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| doTERRA Essential Oil Business Card |
We have found that the most effective way to network is counter intuitive, nevertheless, it is the most effective way to network!
Many of our best clients have recognized that we have give them business just because they are our client and they love it.
Just ask Scott Johnson of Bridge Plumbing, before he was even a paying client we passed his name on to a client who owns 6 apartment buildings and he landed a good customer. Thus, becoming a good customer of ours.
One of the first ways we network is through our "Customer Spotlight" flyer. We ask each of our clients to give us a double sided flyer with a few special offers on it.
We, inturn, use that information to talk about you. Depending on what you give us we can do a number of things to promote you and your business. 1. Write a press release about you. 2. Write a blog entry. 3. Post your flyer on our "Community Board." 4. Mention you in our email newsletter. 5. Add links to our website or to your facebook or other social media page. 6. We tell our clients about what we really like about you.
This has been a very effective way to grow our business and know that it inturn will be an effective way to grow yours.
Download a "Customer Spotlight" template here and get started in some easy self-promotion.
Each client has a challenge that needs to be addressed. Be it a tight deadline, a project that you have never done or an even tighter budget. How you respond to your clients needs will determine how you succeed in your business.
This project is a 36' x 42" main street banner. How do you get attention as your customers are driving by at 40 miles an hour?
Hierarchy is the most important. Giving weight to different items to move the eye across the piece (1. Event 2. Give-a-way 3. When) or adding interest (background graphic). This example is one where the client had a good idea but trusted in our abilities to strength the piece. It is always a joy to work with this type of client.
The third secret of marketing strengthening your other number one asset—your customers through Customer Experience Management (CEM).
“Bad Service is death for a Company. Not dramatically, but more like a thousand small knife cuts.”
—Dan Hill, Body of Truth
To illustrate this fact consider the following ad.
“Who’s Fault is it When Your Customers Use the Word ‘Good’ When Referring to Your Service?”
“You don’t know me. I’m your customer. I’m the customer who says “Good” when you ask me how everything was. I wanted to inform you… because it has become obvious by your poor service that you think “Good” is a good thing. It’s not!
You see, when I say “Good” I am being nice… what it really means is that I will tell my circle of influence, 52 people on average, what crappy service I really received and that I would never buy from you again.
I am willing to trade my hard earned money for your products/services but only if you respect my time and give me some “real value” for it. I am really a nice customer, but you have taken advantage of me, I will not take it anymore.
I can get similar products/services anywhere… but what I really want is a relationship. I want someone who will cater to me, someone who will remember me when I come in, someone who will make it worth my while to come in again and again and again.
But, I can see, by the way you treat me you don’t really want my money or my friend’s money either.”
Your customer
P.S. I’m off to see your competitor… And, Oh, “Good” is the most dangerous word you could hear from me. If you ever hear it again please start asking probing questions to find out the truth… which I am willing to tell you… but only after you show me that you really care about me, my money and my friends.
If you really care about your business’ success and want to avoid this from every happening to you again... immediately begin an employee training and a customer service training!
Your success depends on three things.
1. Strengthening your #1 asset—your employees.
2. Strengthening your other #1asset—your customers.
3. Rewarding your customers for buying from you.
How do you strengthen your assets? How do you reward your customers from buying from you? And why is this a valid strategy?
“The true value of the brand for the consumer lies not only in the product’s performance, but in the product’s support and service.”
—Kristine Kirby Webster
• The third thing to look for is Initiative.
“Employees with initiative are needed, they are needed badly. They are needed in every business in America. They are needed because they find solutions for the problems pointed out by the merely ambitious. They are the glue that hold a business together.”
—Roy H. Williams
This skill is invaluable. A resume can show it, but only if the employee recognizes it as being important. Probe to find if your interviewee has initiative.
What To Look For:
• Try to discover what he/she has proposed without being asked
• How does he feel about putting forth an idea?
• Ask what steps she would take to get her idea accepted in a bureaucracy?
• Ask about planning and goal setting
More later...
Last week we started talking about secrets of marketing. This week we continue discussing what I consider the first secret of marketing - Hiring Attitude not Aptitude.
• The second thing to look for is Servitude.
This can show itself in many ways. Does this person participate in the community? Does she volunteer her time anywhere? Does he use his talents to help others? Does this person like to help others? Ask questions to draw this out. Does this person plan on offering such services? Knowing how they feel about service will tell you all you need to know about how they will work with others, especially your customers.
“Show me someone who things he is too important to serve, and I’ll show you someone who is basically insecure. How we treat others is really a reflection of how we think about ourselves.” - John C. Maxwell
“The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbors as ourselves: we do unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant of others when we tolerate ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves. We are prone to sacrifice others when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves.” -Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)
This is a vital step in the hiring process. You must find those who are secure with who (or know who) they are and are willing to go on from there.
More next week.
Do you know as much about your customers as you know about your inventory? You know certain customers are worth more to your business than others, right? Why are you treating all customers the same? A database will allow you to effectively grow into areas you were not aware of. It is the goldmine hidden in your business.
Discover RFM segmentation. Who to market to next!
Spend a little bit of time contemplating the many skills an employee needs to be successful at your business. You should keep a list of the skills you feel are most relevant to the position you are trying to fill.
Then when you write your ads describe the person you need to fill the position. Don’t waste your time listing the skills you think you need in your ad. You need people with strong character traits! Such a person can quickly and easily learn a certain program or procedure.
Nadji Tehrani wrote an excellent article called Effective Hiring And Keeping “The Right People”—44 Characteristics Of “The Right People.” In it you will find what he considers to be the 44 most important characteristics of “the right person.” (Find the article on www.tmcnet.com)
The most interesting thing about this list is that the majority of these characteristics I consider to be basic human decency. But since he found a need to write them down they are no longer the basics you get from your talent pool. Making it all the more important to the success of your marketing plan to find people with strong character traits.
Are you hiring the brightest people you can find? Or are you worried that they will replace you and don't hire them? Successful leaders don't let their fears stop them! They are brave, optimistic and full of positive beliefs. They know what David Ogilvy knew and hired the best.
*Each of the 217 times David Ogilvy opened a new office for Ogilvy & Mather he’d leave a set of Russian nesting dolls on the desk of the incoming manager. When the manager removed the top half from the largest of these bowling pin-shaped dolls, he or she would find a slightly smaller doll inside. This would continue until the manager came to the tiniest doll and retrieved from its interior what looked to be the note from a fortune cookie: “If each of us hires people smaller than ourselves, we shall become a company of midgets. But if each of us hires people bigger than ourselves, we shall become a company of giants." — David Ogilvy.
Better advice could not be written. This shows vision and strength of character and will help you grow like no other thing you can do. Good luck this year.
*Found on The Monday Morning Memo for Nov. 5, 2007 - Ronald, Bill and You
Initiative
If you’ve ever hired an employee without initiative, you know that most of the money you paid that employee was wasted. You spent all too much time telling those employees what to do when they are doing nothing. “Why can’t they just do their job and be productive?” you say to yourself over and over again.
All too many employers underestimate the power initiative has in an average days work until they’ve gone through this scenario.
There are many reasons why employees don’t step up and do the work that is needed. The biggest, however, is that they have not been taught how to take the initiative and therefore can’t. If you want your employees to take initiative you’ll either have to teach it or hire those with it.
One way to overcome it in your current employees is to create a detailed job description, which lays out in clear details what is expected of them on an ongoing basis. I clearly remember my second job in high school. My boss told me that the most important thing to do was to never let the customers wait to pay. So I hovered by the cash register.
He never told me his second most important job function…. So, after two weeks, he wanted to fire me because I was just standing by the cash register. Even though I thought that was what I was supposed to do. I was wrong. I didn’t know that I was supposed to use my initiative.
After we had a talk, another employee told me “Don’t just stand there, look busy. Sweep, dust, arrange, clean and/or organize.” Oh, then I got the big picture. I learned his system. It would have been much easier if he had it documented.
As you talk to potential employees, listen for instances where the interviewee showed his/her initiative. Ask questions that will bring this out.
Some examples are:
1. Tell me of a time when you used your initiative and worked independently to either create a plan or make something positive happen?
2. Discuss a situation where you have shown your ability to conceptualize an idea[s] and reorganize information into new patterns.
3. In your last job, what kind of things did you do when you were slow? What kind of things were you supposed to do?
4. When you see that something isn’t getting done, that is supposed to, what do you do?
5. Share with me a time where you went out of your way to complete a project because it needed to be done.
I’d suggest you also create/give a scenario and ask what they would do in that situation. The scenario that I like to build off is: "If you see the problem you have to see it fixed!" In fact, this should be the first line on all job descriptions! Leaving no question as to what the employee’s responsibilities are.
Initiative is the first skill to look for in a successful employee. All of the other skills that you might find important hinge on the initiative of a person.
I've been working on Special Report #4 — Hiring Is Marketing: How to Get Someone Qualified Who Will Run Through Wall For You!
My objective are:
First, help you separate the exceptional potential employee from the average warm body.
Second, it should be used to let future potential employees to know of the standards and values of your company—what you expect, at a minimum, from your employees.
Third, it is designed to convince you that your employees are your #1 asset. If you wish to have great customer service you must start with who you hire and how you train them, on a daily basis, to become great employees and then great customer service providers.
Fourth, I wish to show how vital hiring is to the success your marketing plan.
Over the next several weeks I'll share my thoughts in their entirety. Remember:
“Your Employees Are Your #1 Asset!
What are you doing to make and keep them that way?”
—DCF
What do you consider the basic of your marketing plan?
Strategy 13: Your Customers Have Questions… Do You Answer Them In The Way They Want Them Answered?
Your customers have questions. A certain percentage of your customers don't like to ask you questions. They prefer to answer their own questions. You can take advantage of this with a better understanding co-production.
Guide customers to areas where they can have their questions answered. Co-production is getting customers to provide part of the workload. So whenever you can have them answer their own questions you save man-hours and can help more customers at any given time while letting some of your customers help themselves just like they want to.
Many catalogers do this with callouts throughout their catalog. You can apply this to cover a broad area of topics. Refer to articles, recommend books, maps, links to areas on and off your site or in and out of your town. The goal is to provide relevant materials to your customer base that helps them buy and use your products and services.
Examples of Have a Question
Amazon.com does a good job of recommending relevant materials. To do this in your shop create posters that say, “Visit our ‘how-to’ section at the end of the aisle.” or on your website, “Visit our recommended resources section—click here.” You can also use this information as an approach when a sales rep approaches a customer. “If you have any questions, my name is Dana, feel free to ask me or you can use our reference center found at the end of each aisle.”
For one client we created documents that answer the questions they are asked over and over again. The document is available to all customers. Many read it and find the answers they are looking for before they make a purchase.
For another client, we are making in-store materials that explain all of the services they offer. The plan is to have 6-8 different brochures that customers can read at their leisure to better educate themselves of the services our client offers. This is an inexpensive way to inform your customer, plant seeds, and strengthen relationships with them.
From the book Benchmarked: What the best of the best do to keep customers coming. Find out more about The Image Foundry at IFmarketing.com
Your customers have questions. A certain percentage of your customers don't like to ask you questions. They prefer to answer their own questions. You can take advantage of this by better understanding co-production.
Have a Question?
Guide customers to areas where they can have their questions answered. Co-production is getting customers to provide part of the workload. So whenever you can have them answer their own questions you save man-hours and can help more customers at any given time.
Many catalogers do this with callouts throughout their catalog. You can apply this to cover a broad area of topics. Refer to articles, recommend books, maps, links to areas on and off your site or in and out of your town. The goal is to provide relevant materials to your customer base that help them buy and use your products and services.
Examples of Have a Question
Amazon.com does a good job of recommending relevant materials. To do this in your shop create posters that say, “Visit our ‘how-to’ section at the end of the aisle.” or “Visit our recommended resources section—click here.” You can also use this information as an approach when a sales rep approaches a customer. “If you have any questions, my name is Dana, feel free to ask me or you can use our reference center found at the end of each aisle.”
Too often in marketing we focus on the ad, the catalog, the radio/TV spot and forget about the people who close the deal. Here is a list essentials you should focus on to make your marketing materials more valuable!
Top 10 Employee Essentials
1. Attitude of Gratitude
2. Service
3. Eye Contact
4. Communicate
5. Be a Good Listener
6. Ask Engaging Questions
7. Build Value
8. Schmooze
9. Adopt a Positive Attitude
10. Never Gossip About Others
Over the next few weeks I'll define each of these terms. Then I'll discuss why you should spend as much time training your staff as you do developing your ads.
Seek out and gather reviews from your customers and various media sources. Ask customers to rate your products, ask about quality, usefulness, and satisfaction. Look for product reviews from magazines, newspapers, and online sources. Post them in prominent places where customers can review.
Retailers—put them in a booklet and hang them next to the product.
Online Retailers—put links to these reviews by the products for easy reference.
Your customers believe what like-minded customers say over what you say in your advertising. Make it easier for your customers and give them what they want—objective/non-objective views of your products from people who own the product not just from those who sell the product.
Examples of Objective Reviews
A great example can be found online at CamelBak. They provide buttons that link to user reviews, media reviews, and submit a review. You can see what others say, which helps your customers make an educated buying decision.
Amazon.com does this very well also. Spend some time online and see how these retailers have taken advantage of social interaction. If you are not doing it on your website and in your retail store you are loosing sales.
__________
Taken from my book Benchmarked: What The Best Of The Best Do To Keep Customers Running
This >> is why internal marketing strategies are so important to your business' growth.
Passion
If you ask the question, “What are some of your passions?,” you will begin to see how this person will perform while working for you. If their passions have taken them far and wide they will do the same for you. Even if they are young, as they share their passions you will begin to see how these questions reveal more than the questions you’ve been asking.
You will begin to see what this person is capable of and what they have done and will do to achieve it. They will be able to move mountains for you. Satisfy your customers. Help new employees and even motivate others to excel.
Following questions will help you draw out more on how their passions govern their actions.
1. Show me examples where you have committed yourself to the pursuit of lifelong learning?
2. Describe the process you would go through to gain a through knowledge of a subject.
3. Explain in detail something that you are an expert at.
4. Tell me of a time where you have successfully persuaded others to adopt your point of view.
5. Tell me about two memorable projects, one success and one failure. To what do you attribute the success and failure?
Take from the Special Report #4 How to Get Someone Qualified! Found at The Image Foundry
Commitment
If you’ve been successful in determining whether your candidate has the skills that make a person of action by this point you’ve been though a lot already. Next you’ll want to determine what their commitments in life are.
Commitment is an essential skill if you are looking for someone who can make an impact on your business and on your customers. Lets explore what commitment is for a moment so I can impress upon you how important this skill is.
Commitment is having a sound set of beliefs and faithfully adhering to them with ones actions or behaviors. Inquire about the commitments your interviewee has had in their life. Ask questions that show how they have supported their beliefs by improving themselves or their actions. You can start by finding out what their commitment is to self-improvement. Ask questions such as:
1. How do you improve your skills?
2. What are some of the most important commitments you have made in your life?
3. How do these commitments effect your daily decisions?
4. What do you do in the community?
5. What are some of your passions? How do you pursue them?
As you can imagine, the answers you get to these types of questions will show a lot about the persons commitments or lack their of. Never the less, such answers will give you confidence in this person or not.
Those who are truly committed show a deliberate emphasis on continual self-improvement.
Take from the Special Report #4 How to Get Someone Qualified! Found at The Image Foundry
