At a recent seminar, I asked my audience to stand if they watched or listened to the news in the morning.  About 90% of the room stood up.  I asked them to sit down if they felt motivated after they’d watched the news…and only a couple sat down (which I think might have been fatigue, rather than honesty).

The fact is that the news is depressing.  Especially at the moment.  And it provides you with an excuse if your business isn’t performing as well as you might hope.

I listened to a customer this week tell me how ‘sad’ it is ‘out there’ at the moment and how everyone seems to be suffering in business.  But, on the flip side, a property developer we work with has just received three reservation forms for new build properties in the past four weeks – and they only have 8 properties to sell.

The business is there.  Whatever the news and the media would like to tell you.  It may be that you have to fight harder for it at the moment, but customers are spending money.  The question is whether they’re spending it with you.

My advice…

• Stop watching the news before work and read something motivational instead
• Start your day with your marketing actions
• Do some sales and marketing activity every single day
• Think positive – you’ll be amazed at the results.

Sounds simple?  You’ve got nothing to lose, so why not try it and let me know the results?

And so to 2012…

My first prediction is that the news won’t really change.  If you want to avoid the doom and gloom, I’d recommend not watching it / listening to it at all.  It will only serve to depress you.

The perception in the British market is that money is still tight, but for many people, they’re better off than they were before the recession.  They’re often not spending their money, in many instances because the media keeps telling them times are tough.  So savings are increasing… and people’s money is earning them nothing in the bank.

Consequently, people are looking for better returns and there are some very interesting things happening in the investment market with people finding and using alternatives to banks.

As a result, the property investment market is buoyant.  Investors are spotting opportunities and buying property across the country; the only limit being their access to finance (as for everyone else).  One developer we work with has just sold 3 properties in 4 weeks… not bad considering some people think the property market is stagnant.  He did have some great marketing advice though!

The luxury market also seems to be holding steady and holiday bookings in January appear to have maintained their usual peak for this time of year.

Baby boomers are driving the wellness trend and most analysts expect that to continue for the next decade; making this a great market to be in.

We were out in Lancaster city centre on Saturday night and the city was filled with people eating and drinking.  We struggled to get tables in the restaurant and also the local bar… but they’re both great at what they do.  So I suspect the businesses offering great value and good quality will be busy.  And those offering the same as others will be quieter.

So my top tips for 2012?

1. Differentiate yourself.  If you offer the same as everyone else, you’ll melt into the background.
2. Customer service is king.  Never before has service been more important – you must remember that any customer is paying you a huge compliment if they choose you.  So look after them.
3. Make the most of mobile technologies.  Smartphones have really come of age in 2011 and 2012 and they are changing the way people search for and buy things… you need to take advantage.
4. Keep in touch.  It isn’t the customer’s job to remember to do business with you.
5. Remember that people are spending money.  Stop watching the news and feeling negative and instead get out there and meet your customers.  Your attitude will be the measure of your success.
6. Once you’ve got some momentum, do everything you can to keep it.
7. Contain your costs.  Check every bill that comes into your business – just last night I found I’d been spending £5 pcm on roaming for my mobile phone – something I added over a year ago and never removed!  It’s only £60, but that’s an extra hours work I’ve had to do to pay for it.  If I could reduce every bill by the same amount, my life would be much less complicated.

Have fun and may 2012 bring you health, wealth and happiness in abundance x

I don’t know about you, but it’s a rare day when I find a car salesman I like and really want to do business with – perhaps it’s no surprise he was so successful.

Apparently Joe sent cards every month to his customers with a simple ‘I Like You’ on the front and a relevant greeting inside.  His customers received twelve cards each year reminding them how much Joe liked them.  He had thousands of customers (making the postage costs significant,) but the resulting sales were more than worth the effort.

Joe is now a sales speaker and has his own website.  You can read his top tips at http://www.joegirard.com/13-Rules-To-Success.html.

Good luck putting them into practice.  They are very simple… and very effective.

What most business owners fail to recognise is the risk to the person who recommends you:

They put their own reputation on the line by telling their friends that you’ll do a great job. 

And most people don’t do that lightly.

We had a friend give us such a recommendation for someone to respray our campervan recently.  The business was effectively his; we just needed him to see the camper so he could give us a quote.  And that’s where the problems began.

So here’s a list of what not to do, if you want more business:

1. Make it difficult to see the client and give them a quote
2. Make the customer come to you
3. Be vague about times you’ll be there to see them
4. Leave them waiting outside your offices for 30 minutes
5. Put the phone down on them (after telling them you’re not really bothered about the work)

It beggars belief that in the current economic climate, small business owners are still wasting opportunities and damaging relationships with the people who recommend their company.

We’d love you to share if you have similar stories of people who talk themselves out of business.

Likewise; the majority of small business owners run their business in an ethical way.  Perhaps because they rely on local business, they are wise not to upset anyone who might damage their reputation or stop shopping with them.

But interesting things happens when the economy gets tight. And it’s been fascinating to watch.

For many businesses, times have been quite tough in recent months. And they’ve had to chase business more than usual.  As a result, many have increased their sales efforts and reduced their costs.  But some have taken it a step further and started using marketing techniques and business practices that are less than ethical.

Examples we’ve heard of include:

• Taking on business that is outside your specialist area (when you’d be better turning it down)
• Poaching staff
• Promoting yourself on dodgy websites
• Making unproven claims
• Buying reviews on sites such as TripAdvisor
• Spamming your database out of desparation
• Buying followers

These practices have always happened in the marketing industry, but they are increasingly common in recent times.  It’s my belief that those who hold true to their ethics (and can sleep soundly at night) will prosper and come out of recession the fastest.

After all – the measure of a man isn’t found when things are going well.  It’s found in the actions they take when things are going badly.

The fundamental thing about a marketing strategy is that it should be a working document.  It should be on your desk; not buried in a filing cabinet.  As a result, it should be a simple document and not a lengthy, verbose file containing words nobody understands (these documents are just created by marketing people who don’t really have working experience, so they try to baffle you with long words that they often don’t understand either).

The contents should be simple and should include the following:

• An aim, mission or vision.  Call it what you will, but the beginning of any strategy should be an over-arching statement about the reason your business or organisation exists.  What are you trying to achieve – in a single paragraph if you can.
• Your objectives.  Underneath your vision should be your specific objectives.  These should be measurable and should relate back to your mission statement.  For example, we plan to increase profits by 20% in 2011 or we will donate £1000 per month to our selected charity in 2011.  I would recommend sticking to about 5 or 6 objectives, as that will keep you focused.
• The third stage is your action plan.  How are you going to achieve those objectives?  In marketing, there are hundreds of methods you could use to achieve the same outcomes.  What really saves time at this stage is getting some quality advice from an expert who can tell you which marketing methods will work the best for you and your customers in order to achieve the objectives you’ve set.  (That’s the clever bit of marketing and you’ll save a heap of time asking someone who does this for a living to work this out for you.  It’s the value of using a professional, as they know what works and what doesn’t.)
• Finally you might want to put measurement or evaluation tools in here, so you know how you will monitor your progress against your objectives.

Such a document should take no more than one or two A4 sides for most businesses and it should give you a working action plan that you undertake and monitor every day.  That will build your business and grow your profits.

Good luck – and let me know if you need any assistance. I’d be happy to help and get you on the right track.

Like I said…the holy grail.

But some of us take those relationships for granted… at our peril.

Take an example a friend shared with me last night – she met an insurance broker a few years ago whom she liked and their company now looks after all of her business.  She has never in that time shopped around for insurance, or used comparison sites.  A few months ago, she was due for renewal and at the same time, she realised it was the broker’s daughter’s birthday.  So she sent a personal email wishing her Happy Birthday and mentioning her renewal needs, but she didn’t receive a reply.  Her renewal papers came from someone she didn’t know.  And now she’s considering shopping around.

There could be a really great reason the email wasn’t answered – the broker could have been away / ill / might have left the company / it may have been answered by another member of staff who didn’t realise the depth of the relationship.  But whatever the reason, the relationship has been damaged.  And it’s been proven that 67% of customers leave because of ‘perceived indifference’ – they think we don’t care.

According to a report ‘Loyalty: A prescription for cutting costs’ by Fred Reichheld of Bain & Company, in the financial services sector a 5% increase in customer retention produces more than a 25% increase in profit.

It’s time we realised that people think they’re important – and they are.  We need to treat all of our customers,  introducers and suppliers as individuals and respond to them and their family in a way that shows we care and that we’re grateful for their business.  It’s hard work – of course – but it’s easier than continually finding new customers!

According to research, the 12 top reasons for business failure in 2009 were:

1. Failure to focus on a specific market because of poor research
2. Failure to control cash (by carrying too much stock, paying suppliers too quickly or allowing customers too long to pay)
3. Failure to ruthlessly control costs
4. Not adapting your product to meet clients needs
5. Failing to carry out decent market research
6. Not building a team that has the skills to finance, produce, sell and market
7. Failing to pay taxes
8. Failure to grow – businesses that attempted stability or didn’t try to grow didn’t survive
9. Failing to gain new markets
10. Under-capitalisation
11. Cashflow problems (growing too quickly)
12. Non-payment by customers

The great news is that most of these things are in your direct control – master these twelve elements and you are on your way to success.

And in the same week, Groupon has announced an initial public offering and is seeking to raise £460 million.  The company now reportedly* has 83 million members in 43 different countries and offers products and services at hugely discounted prices.  The offers are typically available for a limited time and a minimum number of members have to take up the offer for everyone to receive it.

One of our hotel customers recently ran a Groupon offer and the phone started ringing at 5am on the morning it went live.  They pulled the phone out of the wall at 12 midnight, as it hadn’t stopped ringing for the whole 19 hours!  Whilst that sounds amazing – and this is certainly a new craze worth investigating, we would advise caution with any vouchers and coupons.

Our top tips include:

1. Ensure the offer is compelling, but that it also makes you a profit.  Discounts and vouchers should not cost you money – that’s bad business.
2. Remember the commission – Groupon typically charges 30-50% and that’s a significant chunk to work into your calculations
3. Include a deadline / use-by date.  This encourages people to act quickly and will ensure customers can’t still be claiming their £5 off in 5 years.
4. Use something more interesting than 10% off – that’s a really dull offer and is massively over-used.  As a result, most people don’t even take notice of 10% off discounts – they’re everywhere.  So get more creative.
5. Capture everyone’s details, so you can contact them directly next time (with their permission).  If you’re attracting new customers, you need to find ways to attract them back – at a lower acqusition cost in future.

Try some different vouchers / coupons / offers and monitor which works best – then do more of them.  It seems to be working massively in the current economy.

*http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13636363

I was horrified to read in the Financial Times over the holidays that almost 50% of workers check work emails over the weekend and that 60% work at home over the weekend to catch up.  (40% saying they would never get their work done if they didn’t.)  Those are frightening statistics and I don’t believe they bode well for our businesses.

It’s imperative to have time away from work – that’s when we do our best strategic planning.  I used to think that I had to spend every waking hour at my desk. I didn’t take lunch breaks (or any breaks) and was regularly at my desk into the evening.  And I didn’t get as much done as I now do.  You need regular breaks, so take advantage.  Your business will grow as a result.