small business

Small Business Naked

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I’m not one for craft fairs. But I went to one recently and learned some awesome things.

Normally attending a craft fair, even if it is to only walk through as a courtesy to the organization running it, is worse for me than a visit to (gasp!) a mall.

Add the hustle of the Holidays and hundreds of sugar amped children screaming for Santa (fueled undoubtedly by the 4 tables of chocolate baked goods for sale) and I’d frankly rather drive ingots into my eyes.

But a couple of weeks back, I spent 45 minutes walking through one and it hit me hard.

These folks are Small Business Naked.

There’s no hiding in a storeroom or behind a “Closed” sign or even behind some HTML code for these craft table entrepreneurs. These folks have no choice but to lay out their wares right there in front of you, with no where to hide and are totally exposed.

These folks sit or stand inches away from their hand crafted “life long passions” or their “work that pays the bills” or in many cases as you could plainly see – they stand in front of what they feel is the very definition of themselves.

These naked small business owners have to have tremendous egos and confidence and pride like any small business owner we know but also have the unavoidable stress of being assessed and judged by hundreds or even thousands of people in a compressed period of time.

“Do you like me?” is what each business owner is asking you with his or her eyes as folks walk by. Meanwhile there is no wondering about the competitive landscape. Each naked small business owner needs to only look left or right to see who and what they are up against, fighting for those dollars in the strolling public’s wallets. No where else is the competition so “out there in plain sight”- with dozens of smiling yet competitive and competing small business owners inches from and across from, each other.

On so many levels, it’s clear that these folks who purchase a “craft table” face so many of the same hurdles the traditional small business does ranging from product market analysis to production, to inventory management, to marketing, to pricing strategy, to selling skills and the list goes on.

Except for one thing – They are out there exposed for 5 or 6 hours at a time, hiding nothing about who they are and what they do. That’s an awesome thing. I know now I’ll see these fairs a bit differently; perhaps as an opportunity for me to keep learning from some of the gutsiest group of small business owners out there.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Reminders

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Apple IOS 5.0 came with a new App called Reminders.   It’s pretty cool.   It didn’t come pre-populated though with any real helpful reminders about work so I thought I would do that in case you’ve forgotten.

  • Discovering needs is dead.  Creating needs is alive and well.   Big difference folks; a huge difference.   One assumes your prospect is a helpless victim of their environment, the other presumes they are definitively in charge of where they intend to go. 
  • Have you ever heard such a hue and cry for information and knowledge before?  Consumers and businesses yearn to understand social media, global marketing, internet marketing, economics, new languages, tablet and smart phone technologies and more.  Teach people too.  Teach people and you’ll corner that market and never go hungry. 
  • It’s not like it used to be anymore.   Before you ever hear from that prospect or customer they’ve been to your website and done lots of digging already (but they won’t tell you that).  When they finally get to you- you best deliver something other and better than a screen shot rehash.
  • You can choose not to have a credible or professional web presence for yourself online but that would be unwise.  Trust is at an all time low.  People, prospects, customers, partners and employers all want to see what your brand is and what you represent before they invest in you for real.    
  • You can have too many contacts, too many followers, too many fans, too many friends.  There’s a point where your influence like it or not, looks like it’s for sale or it’s too easily given away; either way – trust deteriorates, hits the tipping point and it becomes a zero sum game.
  • Be Invaluable.  Differentiate.  Simplify.   Hard to go wrong if you do those three things.  Just a reminder is all. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Email: mark.mccarthy@deluxe.com

Internal Blog: http://blogs.deluxe.com/Mark/

External Blog: https://growthebusiness.wordpress.com/

Twitter at:  http://twitter.com/GrowTheBusiness

Offline, Online and Flatline

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I love QR codes.

I really really do.

In our business they are the perfect marriage between online and offline marketing. A business comes to us and we print a QR code on that piece of paper that sends the consumer via their smartphone to a landing page we created for them.

QR codes link those 2 worlds together giving a business maximum exposure to grow their business. The value and effectiveness of both types of products by the way, just increased.

Perfect.

But now they’ve gone too far. QR codes are being engraved on headstones linking I guess 3 worlds together – real life, cyber life and now, afterlife. Folks literally can use their smartphone at the grave site and go directly to a memorial page online celebrating the life of the loved one.

Not sure we are getting into that business. But um, if you have any stone carving experience, give me a ring and we’ll talk. 🙂

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

“Can I Help You With Anything?” (Ugh)

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My wife went to look for a dress on Friday.

 She told me about it later (must have been a commercial break as I’m not inclined to really listen to mall shopping stories) but I was so pleased to have heard it.

 As she entered the store, the associate walked up to her and didn’t say “Can I help you with anything?”  She also didn’t say “Hi, how are you?”   She didn’t say too “If you need anything just let me know”…

 What she did say was – “What brings you here today?”

[How Wonderful!] 

My wife hesitated, (it’s just harder to blurt out “I’m all set” to that question!), then mumbled she was looking for a dress and the associate smartly followed with “…for a special occasion?….”

By golly, yes she was.  Happiness and an extra large charge on the credit card ensued.  🙂

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What a great reminder of how idiotic in sales we often are.

Shoppers who enter your store or call your phone already have an interest in something (or um….they wouldn’t be there right?).

Yet how often do we neglect to enhance that energy or fuel that fire but saying silly things like “How can I help you today?” or “Can I answer any questions for you?”

Take a lesson from the associate my wife met on Friday and instead ask “What brings you here today?” or “What prompted your call today?” 

Energy and Need propelled the shopper to walk into your store or to dial your phone, don’t drain it with inane meaningless questions – fuel it! 

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

My 25 Secrets for Selling to Small Businesses

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Since 1988 I’ve sold, serviced and essentially provided for my family via the results of my interactions with, and strategies toward in large part,  small business.   Maybe that’s you too.  Maybe you are an indepent, an employee of a large firm or even a small business selling to small businesses – no matter — this is all good for you.  

I’ve forgotten far more than I’ve learned I suspect, but here are my 25 best kept secrets for selling to small businesses. 

  1. The worst time to sell to a small business is M-F,10am to 12pm and 1-3pm.  Ain’t nobody in small business interested in doing any business but their own at those times. Work harder on the fringes!
  2. New In Business is gold.  It’s a little like a chick imprinting on you just after hatching.  Help a small business when they are starting out and they will be fiercely loyal to you. 
  3. Not every SB wants to grow! (but they sure as hell want to at least keep what they have).  Use a maintain angle.
  4. Testimonials are so table stakes now.  What you need are testimonials from someone your SB prospect knows.
  5. Surprise! Surprise!  Small business owners are or once were; sales people.  They can smell your trial closes and rotating yes’s from 100 yards away.
  6. The most important word to think, proclaim, represent and lead with when talking with a small business owner is the word “easy”.
  7. Never forget how prideful, ego laden and direct a business owner usually is about his/her business! 
  8. I’ve never said the word “small” to a small business.   Ever.  I just won’t do it.   
  9. Your price, your service, your terms and even your competition are not remotely close to the biggest problem you face with small business.  Time (and getting it) is the biggest challenge by far.
  10. Whoever answers the phone at a small business is good at customer service, great at connecting you to brother Billy and a pro at getting rid of salespeople like you.  
  11. Everyone in a small business has at least some influence in the decision.   Sorry.  Dems’ the apples.
  12. If you don’t make it easy to switch to you, you won’t get a sale. 
  13. You get to go home to your kids.  The SB owner’s kids are in the back room coloring on the folding table.  Free up their time to spend more time with family and you win. 
  14. The first step in the SB sales model isn’t discovery or introduction or greeting or any other silly thing; it’s building credibility.  That needs to be your obsession.
  15. Time is so precious that “either/or” leading questions about anything are always better than open ended questions for a busy small business owner.
  16. Your customers have customers.  If you focus your solution on how it impacts your customer’s customers then it’s a win-win and the sale is easier.
  17. “What most people do..” is the most powerful phrase in small business sales.  Use it liberally.
  18. The SB’s website and/or storefront is the “face” of the business.   You can tell a lot by just looking at someone’s face.  Do that first!
  19. I bet a killer secret- to- be in cold calling is the phrase “Did I catch you at a terrible time or do you have 90 seconds?” right after you say your name and company.  (I just learned it so try it and let me know!)
  20. Your SB’s don’t realize yet (most of em’ anyway),  that that cherished Word of Mouth is changing.  Not in value, but in the tools being used to pass that along.  Help your SB’s see the value of social media!
  21. SB’s don’t want to hear about your “8:30to 5 shift” (they don’t have no stinkin’ shift) the old small business you had (that failed) or the other business you go to “just like theirs” (their competition).  So just knock it off. 
  22. It’s not what you think, believe or analyze about your SB customer or prospect so much that matters- it’s what they think of you.  
  23. Asking for help always worked for me.  And you know what worked best? 2 sales people knocking on doors (one being a trainee).  You always got time!  People (SB’s too) like to help people.
  24. Slick, coiffed, corporate and the King’s English doesn’t fly in Small Business.  Be normal, polite and smart but don’t be everything SB’s hate in the first 30 seconds inside the door.
  25. The greatest secret to selling to Small Business? They aren’t a sale, a lead, a customer, a prospect, your commission or even a business; they’re human and would just like a little help.

Till next time,

 Grow The Business.

 Mark

The Most Powerful Phrase in Sales

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It’s the most powerful phrase in Marketing too.

It’s shocking how many of us in Sales forget to use it. Marketing folks forget it it too but not as often as they tend to proof stuff before prospects or customers see or hear anything.

Why we sales people forget it all the time is another blog for another day but what you must do now with this most powerful of phrases is jump on it and start using it today, this hour and in as many ways and places as you can.

The world is eating this phrase up right now. It’s never been hotter. Ever.

Interestingly the key to this is not rooted in what everyone thinks are the pillars of sales success like “Solving a problem” or ” Filling a need” or “Asking great questions” or even “Focusing on your customer”

This phrase is not about your customer. It’s not about you, your company or your product either.

And what’s really really cool about this powerful phrase is that it is easier than ever for you to use it. There’s more evidence to cite it, examples to help frame it, places and spaces to preach it, teach it and shout it out from the top of your cubicle, desk or chair.

It’s simple too. Here it is.

“What most people….”

What most people…What most people…. Say it with me, “What most people..!!”

Ahhhh.

Powerful.  Add  “do” or your favorite  action word or words – it doesn’t matter-and it all becomes gold! . What most people “say”, “ask”, “wonder”, “start with”, “buy”, “think about”, “try”.

The phrase is not about you. It’s not about the customer or the prospect either- it’s about people like them.

That is powerful. That gets attention. That starts and moves sales. That works.

We are sheep.  I’ve written and shared studies with all of you on how powerful what most people do is. We want to see the most fans on Facebook, the most likes, the ratings, what others bought, the plus 1’s, the followers on Twitter.  It’s all the same thing.  What most people do is what I the consumer or the business owner wants to know.

I’m no fool. Not every customer will follow mindlessly like sheep do. But I guarantee the phrase gets the head and heart to at least listen to what you have to say – and that is half the battle.

Work it in to your phone calls and presentations and not just around “What most people buy is“. It’s smart, effective and the most powerful phrase in sales.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Consistency

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Seems like not everyone “gets it” these days.

 

Open your shop 15 minutes late or have your product fail, or disconnect a caller even once and those prospects that were waiting in your parking lot, or considering the upgrade or just looking for pricing won’t come back like they used to.   

 

It’s too easy to go somewhere else.

 

And it’s easier now to tattle on your inconsistencies, making even infrequent inconsistency seem like an epidemic.

 

Consistency isn’t sexy like your Groupon Sales plan or your YouTube buzz, yet its absence more than ever, can kill your wildest of business dreams. 

 

 

Till next time,

 

Grow The Business.

 

Mark

 

 

Mondays are busy.  All Monday posts are 100 words or less. 

Have A Voice Dawg

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You have a great voice. 

I’m not talking about your American Idol Steven Tyler “Demon of Screamin” voice here that makes Randy Jackson grin.  Rather it’s the voice that is your perspective, your message, your way.    

That voice matters, maybe now more than ever.   That voice needs to be heard. 

You can be “voiceless” by being a fantastic collector and sprayer of facts, figures, options, processes, policies, product specs, special offers, FAQ’s or even of opinions. 

But having a voice means you chose something.  It means you chose some way. 

And nothing influences people more – especially today.

You see, it’s an odd thing this abundance of information we live in.  There is so much of it everywhere and in every way that it is often paralyzing.   There’s a longing that is growing now in consumers and small businesses that when they finally get to talk to a real live human being like you – especially one that has built a semblance of trust, to grab hold of you, shake you at your shoulders, drop to a knee and plead:

“What do you think?” 

Not all business owners and decision makers ( by a long shot) want to do all the research, the analysis, the comparisons or read all  the posts, Tweets and articles before making a decision.

Especially when they can’t discern credible content from just plain ol’ content.   And that, in the plugged in world we live in, is where we are today.

So choose that voice, human!   Have a suggestion.  Have a recommendation.  Have advice.  Have an opinion.  Have a strong opinion.    Heckl, have a soapbox, a vision and a darn dream for your customers.

You can choose to have your voice be based on your own beliefs or of those people or companies or content that you trust, love or study.  It doesn’t matter; if you believe it and you share it; it’s your voice.  

And that, as Steven Tyler would say is.”Yeow-Yak-Yak-Yak-Ooww!”

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

98 Words on That Ringing In Your Ear

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Someday not far off, that phone will ring in your office or in your ear but it won’t ring because someone wants to place an order or because someone wants more information about your product or service.  Those days are fading away.

Someday that phone will ring because someone has an important business problem;  a marketing, sales, service, security or even reputation problem and doesn’t know what to do, where to start or how to fix it.  And that someone will need a talented, brilliant person to help them.

When that phone rings then, will you answer it?  

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Mondays are busy. All Monday posts are 100 words or less. 

Forgetting How Wonderful

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It’s funny that we sometimes forget how wonderful the customer is.    

Well it’s not really funny.

I know we forget though because we often don’t think twice about using words and phrases like “There are calls in queue” or “How many leads did I get?” or   “How many where’s my order calls” did we get last month?”

These are our customers and prospects folks.  These are the wonderful people that help you and me feed our kids, or pay for our medicines or spring for our steak tips or allow you to even think about marrying your girlfriend this summer. 

These customers are wonderful.  You know that.  I know that.  But we forget. 

It’s not that we are short sighted, selfish or stupid. 

It’s that we get caught up in systems and keyboards and processes and meetings and incentives and what’s on the lunch menus and inexplicably forget that the customer really is wonderful.

When that phone rings, 20 people should be leaping over walls to answer it.

When that customer decides not to leave us, there should be cheers heard loud across the floor.

When that voicemail light comes on, or that mail piles up, or those calls come in fast and furious- they are customers and there should be wondrous smiles and joy all around, not sighs.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark