A call-tracking study of local directory advertisers by market research firm CRM Associates found that the typical business missed about 1 in 12 calls. Many businesses, such as painting contractors and caterers, missed 1 in 5. And when they did answer the phone, a survey by RHL & Associates found that only 33% of businesses asked what the caller was looking for and 89% never attempted to schedule an appointment. Overall, just 24% were rated as giving excellent phone service.
 
Don’t be one of those statistics on lost opportunities. When the phone rings, be prepared to win the sale with these simple steps:

Answer the phone!
Nobody wants to talk to your machine. Many potential customers will simply move on to the next company when they hear your message start. Train your crew to scramble when the phone rings.  If you’re in a big warehouse or out of the office, use call forwarding to mobile phones so a real human is always available. If you’re already with a customer and the call must go to message, make sure you call back as quickly as possible.

Be prepared
Anyone tasked with phone customer service should be ready to:
• Take an order
• Answer questions about products or services
• Schedule a service call or delivery
• Know the policies on returns or complaints
• Handle price adjustments or replacements
• Respond to questions about your latest ads and competitors’ ads

Practice good phone manners
Answer in a businesslike way with the company name, your name and a friendly greeting. Be enthusiastic, respectful and patient with callers; try smiling when you talk, it actually helps set your mood.  Speak clearly and pace your speech patterns to the caller’s, not too fast or too slow.

Be a good listener
Let the caller explain what he or she wants. Don’t be quick to interrupt or give an answer. Ask open-ended questions that can’t be answered by a yes or no. Sum up your understanding: “So what you’re saying is….” Keep the conversation going and the customer engaged.

Move the caller to a sale
Remember: Anyone calling you is actively looking to buy; your job is to make them feel good about a decision. Based on what you’re hearing about the client’s needs, suggest upsells. Already have a game plan on how to overcome the common objections to your product. Most important, ask for the order or the appointment.  But don’t sound too pushy. Try “We have openings tomorrow afternoon. Can I put you down?” or “I can ship it today. Do you have your credit card handy?”

Say thanks
Whether you made the sale or not, look on every call as part of an ongoing business relationship and end on a positive and gracious note.

Select a Twitter handle related to your business name.

If you’re promoting your business as opposed to tweeting for fun, incorporate your business name into your Twitter handle. I’ve been unable to find businesses I was looking for on Twitter because their handles were their personal names. For example, the business Handyman Matters has the easy-to-find handle @HandymanMatters. If the handle was @JoetheHandyman, it would be less likely to show up in a Twitter search for “Handyman Matters.” That said, feel free to use a photo of yourself for your icon. It makes followers feel like they’re interacting with a real person — and they are.

Be sure to include your website in your Twitter profile.

This may seem basic, but I’m surprised how often I click on someone’s Twitter handle and see no website, blog or anything in their profile. I never follow these people. I like to have a clear sense of their purpose in order to follow them. If you don’t have a website for your business, you can get one here at Dex.

Follow Twitter users who interest you both professionally and personally.

For my DexKnows Weddings Twitter page (@DexWeddings), I follow wedding bloggers, planners, photographers, florists and more. If someone is generally in-the-know in your field, definitely follow them. But think outside the box as well. If you’re a sporting goods store, perhaps follow local sporting events, like marathons, or the local sportswriter. They could give you good ideas for promotions. Looks like rain for the day of the marathon? Then Tweet about those rain jackets you have for runners. And don’t be bashful about following the competition on Twitter – it’s fair game. I follow a few folks who interest me personally as well, like food trucks. You never know when a personal interest can become professionally beneficial.

Start tweeting.

You have 140 characters to say what you want – use them wisely! I recommend using a url shortener with a timer to give you room to play within your 140 character count. Keep the tone of your tweets light and fun. Nobody is going to click on a tweet full of marketing terms. And if you have a question, consider throwing it out to your followers. Trying to decide what socks to carry at your sporting goods store? Ask your followers to tell you their favorite brands and styles.

Start retweeting.

If you’re at a party and someone is only talking about themselves, would you listen or move on? Twitter is similar to that party. If your tweets seem too self-centered, you may lose people’s interest. Instead, retweet quality information coming from other people. You can push the retweet button or, even better, comment on the tweet in the “What’s Happening?” space, type RT (meaning “retweet”) and the person’s Twitter handle, then copy and paste the tweet and send. It’s more personal and more likely to start a conversation.

Love the Temperley one! RT @IrisFields Spring is here! Look at these gowns! @brides http://su.pr/A6dgSI

03/22/2011 11:33 am via Su.prReplyRetweetFavorite

@DexWeddings

DexKnows Weddings

Display your Twitter name in places where it makes sense.

Something similar to the example below should be placed in a visible spot on your website or blog.

Include your Twitter information in your email signature as well. It will help people find you on Twitter who may not have realized you were there.

OK, great. But now what? How can you create a marketing plan quickly and simply?  First know that marketing is not a single action but a combination of steps that your business takes to identify, attract and retain profitable customers. It includes everything from market research, advertising, pricing and packaging, to what employees wear, your mix of print and online ads and much more.

In short, marketing is the very core of your business. It’s important to have a plan of attack. For example, can you clearly identify your mission and what sets you apart from your competitors? It’s tough to market without this knowledge.

Marketing plans are flexible but generally include your goals, product or service descriptions, target markets, competitive analysis, pricing, distribution methods, media mix (print, digital, mobile, etc.) and action plan. These 10 steps can help you prepare your plan:

1. Mission: This is your cornerstone. Write a short paragraph that defines what compelling advantage or value you offer, including how it solves a problem and makes the customer’s life easier. Be specific. Pinpoint the customer “pain” that your product or service will relieve. Before you can effectively market yourself — create ads, websites or online campaigns — you must decide what type of problem solver you want your business to be.
2. Market research: This is how you identify customers’ needs and wants. Build a detailed, trait-by-trait profile of your ideal prospects. Again, be as specific as possible. Later, when you create your marketing messages, aim those messages at those prospects. The research does not need to be complex or costly. Online research, one-on-one interviews with prospects, informal focus groups and email or web-based surveys are all inexpensive and relatively easy to do.
3. Define your product or service: Carefully identify every product or service you offer.  Some products or services can be broken into pieces and priced separately. List all the benefits that you can offer. You will want to incorporate those in your marketing message.
4. Check the competition: Identify your key competitors – both direct and indirect – including their strengths and weaknesses, and how your business compares.  Write down your analysis and make it part of your plan.
5. Prepare proper pricing: Analyze your pricing structure and avoid the “markup mistake.”  That is when a business merely calculates the costs and adds a set markup. Instead, use your market research to establish what customers are willing to pay and build the pricing around that.
6. Build a budget and promotion mix: Don’t think of marketing as a cost, but rather as your ace in the hole. This is what gives you the edge over competitors who don’t do marketing or do it poorly. Also, your employees are better motivated when your business is in the public eye. Look for marketing partners that can offer you multiple ways to split your spend through a single provider, or that offer some type of action guarantee.
7. Match marketing to your target terrain: If yours is a local market, then that’s where your marketing focus should be.  Once you have the basics covered, consider marketing neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block and even customer by customer.
8. Marketing metrics: Build testing and metrics into your plan. Marketing should not be risky or single-focus.  One advantage of advertising online is the ability to track results effortlessly.
9. Prepare a marketing message that resonates: Craft a rallying cry – a small, repeatable phrase that becomes the slogan for promoting your product, idea or business.  Fine-tune all messages. Edit, revise and hone every word so they are as focused and punchy as possible. Coordinate key phrases in all your marketing materials. For maximum impact, repeat critical messages verbatim whenever you can.
10. Include an action plan: Simplify everything; eliminate potential interruptions in the sales process and make decision-making as painless as possible for your customers. Make sure your employees grasp your objectives and strategy and plan to market continuously. Your effort must be ongoing or people will quickly forget.

By showing your customers that you are willing to respond quickly and fairly, you can build trust and grow your business.  Facebook makes customer service easier because customers can get their questions answered just by reading your page.

Follow these tips to effectively handle customer service issues on Facebook:

1. Answer quickly. Facebook can email you when a post goes on your Wall. Acknowledge the question on Facebook, even if you can’t answer it immediately, so users can see that you’re on the case.
2. Take if offline. Rather than letting a question or complaint play out in public, give the customer your phone number and name and ask them to call to give a full explanation. You’ll find that satisfied customers may go back to your Facebook page to thank you publicly.
3. Be ready to answer frequently asked questions. Keep a log of the questions and have written answers ready for the common ones, including links to relevant pages on your company website. Add another page (a tab) to your Facebook site to display a list of FAQs.
4. Ask customers to answer other customers. “Anybody else seen this problem?” If you get your customers helping each other, you’re really taking full advantage of social media.
5. Be proactive. Remember, visitors to your Wall will see customer service questions mixed in with other comments. Get out ahead of customer service issues by monitoring your reputation online through Google searches or “reputation management” tools and addressing problems on your Facebook page before your customers do.
6. Listen carefully. Responding to the immediate problem may be the first order of business, but the questions and comments on Facebook also give you important clues about how to improve and grow your business.

1. Perfect Your Profile:  Your online profile – or business description – is a highly visible, easily findable picture of you and your business that can also help you generate leads. So it makes sense to get your profile as close to perfect as possible so customers can find you easily, see what you offer and when you offer it – and choose you over the competition.  But many local businesses aren’t tapping this free and fruitful opportunity.  To check, build or polish your business profile, log in to your DexKnows account and capture the payoff of having your own power profile seen on leading local search sites and directories.
2. Give Your Message More Muscle:   No matter which marketing channels you choose, you should make your message as powerful as possible. Everyone in your workplace should know your basic business message and be able to communicate it with clarity and passion. Start with a “rally cry” of some kind — a small, repeatable phrase or slogan that promotes your product, idea or business. Fine-tune all of your messages. Edit, revise and hone each to be as punchy as possible. Coordinate key phrases by using the same language in your print ads, digital listings and mobile messages. For maximum impact, repeat critical messages verbatim whenever you can. Take time to carefully craft a few messages with catchy words. Memorable messages don’t usually happen by accident.
3. Move Up With Mobile:  Mobile is today’s fastest-growing internet search trend and is having a major impact on how customers find local businesses – including yours.  More than 40% of mobile phone users search for information on their phones and that number grows daily. Making your business profile findable to customers on the go will help you generate more leads and more customers.  Learn more here about mobile solutions for your business.  And check out these helpful Mobile User FAQs.
4. Wake Up Your Website:  The competition for getting customers’ attention online gets tougher by the day and having a web presence that works for your business is vital. If you want to grow your business, you can’t have a website that’s dead in the water.  Want people to order?  Then make them an offer!  Many small businesses forget to include specific offers or a call to action.  You could, for example, offer free samples or quotes, a free newsletter, or discounts geared to what your customers need.
5. Coordinate Your Channels:  A piecemeal approach to acquiring new customers is often ineffective.  To achieve better results, make your marketing efforts work together, including online listings, business profiles, print and digital directories, business video and mobile visibility.  Working with a core provider that can help you coordinate all these options — saving you time and money — can be a smart move.
6. Dig Into Your Data to Understand Customers:  Take advantage of 24/7 access to detailed data on the leads that your listings are generating; track visitors to your online profile as well as the calls and emails.  Use this information to see where your best leads are coming from and what marketing messages and approaches are working best.  Shift your marketing mix to the channels that are proving to be the most effective for your business.
7. Be Cold and Calculating:  That’s not saying you should be cold to your customers, it’s saying you need to look at the cold hard facts. Take advantage of the free tools to estimate the impact of your ad spending, see ad message best practices and how your message stacks up, and calculate your marketing program ROI (return on investment).
8. Testing … 1, 2, 3:  Try different ways to capture customer attention and generate more sales by changing prices, offering discounts and creating online coupons.  And don’t assume you know how customers will react to the price changes and discounts.  You may be surprised. Testing different offers and tracking the results can be another smart move.

These days, it’s easy to make a brochure on your own. What’s more challenging is creating one that works. In order to make a brochure that effectively communicates your business’s appeal, follow these tips:

• Don’t use too many fonts. It can make the brochure look cluttered and confusing. Streamlining your fonts will give the brochure a cleaner look. At most, use three different fonts.
• Make sure the style and size of the font you select is easily readable. Potential  customers won’t bother squinting to read a brochure. They’ll simply throw it out.
• The space between the lines of text, called leading, should be neither too tight nor too spacey.
• Have a clear intention with your brochure and achieve it with to-the-point writing. If you want to circulate a schedule of classes at your health club, there’s no need to go into detail on the history of your business.
• Use action words and write in the active voice, not the passive voice. Convey a sense of movement and excitement. Cut out extraneous words or phrases.
• Use graphics to liven up your brochure — but make sure they are printable quality.
• To print an image, convert it to 300 dpi (or “dots per inch”). That is the largest size that you can print the image clearly. Don’t be fooled by the fact that a lower-resolution image looks good on your website. Print requires higher resolution. You can adjust the dimensions of the image to make it smaller but you cannot make it bigger without distorting it.
• Use  smaller headlines and paragraphs to break up the text. Bullets are also effective. Most people skim when they read and bullets help them do this easily. You can also boldface certain words or phrases — sparingly — for emphasis.
• If you have a logo or slogan, be sure to include it on the brochure. It will create synergy.
• If you’re in a retail or service business where pricing is critical, be sure to include a pricing list. Customers can be easily frustrated and deterred if important information isn’t included. If you’re a dog grooming business, telling customers how much it costs to give the dog a bath is probably critical; if you’re a lawyer or an accountant, pricing may not be the most important factor.
• Include a brief “About Us” section in your brochure. Also include your company’s address, phone number, website, Facebook page, Twitter handle, etc., so customers can reach you whichever way is most comfortable for them.

If you’re interested to learn more about social media, visit our sister site, ShopTalk Social.

Trend #1 – Making Online/Offline Work Together

The most successful local marketing will combine online and offline elements. So-called “web-influenced” buying is the key. About $45 of every $100 spent locally now represents “web- influenced” purchases. In other words, the purchase decision was influenced by something your customer saw or did online. This figure is rising rapidly and will likely hit 55 percent over the next three years. Success comes from approaching customers from both directions. The experience that customers have with you directly can influence what they do online. At the same time, what they do online can heavily influence your business. A Dex Idea: If your business isn’t taking the lead to influence what customers are seeing about you online, it should be. Having complete information and strong visuals makes a difference.

Trend #2 – Social Goes Mainstream – and Main Street

At some point, the share of small and local businesses that have a Facebook page will surpass 50 percent. This marks a major shift that will continue to change how local businesses find, keep and communicate with customers. Until now, most business owners who dipped a toe into social media did so largely as an experiment. But that’s about to change as we all become better at making social media pay off, and commit more time and resources to social media marketing. A Dex Idea: Make your Facebook page work in unison with your other promotions, website and campaigns. Look for Facebook to make changes that allow local businesses to conduct transactions.

Trend #3 – Local Biz Owners as Micro-Celebrities

As the local/social trend expands, other interesting things start to happen. For example, local business owners and professionals can now become “micro-celebrities” in their areas. Every doctor, dentist, plumber, real estate agent, lawyer, accountant or you-name-it can readily have a public profile through a Facebook page, blog, LinkedIn profile, YouTube channel and Twitter presence, among others. A Dex Idea: To turn your personal or business brand into micro-celebrity status, prepare, complete and polish your personal and business profile wherever possible.

Trend #4 – Online Video Gains Traction

While local businesses are moving to embrace Facebook, many don’t know that they can have their own channel on YouTube, even though the opportunity has been around for a few years. That’s about to change for two reasons: 1) Low-cost video production is more widely available. 2) Small business owners are catching on to the powerful pull that video can create to increase customer awareness. A Dex Idea: Add a video to your business profile to improve awareness and familiarity with your product or service.

Trend #5 – Mobile Makes More Waves

Current and potential customers will rely more and more on their mobile devices to find you. There are more than 85 million mobile internet users now and they need to find local business information while on the go. In a few years there will be 142 million iPhone, Blackberry, iPad and other tablet users, according to eMarketer. Mobile is especially critical for local businesses because the majority of searches conducted from a mobile device are for a local need. A Dex Idea: Download and take a look at your business on the Dex mobile app so you can see your business from your customers’ point of view.

Trend #6 – LinkedIn Goes Local

LinkedIn is a “sleeping giant” for marketing a local business. Look for this online networking powerhouse to morph into an increasingly useful tool for local businesses. While Facebook is loaded with massive amounts of content and communication unrelated to business, LinkedIn is a simpler and more business-focused solution.

Trend #7 – Better Data Mining

“Business intelligence” will become more accessible to local businesses. To compete more effectively, local businesses will be able to tap into deep wells of data and intelligence about local markets, customer behavior and key categories. This will help you come to the marketing table with a deeper understanding of current customers and how to better focus your efforts to gain new ones. A Dex Idea: Tap into the local knowledge, research, data and analytics that are available to you.

Consumers are turning to more media forms  to research their local purchases – an average of nearly eight different media, up from five or six just three years ago, according to research by BIA/Kelsey. Small businesses are stepping up to the challenge, advertising in an average of nearly five media, up from three before.

To stretch your ad budget further, you need to get smarter about choosing how much to spend on which media outlets. Building an effective “media mix” means you are on top of these facts:

• How many potential customers are actively searching for your product or service in your local area over the course of a year?
• What media are they using as part of their search?

Market research company TNS conducted a large-scale consumer survey for Dex One to help local businesses answer those questions. Consumers were asked about their purchases over the course of a year and the media they used to make a purchase decision. The results drive one key message home: Consumer behavior varies from one type of purchase to another, so it pays to know the consumers who are buying your particular product or service.

For instance, over the course of a year, here are the percentages of consumers who are looking in all media for these services:

Auto Wrecking  1%
Painting Contractors 3%
Musical Instruments 4%
Office Supplies  25%
Pizza  66%

Look at those percentages and apply that to your local population and you get a sense of how many leads are out there for your advertising to attract.

Next, take a look at media consumption among those shoppers to get a sense of how many leads you can reach per media form. As it turns out, it varies widely, according to the TNS survey.

For restaurants, coupons are king. Forty-three percent of consumers said they used coupons as part of their dining-out decisions, compared to 29% using online services, 21% for newspapers and 15% using print yellow pages.

For new car dealers, 57% of consumers are using online services, ahead of all other media. That’s no surprise, given the explosion of car shopping sites. But when it comes time for that auto to be fixed, for auto repair shops the action swings to print yellow pages, with 21.4% of consumers using that media vs. 21.1% for online services.

Bridal shop advertising is another business that’s moved heavily to the internet, with 53% saying they had consulted bridal websites. But internet yellow page sites were also used by 20% and television by 24%.

On the other hand, print yellow pages were far out ahead of other media for these businesses: funeral directors, plumbing contractors, automobile and window glass, roofing contractors and electricians.

For some products and services, local shoppers seem to be paying equal attention to many types of media. For example, general contractors (26% print yellow pages, 24 % online services) and carpet and rug cleaners (24% print yellow pages, 22% online services, 24% coupons).

The biggest all-around media consumers appear to be the folks with the most urgent need to purchase a service: bail bond customers. They reported checking print yellow pages 41% of the time, internet yellow pages 34%, other online services 30%, coupons 31% and TV 32%.

Don’t look at the numbers and take the easy way out by placing all your bets on the one form of media with the most users for your line of business. Here’s why: Advertising using only one media will eventually hit a point of diminishing returns. That means you will eventually be spending more money to reach less people. You can be more effective by spreading the same budget across several media types. Plus, ad studies have shown that there’s a reinforcing effect when any ad message is viewed across several platforms.

But it all starts with knowing where your customers search — track that and you’re on your way to blending a media mix that will maximize every ad dollar you spend.

Step 1 is to build a customer database to track purchase history and preferences; your point-of-sale system, restaurant reservation system or customer relationship management software can provide the tools you need. Sometimes, a simple spreadsheet will do. Some key bits of data to capture are an email address and a home address (so you have an idea of the size of your local business area or “trade area”) If customers are reluctant to give a specific address, a ZIP code might be enough. Offering discounts or a chance to win a prize can induce customers to give out personal information.

Now that you know who and where they are, your next task is to ask: What do they want?

Services such as Constant Contact, Survey Monkey or Zoomerang will provide free or low-cost surveys for your website or to distribute via email, Facebook or Twitter. You can also hand out customer comment cards at your place of business. Again, offering a coupon or other freebie will increase the number taking the survey.

Ask open-ended questions about your customers’ wants and needs or try out ideas for new services or product features. One measurement you can track over time is your “net promoter score.” Ask customers “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to refer a friend or colleague to our business?” The nines and tens are your company’s “promoters,” while the zeroes through sixes are “detractors.” If 45% are promoters and 30% detractors, your net promoter score is 15. Any score over 15 puts you above average.

But be realistic. This isn’t scientific polling that hits a broad range of people (for that you will need to hire a market research professional). The customers most willing to answer questions will likely be your most satisfied customers.  And that’s OK; learning how to retain good customers is a good use of marketing research.  Once you’ve identified these helpful folks, ask whether they’d be willing to advise you in an ongoing way by email or through Facebook or maybe by going out to lunch.

Social media is a great way to conduct informal market research among your promoters. One restaurant regularly asks customers to choose a name for new sandwiches and a small maker of plush toys asks fans to pick designs to manufacture – all by polling on Facebook. Be sure to keep your Facebook fans feeling special by offering discounts or coupons in exchange for their help.

Finding a car wrap installer

A quality installer should be certified by one of the major vinyl companies, like FELLERS, 3M, or Avery Dennison.  Visit the shop to get an idea about the precision of the work being done — bubbles in the vinyl or misaligned seams are tip-offs.

Creating a design

The installer should provide you with a designer or you can hire your own. They’ll use vehicle-wrap design software to create a graphic that fits your car or truck model and you’ll see a preview of your wrap job. Just remember that your wrap design will need to make sense to a driver passing you at 65 mph, so keep the images big and the message simple.

Choosing your wrap

A full wrap covers the hood and three sides. Legally, you can’t cover the windshield or driver and passenger windows, but other windows can be covered with perforated vinyl.  You can cover the roof but unless you’re driving around Manhattan, you probably don’t need to.

A partial wrap might cover part of the sides or only windows and is designed to blend with the car’s paint color.

A spot graphic might just display a logo and a phone number or website on a door.

Choosing materials

Cast vinyl is the standard because of its stretchability and durability, but there is an alternative at about half the cost. It’s calendered vinyl, suitable for flat surfaces but only likely to last for a few months.

Car wrap costs

Figure that full-car wraps will run you $2,000-plus, including the design work; SUVs and vans $3,000-plus. Expect to pay in the same range for box trucks. Spot graphic jobs might run from $200 to $800. Shops do offer fleet discounts. In terms of return on your investment, you’ll never really know how many people will see your graphic wrap roll by. However, you can count on positive branding as you or your workers make deliveries or go on service calls. You will look  successful in the neighborhoods you serve.

How long will a vehicle wrap last?

Major makers such as Avery Dennison guarantee wraps not to fade, crack or peel for up to 5 years in most locations, but installers say you should conservatively expect 3 or 4 years before a wrap starts to look worn.

Requirements for your vehicle

Vinyl applies best to a factory paint job — it may not stick to repainted metal — and, of course, dents will make it harder for the installer to get a smooth fit.

Maintaining a wrap

Sorry, no more blasting your van clean at the car wash if you want to get the maximum life out of a wrap; hand-washing with mild detergent is recommended. Installers can add pieces later if you need to replace a phone number or cover damage. At the end of their lives, wraps can be loosened with a heat gun and pulled off without damaging the car paint.

Vehicle wrap images courtesy of Husky Signs & Graphics in Boulder, CO (top) and Big Mountain Imaging in Philadelphia, PA, Las Vegas, NV and Atlantic City, NJ (bottom).