Want to Improve Sales and Customer Retention? Keep your Promises

December 15, 2012


The formula for success in small business is very simple – keep the promises you make to your customers. The relationship between customers and business owner is like an unwritten contract. Both parties expect the other to honor their side of the contract. In it, the business owner promises to sell his products or services at the advertised price with the best possible customer service. In return, the customer promises to keep giving business to you as long as you keep your side of the bargain.
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Customer Reminders – A Powerful Tool to Improve Loyalty and Sales

November 9, 2012


Reminders can be powerful personal productivity tool when used properly. On the other hand, forgetting to use them can be lead to dire consequences. Just ask anyone who has forgotten spouse’s birthday or marriage anniversary or someone who has missed the bill payment. The financial and social penalties you have to pay as a result are not trivial.
Small business owners can help customers overcome these challenges by facilitating reminders and, in the process, improve customer loyalty and sales. You can find examples of savvy businesses using reminders for these benefits if you look carefully. When I go for regular dental visit they usually set the next appointment for 6 months out. They also send me a reminder about a week in advance as the appointment approaches. Most of the car oil change locations put stickers on the windshield showing when the next oil change is due.
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Small Business Owners – Beware of These Social Media Marketing Traps

August 15, 2012


Many small business owners think of social media as panacea for all marketing and sales ills. They believe, often wrongly, that by jumping on the bandwagon of social media they will be able to improve their sales by 25% overnight. They are fooled by misconceptions promoted by the so called social media experts. I regularly get 4-5 emails every week from these experts offering me to help promote my blog and land it on the first page of Google Search for a charge!
While there is truth to the fact that every small business needs to have Internet and social media marketing strategy you have to first understand what it can and cannot do for your business and set the right expectations before jumping in. We do believe that there are selected social media tools that small businesses must use. It’s how you use it that really makes a difference. That is why I talked about social media best practices for small business owners in earlier post. In this post let’s turn the table and discuss the traps you need to watch out for when using social media for marketing purpose.
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Filed Under: Customers, Marketing, Technology Tagged With: ,

Does Your Small Business have Local Internet Strategy

July 26, 2012

Sponsored Post (Brought to you by RevLocal)

Here is a quick question for you. Let’s say you are looking for a restaurant to go out for evening dinner with your friends or family. Where would you turn to find out? In the old days your answer would have been Yellow Pages (remember those thick books you used to keep?). Not anymore. These days more and more people are turning to web sites such as Google Places and Bing Local to uncover local businesses. These Online business listings, along with review sites such as Yelp, are becoming the new “Yellow Pages” of the Internet age.
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Effective Techniques for Logo Marketing

July 13, 2012

Sponsored Post (Brought to you by Specialty T-Shirts)

These days it has become increasingly difficult to escape advertising in our society. Advertisers are targeting variety of venues to put their logos. You can find them on the public buses, subway stations and even public restrooms!
Roadside billboards have long been the staple of advertising and part of American highway fabric. One place many advertisers often overlook is what I call the walking billboards. Large companies visiting the trade shows and other promotional events have long promoted their brands by putting their logos on the t-shirts. However, this has not been utilized by small business owners very well. Effective promotions on the t-shirts and other clothing accessories can generate awareness and subsequent inquiries for small business owners leading to higher sales.
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5 Lies Marketers Tell to Small Business Owners

July 7, 2012


What good is the marketer if he cannot help you sell the “Brooklyn Bridge” that you (supposedly) own? After all, the job of the marketer is to help business owners sell their products no matter how bad the product may be! But before the marketer can sell that “Brooklyn Bridge” he needs to sell himself to you, the business owners, and convince you that he is the right person for the job. And therein lies the potential issues with hiring marketers.
The marketers will do anything to get your business, even if it means stretching the truth – commonly known as lying. There are many marketers who promise the moon to business owners and make them spend money on the programs that don’t produce any results. I have always maintained that business owners first need to focus on business fundamentals before spending money on marketing. My 5 fundamental rules of marketing highlight these points. I also showed why business owners should not waste their money by making common marketing mistakes Here I will show 5 promises (lies) marketers make that you, as a business owner, need to be wary of.
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Do not Take these 5 Actions when New Competitor Moves to your Neighborhood

June 16, 2012


The scenario may look familiar to many small business owners. You are doing a brisk business with loyal customer base. The sales are growing steadily. You are making decent profit. The same holds true for other competitors in the neighborhood. The existing customers in the town are divided between your and other businesses. In short, equilibrium has been established amongst existing businesses.
And then, a new competitor decides to get a piece of the action. Suddenly, everything changes. The new competitor tries to grab customers with lower price and increased marketing. The existing ones try to hold onto their customers. Employees will leave for bigger opportunities. It’s as if someone threw a stone in the calm waters causing ripples everywhere in the neighborhood.
The initial reaction for many existing business owners may be to counter the new competitor with force right away to ensure these ripples do not cause significant damage to your boat. However, this may be a mistake. The best strategy may be to watch and plan for the future before taking radical steps. In particular, it is important NOT to do the following right away.
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What can Subway Teach you about Growing the Business

June 9, 2012


Trivia question: Name the franchise with most number of locations in the world. If you answered McDonald’s you are wrong. The new king of the franchise world is Subway. It surpassed McDonald’s in 2011 with 33,949 worldwide locations compared to Mickey D’s 32,737. The franchise that started with mere $1,000 by Fred DeLuca in 1965 has seen phenomenal growth in the last 10 years.
Subway has been able to grow consistently year after year by following principles that can be applied to any small business. We have studied and analyzed those principles and present them below for small business owners to apply to grow their business in a similar fashion.
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Are you Wasting Money with These 7 Marketing Mistakes?

May 5, 2012


Many small business owners think of marketing as a black magic that involves spending lots of money in advertising in the hope that it will magically bring additional customers and sales. They get frustrated when not as many customers as they had hoped show up and the scant few that do never return again. The worst part is business owners feel they have no choice but to continue doing this because they will lose even more customers and sales otherwise. As a result, they end up wasting their hard earned money on marketing when they could have received better return on their money.
While consulting with number of small business owners we have uncovered several recurring mistakes that many of us make in terms of marketing. By simply understanding those mistakes and taking steps to avoid them from happening with your business you can not only save money on marketing, but also get much better return. The list below shows 7 common mistakes many small business owners make. We also show references to other articles that provide additional details and explain how to prevent them from hurting your business.
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How to Increase Sales with Better Business Signs

May 2, 2012


Effective interior and outdoor signage is essential to the branding efforts of almost any business. From wall decals to billboards, signage can help bring in new customers and retain the attention of regulars. To improve your signage, consider placement, graphics, short messages and frequent changes.
Better sign design and placement not only improves the image of your business, but it can help increase your sales from existing customers as well as by attracting new ones. The tips provided below will help you improve your business sign design.
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