Last week I was in the market for new Golf Clubs. I was willing to buy, but I was not in a MUST HAVE mode. I also had just taken my kids to a driving range where they used my clubs and had a blast. I was pleasantly surprised when my 6 & 8 year-old could hit the ball GOOD with my clubs. So we set out on a mission to buy new clubs for the kids and if I found something or someone SOLD me, I’d buy new ones as well.
Our journey started at Play-It-Again Sports in Florence. We were in the store for 10-15 minutes sizing up clubs for the kids. Every few minutes I’d ask the guy working a question to which I would get a VERY generic answer like “Uh, yeah”….{Click Above To Read More}
Computers and other office equipment are vital to the everyday functions and productivity of most businesses. They power our employees and our companies, but they also drain power and raise our energy bills. Limiting the energy waste of our office equipment can conserve resources and prolong the lives of our machines.
When Should You Turn Off Your Personal Computer?
There are obvious impracticalities to powering off your computer every time you step away from it. That would be a great inconvenience, since it usually takes a few minutes for a computer to turn on. There is also a small surge in energy whenever a computer is turned on, so turning it off and on too frequently could actually use more energy.
The U.S. Department of Energy recommends turning off:
Your monitor if you aren’t using your computer for more than 20 minutes
Both your CPU and monitor if you are not using your computer for more than two hours1
One argument against powering off a computer is that turning it on and off too frequently may have a negative impact on the life of the device. Generally speaking, the less time a computer is on, the longer it will last, so turning off your computer should be a net gain.
Activate Your Sleep Mode
Make sure to check your computer’s power down or sleep mode settings. An unused computer that is in sleep mode will consume considerably less energy than an unused computer that is humming along at full capacity.
Power down and sleep modes should not be confused with screen savers, which are typically not energy savers. In some cases, power-down features do not work when a screen saver is activated.
Beware of Standby Power
Standby power is the electric power consumed by electronic appliances while they are switched off. Many types of electronic equipment drain power even while they seem to be turned off, because they are in fact in standby mode. Standby power can be as high as 10-15 watts per device.2 An easy method of prevention is to plug all of your computer station electronics (monitor, tower, printer, fax, etc.) into a power strip or surge protector with an on/off switch. When none of the electronics are in use, turn off the switch to prevent standby power drain.
Every unit of energy conserved reduces the environmental impact of energy use. Make energy conservation a habit at your business and enjoy:
Each week I write about how a company failed to properly market their company. It’s usually something really basic and it drives me crazy since most of these companies are spending money on mass media instead of working on the basics. But, I was on a streak, I hadn‘t come across anything major in a few days. I had just spent 4 FABULOUS days at The Greenbrier for the PGA’s Greenbrier Fed-Ex Classic and everything was perfect. I was excited and thinking maybe this was the week I would have nothing to write about…BUT THEN IT HAPPENED.
I’ll preface this by saying that most of you won’t think it’s a big deal, but I think that the smallest details can crush a company’s brand. We had just finished eating dinner and the kids had to have ice cream. We headed for The Cold Stone Creamery in Florence. I had always enjoyed their mint chocolate chip ice cream and the kids LOVE mint chocolate chip as well. We order our ice cream and as I’m watching the young lady mix everything up I noticed there were no chocolate chips, they were using chocolate shavings. So I asked, if she was going to be putting in chocolate chips and she informed me they had RUN OUT of chocolate chips. WHAT, how do you run out of chocolate chips and do you realize there is a Kroger 50 feet behind your store? If your customers are accustomed to a certain experience you have to either deliver it 100% or not at all. The Mint Chocolate “Shavings” ice cream was terrible. I took 3 bites and was done with it. They not only hurt their brand, but they lost a customer. They would have been better off to tell me they were out of the chips than to try something different.
So maybe you’re thinking I’ve lost it. But, I think that as a small business owner you have to do whatever it takes to protect what you’ve built, so I think what this ice cream shop did was major. So the next time you come across an opportunity to take a short-cut, or do something easier…Think “Is this REALLY whwa we want our customers to walk away with?”
Matt Plapp is a Marketing Consultant in the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky area specializing in small business marketing via grass-roots, events, guerilla, online and social media marketing. You can contact him at matt@mattplapp.wpengine.com
WHY are you still cold calling? Cold calling is fruitless, requires you to check your reputation at the door and is the easiest business to lose to other cold calling sales people. You need to start building your brand and start getting high level referrals. It all starts with an emotional message that shows your passion for what you do. Example I am a chiropractor, “I am a bone shaper”. I’m an insurance agent, “I create the future.” The response is “How do you do that.” Some call this an EBM (emotional based message) others call it a memory hook, whatever you call it; it’s funneling the conversation so that you can develop a relationship. This is what referral marketing is all about. I like to call it “My Power Phrase with passion”.
My mission is to create constant, continuous and predictable referrals for life without cold calling. We all want to do business by referral, but we don’t create the methodology to implement the platform, so it never comes to reality. Sure we get referrals but they are passive and not consistent. They are not constant, continuous, or predictable. There’s a “HOPE” that referrals will happen.
If our goal is to do 100% business by referrals than that can only happen if we pass credible referrals and receive credible referrals. It’s called a level 10 referral. Level 10 referrals are referrals where your only action is to show up a get the check.
There is a way to create a platform where you can create these constant continuous and predictable referrals, it is call referral marketing strategies by Referral Institute. We have created a system to help you change your whole way of doing business. First it involves a change of one’s mindset. You must change your way of thinking.
Referral marketing strategies involves three basic principles:
1- You must create a phrase for people to instantaneous recognize this is a potential client for you.
2- You must communicate with the people who you want to refer you business to and who you want to develop a strong relationship with.
3- And last, you must create your own brand.
Before you even get this far there is one important action that has to happen. You must have a target market. What is a target market? It is the section of the market that you are going to direct you marketing efforts towards to create credibility for your brand. It does not mean that you do not have other products or services. It is the people you want as specific target to create your niche. If you do not do this first then everything else with be fruitless.
Ok, now you have a target market. You should ask yourself “”who are my clients?”
Matt Plapp - Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Marketing & Social Media Consultant
by Matt Plapp
The #s never lie and you’ve all heard it in your business “80% of our business comes from 20% of our customers.” In my past posts I’ve covered numerous topics on how marketing relates to sales. As a business owner, this topic is your best and worst friend…FOLLOW-UP. Over the past 12 years I’ve been astonished how many sales people and companies that I’ve bought large ticket items from and never heard from again. I’ll only focus on 1 category though, as I write this I’m 34 years old and I’ve purchased 24 cars. YES, 24 cars and I know that’s not a good thing (I’m in auto rehab though, I’ve had my current car for 18 months). I tell you this because to this day, I don’t have a SINGLE sales person from a car dealership who has EVER called on me or calls on me now. This number covers 16 dealerships, 13 local Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky car dealerships. So I’d say the numbers below have some validity as too a “Marketing Problem” most dealerships have.
Think about that for a minute. I’ve had closed deals with over 20 sales people on transactions ranging from $12,000-$65,000 in 1 industry, and I’ve NEVER had a sales person follow-up with me? No one calls me monthly, no one sends me or wife a personalized card, no one calls to see if I am in the market AGAIN or if I know anyone buying a car. What a novel idea, actually call someone and ask them?
I do get a computer generated Birthday card from a Cincinnati Toyota dealer where I bought 2 Toyota FJ Cruisers on the SAME DAY and never heard from the sales person or a manger after the sale. The worst part, I was referred to the GM who got me with his “Top Salesperson”, neither has ever followed-up.
I’m consistently amazed in my travels how I hear the car dealers cry the blues because sales are down and no one is buying and you can’t get them financed, BLAH BLAH, BLAH. I’ve heard it all, my question to all of them is the same; “do you follow-up consistently with your customers.” Does the sales manager, GM or owner call every customer and say thank you afterwards? Does the sales person have a system of contacting the customer monthly via email, phone or mail? Of course most of them say they have a follow-up system in place, but most either don’t realize they don’t or they think follow-up is a generic letter from the service manager that’s generated by a computer and has a computer printed signature to be follow-up.
A number I hear around the industry is that car dealers can spend around $300 per sold car on advertising. So it seems to me that if you spend $300 on a customer, it would be a great idea to try to get their next purchase, their brothers, their neighbor, their parents, etc. But they never do follow-up.
Think about these numbers: Let’s say I’m a car dealer in Northern Kentucky who sells 3,000 cars per year. Imagine if I follow-up with my customers hard-core and we consistently get referrals from those customers, but at the end of the year it’s only 10% (WHICH WOULD BE REALLY LOW). So that’s 300 car sales we just made because we run a professional sales operation and properly treated our customers. At the $300 per customer, we just saved $90,000 in advertising expenses per year. Now the scary part is a GREAT follow-up program that involves everyone from the sales person to the business owner can get easily 30-40% in referrals. Your numbers are right, those dealerships are WASTING upwards of $200,000 per year in advertising because they don’t know how to take care of their customer.
As a retail business owner I realized at a young age the importance of follow-up. Our company not only sent our large-ticket customers 8 mailings per year that had a valid good offer and were personally signed by a department head, but we made sure our sales people called their customers and sent thank you notes consistently. We touched our customers upwards of 12 times per year and because of this we were able to only spend $35,000 per year in mass media for a business doing $15 Million in retail sales. We spent less than $50 per customer on advertising, compared to the industry norms of upwards of $300 per customer. Go figure, customer follow-up works.
Matt Plapp is a Marketing Consultant in the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky area specializing in small business marketing via grass-roots, events, guerilla, online and social media marketing. You can contact him at matt@mattplapp.wpengine.com or 859.743.2408.
It was a normal weekday at the office while I sifted through my mail. Not uncommonly, I had received something from my area Chamber of Commerce. I should point out that this is our areas largest Chamber with over 5500 members. As I opened it, I was pleasantly surprised to find a personally hand written thank you note from the Director of Membership, John B. “Brennan, thanks sincerely for your membership, here’s to your success.” What an impact this made on me. I called John to thank him for his thank you card. Does that seem silly? It’s not. Here’s why. That phone conversation turned into a lunch, which then turned into a meeting as to how our two organizations might help one another. Although, I knew not to rush the process as our relationship was so new. Over the next few years, we invited John & his Chamber to enjoy a complimentary booth and 5 minute presentation at our All Chapter BNI Awards Breakfast. What was in it for us? Nothing. We were glad to be associated.
After a few years of this we realized that our two like-minded organizations had an opportunity to take a step together. Across the globe, regional networking organizations were coming together in February to celebrate networking during “International Networking Week” (www.internationalnetworkingweek.com). While “International Networking Week” is an initiative of BNI, it is open to all networking organizations. Collaboration being the mindset of course (novel idea, I know). John, Laurie, & Kitty at the Chamber embraced the idea. What happened next? Well, 380 people in a room of course. On February 3rd, 2010 to be exact. An event sponsored by 13 companies, presented by the largest Chamber in our region, the largest business referral organization (us), and the regions leader in business news. A powerful keynote speaker names Cea Cohen Elliot (ceaspeaks.com) changed lives that day, and 380 people then walked out to change the lives of others.
Rewind a few years. Picture John B. sitting at his desk at 5:48pm. While he is definitely ready to head home for the day, he writes out one last thank you note. “Brennan, thanks sincerely for your membership, here’s to your success”. Had he walked out at 5:46pm, there would not have been 380 people in a room, and lives would not have been changes, including my own.
Zig Zigler once said, “you don’t have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great.” Life is a boomerang, you’d better start throwing. Thanks John
Advancements in technology have made telecommuting an ideal alternative for many businesses and employees. Broadband connections are increasingly common in homes and retail locations, and phone systems allow users in remote locations to operate on one central system. A remote workforce can stay connected almost as well as one stationed in office cubicles.
There are four benefits that make telecommuting an advantageous solution:
1. Save money.
Businesses can save a great deal by having employees that spend some or all of their time working away from the office. It eliminates office space and office equipment, and can reduce utility bills. Telecommuting saves employees money by cutting back on gas and maintenance for their cars.
2. Save the world.
Okay, telecommuting might not save the world by itself, but it does enable companies and their employees to use less gas and electricity, and every little bit helps!
3. Flexible workforce.
Telecommuting allows employees to have very flexible schedules. People spend a great deal of time traveling to and from work each day, and telecommuters can use that saved time in a more productive manner. Also, working from home can be an ideal situation for many employees, such as single parents.
4. More eligible job candidates.
Companies using telecommuters can expand their job search to include a much larger scope. A business in Boston can find an ideal job candidate in Seattle. With telecommuting, businesses no longer have to worry about the logistics of relocating a new hire.
Scott Malof CPA &-Business Financial Specialist Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky
“I have recently been working with a number of new business clients and their owners who are very good business people, have great businesses and business models. But, the old saying about “what you don’t know can’t hurt you”, well it just isn’t true in today’s business environment, I suspect it never was true. Especially when you are joining or considering joining forces with other business partners. Whether you know them well or not there are a few basic business documents that are a must-have before you jump into the proverbial “business bed” with your new partner/s.
Besides the basic operating agreement the following two legal documents are must haves before day one of when the partnership takes off:
1. A Buy-Sell agreement: consider the buy-sell agreement a prenuptial agreement of sorts, in the case the business partnership doesn’t work out for several very distinct reasons.
2. An Employment agreement amongst the new owners: It is used to plan out in detail how you and your new partners will be compensated with salary, bonus, fringes, perks, etc., and for how long thru the business.
It doesn’t necessarily require you to be an expert in employment law. It does require you to work with your business advisors to hammer-out these agreements well in advance of when they are needed. Friends, brother and sister, father and son, mother and daughter, new acquaintances, it doesn’t matter—all should have these two agreements in place.
An experienced CPA specializing in working with businesses and/or a seasoned business attorney are good resources to call on to help you with the process. It isn’t that expensive of a process either; and it sure beats the cost of when something bad happens and you don’t have the plans in place to handle them. If the documents have been drafted for you by your partners advisor’s, I strongly encourage you to have them independently reviewed by those who will be advocates and protectors of your interests—again your CPA/Advisor and/or your business attorney are your best bets to help protect your interests. By the way, the businesses I mentioned at the start—they either didn’t have these documents in place or relied on their partners to ‘take care of it’. In retrospect I guarantee you that these business owners wish they had known about the advise contained herein and had had a chance to follow it.”
Scott J. Malof is a CPA/PFS with SS&G Certified Public Accountants and Advisers in Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky. Scott specializes in assisting closely help businesses plan for their future successes. Scott can be reached at 513-587-3278 or SMalof@SSandG.com
Paul D’Souza – The D’Souza Group – Award Winning Author – The Market Has Changed – Have You?
I have recently connected with a group of people that belong to the Business Network International (BNI) organization. Ironically, I did not have any interaction with them as a group before these last few weeks and I say ironically – because when looking in and observing how them operate, I believe we can learn a great deal from them.
Check out these metrics of success …
In 2009, Business Network Int’l passed over 6.2 million referrals in 5500+ chapters with over 118,000 members in 43 countries resulting in more than $2.6 billion in business!
One of their basic tenants is that – referral marketing is one of the strongest ways to grow your business. And I agree. This is true for many reasons – for years, I have been talking about “The way we have done things for generations” and this is just one of them. Let me illustrate;
Imagine a nice summer day 5000 years ago in a small African village in the area we now call Mozambique; a 12 year old boy starts having feelings for a young girl in his village and has this stirring in his heart where he wants to feel and be known as a man. In his culture, that is typically demonstrated by bringing down and bringing home a large animal. He decides that bringing home a large buffalo would be too much, be decides to learn how to hunt a Gazelle. Where does he start!??
As would be logical then and now … he finds an expert; someone with a reputation of being a good hunter. But not just any hunter. He is looking for the best Gazelle hunter. So he asks his friends and family … people he trusts. He gets a name from his best friends father and since he is a bit nervous; asks if the dad could take him over to the hunters hut and introduce him. The friend’s dad agrees and the introduction is made. He now has an expert hunter who will show him how to bring down a Gazelle and he is happy. But before they leave, the hunter asks the boy two simple questions;
1. Why does he want a Gazelle? he is curious about what are they celebrating? and
2. How many people does he have in his hunting party?
These are important questions, because it will help him select the right Gazelle. But the boy is confused. Hunting party? there is only one girl involved! There is no event to celebrate and there is no hunting party? What is he talking about? its just me and nobody else! The hunter replies … can’t be done.
What? Can’t be done! the boy is confused and so the hunter talks to him about the “practices” related to hunting ….
First – you have to have a good reason to hunt a Gazelle, like celebrating a special event with your family or the village itself. That will determine the size of the Gazelle and based on the event, sometimes determine your need for female or a calf. Secondly, Gazelles are very fast animals and one individual cannot catch one; you need a team of people to help you. Each person has got a task, the main hunter will coordinate them, helping them work together and position himself in the right position to make the kill, but you need 6 or 7 people.
The hunter went on to talk about what each person would do and that some of them would have to be good runners while others would have to be able to sneak up on the Gazelle and be very quiet and experienced in being quiet in the jungle. He talked about the equipment and the tools they would need and then talked about the different hunting spots they would have to go to, to try to make the kill. Finally, the hunter talked to him about the dangers involved; from the cuts and bruises one could get from running through the jungle and the open plains to being attacked or bit by other animals and snakes to the Gazelles themselves. They could do real damage with their horns.
The boy began to understand the complexity and the level of structure and organization one needed to bring down a Gazelle. There was no way he could do this alone. He needed to get a few of his friends together to help him out and he needed to coincide his hunt with a ceremony; an event that would have bigger impact than just feeding his ego. He needed a bigger “Why”. By Golly!! there were rules!
This my friends is what BNI does for you; the small business owner. They have developed a systematic body of knowledge and business practice that help you understand the basics of Referral Marketing and they not only show you, but they also create the space for you to access and leverage “Your Team”; these are people who will actively help you bring bring down the Gazelles you need. And just like in the African village 5000 years ago; they want to know your “Why” and you better have a good one. They will also hold you accountable and will seek to have you earn their trust. Which you need to earn and keep … to stay on the team.
Join the Business Network Internation if you think you could use a team of trained people to help you access more customers.
Paul D’Souza is an award winning author and Professional Business Consultant, to reach Paul visit his website. http://www.pauldsouza.com/wordpress/
Duane Plapp - Professional Business Coach and Referral Marketing Expert
Build your business on Stone
So you are now an entenpeneur and you are now going to create your business model. You ask “ Am I going to prospect by cold calling, advertising or direct marketing or am I going to build it through relationships”.
There are several questions you must answer:
-How long are you planning on staying in business?
What kind of business model do I want?
What future am I going to have?
What makes the most sense?
How much capital am I going to invest?
The answers are easy.
Build you business on a solid foundation which will stand the test of time. Relationships are the only way to build your business so It will stand the test of time. Relationships create trust and loyalty.
If we create business through cold calling and advertising we can create instant but short term income. There is no trust or loyalty established. So when we stop the advertising or price increases the income is gone. This is the same as building my house on the sand. Lets build our houses on stone. Stone lasts and sand erodes and then there is nothing left.
Relationships if developed properly will last a lifetime. If the advertising stops and the prices increase they are still there. If your price increases the client gives you the opportunity to keep the business because of the relationship. If that business comes from a cold call they just call someone else and never give you the opportunity to maintain their business.
The way to create business built on stone is through referral marketing strategies. It has been said that we all want to create our business through referrals but very few ever develop the methodology to make it happen.
By developing referral marketing strategies you can create CONSTANT CONTINUOUS PREDICTABLE REFERRALS WITHOUT COLDING CALLING WHICH WILL CREATE REFERRALS FOR LIFE.
Amazing an idea which will help us build our business on stone.
The next question : HOW DO WE DO THIS?
We need to get educated in referral marketing. We need to get immersed in the strategies of referral marketing. We need to get our referral partners educated by the referral marketing experts.
By Jake Westrich, EcoPhone Systems, LLC
