Business Plans

I recently watched an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, a popular program on the Food Network where the show’s host travels across the US looking for ‘undiscovered’ eating treasures.  In all instances, the restaurant’s owner offers surprisingly delicious food in an environment that’s friendly, with attentive customer service the norm.  Their customers always rave about the food and the experience, describing it as amazing.

This made me think about how much a business could learn from these small, out of the way businesses.  Think about it — having customers rave about you and your product because you’re happy to do business with them!

Let’s look at what these small business owners offer their customers:  an unexpectedly great product (the meal), in an environment that’s friendly (the restaurant) with the owner and staff treating customers with warmth and appreciation (exceptional customer service).

Take a minute to rate your business in these three categories.  How did you do?

One thing is certain.  With the business changes we’ve seen over the last 18 months it‘s no longer business as usual.  Business as usual for most businesses has meant everything from elaborate marketing campaigns to ‘just doing it the way we’ve always done it.’  Somewhere along the line we lost focus on the basics of doing business in the first place — finding and focusing on our customer.   So is ‘back to basics’ the new ‘business as usual’?  I hope so.

Look at the products and services you sell.  Are they surprisingly great?  Are you delivering value?  Are you delivering what you say you will?  Do you ask your customers what you can do improve? And most importantly, do your customers feel valued and appreciated?

I recently read that one of the main reasons a customer stops buying from a business isn’t because they didn’t like the product or thought it was too expensive. They stopped buying because they felt no one cared about them.  That’s something you can change that costs nothing to fix, but costs plenty if you don’t.

Examine the buying process for your product or service from the customer’s perspective. Really focus on it.  Start with the first contact with you or an employee and walk it through to the point when the product is delivered.  Are you a customer-centered company?  If you are, your customers feel appreciated and cared for.  If you aren’t there yet, you still have work to do in your process.

How do you stay in touch with your clients after the sale?  When was the last time you conducted any kind of training on this topic for your employees? (You do train your employees don’t you?) If you are a solopreneur, are you following a system to keep customers happy and returning to buy your product? Are they continuing to work with you because of how well you treat them?

In the ‘back to basics’ mindset, customer service is exactly that – serving the customer.  It’s creating an experience for the customer, whether they’re buying online, in your building or over the phone.  Your customers today want what customers wanted 10, 20 or 50 years ago – to be valued.

I adopted Brian Tracy’s (sales training guru) philosophy of customer service years ago and it means more than ever today.  Think of delivering customer service in several levels:

• Meeting expectations – here’s the foundation.  Without this, you’re in trouble.
• Exceeding expectations – here’s where customers start to get excited. It’s the ‘oil change that includes a free car wash’ kind of experience.
• Delighting your customers – this is starting to separate you from your competition.  It’s a ‘sending your customers home with an umbrella when it’s raining’ experience.
• Amazing your customers – here’s the WOW factor – where customers wouldn’t dream of doing business with anyone else.  It’s ‘your favorite bottle of wine chilling and waiting for you when you arrive for your dinner reservation’ experience.  You’re in the midst of the world’s greatest when amazing your customers is part of your customer service plan.  You’re one of a kind in your customer’s mind.

Take the time to renew your commitment to your customers.  Find the WOW customer service opportunity in every contact with them.  It’ll be an amazing experience!

It’s that time of the year again for business owners.  We are in month 2 of your 2010 business plan and maybe working on this (you are working on it, right?) feels just a little less exciting than it did even only a couple of weeks ago.  I refer to this with my business coaching clients as the ‘excitement index dip’ and it happens to be best of us.

It doesn’t mean that you’re not able to stay on your path or that you can’t reach your business goals, it just means it requires recognizing what is happening and doing a little adjusting.  This is where you need to pay attention to the feedback you are getting and doing something about it.  Here are some ways to keep moving forward:

• The goal-setting honeymoon will come to end. Own it. It doesn’t mean that the plan isn’t going to work.  Be prepared to keep it moving ahead just like you’re willing to do with any meaningful commitment in your life. Decide now that it’s going to take a firm resolve to weather this Excitement Dip. And keep going.
• Keep your eye on the original inspiration. What made you want to work on these goals and objectives in the first place?  If the idea was right when you started out, if the vision was specific, exciting and motivating, then it’s still right today. Don’t lose sight of your vision and mission because part of the journey includes a few bumpy roads or that it isn’t as fun (or as easy?) as you thought it would be!
• Remember that every great accomplishment comes only after a real price is paid. You already know that, right?  Of course success can come quickly, but it’s not usually overnight. Surely you’ve heard of the ‘overnight success’ that took 10 years.  Along the way, come worries, challenges, unexpected results, and doubts.  You feel like you are being tested.  The Excitement Dip is one of those first tests.  Stay focused.
• Lean on the business experts.  We’ll confirm that this experience is normal, expected, and necessary.  We’ll help you to review your plan, make adjustments and make sure you get to where you want your business to go. This gives you a boost and the motivation you need to push through the “less fun” moments.  Stay accountable for your actions.

Accept that you’ll face the Excitement Dip.  Welcome it!  It means you are moving forward. It means you are paying attention.  Embrace it; keep your head up and in the game. Keep to your original vision, and find trusted business support…the end result is well worth it!

Have you fallen into the trap of thinking that “nothing happens this time of the year” and put off your planning and business building until after the holidays “once everyone gets back to business?”

Watch out — it’s that time of the year again. We’re in the 4th Quarter of 2009 and now is the time to be thinking about your business plan and goals for 2010.

How will you take your business to the next level? How will you foster growth in this economy? And this year, with challenges of the new economy taking hold, another trap for delaying business activity has been created. It’s the trap of thinking that it’s OK if things aren’t going well because it must be the economy wreaking havoc with your business. But I’m working with clients who have been experiencing amazing growth in this economy.

One has experienced a 50 percent increase in gross sales over last year. Another is working on completing a strategic acquisition with an end-of-year target closing date. This business experienced a 30 percent sales increase over the prior year.

Some clients have hired to add to their sales and support staffs to be able to grow and better serve their customers. All are working on marketing and customer care plans for the upcoming year. Of course they have had to make adjustments to a new way of doing business, but they’ve continued to adapt and follow their plan — plans that include the continuous activities needed to bring them closer to their objectives, regardless of the time of year.

You can’t control the economy or even your competition, but you can control your reaction. Take action. Identify and commit to doing the activities that will help keep prospects in your sales pipeline. Networking activity of all kinds has become more important than ever before. Referrals put high caliber prospects in your sales process and may even reduce the sales cycle time, allowing you to close the sale sooner. (You do have a sales process, right?)

These kinds of sales and marketing efforts work in any economy, any time of year. The best news is that I’ve observed growth and stability when I talk with local business at networking meetings and events. It’s not all roses, but it’s not all gloom and doom either.

If you want to do well in business, remember that it does no good to complain to people about how tough things are. When you complain about how bad business is, half the people you tell don’t care, and the other half are secretly happy that you may be worse off than they are!

Another technique that works is to look for strategic relationships. Look to see what non-competitive businesses support, complement or align with the kind of prospects you’re looking for and develop relationships with those businesses. I promise this is an efficient use of your time and resources.

Equally important as prospecting is taking care of your existing customers. What do they need, and how can you deliver with value added this year? How can you become a customer service maniac?

Yet another way to keep moving forward any time of year is to be a master of your time. No, this isn’t another “how to” in time management. But do think about what new habits you need to form for success in 2010. Remember, your business is supposed to give you resources, not take them from you.

So here is what I suggest that you do before the ball drops on New Year’s Eve:

• Write down yearly and monthly goals and objectives. Create an action/task list for each one.
• Prioritize your task list and spend more time on things that are urgent, but not important. These are the goals that usually have the most positive impact on your business. Your job shouldn’t be just about fighting daily business fires – that falls into the urgent/important category.
• Commit to dedicating 1 hour a day to work on that life-changing goal.

In working with business owners, I emphasize that business development remains one of the core activities in their list of key responsibilities. And business development happens all year long. Your activity today will determine your results next week, next month or in six months or more depending on your sales cycle. Focus on achieving the results all year long.

As 2009 comes to a close, assess your business achievements and areas for growth. Revisit your marketing plan for 2010. Identify your company’s goals and objectives. Create the strategy and tactics you need to follow to get you there. Track your results; pay attention to the feedback, and you’ll be ahead of about 97 percent of most business owners.