All-Day Think Tank Symposium

There’s a great event coming to Vancouver – The 2010 CRAVE Symposium: an all-day think tank extravaganza for business owners at any level.  Get down and dirty with mentors.  Talk shop with peers.  Your business will never be the same!

The CRAVE “All-Day Think Tank Extravaganza” is a workshop where business owners will be able to spend time brainstorming and will be given resources to enhance their vision and tackle challenges.  The day consists of four Think Tank sessions where participants rotate between mentors and chosen businesses based on what they’re interested in most.  The 5 areas of mentorship are: Marketing, Brand Strategy, Sales, Finance, and Team Building.  Besides all of the motivation and mentoring, this event also promises lots of networking as there will be up to 100 business owners present.

When: May 31st, 9:00AM – 5:00PM

Where: Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street

In addition to attending this great event, right now CRAVE is holding a contest to choose 8 lucky businesses to be “think-tanked” for the day.  This is an incredible opportunity for small business owners as an attendee will follow a specific business track for the day.  To see more about the contest, please click here.

To see more details about the event or to register, please click here.

This is Smart Marketing

I went in recently to speak to a group of 20 startup entrepreneurs on Sales Strategy.  One of them definitely knows how to market smart.  She has a company – Design Schooled Kids that  creates stationery for young children that promotes early literacy and the art of letter writing.  Her products are a great tool to inspire kids to practice printing in a creative way and learn good etiquette rules.

Right after the seminar, she emailed me to say thank you and sent me a sample of her product.

This is smart marketing.  Not because she gave me something for free, but because she reached out and started building a relationship with me and gave me a chance  to try her product first-hand.  The result?  She’s just created some great word of mouth – the best marketing tool out there.

Not only did I order some stationery for the daughter of a friend of mine, I also told all my friends with kids about it.  Then I blogged about it – you’re reading about her company right now.

Tracy Sullivan is one smart cookie!

How to Figure Out Your Niche Markets

Too many business owners resist picking niche markets to focus on because they worry that doing so will limit their sales potential or slow down their revenue growth.   In fact, not having clearly defined niche markets is guaranteed to slow down your growth and ensure you waste time and money on ineffective marketing and prospecting.   It’s rather like going onto a sailboat and just sitting there watching the view, rather than navigating it.  You don’t get very far.

No defined niche markets means you have no idea who you are marketing to.  Knowing who your potential customers are means that you’re spending your marketing budget in ways that will get you the best ROI.  It also means that you are prospecting in the right places rather than getting frustrated and depressed because you are not selling anything.

Having defined niche markets means you build a reputation – the market knows what you do and potential customers have an easier time finding you.

Adding new products or services becomes easier because you know what appeals to your niche markets.  You don’t waste time and money carrying stuff that doesn’t sell.

If you’re struggling to figure out who your niche market is, answer the following questions:

1.  What do your current favorite clients have in common?  What makes them good clients?  How did they find you?

2. What sets you apart from your competition?

3. Why do customers buy from you?  What is different about services or products that you offer?  Why do customers buy your product or service?

Once you have answered these questions you should have a good idea of what niche markets would be a good fit for you to target.

How To Close More Business

I just got a call from client excitedly telling me how her sales are growing very quickly since she started ‘asking for the business’ in every sales call.  Her exact words were:  “I can’t believe how well it works.  I don’t know why it took me so long to do this simple step!!”

Here’s exactly what she is doing.

1.   In every sales call, she reviews the key points and needs that the prospect has raised during the conversation, so she is sure she is understands clearly what they are looking for

2.  She made a list of all the common objections she was hearing and wrote out clear effective responses to each one, which she then memorized.  No more hesitation when it comes to answering an objection, which is a credibility killer    business with you.

3.  She prepared some closing questions that she’s comfortable using.  These are not meant to trick people into buying something that they don’t want or cannot afford.  They are simple questions that check if the prospect wants to move forward, such as:

- When would you like to get started?

- What date do you want the first order to arrive?

- Shall we start on the paperwork right now?

- Which option would you like to go with?

Make sure you give them time to deliberate and answer.  A few moments of silence won’t kill you!

4.  She’s committed to asking for the business EVERY SINGLE TIME.

5.  She doesn’t take the rejection personally.

That’s all there is to closing.  And the truth is that if you aren’t asking for the business, you’re wasting all the great work you did meeting with the prospect, answering their questions and educating them on your product.

Lighten Up!

It seems that most entrepreneurs and business owners just have, “Way too many things to do!”  But what ever happened to delegating?  Everyone has heard about the benefits of delegating, but making it a habit isn’t always easy.  Like most great things in life, delegation is something to practice; the more you practice, the more confident you will be in the process.

Delegating brings so many positives to your business – for one, you will learn more about your employees when you plan them into your work schedule and delegate.  Start by looking at everything you have to do over the coming weeks and decide what you can hand off.  What holds most people back here is fear that certain jobs won’t be done to your satisfaction and you’ll have to redo the task.  Start small and you and your employees will grow into the work that needs to be done.

Personally, I find delegation works best when I give clear directions with set time lines for completion.  This practice help employees understand your vision.  Train yourself and your employees to use a feedback system; this way setbacks are not surprises and successes can be recognized quickly.

When you delegate the tasks that don’t absolutely need to be done yourself, it will free up your time to land larger clients, network with more people, or work on business development. Remember, practice builds confidence!

Making the Best Use of Your Networks

You’ve heard it before, and you’ll hear it again – successful leaders and business owners leverage their networks.  Imagine having a big network of resources to tap into, and knowing exactly who you need to talk to every time you need to get something done.  So how do you build your network if you aren’t already there? How about starting with the first step today – taking inventory.

Here is a quick example of a networking model that I like to use.  It consists of 3 categories:

• operational
• strategic
• personal growth

Operational networks are people who can help you get things done more efficiently in the running of your business operations.  They could be your employees, your suppliers, your IT support crew, your bookkeeper, etc.  These are the people that can work with you in your current role – they can help you run a smoother operation and make your business more efficient.

Strategic networks are people that make you think bigger.  They ask the tough questions – are you moving in the right direction, are you focusing on the right priorities, etc.  These could be your advisory board members, your mentors, or industry experts in your field of interest, or a seasoned business owner.  These are the people that work with you on looking at the future.

Personal networks are often neglected in business discussions, but they do form an important role for your business.  They are often safe places for you to develop personally, and give you perspectives beyond your industry or business interest.  These could be people in your personal communities, alumni groups, or other professional organizations.   They are the ones that give you breadth and perspectives beyond your current environment.

Now list who you know in each category, and see if the list lines up with your networking efforts and your business goals.  For example, if you are looking to grow your business in new ways, do you have the right strategic networks in place?  If not, are you actively building networks in that category?

Convincing Customers to Adopt Your New Mouse Trap

Ever wonder why your potential customers don’t act, even if you can clearly see the benefit of what your products or services can bring to their business?  How do you convince them to adopt your mouse trap, which is clearly more superior than what they are currently using?

Do you have a process for gauging whether your customers will adopt a new product?

It’s likely that your customers are quite happy with what they already have in place.  They are reluctant to part with what they have in place, are unable to see the need for a new product, and may also be skeptical about a new product’s performance.  Ask yourself this question:

1. Do they have to make significant adjustments to how they have been operating to use your product?
2. Does your product offer significant benefits when compared to what they use currently?

If your answer is yes and no, then you have a problem.  As an example, a family that has been using disposable diapers for their first child will have more resistance switching to a new cloth diaper product for the next child.  Switching from disposable to cloth requires a significant change in routine, while both options do the same job.  However, if the family had started using cloth diapers for their first child, convincing them to use an improved version of cloth diaper would be a lot easier, as they don’t need to change their routines.

The most successful product introductions are those that bring substantial benefits but require little behavior adjustment.  Think switching from standard to high-definition TV.

If you are launching a new product, or overhauling an existing one, think about whether your customers would need to adjust how they have been operating.  If they do, make sure you build in ways to make the change easier for them.

Do let your kids work at McDonalds

I was talking to a business owner this week, and our conversations drifted into how both of us got into our lines of work.  We were debating on what skills entrepreneurs need to have, when a thought occurred to me.  Ever noticed that the skills you are using for your business today might have been acquired through completely different periods in your life, in completely different jobs?

For example, my problem solving skills come from having an engineering background.  My patience and persuasion skills comes from being a volunteer summer camp assistant in junior high school dealing with screaming 5 year-old kids.  My sales skills come from a venture in direct selling.  And my systems skills are partially drawn from having worked at a pizza franchise for a couple of years in high school.  At any point in the past, if you would have told me that they were all great work experiences building towards something I could use in the future, I would have laughed at you.  But now I see it all working together.

So don’t discount your knowledge and experience in your past.  Think about what skills you acquired through each of your past job or venture, and leverage that unique list of strengths in your business, and find help for the skills you don’t have yet.

And if your kid wants to work at McDonald’s, let them!  I find franchises to be great places to learn about how to “systemize” your business.  Everything is documented and down to a science.  I still remember the script for answering the phone at that pizza joint.

Now if only I can figure out what skill I’m supposed to have learned from that summer in high school I spent in an electronic warehouse counting inventory.  I’ll be sure to let you know when I figure that one out.

Listen to Your Gut

As a business owner I have made a few mistakes along the way.  We all do.  It’s the only way to you figure out what works.  I had an interesting realization when looking over 2009.   Whenever things went off the rail in my business, it was because I did not listen to my gut.

You know that quiet ‘ping’ you get when your mind is telling you the answer, but you ignore it?   Maybe you listen to other people;  maybe you discount it because it is ‘just a feeling’.  Whatever the reason, I can see very clearly whenever things didn’t work out the way I expected, I had intentionally ignored my radar warning.

Your gut, your radar, your subconscious – whatever you want to call it – is the best GPS you can use for guiding yourself on important decisions.  Listen to it.  I plan to this year.  Every time.

Happy New Year!

A new year starts tomorrow.  You are responsible for the direction of your life. Getting clear on what drives you, what motivates you, will allow you to define what you want to get out of 2010.

Spending a lot of time doing stuff you don’t enjoy is not what life is supposed to be about. Neither am I advocating that you turn into a selfish person.

To strike a healthy balance in life, you must be clear on what makes you happy and then make sure you fit those things into your life.

Life is too short to spend it doing stuff you have to all the time.  Make sure you have fun and play in 2010 as well.