Archive for the ‘Experiences’ Category

Today I came home to find the new HP printer I ordered on my front porch. It was delivered by FedEx. My wife was home, but she must not have heard the knock on the door (must have had talk radio turned up too loud, again).

Here’s the thing. My front porch is open. It has a roof on it and everything, but it is prone to weather. And living in Upstate NY, weather is always a factor. It was raining yesterday, and snowing today. My porch gets wet. So, leaving a package on the porch can be problematic.

But guess what? FedEx is paying attention. Whoever dropped the package off took the open porch and the weather into consideration. So he put my printer into a plastic bag, to make sure it would be protected from any weather. He also placed the package a little out of the way, probably on a dry spot and away from prying eyes. To draw my attention to the fact that I had a package, he wrote a sticky note and drew an arrow pointing to the package.

Now, the printer may have been fine in its own packaging. And I probably would have seen it even without the sticky note on my door. But because he took the time to do a little extra, I got warm feelings and my esteem for FedEx went up (which is saying something, since I am an UPS guy). It was so impressive, I am writing this post.

Sometimes all it takes to improve customer loyalty, bring back repeat customers, and increase referrals, is to just do a little extra. What low cost extras can you add to your business? What can you do to get your employees all thinking about how they can go the extra mile for customers? Find it and do it.

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Hello, I’m Bradford Shimp. When I’m not wishing I was born with musical talent and had become a professional banjo player, I write advice for small business here and build websites for small businesses over at Broad River Creative.

photo credit: DaveFayram

If you have an idea that you are sitting on because you just don’t know if it will work, or how you can make it work, stop. Don’t sit on good ideas. Either do something with it, or give it away to someone how will do something with it.

The Dreamer

If you are an individual who wants to create a business, and you already have an idea, there is only one thing to do. Try. You may not have a clue how to succeed, but what can you learn from doing nothing? The experience of failing is far more instructive and useful then that of sitting.

Sure, maybe you are preparing. Read books, blogs, the horoscope for all I care. I believe in all of that (well, not horoscopes). But at some point, you just need to get out there and try. Otherwise, you will just have theory and no place to apply it.

Don’t be afraid of failure. Instead, fear doing nothing. If you have a passion, pursue it. You’ll pick up all the education you need along the way. And if you find that, indeed, you aren’t cut out to run your own business, then at least you will know.

The Owner

If you already own a business, your idea may take you in a different direction. It may not just stretch you, but your entire business. Its funny, but the person who took a risk and then was successful to start a business often has a harder time taking more risks on new ideas. Thats because its not just a job. There’s payroll, debt, and responsibility up the wazoo.

I don’t advocate just changing the direction of your company overnight. If your new idea has nothing to do with your current business, you need to either find a partner who can do much of the heavy lifting, or, if it really ignites your passion, either sell or systematize your current business enough to run without you.

But don’t let these hurdles stop you from trying. Many of your ideas will be related to your current business, but will take it in a new direction. Try them out. They’ll work or they won’t. You won’t improve your business without trying. One of those ideas could be a game-changer. But you won’t know until you have risked failing with it.

Get Your Education

So stop wasting good ideas by doing nothing with them. Push them, even if just a little. Learn if they are viable, if you can sustain your passion, and if you can succeed. Theory doesn’t help you here, just application. So get out and risk something. You’ll be amazed at what you can learn just from trying.

Bradford Shimp also helps small businesses succeed at BroadRiverCreative.com.

Many of us struggle with fear in our lives, and it holds us back from doing certain things. In business, fear can keep you from growing and it can keep a great idea locked up.

Here is a big fear. Many people, even small business owners, really don’t like to sell things. We have all kinds of excuses for it, but at the end of the day, we don’t like people rejecting us. If you don’t overcome that fear early on, you are going to struggle to grow your company. Sure, there are ways to do marketing so that you don’t have to cold call or even talk to people to get them to buy. But for most small businesses, there is always a degree of one on one selling that has to take place.

I am convinced that many potential great businesses never even get started because of fear. Whether it is the fear of rejection that makes us afraid to ask for sales, or a general fear of failure, ideas are routinely kicked to the curb before they even have a chance because of fear.

I struggle with this personally. I am working on an idea for this blog right now that has the potential to be trans formative. Its also kind of scary. That’s because it pushes me out of my comfort zone and into the unknown. You probably have similar struggles in areas of your business. For some reason, we allow an intangible, fear, to hold us back.

Maybe we need to change our focus. Instead of thinking of how we might fail, we should think more on how we might succeed. Even a little chance for success should be enough to spur us on. Yet, it often is not.

In my experience, only one thing cures fear. Doing the thing you fear is how you overcome fear. When you do something you were afraid to do, and realize that you are fine, its a little easier to do the next time. If you can learn to embrace the thrill of fear, then you may be positioning yourself for great success. People do this all of the time. They ride roller coasters and watch horror movies and love it! I think these people are crazy, but they have fear, at least those fears, licked.

If you take a moment to look back through your life, I bet you can point out many things that you do without a sweat that you once feared doing. That happened because you just plowed through and did the things you feared. Apply this to the fears of failure that are holding your business back. Start kicking some of those big ideas of the fear shelf.

Here’s a piece of advice. Make a plan. A good plan can be something you stick too when things don’t seem sure, kind of like a flashlight in a haunted house. A plan will make it possible to move into areas of unknown and conquer the fears that are holding you back from greater business success. But don’t hide behind your plan either. Action is the water on this fire.

And finally, think about the worse things that can happen. In the end, you might look bad or even feel stupid. But if you never try, never take the risk to grow your business (or to launch it), you will live in frustration and well under the level of your potential. Don’t let fear hold you back.

photo credit: Andrew 94

Have a Small Business Question? Ask me and I will answer it here – email me with your question now.

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Bradford Shimp is the publisher of All Biz Answers. He is also the co-creator of Idea Anglers, a place to see your ideas come to life through collaboration. Follow on Twitter @bradfordshimp. Let Bradford help you with your business – visit BroadRiverCreative.com

What happens when you eat too much ice cream? You get sick, right? Is it possible that the same thing happens in business when you try to have too much of a good thing? I haven’t formed a final opinion on this, but I am beginning to think that it is possible to give too much customer service.

The problem lies mostly in what is expected. If you do something extraordinary for a person one time, they will probably be pleasantly surprised and go out of the way to thank you. But if you do it every time, they may gripe if you fall even a little short. The solution seems to be in creating clear boundaries of expectation and only crossing them occasionally.

Big expectations

I read an email from one of my clients’ customers recently. It basically said that everything had gone well with the sale so far, and that they were hoping to be “more than satisfied” with final delivery. Raise your hand if you think this customer is going to be able to find something wrong at final delivery. The expectation is set too high. The customer is not going to be satisfied. They want to be more than satisfied. How do you deliver on that expectation?

One thing that too many of us small businesses do is to over promise. We think we need to show our best possible outcome to win a sale. The problem with this is that it leaves no margin for error and no room for understanding on the part of the customer.

It may feel right to promise a customer that they will be “more than satisfied.” After all, you should have that kind of confidence in yourself. But in order for a customer to actually attain this state, the expectation needs to be set a point that you can easily meet and then exceed. Unless you can consistently do better than your best every single time, you need to reign in your promises and make sure you set customer expectations in a reasonable zone.

Much heavier work load

Another client has a problem. Its that they offer too much customer service, for free. Here, the customer service is added value services that are beyond the industry norm. They are little things that help the customers. However, since the company has not monetized them, these extra services have added up to a lot of extra workload and have eaten into already thin margins.

Watch out when you add value. The extra service, done across the board, can add up. Maybe its an extra half an hour here, an hour over there. Before you know it, you are doing a lot more work for the same amount of money.

Customer service is very important, but so is your profit margin. You need to balance the good of your customers with the good of your company. Without this balance, you will do no good for either.

Consider working extra service into your fee. Maybe you can use a tiered approach. Chances are, you can still offer the services at a price that your customers will jump at.

Coddled customers are bad customers

The other hidden danger of giving too much service is that you can actually spoil your customers. It may start with one concession, one extra thing at no charge. But if you aren’t careful, you can find yourself bending over backwards for the customer constantly. This is especially a problem for businesses that survive on repeat customers.

You see, if you do something once for a customer, you need to be prepared to do it again. You can make a big deal about how you are making an exception, but all the customer will remember is that you did it. You need to be prepared.

Consider creating a price list for extra services. If a customer needs delivery faster than normal, show them the price list. Anything that is going to cost you time and money should be considered carefully before it is just given away. This is to protect you. If you start giving everything away, you are going to turn a good customer into a bad one.

A bad customer, one who has become spoiled by you, is a pain. Bad habits are picked up far faster than good ones. Things like late payments, after hours calls, personal deliveries, etc., are all bad habits. Sometimes the customer comes in with those. In that case, it is easier to say good-bye or make demands. But what do you say to the customer who throws a fit because you demand payment on time this year, when every other year you have let it slide? Its your fault, after all.

Monitor your service

I am in no way suggesting that you start offering shoddy service. I would just say this. Make sure it fits within your ability and your price model. Make very few exceptions, and charge for them if they are costing you time and money. In the meantime, you can build great customer service that is perfect for your ideal customer set.

Don’t get caught out on a limb. It is so hard to reel back in. If you did something in the past, customers will expect it in the future. So even if its just one small thing, one time, think it through.

photo credit: bradleygee

Have a Small Business Question? Ask me and I will answer it here – email me with your question now.

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Bradford Shimp is the publisher of All Biz Answers. He is also the co-creator of Idea Anglers, a place to see your ideas come to life through collaboration. Follow on Twitter @bradfordshimp. Let Bradford help you with your business – visit BroadRiverCreative.com

I got a letter in the mail the other day. It included on the envelope the name of a company and a tagline.I am not going to share the company name with you, but here is there rest of the copy.

Syracuse – Albany – Rochester – Ithaca – Vestal

followed on the next line by Sales – Service – Rentals -

followed by the address and then this final tagline -

Servicing the Industry since 1976.

This goes out on all their outgoing mail, I assume. It seems to be intended to hold marketing material, since it also says on the envelope Attn: Purchasing Dept.

Here’s the problem. I have no idea what this company does. It is using generic phrases and words to describe itself, and it thinks that’s marketing. Here’s the other problem. You and I do the exact same thing. We know the story behind our words, so they make sense to us. But do they communicate anything to the person who knows nothing about us? This hearkens back to an article I read recently from Tim Berry, called the Five Words that Won’t Work in an Ad.

Words have nuance. This means while a certain word may say certain things to you, it may say different things to a prospect. Usually, small business owners impregnate words full of meaning. When you say “outstanding service” you know that it means you will come fix a broken pipe at midnight if you have to. But for your prospect, those words are just generic.

Why do you use generic words in your marketing? Two reasons come to mind, and you are not going to like the second one.

First of all, it is an issue of space. We need a tagline that fits on a business card or in our website header. There is nothing wrong with taglines, but if they are not unique and are not tied to a bigger story, they are pretty much worthless.

The second reason you use generic words is because you are lazy. Told you that you wouldn’t like it. But its true. It is just easier to grab an empty word from the shelf than it is to take the time to develop your message. “Quality assured” is easy, small, and it makes sense to you. What your prospect really needs to know is the meaning behind the words. I read this in an ad for Tito’s Handmade Vodka, “My American Handmade Vodka beats the giant “Imports” every day. That’s because I still taste every batch to make sure you get only the very best.” That is so much better than “quality assured.”

Take some time today to think about the words and phrases that you use every day in describing your business. Are they up to the task, or are they way too generic? Can a stranger read those words and know what you are saying? It might even be a good idea to have a stranger look at your marketing materials and give you some feedback.

Choose your words carefully. Make sure they are communicating what you want them to say.

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Bradford Shimp is the publisher of All Biz Answers. He is also the co-creator of Idea Anglers, a place to see your ideas come to life through collaboration. Follow Bradford on Twitter @bradfordshimp. Bradford provides business services through BradfordShimp.com.

Get Unique Content Weekly with The Letter