How to Grow Your Business by Listening

Alfred Fuller went from semi-literate farm boy to multi-millionaire in just over 10 years.

It all began in 1906. With a $375 investment, he started the Fuller Brush Company in Hartford, CT, selling brushes door to door.

You can learn a lot from his story, which you'll find in the book, The Supersalesmen. On page 28 it says:

"Almost entirely, the ideas that resulted in the steady growth of his business came from customers. Alfred Fuller's genius lay in his ability to elicit information about cleaning problems from the women of Hartford and then to solve the problems they posed, giving the ladies one new product after another."

By 1919, Fuller Brush sales were over $1 million -- that's $14,334,848 in today's dollars.

Bottom line: Your clients can make you rich. All you have to do is listen to what their problems are. Then give them solutions.

And if you found these ideas helpful, please request your Free Client Cloning Kit at my website

See and Sell - What Opportunties Are YOU Overlooking?

Do you own a wristwatch?

If so, you've probably looked at it hundreds of times, right?

It's always there, every day, right in front of your face.

Okay. Without looking, draw a quick picture of the watch face.

• What color is it?
• What kind of numbers -- Roman numerals or something else?
• Is there a date? If so, where?

My prediction: You probably had a lot of trouble drawing your wristwatch.

Why?

Because there's a big difference between looking and seeing.

You may LOOK at your watch several times a day, but you probably don't SEE it in any detail.

Now. Just like a wristwatch on your hand, there are opportunities in your business -- right in front of your face. You may look at them every day, but do you see them?

Take time this week to really SEE what's going on in your business:

• Are there prospects who dropped off the face of the earth last year who might still need what you're selling? Why not review your database and SEE for yourself?
• Are there clients who've purchased once or twice from you, who would benefit from more? Why not email 3 clients and SEE for yourself?
• Can you bundle two or more products/services together and offer them at a special price? Why not promote this new bundle on your web site or newsletter and SEE for yourself?
• Etc. etc. etc.

If you're like most of the entrepreneurs I talk to each week, there are 3-5 big opportunities in your business staring you in the face, right now. Take time to look -- and SEE. You may be very happy at what you find.

Meanwhile ... if you want to put an end to "feast-or-famine" syndrome in your business, my free Client Cloning Kit can help you. Grab your copy here, while they last. 

How to Frack and Extract New Profits

Fracking is in the news a lot these days.

It's a technique to extract oil and natural gas from formerly inaccessible places. And it promises to deliver untold billions of dollars to those who use it.

Good news: The same thinking behind fracking can extract new profits from your business.

All you need do is drill deeper using different techniques than before. And it's not NEARLY as hard or expensive as real fracking.

This is fracking. It takes years and costs millions of dollars.

Example: If clients don't buy as often as you'd like, why not simply ask them to buy on a schedule that you choose?

The easiest way is to hold a client appreciation sale. Create a special offer only for current clients. Write and mail them a letter inviting them to take advantage. It's that simple.

Here's what one of my clients said about the letter I wrote for her client appreciation sale, held at Thanksgiving:

"I am so grateful you came into our lives. You wrote our '20-year anniversary' sales letter of appreciation -- this resulted in 50+ service calls. Nothing could be finer!!!"
-- Kathleen Brogan, All Mechanical Services, Richfield, Minnesota

This is a sales letter. It takes days and costs relatively little.

 
Now that your brain is warmed up, here are 4 more ways to "frack and extract" hidden profits from your business ...


1) Get more clients.
Examples: advertise more (roll a successful promotion out to another medium) ... advertise better (test continually) ... use more testimonials from clients in your ads ... create a unique selling proposition (Why should I buy from you?) ... use a money-back guarantee (to remove risk).


2) Get clients to spend more.
Examples: offer a cross-sell ("Would you like fries with that?") ... offer an upsell ("Would you like to supersize that?") ... raise your prices (just 2% can make a big impact on profits) ... bundle products/services (package 2-3 items at an overall savings)


3) Get clients to buy more often.
Examples: mail a newsletter (with 90% helpful info and 10% special promotions) ... do a joint-venture promotion and share revenue (who said clients had to buy your stuff?) ... create continuity (a monthly coaching service or "preferred" status for a monthly fee)

4) Get clients to refer others.
Examples: say "Thank you" after every sale (to get clients talking about you) ... follow up after the sale to ensure satisfaction (and get clients talking about you) ... give extra care and attention to your top referrers (to encourage more of what's already working)

New ideas like these can extract profits from your business that you never thought possible -- or even knew existed.

Why not pick just one and try it today?

Bio: Kevin Donlin can help you grow your business and enjoy the results your hard work deserves. To learn how to boost your revenues and profits faster, please click here. 

Does Groupon Fail Business Advertisers or do Advertisers Fail Business?

I got a news release today announcing: "Rice University study finds Groupon is more beneficial for consumers than businesses." It goes on:

Social promotions such as those offered by deal-of-the-day website Groupon are wildly popular with shoppers, but they might not be as big a hit for businesses, according to a recent study by Rice University's Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business.

Groupon promotions were profitable for 66 percent of the businesses surveyed for the study, but they were unprofitable for 32 percent. More than 40 percent of the respondents indicated they would not run such a promotion again.

Groupon is a social promotion site that features a daily deal for each city in which it operates and offers consumers a significant discount for a local good, service or event. The discount is valid only if a minimum number of consumers purchase the deal.

But there's more to this story ...

The fact that more than 40% businesses advertising on Groupon wouldn't do so again is a symptom of a larger malady: Most businesses just don't know what to do with new customers.

My version of Business 101 has two vital tenets:

1. it's infinitely easier and cheaper to sell to a current customer than a total stranger; and
2. if you aren't building a customer database to market to, you aren't building a business.

By contrast, most businesses (not yours, I hope) fail Business 101 by:

1. spending too much time and money hunting and gathering new customers; and
2. spending too little time and money selling to existing customers.

In his study, our man Dholakia outlined three strategies for success, the best of which was this: "Use promotions for building relationships instead of creating one-time transactions. Instead of offering $60 worth of food for $30, parcel it out to offer $20 worth of food for $10 over the customer's next three visits."

Note well that first sentence, because it holds the key to dependable, recession-proof profits for you: "Use promotions for building relationships instead of creating one-time transactions."

To learn how to build a business that turns transactions into profitable relationships, look at Zappos.

Early on, Zappos chose to spend more on getting current customers to buy again and more frequently, than on convincing strangers to buy. It did this by making customer service the focus of the company.

Answer me these questions three:

1. How much time and money do you spend on advertising?
2. How much time and money do you spend on customer care and retention?
3. How can you invest more in that latter number?

Take your time and get the right answers. They may hold the key to the future of your business.

(For more ideas like these, download Guaranteed Marketing for Service Business Owners.)

How to Find New Product and Service Ideas

A proven source of long-term revenue growth is to sell new products and services to your existing clients.

Because your existing clients already trust you enough to give you their money.

They're sold on your business and, thus, "pre-sold" on any new products or services you introduce to them.

So. How can you find ideas for new products and services? 

Try these 3 tactics, according to the book, Recession Storming, by Rupert M. Hart ...

1) Adapt and adopt from other industries
Opportunities to borrow profitable ideas from non-competitive business are all around you. Hart offers these examples:

• How could you become the McDonald's of your industry, by offering a simple, limited menu of unparalleled consistency?
• How could you emulate H&R Block, by providing seasonal, personalized service at a reasonable price?

To which I would add, how could you become the Apple or Zappos of your industry, by emulating the best features of their branding, product design, or customer service?

2) Survey and analyze your clients' needs
Hart suggest you divide your clients "into clusters who are like-minded or have similar needs. By looking at new ways of segmenting your markets, say by needs rather than industries, you can find new product opportunities.

For example, you might find that a painting contractor, an insurance firm and a small manufacturer all have a need for a certain back office job. You might then re-segment your market by that need" and introduce a new product or service to fill it.

3) Fix a bottleneck
Many things your clients do are slowed down by certain activities -- bottlenecks. Like forms processing, time to implement, production steps, etc.

Example, according to Hart: "In the 1800s, the critical bottleneck in making cotton garments was getting the cotton seeds out of the cotton fibers. Eli Whitney's cotton gin ("gin" = engine) used spinning hooks to remove the seeds much faster," resulting in a 50-fold production increase.

Find one or more parts of a process that you can speed up for clients and, presto! You have a new product or service.

Bottom Line: You can spend your hours and money convincing total strangers to favor you with their business, as most of your competitors do. And how's that working out?

Or you can introduce new products and services to your existing clients, and enjoy the dependable new revenue that comes from the people who know and trust you.

Membership Has Its Privileges

It's a basic human need: We want to belong to something bigger than ourselves.

A family. A gang. A team. A club.

The desire to belong -- to be a member -- tugs at our hearts like a tractor beam.

Smart businesses know this and use the pull of membership.

The Futurist sells a magazine subscription disguised as membership.

AARP sells insurance disguised as membership.

American Express sells a credit card disguised as membership.

In competition with other insurance firms, magazine publishers, and credit card companies, AARP, The Futurist, and American Express have a distinct advantage: They changed the rules. They differentiated.

Instead of selling commodities, they sell membership. And they face less competition as a result.

Question: How can you create a feeling of membership in your business?

What can you say or do for your clients this month that would make them feel like members? You'll get fewer defections, more back-end sales, and more referrals when you do.

How to Clone Your Best Clients

This morning, I met with the owner of a home construction firm that's going through a rough patch.

His company needs more revenue, but he's finding it hard to win new business.

Sound familiar?

One of the questions I asked him was, "Have you ever called your best clients to ask them why they bought from you?"

"No," he replied.

I suggested to him -- and now, to you -- there are two reasons to call your best clients to ask them this question: "Why did you buy from us?"

1. Stop Flying Blind

Your clients will tell you what it was about your marketing and sales process that made them write you a check. You will then know exactly what's working in your marketing mix (so you can do more of it) and what's not working (so you can change or stop doing it.)

In other words, you can stop flying blind in your marketing and start honing in on exactly what works. 

2. Start Speaking Their Language

Clients will tell you what sold them in their own, jargon-free, consumer-friendly words. You can then mimic them in your marketing materials so that you -- literally -- speak your customers' language.

How much more effective will your sales letters, web pages, and phone scripts be when they are written in the same words your clients use? A LOT.

Actually, there are way more than two reasons to call clients, but I don't want to blow your circuits here. You have more than enough work for one afternoon this week if you make 10-20 phone calls for the two reasons above.

Bottom line: Your clients are the world's best board of advisers.

Instead of empty theory or irrelevant ideas, they can give you the most valuable, practical advice -- because they have already given you their hard-earned money.

When you ask for their feedback -- and act on it -- you can't help but get more clients like your best clients, faster.

This is what "Client Cloning Systems" are all about.

Sleeper Cells in Your Business?

Fact: Some customers will stop buying from your business. They may die or move away, or get married/divorced/laid off and go through tremendous life changes. You can’t do much about those people.

But some of your customers do dormant for less-permanent reasons. They may get busy at work or helping their children. They may become ill. Or they may just forget about you.

There's a wealth of opportunity for you in this second group of dormant customers.

Just contact these "sleeper cells" of inactive clients -- by phone, fax, letter, or e-mail -- and make them a special offer that compels them to buy from you again. Say or write something like this:

Dear First Name,

We’ve missed you lately, but perhaps you’ve been busy with other things. That’s understandable! In any case, because we value your patronage (and because we know you appreciate fine widgets/gadgets/whatever), we’d like to tell you about a terrific new shipment that just arrived. (Describe your product or service here.)

As an existing customer, we’d like to offer you the chance to preview this new widget/gadget/whatever before anyone else. So, please give us a call before June 24 to schedule a free examination. Or, just bring this letter by the store. And, as an existing customer, you will enjoy a 10% discount on anything in our store between now and June 24. It’s our way of saying ‘welcome back!’

You can expect to increase sales 10%, 20%, 30%, or more, simply by reactivating your dormant customer base -- your sleeper cells.

This is literally "found money," with the highest possible profit margins, because you're selling to people you already sweated and worked to bring in the door as paying customers before.

Note: If you'd like me to write a letter like the one above for you, please click here to see if you qualify.

The Third of Only 3 Ways To Grow Your Business: Part 2

Yesterday, I wrote about how to grow your business can grow in only 3 ways, one of which is to get customers to buy more often from you.

Today I'll give you a 4-step process you can to use to get them to do just that, with God's help.

You can do this in less than 45 minutes, in the morning or during lunch.

Here it is: 4 steps to getting customers to spend more money with your business ...

Step 1: Pray (5 minutes)

You pray first because, matter how efficiently you do anything, you'll never be effective if you do the wrong thing. A humble prayer offered to God for the right reasons, helps you do the right thing -- every time.

Try this prayer for guidance ...

Heavenly Father, thank you for the many good things you make possible in my business and in my life. You are the source of every good thing I have. I ask You now for guidance in growing my business. Specifically, I ask you for ideas to help me serve my customers better so that they purchase more than once from me. I thank you for hearing this prayer and for the guidance you offer, for the good of all involved. I thank you with confidence for the insights you now provide to me, in the name of Jesus Christ, your son. Amen.

Step 2: Brainstorm 20 Ideas (15-30 minutes)

Now comes the fun part. With God's guidance, you will now put pen to paper and WRITE (not type, not daydream) down ideas until you get at least 20. Not 5, not 17 -- 20.

Why 20?

By forcing your brain to hand over 20 ideas, you blow past the easy and logical one that are likely to come out in the first 5 or 10. You absolutely will get at least 2-3 creative, new ideas doing this that you would not any other way.

Start by writing this question at the top of a blank sheet of paper: "How can I get my customers to buy more than once from me?"

Then, start writing. Crazy ideas, brilliant ideas, old, or new, don't stop and don't censor yourself until you get to 20.

You have God's help, remember? You can do this.

Try these ideas for starters ...

• Say "Thank you" -- Mail a thank-you letter to every customer within 1 day of their purchase. Remind them to take advantage of special pricing on your most-popular items within 30 days.
  
• New offers -- Do your customers know about ALL the products or services you offer? Example: if you run a law firm, the same people who need your help creating a pre-nuptial agreement are eventually going to need a will, too.
  
• Loyalty program -- Why should customers buy from you again? How can you reward them for this with, say, a gift for every 2-10 purchases?
  
• Newsletter -- Do you publish an email or paper newsletter and send it to customers every month? By keeping our name in front of customers, you greatly increase the likelihood that they will buy again. Because it's not their job to remember your name.
  
• Reactivate old customers -- Can you contact all dormant customers by email, fax, phone or postal mail? Thank them for past patronage and make them a special offer that compels them to buy from you again.

Step 3: Prioritize Your Ideas (5 minutes)

After you come up with at least 20 ideas, it's time to prioritize them. What's the best first thing you could do to get more customers? The second? Third?

Stop with your top three, for now. Otherwise, you'll try to do to much and end up doing nothing.


Step 4: Take Action (5-15 minutes)

Never leave the site of a brainstorming session without taking at least one step toward implementing your best idea.

Tip: If you have time, sit down and actually put your new idea completely into practice.

But in any case, do something -- anything -- right away to build momentum.

That's it for this 4-step, God-guided process for growing your business by getting customers to buy more than one time from you.

I hope you've found this series helpful. If so -- or if not! -- please comment below and tell me what you think. More importantly, tell me what you're going to do next.