No matter what type of business you are in, you can rise above the competition by doing one thing: Help customers get smarter. Unfortunately, many businesses are run by people who believe the secret to success is outsmarting customers.

“Always be closing,” barked the hard-selling Blake, the verbally abusive but supposedly super-salesman character played by Alec Baldwin in the film Glengarry Glen Ross. But think about the companies you do business with on a recurring basis. Are they the companies that treat you like the next transaction they must process to reach a sales goal?

Are they the businesses you think are always trying to sell you something they need to clear from inventory?

No.

Great businesses don’t think of customers as a sale to close. As a one-and-done transaction. They make each closed sale the opening of a relationship. They know when customers become owners, they become experts in what is good, and not good, about a company’s product or service.

Before you decide this is merely a bunch of new-age, touchy-feely theory, let me stop and emphasize: To stay in business, you need to always be selling. I’m merely saying that the most effective way to sell is to position yourself and your company as the source a potential customer of your product or service should turn to first when they want to be smart. 

Here are a few ways a business can build long relationships with their customers by helping them become smarter.:

Take regular shifts at the customer-service desk

This suggestion has nothing to do with improving your phone or customer-complaint skills. It’s an exercise that enables managers to stay focused on the one thing that matters most in helping customers become smarter: understanding how well (or not) the owner of a product you’ve sold is accomplishing the objective they had when purchasing it. Unlike focus groups or surveys, a phone call from a product owner who is confused or frustrated can help a manager cut through months of research and get straight to a solution that can be as simple as improving a product’s directions.

Listen more, talk less

Big companies spend huge amounts of money hiring research experts to discover through all sorts of methods what customers think of them. This is an area of business where there’s an advantage of being small: You can have focus groups all day long for free: it’s called talking with customers and listening to what they have to say.

Be the chief knowledge sharing officer

Listen and learn from potential buyers and customers who have become owners of your product. Listen and learn from suppliers and other industry experts.

You are in a unique position to help customers solve problems or understand trends that will help them become smarter. Likewise, you can help your vendors and suppliers become smarter, as well. Positioning yourself at that critical point of an industry’s knowledge sharing network is something market leaders do naturally. If it doesn’t come naturally, it is something you can learn to do.

Start a teaching initiative

Experiment with some type of effort to provide your customers with a chance to learn more about the subject they associate with your business.

Here’s a great example of a company that makes teaching customers one of the cornerstones of their approach to marketing.:

Seattle Coffee Gear creates simple videos that review, compare, and explains new products “in a  manufacturer-agnostic, non-commissioned, low-pressure sales environment.”

These videos are so helpful, their YouTube channel has over 164,000 subscribers. (You can also access them on the company’s website.)

For over 25 years, many of the clients I’ve been fortunate to work with have been marketers at large organizations that sell products and services to small businesses. These marketers have been talented, innovative and smart. Ironically, however, almost none of them have ever run, or even worked at, a small business. Time after time, my colleagues and I have seen how easy it is for these smart marketers to fall into the trap of thinking their small business decision-making customers run something that’s like a big business (an “enterprise”), just smaller. In reality, the people who make buying decisions for small businesses live on another planet in a galaxy far, far away from what the marketers envision.

Big businesses have an operational mindset

A major difference is experiencing a reality of what it takes to get things done at a big corporation: organization and structure. For necessary reasons, large companies are organized in a hierarchy and order based on what I describe as an “operational taxonomy” (borrowing the word “taxonomy” from the approach scientists use to map out classifications and connections). Such a taxonomy enables workers with specialized skills and responsibilities to understand where they fit into an organization by department (finance, marketing, IT, production, etc.), rank (assistant to the regional manager vs. assistant regional manager) or mysterious function (fixer, closer, rainmaker). The operational taxonomy of operations is so dominant among large corporations, it has become the way in which business schools organize academically. A person who has an MBA with a marketing focus has become an expert not only at marketing, but where marketing fits into the operations of a company.

Small businesses have a situational mindset

In a small business, people typically have multiple responsibilities and little perception of operational boundaries. (“Hey, can you help me move this table?” the intern asks the owner.) The flexible structure (translation: structure that looks like chaos) gives rise to what I call a “situational taxonomy.” Small businesses often don’t know, nor care, whether a problem is financial or operational, marketing- or technology-based. They simply know they have a problem that needs a solution. And the solution needs to appear now.

What this means if you sell products or services to small businesses

Except for skills and knowledge related to their industry or market niche they serve, a small business owner is typically a generalist when it comes to business operations. Often, we don’t always know what we don’t know.

Unless your product or service is tied to a specific profession or industry, when you describe it to a small business customer, don’t use the language of a big business (or “enterprise”). Don’t talk about features or use acronyms or technical specifications. Talk about the situation a small business owner is likely facing when they are looking for your product. Talk about how your product or service addresses the situation.

Here’s what it’s like when you are a small business owner who wants to buy your product

Imagine yourself at a hardware store asking a clerk if they have one of those thingamajigs that goes with a whatchamacallit. That’s what it’s often like when a small business customer needs your product. We just don’t know the name of your product, or even the category of product you may consider it.

A small business owner or manager wears many hats throughout the day. If you can find a way to help a small business customer understand how your product or service can enable them to wear one less hat, you’ll have a better chance of generating sales and starting a long-term relationship.

(Note: A version of this article by Rex Hammock, founder of SmallBusiness.com, first appeared in Idea-Email, the “un-newsletter” of Hammock Inc., the direct-to-customer media and content company and host of SmallBusiness.com.)

]]> https://smallbusiness.com/tech/infusionsoft-rebrands-to-keap-launches-small-business-services-software/ Fri, 01 Feb 2019 16:57:17 +0000 https://smallbusiness.com/?p=34339 Infusionsoft, the 17-year-old customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation software company, announced earlier this week that it has rebranded its corporate name, Keap. The company also introduced a new product called Keap, a client management software (CMS) platform designed for small businesses in the home, personal and professional service industries.

Previously on SmallBusiness.com | “Infusionsoft Launches Propel, a DIY Marketing Automation Platform for Small Business“

“With the introduction of our new Keap product, we are able to serve an even larger market of small service providers who have been shut out of the benefits of automation because software providers have made it too hard and expensive.” said Keap COO Keith Reed.

Targeted at small service providers such as interior design, home repair, fitness or business consulting, “Keap automates repetitive sales and client-related tasks like appointment scheduling following up on leads/quotes, and collecting payments,” according to Reed.

“As part of a multi-year company and product transformation, we set out to better understand how small businesses meet customer demands today,” said Keap CEO Clate Mask.

Some features of the new Keap software

• Organizes and centralizes customer information and daily work in one place 
   
• Frees small businesses from repetitive tasks to save time
   
• Helps small businesses provide great service to their clients –

Photos: Keap by Infusionsoft, GettyImages

In the English language, we use the word “customer” to describe two types of marketing relationships: (1) A person considering a purchase (“a customer as shopper”) and (2) a person who has already made a purchase (“a customer as owner.”) Marketers spend most of their budgets on shoppers, but the research tells us that the best return on marketing investment is to cultivate the relationships you have with the owners of your product. The vast majority of the marketing email I receive views me as “a shopper.” But here’s some advice: Work on the quality of the email you send “customers” after they’ve become your “owners” or “members” or “users” and you’ll be more successful at building a long-term mutually beneficial relationship with them.

Six examples of customer email to send after shoppers become owners

Welcome notes

Use a thank-you email as an “onboarding” message. Your customer didn’t just purchase a product, they purchased a solution. How well you communicate with them that you are there to help, the more they will view you as a key member of their team.

“How-to” help

Continuing the “on-boarding” process, use early email as help and support that they may need. Does your company have a customer support department. If so, constantly ask them for the issues customers are seeking advice on. Use the how-to emails to help users before they even ask for help.

Inside information and wisdom

Give owners the chance to feel they are on the inside of information related to your product or service. If appropriate, provide activities like webinars or cooking classes or an early look at seasonal updates of the merchandise you carry.

Requests to stay in touch

Keep customer data up to date. While people tend to hang onto email addresses for a longer time than they stay at the same physical address, you should regularly invite customers and clients to update the information you use to provide them with positive items on this list.

Friends-only email specials

Email your loyal customers to invite them to take part in special events, sales or networking opportunities. Give them the opportunity to benefit from the association with you as a customer or client.

Favor requests

When a customer has been an owner for several months, do two things: Ask them if they are being served well by your business. Later, in a follow-up email, send them one of two emails: (1) Explain how you have used their recommendations to fix whatever they may have been negative, or (2) Ask them to share a review on the appropriate social or professional network for your type of business.

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Starting January 31, 2017, Google AdWords will only support the creation and editing of “extended” text ads. They no longer will accept new text ads in the “standard” format, the classic text ads that have been a staple of most small business online advertising.  Existing standard text ads will continue to work past that date, but all new ads must be created and edited using expanded text ads.

This is a good thing for advertisers as it will enable your customers using mobile devices to more easily find and use your ads.

Here are some things Google wants you to know about expanded text ads.

“Small retailers” and “middle market retailers” are optimistic about holiday sales and predict growth for the fourth quarter and into 2017, according to the American Express Holiday Growth Pulse. (For the survey, “small retailers” refers to companies with fewer than 100 employees with at least $250,000 in sales. “Middle market” refers to retailers with $10 million to $1 billion in annual revenues.)

Optimistic that stockings will be filled with goodies

59% | Percentage of small retailers who predict holiday sales will be stronger compared to last year
34% | 2016 holiday sales predict they will be roughly the same as last year

77% | Percentage of middle market retailers who plan to hire additional staff for the holidays
31% | Percentage of small retailers who plan to add staff for the holidays

Retailers feel the pressure to discount

Given the importance of the holiday season, small retailers are putting a great deal of effort into making sure they see strong results. Small retailers feel they will need to offer sales and promotions during the holiday sales season.

64% | Percentage of small retailers who expect to discount and use sales promotions
58% | Percentage of small retailers who expect to start offering holiday discounts the same time as last year
42% | Percentage of small retailers who expect to start offering holiday discounts earlier than last year

Retailers increasing social media use this holiday seasons

89% | Percentage of small retailers who will utilize social media this holiday season
81% | Of those using social media, the percentage using Facebook

ThinkStock

Etsy, the colossal online crafts marketplace, yesterday (4.5.2016) unveiled “Pattern by Etsy,” a new paid service ($15 per month after a one-month trial) that allows Etsy sellers to create an ecommerce-enabled website in addition to the seller’s Etsy marketplace account page. Sellers using the service will be able to automatically sync content and commerce from their marketplace account (to be renamed “Shop Home”) to their website.

According to Mike Grishaver, Etsy’s senior vice president of product, having the ability to manage a “Shop Home” presence on the Etsy marketplace, as well as on a seller’s own website, “gives our sellers more control to highlight their brands both on and off the Etsy marketplace and provide them with the tools they need to tell the unique stories of their creative businesses.”

A simple explanation for what this means

Before now: Etsy sellers had an account that included a user page that served as a storefront hosted on a massive website marketplace called Etsy.com.

Now: Etsy sellers now have the option to add an ecommerce-enabled website using a domain name other than Etsy.com, say, “CraftStoreUsedAsExample.com.” (Please be more creative, however.)

Why does Etsy want sellers to set up a website service outside its marketplace?

First reason: Because the sellers want them to.
Second reason: Because, with a couple of clicks on any number of website-hosting companies, the seller can already create one.

But unlike the other options, a Pattern by Etsy website will provide sellers the ability to have a website that is made especially for Etsy sellers. Most important, the website will automagically have content from the seller’s “Home Shop.” And it will already have an ecommerce feature built in.

But here’s another reason we’d like to suggest. As Etsy has said many times, they are not in the business of managing a marketplace; they are a “Craft Entrepreneurship Ecosystem.” Etsy’s stated mission is to help its sellers sell, not help its sellers sell only within the Etsy silo.

Also on SmallBusiness.com: These previous posts on SmallBusiness.com can help you  understand the Etsy ethos and the ways it helps sellers expand into various markets, both online and off:

• Why Handmade at Amazon Isn’t an Etsy Killer
• Sellers View Etsy as a Business, Not a Hobby

What other small business marketplaces could follow this model?

Since more than half of small businesses don’t have a website, this approach would seem to be a no-brainer for any platform hosting huge numbers of merchants, like, say, Ebay. Or how about having a related “domain” website that’s tied to one’s Kickstarter account?

Or what about every major player in the on-demand economy? As long as the ecommerce engine followed the on-demand economy provider, why not let the information power a website for an Uber driver?

Stay tuned.

Even in the digital age, customer satisfaction hinges on human interaction, according to research by Accenture, the consulting firm. In its 11th annual “Global Consumer Pulse Survey,” consumers in 11 industries and 33 countries share one opinion almost unanimously: Consumers strongly prefer to speak  with humans instead of interacting online or on the phone via digital methods of customer service.

U.S. consumers are fed up with “human-less” customer services

(Percentage of survey respondents)

83% | U.S. consumers who prefer dealing with human beings
52% | Have switched providers in the past year due to poor customer service

Human interaction is vital to customer satisfaction

77% | Prefer dealing with human beings when seeking advice
45% | Willing to pay more for better customer service
65% | In-store service is the best channel for tailored experiences

Room for improvement in customer services delivery

73% | Expect customer service to be easier and more convenient
61% | Expect customer service to be faster

It didn’t have to end this way

$1.6 trillion | Estimated amount of business switched due to poor service
68% | Consumers who will not go back after switching to another brand or source
80% | Switchers who feel the company could have done something to retain them
83% | Of that group, those who said better live/in-person customer service would have influenced their decision

It’s time to balance your digital exuberance with a human touch

To deliver the experiences customers demand, companies need to re-balance their digital exuberance with a human touch. What’s needed is a mix of digital and non-digital options that allows customers to engage with providers in multiple, highly satisfying ways. Here are some recommendations from Accenture:

• Put the human and physical elements back into customer services. Rethink how you are investing your customer service budget. Focus on delivering satisfying, integrated customer experiences across all channels.
• Make it easy for customers to easily move from digital to human interactions to get the experiences they want.
• Identify the customer experiences that have the greatest potential downside and use those insights to guide investment strategies.
• Guarantee personal data security so that customers will be more willing to hand over personal information which can be leveraged to deliver better experiences.

From the Harvard Business School Working Knowledge website, comes this tip for next time you are negotiating to by a car, house or even a company.

When making an offer, use a precise number, not a round one

Offer to buy something for $23.71, not $23 or $24. Why? In recent research conducted by two HBS professors, mergers and acquisitions investors who offered “precise” bids for company shares yielded better market outcomes than those investors who offered round-number bids. Not only were sellers more likely to accept a precise bid, they were more likely to accept it at a cheaper price.

The research is not unique to this study–it matches outcomes in similar research ranging from the use of an online game based on the TV show, The Price is Right, to negotiations involving real estate.

Why?

“A round number gives the signal that the party doesn’t really know what it’s doing,” according to Matti Keloharju, a visiting scholar at Harvard Business School and co-author, with Petri Hukkanen, of the research. “Precision indicates determination” and the kind of confidence that communicates that the bidder has done the research necessary to know exactly what the value of something is.

But don’t go overboard!

Keloharju warns that a bid too precise may make the bidder look suspicious, or even ridiculous, to the recipient. “Bidding $1.03 million for a house is one thing. Bidding $1,033,235.83 is another.“If a bid is too precise, it may strike as strategic to the recipient, rather than being driven by superior information,” Keloharju says.

via: HBS Working Knowledge

Featured photo: ThinkStock | Photo of Mule Auction: Tanya via Flikr

It’s the week after Christmas (or any time of the year). Some of the questions dancing around the minds of customers include, “I wonder what the refund or exchange policy is at (your store’s name here)?” “Can I get a refund?” “An exchange?” “A store credit?” While there are a few federal laws and related guidelines governing returns, states often have additional laws related to return policies.

Policies vs. Laws

Many retailers have decided that customer-friendly return policies are the best business practice. In most instances, those are marketing decisions, not legal requirements.

Federal laws and regulations

• Retailers are required to accept returns only if the sold good is defective or if the seller breaks the sales contract
• Federal law provides a “cooling-off rule ” giving buyers three days to cancel purchases of $25 or more
• Buyer can cancel for a full refund extends until midnight of the third business day after the sale.
• The rule applies to sales at the buyer’s home or workplace, at facilities rented by the seller on a temporary basis, or at locations otherwise away from the seller’s normal retail location.

State laws and regulations

In addition to applicable federal law, many states have additional regulations regarding consumer refunds. Often, refund policies must be prominently displayed at the place of purchase in order to be valid.

• Other fees, such as restocking fees, normally must be made clear in the retailer’s policy language.
• Additionally, states may or may not explicitly apply their laws to online sales.

This lists summaries of state laws governing refunds of retail sales items. The state name is linked to more information found on the state’s website.

(Sources: Federal Trade Commission, National Association of Attorneys General, FindLaw.com State Consumer Protection Agencies)