Monthly Archives: February 2009

Sales Process Should Fit Buying Stage

Posted on

For maximum efficiency, it is necessary to have a structured sales method. Yet, we see so many companies ignoring this. Unless a company has structure in their sales process, sales can easily be lost.

The first and most basic step is to take the time to develop a sales process. It doesn’t have to be too cumbersome and you don’t have to have your team fill out too many forms or jump through too many hoops. The only question that should drive the initial process is “What does the customer need in order to make the purchase.” The following questions can be asked:

[custom_list style=”list-9″]

  • What will it take to make a purchase and who needs to be involved.
  • Where is the client in their buying process? Are they shopping around or are they a few days away from signing a contract?
  • What is the next step that they need to take? If they are shopping around, for example, this could be the time where you send them a discount.

[/custom_list]
Sales should operate with the knowledge that everything that they do is to get the prospect to the next stage. When sales takes on an action with the client that doesn’t get customers to the next step, the energy will prove to be futile.

This same logic should be used when you have a client meeting. By remembering what you want your prospect to do at the end of the meeting, you should have a plan and execute that plan during the meeting. The end result is to have your prospect take the next step in their buying decision.

By remembering where the prospect is in their buying process will allow you to make the right decisions in enabling them to take the next steps before a purchase.

Patience

Posted on

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

The vast majority of start-up companies do not make millions of dollars overnight. It can take a bit of time to reach the ultimate profitability goals and margins. A website based off the eDirectory software is no different than a brand new start-up company, it can take time to see monetary results.

There are several things a new directory owner can do to help monetize and grow the site in the early stages of the directory. These include:

1) Have a strong marketing plan
2) Pre-populate your directory with information
3) Continue adding new content and information to your directory

Have a Strong Marketing Plan

Marketing a new product or company to people is not a simple task. It involves lots of planning on who the target market is and how you plan on reaching that target market. A lot of the times, once a target market is identified, to reach that market one must go back to the basics of marketing. Direct mail, door to door, cold calling are all parts of the marketing basics that can help you get your name, products and services out to the target market it which you which to sell to.

Pre-populate your Directory with Information

Having information in your directory before you begin marketing your new products can be an important factor in your early success. It can be difficult for a potential customer to purchase an item within your directory if they come to your directory and only see blank pages. Your directory needs to be populated with listings, events, articles, banners, etc. to help illustrate to potential customers that you have a populated website that could help bring them new business.

One way to help populate your website is by purchasing a database of listings through a 3rd party that relate to your business model. This allows you to, not only, populate your directory but it allows you to market to the businesses you purchased that are already in your target market through one of the basic market tactics.

Continue Adding New Content and Information to your Directory

It is important to keep adding new information and content to your directory. A good method of adding new content to your directory is through a forum or blog or by adding new articles for individuals to read. This new information will not only keep bringing visitors back to your site but it will also help with your SEO rankings, as search engines are constantly looking for new content on websites.

GeoDomains – Popularity is Increasing More Than Before

Posted on

Owning a domain name that is geographically based is a hot commodity right now. This will be, especially true this year, with Google moving towards a localized search model. In other words, when someone places a search, Google will come back with local companies based on your keywords.

If you’re a savvy Marketer, you know that the value of a geo domain is based on what is built on it and how much revenue is coming from the site. You can use your geo domain for local business directories, advertising listings and sales in the same way that the print copy of yellow pages works.

There are many resources for you to learn more about the art of owning a high priced domain name. Elliotsblog is a great resource to learn more about what is going on in this industry. Elliot owns a portfolio of domain names and was honored with the Domainers Choice Award for his blog. Here you can keep on top of the latest news and get to know many of the players in the field.

Some of the things that I’ve been learning by reading what the experts have to say is that there are two types of GeoDomains:

· Pure GeoDomains (ex. Pittsburgh.com, Virginia.com)

· Geo Generic Domains (ex. MissouriLawyers.com, BostonAntiques.com)

While the pure GeoDomains are very expensive, the Geo Generics are more readily available. Should you have one, the development of these domains can vary.Many people prefer to create a guide with advertisements, business listings, coupons, event postings and content which appeals to the local audience. Others create a visitor guide which is aimed to tourists and business visitors. Another growing trend is that GeoDomains are being used as social networking sites to connect people in the local community.

Speak Easy

Posted on

A well designed website can definitely grab the eye of a visitor and keep them navigating your site for some time; however, to keep a visitor on your site for a good length of time requires strong content.

There are several steps to take in order to keep the content on your site relevant and fresh:

1. Be diligent about content

2. Perform regular updates

3. Create your own unique content

Be Diligent About Content

To create a content-rich website, you need to keep a clear focus. In other words, be disciplined. Creating content for a site is not a simple thing to do; it takes days to weeks of research before you get to the planning and development of content for your site. One way to stay on track is to use your time management skills to develop a schedule for research, writing, editing, and deployment. Be sure to remember that the content on your site is ever changing, so what you write up during the initial phases of your site can be updated in the future.

Perform Regular Content Updates

Content on a website is not a fixed item. The content is always evolving and changing to meet the needs of your customers and the needs of your visitors. A returning visitor to your site is more likely to spend time on your site again if they are reading new information, new articles, etc. One way to keep new and fresh information on your site is by adding a blog or a forum. The blog / forum is constantly updated by those members using those tools and keeps the information fresh for both the visitor and Search Engine Spiders looking through your site.

Create Your Own Content

When using the eDirectory it is important to ensure you have fresh content within your directory. It can be discouraging for a visitor to come to your site looking to purchase a listing when they see an empty directory. Due to the fact that you are selling business listing options it is important to show examples of each business listing option, even if the listing information is false. This will show to visitors and potential visitors what exactly they will receive from their purchase. For example, it is beneficial to have a fully detailed Showcase business listing in the directory which includes photos, Google map, video, slide show, etc. This can provide a great illustration of what the potential purchaser will be getting for the money spent with you.

It’s Great to be Trendy

Posted on

The head of Women in Technology , a 14 year old D.C. organization, invited me to speak about about Arca Solutions’ product and services.   The thing that really struck me once I got to the event was how hard the economic conditions have hit our area – a city which is usually resilient against tough times.  Many people there had lost their jobs from heavy hitters such as AT&T, Sprint-Nextel and Microsoft.

While the second speaker was in front of the audience, I quickly thought about how to add to my talk how there were 20% more jobs last year than there was in 2007 in the SEO industry.  I decided that the latter half of my talk should focus on having the ability to reinvent yourself  when the job market is weak.

I went in front of the audience and highlighted the fact that there are jobs out there that are recession-proof – specifically Search Engine Optimization.  For those with Web Design experience, learning how to optimize a site can open up their market.  Also, for the people with a Marketing background, they can enter a different field where they work with web developers to create the right content, links and tags in order to foster increased revenue.

I was surprised at how many people wanted to learn more and asked how to get in touch with me after the presentation.  One woman who had been thinking about migrating into the crowded Project Management field mentioned that this may be something else for her to think about.  The bad news is that 2009 is going to be a tough year; the good news could be that you come out on the other end of it with a brand new profession.

Large in the Margin

Posted on

Websites designed for eCommerce use have their own unique look and feel which attracts a visitor to do one thing, and one thing only, on the site – purchase something. The individual whom is designing the website needs to consider several factors of online selling during the design process.

Below are a few principals an eCommerce website design should include:

1. Be sure to give the user a pleasant experience when visiting your site and doing online shopping

2. Be sure to provide sufficient contact information, so visitors can contact the site owner with questions or concerns.

3. Make sure the website is easy to use and navigate.

4. Provide many examples of the items that are for sale

The principals of a good eCommerce website design are not new to anyone. Our every day to day experiences shopping either on or off line are still required to follow the same basic principles, however, with online sales it can get a bit trickier because all contact is visual and not verbal.

Be sure to give the user a pleasant experience when visiting your site and doing online shopping

When designing a site be sure it simple for individuals to find the items they want and the checkout process is not overly lengthy. It is important to have all items easily navigated to by one to two clicks of the mouse and plenty of ‘order now’ and ‘checkout’ buttons in front of the user. When users have to click back and forth multiple times to checkout, it can be a frustrating experience.

Be sure to provide sufficient contact information, so visitors can contact the site owner with questions or concerns.

Unlike a regular store, when purchasing items through an online eCommerce platform, it can be difficult to talk to a representative if questions arise. Be sure to make your contact information readily available to anyone who visits your site, either with a dedicated ‘Contact Us’ page or simple contact us text. It is beneficial, but not necessary, to have a contact us form dedicated to contacting the site owner directly.

Make sure the website is easy to use and navigate.

Similar to giving your user a pleasant experience on your site, you need to create a site that is easy to use and navigate. A website can become overbearing when there is a lot of content on the site, tons of pictures, pop-ups, and rollover text. When visitors come to your site to purchase something, they want to see what they are purchasing, and may not be interested in all the other fluff (however cool it may be). One of the best methods to follow is the KISS method: Keep it Short and Simple

 

Provide many examples of the items that are for sale

It is important to provide users to your site live examples of the items in which they are purchasing. The more examples you can have on the site, the more informed of a decision the user will be making on what they are purchasing. This can help alleviate questions and issues in the future that it was not fully understood what was being purchased.

How Expensive Is Good Customer Service?

Posted on

Ok, so I would like to relate a story that happened to me just this past week. But before I do, I would like to post a simple question. Be thinking about this question as you read this post (rant).

Q. How much is customer service worth to your organization?

This a true story: (company names changed to protect the innocent)

Today 2/3/09 I went to store #11814 to use a 2 for $5.00 (sourdough bacon-cheesburger) coupon that I had gotten in a flyer in the mail. I will say that the experience was one of the worst, most unproffesional experiences that is POSSIBLE at a fast food location. The worst part was the follow-up with your corporate center by contacting Consumer Relations department at 555-1212

So here is the story.
At 1:43pm (actually started at 1:36pm) my friend and I entered the store and started the process of ringing up a simple order for a sandwich and fries (nothing more). I presented the coupon to the attendant (manager called him Mohamed, but I did not read his tag), and asked for that with a Large Fry. The coupon was for two sourgough bacon cheeseburgers for $5.00. This is where everything went downhill.

The attendant tried to charge me $10.01 for the order (most expensive fries I would have had). I told him it was wrong, so then he voided my order and tried to get the managers attention. She was irratated that she had to help him. She gave him her manager pass to override anything that he wanted with no oversight at all (that cannot be right). Next he attempted to try again, and even with the managers key he could not figure it out. He again voided a transaction, and this engraged the manager who made the statement “You need to know what your doing, you keep voiding this and that…. Talk to your brother”. I felt bad for the person at the register and he clearly was hurt by this public degration.

So, now the manager comes over and makes an attempt to try and get the order to work. She fails, and starts muttering to herself (including explicit words). She continues to bash the person that started to take my order as she let our her frustration with the computer system. Both of them continued to blame the computers for having bad data, and such. This should not be any of my concern, or should you be telling me the consumer that your computers are untrustworthy and yet you still want my CC if that is how I am paying.

Let me remind you now, that we have had 3 people (mohamed, his brother and the manager) try and ring this order up. I have been holding the line up for over 5 minutes as I stood and watched this comedy show and just praying that my order comes out right.

Finally the manager figures out how to make a special order, and charges me $7.51 for the sandwich and fries (at this point I would have paid the $10.01 just to get out of the store). I pay cash, get my change and wait for food.

As this all going on, the client in front of my had STILL not gotten his food, as there were 3 people trying to ring up my order and he says something about it. The manager, tells the client “Sir, I know you do not have all day, but I am working on something over here” and proceeds to ignore the client for a short period, but finally gets him his food.

So, finally I get my food, and am out the door. I will not recount the ordeal my friend went thorugh behind me (repeat) as he had a coupon for two whopping burgers for $5.00.

So, fast forward 15 minutes when I am back at the office and start to eat my burgers only to found that I got two sourdough hamburgers (no cheese or bacon). So that was the last straw. I decided to call the consumer relations line and report the worst experience in my life at a Burger Place. This is where the story gets even more fun.

I ring the line, press option #3, then #1 (of course I have to hit a button to continue in english).   This nice (indifferent) lady gets on the phone and I explain the situation to her. She asks me if I would like to leave a name, and I do. She tells me she will email the district manager about the problem…. Thats it!

As you can see from my story not ONCE did anyone offer to make things right. Not once did they even ask what they can do to try and help keep me as a customer. Not once did anyone even care that this horrible experience happened, let alone shared by more then one person. I can say with ease that I am tossing out the remaining coupons and going to McBurger Place, Pigtail Girl Burgers or any other place that actually cares.

The biggest kicker is that I start to recall this story to my co-workers (the Burger Place is 6 blocks from our office) and one of my co-workers says thatshe will ONLY go there for Coffee now as they screw up the orders so much it is impossible for them to mess that up. That is such a telling statement I do not know what is.

As you can see from the post not only did they loose a client, but they lost 3 (me, my co-worker). So how expensive is that?

Lets run some simple math. If you assume the average cost of eating out at a fast food place is $6.00, and many people in the office world eat out 3X a week, that is $18.00 a per person per week or $54.00 a week in our little example (3 people). That is $216.00 a month, and $2592.00 a year for those three people.

This simple math is not taking into effect that each of those people will on a average tell 10 other people about the bad experience and those people will tell 3 others. So each person is equal really to 14 peoples says lost. That is $294.00 a week, $1176.00 a month and $14,112.00 per year per person in our equation ($42.336.00 a year for our three people in the office.) Lets not even take into effect the blog effect that happens everyday when things like this happen.

That is an EXPENSIVE mistake in my opinion.

So, we go back to the simple question that I asked earlier: How much is customer service worth to your organization? Would you be willing to give a single client $5.00 to make them happy (in our fast food scenario) or do as we saw and let them go (remember the math!).

Hearing Michael Dell

Posted on

This week, I was invited to an NVTC event in McLean, VA where Michael Dell was speaking. It was interesting to hear that in 1983, while he was a freshman, he noticed an opportunity to sell computers for less. He saw that when you bought a PC for $3,000, there was about $600 worth of parts in it. During college, he operated a business out of college dorm room had had people bring him their computers and he would put in some memory or a disk drive. By doing this inexpensively and giving customers exactly what they needed, he made close to $25,000 a month. Dell continued to sell directly to customers with his own company soon afterward and quickly made $6 million.

This background is fascinating given that Dell Computers is now on its way to becoming a $60 billion-dollar company. A few things struck me about Michael Dell. He, obviously, had a tremendous amount of dedication to his vision. Despite all of the economic fluctuations, major changes in technology, and a savvy yet ever-changing landscape of shoppers, he thrived due to his ability to adapt.

As more and more entrepreneurs create online businesses, It is good to keep in mind that if you understand your customer’s needs and remain committed to your company, you have a chance at being successful too.

Use of Time

Posted on

Tips for High Quality Time Management

Setting time aside for those important tasks is never an easy thing to do, especially if you are the procrastinator type.  However, there are many ways for you to turn around your procrastination traits and begin practicing effective Time Management and gaining Time Management skills.

Here are a few tips to improve your time management skills

Before you can dive in and implement new time management strategies into your daily routine, you need to understand a few basics.

You must be cognizant of your goals in both the short term and long term.  This awareness of what your goals are will help you prioritize your day to achieve the daily short term goals and well as make strong headway on reaching those long term goals.  These goals will also help to keep you motivated and make you less distracted away from your daily plans.

Be sure to develop a flexible and open schedule for your self to follow. Ti needs to be flexible and open enough so you can fit your goals within, yet leave some extra time in your schedule in case a distraction has to take you away from your daily activities for a few hours.

A Few times to use your time successfully

1. Have a look back at your old daily habits and see what you can do to improve them. — Once you realize what habits you have formed that are impacting your management of time, you have made the first step in beginning to change them. Old habits die hard, so once you have felt you have begun to overcome one of those habits, be sure to reward yourself.

2. Keep your short and long term goals in sight, literally. — It is easy to lose focus on something when you are not seeing it everyday. Put up reminders around your house or office, even if they are yellow sticky notes, to help you refocus on the task at hand. The more focused you are, the less likely you are to get distracted.

3. Write down a daily list of things to do, and prioritize them once the list is complete. — Keeping a daily to-do list is a great way to see how much and what you are accomplishing on a daily basis. This will also give you an indication of whether or not you are properly allocating to the tasks at hand. At the end of the day a list will help you to remember your goals for the day and give you a visual checklist of what has been completed.

4. Concentrate on one task item from your checklist at a time. — Some people are not natural multi-taskers, so be sure to focus on one of your task list items at a time. Once that is completed, you can move onto the next item. Good time management will afford you the time to work on just one thing rather than 10 at a time.

5. Keep what you are doing fun. –When you are working on a taks that you feel is fun of enjoyable it is much easier to keep moving forward to meet your goals. When you are not doing something you enjoy it can create a lot of stress, and this stress can impact your time management and the completion of both short and long term goals. When you are not stressed, you are more likely to accomplish tasks quicker.