Always On

As a small business owner or salesperson you are always on. You are always presenting, marketing, selling and producing. Failure to acknowledge this will prevent you from being as successful as you could be. I dare say it can actually do harm to your business.

Let’s break it down and take a look at each area.

1. Presenting
No matter where you go or who you connect with, you are always a representation of your business. How you speak, what you say, and how you conduct yourself telegraphs volumes about your business to others.

Consider how you want others to view your business before you go out into the world. The walls really do have eyes and people really do pay attention. Don’t think for a minute that you can share dirty laundry or gossip with the people you interact with. Well, actually you can do it; it just isn’t a good idea. You’ll leave them wondering what you say about them when they aren’t around.

If you have a difficult client, fire them. Don’t complain about it to others. You are a professional. Handle it!

2. Marketing and Selling
These two go together and are sometimes hard to separate. Marketing and selling are information giving activities. However you share information about your product or service, you are marketing and selling. Keep that in mind as you go about your daily activities.

Let’s talk for a minute about business cards. They are a marvelous, inexpensive marketing tool when used properly.

Today I was meeting with a client at a local coffee shop. A man walked in who she knew and they started talking about work. As he talked about his shop my client mentioned how she refers people to those kinds of stores often and asked him for his business card.
He didn’t have any on him. My client commented that I would tell him he should always have his cards on him. SHE learns well! Anyway, his comment was that cards just end up in the circular file.

This man is operating under some common myths. Myths I’d like to dispel here.

The first myth:
The 10 to 15 cents you pay for the card is worth more than the potential business you are missing by not having them on hand. Business cards have value because they take you with the person you give it to. They are reminders. And if you’ve got them, use them. What good are they doing you in the box on your desk?

The second myth:
When you have business cards you are supposed to hand them out to everyone you meet or run into. Not so. You carry your cards with you so that when someone ASKS for it you can give it to them. This eliminates the possibility of the recipient throwing away the card. They want to have it!

Consider the story above. My client wanted the man’s card so she could refer him to other people. There’s nothing better in sales than a warm referral. She asked for them because she wanted to use them. She wasn’t being polite. She wasn’t going to throw them away.

The man in this story doesn’t see the real value of having business cards. He isn’t using them as the marketing tool they are meant to be. I can say the same thing for sale sheets, brochures, slicks. Any marketing material you have is only as good as how you use it.

The last marketing topic I’d like to touch on here is website usage. So many businesses either don’t have a website or don’t have their email attached to it. Your website is one of your most valuable marketing tools. It’s on 24-7-365. You can drive people to it. You can highlight any and every thing about your business. When your email address is attached to it people are reminded of your company every time they send you an email – or get one from you.

Too many small business owners have their email address at Yahoo!, gmail, hotmail, or aol. The message they are conveying is that they really aren’t serious business people. It’s unprofessional and can be damaging to your reputation and success.

3. Producing
The most interesting thing about producing is that it plays an integral role in marketing and selling. After all, how well you produce tells others whether they should buy what you’re selling. Producing is a sales tool.

No matter who your clients are, and no matter what they are paying you, you must produce to your utmost ability all the time.

If you decide to do some pro bono work, or discount your rates for a friend, it doesn’t mean you can discount the product or service that you deliver. When you make the choice to discount your rates, you are saying that you plan on producing at the same top level for less money. YOUR CHOICE!

Here’s an example:
A business consultant decides to offer his services to his friend at a discount. Unfortunately, he provides that friend, who is now a client, less than his usual level of consulting. He doesn’t follow up. He doesn’t set the same meetings he would set with a client paying full price.

His friend/client is left feeling underserved. That same friend has been referring this person because they are friends and she believes in him. So he HAS been gaining more than payment from his friend. He isn’t, however, providing a high level of service to his friend. The result is that his friend, who isn’t receiving what she expected from the consultant, is unhappy. She’s feeling that she is spending money without receiving the service. And she’s feeling that her friend is taking advantage of her. Well, in reality, he is.

You see it was the consultant’s decision to discount his prices. If he had planned on providing lesser services he should have told his friend so she could have made an informed decision.

The lesson here is this: Always provide outstanding service. Under-promise and over-deliver. Don’t discount your prices if you aren’t prepared to provide outstanding service.

Remember, you are always on. People are always drawing conclusions about your product or service based on your behavior. So, make the decision that you are in business to stay; to succeed. Make the decision that you are going to present yourself and your business in the best possible light. Don’t let YOUR behavior negatively impact your business.

Copyright© 2008 Seize This Day Coaching