Identity Crisis? Part Two

So you have made the decision to move into the online world. What next? How do you put your plans into action? Do you spend lots on a new website, branding and marketing?

Do you start ploughing hard-earned money into Google Adwords? Maybe you sign a contract with a SEO provider who may promise the world.

My advice is do none of the above for now. The most important next step for you is research, research and research. Ask yourself some basic questions. If you were looking for your product or service online what would you type into a search engine to try to find it? Then type it. You will instantly be presented with valuable marketplace information. Which sites are appearing? Are they sponsored or organic listings? Then look through these sites. Are they offering exactly the same? Are their prices in line with your expectations? Do they offer free delivery or do they employ tactics like free delivery with all orders over £50? 

When I go through this process I start up a simple spreadsheet where I list the companies I am researching down the side and list their products, services and up-selling across the top and form a grid that will ultimately show you what gaps appear in the market and where you may be able to either compete or offer an alternative to others.

Once you have completed this process you will have a much clearer picture of what opportunities are there for you, which businesses are offering the best all-round package and which are not. It is often that the businesses at the top of the search listings do not necessarily offer the best package - they just know how to get it noticed!

Pay particular attention to the up-selling and cross-selling methods of your competitors. These tools are very effective at increasing sales and often the customer is unaware they are being up-sold. A good example is amazon.com where they now list "people that bought this item also bought this...." or "buy this and this together for £x - a saving of £x"

Once you have established the most successful operators then you need to understand how they are getting themselves so noticed and have such a good online profile. You should investigate their keyword strategy, links and whether they are paying for clicks or not. This information is readily available online but is not free (unless you are a client of mine!). Type their name into Google - what listings do you see? Their website? Their Twitter feeds or Facebook & Google+ posts? Do they receive reviews from customers? This will again point you in the directions you should be exploring for your business.

After all of this, take your time to digest the information. Talk to people about your ideas, conclusions and concerns. It is often the people outside of your business that can offer the most simple and logical advice that the experts can miss. There are numerous businesses out there to help you too and many are happy to give advice for free. I have over forty clients who have worked with me for many years and all because in the early days of their business I was prepared to offer help and expertise for free while they grew their businesses and now these clients are some of my most loyal. 

Finally, don't be afraid to decide it is not the right step for you. The online market is huge and many people make lots of money when they get it right. There are however millions of decaying websites out there that are no longer nurtured or cared for, the businesses behind them have long since died and along with those sites some of the dreams of the owners also died.

If you decide it's the right step for you then I wish you good luck.It's a huge learning curve but is great fun, very enjoyable and extremely rewarding. Watch every Pound, Dollar, or Euro you spend - I always maintain that if you put the same effort into spending as you do to earning then you will be on the right path!

My next blog will talk about the making the leap from idea, research and planning into reality. The easy ways and the hard ways together with some expensive mistakes I will help you avoid.

Identity Crisis? Part One

Local, regional, national or global? It is a challenge that many businesses face - what are they and what do their customers want them to be?

There are logical answers for some businesses - a taxi firm will always want to be perceived as a local business whereas a delivery company will probably prefer to be known as at least a national business.

The challenge of how your customers perceive your business is not always an easy one to navigate and does throw up many questions. Can an online business ever be local? Can a High Street shop with an online store ever be national?

Where you position your business can have a striking affect on which customers select you and which customers you should be trying to attract.

In local communities such as where I live there is a clear desire to keep business local as much as possible and that is a view that I wholeheartedly endorse. But what if you are perceived as local but don't want to limit your geographical reach by not appealing to potential customers further away?

There is a common perception that a local business will provide better service and care more about their customers but that is not to say that a local business can't or won't offer a terrible service. Indeed, there are many larger operations that offer a very personal service at a very high level.

Loyalty is a key differential - the typical customer is likely to be very loyal to the local High Street shop they have shopped at for years whereas the loyalty to Tesco's, whilst possibly used more, will be much less ingrained. 

So what are the options for the local business looking to grow their online presence?

Well, firstly you need to consider if you want to or need to use the same brand name. Whilst you may have a very loyal customer base locally this will be of only limited benefit to you online. Consider if your brand name is appealing enough for an online business. If your conclusion is that you want to grow and develop your brand then secondly you need to assess your image. Do you need the same online image as you currently have locally? A good example of two differing identities within one organisation is The Prudential Banking PLC with their online/telephone bank egg.com. The Egg brand was tremendously popular, fashionable and quickly amassed over 2 million customers before being split up and sold to various parties including BarclayCard. I really doubt whether the Pru would have seen such a successful business develop if they simply just launched the same services under the Prudential brand so this is really worth sitting down and giving some thought to. Also, consider your long term plans, are you considering disposing of your business in the future? Could the online brand be worth more if separated from the business of your local presence?

Once you have decided these factors you need to assess the product or service you are hoping to sell. Does it suit an online environment? Will competition be more fierce? Will there be a greater price pressure? What factors have led you to think that you can make a success of being online? Do you have any social media presence at the moment that you can tap into to publicise your online brand?

The move into a new online business needs to be treated as a journey you have never made before. It requires planning, a path needs to be decided and only when you are sure about how you will reach your destination should you start your journey. The journey can cost very little (or even nothing) if planned correctly - however, if you make a wrong turn at a key junction then the costs and impact can be alarming.

To be continued.....

A meeting of one...

Yes, it can be lonely at the top.

We often get feedback from clients that some of the key value we deliver is being a sounding board, a support, a professional companion for their person at the top when they can’t turn anywhere else.

Whether you’re the MD of a large business or a solo-operator running a business from home; if you’re a leader you probably know how lonely you can feel.

We all know that communication within any business is hugely important, so what happens if you are an owner-operator or a sole Director? Maybe you are the next generation taking over a family business and are struggling to implement change. Maybe you have a Partner but neither of you have any skills in he problem areas you are experiencing. Whatever your circumstances having a business without excellent communication is a problem.

There is always a need to exchange ideas and to get the opinions of others within business and for many this simply is not possible. Many of the clients I meet along the way need just this - someone to run ideas by and to offer feedback.  Many just want the reassurance that their ideas are sound and on the whole, a chat over a coffee or on the phone is enough.

In many small businesses there is rarely a need for a management structure, it is often the owner and two or three members of staff and this can be a very lonely role for the owner. They can often be reluctant to discuss business problems with staff as it can cause undue worry and concern, this is certainly the case with financial problems. 

If these scenarios resonate with you then why not contact us? At the very least we will meet up with you (for free) and talk with you about why you think we may be able to help and we will offer you our initial advice. It may be there is nothing to be gained for you in working with us, it may be that we have some great ideas that you want to try out. But we can be your friendly ear to listen to your thoughts and offer some suggestions and there is certainly nothing to be lost. We do have a few clients who pay us a small retainer to attend a monthly business review meeting. There is rarely a defined structure but more of an owner led review of the past months' successes and challenges and we work together for an hour or two to create plans and discuss opportunities for growth. We are not "nine-to-five" - we understand that the best time to meet is often not during the course of a business day and therefore meeting at weekends or evenings do not increase the cost. 

At SalesFriend we like to work with our clients over a long term plan and our lives are not centred around making money! If there is a long term opportunity for us but with little or no capital available now then that is never a reason for us to say no. It could be true that if you have cashflow pressures or are lacking sales then now is exactly the time to talk :)

Why is getting new customers often so expensive?

There is of course no one single answer. Generally I would say it is that decisions are made through inexperience or businesses experimenting with ideas that they have heard were successful for other businesses.

In many instances, the experiences of other businesses can be invaluable but if adopted, they can also become very costly mistakes. What works for one business may not work for another. The chances of two businesses having identical budgets, history, products and/or services, prices, strategy and ethos must be in the millions-to-one. It is therefore completely illogical to adopt sales methods simply because they worked elsewhere. 

Sales is a personal, bespoke element within a business. Sales is telling a story, your story and explaining why your story makes you different, makes you better, makes you someone to do business with. Quite simply, you can't tell that story if you just use someone else's messages.

When I talk with business owners I listen intently (sometimes for over an hour) about their frustrations with getting their message across "if only customers knew what we could offer, they would buy it" is a very common comment. These owners always know why they are better or cheaper, why their product more reliable or of a better quality yet so many struggle to turn these selling points into a message that brings sales.

So back to the key question; why is getting customers often so expensive? Because of mistakes, poor judgements or a general lack of understand about the sales & marketing process. Static adverts are one of the most common mistakes businesses make, often without much consideration. Placing the same advert in a business directory every year may have delivered clients over the years, it may still deliver clients and it may be the very best method of getting customers for your business. It may also be one of the worst ways to spend your advertising budget, have you considered you may be able to reach the same customers many times per year without spending any money? Why rely on your customer picking up the dusty directory and coming across your advert when you can ensure your business is a remembered name when the need arises? 

You are reading this blog now, you have found me and my business. I have not paid anything to get your attention, but I have it. What have I invested to get your attention? Just time, time to write this blog (which I enjoy). Some businesses pay me to write their blogs for them, but they really don't need to, it's a choice. 

There are so many ways that SalesFriend can help you increase the profile of your business using many of the free tools that are out there. Once we have established things for you then you can decide how to run things in the future; You can take over completely or we can continue to run everything and write content on your behalf - it really is entirely up to you. 

There are of course many more ways that businesses can invest money in getting new customers. Many decide against employing a salesperson, primarily due to cost concerns and there is also the management issues with salespeople. What do I do if they don't perform? Who can train them? Is my product or service right for face-to-face sales? How do I know if they are presenting my business in the way I want? If they leave will they take my customers with them? 

These are all very legitimate concerns. SalesFriend can provide a range of products to help you build sales without ever needing to employ anyone or buy any company cars to boost salesman's ego's! We can establish a sales strategy for you and we can also put it into effect. We can undertake a marketing campaign and if required we can also attend sales appointments on your behalf and make full presentations as if we were employed by you. And the real beauty of this service is that you decide when you want it. It could be one day a month, a day each quarter or a high-impact three month full time campaign. You set the rules, the budget and we will work on your behalf to deliver.

This gives our clients the ability to have the "tap" that is turned on when required - we could be behind the scenes maintaining regular client contact and marketing and when needed we can become full time salespeople to give your sales a boost. 

The simple fact is this - sales may well be very expensive sometimes but sales should always deliver benefit. There is little point in spending £1000 to win a one-off sale of £20 but it is very attractive to spend £50,000 to get £1,000,000 of recurring sales each year. 

Ultimately it should not matter how expensive getting new customers is, as long as the profits or value created outweigh the costs and your cashflow can support the growth.

Whoever said it was easy?

Sales. Every business wants it, some love it, some hate it but whatever you feel about sales in your business you certainly cannot ignore it.

At SalesFriend we meet businesses every day who are simply brilliant at what they do. Whether it be designing bespoke furniture or restoring classic cars, providing printing services or delivering custom sound systems - it continues to surprise us each day how much knowledge and passion there is out there in the world of the small business owner. Ask anyone who runs a business to tell you a little about it and you can be assured of a long story!

Businesses have good times and bad, times of profits and sometimes times of losses - but it's never boring. Despite all the passion, expertise, energy and perseverance we encounter daily, SalesFriend exists because these highly-skilled owners simply have no sales experience. 

It's very common indeed for businesses to face huge dilemma's with regard to sales strategy. Take the example of a small business owner I met for a coffee last week; Robert was 52, had worked hard in the city for a large bank and had decided to semi-retire in his mid-forties. By the time he reached 50 he was missing and lacking a challenge in his life and decided to start a business. Robert felt he could provide expertise in offering advice to people who had encountered debt problems and work with providers of financial products to assist these people who were trying to get things back under control.

The idea was sound, particularly in the climate at the time and Robert found that when someone actually found his business then he could be of tremendous help - however, he was simply not getting enough customers. He had considered renting some retail space in the High Street of a local town, he considered employing a telephone sales service to make unsolicited calls to people in the evenings, he even considered having agents "knocking on doors". But he had neither the confidence or the experience to make an informed decision about what was suitable. He called us, we talked for over an hour on the telephone (something I am always happy to do is listen to business owners tell me their problems) and we agreed that there was definitely a benefit in meeting up and talking face-to-face.

A few days later I met Robert at his home for an informal (and completely free) chat. He explained why his business SHOULD be succeeding and he also talked me through all of his ideas to generate more customers. Throughout the conversation it became very clear that Robert was a sincere, considered and honest businessman who simply needed some guidance and support. By his own admittance, he did not know "anything about sales or selling" and was concerned about spending money on sales and marketing without any experience.

Over the next four weeks Robert and I met weekly. The first meeting was to allow me to understand his business and his aspirations for the future, the financial position of the business and the capital available (if any) to get things moving. 

Week Two was a review of the market, competitors and the demographics of his local area - this allowed us to understand his potential within the specified area.

During our third meeting I presented Robert with my conclusions and a draft strategy based around everything I had learned during my time with him. Because of the time we had spent talking and understanding his requirements, Robert was instantly comfortable and in complete agreement with our plans. He understood our logic, our thinking and was clearly happy that we had not felt the need to spend even 20% of the budget he had suggested. We were instructed by Robert to put our plan into action.

I cannot tell you EXACTLY what was in the strategy I recommended but I can tell you that Robert was about to turn left when he should have been turning right with regards to his plan. Robert's business did not need sales. It certainly did not need expensive contractors making unsolicited telephone calls into households in the evenings or sharp-suited salesmen knocking on doors looking for new clients. What his business needed was awareness and a reputation - his offering and service was so good, so unique that if people knew about it then he would not be short of clients.

Within four weeks of instructing SalesFriend, Robert's "live" customers had increased from an average of three at any one time in the previous three months to a new average of twenty-six. What had we done for him? We guided him and we listened. We helped him achieve some simple, local marketing and ensured that people knew about his business and we encouraged new clients to refer their friends with similar issues. We established a social media network on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and became very active in some online forums where people discuss their financial issues. Over 90% of our recommendations attracted zero direct cost. With the exception of some printing of leaflets to leave in some key locations the only costs were with us.

I can't tell you what we charged Robert but I can say that he recouped our fee within the next nine client instructions. Now Robert simply subscribes to our telephone and literature support service where I am always at the end of a phone for him if he needs any more help or wants to talk. This package also means that Robert can email me over any new adverts or correspondence he wants me to edit or comment on. We also provide some nice banners each week for his social media network and a PDF electronic newsletter on a quarterly basis. 

The result of this fairly common scenario for us is a business that is firmly on the way to achieving its goals but without all the cost burdens that the owner expected to be funding in his quest for sales. The owner has a clear path forward and can concentrate on his business, using his skills to ensure his clients get a fantastic service and SalesFriend is always on hand as and when he needs us or wants us to look after his social media pages while he takes a holiday!

Welcome to our new blog....

Hello and welcome to our new blog, we hope as time goes by you will take an interest in the information, ideas and help we will be posting here. 

At SalesFriend we are passionate about helping small businesses grow, develop and realise their true potential. We really enjoy what we do and we are proud of the strong relationships we have with our clients.

So what do we do?

Well, we provide help, advice, support, training and many other sales and marketing roles to businesses who do not have any of these skills in-house. 

In the UK there are 4.9 million businesses, of which almost 95% are classed as micro-businesses employing 0-9 people. However, this 95% accounts for only 32% of employment and 18% of turnover.

Micro-businesses are hugely important to the UK and often provide some of the best learning environments for young people wishing to learn new skills when starting their working life.

SalesFriend is a support mechanism for those 4,672,000 businesses  - we know and understand that most micro-businesses will not have their own in-house sales team and many face the regular battles with winning new clients. 

How many of these statements relate to you and your business?

• You are owner managed
• You do all of your own sales (no sales staff)
• You do have sales staff but they do not perform to the level you think they should
• You do not really understand digital and online marketing
• Growth has not been as high as you believe is possible
• You have not yet seen the benefits of social media like Facebook, Twitter and Google+
• You have no sales experience
• Your business cannot afford the costs associated with salespeople (salary, cars, phones, laptops and expense accounts)
• The methods you use to communicate with your customers is not perfect and could use some improvement

If you can say YES to any of the statements above then you are not alone. SalesFriend can help you to grow your business, help you to understand sales and marketing. Furthermore, we will work with you to ensure you can afford it. We have extensive experience in all areas of sales and marketing and whilst the requirements differ with every client we meet we are certain that we can help.

Here are just a few of the services we can provide:

We can take over the entire sales for your business, we can help you establish or grow a sales team. Perhaps you just simply don't know where to start with sales and marketing and would like to pick our brains for an hour over a coffee - whatever your needs we would like to help. We love meeting new people and their businesses. At SalesFriend we don't believe any meeting is ever a waste of time - there is always something to learn.

So that gives you a little information about us, we really hope you follow our blog or sign up for email alerts ensuring you never miss an update.

Thanks for reading.