Make sure that you don’t do this in your business!!!

In case you haven’t noticed, I have not made a post in quite a while.  Well life sometimes throws you a change up that you will never be ready for.

As of this posting my Mom passed away a little over 2 weeks ago.  She was perfectly healthy until about 6 months ago when it was discovered that she had a tumor growing in her abdomen.  It turns out that it was a very rare and aggressive cancer, only several hundred people are diagnosed each year in the United States with this.

To make a fairly short story even shorter, she became very ill and I along with other family members were there by her side over the last month.

I spoke at her service and in that service I spoke about relationships because in the end, that is really all that you have.  And it reminded me that life is not much different in business either.

You see in business, the most overlooked opportunity that I see occuring daily is that people don’t build lasting relationships with the people that do business with them anymore.  Sure there are a few out there doing it and doing it well but they are the minority.  I am willing to say that over 90% are not doing it.  I know it happens to you to because it is happening to everyone.

All over the United States (and I am sure the world) you are becoming a victim of businesses that just seem to forget about you.  A place that you really like that never does anything to let you know how they appreciate you and that they want you to come back in again.  I know it happens because it happens to me on a regular basis and I know it happens to others too…guaranteed.  The business you are really in should be the relationship business with the people that do business with you!

When it comes down to life and business it’s about building relationships.  The only real difference is that the business relationship needs to be profitable for a business or company.  Marketing your products or services should be focused on building relationships with people that do business with you so they continue to do business with you.  This is the most profitable marketing strategy out there.  You don’t need a fancy degree or title to figure this stuff out.

Ask any business owner or company what they need more of and they almost always say more customers or more clients or patients.  The reality is, if they have been in business for any length chances are they do have enough but they just don’t realize how to make the ones they already have buy from them again and again.

Acquiring new “business” is very expensive and most businesses put a lot of money into advertising to attract those new people.  Then once they get someone to buy something, they completely move on to finding more people.

THAT IS A TERRIBLE MISTAKE!

What happened to the relationship there?  You cared enough about them to get them in but you don’t care enough about them to build a relationship that is profitable in the long term.  You can’t do that in today’s challenging and competitive business world.

During my Mom’s illness one thing that was clear was that she had built a wonderful relationship with people in her life.  The outpouring of support and visitors was evidence that she did something right in her life.

I tell you this story because like all stories there is a valuable lesson to be learned.  Although at the time, I was not thinking about business, after the fact, it was clear that you can make a strong case that with life and business you should focus on one thing and that is relationships.  When it comes to marketing your products and services, you should focus on one thing and that is building relationships.

In closing, I would like to say to my Mom that we had a great relationship and that you will be missed.  I love you.

If you ask most companies and businesses what they need more of, you will very commonly here something along the lines of…

More New Customers

More New Patients

More New Clients

More Sales

While this is a necessary and important aspect of ANY business, this is
NOT the most effective or profitable business model.

In fact, it is not uncommon to see up to a 50% increase or more in bottom line profits in as little as 9-12 months.
So where is the “Hidden Treasure” you ask?

The answer is right in front of you.

Did you know that it costs six times more to get a prospect to buy from you than it does to resell to an existing customer, client, or patient, or whatever name you call someone that buys your products or services? That is why acquiring “new business” is so costly.  In many cases, money earned on the first sale usually doesn’t even cover the acquisition costs.

In fact, it is 16 times easier to sell to people who have or are currently doing business with you and your company.

With that said, why would any astute company or business owner, CEO, salesperson, or entrepreneur even let the thought of spending a minute of time or a dime of their resources on attracting “new business” before they do everything that they can to have the people that have or are doing business with them already spend more money with their company.

The biggest asset in any business is the people who do business with you.  This is where you should focus the majority of your time.  Learn how to improve your relationships with these people.  Find out their needs and wants and most importantly, give them a reason to do business with your company over and over again. If you do these simple things, you can see some pretty amazing results in your business.  Try them out and see the difference for yourself.

Dominic Sembello

Have you ever noticed that there is a real disconnect these days between a business and it’s consumers?  It doesn’t matter what industry or profession you are in, business principles are all pretty much the same.  You want people to buy a product or service from you.  So why is it that the communication between the company and the consumer is so far off the mark?

You are bombarded by information each and every day about all types of products or services.  The question is, are you putting out the right message?  So much of what is being done out there is about “I” or the company, how selfish.  Here is a newsflash, consumers and prospects don’t care about that.  While visiting several websites over the weekend it was quite clear that the message these companies and businesses were sending out was about them.  This is great, if they are going to sell something to themselves.  After all, isn’t the goal to offer something of benefit to others so people will want to buy something from you and your company?  There were no benefits or reasons why someone should be doing business with them.  The whole focus was about their company, how long they have been in business, their accomplishments, what services they provided and so on.  This is all great but so what?

You see there really should not be an “I” in business.  No, I am not talking about the spelling, that would be silly.  There needs to be an “I” to spell business, but you need to stop focusing the attention of  your ads, website, and brochures on your company.  When a prospect visits your website or views an advertisement where should the focus be?  Here is a hint.. it should not be about you.

While eating at the diner this morning (I love a good diner), I noticed that they have those table mats with all the advertising on it. Since it was in front of me I looked over it.  There were probably 20 little advertisements on there.  So I searched through each one and it was clear that each advertisment was almost identical in nature.  They all had different names of companies but all of them focused on their business name.  That was the first thing and the most prominent aspect of each advertisment.  I had no idea about any of these companies let alone what they can do for me.  Sure I knew that the fence company had something to do with fences, but there was nothing in there about why I should give them my business.  Why should I want to do business with that company?  What is compelling about what they do?  I am not sure because all they were focused on was there company…not the benefits of working with them or the problems that they could solve.

You only have a few seconds to capture the attention of your prospects so you better make sure there is a compelling reason to make your prospects want to read your ads or website more.

Here are five quick tips to make sure that you capture the attention of your prospects:

1.  Make sure to have a benefit rich headline front and center

2.  Talk about the problems that your prospects are dealing with

3.  Focus on what the prospect wants not your business

4.  Give away information that could benefit the prospect

5.  Have  a clear call to action of what you want the prospect to do next

If you do these 5 things, your prospects will have a better understanding of what you can do for them.

Take a look at the messages you are currently sending to your prospects.  Does it focus on the prospect or does it focus on your company?

The most important thing you can do is to get rid of the “I” in your business!

Being a father is a fairly new experience in my life.  I have two small children…daughters in fact.  They have such an impact on my life that I find myself talking about them in my business a lot lately.

My oldest daughter is 3 1/2 years old and is quite the little talker.  She is constantly asking me questions.  Daddy this and Daddy that in her cute little voice.  Yesterday while at a small local restaurant, there was a large party of teenagers.  Maybe it was some type of team or something.  After eating, they all got up together and out the door they went.  There must have been about 15 or so people and when they left, it got pretty quiet in restaurant.  My daughter looked over at me and said “Daddy, where did all the people go?”

After I explained to my daughter that they were all done eating it sparked a great idea for an article.  I took the liberty of changing my daughters words slightly because I am not sure if she knows the term “customer” yet.   The point is, there are many companies and businesses out there that are struggling today.  There is more competition out there than ever before and prospects are more educated and expect more than ever before.  While it is an ever changing business environment, one thing still remains constant.  Regardless of your industry or profession, you need people to buy your products and services.

Let me ask you, when was the last time you heard of a company going out of business because they had too many happy, satisfied, customers buying from them? I am willing to guess you never have, which is exactly the point!

On the other hand you can turn your TV on today and see that even the largest corporations are having major problems today due to this exact problem…not enough people buying from them.

So why does this occur?  Well there are many reasons why this can occur but the bottom line is the inability to effectively retain and keep your customers coming back in to do business with you and your company.

It doesn’t matter what industry or profession you are in.  Your customers, or the people that buy the products or services you offer, are your biggest asset.  Without these people buying from you, you don’t have a business.   So if this is true, than one can reason that the most important thing or skill your business can possess is knowing how to efficiently and cost-effectively keep your customers, clients, patient’s, members or whatever name you call the people who do business with you.

I am amazed at the number of businesses that I go into on a somewhat regular basis.  These stores and restaurants have never once reached out to me to tell me about a new product or service they are offering, a promotion they are running, or a special event they are hosting.  Sure, I still go there occasionally but would I go there more often and bring my family, friends, or clients with me if I was enticed to do so?  The answer is yes!

So why is this overlooked by so many companies, business owners, and sales people?    Instead what happens is a business or company continues to do the same things day after day and year after year wondering why they have stagnant, minimal growth and profitability, or even worse a decrease in sales and lost revenues.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.  In fact, this is probably one of the biggest and easiest areas in your business that you can change immediately that will have a huge impact on your sales and profitability.

If you want to grow your business to achieve maximum revenues and profitability, all you need to do is one simple thing…FOCUS ON KEEPING YOUR CUSTOMERS BUYING FROM YOU LONGER AND MORE OFTEN.  It really is that simple.

Here are a few simple low cost, yet highly effective ways that your business can do this:

1.  Make sure you have a database of your existing customers and past customers.

2.  Collect emails and use some type of email contact management program to inform your customers about various events and promotions you are offering.

3.  Send birthday cards and thank you letters telling your customers how much your appreciate them.

4.  Offer some type of Rewards or Loyalty program to keep them coming back to buy your products or services.

5.  Send or email them mini surveys to get their feedback on how to improve your business so they will have an even better experience.

The list is really endless but by doing these little things, you can ensure that they will keep using your business more often.  You can see that these things are very inexpensive but the return you can get is enormous.

As long as you can keep customers or people buying from you over and over again and not your competitors, you will see massive growth and stability in your business!

Most businesses either don’t attract a sufficient number of new customers, new clients, new patients, or they let their existing ones slip away. And, in most cases, it isn’t always because the owners, managers or operators of those businesses didn’t try.

Quite often, it’s a result of not understanding and implementing effective “customer-getting” and “customer-keeping” strategies.  Well, it doesn’t matter what you call people that do business with you (customers, clients, patients, members)…

The bottom line is…

If you really want your business to see maximum profitability and growth, you’ve got to make keeping your customers, clients, or  patients your number one priority.

Let me put it another way. When was the last time you heard of a company going out of business because they had too many happy, satisfied customers buying from them? My guess is, never.

On the other hand, you can probably name quite a few businesses that are no longer around because they didn’t have enough people buying from them, coming back for more and referring others to them.

Sounds simple right?  Well it is, yet this is overlooked or seen as a secondary focus by many businessess and companies today. This is by far the easiest way to generate more sales and more profits!

Take a look at your business and company and ask yourself this “Am I doing everything possible to get my existing clients or customers to buy from me more often?”  If your answer is NO, then it is time to look at how you can take better care of those people!  Take care of them and they will never use another company or business again.

For more information please visit out website at www.AutomaticProfitSolutions.com

In an ever competitive business world, one of the most profitable things you can do is to decrease your customer or client defection rate.  This is a natural process in business.  People move, don’t need your products or servcies any longer, or worse yet, they take their business to your competitors.

The point is, you can’t stop people from passing away or moving, but you can reduce the amount of customer or clients that go to your competitors.  In fact, this is very easy to do and also very inexpensive if you take the right steps.

Follow this simple “5R Rule” and watch your defection rate decline and your sales, revenues, and profits soar!

1.  Recognition:  Make sure you recognize your customers and clients and let them know how important they are.

2.  Rapport:  Have a sincere relationship with the people who are doing business with you and your company.

3.  Repetition:  Make sure that you follow up regularly and often with your clients and customers.

4.  Responsiveness:  If your customers and clients contact your business, make sure you get back to them in a timely fashion.  Always make sure you get back to them, this is more important than ever.

5.  Resolution:  Make sure you take care of any problems that your clients or customers may have.  Don’t make it difficult for them, tell them you will handle it and then DO IT.  It’s that easy!

If you follow this simple 5R Rule, your business will be hands above your competitors.  It really is this simple.

To find out the Fastest, Easiest, Most Profitable Way To Double Your Business Income visit us at www.AutomaticProfitSolutions.com

Here are 13 questions that your prospects must answer before they buy anything!

1.      Do I want the benefits of this product or service?

2.      Is this the right product or service for my needs?

3.      Is this the right store, shop, office, agency, person, or place of business to buy from?

4.      Why should I believe what you are saying?

5.      Are you the right person to buy from?

6.      Is this the right price to pay for this product or service?

7.      Is this the right time to buy (invest)?

8.      How do I pay for it?

9.      What if it’s not right for me, I don’t like it, don’t want it, or change my mind?

10.  How can I be assured that I’m getting the best value for the money I’m about to spend?

11.  Why should I do business with you, instead of any and all other options I have – including doing nothing at all?

12.  What are the common mistakes that other people make when they buy this type of product or service?

13.  How can I avoid making those mistakes myself?

This dialogue is going on in your prospects mind every time they are in your place of business or seeing your advertising or talking to you about a potential business transaction.  If you can answer these questions for your prospects, they will have no other choice but to do business with you and your business!

For more great information, visit us at www.AutomaticProfitSolutions.com

If you are a parent, you know that small children are very persistent.  It is this persistence that gets that child what they want.  Sometimes it might be ice cream, or sometimes it is to stay up later at night.  It doesn’t really matter what they want, it is how they get it.

Now, an adult can’t act a way a 4 year old does, but the lessons you can learn from a child can easily be carried over into your business.  So what do I mean by this?

If you really want to grow your business you need to be persistent.  You can’t just keep doing what you have always been doing and expect the results to change.

A common theme I hear when working with a business owner is “I tried that before and it didn’t work.”  Let me  ask you, have you ever said that?

If you are doing a print ad for example, and you receive no calls from the ad does that mean that advertising in general doesn’t work, or does it simply mean that your ad needs to be tweaked or improved for a better result?  Many times a business or company simply gives up too quickly.  That is not being persistent!  You can’t expect to try something once or twice and then say something didn’t work.  I agree with you, it is not working the way it is, BUT IT CAN WORK IF DONE CORRECTLY.

This is true for anything that you do in business.  If you are not getting the results you want, don’t give up!  Perhaps ask for help or look at other ways to do things differently.

Bottom line, look at a young child for inspiration in the art of being persistent and apply it to your business model!

For more information, visit our website at www.automaticprofitsolutions.com

In today’s economy, it seems that everyone’s budget is tighter-including unfortunately, that of your customers. If you are a business owner, no matter what industry, size, or revenue; surely you feel the crunch. Luckily, there is always room for profit generation as long as you know how to achieve it. Though most business owners put all efforts into acquiring new business to achieve this goal, this is by far the least profitable.  One of the best sources of optimum revenue and more so profit generation is through your existing customers and clients. If you follow the below tips on generating more income from your existing customers, you will see what we mean.

1. Sale Value- If you know how to make the average sale larger, then you will notice a huge annual profit at the end of the year. So, how do you increase the value of the average sale? Learn how to up sell, cross-sell, and package sell your products or services. Up-selling means offering the client the better version of your product at a fairly digestible increase in price. Cross-selling is offering the customer another product that you offer that is related to the initial product. Lastly, package selling is revising what you offer by adding more products or services to the package. Consequently, you can ask for a higher amount of money for the transaction.
2. Product Inventory- Research trends in your market to see what other products you could be offering your clients to make their lives easier. By making your business a one stop shop for your customers, you are not only retaining their continued investment in your products or services, but also boosting your per customer price or value by offering more products and services.
3. Frequency of Sales- Many companies focus on obtaining that one sale from a customer, and then move on to the next customer. Ensure that you are on track of your profit margin, by making sure they purchase again and again. How? Research market trends, and most importantly-ask them.  Remember, you are only in business if someone is purchasing your products and services!
4. Customer Database- By ensuring to keep detailed records of your customers, their buying histories, opinions, etc; you’ll be able to contact them to solicit more business in a much more person-to-person manner. By showing them that you remember them individually, you will make them feel special-which, in turn, will lead to more referrals and loyalty to your business.

Sounds simple right?  So why is that the majority of businesses out there today are not doing these things?  If you notice, it will cost your business next to nothing to do these things, which means any sales that occur are almost all profit.  In other words, this money can go right into the business owners pocket to do whatever they want.  Focus on these simple strategies and watch your profits grow!

For more great tips and strategies visit us at www.AutomaticProfitSolutions.com