Have you lost prospective customers without knowing why. Do they promise to call back but you never hear from them again?

Recently, my wife and I interviewed a service provider that a friend referred to us, which should have led to an easy sale. We met at his office, and the business owner spent 40 minutes talking about himself, his experiences and even his family. Then he spent the next half hour explaining why two products he had would be perfect for us. At no time did he ask about what we were looking for.

He did a great job selling his services to himself. Unfortunately, he was not the prospective customer. If he didn’t listen to us while he was trying to get our business, can you imagine what would happen once he had our money.

When you are selling to a prospect, unless you are very, very careful, you could be guilty of some of these same transgressions. I know I have been.

• Do you spend more time listening or talking during the sales meeting?
• Do you spend more time observing or talking about your product or service?
• Are you trying to find out the wants and needs of your prospects, short term and long term, or are you too interested in selling your product?

If you meet with prospects but something just doesn’t “click,” I recommend you follow up with them to solicit honest feedback. Occasionally that call will rekindle a prospect, but it will almost always get you some excellent information on how you could have done things differently.

There are plenty of mistakes to make out there. Why make the same one again and again?

Steve

If you have been in business for a while, are you happy with the results? Or could you be expecting too much, too soon?

Do you need an overnight success, or are you in it for the long haul?

Small business owners would do well to understand that most business success takes years to reach, not months. Yes, we’ve all read about “overnight successes,” those people who start a business and almost immediately become profitable beyond all expectation. Tom and I even know a few of them

What the headlines don’t explain is that in almost all cases, the successful business was not the founder’s first business. Or even the second. Maybe not even the third.

The founders of most “overnight successes” had started several businesses before their successful one. Each startup became a learning experience–sometimes painful–that taught them how to become more successful next time. Then, when the right opportunity came along, they were in a position to take advantage of all the factors necessary to make a huge success. Until then, even with the same opportunity, these entrepreneurs would not have understood the fine points to become highly successful.

Measuring the success of a startup is better compared to finishing marathon than winning a 100-yard dash. It takes a huge investment of time, effort and guts getting a company up and running and becoming successful.Unless you’ve already started and run a successful business for several years, there are huge learning curves that need to be scaled before “success” occurs. Great opportunities, great ideas, even great products take time to get to market, to get known, to get improved, and finally get a lot of them sold for a profit.

Like fine wines, many businesses take years to reach maturity. That is a combination of owner knowledge, product development, market acceptance, and many more factors. The overnight success is extremely rare.

Few entrepreneurs are able to start a business early in their career. They work for other, more established companies to build up their skill set. At some point, they decide to break out on their own - frequently in their 40s when they have developed skills that are beyond what the position they currently occupy. As successful business people, they know a lot, and can easily make it on their own.

Or so they think. They sometimes painfully learn that they still have a lot to learn. It took 20 years to build their skills for their old job, and learning an entirely new skillset is not done overnight. As one experienced entrepreneur once told me, “Don’t quit your day job before your new company is standing on its own.” Of course, I promptly ignored that advice and plowed right into my new venture, learning many new lessons the hard way. It took years of work to become successful.

Like running a marathon, early on it seems easy. Hopefully you get some early successes, you pass some people, you feel healthy: You are on your way!

A bit later, after the early exhilaration wears off, you get the realization that there is a long way to go before you can really claim being successful. There are a lot of hurdles and a lot of frustrations to get past before the finish line. Most people will wish they spent more time preparing, most will wonder at some time what they were thinking when they decided to start. And many will have to drop out before the finish line. But those who do make it to the finish are among the “best of the best.”

So keep in mind, having a company that makes it to the five year mark is very successful indeed. This year over four million companies will be started, and only one million will still be around in five years. Of course, many owners from those other three million will go on and start another more successful business, so don’t be too sad.

While we don’t suggest shutting down a business that does not reach superstar status quickly, doing so is a business strategy employed by some “serial entrepreneurs.” The majority of people who start a business, on the other hand, want to make their companies successful over the long run. Great opportunities, great ideas, even great products take time to perfect, to get to market, to become known, to get sold, to be improved, and finally to make it to the big time.

So, unless you have the resources to start up multiple times until you find the right combination for success, you probably should run your business like you would run a marathon: reserve your resources, find your pace, and keep moving.

We’re here cheering for you!

Steve

Over and over, small business owners ask themselves this question. Each day, it seems, the headlines give us one more piece of bad news:

• Americans Cut Back Sharply on Spending
• Weak Holiday Results Feed Disappointment
• Layoffs Put Thousands Out of Work

These frequent doom-and-gloom announcements can shake your self-confidence in your ability to weather the storm and stay afloat long enough until the economy picks up again—whenever that might be.

The economy always has its ups and downs and each industry has its own particular, normal cycle. It’s essential for small businesses to have the ability to stay afloat during these regularly occurring downtimes.

We found that many small business owners react to a downturn with one of these three strategies:

1. Cut back
2. Stay the course
3. Grab anything I can get

1. Cut back
If your business is a victim of a downward economy, it may make sense to eliminate all but the most important expenses. Some business owners also cut back some products and focus on the most popular ones. This strategy is an important survival technique if sales fall off due to conditions outside the company. But it also removes many of the things that help the company grow. When the economy does pick up again—as it will, in time—customers may go elsewhere.

2. Stay the course
This strategy is similar to the first one, but instead of eliminating overhead and expenses, the company maintains the status quo, neither cutting the spending nor increasing it.

Staying the course usually leads to stale revenues. Sales don’t increase. Too often, they actually drop because the company isn’t using a growth-oriented strategy.

3. Grab anything they can get
In tough times, there is always the strong temptation to grab a sale—any sale—as long as it brings in some money. When the economy seems to be tanking and money is tight, it’s hard to say “No” to a possible sale or a potential client.

However, going after any sale can be exactly the wrong move. There are costs to any sale, and when owners go after just any sale, they end up taking on business that costs them more than it’s worth.

Another negative aspect of going for any sale is that owners often let down their standards to close the deal. Loyal customers perceive the lower quality in service or goods and back off.

What’s needed is a completely different approach.

While each of these three options may seem to do something to keep the wolves at bay, the fact is none will make a positive, long-term difference. About 75% of small businesses don’t make it to five years, partly because they don’t know how to use the challenging times to their advantage.

Here’s an approach we’ve seen work in all economic conditions and is critical to a company’s chances of survival.

The approach: Invest in the future.

What? Money is tight right now, and the economy is sliding down. Why should small business owners invest right now?

We’re talking about investing time and effort to look at where the market is going rather than where it is now. What is it your customers are willing to keep paying for now? What will they want next year? The customer is always a moving target. Needs and wants shift along with the ups and downs of the economy. Rather than see the drop in spending as a threat toyouir survival, we can see it as an opportunity to identify new demands byyouir customers.

Talk with your customers. What do they need now, even in tough times. Where do they see themselves in a year or two? What will they need?

When you gather this information, ask yourself: How can match my products to what my customers will need in the future?

Cutting back, staying the course, or going for anything you can are NOT focused on the future and where your customers are going. They focus on the PAST and rarely serve as good strategies for moving forward.

To survive today’s challenges, you must focus on the future and invest more time and energy in meeting future demands with exactly the right product for your customer.

How was your business in 2007?
Did it exceed your expectations?
If not, what should you do differently for 2008?
Between now and the end of January is an ideal time to sit down with a blank sheet of paper and start planning next year. Where do you want your business to go? What will it take to get there? When your plan takes into account forces outside your business, we call it a "strategic plan." Strategic means "far-reaching," and the best plans look at what is happening in the world, in the industry, and with customers to see what adjustments to the business can be made now to improve future effectiveness. They can be very simple, 1-5 pages, or fairly complex 30-50 pages.
Good planning makes an immediate impact on your business by focusing your attention on what is truly important to the organization, instead of reacting to every thing that pops up. You prioritize your efforts and resources on the things that will lead to long term success!
A comprehensive plan can deliver dramatically higher results by establishing personal accountability, using specific measures and setting action steps toward your goals. If you have a team that worked on the plan, they understand the big picture and work to accomplish goals through a shared vision and mutual trust.

Strategic Planning is very effective at aligning your short-term decisions with your long-term goals.

This link is to a free 50 page manual for strategic planning. Although designed for non-profit, it is also very useful to for-profit companies: www.uwex.edu/li/learner/spmanual.pdf

Here is a free 17 page guide from the SBA:

http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/pub_mp21.pdf

Here are some other resources available on the web:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_planning
http://www.allianceonline.org/FAQ/strategic_planning
http://humanresources.about.com/od/strategicplanning1/a/quick_plan.htm

Our answer is, “Only if you want to prosper in your business.”

The most basic form of strategic planning we use at 8 secrets is:

• Defining a vision for success
• Seeing what is happening in the world that will affect your business
• Setting long term objectives (1-5 years)
• Setting short term goals (less than one year)
• Monitoring progress and following through

Once you write down your long term objectives, you can take a look at the environment you will be operating in. Then you have a better understanding of the conditions and can define some short term goals that will keep you moving forward, and be able to measure progress. Using this, you can monitor progress to make sure you are using your resources most effectively.

There is a “rule” of networking that we are no more than three people away from the person we need to talk with. So how can you leverage your participation at a networking event so you can connect with the right people?

What so many people don’t realize about networking is there are tasks we must complete BEFORE and AFTER the event, in addition to what we must do at the event itself.

In our four-step method, you work on the first two steps before the event, on the third during the event, and the fourth after the event:

• Step 1: Prepare your “magnet”
• Step 2: Set some objectives
• Step 3. Ask and listen
• Step 4: Follow up!

Click on any one of the steps to find out more. Better still, start with Step 1 and work your way through all four steps at your own pace.

You want to attract prospects and find new clients, right? You need a magnet to pull in new business, and your magnet is your 30-second introduction. And you will always need to introduce yourself because at every networking event there is the Big Question: “What do you do?”

Most of us answer this question in a way that fails to attract. Examples:

• “I’m a CPA.”
• “I’m a business coach.”
• “I own a little company that makes . . .”

What’s wrong with these answers? Why don’t they attract prospects or new clients?

Answers like these don’t tell others what they really want to know: “What’s in it for me to talk with you?” If you cannot answer this question right away, you’ll have more difficulty attracting new clients.

When you introduce yourself, you need to speak about benefits and results rather than let others pigeon-hole you. Ideally, your introduction will help the other person identify who your customers are and how they benefit from working with you.

Variations we’ve encountered that work well:

• “I connect my clients with their best markets so they can grow their businesses.” (Marketing consultant)
• “I put your best face forward.” (Professional photographer)
• “My client get more options for planning what to do with their money.” (Financial planner)
• “I make small businesses bigger.” (Business coach)
• “I take the pain out of working with employees.” (HR specialist)

Now, wouldn’t YOU be interested in knowing at least a little more about how these professionals did their work? Can you imagine any one of these can “hook” prospects and make them want to know more?

Think a few moments and you can probably make one of these versions work for you or come up with your own. Some of us prefer to use “we” rather than “I.” If that works for you, go for it.

Our favorite introduction—the one we use—is:

• “We guide small business owners one-on-one, step-by-step, with a variety of tools suited exactly to what they want to work on.”

Feel free to modify any of these for your use. And feel free to post yours here for the benefit of other business owners. Hey! What builds business for one owner, builds business for the entire business community!

Depending on how you create your “magnet” and answer the “What do you do?” question, you’ll probably be asked one or two follow questions. Listen closely to what the person asks. Pick out the key words and phrases because they will alert you to what this person is most interested in knowing. With that information, you’ll be able to shape the rest of the conversation in ways that help you pull in more clients.

Before the networking event, be certain to practice, practice, and practice giving your introduction so it feels natural to you and moves smoothly off your tongue. Spend some time saying it to the mirror, and keep practicing until the person you’re looking at really believes you and is excited about what you say.

But there’s more to do before you leave for the networking event. You have to do Step 2: Set some objectives .

Many of us go to networking events with one thing in mind: Find new clients. What happens if you don’t find new clients? Is the event a “failure?” Remember, finding a new client is like the princess finding the prince: You have to kiss a lot of toads.

The secret to success is setting more than one objective before you go. Consider having three or four different objectives. By using more than one, you’re more likely to succeed at the event, and you will have more options when meeting others.

Examples of objectives:

• Find a client (of course)
• Reconnect with someone I know
• Meet X-number of people I don’t already know
• Make a date to have coffee or lunch with X-number of prospects
• Get 10 business cards for my database
• Find some information I didn’t know
• Find someone who wants some information on my products
• Connect with someone who may know a good prospect for me

With several objectives, you’ll be able to use the one that goes with whomever you’re speaking to at the time.

Remember, even people who don’t seem to be prospects now may buy later. The fact is many of your new clients will come because you know someone else. That person will know someone who knows someone else that will be a good match for you. It’s a numbers game.

With your magnet and objectives in hand, go confidently to that networking event. While there, follow Step 3. Ask and listen. You’ll be sure to get great conversations started and build better relationships.

So many of us want to find prospects or get leads that in any conversation we go into “selling mode” when we open our mouths. Remember, a networking event is a chance to BEGIN the relationship that can lead to a new client. Rarely will “you do the deal” on the first meeting.

You’ve given your introduction. Now it’s time to follow the 80/20 rule:

• Let the other person speak 80% of the time, while you speak only 20% of the time.
• Devote 80% of your speaking to questions about the other person, not statements about yourself.
• Spend the remaining 20% of your time answering the other person’s questions.

When you start speaking, say the person’s name and the business’s name if that’s on the nametag. Then ask an open-ended question that will get things going easily:

Examples of questions to open the conversation:

• “Tell me about your business (or work).”
• “What do you like most about your work?”
• “What are some successes you’ve had?”

Any of these questions will give you information you can use to frame follow-up questions. With each response, pick a key word or phrase and use that in your follow-up question:

• “Tell me more about . . ..”
• “What do you enjoy about it?”
• “What do you like most about what you do?”
• “What are some successes you’ve had?”

See how easily you can start conversations? These questions are the “small talk” that tells others you’re interested in them. Then they can relax a bit–you’re not selling, you’re not pushing something at them–and begin to open up to you.

As you listen:

• Show interest in what they say.
• Look at them and tilt your head slightly toward them.
• Nod to show you understand what you’re hearing.
• Pay attention to the information they give you.
• Rather than rush to present a solution to a problem, find out more about that problem.
• Dig deeper before going further.

You want to build a business relationship, so take your time and get to know the person first. At most networking events, there won’t be much time for getting a full conversation going. If there seems to be some match between the two of you, set up another time to talk:

• “I’d like to hear more about this without all the distractions we have here. Can we meet next Thursday for (coffee, lunch, whatever) so I can learn more?”
• “Gee, we really seem to have a lot in common. Let’s set up a time we can meet so I can hear more about your work.”
• It’s so noisy in here. How about if I give you a call tomorrow to chat for a few more minutes?”

Oh, and be certain to get the person’s business card. Verify what form of contact is best (email, phone, face-to-face). Make a note on the card—of course you have a pen with you—and put the card in a safe place for later.

Sometimes, you will have more opportunity for a fuller conversation. When this happens, be ready with open-ended questions to make your connection more meaningful and show the other person you understand and can work with
business owners.

Here’s a sequence of questions we’ve found particularly useful. Try some variations of these, tailored to your business or the person you’re talking with:

1. “What do you want from your business? (Want to have, happen, get from, etc.)?”
2. “What’s happening now?” or “What’s in your way now?”
3. “What could you do that might bring you closer to what you want?”
4. “What will you do next?”

As mentioned earlier, you will likely come to a point at which the conversation must pause for now–somebody else joined in, the MC is making announcements, and so on. When this happens, get an agreement to meet or talk at another time.

You can say, “It sounds like you have a lot of good ideas for moving forward, and I’d enjoy hearing more. Are you free for coffee next week?” Notice it’s “I’d enjoy hearing,” and not “I want to talk.” You’re listening, remember.

Meeting for coffee somewhere will be less threatening than going to the person’s office, so you might suggest that. If the person’s willing to meet at the office, terrific!

Once again, remember to get the business card and to give yours! Make a note on the person’s card to show that you’re serious about remembering to reconnect.

But you aren’t home free yet. Step 4: Follow up! is the most critical one and it’s the one most people simply don’t do.

It’s true. Most people do not follow up with contacts they’ve made at networking events. Because you will be among the few who do follow up, you will stand out.

Even if the follow-up is only an email note expressing your pleasure in having met that evening, write it and send it.

And notice that we said “that evening.” Why wait until the next day or the next week? Some of the others will be following up, and remember you want to stand out. Be the first one!

Make it part of your schedule to send these email messages when you return from the event, just as you made time earlier for making your magnet and setting your objectives.

Networking is a whole package, not bits and pieces. The ones who succeed are the ones who do all four steps. Unfortunately, most folks in the business world do only one or two of the step. And they wonder why networking isn’t producing better results!

Remember, we’re never more than three people away from the person we need to talk with. While someone you meet doesn’t seem a prospect for you, that person probably knows someone else who might be—or someone else who knows a perfect match for you.And why wait for networking events to network? The person standing behind you in line at the checkout could be the first person you need to meet on your path to a new client. You never know, so always be ready!

Your market “position” is the place you occupy in the mind of your prospective customers. It is how these “prospects” see your product, especially relative to those of competitors.

The position happens whether a company’s management is proactive, reactive or passive in marketing. For instance, in response to the #2 soft drink’s challenge a decade ago, Coke rolled out “New Coke” and spent over $1 Billion in marketing during the rollout. Unfortunately, customers didn’t want “New Coke,” no matter how often they were told it was better. The customers had their own “position,” that Coke couldn’t change. Eventually, Coke swallowed its losses and went back to the old formula.

However, a company can still positively influence position in prospects minds by taking intelligent action. “Positioning” is that action, helping prospects see your product as useful, unique and necessary. Even with few direct competitors, positioning is important because of all the noise out there trying to get your prospects’ attention.

By the way, when 8 Secrets Group talks of products, we are talking about whatever goods or the services customers pay you to deliver.

Generally, the positioning process involves:
1. Defining your market and target prospects
2. Finding out what target prospects want
3. Think of new ways to position your product
4. Test your new positioning

See more on Positioning below.

1. Defining your market and target prospects

These questions will help determine where to sell your product, and to whom:

• What are the unique benefits you or your product offers?
• What do you have that gives you advantage over your competitors?
• Are you a local, convenient company, or do you cover a wide geographical area?
• Where are the most effective places to sell your products? This is your market.
• Who would be most interested in buying your product? These are the prospective customers.

2. Finding out what target prospects want

It is important to understand your product from the customers’ point of view. They will only buy something they want or need.

Even if you have the most unique product in the world, do people care? What is it about your product that people want to spend their valuable money on it? In other words, what “position” of importance does it have for prospects?

Finding what your prospective customers are looking for requires research, usually by communicating with your current and prospective customers, as well as customers of your competitors. Surveys can tell you what these people think of the products.

What are they looking for?
What value do they get from products like yours?
How is the market now satisfying those needs?
What do they think of your product?
What do they think about competitors.

With good questions, they will be quite candid about what they do and don’t like, which will give you valuable insight.

You may even realize you’ve chosen the wrong market — the perceived need for what you offer isn’t strong enough, they aren’t willing to pay enough, or the size of the market is too small. In this case, it’s time to identify a different market and position yourself in it.

Read the final section.

3. Think of new ways to position your product.

If you can stand out with unique benefits, prospects may be more interested in your products than those of your competitors. The most effective ways to describe your product includes these attributes:
• Important: What do prospects value most in your product?
• Distinctive: What is different about you or your product?
• Superior: What is better about your product from others?
• Affordable: What price are buyers willing to pay that is still profitable?

Sometimes simple changes can make your product more desirable, especially if prospects tell you that they don’t need what you are offering. As you learn more about prospects’ views, you can develop a market position to match what they are looking for. Your research might uncover that your product isn’t packaged the way prospects want it. For example, one customer who encountered resistance to hourly fees raised the commission rate on items sold and no longer charges for the time involved.

When doing your market research, try asking your prospects how they prefer to buy products like yours, and tailor your offering to their preferences. Sometimes just renaming your product - can make a difference. An image consultant might be much more successful selling the "One-Day Makeover" than asking customers to buy six hours of treatments. An evaluation questionnaire can be used for the same purpose. Try asking, "How would you describe my product to someone?"

Check out how your competitors are positioning themselves on the Internet, and have a friend request their literature, or even hire a professional market researcher.

4. Test your new positioning.

Don’t forget that you have to find a way to let your prospects’ know these attributes. Before you spend a lot of time or money on your new positioning, make sure your it will work.

Test it on people who don’t really know what you do or what you sell and pay attention to their response.

Find terms that make you stand out. In a classic example, Avis used "We’re number 2, so we try harder" to say something so different that it cleared space in prospects brains and stood out.

When your test subjects want to know more because you’ve piqued their interest, you’ll know you’re on the right track.

What happens when water reaches the boiling point? Lots of energy is released! In business it is the same way.

If we could harness that energy, what a difference we could make.

We highly recommend a short Internet movie out that is very inspiring, called 212 - The Extra Degree at www.212movie.com

Check it out!

Steve & Tom

A common practice to get established plants to grow more is to cut off some of the leaves and branches. Although scary to new gardeners, new, healthier growth appears as long as there are established root to support the plant during this stressful time.

The same thing is true for companies. Every so often the firm should let go of some older, less profitable business to be able to capture more lucrative opportunities. Sometimes a line of business that has marginal growth opportunities should be sold off or just shut down. Other times, it is an older customer that should be cut loose when they are weighing down operations.

Of course, owners need to be careful of what and how much to cut off. But, as long as the base is strong, the company has a chance to regenerate itself into a stronger entity.

Steve

There is an old Chinese Proverb that goes: “To open a shop is easy, to keep it open is an art”

That is still the case. Three quarters of all small businesses are still going out of business in the first five years.

The good news is that entrepreneurs do learn. The most successful entrepreneurs are on their second, third, or fourth startup. Although you don’t usually read about it, few super-entrepreneurs get a home run their first time at bat. They’ve learned through the experience of others, in addition to what they’ve done themselves.

Get as much experience and education as you can as you step into any new business. And, it doesn’t hurt to keep learning as your company grows.

Steve

In a recent article regarding Covey’s best selling books “The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness” and “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Covey identifies 10 key traits found in successful small-business entrepreneurs.

“Every large business that is now successful was once a small business.  All small business entrepreneurs have experienced significant failures in business, but they have learned from their failures, “says Covey.

The 10 key traits include:
1.  Value teamwork,
2.  Are willing to change,
3.  Surround themselves with diversity,
4.  Communicate effectively through feedback and active listening,
5.  Have a vision and plan for reaching their goals,
6.  Proactively seek opportunities,
7.  Are tireless, ceaseless, determined workers,
8.  Understand that removing barriers is a necessary event,
9.  Are high-energy people, and
10. Continually nurture the entrepreneurial spirit by taking risks and learning from mistakes.

Steve

Obvious once we understand it, that is.

Relationships are like pipes, or conduits. Good trusting relations hips are like BIG conduits. Lots of things get through quickly, including information, explanations, and even sales.

Strained relationships are like small conduits. Not much gets through. No matter how much we have to offer, very little actually is received.

The lesson is to keep relationships open and trusting, and a lot can happen.

Steve

Steve,

You are right about your customers wanting something different than what the vendors are selling.

For instance, I recently decided to upgrade my 15 year old garage door opener. I was afraid it would fail someday and, more importantly, thought newer technology would make it harder for strangers to get into my house through my garage.

In this case, I was primarily looking for SAFETY for my family, through increased security. As a In addition, I was looking for convenience of a reliable garage door opener.

When the technician installed the two garage door openers, he seemed quite experienced, and I saw him make several adjustments, so was satisfied. After he left, I played with the new toys, and at one point tested the weight limit when the garage door was going down. I started it in motion, and tried to stop it. I almost dislocated a shoulder and still couldn’t get it to stop. Next I put an obstruction at the end of its travel to test that reverse function, per the monthly safety test recommended in the manual. Imagine my surprise when the door did not reverse, but closed on what could have been my child.

Instead of getting safety in the form of new garage door openers, the vendor made it more dangerous for my family.

What was he thinking? That I was so happy to get his door openers I would be happy to sacrifice my family?

I wish more people would think about what their customers are buying and less about the money they are making.

Rita,
Dallas Metroplex