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Today’s business environment
isn’t getting any easier, nor will it get easier anytime
in the future. I’m not psychic but I have learned that
business NEVER gets simpler. More competition, shrinking
profit margins, increases in fixed and operating costs are
just a few of the issues we deal with everyday. You can
lament this fact or, you can take proactive measures to
bullet-proof your business. Here are few strategies that
can help:
Clearly define your
business. The most successful business people know what
they are in business for. They have one or two areas of
specialty or expertise and they stick to what they’re
good at. They avoid the temptation to try to become
everything to everybody. In many fields, specialists tend
to do better than generalists and, in bookselling, it’s
no different.
Have you created a niche
market for yourself?
Is your niche viable in
your location/city/town/market?
Are you the best at what
you do in your trading area?
Do you stick to what
you’re good at or do you stray from this when revenues
are lean?
Mounting bills, a slow
month or months, pressure to generate dollars to the
bottom line; it’s tempting to take on new work or do
something in an area you don’t have a lot of experience.
Unfortunately, this spreads our resources thin and can
cause us to lose focus in our specific area of specialty.
And, because we’re in an area that isn’t our strength,
the quality of our work may not be as good. This causes
customer dissatisfaction which leads to lower repeat and
referral business. It then becomes a vicious circle; we
take on more work that falls outside our area of expertise
because we need the sales. We don’t execute at 100% and
we lose a customer. Our sales continue to drop so we pick
up more work. And so on.
Create and maintain
customer loyalty. In today’s competitive environment,
many business owners think that consumers are concerned
only with getting the lowest price for the product or
service they are buying. So, they spend money trying to
attract new customers based on price which means they
constantly erode their profit margins. Although price is a
factor in every sale it is not always the most important
factor. It is much more effective, not to mention
profitable, to create and maintain customer loyalty. Here
are a few questions to consider:
Do you keep a data base of
clients and stay in regular contact with them?
Do you know and use your
customer’s names?
Do you give them a reason
to continue doing business with you?
Do you know what your
customers want or expect?
The benefits of investing
your time, effort, energy and money to create loyalty
include: more referral business, higher margins, and
reduced advertising costs. It’s important to note
though, developing customer loyalty is not something you
do once in a while, it is the way you conduct and run your
business.
Deliver outstanding
customer service. Virtually every business recognizes the
importance of delivering excellent customer service. Yet,
few actually consistent execute. The excuses run from “I
have to reduce my head count” to “My employees are
just here to collect a paycheck” to “I can’t be in
the store twenty-four hours a day.” Again, it comes back
to why you are in business. Obviously, if you want to
deliver great customer service on a consistent basis you
won’t be the lowest priced vendor; it’s economically
impossible to achieve this goal.
To deliver outstanding
customer service you need to get personally involved. You
need to determine what great service means to you and,
even more critical, what it means to your customers.
Improve your selling
skills. Constant refining of your sales skills will help
you close more sales and/or increase the value of each
sale. I don’t suggest you adopt or use aggressive, hard
selling tactics. Instead, I recommend you develop your
skill at uncovering your customer’s needs, suggesting
solutions that are appropriate to their needs, and
overcoming objections. Learn how to engage the customer in
the sales process and how to ask for a referral. There are
many selling skills books on the market; review a few and
adapt some of the concepts to your specific situation. And
make sure you teach your employees how to apply these
concepts too.
Running a small business is
not easy. Define your business, give people a reason to
buy from you, hire and train the right employees and get
involved in your community. These strategies will help you
remain competitive now and in the future.
© 2004 Kelley Robertson,
All rights reserved.
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About
The Author
Kelley
Robertson, President of the Robertson
Training Group, works with businesses to
help them increase their sales and
motivate their employees. He is also the
author of “Stop, Ask & Listen –
Proven sales techniques to turn browsers
into buyers.” Visit his website at www.RobertsonTrainingGroup.com
and receive a FREE copy of “100 Ways to
Increase Your Sales” by subscribing to
his 59-Second Tip, a free weekly e-zine.
kelley@robertsontraininggroup.com |
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