More Clients More Profits

According to the University Hospital in New Jersey, The Golden Hour is defined as the time period of one hour in which the lives of a majority of critically injured trauma patients can be saved if definitive surgical intervention is provided. The Golden Hour that I will be referring to is not as critical, although it may breath life into your business.

The idea of the Golden Hour that I’m writing about is to put one hour aside each week. That’s right, one solid hour. An hour when you are not going to answer your phone. An hour when you are not going to look at your e-mail. No texting, no browsing. I know, I know, after the shock of not having contact with the outside world for a full 60 minutes, you’ll think you’ll need the medical Golden Hour in order to survive. Guess what, you’ll be fine.

The thought is that once you block out this time, use it to accomplish objectives. One is to market your business. Another is to help others market their businesses. Use this time to send out those note cards you’ve been meaning to send. Review your list of clients who you haven’t talked to lately, and create a plan of action that will reopen communications. Determine how you can get referrals for your referral partners. Once you get going, you’ll be surprised how much comes to mind when you don’t let distractions interrupt you.

You can block out the same time each week for the next 52 weeks. (That’s the way I do it.) Or your can block out a different time each week, depending on your schedule. The time you block out isn’t the important thing. The important thing is that you actually do it.

What do you mean this all sounds great but you can’t find an hour to do this? If that’s true, then you can’t possibly take on another client. And if the latter is true, and you’re not making the kind of profit you want, then there is much to be done on your business.

So block out that time and block out the distractions. Use your Golden Hour to build the profitable business you want to have.

For something that takes so little time, testimonials provide a tremendous amount of marketing power. Is this one of the marketing tactics you have been using? If not, you may be missing out.

We all know how effective referrals are. Well, testimonials are a close cousin to referrals. So close, in fact, many people view them as being just as advantageous, if not more so. You see, referrals come about when the opportunity arises. Of course, we can set our minds to making referrals come about for others, and often they do. But we are not in complete control. With testimonials, however, we have total control. We can write a testimonial for others at our choosing.

The reason we can write testimonials when we want to is because we are not limited to any specific topic. Any is fine. Of course, the more the topics resonate with their receivers’ prospects, the more powerful they are. You can write about the work they have provided you or someone you referred them to. You can write about something they have done in the community. You can write about how you admire their professionalism or their desire to help others. The ideas are almost endless.

There are benefits for you, too. The people who receive testimonials are appreciative and want to return the gesture. Don’t be surprised if you start receiving referrals from them. Then there’s the exposure. Most people include the testimonials they get in their marketing materials and on their web sites. They also often frame the most special ones and hang them in their offices for others to see. As a result, your name and company are exposed to people who may otherwise not have heard of you. You never know where this may lead.

Make time every month to sit down and look through your list of contacts, business associates, clients, and others. Determine for whom you can write testimonials. After a while, this will be second nature for you and others will greatly appreciate your consistent efforts and the recognition they receive.

As a business advisor and marketing coach, I admire confidence. I appreciate a well-devised plan. I enjoy listening to businesspeople as they explain how they are going to build their businesses. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I cringe when I hear people say, “I have no idea where my next sale is coming from.”

Several things go through my mind when I hear these words: passivity, lack of a plan, and lack of willingness to make things happen, to name a few. Beyond that, it’s a poor state of mind. As business owners, we must be confident in our abilities and in our plans. We need to be self-assured that good things are going to happen. No, not just because we want them to happen, but because we have developed a course of action, designed to produce the results we want and need.

When a business owner wonders where business is going to come from, I see that as an indication that he does not understand who his profitable target audience is, does not know what messages he wants to deliver to them, and has no idea how he would deliver the messages if he actually had them. This means there is no marketing plan, and without a marketing plan, there is little chance that a business will be healthy in the long run.

Who is your profitable target audience? What is the message that you are going to deliver that it actually wants to hear? How are you going to deliver that message? Once you have answered these questions accurately, you can adjust the rest of your marketing efforts to meet the opportunities and economic atmosphere that you, your prospects, and your clients are facing. At that point, you will know exactly where your next sale is coming from.

I was giving a presentation about small business marketing last week, and it was very interactive. The audience members asked questions and gave opinions, which is the way I like it. At one point, when we were discussing customer service, one person talked about how she gives each of her customers the same excellent service — how she treats the person who spends $50 the same as the person who spends $5,000. This is very common among proud business owners and, on the surface, is very commendable. However, I think there may be another way to look at this — a way that can get you more referrals to the right clients.

I believe that, to initiate the greatest word-of-mouth marketing, we need to give clients and customers a greater experience than they expect. It is these experiences that they tell others about.

Let’s say a client purchases a $50 product or service from you, and the service just blows them out of the water. Now let’s say someone comes in and spends $5,000 and you give them the same service. Although they may be pleased, it is not going to have the same effect on the second client because someone spending $5,000 has greater expectations than someone spending $50. So the result is you have someone who spends significantly less being more pleased than someone spending a great deal more.

Another point many business owners are proud of is that they treat their clients and customers the way they (the business owners) would like to be treated — the Golden Rule. Is this the best thing to do? I don’t think so. I believe that, for greatest results, we should treat others how THEY want to be treated.

We could dig real deep into this philosophy, but I don’t think we have to do that to make the point. Take, for example, the different buying habits of men and women. The majority of men often want to “get in and get out,” while the majority of women are more apt to “shop.” To treat both of these groups the way you would want to be treated would be to lessen your effectiveness by at least 50%.

Some people are more pensive in their purchases, opting for less interaction, while others crave the interaction, asking questions and seeking advice, options, and opinions. Again, to treat these people the same or to assume that either wants to be treated the way you would like to be treated is not recommended.

The one caveat here is when treating others as you want to be treated refers to respect and courtesy. Every prospect, every client should be consistently treated with the utmost respect.

By the way, if you want to know how your clients want to be treated, simply ask them. You may, in fact, see a similarity in the responses of your most profitable clients. If so, address this, and you will be amazed how much business it garners for you.

The other night my wife and I were watching “Holmes on Homes,” a home improvement show on HGTV. If you’ve never seen the show, it features Mike Holmes, a contractor in Canada. Mike reconstructs homes where dubious contractors have recently done less than adequate work. After going into the home and assessing the situation, he and his crew demolish the subpar work and rebuild as it should have been in the first place … if not even better.

While watching the show, it occurred to me that these homeowners had been burned — many to the sum of $50,000 or more. Yet they let this guy come into theirs homes and suggest major reconstruction. This often includes such things as tearing down walls and ceilings or rewiring a portion of the house, even though these weren’t involved in the first construction.

What gives them the confidence to trust this guy even though they have little faith (if any) in contractors? It is his reputations. Sure this is bolstered by the fact that he is the star of a television show. But then again, that’s one of the most powerful tools he has in building his reputation.

Here are my questions for you. Do you have a strong reputation in your field? If not, why not? How can you make it stronger? If so, how can you continue to build on it?

If you do not have a strong reputation in your clients’ circles, then you are not going to readily get paid what you are really worth. Consequently you must continuously build your reputation. Follow through on your promises. Volunteer your time. Do things your competition is not doing. Do whatever it takes to not only get your name out there, but to also have it associated with a sterling reputation. As a result, you’ll also build a bigger bottom line.

The simple answer is that you can’t. The more complex answer is you can, but it takes thought and effort.

The title of this article comes from a popular World War I song that wondered how parents would keep their farm boys on the farm after they boys had seen the likes of Paris. And as much as the parents might not have been able to keep their boys at home after they returned from the war, you can’t keep your clients from wanting and looking for better service or a more exciting experience.

It used to be that clients would settle for average service. They believed that average was good enough — that by definition, that was the kind of service most people offered. But like the doughboys of World War I, those days are long gone. Too many people have seen above average, and they want it.

As a marketing coach, the thing that I want you to understand is every one of your prospects and clients has either been to places like Disney World or heard about their uncommon service. They have been to restaurants (even neighborhood restaurants) that wow their clientele. They have taken their cars to repair shops that make them feel like they own the most expensive car in the neighborhood when in fact it is nine years old and well past its prime. Consequently, this what they are expecting when deciding to pay for services.

Are you offering your clients above average service? Are you providing the wow experience? How are you going to get them and keep them now that they’ve seen Paris … uh, Disney World?

As a marketing coach, I work with professional services providers who are looking to better their businesses. It could be that they want more clients, more profits, or more time to enjoy their lives. No matter what their goals are, however, they must gain control of a particular facet of their lives — time management.

I was recently speaking to an entrepreneur who acknowledged that he could not consistently find time to effectively market his business. While discussing this, I brought up the idea of time blocking — putting aside time in his schedule specifically for marketing. He responded by telling me that he can’t make time blocking work. Even when he puts time aside in advance, he told me, he often uses it when other things arise. This is not an uncommon reaction to time blocking. In fact, it’s the one I hear more than any other.

I suggested that we go over his schedule and see if there might be an hour or two in the week that he could steal and use to grow his business. Everything, that at first seemed promising, resulted in a reason it wouldn’t work. I asked that he indulge me, and we looked at the time before and after his usual business hours. I noticed that every day he was at the gym at promptly at 7:00 and worked out for an hour before heading to his office. When we talked about this, he said that nothing got in the way of his workout — that that time was “carved in stone.” I asked why this was so, and he responded by telling that his health is important and the exercise also puts him in the proper frame of mind for the business day.

It was then he realized that he was already using time blocking and that he is good at it. All he had to do was convince himself that the activity during the time is valuable. As a result of this, he has vowed to put aside a specific time each week and use it to work on his business. I truly believe he is going to make this work.

Odds are that you already time block. Do you take the kids to school each day? If so, you’re time blocking. Do you walk your dog each night at a particular time? Yes? Then you’re time blocking. Do you watch your favorite show each week, have season tickets to a sporting event, bowl on a particular night, have a date night with your spouse? Answer yes to these or things like them, and you are indeed an expert time blocker. Now all you have to do is determine how you are going to make your expertise in this time management skill work for your business.

I recently read an article by Jim Rohn, the business philosopher who passed away last month. The article concerned time management — one of the things many small business owners list as an obstacle to their success. In this article, he says that the idea of time management is a myth, if not detrimental … and he’s right.

As Jim goes on to say, we have no ability to manage time. It is going to move on no matter what we do. So believing that we can indeed manage time is setting us up for failure and disappointment.

At this point, you may be thinking, “This is being too literal. Everyone knows we can’t manage time itself. ‘Time management’ is just a label applied to a possible solution.” Well, that’s true, yet the inability to effectively work within times constraints still persists. It continues to sap efficiency and profitability from businesses of all sizes, especially small businesses.

Time blocking
One possible solution is time blocking. This is the practice of allocating blocks of time for specific activities. For instance, you may block time for your weekly meetings. Time for other important tasks, such as marketing, bookkeeping, and networking, would be blocked. Not only does it put aside time, but the exercise itself reveals any lack of adequate time to complete all your activities. It also shows inefficiencies in your schedule.

Self-management
So the answer is obviously time blocking, right? Well, according to Jim, it’s not … and neither is any other practice. His point is that the only thing we can truly manage is ourselves. And that’s where many of us drop the ball. I can’t tell you how many people I talk to who grasp the idea of time blocking, understand its usefulness, and still do not implement it. Even though they understand this may be the answer to their problems, they are too stubborn to change their habits. (I wase for quite some time.)

This being the case, we have to learn to learn to change of frame of mind. We have to do whatever it takes to be more efficient and effective when it comes to utilizing the time we have. This could be time blocking or other idea — whatever works for you. But make no mistake, no matter what you implement, you have to manage yourself first!

Here’s to your success!
Peter George
Creator of the More Clients More Profits System

“If Johnny jumped off a bridge, would you jump off too?” I can’t remember how many times my parents asked me that when I was a kid. So many times I told them that I did something because my friend Johnny did it first. I bet you remember similar times from your childhood. Perhaps you’ve done something similar more recently.

It happens all the time. Businesspeople base their marketing on others — their competitors, companies in dissimilar industries, much larger businesses — to name a few. Few things could provide a worse marketing strategy. Few things could harm a company as deeply when it comes to promoting themselves. Few things leave me shaking my head in such wonderment.

Here’s an example that’s literally close to home for me. A couple of years ago, there was a company that was pounding the local airwaves … radio and television. They were getting a lot of attention. People were talking about this small company and the exposure it was getting. Many of the same people concluded that the company must have been doing great and that the advertising must have been providing at least an acceptable return on investment. “Why else,” they concluded, “would a company invest so much money in marketing?”

In fact, as a result, a number of competitors decided to step up their marketing. They were going to compete on the same playing field. Then they too would get a share of the seemingly valuable business the other company was getting. What they did not take into consideration was that the highly-visible company may have been spending money it didn’t really have or didn’t get back in sales. What they did not take into consideration was that even if the highly-visible company was marketing effectively, it didn’t mean that the same would hold true for others who tried similar tactics. What they did not take into consideration was that they most likely didn’t have the same budget or goals as the highly-visible company. All they wanted to do was jump off the bridge because they saw that company doing it and assumed it was successful.

So, after a while, the highly-visible company’s marketing came to an abrupt end. No longer were you seeing or hearing all the commercials. In fact, unless someone brought up its name, the company was out-of-sight and out-of-mind. Recently, I drove by their location and noticed that they have gone out of business. Likewise, some of the companies that jumped off the bridge after them did not survive. They suffered the same fate as would be expected for anyone who indiscriminately jumps off a bridge.

So my advice to you is to take others’ marketing into consideration, but plan your marketing based on your goals, your budget, and your capabilities. Do not jump off a bridge just because Johnny did it. If you do, in fact, blindly follow their lead, you may not like how the trips ends.

Here’s to your success!
Peter George
Creator of the More Clients More Profits System

To run a profitable business, you must connect with your most profitable target audiences. Better yet, they must connect to with you. You see, it’s their choice whether or not to do business with you. However, it’s your job to consistently tell them how you benefit them and why they should, in fact, choose to pay for your products and services.

One of the best ways to do this is speaking in front of an audience made up of your prospects. It offers you so many advantages, such as demonstrating your expertise, skills, and even your personality. All of these are judged as you stand before your audience. As a result, some people may think you know what you’re talking about but don’t have a need for your services at the time. Others may not make a connection at all. Still others will connect so strongly that they feel as if they have already established a relationship with you.

Let me tell you a little story; I think you’ll find it relevant. I am a huge fan of the rock and blues guitarist Eric Clapton. I have been to 29 of his concerts, including a private concert for only 250 people. And I have just about every album he has created. Over the years, he and I have developed a relationship … a very strong relationship. The thing is .. he doesn’t know it. In fact, he doesn’t know I exist. But that doesn’t matter.

All that matters is that I believe that there is a relationship. (No, this does not go to the point of being a stalker. At least I don’t think so.) I believe there is a powerful connection. So, of all the musicians in the world, he is the one on whom I will spend the most money and time. Yet all Eric has to do is perform.

Another advantage he has by performing is that he reaches millions of people. Just think of the economies of scale. And that’s what speaking in front of an audience offers you — an economy of scale. Okay, you may not be in front of millions of people, but you could be in front of dozens, if not hundreds. You stand a far better chance of connecting with larger numbers of prospects than you would if you were cold calling or marketing to smaller numbers.

So how can you address your profitable target audiences? How can you best showcase your expertise? How can you demonstrate your ability to help others accomplish whatever it is they need or want to do? How can you gain exposure in a way that offers others the opportunity to make a connection with you? You may never gain the status of a rock star, but you just might be recognized by some as the expert in your field. As a result, you’ll have prospects coming to you, ready to pay for your products and services.

Here’s to your success!
Peter George
Creator of the More Clients More Profits System