Will Limkemann
Business Advisor
The Constant Entrepreneur:
Advice for Running a Productive Business
Customer Service Revisited
I am back from a week’s vacation quite refreshed and ready to go.
While away, I was compelled to write a blog about the outstanding service received in the Minneapolis Hilton Hotel. Today I would like to just add a postscript to that blog.
As impressed as I was with the hotel staff, on Thursday morning I wrote a personal note to the hotel’s service manager complementing Amelia at the front desk in particular, and the service staff in general.
What would many managers do with a note like this? Many would show it to the employee (Amelia) and file it in her personnel file. Not so at the Hilton. This note was circulated to the staff. I received a phone call from an individual at the front desk whom I had not met thanking me for the note. Later in the evening I was getting a glass of wine in the Executive Lounge. The lady on duty saw me come in and told me what a wonderful note I had written – she then put my drink on the house!
What did I learn?
1. Never underestimate the value of a hand written personal note.
2. An outstanding manager shares good news with the entire staff.
Needless to say, my wife and I had a wonderful time.
Will Limkemann
Limkemann Business Advisors
440-871-0976
www.neobizadvisor.com
Customer Service
My wife and I are settled in for a week in Minneapolis – she for a conference and I for R&R. I wasn’t sure if I would do any blogs this week, but something wonderful happened last night that I just feel compelled to write about.
It illustrates the power of customer service.
We checked into the Hilton late yesterday, having made reservations including a request for a king size bed. Upon entering our room we discovered two regular beds. I returned to the reservations agent who nicely informed me that there were no rooms available with king size beds.
I then nicely played my “45th wedding anniversary” card! (Our anniversary was yesterday – the day of check in). The agent, Amelia, chatted with me for a minute and disappeared into the office for a few minutes. She reappeared and said she had found a room to my liking on the club floor and gave us a free upgrade – but that we would have to wait in the club lounge for 30 minutes until the room was made up. Amelia also suggested several places for dinner.
Gladly did I accept the upgrade.
We had no longer settled in the room than chocolate strawberries and a bottle of Champagne were delivered courtesy of the front desk.
Amelia is not alone in her desire to please. Every staff member I have encountered has been extremely pleasant and helpful. What a delightful experience, and how different from the “attitude” I have received from the help in many hotels.
Excellent service does not happen by accident. For this type of service there is always a commitment from the top. People are recruited and hired for their pleasant demeanor. They are well trained. They are empowered to make decisions that benefit both the customer and the employer.
Anyone visiting Minneapolis should consider staying in the downtown Hilton.
Does your company hire the right people and train them to excel in customer service?
Will Limkemann
Limkemann Business Advisors
440-871-0976
www.neobizadvisor.com
Vacation
I will be on vacation from June 22 to June 29 – so you may or may not see any blogs from me during that time, depending upon how the spirit moves me (and the weather).
Will Limkemann
Limkemann Business Advisors
440-871-0976
www.neobizadvisor.com
Business Success Factors
Starting a business is easy. Making it successful and lasting is not. Unfortunately, up to 80 percent of businesses fail.
I often ponder why some innovative new businesses succeed – or even thrive, while others fail? What I have discovered is that success has little to do with education or even the number of hours at work. Successful business owners typically have a well-articulated vision for the business, have specific and attainable goals, and have a written business plan.
These owners also have priorities for how they spend their time and money. They focus their attention on products, services, employees, and markets. They are continually examining their costs, creating new products and services, improving quality, training employees, pleasing customers, and developing new markets.
So if you are running a business or contemplating starting a business, take to heart what successful business owners have learned.
Will Limkemann
Limkemann Business Advisors
440-871-0976
www.neobizadvisor.com
Business Startup
Yesterday I read Kelly Spors’ “Small Talk” column in the Wall Street Journal where she answered a reader inquiring where to find new business ideas. Co-incidentally, an hour later I received a call from a prospective client who wants to buy a business, but needs help in selecting the type of business to buy.
Kelly’s response, in part, was that it will be difficult to compete if you do not have a unique skill set in a market space.
I would have to agree. At best, starting a business is risky. And if the entrepreneur does not posess both the passion for, and core competency of, the type of enterprise being founded or purchased, the odds of success are greatly reduced.
Of course, a passionate entrepreneur with sufficient capita can buy the technical talent for any industry. But if the passion is not there, the budding entrepreneur should keep looking.
When I meet with my prospective client, I will want to learn where his skills lie, what his passions are, and what his goals are. Only then will I be able to guide him in his decision to purchase a business.
WIll Limkemann
Limkemann Business Advisors
440-871-0976
www.neobizadvisor.com
will@limkemann.net
Telemarketing
Don’t you just hate picking up the phone and hearing: “Hi (mispronounced name) this is Ira calling from (fill in the blank company). HOW ARE YOU?” I know immediately that this is a sales call. I know that Ira really doesn’t care for the condition of health. My day has been interruped and I can’t wait to hang up.
I used to dread making telemarketing calls almost as much as I dreaded getting them.
Yet telemarketing is still one of the most effective tools for acquiring new prospects when used correctly.
Here are some of the things that I have learned for effective business to business cold calling:
1. Be respectful of the time of the prospect.
2. Make the call a conversation – not a sales call.
3. Put the prospect and me on an equal footing.
I have found a simple technique that quickly sets the stage for accomplishing all of the above within the first ten seconds of the call. The technique is simply this:
“Good morning (name). My name is Will Limkemann and I am calling to explore whether there is anything we can offer each other. Do you have a minute to talk?”
Unless the prospect is pressed for time, invariably I am invited to proceed with the conversation. If pressed for time the prospect will many times actually ask that I call him/her back. When there is no fit, the conversation will usually end in half a minute – but I do not have a sense of rejection. Otherwise the conversation may last a minute or two, ending with a decision to meet together at a mutually convenient time.
The technique has totally eliminated the fear and apprehension I previously had when contemplating cold calling.
Simple Marketing Plan
You want to sell your stuff? Assuming you have determined that people will buy your stuff, and you undertand who the potential customers are, you need to create a way to let them know about your stuff. It’s called a marketing plan. Marketing is the sum total of all the techniques you need to use to create awareness of your stuff. Now marketing does not have to cost a lot (see yesterday’s blog), and marketing does not mean advertising (although advertising can be a piece of marketing).
How to create a simple marketing plan?
The first thing to do is to set a goal for how much stuff you want to sell in the next 12 months. This can either be quantity of stuff, or dollar value of stuff. Next list all of the ways that you can think of to get make people aware of your stuff, and all the ways you can think of to sell your stuff. Prioritize each of these “tactics” into those that you believe will be most effective or efficient in selling your stuff. What you end up with should be your top ten tactics.
With your sales goal in mind, eastablish a time and cost budget for of the top ten tactics by day, week, and month.
For each tactic, make your own assumptions (which can be verified in using the tactic) about how much time and cost will be needed to use the tactic in achieving your sales goal. For example, if a viable tactic is cold calling, then you will need to determine how many dials you need to make to reach a decision maker, and what percentages of conversations with decision makers can be converted into sales. From this information you can determine how many hours a day or week you need to spend calling.
Do this excercise for each of your top ten tactics, and you have your simple basic marketing plan. The key is now to follow the plan, and to modify the plan as your assumptions are challenged or conditions change.
Will Limkemann
Limkemann Business Advisors
440-871-0976
www.neobizadvisor.com
Marketing – part deux
So you are ready to sell your fabulous new widget which is going to change the world as we know it - but people are not breaking down your doors to get it! In fact no one knows about it. And once a few people do hear about it they are not persuaded to buy! What DO you do? What do YOU do?
Market.
There is no better single resource for small business marketing than Jay Conrad Levinson’s “Guerrilla Marketing”. Levinson takes a very practical approach to inexpensive and effective ways to reach your target market. If you do not have the book run to your favorite book store or log on to Amazon.com to buy your copy. Also log on to his web site www.gmarketing.com. You will find a great number of great articles on marketing. One of my favorites is titled “100 marketing weapons” – listing 100 easy (and not so easy) inexpensive things you can do to market your business. Among these “weapons” are a number of items dealing directly with branding, such as business cards, logo, letterhead.
An entrepreneur must be constantly thinking and on the lookout for new and better ways to promote his/her company and products. And then implement!
Tomorrow we’ll discuss implementing using a simple but effective business plan.
Will Limkemann
Limkemann Business advisors
www.neobizadvisor.com
Branding
Every business has a “brand” or a persona that is how it is perceived by the world. Every business from a single proprietorsip through a major corporation has a brand. If you are a single person home based business, what is your brand? Sloppy personal appearance, a messy car, low quality business cards and brochures presents a low-image brand that people may be apprehensive of dealing with. The same proprieter smartly dressed, with high quality material and a positive attitude presents a brand that may even come across as a much larger business, and one which people will want to deal with.
Last night Geniocity.com made its debut. Talk about brand! The party was held in the central Cleveland visitors center – a fabulous high-tech facility. The food and wine were wonderful. Fine brochures and business cards were available. Carolyn gave a wonderful welcome and introduction to Geniocity.com. Who would guess from the branding that this is just a fledgling start-up! Way to go Carolyn!
Why market your small business?
First of all – congratulations to Carolyn and her associates at Geniocity.com on releasing their web site. It is going to be exciting for all of us to see the site develop and grow over the next few months.
As a business advisor I will be writing a series of blogs which, I hope, will speak to any of you who has a small business or is thinking about starting a business. I’m going to give you ideas to spur your imagination and help you innovate in your business.
Whether you are an artist, cut grass, bake cakes, design web-sites, manufacture widgets, or sell shoes, your ability to maximize your income is directly proportional to your effective marketing efforts. Simply put, marketing is the combination of the steps necessary to make your potential buyers aware of your product, and help to increase their desire to buy what you have to sell. The process of marketing your business need not be intimidating, or expensive, or difficult. Here are some ideas.
Start with listing who is currently buying from you or has bought from you in the past. (If your business is new, list potential customers you think would benefit from buying your product or service). What do these customers have in common? Are they in the same vicinity? Do they have similar income levels? Do they have similar interests? If possible, talk with current customers and ask why they bought what you have to sell (they could have spent their money somewhere else!).
Now that you understand who is buying from you today, ask yourself, “where and how can I find new potential customers who are like the ones that I already have?”. Brainstorm and make a list of all potential customers that you would like to sell to – this can be by name, or by neighborhood, or by type of business, or by interest.
By knowing who you (by name or group) you want to sell to, you are ready establishing a marketing strategy.
However, before you start trying to attract new customers, do you have anything else that you can sell to existing ones? After all, they already bought from you, and if you did your job right, these customers know you and like, so they might be very happy to buy from you again.
In future blogs I will talk about marketing strategy, and how to develop a simple yet efficient marketing plan.