Business Information for Entrepreneurs by an Entrepreneur

I’m often asked, “How can I expand my business without a good customer base?” The answer is that you can’t! Growing your customer list is essential if you’re going to have a thriving business, and here of some of the ways to do it:

• Call former clients and get their email addresses to establish them on your mailing list. Always ask for referrals!
• When you find out that people are interested in your product or service, ask them if they would like to be included on your mailing list, which would give them in-depth information about your business.
• Place advertisements on websites related to your field of business, asking people to sign up for your mailing list to get email information or special offers.
• Associate yourself with community-based message boards, and try positioning yourself as a specialist in your field. Once people are convinced, they will sign up for your newsletters (you do have one, don’t you?), and they will be added to your list. (An easy way to create and send email newsletters is by using MailerMailer.com.)
• You could create a subscription form to be filled out by people willing to join your list. Your newsletter should also have a subscription box, which would automatically add them, based on the page they subscribe from, to a particular mailing list.
• Write articles for local newspapers, even if you have to pay for the space. These would advertise your knowledge and awareness of your product or service, thereby attracting people to your website to sign up for your mailing list.
• Create a print newsletter that explains the details of your email newsletter and mailing list. This would let them know that they can sign up for one of the lists by sending an email to the website.

If you sell a product or service, no doubt you probably feel pressure from your customers due to their expectations. I used to feel that I didn’t know my customers very well, and I had lots of anxiety because of it. Then I implemented a Customer Relationship Management program, and everything changed (for the better, I might add!).

Establishment of Expectations

It is a good practice to establish a list of customer expectations that will be met by your product or service. Putting the good, the bad and the ugly expectations in writing will enable you to keep revising the list as you go along.

Conduct Customer Interviews

Conduct two interviews of your customers. Prepare a questionnaire and ask them to complete it, and either fax or email it to you. The first interview should be conducted before the purchase of your product or service, and the other after its completion. The questionnaire should contain your contact information, as well as the name and mode of action to be taken, should there be a problem. The first questionnaire should determine the expectations of your customers and the preferred communication method. Send the second questionnaire to find out if customers have been satisfied with your product or service. You will also get to know what they liked or disliked, and what needs to be improved.

Know How to Say NO

Sometimes it is not possible to fulfill all the expectations of customers. It is a fact of business life that sometimes you will have to say no — but you can make sure that you say no in a manner that customers will feel they have been heard and treated fairly.

Keep in Touch

Maintain the human touch despite modern technology such as email and voicemail. Sometimes customers just want to hear a human voice! Do not let automation come between your customers and your business.

So what’s the bottom line here? Knowing your customers and their expectations is key to knowing how to deliver. Once you know that, you’ll feel much less customer-related pressures.

Related Item: Point of sale CRM is painless with MerchantOS. We take care of your POS needs with an easy to use web based system.

I know, I know — I hate meetings too! But, sales meetings are powerful sales tools that help to access valuable information and training that helps all the employees to perform better. The main purpose of these meetings is to get the sales staff equipped to adopt hard-core selling. Sales meetings often turn into a redundant waste of time with boring lectures. Without an agenda and objective, these meetings can be useless.

Key to Successful Sales Meetings

If you are a manager, you need to identify interesting ways of holding a sales meeting. Make efforts to find meaningful and fresh content each week. Be prepared to inspire and motivate the sales team for better results.

Time

The most important factor to be kept in mind while planning a sales meeting is punctuality. Strive to begin and end the meeting on time. As a business owner, you need to lead your team by example. If a sales representative is always late, sit with him, express your expectations and enlist his support.

How to Start the Meeting

Before the meeting begins, take printouts of the meeting's agenda and distribute it among the sales team. Start the meeting with a sales quote. Make sure that when you discuss office production, it is related to the team as a whole. Provide marketing updates and details of the training schedule to the team. Do not forget to stress the importance of attendance.

It is very important to recognize and appreciate a good performance. Award a trophy to the ‘sales representative of the week' and acknowledge his/her efforts. Remember to end the meeting on time. Don't let a particular topic drag on for too long if it isn't very important.

These strategies ensure a powerful, value packed and successful sales meeting each time they are implemented.