When did you last ask your customers what they want?

Is your business growth starting to plateau or stagnate?

It’s easy to sit back, take the foot off the accelerator and watch the sales  roll in, especially if you’ve been satisfied with your recent performance. But  keep in mind that if you slack off too much, your competitors will soon catch up  and eventually put you out of business.

Take a look around – businesses (and your competitors) are closing their  doors due to the drop in consumer spending – which means MORE potential  customers for businesses like YOU, that do survive. Today is the best time to  take steps to revamp your marketing efforts and respond to the needs and the  pain of your target market.

In these tough times, it’s going to take more than “thinking outside the box”  and goodwill with existing customers to secure the survival of your  business.

I want you to STOP right now and make a list of everything that you (and your  competitors) do NOT do to make it easy for your prospects to buy from you. If  you want to succeed over the long term, you will take a good hard look at both  of these lists and find a way to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes,  to win your customers and keep them.

Granted, this is not an easy task. Most businesses will continue to do what  they have always done – guess or assume what they think their customers need.  However, no matter how challenging it is to ask the hard questions and  re-engineer your strategy, I guarantee it will be a whole lot less painful and  stressful than going under.

I had a married couple come to me once for advice and coaching – both the  business they were in and their relationship were at the breaking point. The  husband turned and said to me “I don’t understand it. I do everything humanly  possible for my wife and she doesn’t appreciate me and I don’t think I can  possibly do anything more to satisfy my customers – they are never happy and  always want more. What can I possibly do?”

My answer to this age old dilemma applies to him, his marriage, and to you in  your business right now. “Sounds like you are doing a lot. Too bad it’s  everything BUT the very thing that your partner and customers need most.”

While this may sound harsh, I think you will agree that it is absolutely  true. It does you no good to work harder doing everything…instead of focusing  on the 1 thing that you customers actually need. Wouldn’t it be easier for you  to work smarter, not harder, if you knew with absolute certainty what that 1  thing is?

How can you take the lesson from my client and apply it to your own business  right now?

How could you go about figuring out what that 1 thing is?

I want you to do something really radical today and start asking both your  prospects and existing customers what they need. You need to find out:

• What is the biggest challenge your prospects are facing in their business?
• When your customer thinks of the product or service you provide, what is  THE most painful or difficult issue associated with acquiring it?
• What is  the most important criteria to your purchaser when evaluating a company like  you?
• What are some things that he/she thinks about or considers from a  financial perspective when selecting that product/service or a vendor?
• What  is the key strategic driver for you customer’s decision?

It doesn’t really matter what you have done up to this point or how hard you  are working. There is no prize for volume or quantity. What counts is quality  and relevance.

Are you giving your customers what they want and are you willing to do  whatever it takes to help them cure the pain that they are in?

More of the “same old same old” is not going to differentiate you from the  pack, build trust, win customers and grow your business. Take some time today to  really think about what you offer and how it could be improved to meet the  primary need of your customers. If all of your customers were to leave today,  what would you need to change in order to win them back and survive?

At the end of the day, price is never the determining factor. Once you  uncover the true cost of the problem they are facing, price becomes irrelevant.  Your customers will always be willing to pay a fair price for a product/service  that cures their pain – not to mention the peace of mind that comes with  excellent service. Take stock of what the competition is NOT willing to do and what your customers wnat most from you.

Do something unique – listen and be willing to do whatever it takes to  deliver what they want (and need). Anything less, is simply a waste of your time and money  on everything that doesn’t really matter.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6586203

Could a good spring cleaning boost your business?

It doesn’t matter whether it is springtime or autumn where you live – the best thing that you can do to improve your business right now is a bit of spring cleaning.

By this of course, I mean reinvigorate some of the housekeeping issues that you may have  overlooked in recent times. Over the last few years you may have found it  possible to get away with a few loose ends and haphazard processes, but not any  more.  The tough economic times have changed all of that.  It’s time to get serious about tightening up your systems and securing your future.  Here are my Top 10 Tips to improve your results:

1. Have a plan
Position your business for the year ahead. Decide on your  strategy, set your goals and work on your tactics. Put these together in a one  or two page business plan. Uncertain times call for certain actions.

2. Forecast your cash flows
Maintain a cash flow forecast so you can use  it as an early warning system. The sooner you get an indication that your cash  is tightening the more time you will have up your sleeve to take action.

3. Collect your debtors more quickly
On average how long do your debtors  take to pay you? Aim to reduce this by at least 10 days – if your annual revenue  is $1 million you could save yourself $3,000

4. Reintroduce credit checks
Have you got a bit lazy about running credit  checks? Reintroduce them.

5. Monitor your customers debtor history
Are any of your customers  starting to take more credit than usual? Keep a close eye on them. They could be  feeling the squeeze so be careful about extending too much credit.

6. Evaluate your customers
Do you know who your best and worse customers  are? How much profit are you making from each customer? If you don’t know, now  is the right time to set up systems to track this and….

7. Cull your bottom customers
Harsh as it may sound, concentrate on your  best customers. Lavish them with attention. If you have unprofitable customers,  cull them. You have no room for passengers.

8. Trim your product range
If you are carrying a wide range of stock trim  it. Do this by calculating which of you stock lines are your worst performers;  sell those lines quickly to release some cash. Reduce your overall investment in  stock.

9. Look at your processes
Mistakes are costly so take a look at your  processes. What can you tighten up or do differently to lower the chance of  errors?

10. Have a budget
Having a budget isn’t about cutting costs, it is about  managing costs. So budget your expenditure for the year and track your actual  costs closely. If you see costs starting to climb take steps to reduce your non  essential expenditure.

So in the face of rising interest rates and a global economic downturn the  best thing that you can do to improve your business is to tighten up your belt and the system in your operation.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5442279

Do you know the true COST of bottled water?

Bottled water is THE most profitable drink product in the world,  selling for 3000 to 9000 times what you pay for the perfectly safe,  inexpensive liquid that comes out of your tap at home.

To put this in context, paying $2.40-3.90 for a 750ml bottle of water is  equivalent to:

• $10,000 for a tuna sandwich at your local cafe or
• A bill from your  water company this month for $3000/tonne of water (as opposed to the going rate  of $1.2/tonne)

According to the Australasian Bottled Water Institute, Australians consume  over 250 million litres a year at a price of $385 million. We have been  systematically brainwashed by the beverage industry to believe that our tap  water is somehow unsafe or insufficient – look around and you will see that  there are now hundreds of brands competing for your attention with clever  marketing campaigns designed to scare, seduce and mislead you to part with your  hard earned money.

Despite its association with prestige, purity and pristine conditions,  bottled water is often no better than tap water (in terms of taste and  cleanliness) and the production process it is extremely harmful to our  environment.

Did you know that:

• For every 250 million litres of bottled water, it takes 125million litres  of oil to produce the plastic bottles, refrigerate and ship them from one part  of the world to another
• For every litre of bottled water sold, another 2  litres are used up in the production process
• More than ½ of the brands on  the market are derived from municipal water supplies, despite the fact that the  packaging would lead us to believe they come from unspoiled mountain streams or  underground springs
• Over 80% of the bottles end up in landfills and are  never recycled

It is estimated that bottled water has become a more than $45 billion dollar  industry worldwide. Surprisingly, 97% of it is consumed in countries which have  plentiful sources of clean, safe drinking water. We can afford to turn our noses  up, avoid the tap and fork out millions for bottled water: our choice however is  purely a lifestyle one. A lifestyle choice for us with life and death  consequences for others and our planet.

For 2.6 billion people in the developing world, lack of clean water and basic  sanitation is a life or death situation. It is estimated that half of the people  in the developing world are suffering from diseases associated with inadequate  water or sanitation and that 5 million people die each year. According to the  International Water Management Institute, clean water and improved sanitation  could be provided to everyone on earth for an outlay of $11 billion a year (less  than a quarter of our global $45 million spending on bottled water), yet to  date, there has been no impetus to re-channel the money and change our thinking  on this important issue.

So you may be sitting there and thinking, what does this mean for YOU and  your business?

Well, nothing… and yet perhaps, everything.

How often have you (or someone else in your team) said:

• “if we had more money, we could invest in X and improve our business?”
• “if we put our prices up by 10%, we will lose customers.” or
• “we  can’t afford to buy X because it’s too expensive.”

You already have enough money to do and buy all of the things that you need – it’s simply a matter of common sense and priorities. We are all affluent in this  country: It is your mindset and your language which is lacking, not your bank  account.

In fact, each and every day you and I waste money by overpaying for bottled water  and other convenience/impulse items. We  rarely stop to think about the true value of what we got vs. what we paid.  Bottled water is just one obvious example and it is not difficult to see how  this might be playing out in other areas of our lives.

You and I have happily overpaid for products. Yet we struggle to charge what we  are worth or put our prices up because we fear that no one will buy. Isn’t that  interesting?

Perhaps you and I need to take a lesson from the bottled beverage industry and  focus on how we are marketing and selling our products/services? Is fear more  powerful than selling benefits? Is perception more influential than reality? Are  you seducing your customers with sizzle or merely putting them to sleep with  your low prices?

Think about it. Beverage companies have managed to package and sell to us  something that is practically free and plentifully abundant, for thousands of  times what it is worth. And up until now, we have all paid willingly. Bottled  water has in fact made us all look a bit foolish.

Maybe it’s not the price you are charging that is the problem? It’s the way  you are choosing to promote your product/service. The best time to change your  mindset and your approach is now. Anything is possible.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4936397

Hey Caveman! Not everything is about YOU!

It has been over 50,000 since human beings lived in caves. All those years  ago, life was pretty much about survival – each morning our ancestors would  emerge from their caves and scan the horizon for imminent danger. Although  things have changed a lot in our external environment in the last few thousand  years, in many ways, the wiring in our brains has not. In fact, 90% of what you  and I do on a day to day basis is still based on that ancient wiring and  survival mentality and it is precisely this legacy that needs to be re-directed  to prevent self sabotage from holding you back, personally and  professionally.

You see our brains are wired to spot and avoid danger.  It is because of these primitive instincts that we all have a tendency toward self sabotage.

Even though the danger may not be “life or death”, we see this dynamic play  out in our work environments almost every day. For every daring and outlandish  new idea that is proposed by one hopeful soul, there will be a long list of  skeptical colleagues who are willing to offer 20 reasons why the idea might fail  or cause harm.  This sabotages innovation and progress.

So, how does this play out exactly?

We seem to have a biological urge to save people from themselves – this may  take the form of overtly belittling the person with the idea, tearing the  proposal to shreds, refusing to examine or consider the suggestion seriously or  creating an environment where it is unsafe to brainstorm or take risks. Instead  of fostering initiative and exploring options, the focus is immediately shifted  to put up protective roadblocks and creative stop signs (i.e. sabotage).

Does any of this sound familiar?

Either the voice in your own head that says “you cannot do it” or the guy who  sits two cubicles away and has a knack for tearing everyone else’s ideas to  shreds… yet he can never seem to come up with an innovative or original  solution of his own. In our vigour to ensure that new ideas are properly vetted  and scrutinized, our ancient and hard-wired brain response to scan for danger  and protect ourselves, is effectively killing innovation. This automatic reaction needs to be identified and consciously overridden in order to ensure  that we (as individuals and organizations) start generating novel and  constructive solutions to problems.

3 Tips to Avoid Sabotage and Foster Innovation

1.Eliminate “But” – Instead of searching for looking for defects or pointing  out why something won’t work, focus on how you can add to the discussion or  process. When you (or someone else) conceives of a concept or strategy, resist  the urge to say “yes, but that will never work because”. By substituting the  word “and”, it will allow you to constructively add to or expand upon the idea  rather that stopping the creative process dead in its tracks. This slight change  in words and focus will exponentially impact creativity and reduce sabotage.

2.Don’t mix right and left – Creativity and innovation are often associated  with predominately “right” brain thinking. While critiquing and evaluation are  often considered the domain of the “left” brain. It is difficult (particularly  in a group dynamic) to generate momentum around creativity and imagination while  simultaneously attempting to evaluate and examine each idea. Even the most adept  and flexible brain will struggle to shift gears back and forth. In order to  create the best environment for each and get the best results, it is preferable  to schedule a separate time for brainstorming and appraisal.

3.Put away your club, caveman – It takes approximately one second, from the  time you physically react to something in your environment that generates a  strong emotion, to when your conscious mind kicks in and you start to think  things through. When generating new ideas and searching for innovative  solutions, resist the urge to club suggestions to death. Take a deep breath and  think things through before commenting verbally. Consider using a trained  facilitator for group sessions – this will keep everyone accountable and provide  an objective perspective if the atmosphere becomes in conducive to  advancement.

I once heard a senior manager chastise someone in front of 14 colleagues for  suggesting an idea that seemed [to him] preposterous and impractical. You could  have heard a pin drop in that room and it pretty much shut down the  communication for the rest of the meeting. Nothing got solved and everyone left  deflated. In one foul blow that manager essentially killed any hope of  brainstorming a viable solution. At the end of the day, every problem has a  solution. The key is to harness and re-direct the infinite potential within your  own mind (and the collective mind of the team) to find the inspiration that will  produce the desired result.

Rhondalynn Korolak, Author of Financial Foreplay® and On The Shoulders of Giants

Discipline and attention to details is more important than ever if you want to succeed in challenging economic times. Take a look around… competitors are closing their doors – which means more potential customers for the businesses that DO survive. And in times like these, it’s going to take more than “thinking outside the box” and goodwill with existing customers to secure the survival of your business.

You may have been lucky over the past few years – you may have found it possible to operate without a detailed, written plan and systems/processes. But the global economic crisis has changed all of that. If you want to thrive, there is only one thing that is for sure – uncertain times call for deliberate decisions and proven practices.

So here are & top tactics to recession-proof your business.

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