My investment advisor left me a message last month informing me that one of my stocks had increased their dividend and wondered whether I wanted to buy more stock. I am a bit of a business news junkie and, obviously being a shareholder, I had a certain vested interest in seeking any good news out about stocks I own (and given the state of the stock market these days, good news is few and far between). But the call got me to thinking whether these types of calls are welcome. As a service provider, it may be seen as good client service but for the client it may be viewed as either a welcome call or a nuisance.
It really depends whether the client needs a seller or a server. A seller, as the name implies, is great at pitching product, exciting potentials to buying and closing the deal. Then, the seller moves to the next deal. The emphasis is more on closing than building the relationship (although both are a priority).
A server may not be great at closing a sale at first but is a very good at guiding the client through post-sales. These are typically people who make great customer service representatives or account managers.
Obviously, I am over-simplifying for ease of analysis and I do not want to suggest that sellers and servers are mutually exclusive sales personnel; a good salesperson can be both. But you have to think about who your client is and ensure you have someone who may be a better seller or server being their representatives.
Sellers tend to be better with clients who are knowledgeable about the product and know what they want to buy and are looking for the best deal on that product. They tend not to need a lot of service post sale since they are pretty knowledgeable.
Servers tend to be better with clients who have to buy the product or service out of necessity and require a lot of after-purchase service to help them get the most out of the product or service. A good example would be a small business that has to buy a server for their network and the owner-manager is not tech-savvy. In this instance, a good account manager could walk them with the technical aspects of the product and ensure their frustrations are minimized so they will upgrade with that company.
Many small businesses need servers. Owner-managers tend not to have the depth of skill-set or managerial experience around them to resolve issues in a wide variety of fields. In many respects, many owner-managers are the jacks of all trades so, outside of their competence, some require servers to give knowledge and expertise. A good server in many respects acts as their informal advisory board.
The key is assessing the need of small business owners are determining whether or not they need someone who can be more of a seller or someone who can be more of a server.
Have you ever been at a crossroads in business or in life where there were two different paths to choose from? Did you put yourself through major pain and suffering because you didn't know which one to take?
Why not ask yourself: How did I make my decision as to which path to follow? What was it based on? What if I made a mistake and took the wrong path? What am I going to do next time?
I've been faced with choice dilemmas countless times in my life. After each decision, I've found that un-doubtedly I'd made the right choice at that time. I've not regretted a single choice. Honestly, I believe there are no right or wrong choices. I make decisions based on 3 resources: creating a list of pros and cons, listening to my gut, and getting feedback on my decision from a team of close and trusted friends and colleagues.
We will continue to find ourselves on the threshold of change, our fate determined by a choice we're about to make. The question is not how do we eliminate the need for making difficult choices, it's how do we avoid the paralysis that prevents us from taking any action. So many businesses lose ground by facing the empowerment of choice with indecision and inaction.
They either don't act on it at all, or act so slowly that change is ineffective.
What I want for you and your business is to see you take control of your choice opportunities: plan ahead, carve out your marketing path, make your decisions swiftly, and take action. One way to start is to calculate the lifetime value of your clients. Find out how much acquiring a new client is worth to you and then make informed decisions on your marketing budget for the year.
Also, thoroughly analyze your client base-What do they eat? Where do they shop? What do they read? Where to do they live? What kind of car do they drive? How many credit cards to they have? Do they have children, a computer, etc.? The more you know about your client, the better you can reach them with an advertising strategy that has enough variety to meet their needs.
Whatever your current marketing plans are, it will be time well-spent to figure out what your clients are worth and who they are. Then you'll be able to better incorporate your marketing campaigns to get their attention and show how well you are positioned to meet their marketing needs.
Have you ever been at a crossroads in business or in life where there were two different paths to choose from? Did you put yourself through major pain and suffering because you didn't know which one to take?
Why not ask yourself: How did I make my decision as to which path to follow? What was it based on? What if I made a mistake and took the wrong path? What am I going to do next time?
I've been faced with choice dilemmas countless times in my life. After each decision, I've found that un-doubtedly I'd made the right choice at that time. I've not regretted a single choice. Honestly, I believe there are no right or wrong choices. I make decisions based on 3 resources: creating a list of pros and cons, listening to my gut, and getting feedback on my decision from a team of close and trusted friends and colleagues.
We will continue to find ourselves on the threshold of change, our fate determined by a choice we're about to make. The question is not how do we eliminate the need for making difficult choices, it's how do we avoid the paralysis that prevents us from taking any action. So many businesses lose ground by facing the empowerment of choice with indecision and inaction.
They either don't act on it at all, or act so slowly that change is ineffective.
What I want for you and your business is to see you take control of your choice opportunities: plan ahead, carve out your marketing path, make your decisions swiftly, and take action. One way to start is to calculate the lifetime value of your clients. Find out how much acquiring a new client is worth to you and then make informed decisions on your marketing budget for the year.
Also, thoroughly analyze your client base-What do they eat? Where do they shop? What do they read? Where to do they live? What kind of car do they drive? How many credit cards to they have? Do they have children, a computer, etc.? The more you know about your client, the better you can reach them with an advertising strategy that has enough variety to meet their needs.
Whatever your current marketing plans are, it will be time well-spent to figure out what your clients are worth and who they are. Then you'll be able to better incorporate your marketing campaigns to get their attention and show how well you are positioned to meet their marketing needs.
EvanCarmichael.com is the world's #1 website for small business motivation and strategies. Evan also runs a series of successful Mastermind Groups in Toronto for entrepreneurs.
Guest Contributor: Albert Luk
