Newsletter - 2010 06

Business Success

Brought to You By BMA Marketing

SALES AND MARKETING

Keep Customers Coming Back

It's a sad but true fact that most of today's companies do a poor job of customer service. If you make customer service and value a priority, you can create that warm and fuzzy feeling that keeps customers coming back and referring friends.

Some consumers like warm and fuzzy. Others respond to value and incentives. Offer both. Referrals equal high profit margin because of the lack of marketing dollars it costs to get attention.

How much does it cost to attract new customers? Weigh that against the fact that happy and motivated customers will be repeat customers. Proactively work to increase your repeat customers and referrals and your customer satisfaction skyrockets while your marketing budget drops.

A smooth transaction the first time someone buys from you may create a nice referral for you, but it's the second referral that really counts. If someone refers you twice, you've made a lasting impression. By being creative you can turn a referral into a continuous source of new customers.

Creating brand loyalty isn't easy these days, especially with the Internet and self-serve checkouts. Technology has created savvy consumers who want instant gratification and who will forget you the minute the transaction is done.

People price-shop and many no longer exhibit brand loyalty because no one stands out as being deserving of their loyalty. But simple methods help spread word-of-mouth referrals, and there are more advanced ways as well.

Simple methods include:

• Saying thank you
• Staying in touch.
• Offering value.

Advanced methods include:

• Offering referral bonuses.
• Launching an affiliate program.

It may not sound like much, but people appreciate being treated like a customer because personalized customer service is considered rare.

What about following up a week after you provide a product or service to someone? Follow up in a personal way. Solicit feedback through a survey, send a thank-you postcard or email, and/or take the opportunity to woo them back to shop again. Ask if you can touch base regularly to present special offers or share information and offer something of value to show your appreciation of their business.

If you receive negative feedback through the contact or via a survey, it's an opportunity to improve your business model. It's nice to listen to a compliment, but it's vital to listen to, and act on, complaints.

Referrals and Affiliates

There are a lot of ways to get people to refer a friend:

• Offer a ballot in a giveaway for each referred friend.
• Offer a prize for the most referrals.
• Start an affiliate program and pay a commission for each sale that is facilitated by someone.

Technology allows all this to be automated and put on autopilot.

It's proven that people respond to personalized customer service and that today's consumer is value-driven. Deliver a great product, show the customer that you care, reward them for their referrals and chances are you'll save on advertising and increase your sales.

MARKETING

Market Your Business Using the Power of Facebook

Using Facebook to market your product or business is a hot trend among entrepreneurs today. With more than 62 million users worldwide, Facebook opens the door to a vast pool of potential customers.

as a viral marketing tool to attract fans and reach out to prospective customers.

Facebook offers many great tools to help you reach out to customers. You can send videos, photos, messages or links to fans from your Facebook page. Facebook even enables you to segment your audience by geography, age and gender so you can send messages to specific demographic groups.

It is important to engage your fans regularly on Facebook. Each time you send out a communication, you show up on their personal newsfeeds. But be careful not to spam them. Make sure your communication pushes are measured, meaningful and relevant.

The following are some tips for using Facebook effectively for marketing purposes:

• Post updates frequently, as nothing attracts attention like great content that is fresh and interesting.
• Supplement your Facebook page communications with a Facebook advertising campaign.
• Create a contest or promotion and offer a prize or a discount to customers who become fans.
• Participate in groups and other fan pages that reach your target audience.
• Leverage mailing lists of other group or fan pages.
• Create a Facebook application around your brand.
• Encourage your fans to share feedback on your products or services. Of course, you must be prepared to receive this feedback - whether it is good or bad.

LIFESTYLE

Stay Sane! Tips for Balancing Business With Home Life

The pressures of launching a start-up business may compel you to work 24/7. With products or services to deliver, clients to deal with, an operation to manage and income to generate, it can be difficult to unplug from your business.

However, striking a balance between work and personal life is essential. You need downtime to focus on other aspects of your life, including your health and well-being, your family, and relationships.

Separating work from personal life is especially difficult for a home-based entrepreneur. Since you live and work in the same place it's harder to switch off, to stop working and think about other things. There's no change of scenery that signals a shift from work mode to nonwork mode.

The following are some tips to help you achieve better balance:

• Schedule personal time on your calendar.
• Think of personal time as a commitment.
• Make it a point to get away from the office or the shop.
• Turn off the phone, or better yet, leave it at home when you're with friends and family.

As a small-business owner, unplugging from your business is tough to do. After all, the success of your enterprise rests entirely on your shoulders. But if you take time to balance your personal life with your business life, you will reap benefits in both areas.