee to discuss how you might do business together.

The key to being successful in building your business is to be bold. Stop worrying about how it’s going to turn out and just take action.

Creating A Successful Corporate Internet Brand – Part Two

Here is the follow up to my previous post providing more key points that customers must consider in order to create a successful Internet brand:

3. Brand Impact:
The top portion of your website is the most important area – it’s the first thing visitors see when they click through to your site: use it to your advantage and make sure what they see has impact. The company logo should be displayed prominently here along with a short tagline that describes concisely what you do. Content should be clear and concise and should quickly get to the gist of your offering. This makes it obvious to prospects immediately that they have come to the right place (or not as the case maybe) saving them time and effort.

4. Keep it simple and clear:
Many companies make the mistake of trying to put too much on their home page making it look busy and all that results is information overload – visitors are confused as to what the company actually does. Bear in mind that the most successful Internet brand is Google (link to www.google.com) whose classic website is plain white with the Google logo prominently displayed then the simple search functionality – it seems stark, but it really works.

5. Your domain is part of your brand too!:
Your domain or url should either reflect your company name or your function exactly: I don’t know how many times I have come across a company in a magazine or newspaper article and have tried to find them on the Internet using their company name but to no avail. When I do finally track them down it turns out that their domain is completely different and has no apparent similarity to the corporate identity. Had these organizations chosen a domain that encompassed their company name or at the very least one that describes concisely what they do it would have been so much more obvious and easy to find.

The keys to building a strong Internet brand include consistency, impact, simplicity and clarity – make sure that the look and feel are consistent with existing marketing efforts; that your message is obvious and apparent; that your brand has impact and your domain is obvious and as a result, your organization you will avoid potential pitfalls, ehance brand awareness and build more brand loyalty.

Creating A Successful Corporate Internet Brand – Part One

When creating a web presence, many companies think of technology and web design first with marketing as an afterthought when in reality, their major concern should be the latter: after all the web site is often the first point of contact you have with your potential customer. It’s imperative therefore to consider marketing (and branding in particular) a priority when creating your Internet presence. If you don’t, you could risk damaging this substantial asset considerably. In part one of this two part series I provide some key points that companies must consider in order to create a successful internet brand:

1. If your brand is already working well for you, there is no need to reinvent the wheel:
In most cases companies have already made considerable investment in building brand awareness. Don’t discard this; rather use it to your advantage. Always extend your existing brand image to your on-line presence so that people who are already aware of your brand recognize it easily on the web.

2. Consistency is key:
The company brand should be consistent across all touch points. Use existing corporate logos, taglines, fonts and colour schemes on your website to mirror the colours you use in your letterheads, signage and tangible marketing materials (or vice versa). Always include the internet domain or home page on existing corporate materials because driving traffic to your website will serve to further enhance your brand.

What Industry Would You Go Into Today?

Although it completely depends on an entrepreneurs strengths, interests, goals, and financial situation, Entrepreneur Magazine has identified six start-up friendly industries.  For entrepreneurs with little start-up cash, between $1,000 and $10,000, landscaping is a worthy market; with the aging population, targeting the elderly as a niche market is a great starting point.  Another industry with low start-up costs is community food services.  As the eating healthy revolution continues in schools and work places, there is tremendous demand for fresh, natural, quality, and reasonably priced lunches delivered to schools or work places.  Both of these industries offer growth potential and franchise opportunities.  To read more about the six start-up friendly industries, you can read the whole article here.

Write It Down!!

I was giving a seminar – The 10 Deadly Sins of Business Development – recently to a group of business owners and it struck me once again, how many people I meet who operate their business without a plan. They get up and go into work every day; they work hard; the end of the day comes and they feel like they have made no progress. They want their businesses to grow, to be more profitable, to get more customers but there is no strategic plan in place for how they are going to make this happen. Give your heads a shake, people! That is like me telling you to get in your car tomorrow and start driving to Chicago but not allowing you to use a map. Would you get there? Maybe – but it is a sure bet you would waste a lot of gas, time and energy figuring it out.

Having your business development plan in your head is not a recipe for success. So grab a pen and some paper. Turn off the phone; find a quiet spot and write down your plan. What kind of sales do you want to make? How many new customers do you want to find? What new products do you want to introduce? What new markets do you want to enter? Set down what you will accomplish and how you are going to make it happen. I am not talking about a full business plan here – just a page or two that is your roadmap for business growth. Then pull out your calendar and write down when you are going to get these things done. Do not let your business growth get lost in the day-to-day running of the business.

And finally, pull out your plan on a regular basis and check your progress. Whether it is monthly or quarterly, make sure you are measuring what is working well and what needs to be changed. This will keep you miles ahead of your competition.

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Patience Is The Key When Prospecting

Ever been in the situation where you’ve called a sales prospect over and over with little or no response? We’ve all been there and we’ve impatiently written off the prospect as dead because we didn’t want to face another non responsive call. Next time you are prospecting and this happens, think of this: its a well known fact that sales people give up on sales prospecting calls far too early. A few more calls and the sale is likely to be yours. Also consider the fact that being diligent in following up will prove your commitment to the sales process and gain respect from your prospective buyer. With a little patience and perseverance that opportunity you are about to write off as dead could turn into a sale. Go dial that number, smile and think of the closing the deal. Here are some pointers that will help: 7 tips for turning cold calls into hot leads.

The Beach and Business Development

Sitting on the beach, watching the waves come in, it struck me that the ocean has a clear purpose and plan and it works that plan consistently, day after day. That is exactly what is at the heart of successful business development. As a business owner, you are responsible for making your business grow. Pick a niche market, develop a clear sales message and then go out and get in front of potential customers consistently and frequently. Just like the ocean. Don’t let fear get in your way; don’t keep procrastinating; don’t wait for things to be “better” before doing something. Just decide to grow your business and make it happen.