Small Business Training

Control Costs, Win And Keep Customers - a PS

Linda Mattacks — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:45:00 +0000

This should have gone in the original post on this subject but hey ho…

Now’s a really good time to remember why you’re in the business you’re in:

If you have a high Passion Quotient it’s going to be a lot easier to engage your employees and customers. And don’t forget your suppliers - we’re all in this together and we all want to survive and thrive!

Control Costs, Win And Keep Customers

Linda Mattacks — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:37:09 +0000

More than 40% of small firms want more support to survive the recession, according to research by Lloyds TSB Commercial.

Two thirds of firms put advice on controlling cost top of the agenda
60% want advice on attracting customers
44% want help on how to keep them

So we had a quick look around the guides on website and watched the customer video.
And it’s the Lloyds TSB customer (business owner) input that’s really down to earth:

Keep your name out there
Bring the customers in
Look at your sales figures weekly not monthly or quarterly
Keep in close contact with everyone to avoid nasty surprises: Bank Manager, Accountant, Suppliers, Customers
Provide value for money: Maintain quality and standards
Don’t be too inward looking
Keep a keen eye on budgeting, planning and cash flow
Tighten credit management - it’s often not necessarily bad debt but too slow payers
When you get your customers look after them: Understand their problems

We’ve picked up on the final point we’ve listed from the video and the fact that many small firms want help on how to keep customers.

Lloyds TSB has a Guide on Market Research. They’re right to have it up there yet we believe they’re wrong not to put it into perspective as, in our experience, small firms tend to see this is as questionable expenditure in good times, let alone in a recession.

Focus groups need an experienced facilitator and should probably be outsourced to a company that knows its stuff - once you’ve decided on what the purpose is and that focus groups are the best way to achieve it.

On the other hand, telephone market research is something many small businesses can do themselves with a little thought and preparation. And the good news is, if you provide good products or services, you should find that your customers are happy to help you.

Are 12 of you ready to up your game?

Linda Mattacks — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:02:34 +0000

As you can see by the side bar, we’ve been concentrating on helping people who are finding themselves out of a job get the best possible perspective on how to handle their predicament and get themselves back earning.

So apologies to the thousands of you who visit this site and read our blogs if you feel we’ve been neglecting you over the last couple of months!

We really appreciate all of you yet are currently looking to work directly with 12 special people. Are you one of those 12?

Many people who come to us want things in their business and their lives to be better. They’re genuine and they mean it but often not enough to put the effort into making it happen: That’s mind, body and soul.

How many times do you think, just before sleep takes over: “Wow! Today was awesome!”?

So try this equation:

Self esteem = Reality
__________
Expectation

If your reality isn’t what you want it to be, just a little way off, or nowhere near, do you say: “I deserve more than this and so do the people I care about” and up your game? Or do you lower your expectations?

We’re looking for 12 people who are determined to up their game - are you one of them?

If you believe you are, give us a call on +44 (0)20 7209 1284 business hours GMT

How to Get Paid in a Recession

Linda Mattacks — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:40:53 +0000

It’s been over 2 years since we addressed the subject of getting paid for work done and services provided, yet that subject is probably closer to the hearts of many a small business owner than ever before in these recession-hit times, when:

Companies big and small are ‘going to the wall’
Even good, established customers are taking longer to pay
Cash isn’t flowing as it was even 6 months ago

So let’s have a quick update:

The telephone can be your best friend - a very useful tool in chasing money, second only to presenting yourself at the customer’s premises, so keep lines of communication open!

Be prompt in chasing - you’ve provided the service or product
You are entitled to the money by the agreed time
The longer you leave it to chase your money, the further down the queue you’ll go when the cheques do get written out
Speak initially to the Decision Maker who bought from you - three reasons for this:

This is the person who values the purchase

This is the person with whom you are building an ongoing business relationship

In short, this person has a vested interest in keeping you sweet - don’t know about you but I can remember numerous occasions standing over Financial Directors and making them write out a cheque after ‘getting it in the neck’ from a totally fed up supplier!

Don’t back down - be prepared to state your case to the top man or woman
Be pleasant but firm - no-one wins if a slanging match is allowed to develop

Over to you and best of luck!

How well does YOUR networking work?

Linda Mattacks — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:14:01 +0000

Four years ago many small business clients were telling yours truly that:

The hardest part was to get in front of potential customers
They didn’t have big marketing budgets to attract them
They sent out the occasional mail shots and (sometimes, but increasing less so) followed them up with little success
They’d tried networking and it hadn’t worked for them and
They hated cold calling yet they saw it as the only option left

Now we can and do help folk who are prepared to e x p a n d their comfort zones enough to learn gentle yet effective sales techniques. But it does take effort and some really don’t want to try. So, for them I thought I’d investigate why networking works really well for some and not others.

Want to know the answer in a nutshell?

“Pay forward” is a term used in networking that’s maybe too glib, especially in the harsh and challenging times many of us find ourselves in right now. Yet those who remember their social skills, meeting people, showing a genuine interest and taking the time to get to know them, rather than: “Oh, help, I’m networking - I must come away with business!” are the ones who do seem to do rather well.

Ready for a shameless plug?

We’ve distilled four years of research and practical application into one networking book with 5 bonuses to help you discover ways to open doors to new business opportunities.

Online Reputation Repair

Linda Mattacks — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:39:49 +0000

This is just a quick one:

This isn’t something I’d really given any consideration to before but I came across this little gem this morning and thought I should share it.

It not only gives sound advice it provides URLs for lots of sites.

The secret to what makes people buy…

Linda Mattacks — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:23:33 +0000

And it’s yours, here, free!

Are you ready for it?

No long copy lead in…

No stories about how wonderfully successful I’ve become by using it…

No testimonials to my greatness of spirit…

Nope: Just straight in:

Find out what they want and what motivates them.

There you go!

With my blessings - now all you have to do is do it…

All the best

Nikki’s done it better!

Linda Mattacks — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:51:15 +0000

I posted a shameless plug for BT Tradespace last month - when I urged folk to use their brains not their money to promote their businesses.

Nikki Pilkington has gone into what’s on offer in loads more detail here and it’s definitely worth a look for anyone who hasn’t acted yet.

She’s also gone into how it can help our overall online presence - so I’d get on over there and check out her article if I were you!

Linda

If you could do whatever you liked for a living…

Linda Mattacks — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:34:36 +0000

What would it be?

Or are you already doing it?

This isn’t just ‘pie in the sky’ wanderings: It’s going somewhere. The main point here is that if we can’t get excited or even show some enthusiasm for what we do, and we’re running a business, how on earth can we expect to’ light anyone else’s fire’?

Yet I remember being a member of a particular business breakfast club and, weeks in, I hadn’t a clue what one of the guys did - and that was after hearing several of his 60-second infomercials plus a whole 10-minute presentation!

And another member said the same thing week in, week out so, with the best will in the world, others in the room eventually tune out. Yet there was one guy who regularly went over his 60-second slot and nobody minded in the least. That’s because he always told a different story and we always waited for the punchline that would inevitably have some bearing on one or another aspect of our businesses.

Who do you think did best out of membership of that club? I haven’t been a member there for over a year now and neither has the story telling guy yet we’ve stayed in touch and he referred a client to me some time ago and I placed business directly with him a few weeks ago.

If we were on a date with someone we hoped to get to know better we’d do our utmost to be interesting, wouldn’t we? And don’t we learn after a the first few failures that talking about ourselves and how wonderful we are tends to be a massive turn off?

So let’s make sure we put the same effort into the time we spend with people. People who might, just might be able to help us get our business where we want it to be - and, outside of a business networking setting, we don’t always know who they are - so that means always being ready for opportunity. And help them achieve that too.

Marketing: Use your loaf not your bread!

Linda Mattacks — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:53:30 +0000

In these days of ever-tightening belts is always good to know of ways we can get our businesses to known to a wider audience without having to spend our hard-earned money.

Many, of course, look and are too good to be true.

This one isn’t and it’s from what you may think an unlikely source: BT

BT Tradespace is a free forum where anyone based in, or doing business in the UK is actively encouraged to set up their stall. Not only is it free, it staffed by a bunch of people who couldn’t be more helpful.

If anyone knows of any other good low- or no-cost places we can promote our businesses, please share them here!