What causes customers to leave you?

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Laura Humphreys

Why do customers leave?

Guest blog by Mike Brunel.

I am continually asked why my advertisers leave me after a few campaigns. I do not think for one moment that has not happened to you. It has me, several times, and every time it does I learn something.

As a business owner why do your clients leave you? Do you know?

It actually stings quite a bit; you are just getting to know them when they stop returning your calls, completely ignoring you.

Here is a typical scenario that often happens. You work on a client for a few months and finally they toss you a little order or money. If you have done your job well, you might get some more.

No one returns your calls

Over time you get to sell them more products and services. Things seem to be going along swimmingly. Then all of a sudden, they do not return your calls. You try to call them a few times. SILENCE.

What have you done? They liked you; they seemed to be getting results from your product.

So, what have you done wrong? What did you do?

It’s not what you think; Here are some tips you might find useful if this happens to you.

Solve the problem before it starts.

These days customers like to be advised. If you start giving them everything they want, they will not take you seriously.
Don’t be like all the others companies who sell similar products. If you really want to partner with them, do crazy things once in a while. Don’t be boring. Push them a little. Be a marketer.
Find out early in the relationship what their interests are outside of work and do all the research you can about the topic. This gives you something else to talk about, and helps build trust.

Finally, if you get the “vibe” that this might not work, be up front with them and say “Hey, I do not think this is working.”

It just might be the tonic to get them thinking a little about your relationship.

“They will spend one day, I promise.”

That is like saying, “That girl will go out with me one day.” Sometimes it can be painful, but you are better off working with the customers that you know will be of benefit to you, and not go after clients that you have no show of getting.

Mike Brunel is partner in NRS Media, the world’s leading provider of Revenue Growth Solutions and Customer Acquisition programs to media companies. The company has offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto and Sydney and employs more than 175 staff. Mike teaches people how to sell… he loves it with a passion!

From the desk of Liber8me. Business mentors and publisher of Liber8 your Business: The revolutionary planning technique that will set every small business owner free

Want to create a business success story? Learn to see the future

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Laura Humphreys

I’ve interviewed many wealthy entrepreneurs as part of my mentoring programmes, always seeking to find out what makes them so successful. How do they build businesses that achieve such growth and generate such great financial returns? The number one trait that comes through without exception is their ability to look into the future and see what their business looks like five, ten or fifteen years out. Successful business people have a really clear picture of their business when it’s ‘complete’, they can see where it is all heading. Rarely do they start a business without a clear idea of where they will take it. They do not randomly wander into business, nor randomly wander out or give up when it gets too hard or they run out of money. Successful entrepreneurs know where they are going.

One of the first things a successful entrepreneur will do is create a vision for their business that is set firmly in the future. They are very clear that the business is separate from them and as such it must have a reason for being that is bigger and more inspirational than the owner/s of the business. When I started my advertising agency I knew it needed a higher purpose, something clearly articulated that would attract clients and talented staff and give us something to strive for. We set out to ‘change the face of our industry by setting a new benchmark for agency service and quality of results’. This vision for our future kept us focused and ultimately created the success that attracted a multi-national company to want to buy us.

What is your vision for the future of your business?

What’s the number one thing to consider if you ever want to sell your business?

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Laura Humphreys

If you are serious about selling your business one day, it’s important to have a good idea who might want to buy it. Imagine spending 10 years building a business you intend to sell only to realise you have created something nobody wants to buy. If you build a business with a buyer in mind, you have a much better chance of building something they really want.

A potential buyer could be a larger player in your industry looking to grow through acquisition. This growth might be regional – they want a presence in your city or town and it’s easier to buy you than start from scratch. It might be strategic – you have a smart product or service they could add to their existing infrastructure – for example, a large accounting firm buying a small book-keeping firm to add value to their client base. Your service or product could become a ‘nuisance’ to a competitor and they buy your company to prevent it competing or to regain lost revenues. It could be a management buy-out, when senior employees raise the funds to buy you out. It could be a competitor of a similar size wanting to grow and willing to invest to gain rapid growth through acquisition. Another type of buyer could be a private equity group or even an individual who sees great potential in what you’ve built.

I’ve sold businesses to two types of buyer. A multinational bought my advertising agency and a local competitor bought my pet care company. My father’s photocopier business sold to his senior management team.

So who might want to buy your business? What are you building that could add huge value to someone’s offering? Now is the time to start thinking about these things.

From the desk of Liber8me. Business mentors and publisher of Liber8 your Business: The revolutionary planning technique that will set every business owner free

There are only two reasons to be in business. Do you know what they are?

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Laura Humphreys

According to Dun & Bradstreet* reports, “Businesses with fewer than 20 employees have a 37% chance of surviving four years and only a 9% chance of surviving 10 years.”

I believe that the primary cause of these staggering statistics is that too many people go into business for the wrong reasons.

For me, there are only two reasons why you would start a business: firstly to make money and secondly to make a difference.

Making Money

Business is a financial game. People who are very good at business understand that business is all about delivering returns to the shareholders. As the Director and CEO of your own business you have a fiduciary duty to yourself as a shareholder to build a business that delivers maximum returns to you. To look at it any other way is letting emotions get ahead of business.

Making a difference

And yet a business that cares only about money is a business without a soul. Your business is also there to fulfil a purpose, to add value and make a difference to the lives it touches, whether those people are customers, employees or beneficiaries of the higher purpose your business serves.

There is a fun irony to this concept if you can really grasp it. If your business is truly focused on making a real difference to as many people as possible, you will attract more people to you. The more people you attract, the more successful you become and the more people you make a difference to. It’s a wonderful win/win concept.

Combine the concepts of making money and making a difference and you will build a business that will not only make you rich, but make you feel like a million dollars too!

Are you in business for the right reasons?

I hope so!

*Dun & Bradstreet is a public company that licenses information on businesses and corporations for use in credit decisions, business-to-business marketing and supply chain management. D & B maintains information on more than 205 million companies worldwide.

From the desk of Liber8me. Small business mentors and publisher of Liber8 your Business: The revolutionary planning technique that will set every small business owner free

To achieve a successful exit, it helps to view your business as a product…

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Laura Humphreys

A successful angel investor friend explained to me the concept of exit strategy like this:

To achieve a successful exit, it helps to view your business as a product. A good business person empathises with their customer and understands their reasons for buying your product. You know what need your product fulfils in the market and who will want to buy it. You use your expertise and experience to create the best possible product to meet this need. You build a relationship with potential customers with a view to making sales.

Now, step back and look at your business as a product. Why would someone want to buy your business in the future? Which companies could take your business and create more value with it? What needs do they have that your business could fulfil? How could you build your business to make it easy for them to acquire and integrate it with theirs? This is your market and selling proposition. And just as it takes time to build a customer base for your product, it takes time to build a relationship with your potential buyer. So start now.

Excerpt from Liber8 your Business: The revolutinary business planning technique that will set every business owner free

Here’s to a successful exit!

If you want to succeed as a small business, start thinking like a big dog

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Laura Humphreys

It’s that time of year when you should be working on your business plan for the next financial year. Please, please, please tell me you do a plan each year? You simply cannot succeed in business unless you take it seriously and understand the game of business itself.

I encourage my clients and readers to observe and learn from successful big businesses. Having been on the Board of an organisation with close to $1 billion turnover, I learned first hand how disciplined larger companies are. They do not fly by the seat of their pants, nor stumble hopefully from one year to the next. They set clear growth targets every year, put clear strategies in place and hold individuals and teams accountable for the delivery of those targets. The CEO must inspire, motivate and direct his people towards this delivery and has overall accountability. His/her senior management team must set targets for their own department and are held accountable for the delivery of these. Within the teams, team leaders have responsibility for the successful (on time, to budget) delivery of their projects.

All of this is made possible by two things – a business plan and a team to deliver on it. This is the game of business at its most basic. As a small business owner operator, you may feel that you don’t need a business plan. You may not yet have a team big enough to deliver on it even if you did. Yes?

No!

No matter what your size, even if it is just you, if you are serious about growing a business (rather than creating a low-paying, high stress job for yourself), you must have a plan. And part of this plan must be to grow a team to help you.

A big business will typically be divided into ‘departments’ with each responsible for delivery of objectives for the different areas of the business. These would typically be:

Product development
Sales & marketing
Team/HR
Operations
Finance

I recommend to my clients and readers that no matter how small your business right now, that you begin to implement the disciplines of a larger business. Imagine your business when it is fully grown – what departments does it have? Write them down and set objectives for each department. Then develop strategies for the delivery of these objectives. What developments need to happen and what resources are required? Tie your targets and any expenditure required into your annual budget (you do manage using a budget right? If not check out this article on preparing an annual budget) and start your financial year with a road map of monthly objectives and actions to make it happen.

Have you ever noticed how a small dog will take on a big dog, regardless of it’s size? It doesn’t know it’s small, it behaves as though it is big enough to tackle the world. This is the attitude you need to adopt with your business too. By all means, be nimble, be smart and take advantage of the benefits of being small. But learn the lessons from those companies who also started out small once (Apple, Virgin, The Body Shop to name but a few) and install some planning discipline into your business – sooner rather than later.

Remember – think like a big dog.

Grrrr!

From the desk of Liber8me. Business mentors and publisher of the book Liber8 your Business: The revolutionary business planning technique that will set every small business owner free

The 9 big DON’TS if you want to successfully grow your business

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Laura Humphreys

Everyone is always telling you what you should do to be successful in business. I thought for a change, I’d tell you (based on my own bitter/sweet experiences) some of the things you really shouldn’t do. Here are my top nine DON’TS when it comes to being successful in business:

1. DON’T start or continue a business with no idea of why what you offer is needed and wanted. Find your niche, be sure people want what you have and have a plan for how you will grow this business into the future.

2. DON’T believe you are the only one who can do what you do as well as you do. No matter what you do, no matter how specialized it is… there will be others out there who can be trained to do it just as well as you… if not better. Get your ego out of the way. Or you will become your business’s biggest liability when it comes to growth.

3. DON’T be afraid to hire people. You cannot do it alone. No one will ever buy a business that is dependent on its owner. You must build a team around you. This is, however, one of the most challenging aspects of business and most small business owner often make a complete mess of it to start with. Which leads us to DON’T number 4…

4. DON’T do your own HR. Most business owners are better leaders than they are managers. You can probably inspire people to want to work for you with your vision, your passion and great ideas. But an employee will never share the same level of passion as you, no matter how good they are at their job. Get an expert (HR consultant) to get the right tools and processes in place to motivate your team and manage their performance effectively.

5. DON’T try to grow too fast. You need people – but you need to know you can afford them first. Make sure there is enough forward cash flow in the business first – don’t hire them hoping the business will miraculously appear out of nowhere to pay for them.

6. DON’T ever believe that doing the work is more important than selling the work. Learn to do the IN/OUT dance – make the out there selling part of your job as important as the in there doing. You must have a sales pipeline in place at all times, always thinking about where your income is coming from next.

7. DON’T try to run a business without a budget. Business is a financial game, and you must lead with the numbers. Project your sales, set your expenses – have a plan to achieve these and then make the plan happen. Lead with the numbers. Create strategies to achieve financial targets and take action.

8. DON’T try to do it on your own. Business can be a very lonely game. Especially in the early days when you are doing everything. Even if you have a business partner or management team, it’s too easy to be introspective and talk yourselves into believing what you are doing is right. Get an external perspective on your business right from the start – a mentor, advisor, Board, Advisory Board… someone who will challenge your strategies and hold you accountable to your goals.

9. DON’T let the bastards grind you down! There is an extremely high probability that at some stage during the life cycle of your business you will want to quit. You will hate your clients, hate your staff, hate your suppliers and maybe even hate yourself for putting up with all their crap. You will have days like these. I call them duvet days. Go home, pull the blankets over your head and hide. But come out fighting again the next day, because as I saw on a billboard once: “I’m not saying it will be easy, I’m saying it will be worth it”.

Hope you liked this blog post. Now DON’T be shy… share your comments below, let’s get talking about the DO’s and DON’Ts of business success!

Brought to you by Liber8me. Business Mentors and publisher of Liber8 your Business: The revolutionary business planning technique that will set every business owner free.

How to motivate your team… take the check list challenge

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Laura Humphreys

motivation-new In my latest book, The Liber8 Disciplines, I’m working with HR consultant Antonia Haythornthwaite on the key strategies to build a high performance team. Antonia advises that you find out what key factors motivate a particular individual and then use these to encourage the best performance from this person. Knowing what motivates an individual and then building this into their goals and challenges can make a stunning difference to a person’s performance. In the book, Antonia provides a check list you can give employees to find out what drives them. I’m going to share it with you in this blog.

Take a look at the check list below. Your challenge is to book a time over the next few months with each of your team members to begin an informal evaluation process. Create a form for them using the following checklist. Get them to complete this check list and begin to work out the high performance formula for each individual.

MOTIVATION CHECKLIST – WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO YOU?

Tick the five factors that are most important to you at work:

¨ Pleasant physical work environment

¨ Sense of achievement, pride in a job well done

¨ Being treated fairly compared to others

¨ Job security

¨ Knowing that I’m doing what I’m best at

¨ Variety of work

¨ Challenging work

¨ Safe working conditions

¨ Promotion opportunities

¨ Freedom to do the job as I want

¨ Collaborating with others

¨ Project work

¨ Being well paid

¨ A good relationship with my manager

¨ Study and training opportunities

¨ Spending time socially with the people I work with

¨ Flexible working arrangements

¨ Regular feedback on performance

¨ Clear systems and processes to follow

¨ Goals to work towards

¨ Recognition of a job well done

¨ Perks

¨ Communication about the direction of the organisation

¨ Knowing how I can do better

¨ New, untried experiences

Once you know what motivates someone and build these things into their work day – their happiness and desire to perform increase dramatically. Give it a try – and let me know how you get on.

Happy team building

From the desk of Liber8me: Business mentors and publisher of Liber8 your Business: The revolutionary business planning technique that will set every business owner free