ACT Business Facts 2011

The advertising industry has a number of arguments they put forward as to why a business owner should appear in their ad :

• People trust the ad’s claim more if the actual owner is making them.
• No one can convey a genuine belief in the business’ offerings as well as the actual owner.
• One less actor, one less expense.

But I suspect there is another set of reasons justifying a business owners appearance in an ad and they aren’t to the benefit of the business but of the advertising agency.

An owner appearing in an ad is going to be less likely to cancel or disparage the ad campaign. Imagine a local business owner getting recognized when they go out socially. Their wife/husband’s friends commenting on the ad. Appearing in a local tv ad gives a slight touch of celebrity.

I have seen examples of a business owner young child appearing in their television ads dressed up as a superhero. Can you possibly expect that business owner to have a hard nosed clinical view as to that ads effectiveness ? I don’t think so.

The article :

http://www.rainmakerlawyer.com/site/permalink/attorney_marketing_how_to_get_clients_to_say_yes/

Are there more mechanical engineers or electrical engineers ?

Is there a Real Estate Agent for every 100 people or every 1000 people or every 10,000 people ?

It’s interesting to do a quick ‘back-of-the-envelope’ calculation and see how close your guess is to reality.

We’ve created a page that you might find interesting that allows you to guess and check your accuracy, click this image to visit the page.

Engineer Specialities

Do you have any newsworthy stories under your nose ? An old couple returning to their homeland for their 50th wedding aniversary ? A young sporting team travelling overseas to compete ? Do you see a sudden increase in clients going to a particular country ?  All of these stories could merit reporting in local newspapers and media.  Find the email address of the journalist who covers local interest stories and email them. The best way to get PR is to become a source, journalists need sources, quotes and tips.

Look at things from the clients point of view, what additional information could you be providing that would help your clients ? Can you offer clients a list of local dog/cat sitters who can feed their pets when they are away ? Do you know where the best place is for them to leave their car when they are away for a short trip ? The more you solve the clients problems, especially the ones unrelated to selling them travel, the more likely they are to recommend you to their friends and family.

If you’re asking for referrals make sure you reassure people. One reason people don’t refer their friends and family to businesses is that they worry about the business under delivering, which of course reflects badly on them. Don’t just say “if you’ve enjoyed our service please tell your friends about us”, provide some reassurance that if they do refer people these new clients will be well taken care of.  ”If you’ve enjoyed our service please tell your friends about us. We want to give your friends and family the best service we can so make sure they tell us you referred them!”.

It’s all about smoothing out the wrinkles. There are hundreds of interaction points where a client or potential client can decide to stop, turn around and go elsewhere. There are hundreds of little wrinkles in the process of dealing with your agency that make things a little bit harder for your clients. Every time you can identify and remove one of these wrinkles your business become a little bit more efficient at turning prospects into clients.

There are some process wrinkles that we are all aware of, and should have already addressed :

• Are your contact details easy to find on your website ?
• Are your opening hours clearly displayed on your shop front so that passers by know when they can visit ?
• Are your staff greeting people with a smile soon after they step into your premises ?

Once you have removed all of the obvious defects in your business interactions it’s time to look more closely for some of the more subtle wrinkles that may be deterring clients. It’s very difficult to put yourself in the shoes of a client who has just walked in to your agency because you are so intimately familiar with it but if you can do that and walk through the process as they would you will find lots of moments of uncertainty that you need to remove.

Every time a potential client is uncertain or is forced to make a decision is a moment when they may turn away.

For you ideal client dealing with your business should be as smooth a process as possible, from the moment they find your website or pass your shop front to the moment they make their final payment for their travel.

CustomerCradle Logo

CustomerCradle is in business because we believe that business operators should not have to guess whether their radio ads, flyers and TV spots are working.

CustomerCradle is in business because we believe that brick and mortar business, the kind of businesses that answer the phone and deal with walk-in customers, deserve just as good business insight and analytical software as online businesses.

CustomerCradle is in business because we believe that as business operators become more familiar with website metrics and online advertising analytics they will come to expect similar fact based management tools for all aspects of their business.

Sam Howley CustomerCradle Co-Founder

Let us know what you think. Email us.

Thanks,

Sam Howley,

CustomerCradle Co-Founder

Canberra, Australia

A “back of the envelope” calculation is a rough attempt to work out the scale of something.

“How many dentists who like golf are there in New York ?”

“How many people in my city own more than one car ?”

“How many people who walk through my local mall  earn over $100,000 ?”

My back of the envelop calculations are always so badly off the mark it worries me that I don’t have an accurate view of the business landscape around me.  For example when I try and estimate the profitability of any business I conclude that they cannot be profitable at all.

How does this ski store make a profit ?

For example, I live in Canberra Australia, a city with a population of 340,000 people. Near my home there is a ski shop that sells snowboards, skis and winter clothing.  Now I estimate only 50% of the city’s population would ever visit this part of town. Only 20% of the population actually go skiing.  Only 25% of people who ski buy new ski equipment or clothing each year.  Buy there are at least 4 local competitors, plus people purchase equipment online and of course people purchase equipment at the snow fields themselves.

So assuming only 20% of the people who visit the area and need to buy ski equipment this year purchase from this store in particular they have 1700 customers (340,000 * 0.5 * 0.2 * 0.25 * 0.2). If each customer spends on average $200 then the store revenue is $340,000.

Now imagining a 50% retail mark-up on the goods sold, which a seems slightly high assumption,  the store would have $170,000 with which to pay rent, utilities, marketing and a couple of full time staff.  Does this seem reasonable given the successful appearance of the store ?

Well if I think the result of my calculation doesn’t match with what I see in the real world I can start questioning my assumptions. And of course with a back of the envelope calculation almost everything is an assumption.

Never mind the customer number estimates what were made out of whole cloth. There are some more useful assumptions that I can research.

How much is a store lease in that part of town ?

What is the total yearly cost of a retail “behind the counter” staff member in my town ?

What is the average mark-up on a retail clothing or ski equipment item in my area ?

What are average utility bills for a store of that size in my area ?

Obviously the ski equipment business  might not be of interest to you but how well do you know the equivalent facts for your industry ?

Can you make an accurate estimate of the expenses of your competition ?

Getting into the habit of pondering, doing back of the envelope calculations, and then checking up on your assumptions can be a good way to hone your business acuity.

1. Take the next step in self promotion

Many of us are naturally a little shy about self promotion.  Well maybe it’s time you started handing out a summary sheet describing additional available services to all your clients.  Maybe it’s time you started getting your staff to ask every client “are there any additional services we could be providing for you”.  Maybe it’s time you got marketing signage on the side of you car.  Maybe it’s time you joined some local business networking groups or started one.

Each of these specific suggestions may not apply to you, but the general principle does, get out of your comfort zone and try that promotional activity you had considered but put off.  It’s almost certainly not going to be irrevocable, if it doesn’t work or doesn’t feel right then stop.

2. Find ways to give more value

Is there some paperwork that many of your clients need that you aren’t providing them but could be ? Is there some piece of information that many of your client need that you don’t provide ?

A great way to make an impression, to get your client talking about your service, is to surprise them with that little bit extra that they didn’t expect.

Is there something interesting or useful or special you can put in your waiting room that will stand out in the memories of your clients ?

You know the usual customer service attentions that everyone gives ? An email or card on a clients birthday, asking the people in the waiting room if they would like a coffee.  Well they were not always standard practice, someone, someone like you, invented them in order to set their business apart.

What can you do to provide that little bit of extra value to your clients and set your business apart ? The surest path to more clients is happy existing clients.

3. Ask your clients how you can reach more people in their industry

“Ok, so that’s all complete now.  Just before you go can I just ask you a question.  We are looking to expand and grow this business. Do you have any suggestions on how we can reach out to other people in your industry ?”

If you are not regularly asking this question already I guarantee you will get informative, unexpected responses.

“Well a there is a networking group that meets…”,  ”In this area there is a website that…”, “A lot of people subscribe to…” etc

4. Study what the competition are doing and what people in your industry overseas are doing

Information arbitrage is a high margin business indeed. You should know what your competitor down the street is doing to grow his business but there is also a huge opportunity to look for innovators on the other side of the world.

Is there some additional service that people in your industry in Europe, America or Australia have started offering that is not yet standard in your neck of the woods ? Look around for innovations that are working in other parts of the world in your industry and think about how you could introduce them to your business.