Your Business Needs Referrals

Whether your business is B2B or B2C, getting referrals is hands-down the best way to bring in new customers. When someone you’ve done business with recommends your company to their colleagues, friends, or family, your chance of getting the project or sale is greatly improved. Referrals demonstrate trust—they’re a big vote of confidence and one of the the greatest compliments your company can receive.

Most businesses receive referrals at least occasionally and for some, nearly all customers are referred, but the importance of referrals should not be underestimated. Savvy Freelancers and business owners are proactive and develop strategies to encourage a steady intake of referrals. The objective is to identify and motivate high-quality referrers and persuade them to recommend your products or services to those in their network who are in search of a solution your company provides.

Leverage your network

Keep in mind, BTW, that a degree of finesse is necessary when looking to stimulate referrals; you must be sensitive to the fact that referrals are earned and not an entitlement. That said, Freelancers and business owners who’ve been operating for maybe just a year or two will probably not be seen as pushy when reaching out to friends, family, or even former co-workers to let them know that referrals of prospective customers would be appreciated.

Those in your network surely know business owners, decision-makers and other professionals; some will be happy to make introductions that allow you to expand your network and, if possible, will also make a referral for you. Make it easy for those who know you best and are motivated to help you succeed by sharing basic facts about your business:

• Explain what you do using terms they will understand
• Create a professional looking website and LinkedIn profile
• Concisely and clearly describe projects you’re qualified for and interested in
• Give examples of the industries you typically work with, if that is a relevant factor (e.g., hospitality, defense industry, higher education, publishing) and the job titles of those who typically hire or interview you (e.g., CEO, Executive Director, Marketing Director, VP Human Resources)

Invite new relationships

Good referrals can also be made by people you’re not especially close with; meeting new colleagues at conferences and other professional settings can present opportunities to grow your network. When networking, do yourself (and everyone!) a favor and squelch the temptation to push your business card onto all you encounter as you “work the room.” Instead, show a genuine interest in those you meet, as demonstrated by asking questions and listening to those you chat with. Adopt a mind-set that includes generosity along with self-interest. Be willing to help others as you would like to be helped. Try these relationship-building tactics to expand your network and potentially generate referrals:

• Invite certain of your LinkedIn connections to in-person or virtual coffee dates to learn more about them and discuss how the two of you might help each other’s business.
• Explore local organizations related to your industry and/or the business community. Chambers of commerce are a good starting point. Attend business education programs, meet & greets, and/or virtual events and introduce yourself.
• If you listen to podcasts or webinars, start building a relationship with the host(s) by commenting or asking questions. If you especially enjoyed the program, invite the host(s) into your LinkedIn network. If a program attendee or guest stands out to you, get his/her name and introduce yourself in a private chat and propose follow-up.

Social media promotes referrals

Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X (Twitter) enable you to nurture relationships with both your new and long-lasting contacts and make it easy to occasionally say hello and also remind them that you’re on the lookout for referrals. Periodically revisit and update your social media profiles, to ensure that your online presence will inspire confidence when new connections check out your organization as they consider referring you to one of their contacts.

As noted above, pave the way for contacts to refer you by clarifying the work you do and the job titles of those with the authority to green light your projects. You might also provide samples of your work, when appropriate. Create profile-enhancing posts that have the potential to cultivate your standing as an expert and encourage referrals:

• Share industry news and thought leadership articles to establish yourself as an authority in your space
• Participate in discussions that relate to your work and industry
• Add customer testimonials or recommendations to your sites (and offer to make recommendations for others in return)

Exceed expectations

Referrals are 100 percent dependent on your ability to fulfill (or exceed) the expectations of customers. Whether your business occupies the B2B or B2C sector, you must ensure that the buyer’s journey, the quality and delivery of the products or services purchased and all touchpoints please the customers. Taken together, these elements comprise the customer experience; the customer’s perception of that experience determines whether referrals on your behalf will be made.

It is in the interest of business owners and Freelance consultants to both provide an exceptional end-to-end customer experience and also cultivate good relationships with customers. At stake are the potential for repeat business and referrals—important sources of revenue. You have ample motivation to keep lapsed customers on your mailing list, to give business updates when appropriate and to send December holiday cards to customers you’ve worked with (maybe within the past five years).

Remind customers that you welcome referrals

Once you have customers who are happy with your services or products, they may be willing to become a referral source when opportunities arise. Because they have direct experience working with you, they can speak with authority about the quality of work you produce and customer experience that you provide. Do you have a customer who’s told you they’re thrilled with the outcomes of a recent project? That’s the perfect time to ask for a referral!

• Ask customers to write a LinkedIn recommendation for you (and offer to return the favor).
• Ask customers to give you a written or verbal testimonial or participate in a case study that will appear on your website. Offer to include their company logo and website link, as a way to increase awareness of their company brand and provide a quality backlink for their company website
• Tell happy customers that you’re thrilled they’re pleased with your products or services. Let them know that you’re open to performing similar work and that you’d appreciate their referrals if they know of anyone with a need for the products or services you provide.

Make referrals for others

If you are aware of an upcoming project for which you are not a fit, or that current commitments prevent you from accepting, there may be someone in your network for whom that project would be ideal. That’s why forming relationships with other Freelancers and business owners and leaders is essential. When you refer a project or customer to a colleague, it reflects well on you—enhances your professional reputation and portrays you as a true professional. Furthermore, When you refer work to others, you’ll be at top of mind the next time a project comes along that you’d be a good fit for.

Avoid a mindset that’s based in scarcity, envy, or other negative feelings toward business colleagues, including direct competitors. It’s draining and does not insulate your entity from competition. Instead, be cordial and cooperative with business colleagues. Get to know what they specialize in and the types of customers they work with. Become the business owner who colleagues and contacts enjoy referring.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©Natee Meepian

AI 2024: Freelancers and SMB Think Marketing

So much of operating a successful business centers on marketing. Generating revenue is about customers: bringing them in and keeping who you have, all the while doing what you can to outmaneuver competitors and work around business climate challenges. To slip through the obstacle course and achieve those objectives, you must think and execute strategically and that includes making use of resources available to you. Among the most powerful and most discussed resources can be found in the many groundbreaking technological developments that have so radically reshaped our lives over the past hundred years.

Some of these useful and exciting tools are capable of delivering significant advantages to your organization—quick access to relevant data, the analysis and interpretation of that data and automation of routine functions such as email marketing and social media posting among them—all can be yours with just a few taps on your keypad. Your task is to stay abreast of the fast pace of emerging technologies and recognize the tools that will give you operational efficiencies you need most at a price you can afford.

The tool that’s got everybody talking is, tah dah, Artificial Intelligence. Open AI/Microsoft (Chat GPT), Google AI, Nvidia AI and Amazon (AWS machine learning) are among the leaders in the race to dominate AI technology. It’s imperative to start your learning curve and figure out the right way to use AI in your business. Maybe you’ve already started and have a chat bot on your website? That’s a great tool to enhance customer service and there are more marketing functions that AI can successfully support.

More than a trend

AI’s gift to marketing rests on its data-driven insights that help you personalize the customer experiences your company provides. Freelancers and small business owners are able to affordably access AI generated data that is actionable, meaning you can convert whatever insights you’ve gleaned into marketing strategies that can be expected to move the needle and set your organization apart in a highly competitive marketplace.

Personalization builds relationships

Marketing thought leaders have already pointed out that the future of effective marketing is personalization. Creating a memorably satisfying customer experience has replaced the hard sell. Now, the task is to lead customers to develop a connection with your business and give them reasons to continue doing business with you. Promoting connection through the inclusion of personalized marketing tactics is how to build relationships now, as you discourage churn and encourage repeat business.

New technologies, AI and otherwise, enable you to precisely personalize your company’s marketing strategies and tactics. The data that AI et al. delivers enables you to deepen your understanding of the customer persona by amassing demographic info that, among other insights, gives you actionable data about their buying habits and preferred experiences that you can use to make them feel valued. You can use recently developed technological tools, including AI, to create a more trusting and mutually beneficial relationship between your company and customers that ultimately leads them to give your marketing content more responses and followers that result in more sales, donations and growth for your organization.

Personalize and optimize AI prompts to personalize and optimize marketing content

The good news about AI technology is that it enables users to create both text and visual content. The downside, if you want to call it that, is you must “tell” your AI tool the result you want; to make it happen, you must learn to write instructions known as prompts. AI prompts can be divided into two categories: text prompting and image prompting. The prompt is how users communicate with the chosen AI tool—think key words and long-tail phrases. With prompts, you “tell” the AI what you want and how you want it to be done. You must describe what you want to see as a result.  

In text prompting, you’re “talking” to a natural language processor like ChatGPT. If your prompt is a general query, e.g., “how do you bake bread?”, you’ll be given a generic answer. But if your prompt is a more specific query or statement, e.g., “explain in simple terms how to bake whole wheat bread”, then you’ll likely end up with an acceptable recipe. When your goal is to create an image, you’ll use image prompting words to describe that image. The AI image generator is a text-to-image tool that was designed to make it easier for digital marketers and content creators to create images online. The text-to-image models you’ll use will include DALL-E2, Google’s Deep Dream Generator, Jasper.ai, or Stable Diffusion.

Incidentally, know that while AI tools are designed to process language, they have a different way of understanding than your average human. When using a natural language text prompting tool, you may receive outcomes that are incorrect or downright nonsensical, so it may take several tries, using different phrases to develop the prompt, to arrive at the outcome that you want. 

A cheat sheet of prompts written by someone else most likely will not produce optimal results. Your own words, perfected through a process of trial and error, in the end will breed success. Before you get started with AI prompts, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. There’s no magic prompt. The Internet is flooded with AI prompts, but it might take some trial and error before you figure out which type is most effective for your particular use case. 
2. Clarify your desired outcome. A good rule of thumb: the response will generally be as broad or specific as its prompt. In some cases, it might actually be preferable to skimp on the details—like if you’re brainstorming blog post topics and want more varied and diverse answers. Something more complex, like a sales playbook or chatbot script, will almost always require more details.
3. Garbage in, garbage out. The quality of the output depends entirely on the input. AI enables teams to move a lot faster, but it’s still important to take the time to flesh out your prompts. Otherwise, you could find yourself drowning in responses that are unclear, inaccurate, irrelevant or just wildly off-base.  

Marketing copy text prompts

Ramp up your creativity with prompts like “craft a brief, captivating story of a summer trip” or “compose a social post introducing a new skincare product for winters.” The suggestions that you get for these prompts can inspire imaginative content. Another strategy is to tailor your content based on audience preferences — from short-form copy to artwork, music and videos. This can help generate more tailored, engaging content for social media posts or emails. 

Informational text prompts

Hone in on the most relevant metrics and other info that’s buried in big data by using prompts like “provide a brief overview of Adidas’ top-performing footwear collection.” This is perfect for informed decision-making and finding out what’s still trending. 

Reasoning text prompts  

These prompts go beyond facts. They help AI provide thoughtful conclusions about a subject, adding depth and insight to your content. This includes prompts like “what is the impact of sustainable practices on corporate profitability?” Such lines of questioning can go a long way in helping you with industry knowledge and competitive analysis questions. 

List text prompts

Compile lists effortlessly by using prompts like “create a list of engaging podcast topics in the realm of artificial intelligence.” They’re ideal for generating concise, bulleted options, be it for email subject lines or blog titles. These prompts help structure your thoughts in a more systematic way. 

Instructional text prompts  

Guide your content creation with prompts like “detail the process of setting up a home automation system from scratch.” Utilize them to provide step-by-step guidance, which is incredibly useful for creating how-to guides or informative content. 

Interactive text prompts  

Interactive prompts initiate conversations. This includes prompts like “imagine you’re a travel guide giving recommendations for a solo trip to an exotic destination.” They create engaging scenarios, which are ideal for training sessions or interactive content. 

Keyword text prompts  

Keyword prompts pinpoint words or phrases. They are used for tasks like drawing insights from data or aiding in image and video creation. Take the example of this prompt: “Generate creative ideas for nutritious meal options that are easy to prepare at home. Focus on incorporating fresh ingredients and simple cooking techniques.” This keyword prompt guides the AI by specifying terms like “nutritious,” “easy-to-make,” “fresh ingredients” and “simple cooking techniques,” providing a clear direction for content generation related to healthy and easy-to-make meals. 

Image prompts

Use a phrase to describe what you’re looking for. A few specific details about the object or character, including a description of the character or object that will be in the foreground or background and the setting you’d like to see in your preferred image design.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

 

Subscription Model Spotlight

The subscription-based business model is an American classic. From the newspaper that the neighborhood paperboy delivered every day to your parent’s house, to the magazines you looked forward to receiving from the mailman each month and, of course, the Book-of-the-Month Club, founded in 1926 and enjoyed by your grandparents, millions have bought subscriptions over the years. We trust the process.

As the e-commerce revolution lured millions of newspaper, magazine and book readers to digital formats and software as a service (SaaS) introduced a menu of business services that make back-office operations much faster and efficient, the number of products and services available by subscription has exploded. There are now hundreds of subscription-based businesses to indulge you, from cable TV and movies to goodie gift boxes for you (Hot Sauce of the Month Club) and your dog (Barkbox).

Subscriptions are the original recurring revenue business model, able to bring a fairly predictable amount of money into a business at predetermined intervals, making subscriptions adored by business owners (and increasingly, Freelancers). Customers also appreciate subscriptions: they make obtaining frequently used products or services more convenient and often less costly, since there is almost always a discount offered as compared to the price of a one-off item. Plus, time is saved and inconvenience spared when there is no need to repeatedly make purchases; a subscription guarantees that your order is complete and payment settled just once a year and renewed annually as desired (and sometimes renewed automatically, which means you do nothing beyond reading the renewal confirmation if no changes will be made).

What’s not to love? Monthly (or annually or quarterly) recurring revenue represents predictable cash-flow and every business owner wants it. The smartest, most forward-thinking business owners and leaders, including Freelancers, are brainstorming ways to integrate a subscription service into their company’s offerings. The good news is that the acceptance level of subscriptions in the general population makes it relatively easy to persuade prospective customers to buy. Persuading subscribers to renew the deal, however, can be another kettle of fish.

So, if the idea of selling your products or services by subscription comes to mind, first ask yourself which of your products or services customers regularly purchase throughout the year but might prefer to order and pay for just once a year and save themselves time and money? Float the idea with two or three of your steady customers and heed the reply. Adopting a subscription model requires serious forethought and planning and this is especially true for many B2B service businesses, where value is intangible and not always immediately recognized. For example, the value of software subscriptions is continually demonstrated with tangible and actionable information that’s generated on a regular basis and by frequent use of the platform by the customer. The value of leadership and Emotional Intelligence coaching, however, can be less immediately obvious.

Subscription business model experts reveal two critical success factors—perceived value and the subscriber experience. Regarding value, subscribers accept a recurring subscription fee when the product or service subscribed to consistently demonstrates its worth. Should the subscriber feel that s/he is not receiving value that justifies the subscription cost, the possibility of service cancellation is imminent. The benefits derived from the product or service subscribed to must be front and center in the subscriber’s mind. S/he must clearly witness or perceive the expected value, preferably through a noticeable, if not measurable, improvement in whatever need the service or product addresses.

Regarding the subscriber experience, quality control and the consistency of the expected outcomes delivered by the product or service are key. There is an ongoing need to maintain, and periodically upgrade, the subscriber service and experience delivered. Subscribers tend to expect service enhancements at regular intervals. Suggestions of other critical factors you may want to examine as you and your team evaluate the potential viability of a subscription model for one or more of your products or services are below:

1. Is the subscription model is right for your business?

 As noted above, do yourself a favor and confirm that enough of your customers will feel it advantageous to commit in advance to the purchase of one or more of your company’s products and/or services by subscription. Is it important to customers to reorder what you sell on an ongoing basis, or are sales typically intermittent or even one-off? Discuss with your accountant the amount of monthly subscription revenue needed to make offering subscriptions feasible for your entity. If you get a green light to move forward, it will then be necessary to develop strategies that promote and defend subscription revenue and minimize subscriber churn (i.e., cancellations). Be prepared to develop marketing campaigns that describe to current and prospective customers how buying your product or service as a subscription service will make life easier or doing business more cost-effective for them.

2. Subscription or retainer fee?

Even if you do a steady business with a certain client, for example, providing payroll solutions or website maintenance and security, a retainer agreement may be more appropriate than a subscription (both generate recurring revenue). A retainer fee is a fixed amount of money that a customer pays to a company/consultant in advance and for a specific period of time, typically, a month, quarter, or year. The retainer fee covers an agreed-upon scope of work or number of hours that the company/consultant agrees to provide to the customer. The customer can use the consultant’s services as needed, up to the limit of the retainer agreement. If the customer does not use all of the hours or services included in the retainer, the consultant still keeps the entire fee; if the customer exceeds that limit, the consultant can charge extra fees or negotiate a new retainer.

A subscription fee is a recurring fee that a subscriber pays to a company/consultant for access to a predefined service or product. The subscription fee is billed monthly, quarterly, or annually and the subscriber can cancel (sometimes) or renew the subscription at any time (usually toward the end of the billing period). The subscription grants access to the product or service, which the subscriber can use as desired. The consultant/company provides the product or service on a continuing basis or provides access to an online platform or membership access site.

3. Try before buy 

Consider offering a short free trial to allow prospective subscribers to experience the advantages of subscribing to your product or service—first month free, for example. Tempting current customers and prospects with a sample of your subscription service could convince a number of them to sign up and pay. Furthermore, you’ll make subscribing still more attractive when their pricing options are uncomplicated. Offer one standard monthly (or quarterly or annual) fee; if you also sell premium and/or economy versions of your product or service, price those subscriptions accordingly.

4. Set clear expectations:

Set clear expectations from the start of the subscriber relationship. Customers must understand what they’ll receive for the price they’ll pay–services, products, tools and/or supporting technologies. Subscriber info should walk customers through what the subscription offers, the level of support available from your team and company contact info.  Ensure that prospective subscribers fully understand the value they’ll receive, tangible (the product or service) and intangible (training, additional info and/or support).

5. Discounts for longer-term subscriptions

The monthly fee should reward longer subscription commitments—24 or 36 months, for example—with correspondingly progressive discounts. While some subscribers desire only short-term use, others will use your product or service basically forever. By offering subscribers a variety of subscription options and offering deeper discounts to those who agree to pay upfront for long-term commitments, you’ll have a better chance of attracting more subscribing customers and increasing recurring revenue.

6. Easy or automatic renewing

The subscription model is an excellent vehicle for customer retention, but your organization must implement strategies to further remind subscribing customers of its relevance to them and provide various incentives for renewing the subscription. Make renewing frictionless and enable subscribers to auto-renew (with an opt-out option). When you make renewal easy for subscribers, they’re more inclined to do so.

7. Quality control and customer experience

Subscriber satisfaction is not to be taken lightly; it is never a given. Ideally, you’ll find it in your budget to assign or hire (W2 or 1099) a subscriber experience specialist who will be responsible for ensuring that expectations are met. That person will also document and report on the turnaround time for resolving issues, as well as any recurring problems. Proper quality control offers you much-needed insight into subscriber concerns, which will drive ongoing service enhancements and continue to enhance subscription value. 

Furthermore, marketing experts have convincingly demonstrated that personalized communication is a deciding factor in reducing churn, building loyalty and re-engaging lapsed customers/subscribers. Your organization should collect as much subscriber data as possible and apply that info to generating email updates and personalized special offers that aim to encourage renewals. The goal is to maintain subscriber enthusiasm and reinforce the convenience, enjoyment and/or habit of subscribing. You want to avoid disengagement, complacency, or other dissatisfaction that may result in a lapsed subscriber.

8. Don’t skimp on packaging

If your subscription is a physical product, invest in premium packaging. With all due respect to the U.S. Postal Service, your product deserves better packaging than a flat rate priority box. While your physical product will require shipping, it is highly recommended that you avoid the temptation to save money by packing and mailing yourself. Instead, find a fulfillment house and outsource packing and shipping.

Your logistics provider will fulfill subscription orders for your product, packing and shipping those orders directly to subscribers in a way that effectively communicates the value of your brand and enhances the subscriber experience. The fulfillment center will also manage product inventory and store the inventory.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Customer Loyalty = Competitive Advantage

No doubt about it, being in business is about the customers and nearly all of your important functions as a business leader are customer-driven. Customers are the fuel that sustains your enterprise and they are worth their weight in gold. In exchange for just a few basic necessities that your organization provides—high-quality products and services, pleasant and efficient service end to end and prompt follow-up to whatever questions or problems, chief among them—your customers will be pleased. They’ll reward you by doing more business with you.

Some will become your cheerleaders and happily spread the good news of their positive experience with you. They’ll write glowing reviews and award your company five stars. Not only will they give you repeat business, they’ll also refer their colleagues and grow your list of customers. Good customers are the foundation of a successful enterprise and in particular for small and midsize businesses they are one of your most impactful competitive advantages.

Now, you may have built a strong brand that within your target market commands admirable brand awareness, but it is undeniable that small and midsize entities do not have the powerful brand influence wielded by even regional companies, let alone the multinationals. Furthermore, in the big picture, the products and services offered by Freelancers and other small entities are seldom perceived as unique. For the most part, small and midsize companies are all-too-often uncomfortably close to being considered a mere commodity and more or less interchangeable with competitors. Ouch.

So how can Freelancers and other owner – operators of small entities distinguish themselves and get positioned to thrive in an increasingly globalized marketplace? Fortunately, one of the most attainable and effective competitive advantages you can bring to your brand to rescue it from the taint of mediocrity is the loyalty of your customers. You nurture and sustain that powerful competitive advantage by the customer experience that you (and your team) present. When your organization gives the gift of a first-rate customer experience to those who do business with you, that happy feeling will become the defining memory that customers have of your organization.

A strategy, not an afterthought

You can showcase as competitive advantages any attributes or resources that your business holds, but the particulars of the customer service and experience your organization offers are personally and uniquely yours. What you do, how you do it and how your customers feel as a result will distinguish you from all competitors.

The customer experience you present is an extension of your company values and culture. When your guiding principles direct you to place the customer at the center of how you interpret best practices, you’ll incorporate that perspective into your business decisions, strategic directions and every customer touch-point. The customer service training you provide to customer-facing employees will reflect your standards of customer service best practices. The desired result is a rewarding customer experience that encourages customer loyalty and customer retention.

Products and services that consistently deliver

It is a given that the quality of your products and services is the leading factor in creating customer loyalty. Excellence is the expectation and customers will quickly abandon your organization if its solutions do not meet that standard.

If for some reason a product or service fails (as the customer defines it), your best defense is to respond quickly, deliver an apology that expresses genuine empathy for the inconvenience and provide a well-delivered correction that exceeds customer expectations.

Surprise and delight

It is always good business to thank your customers for their business and show them that you appreciate their confidence in you and your organization. That they choose to do business with you is the most sincere compliment. A thoughtful gesture costs very little and has the power to repay you many times over with customer loyalty, retention and referrals made.

Providing perks or VIP status is one way you can show gratitude to your best customers and it’s known to encourage repeat purchases and create enthusiastic brand advocates. Depending on your product or service line, consider inviting certain customers to have pre-release access to a new product or service. You might offer those customers a small discount in exchange for their inclusion in a case study that you’ll publish or appearing in a social media campaign.

Another way to show gratitude to customers is by sending a hand written note to thank them for their business. A short, simply written thank you note is an elegant and powerful way to express your appreciation for the opportunity to work with them. At the December holidays, remember to send a (secular) holiday card to customers you’ve worked with over the past four or five years.

The little extras you provide are an expression of your guiding principles, an extension of the memorable customer experience that your organization presents and a welcome change of pace from the digital realm, where most business interactions now take place.

Enable community

When your company’s guiding principles point you toward a customer engagement focus that is centered on customers, you won’t limit yourself to one-way broadcasting of company updates. Instead, you’ll spark conversations that have the potential to inspire your customers and motivate them to interact with each other, along with you and your customer-facing employees. Engagement means that customers feel that they’re part of a community, one that welcomes them with bonding activities that can include interesting conversations, receiving cards and personal notes, or gaining access to special product or service offerings.

Because your customers will find it most convenient to have these types of conversations online, take care to participate in social media platforms that first, make this type of communication accessible in terms of text and images, as does Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok and second, that your platform is one that customers are comfortable using.

When you take steps to build and nurture a satisfying and memorable customer experience, you can be certain that your brand will be recognized and appreciated by customers and prospects alike, who will be delighted to do business with your entity again again. Their loyalty will become one of your most powerful competitive advantages.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

90 Day Business Tune-Up

Memorial Day Weekend is over and summer is here—-yay! The fourth quarter, which has the most revenue potential for most Freelance and other business entities, will arrive at the close of this short, sweet season and whether it brings you a feast or something less than, you’d better be ready. There’s a lot to prepare for this year.

Inflation has been eating your profits for at least two years. The shakeup that followed the recent collapse of three big banks still lingers and talk of recession refuses to subside. So maybe it’s time to take some defensive action to insulate your enterprise against the turbulence? Ya think?

Then again, you may have reason to feel optimistic. Are you one who anticipates a potentially robust fourth quarter? That happy thought may inspire you to consider scaling your operation, maybe hiring one or more part-time or even full-time employees, to ensure that your organization will seamlessly meet the increased demand for your products and services.

In either scenario, you’ll have some planning to do and it makes sense to start the process now and guess what? You can make a few smart moves that will give your business a summertime tune-up that will start showing the results you want in just 90 days! Analyzing key performance index metrics, numbers that reveal what’s really going on in your business, is Step One. You’ll want to verify the customers who bring you the most business, the average dollar amount of invoices, the average length of your sales cycle and the average number of days it takes to collect receivables, for example. That and other KPIs will help you decide what should be done to capitalize on your advantages, minimize potential obstacles and give some wiggle room when it’s needed.

SWOT Analysis

Objectively evaluating your business on a monthly or at least quarterly basis is always time well spent, regardless of the economic conditions you face. Since the 1970s, the SWOT Analysis has enabled business owners and leaders to account for the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that a business should focus on and manage. FYI, there are many free online tools that make it faster and easier to conduct a credible SWOT Analysis, ensuring that you evaluate all aspects of your business and help you consider goals and next steps.

Taking a peek at two or three major competitors can also unearth useful information and may even help you recognize previously undiscovered opportunities to pursue or other potential advantages to explore. Look for what can help your business stand out, including product or service add-ons and upgrades, customer loyalty rewards and customer experience and after-sale support.

Once the SWOT has been completed, identify what can be implemented in the short-term and develop strategies that include action plans and a timetable to keep you on schedule and drive results. Other areas that may benefit from scrutiny and are known to produce tangible results quickly are below.

Cash-flow

Insufficient cash-flow makes it difficult to manage your accounts payable and other fixed expenses and can result in late fees. Two strategies that you can institute immediately are known to improve your business cash-flow— 1.) speed up collection of accounts receivable, usually by timely invoicing and 2.) control spending.

Re: invoicing, time tracking software often has invoicing capability and it’s a timesaver for B2B service providers. Alternatively, you can develop the practice of creating a draft invoice when you send a contract to customers. The services you provide will be described and will be the basis of your invoices. Mostly, you’ll only need to add the time spent on the tasks.

Coaxing customers to pay on time may also mean that you need to broaden your company’s payment systems. Accepting two or three payment formats (e.g., mobile and online in addition to checks) could shorten the average number of days it takes to collect outstanding receivables. In addition to meeting customer expectations and helping to increase sales conversion, digital payments also mean money is deposited to your account within 48 hours.

Re: spending, examine your budget and look for what can be reduced or eliminated. For example, have you been a user of premium services and if so, are the upgrades meaningful? Also, you might consider renegotiating your contracts with suppliers, asking for a lower credit card interest rate if you always pay on time and reduce any discretionary spending.

Finally, money saved allows you to build a nice cash reserve, oh happy day! That means you’ll face the most favorable conditions should you look to obtain a line of credit that provides additional cash reserve. With a line of credit, you can draw from it on an as-needed basis but only have to repay what you actually borrowed.

Pricing

We all know that prices are rising and this gives you “permission” to raise yours—-maybe by 10% -20%? Your customers probably won’t complain, unless they are especially price sensitive. Consumers don’t stop purchasing when prices increase—-they simply adapt to what’s within their budget.

Consider designing a premium and a budget version of your services and add two new price points to the mix. Consumer behavior surveys have demonstrated that shoppers of B2B and B2C products and services appreciate the options of multiple price points. It’s highly unlikely that the majority of your buyers will gravitate to the lower price and in fact, if you design your premium services to reflect what buyers value most, a majority will probably choose to pay the higher price in order to obtain what’s important to them.

Customer experience and retention

If business slows down, it’s imperative that you step up your customer retention activities. Keeping a customer is always less expensive than acquiring a new one, so do whatever possible to persuade customers to keep doing business with you.

Prioritize customer satisfaction. Along with providing high-quality products and services, attentive customer service and beneficial after-sale support will result in significant improvement in customer satisfaction. Furthermore, everything from a website that navigates intuitively, to quick follow-up on questions asked on social media will positively impact the customer experience and the good reviews, repeat business and referrals that every business needs.

Get free advice

I’m honored that you read my blog (thank you!) but there are other sources you can explore and they’ll have information and advice well beyond what I offer. Small Business Development Centers and SCORE, both affiliated with the Small Business Association, offer free technical assistance and resources to owners of businesses of every size and what you learn can make a real difference. .https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-locations/headquarters-offices/office-small-business-development-centers

Your local chamber of commerce or neighborhood business association will charge a (reasonable) annual dues plus a per event ticket price, but you’ll get a good ROI. There will be at least a few events that justify the money invested and you’ll get to meet fellow business owners and Freelancer peers. You might event meet your next client.

Finally, remember that the professionals you hire to provide business support services—your banker, accountant, bookkeeper, HR or IT specialist— also have expertise in addition to the specific service that convinced you to work with them. I’m sure that within their spectrum of expertise, they’ll be delighted to share valuable insights and maybe even help you to recognize new opportunities.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Kelley Wholesale Florist at The New England Flower Exchange in Chelsea, MA.

10 Tips to Create Repeat Business

A well-known study conducted by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company in 2010 confirmed what has been well-known anecdotally by business owners and leaders for decades—that it costs (at least) 5 times more to bring in a new customer than it does to keep the customer you already have. Decreasing churn, that is, the phenomenon of one-off customers who are never seen again, is not the way to build a sustainably profitable venture. You don’t want to run a business that behaves like a revolving door.

Your repeat customers are loyal to your brand because they have had good experiences with you. Due to this, repeat customers are highly likely to promote your brand through word of mouth or social media and on review sites such as Yelp and Trip Advisor. In other words, your repeat customers pay you with referrals and testimonials that bring more new customers to your door. It doesn’t get better than that!

As you build your business and go about refining and strengthening your brand, you should strive to cultivate a community that believes in your brand, that is loyal and is invested in seeing you succeed. One of the best ways to ensure customer loyalty is to make your customers feel that they’re a part of something rewarding when they engage and do business with your brand. Below are a few low-cost, no-cost actions you can take to promote customer loyalty, which usually translate into customer retention, I.e. repeat business and referrals, too.

Surprise and delight

Pleasant surprises are always a good thing during the course of a customer relationship. Introducing a nice surprise, typically in the form of an unexpected little perk for the customer and in particular at the beginning of the interaction, is a great strategy to differentiate yourself from competitors. It’s good business to show customers and serious prospects that you’re a cut above.

Customer experience, customer service

According to a 2018 survey of US consumers released by the multinational professional services company Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC), which happens to be the second-largest professional services firm in the world, consumers rank price and quality at top-of-mind when buying decisions are made. But when they think about interacting with companies they buy from, 73% of survey respondents reported that positive experiences influence their purchasing decisions and 65% feel that a positive buying experience is more influential than great advertising.

You basically have only one chance to get your customer experience and service right. 32% of customers surveyed reported that they’d stop doing business with a brand they loved after even
one bad experience.

Make an effort to structure the experience your business provides to reflect what matters most to the customers. When customers feel appreciated the company benefits, primarily from customer retention and referrals. 86% of survey respondents indicated that they’re willing to pay more for a good end-to-end customer experience and 80% say their reason for switching to another company was poor customer service.

Email marketing, social media, blog, newsletter

Update your customers by way of your website and social media accounts about what’s new—-special offers, new products or services or special pricing and be certain to include those who have not purchased in a while. If you publish a newsletter and/ or blog, include your product and service special offers, special pricing or new product or service announcement. Get your community excited about what’s happening and they may share the good news with those who could become your future customers and loyal fans.

Retain on your mailing list all customers with whom you’ve worked over the past five years, including those who’ve been inactive, and also retain on your mailing list prospects who have had some level of engagement with your organization. Always position yourself to win over a prospect or win back an inactive customer. Until someone clicks the opt-out button, continue to send marketing emails, your newsletter and/or your blog. You never know when lightening will strike.

Payment made easy

Make paying for your products and services easy. By adding digital payment options such as Square, Paypal, Bill.com, or Stripe and facilitating direct deposit payments to your bank or debit card and/or accepting online check payments, you’ll encourage customers to do business with you more often because you’ll make paying invoices a convenient process. Easy payment is an element of a pleasant customer experience.

Website and social media

Merely having an “online presence” is no longer enough. The internet is over-saturated and short attention spans are the norm. To maintain the appeal of your social media accounts and website, make your content—text, audio and video–relevant and timely. Constantly confirm that your posts and images resonate. Update regularly with fresh images, blog posts and and other text, audio and/or video.

Thank you card

The survey revealed that human interaction matters now—and 82% of U.S.
consumers want more of it in the future. With that in mind, a small personal gesture, such as sending a thank you card (or note) to a new customer, or one who has spent a certain threshold amount is a powerful statement. Your card or note can create or enhance the feeling of community and build loyalty for your brand.

Special occasions

The PwC survey found that when customers feel appreciated, they are more likely to recommend or endorse a brand on social media or review sites, subscribe to a brand’s newsletter, sign up for special promotions and make repeat purchases. Sending cards to mark occasions such as customer birthdays, if that is appropriate for your industry, or holiday cards in December is a predictable but usually much-appreciated way to communicate to customers your thoughtfulness.

Showcase testimonials

If visitors to your website and social media accounts see your customers and colleagues singing your praises, in text, audio, or video, then chances are they’ll be more likely to take a chance and buy from you themselves. User-generated content in the form of reviews is a powerful way to win customer loyalty. Case studies in text or video format, are also quite compelling since the story of how you and your team assess and resolve a problem is told.

After sale service

After-sales service often amounts to listening to customer feedback and being available to answer questions or give encouragement. After-sales service can make the difference between a happy customer who loves doing business with your organization, or one who is underwhelmed or even frustrated. A follow-up call to a customer, especially a new customer, will 1). Show your empathy—you care about the customer’s pain point or goal; and 2). Ensure that the customer is achieving objectives. If the solution isn’t working as expected, you can quickly diagnose the glitch and fix it. If a training will help, deliver it, on the spot or by appointment. You want to create a cadre of satisfied customers who will become your loyal cheerleaders.

Do the math

While at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) in 1896 demonstrated that on average, a business will derive 80% of its revenue from 20% of its customers. Further research has demonstrated that the likelihood of selling to an existing customer is 60% – 70% and repeat customers will on average spend 31% more than your new customers. Just a 5% increase your company’s customer retention rate will reward you with a 25% increase in profits. Are you convinced yet?

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © WalterFilm. Marilyn Monroe in a publicity photo for How to Marry a Millionaire (1953, 20th Century Fox Studios)

2022 Prediction: How You’ll Succeed in Business

If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll acknowledge that the ground beneath us began to tremble at least two years before the coronavirus appeared and since its arrival, the instability has intensified. Unquestionably, the economic landscape has changed. As the global economy hungers for signs of a robust post-pandemic recovery in 2022, business owners and leaders have no choice but to adapt to the new reality in order to survive and thrive.

You are not in Kansas anymore. The assumptions and practices that were considered prudent even three years ago will fall flat today. Forward thinking business owners and leaders are taking a fresh look at every major aspect of their organization—sales, marketing, customers, operations, finance, HR / staffing and technology-—to reassess how each job function contributes to sustainable profitability, the brand and the values, vision and mission of the company.

Define the purpose of your products and services

We’re accustomed to communicating benefits—-use this or do that so your boss and colleagues will think you’re a genius and your company’s customers will be happy that their needs are being met. But defining purpose is subtly different.

To figure out purpose, you’ll need to understand the pain point, goal, or challenge that compels prospects to search your website and look for information they hope can move them forward. If you want to provide the information they’re looking for—-and you’d better!—-you must know what prospects have in mind, basically know what they need to resolve, when they reach out to your organization.

Define your customer segments

Regardless of the product or service based solutions that your company provides, there will nevertheless be differences among those who buy from you based on factors such as motivation, budget, maybe age or gender, maybe also geography or education level. The more you can discern those differences, the more successful you’ll be in bringing business to your door, both new customers and those you’ve retained.

Expectations and the journey

Marketing research experts agree that customers have high expectations these days; they’re quite used to getting what they want, the way they want it and when they want it. Maybe the expectations started with next-day deliveries? Whatever, it’s a thing now and you have to keep up. Your only option is to make each customer touch point with your company seamless, that is, easy, fast, meaningful and pleasant. You’ll only achieve that nirvana by:

1.) accurately communicating the purpose(s) of your products and services

2.) knowing the motivations and other defining characteristics of the various customer segments

The customer journey that your company presents requires intentional creation. So much is at stake, and first impressions matter. The information and call-to-action you devise to showcase its presence influences the prospect’s decision to further engage (or not), depending on its perceived relevance to the problem or goal the prospect wants to address.

Info that supports the purpose and efficacy of your products and/or services will be contained in a white paper, case studies, archived newsletters or blog posts, customer testimonials and your website’s “About us” page. Does the information that you make available effectively support the purpose of your products and services? If it doesn’t, rewrite or replace.

The Yellow Brick Road known as your customer journey must be seeded with a series of positive and relevant encounters with information that demonstrates your expertise and builds trust. Trot out the info equivalent of the Mayor of Munchkin Land, the Wizard of Oz and Glinda, the Good Witch to persuade prospects to do business with you.

Digital support

The very thought of incorporating digital tools can be intimidating but you can start small, so long as you start. Don’t imagine you must immediately dive into the digital deep end. You’ve been clicking on chat bots for 5 years, so why not put that AI-powered tool to work on your website?

Do that and visitors to your site will be favorably impressed with the sophistication of your company, which is a confidence-booster, and if you know your customers well enough to program in answers to the 6-7 questions they’ll most likely have, you will contribute positively to the customer journey. Other AI/ digital tools can take the form of marketing analytics that you sign up to access. As noted in a December 2021 post, Micrsoft Excel or Power BI, Python, Jupyter and Apache Spark are among the most highly rated data analytics tools.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Dorothy and Toto, the Lion, the Tin Man and the Scare Crow take the Yellow Brick Road into the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1939)

Support Customers After the Sale

Now that you’ve signed the contract and brought a new customer to your business, you may feel a mixture of pride and relief. You’re thrilled that your marketing tactics and sales talking points were persuasive. The customer is in-house and you’re ready to exhale.

But not yet. In fact, the real work is just beginning. Whether you’ve sold a product or a service, the smooth execution of project work or the product performance and ease of use are only part of the story. To declare a sustainable victory, you must ensure that the customer is pleased with the decision to do business with your organization. You and your team must enable the feel-good with a series of actions collectively known as after sales service.

The customer experience operates on several levels, including what is traditionally called customer service. In our increasingly competitive business environment, business owners and leaders are now motivated to also manage what happens after the sale because it has impact. The facet of customer service known as after-sales service is the follow-up support that customers receive after they’ve bought your product or contracted to receive your services.

Business owners and leaders typically focus attention on filling the sales pipeline and strive to convert prospects into customers. That approach makes lots of sense, but it is to your advantage to devote a portion of your resources to what happens after the ink dries and payment is received. After-sales service is an important aspect of your customer retention strategy. It is a principal factor in cultivating repeat business, generating positive word-of-mouth that leads to referrals and enhancing the company brand.

Abandon customers once you have their money and it’s highly likely that they won’t return. It’s well-known that dissatisfied customers are bad for future sales, to say nothing of your brand’s reputation. But happy customers are your friends, the most valuable asset in your sales funnel.

The after-sales service your company provides might include advice on how to properly use the product or suggestions on how to get started with implementing the service. After-sales service often amounts to listening to customer feedback and being available to answer questions, give encouragement. In short, it’s a check-in to find out if the customer is satisfied with the purchase and helping to correct any glitches. After-sales service can make the difference between a happy customer who loves doing business with your organization, or one who is underwhelmed or even frustrated.

Customers who appreciate the way you and your team treat them are more likely to share their positive experience with your company and refer you to friends and associates. A 2016 survey conducted by The New York Times revealed that 65% of new business leads come from referrals. A 2011 study of 10,000 customers of a German bank found that customers who were referred to the bank by someone they know had a 16% higher lifetime revenue value than those who were not referred.

So how can you and your team build a winning after-sale service experience for your customers?Depending on your business, you can start the good vibes by sending business-appropriate thank you notes (paper or electronic) to express how much you appreciate that the customer chose to work with your organization.

Create a responsive new customer onboarding system, in which you welcome the customer, as discussed above, confirm customer priorities or must-haves, and also verify time table deadlines (if applicable) and project milestones. Do whatever is possible to make working with your organization easy. Encourage client feedback and listen to identify the onboarding experiences and information that your customers value. Standardize the process and use it consistently to set the stage for a positive working relationship.

Whether or not you send a note, your customer may be very happy to receive a follow-up call or email to get feedback on how, or if, the product or service is delivering and if expectations are being met. When performing project work, communicating progress, with a quick email or phone call on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, demonstrates your professionalism and commitment to excellence.

If the experience is a little bumpy, be ready to make suggestions, offer coaching or training, or even make an exchange. What surfaces in these conversations can be used to evaluate and, if necessary, to build or tweak more responsive after-sale service protocols.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: In Barcelona, Spain a flamenco instructor coaches students

Create a New Client Onboarding Process

Freelancers and other business owners and leaders understand the importance of periodically reviewing and assessing the experience they present to those who agree to pay for their products and services. Business owners and leaders must continuously strive to offer the best experience possible to those willing to do business.

For B2B service providers, creating a pleasant and efficient process that welcomes, i.e. onboards, new clients is Step One in affirming that the decision to do business with your company was sound. Good onboarding is good business.

Sets the stage for a good working relationship

Demonstrates your organization’s competence and efficiency

Brand-enhancing

Kicks-off the customer retention strategy (begin with the end in mind!)

Develop an onboarding process that skillfully guides your clients and demonstrates that your organization anticipates needs and questions and take extra steps to eliminate miscommunication that may lead to misunderstanding, confusion, or disappointment. The goal is to assure your new client at every step that you’ve got this.

A videoconference call or an email from the project leader, perhaps joined by one or two other company leaders, is a good basic onboarding gesture. Do this to personally welcome the new client and express how excited you are to work with him/her. If you have a case study or two and you haven’t already shared them, send them now, to reinforce your experience and expertise in providing the solutions your client requires.

In a videoconference call or basic phone call, ask the client to review what a successfully completed project will look like. The answer will confirm exactly what your organization must deliver to fulfill or exceed expectations and make yourself eligible for repeat business. Take notes to ensure you understand the metrics the client will use to define success—results such as sales conversion rate or quarterly revenue or a deliverable such as a website upgrade or new logo.

On the call, confirm the project timeline, project milestones and payments linked to the contract signing and milestones. Confirm all resources that the client will provide to support the work, such as support staff and what that individual will provide.

You want to know early in the process if you have the labor needed to do the work and how it would impact the preferred timeline. Bear in mind that because this process includes client input, your organization receives instant client feedback and agreement and demonstrates your ability to communicate and collaborate.

Confirm all agreements in an email to the new client to complete the onboarding process. Top it off with a few branded swag items if you have any—pens, note pads, tote bags, water bottles and the like, if you have them, shipped to your client’s office.

After reviewing and confirming the project scope and milestones on the call, confirm in an email to further cement everyone’s understanding. Your client will appreciate your attention to his/her needs. Make it obvious that your goal is to do excellent work and make the client look good to the higher-ups at his/ her company.

Merry Christmas and thanks for reading,

Kim

Photograph: Cunard Line’s Queen Mary made her maiden voyage in May 1936.

Keepin Up with Expectations

The question “What do my customers want?” is maybe even more confounding than the 3000 year old Riddle of the Sphinx. Guessing incorrectly in either case brings the same fate—death (of the business, if not the owner). I suppose we can lay it all at the feet of digital innovation, which has raised the bar on customer expectations. Customers now expect the same level of end-to-end prompt, seamless performance and service from the small and mid-size companies that they still (thankfully!) patronize as they receive from well-funded and staffed multinational corporations. The little people must now work smarter, be evermore creative and resourceful and OMG hustle if we want to be viable.

According to a 2018 Salesforce CX Report, where 6,700 B2B and B2C buyers answered survey questions on technology, trust and the customer experience, 80 % of responders feel that the buying experience a company provides is as important as the products and services it provides. The report also found that if customers are dissatisfied, they’re ready to jump ship—75 % agree that it’s easier than ever to take their business elsewhere. So just because your customers are cozying up to you now doesn’t mean that they won’t look over your shoulder to see who else is in the room. https://c1.sfdcstatic.com/content/dam/web/en_us/www/assets/pdf/datasheets/trends-in-integrated-customer-experience-salesforce-research.pdf

The State of the Connected Customer, a 2019 Salesforce survey of 8,000 B2B and B2C buyers, found that customers will switch brands for what they perceive as a better customer experience. The survey concludes that customers expect good-to-great experiences from companies they know or would like to try out. The report also shows that trust and company values are important building blocks of customer relationships. https://www.salesforce.com/content/dam/web/en_us/www/documents/infographics/2019-state-of-the-connected-customer-infographic.pdf

At the same time, customer expectations are continually shifting as a result of their ongoing interactions with the world around them. For business owners and leaders, this means that in order to get a handle on creating the most desirable customer experience it is necessary to reexamine / reevaluate the customer experience at our organizations, this time from the customer’s perspective.

By way of understatement, customer expectations are not always predictable. How a customer judges their experience will not always align with what business owners and leaders have assumed about the experience their company provides. According to a 2017 report compiled by the uber consulting firm Accenture, 73% of B2B buyers want the customer experience to resemble that of a B2C company. https://www.accenture.com/_acnmedia/PDF-60/Accenture-Strategy-B2B-Customer-Experience-PoV.pdf#zoom=50

We also know that the personal touch is highly valued. In 2015, The Harvard Business Review reported that companies that successfully master the art of personalization for their customers can reduce customer acquisition costs by as much as 50 %, increase revenue by as much as 15 % and increase the effectiveness of marketing dollars spent by up to 30 %. https://hbr.org/2015/11/how-marketers-can-personalize-at-scale

The fact is that the customer experience is impacted by customer expectations and those expectations play a significant role in how our customers perceive and judge our organization. Customers today expect the companies with which they do business to know their preferences and they want those preferences reflected in every interaction, whether online or face-2-face. 

What business leaders can do

First, recognize and define what the ideal customer experience in your organization looks like and take steps to ensure that the standard is consistently met. Remember to assume the viewpoint of the customer and guard against internal bias. Second, stay abreast of market research that reports on your industry to discover trends and evaluate what your organization can afford to do and what it can’t afford to not do, in response. Third, guarantee that all customer-facing staff understands the value of delivering a first-rate customer experience and empower staff to support the delivery of that first-rate customer experience. Training is often necessary to show organization leaders how to create an empowered culture for employees and teach customer-facing staff how to graciously and effectively meet (reasonable) customer expectations.

Creating a superior customer experience at your organization requires significant planning and flawless execution. Be aware that every facet of your organization has a contribution to make as you respond to your customer’s evolving expectations. As you prepare your organization to study and improve the customer experience provided, consider how customers and prospects might view your company’s website content and functionality, sales distribution methods, payment systems, content marketing, social media, sales distribution, business hours and other factors that directly or indirectly impact the buying and customer experience at your organization.

Happy New Year and thanks for reading,

Kim

Photograph: © Richard Termine for The New York Times. Samantha Barks (center) in the Broadway musical Pretty Woman (2018).