FM Walsh & Associates Inc.

Overthinking

I recently presented a seminar to new business owners on sales and marketing. There was a lot of excitement in the room as these new ventures are being launched. But what also struck me was the amount of hesitation and overthinking that was going on. As they get deeper into building their business, so many people become paralyzed by the amount of stuff they don’t know. Often they overcompensate by obsessing over small details that they feel they have control of. The result is a lot of wasted time and opportunity. The fact is that you will never know everything you need to know when running a business – it is a constant learning experience. Stop hesitating, stop sweating over the small stuff. Just get out there and learn while you do. Believe in your ability to learn and succeed.

Best Bet to Fix the Economy?

This article in the Washington Post is a great read!  Fixing the Economy?  It’s Women’s Work.

PR on a Budget

I found an article in Entrepreneur Magazine that discusses the power of PR, highlighting the fact that credibility makes PR so powerful.  This article, titled 10 Rules for Quick and Easy PR, gives the obvious suggestions such as know your market, show how your product is unique, and use testimonials to your advantage.  My favourite suggestion in this article is to create your own newspaper article or news release and make phone calls to the media outlets to get them running your story/article.  The author suggests to begin the release with a great headline and catchy first paragraph so that journalists can easily work with your material.  I think this is really a great suggestion as it is free PR and also shows potential clients your credibility.  You can read the full article here.

How is Soccer Like Business?

Watching my 8-year old niece play her soccer game last weekend, it struck me the business lessons you can learn watching a soccer game.  Certain players really want possession of the ball, they want to score.  You see them tracking the ball, running into the fray assertively going after the ball, not wanting to give it up once they possess it.  Their goal is to score and they flat out go for it.  They don’t worry about what other players are thinking or doing.  They stay focused on what they want.  They don’t stand around and just watch the game – they play it.

Other players hedge their bets, backing off the ball when other players come in.  They rarely score.  So how is the game of soccer like the game of business?  Simple.  The people who score in life, business or soccer are those who clearly define their goals, and passionately focus on taking action to achieve those goals.  They don’t get distracted by other people’s actions.  They wade in and go after what they want.

Thinking About Twitter?

Read these 10 stunning and useful tips about Twitter from the Influential Marketing Blog!

Mean What You Say

There is lots of buzz out there about how you need to create a relationship with your customer (true) and that the key to successful selling is to be able to uncover their needs and provide a solution (true). Unfortunately some companies out there have implemented customer service training programs that have their staff asking customers questions to uncover needs and then ignoring what the customer says. Here is a couple of examples I heard about recently:

• A business associate got a call from his bank customer service representative, asking in a cheery voice if there was anything his bank could do for him. His reply – reduce the interest rate on my credit card. Her answer – no. His next request: was there a way to reduce his bank fees? Her answer – no. Why bother making this phone call – window dressing?
• A client of mine who has run a financially successful business for 5 years and is now expanding her business operation called her large global bank about getting a line of credit for the expansion. They told her it would be no problem – come in and see us and we will get it set up. She goes for the meeting and finds out they are happy to extend credit to her through a credit card with 29% interest attached! Needless to say she has moved to the competition.

If you want to succeed in business, mean what you say. If you genuinely want to find out what your customer wants and you are prepared to improve your product or service, then ask. If you are just doing it because it seems to be the thing to do, don’t bother. You’ll keep more customers and credibility that way.

Customer Service Lesson

I am always amazed at the cavalier way large companies often treat their customers. They ignore complaints or treat them with disdain. The truth is no one likes to deal with a frustrated or angry customer, but you have to remember that unhappy customers are much more likely to tell a lot more people about their bad experiences than the good ones. Who hasn’t experienced getting caught in an endless maze of voicemail or having to repeat your story over and over to a series of customer service reps, only to hear “I can’t help you with that. You need to talk to another department.” Over and over these days, I hear people complaining about the shabby way they are treated by their bank or telecommunications company. We’ve almost become resigned to it as a way of life.

That’s why I was so surprised by the outstanding customer service experience I recently had with Fido. After two separate experiences with their customer service department, I really was not happy with how I was treated. So I dropped Fido an email just to let them know what my experience had been. I was extremely surprised to receive an email and a phone call from Customer Service asking me for the details. They took the time to listen to my story, asked a lot of questions and then offered a generous solution to my issue. They delivered one of the most outstanding customer service experiences I have ever had – I am really impressed. Here is a large company that really does want to improve customer experiences with their products and services.

The lesson learned? If you have a bad experience with a company, don’t just walk away and only complain to your friends. Let the business know how they fell short – tell them where they went wrong. You might be surprised at the results you get! And if you are a business owner, make sure that you encourage your customers to let you know what you are doing right and wrong. You have to know what is broken in order to fix it.

Who is an Important Customer?

A lot of businesses forget that their repeat customers are some of the most important.  Repeat customers, who make purchases as part of their routine, may now be changing those routines as the economy slows.  As their routines change, customers may not be purchasing from you as often or maybe not at all.  Entrepreneur Magazine has a new article that highlights 5 techniques to keep repeat customers, including reinforcing your value and paying attention to customer feedback.  Read the article here.