Women Uncover the Benefits of Business Mentoring on 8 May
May 3, 2012
When the Australian Businesswomen’s Network presents the Me & My Mentor webinar on 8 May, it will be addressing a story that’s all too familiar for many women in business. It goes like this:
A brave woman starts her own business…
She wants to be her own boss, set her own salary and experience the rewards of financial freedom, all while creating time to be with her family and raise her children.
Before you know it, our heroine suddenly feels overwhelmed by the countless tasks that fall upon her shoulders.
We invite women to take part in the free Me and My Mentor webinar on 8 May if they want to understand how a mentor can help their business success. We’ll showcase stories of both mentors and mentorees who will share the benefits that mentoring has made to their business.
Who should attend? Women who…
- Are ready to grow a business (but need advice and guidance)
- Want to develop a strategy for the future direction of their business
- Need a business plan to keep on track with your goals
- Want to expand business skills in fundamental business subjects
- Understand that a mentor can help support the achievement of business growth
Webinar Details:
Date: Tuesday 8 May 2012
Time: 10.30am – 11.30am AEST
Cost: Free
Venue: From your home or office
Register for the complimentary Me & My Mentor webinar now.
The Australian Businesswomen’s Network: Inspiring Women of Australia
WINNERS: 2011 City of Sydney Business Awards – Education and Training Category
How can you be a more successful business entrepreneur?
May 2, 2012
By Janet Sernack, Compass Learning
One of my clients recently decided that it was time re-invent both herself and her business.
She realised that she had fallen into the ‘ME-TOO’ trap, not only that she was quietly bored with what she was doing, she found that her business was essentially just as ‘ME-TOO’ as all the others in her market niche.
So knowing that all change begins from within, one of first of the many things that she did was to pickup and engross herself in a new book, ‘Mindsets’ by Carol Dweck.
Carol Dweck, describes a mindset as “the view you adopt for yourself” and goes on to describe how profoundly this affects people’s lives, especially around how they perceive opportunities, learning and failure.
Mindsets are a key part of our personalities that are based on our belief systems.
The most important point that she makes is that they can be changed!
She goes on to describe two prevailing key mindsets:
- The fixed mindset: this is judgment based with a constant need to evaluate everything. People believe that their abilities and intelligence are set in stone. That they have an innate set of talents that they need to repeatedly prove, and perceive failures or setbacks as a threat to their sense of self worth or identity. People tend to seek validation and externalise their power, often in denial and justification that the world needs to change, not them.
This mindset inhibits entrepreneurship and innovation because it blinds people to possibilities, options and choices, therefore to opportunities to create value that may exist. They have a deterministic view of the world. - The growth mindset: this is monitoring based and attuned to the implications for learning and constructive action. People believe that intelligence and abilities can be developed through their own efforts, and tend to view failures as opportunities for growth. They have a desire to constantly challenge and stretch themselves and will internalise their power. If something isn’t working, it’s up to them to change; they realise the value of challenging themselves and the importance of effort.This mindset supports entrepreneurship and innovation because it opens people to possibilities, which enables them to become resilient in the face of setbacks, and will make the efforts necessary to pursue greater and creative success as an entrepreneur. They have a great sense of free will and achievement focus.
Research shows that both the Entrepreneur and Innovator Mindsets starts with a growth mindset, but they are also consumer centric and oriented towards creating value.
An entrepreneur and an innovator both want (or perhaps even need) to grow; they want to provide value by creating solutions for things consumers need, as well as creating new value by providing useful things consumers didn’t even know they wanted.
This also sets the context for successful entrepreneurship: those who have a growth mindset to ‘see’ the opportunity, take positive actions, intelligent risks and are perseverant and resilient in the face of adversity, failure and challenge.
So, if you stop for a moment and reflect, which is what my client did to explore, what you can do to re-invent your business or yourself as an entrepreneur by evolving your Growth Mindset?
- To learn more from the possibilities and opportunities the range of recent challenges and failures present you?
- To further develop your levels of persistence, resilience and determination to succeed?
- To think more creatively ‘outside of the box’ and take more calculated bold and intelligent risks?
MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY JANET SERNACK
- How Healthy is Your Organisational Culture?
- How to Be an Extraordinary Leader!
- In what ways are you controlling and/or shaping your business efforts?
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Janet Sernack – Compass LearningJanet Sernack successfully runs her own international learning and development consultancy, Compass Learning, where she makes a difference to small and large businesses by designing and facilitating customised culture change programs, leadership and top team effectiveness learning programs. She is a business and marketing management consultant, corporate trainer, facilitator and executive coach. She has also held senior management positions in the wholesale, retail and consulting sectors, most recently as a Senior Consultant at Corporate Vision Pty Ltd (Mettle Group) and as Marketing Development Manager with Grace Bros (Coles Myer Group).
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Lorna Jane: How Australia’s Leading Activewear Label Uses Technology in Business
May 1, 2012
Lorna Jane, Australia’s leading activewear label, has a massive online and social presence, with over 339,000 Facebook fans and 6,700 Twitter followers.
So how did Lorna Jane use technology to ensure business success?
A new eBook from the Australian Businesswomen’s Network profiles Lorna Jane Clarkson, sharing how she has used social media to forge new paths in business and how she thinks small businesses can leverage technology to their benefit.
“The main benefit is being able to connect directly with the Lorna Jane consumers. Our customers always come first, so Facebook is an invaluable medium to receive their feedback on anything from the fit of the products, to customer service, to their favourite Lorna Jane piece,” says Lorna.
Lorna also shares her favourite tech tools and what she considers to be the most important technology to business success.
Download the free eBook now.
Read what Lorna Jane and other successful Australian women business owners had to say about their use of technology to innovate and forge business success.
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Are You Giving Away Too Much Free Content?
April 30, 2012
By Alycia Edgar, Coastal Accounting Services
A dilemma facing any service professional/consultant is, should I be giving away free content, and if I am, is it too much?
Two presentations I attended at SXSW in Austin, Texas this year basically gave the same answer to this question: Yes, give away as much as you possibly can because it leads to the consulting. It’s your marketing machine!
And here’s why:
Both presentations arrived at the same conclusion for me – free online content allows your prospects to self select by reading what you have written and brings them 60% through the sales process. How’s that for removing an icky sales conversation!
Takeaway 1:
Blogs will create attention and interest, but will not lead to action straight away.
Lots will consume content, but never be a client — and that’s okay.
Takeaway 2:
“Content creates an information annuity.”
You can share and re-share through social media, refreshing old content, particularly if the content is evergreen. And different social media platforms require a different strategy as well. Twitter, for instance, may only be viewed by a few of your followers at the point in time you tweet the post out, thus you can repeat over a period of time. Facebook and Google + have more stickiness in that your post will appear for longer. The trick is that something you wrote a year ago CAN be re-posted — not only will some of your existing audience have forgotten about it, but the newer members of your audience have yet to see it.
Takeaway 3:
“Your blog is an asset for your company. All content should end up there.”
Re-purpose your material to expand your blog by adding:
- Slideshares from presentations
- Turning presentations into blog posts
- Archiving a webinar and reporting on it
- Transcribing your podcasts to create blog posts
These are superb ideas aren’t they? (Did I say that I loved SXSW?)
Takeaway 4:
If you want to be seen as an expert, you have to narrow your focus.
Rather than writing about all the topics you are knowledgeable on in the one spot, create different platforms for those. By sticking to one topic in a blog, you create expert status on that topic. These blog posts can then create a book. Sounds far-fetched? Many authors in the market place today followed this route.
Takeaway 5:
We will give away our secret sauce.
One of the presenters said, “having a grocery list doesn’t make you a chef.” How true is this? You are able to deliver your knowledge and content in such a way because all of your experience, learning and knowledge to this point is your unique take on your topic. No one can have exactly the same approach as you.
Takeaway 6:
We shouldn’t talk about price in content.
If your reader is not able to perceive the value from the words on the page, or video content, then no price should be mentioned. This is more about consulting, in my opinion. If you want to engage your prospects for a short- or long-term consulting gig, then you really need to lead them to a conversation about your services, rather than just stating the price on your website. But if you do want to eliminate tyre kickers, a price range can help with this.
I hope you enjoyed the fab takeaways I curated for you, direct from SXSW. Joe Pullizi, who was one of the presenters I mentioned, presented a podcast you can listen to here.
MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY ALYCIA EDGAR
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Alycia Edgar - Coastal Accounting ServicesAs an accountant and former surf shop owner, Alycia understands the issues that small business face everyday. She believes you can work on your business effectively simply by understanding your business numbers. She creates innovative systems and processes that enable business owners to be highly focused and productive in their business, including Bookzkeeper – The Accounting Survival Kit for Small Business.
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Productivity Tip: Don’t Waste Your Wasted Time
April 28, 2012
By Michele Connolly, Get Organized Wizard
This month, I’ve been running a 30-Day Weight Loss-athon. In putting together the daily posts, it’s struck me that many of the strategies I’m applying to weight loss also work for business productivity and time management.
In fact, my favorite weight-loss strategy, ‘splurge strategically‘, involves saving your ‘naughty’ calories only for your favourite treats, and saying no to all the rest.
I think this strategy applies equally well to business productivity.
Um, how? you ask. Well, it works like this.
Most of us need a certain amount of downtime in our workday – time to recharge the batteries, refresh the mind. No one puts in a full eight (or however many) hours of solid output.
But sometimes we’re not strategic about this time. We let ourselves chat about nothing on the phone. Or linger too long on Facebook. Or do our work slowly and inefficiently. We steal poor-quality downtime for ourselves.
Then, because our productivity has been less than ideal, we compensate by denying ourselves a proper lunch break, or refusing to stop when our bodies and minds cry out for a change of scenery, which only makes us more tired, distracted and vulnerable to time-wasting activities.
Instead, we could be more strategic about our downtime.
How?
First, identify the types of rest and recreation you especially enjoy for your downtime.
For me, good choices include:
- Doing the Sydney Morning Herald cryptic crossword
- Watching a clever comedy TV show
- Going to the gym
Each of these are fun (maybe not-so-much the gym), take my mind completely off work, and help me feel refreshed when I get back to work.
Other ideas that could work for you are:
- Going for a walk
- Reading in a park or cafe
- Making yourself a healthy snack of cut-up fruit and vegetables to take back to your desk
Second, allow yourself to take these high-quality breaks when needed.
Listen to your mind and body when they tell you they need a break, and do something from your list – something that will rejuvenate you.
Of course, you do have to distinguish the voice that’s looking out for your physical, mental and business health from the voice that just wants to play.
If you think you can’t afford the time, ask yourself how productive you usually are when you feel this way. You soldier on. On to Angry Birds, right?
The more you take good-quality rest breaks when you need them, the less you’ll find yourself sneaking the poor-quality downtime.
Will you try this? Comment below to let me know your thoughts.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY MICHELE CONNOLLY:
- 3 Ways To Promote Your Facebook Business Page
- How to Create a Social Media Schedule – Part 1
- How to Create a Social Media Schedule – Part 2
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Michele Connolly – Get Organized WizardMichele Connolly helps people move from procrastination to action. She believes you can be happier if you take action on your priorities. Michele’s programs cover business, goals, home, personal organisation, writing and weight-loss, and are used by tens of thousands of people worldwide. Michele is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) and the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). She has been interviewed on Sydney radio, spoken at conferences, and won awards for her psychology studies, including original research and a thesis on happiness. Michele is interested in writing, books, simplicity, love, TV, productivity, and staying thin in a world of chocolate.
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Busted! Myths of Web Development Exposed
April 27, 2012
By Bianca Board, Web123
Ever wondered what’s behind the secret language website developers speak? Or wanted to know exactly why your developer might try to charge you $500 each time your website content needs a tiny change? Or even just why your beautiful website doesn’t get as many visitors as you’d hoped?
Well that’s why we’re about to bust some myths of web development and show you why most web “experts” don’t want you to know all this!
Myth Busted:
“Flash websites are the best; they look so good, and everyone loves them!”
A Flash website is an animated website that is created using Macromedia/Adobe Flash software. You’ve probably seen those silly “splash” pages that roll animation or play music and then offer you “SKIP INTRO”… Well, that’s Flash.
Why on earth would you want to make your customers sit there and wait for a stupid animation to play before they’re allowed to view the content on your website? It’s like having your shop-front door locked when you’re open for business and making customers stand there and listen to you sing a company jingle before you let them in.
Why Flash Sucks!:
- Your website won’t load on an iPad or iPhone.
- The website load time can be long and frustrating – meaning you WILL lose visitors.
- Flash breaks Search Engine website previews.
- Some users disable Flash to avoid Flash based advertising – therefore your Flash website won’t load at all for some users, even on standard computers.
- Information embedded in Flash is often invisible to search engines like Google. Because everything on the screen is rendered as an image, not text, your content won’t get found by important prospects, which makes it impractical and sometimes cost prohibitive to drive traffic to your site.
Myth Busted:
“Only the Web Developer should be able to make changes to your website.”
Think about it… if your web developer puts you in control, you are able to make any changes to the website yourself. That means they can’t charge you hundreds or thousands of dollars for every little change, so they’d be doing themselves out of business. But by restricting your access, your web developer can charge you whatever they want and get back to on their own schedule, basically holding you to ransom – and what can you do about it?
In a lot of cases, the changes you request over time may cost more than the initial cost of your website. An unfortunate client of ours was once charged more than $11,000 by their web developer over a two year period just for changes. Yikes!
You don’t need to learn a programming language if you want to change things yourself. There are systems out there that are designed to enable you to change and maintain your own website, without knowledge of any web programming languages. They’re called Content Management Systems (CMS) and they provide you with a simple, non-technical way of updating your content.
Make sure that you – the owner – maintain complete control of your website! Request a CMS and you’ll save yourself thousands of dollars, be able to serve your customers better and adapt quickly to ever-changing markets through what should be a major communication channel for your business.
Myth Busted:
“Yeah, your website will grow with your business… and so will your bills!”
When you embark on developing your website, make sure you consider what limitations your web developer places on you for future growth. You need to know that your website can grow as your business changes.
In other words, if you don’t require an online shop right now, but you might next year, ask how easy it’s going to be to add it to your website later, and how much it will cost. If you’re thinking about sending newsletters via your website, does the site have a system that can actually do this or will you have to use a separate paid software and double-handle all your email contacts?
And what if you want a blog, a calendar of events or a news section – can that all be included in your website or do you need to pay loads more just to set it up? A lot of developers out there will have sneaky hidden fees, like one we found that charges $44 for each extra page, and if you want a News, FAQs or Testimonial page, you have to pay another $10 per month for EACH — so that’s $30 extra every month for three extra basic page types! It’s robbery!
What you don’t want to have happen is that the features and functionality your website needs prove impossible for your website developer to deliver, which would leave you with only one alternative… an entirely new website built from scratch.
Myth Busted:
“That will be $10,000 thank you!”
Due to the way the web industry is, there seems to be another misconception that you must spend tons of money to get a decent website. Granted, there are websites out there that are worth every penny their owners have invested in them, but they are for businesses that turn over millions of dollars and actually have a hefty annual marketing budget to throw at it. The good news is you can still get a great looking, money-making website with a lot less.
First things first, plan ahead! Plan your website right from the outset and you’ll save thousands of dollars. Research what goes into creating a great website strategy and start making notes. Developers charge thousands for this, but with a bit of hard work, you can do this yourself and save big bucks. You’ll do a much better job too because you know your business and your customers better than any web developer ever will.
When you plan to develop your website, the dollars start to add up when the time it takes to develop the more ‘custom’ aspects of your website starts to creep up. The longer it takes, the more it costs.
There are so many shonky web developers out there today and with the industry jargon the way it is, it is confusing to make an easy comparison. Just remember, a lot of the cost is in the ‘custom’ functionality of web development, so weigh up whether it’s worth it and go from there.
So, has that got you thinking about web development? I sure hope so.
Yes, having a great website requires some serious leg work in preparation, and you’ve got to know what questions to ask your developer, but other than that, it really is easy! Websites are for everyone and it should be just as easy for you to understand your website and have control over it as it is for your customers to visit the site.
And now that the “myths” of web development have been busted, get out there and ask for what you really want and make sure you’re getting the best possible long term results from your website.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY BIANCA BOARD
- 7 Proven Tactics to Boost Your Website in 3 Months
- Features of Facebook’s Timeline that Suck for Small Business
- Secrets to the Ultimate Online Customer Experience – Turning ‘Search’ into ‘Sold’
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Bianca Board – Web123Bianca Board is a self-confessed perfectionist, but that’s a good thing, because as Web123′s chief designer and web strategist, she’s expert at helping small business achieve something that makes money and looks incredible without the designer price tag. With a creative streak that extends to sales, organic gardening, painting, decorating and generally making the world a more beautiful place, Bianca’s the person who will make sure that, along with functioning just as it should, your company’s website will look nothing short of amazing.
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Is Good Customer Service Hurting Your Business?
April 26, 2012
By Nerida Gill, Admin Bandit
You know what annoys me? Text book customer service. It comes across as fake, as if the person serving has been told to go through the motions or is being “nice” just to make me come back and buy more.
Now that’s an abrupt way to start a blog post! Each month, however, I choose a topic that’s close to heart, and lately well-intended customer service, the kind experts propound, is not just leaving me cold, it’s stopping me purchasing from some businesses.
It’s not that good customer service has no merit; it’s just that the all too common practise of reducing human interactions to a policy, a set of instructions to be followed for the sake of sales performance doesn’t work for me. I’m not denying that I’m in small business to earn money, especially repeat purchases… I just don’t think a one-size-fits-all formula works. It takes the soul out of what it means to be alive!
Apart from this, the notion of an a-b-c guide to creating customer satisfaction has two inherent flaws.
First, very few of the experts who advocate it have hands-on experience at the coal face. When did they last have a stream of frazzled callers in a telephone queue for a help desk? How often have they stood behind a cash register, legs aching, on a Friday night when their friends are out having fun? Without this experience, their advice is simply… well, a theory.
Second, people are savvy. We see through rote customer service, which is usually half-hearted, like singing out your times tables in primary school. It insults me because I am a unique person and I want to be treated as such. In a society like ours, where people are so often insecure or lonely, we crave interactions that make us feel special.
How do you feel when the person serving you says “Hello,” but is already looking through you to the next customer or recites, “Have a nice day” with the same enthusiasm they’d apply to pulling chewing gum off a bus seat?
On bad days, I want to scream. On good ones, I think of the larger-than-life characters from the classic TV show Are You Being Served?, who do everything by the book, but leave every single customer completely unsatisfied!
So what’s the solution… how do you provide customer service that is fresh and relevant?
- Start seeing customers as individuals instead of in terms of a service policy. Just like you, they have dreams and loved ones, heartaches and problems, but each person is unique, which means they may need a slightly different approach.
- Be real. Never fake a smile or compliment, and make your conversations genuine. If you’re having a bad day, admit it because customers appreciate honesty and may surprise you by offering a listening ear, good advice or a much-needed laugh.
- Be friendly and helpful because you can, not just in the name of customer service. Relating to people is a skill that can be learned, one that becomes far easier when you give them a little slack, and realise that personalities come in all shapes and sizes. Start by trying to understand people, especially that previous hurt influence current behaviour, and practising both sympathy and empathy. If you have staff, motivate and inspire them to do the same, and encourage them to personally enjoy each interaction.
- Difficult people still deserve kindness — as the saying goes, “two wrongs don’t make a right”, so I choose to take the moral high ground. Besides, being rude or mean is usually a sure sign that a person has a miserable life and, thus, needs my support.
- Make someone’s day by acknowledging they’re special. This could be remembering a small detail or taste, throwing in a dash of light humour, adding an unexpected ribbon on packaging or throwing in a discount or freebie. The best extras are spontaneous and random, given simply because you can.
What I’m really suggesting is that we make our interactions as enjoyable as possible. At the end of the day, I believe our human relationships are the only things that truly make us happy, so I want to make the most of each one. It’s important to remember that every encounter is an “exchange”… you are both “giving” a service and “receiving” a response. This is what creates community, which, ultimately, is what makes running your own business enjoyable and rewarding.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY NERIDA GILL
- How to Pull Your Small Business Out of a Slump
- A Facebook Case Study: Craft Makes Me Happy
- Conquering the Facebook Frontier for Small Business
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Nerida Gill - Admin BanditNerida Gill is the creator of Admin Bandit, a web-based accounting package designed specifically to make keeping the books easy for volunteer treasurers in community groups. After winning numerous business awards, Admin Bandit is in a growth phase after recently attracting external investment.
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eBook Reveals Technology and Innovation Secrets of Businesswomen
April 24, 2012
Sydney, 23 April 2012 — The Australian Businesswomen’s Network (ABN) has released a new eBook showcasing how businesswomen have tapped technology to propel themselves to the top of their industries. Sponsored by Optus Business, the eBook is titled Innovation Through Technology: The Innovation Secrets of 10 Women-Owned Australian Small Businesses.
“The world’s most successful businesses are harnessing the power of technology,” said Suzi Dafnis, Community Director at ABN. “Regardless of the size of your business, you too can use all the cool technology tools to generate leads, communicate with clients, fine-tune business proceeds and manage virtual teams – even if you’re not a computer geek!”
The eBook features interviews with 10 businesswomen who share how they have leveraged technology in innovative ways. For example, Mandi Gunsburger, CEO of babyology, explains how her company’s remote workforce operates “entirely in the cloud.” Using cloud-based technology and open-source software, Gunsberger circumvents the high costs associated traditional office space and traditional office software.
Other featured businesswomen reveal how they employ technology to track the success of marketing campaigns, get the most out of social media and smart phone apps, balance business and motherhood, enhance productivity, reduce overhead and manage cash flow more effectively.
ABN is a membership organisation that provides networking opportunities, business education, and access to mentors to businesswomen throughout Australia.
Media Contact:
Suzi Dafnis
suzi@abn.org.au
1300 720 120 or +61 2 8332 5400
To Counter Offer or Not? How to Manage a Resignation
April 23, 2012
By Kristy-Lee Johnston, Footprint Recruitment
It’s the worst case scenario for many businesses, especially small businesses: one of your best staff members submits a resignation.
At the time, you probably would consider doing anything at all to keep them and retain them as part of the team – but should you really consider making a counter offer?
Here are the top 5 things to consider before making any sort of counter offer:
- What is the reason for their resignation? If you don’t understand why they are leaving, you have no idea what to counter offer with. It’s important that you are confident they are being honest with you in regards to their reasons for the resignation, and from there you can make your decision. There is no point offering more money if they are leaving to pursue a completely different line of work. Conversely, there is no point offering a promotion if they are leaving to go to a less stressful or less senior role.
- Will the news of your counter offer get out to the rest of the team? It’s important to be aware of this, because if you decide to counter offer and the information around this gets back to everyone else in the workplace, you have a whole other problem on your hands. You may have others putting their hands out for big fat pay rises, some demanding promotions or others just quietly being unhappy and deciding to move on themselves as they feel it’s unfair.
- Can you afford it? No matter how much you may want to pay this person to renounce their resignation, if you can’t afford it, then a counter offer is destined for failure. Take some time to really crunch the numbers and make sure it’s viable.
- How will it impact the rest of the team? By offering this person the world, how will the rest of the team feel and react? Will their roles change as a result, will the entire office now need to run differently? Think about the flow on effect of any role and structure changes which form part of your counter offer and make sure you have accounted for any ‘fall out’ from the rest of the team
- How long will the counter offer keep them for? This is a tough one, because there is not definitive answer. Go back to their reasons for leaving originally, and see how well these are being addressed. If the counter offer addresses some but not all of this, you may retain them for some time, but not forever. The stats tell us that more often than not, people who are counter offered and decide to stay, ultimately end up leaving within months or possibly years – but it’s typically the former. So tread with caution and weigh up the chances of them still leaving within 12-24 months.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KRISTY-LEE JOHNSTON:
- Avoid These Common Recruitment Traps
- Recruitment 101: The Basics to Making Your First Hire
- Providing Reference Checks
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Kristy-Lee Johnston RecruitmentKristy-Lee Johnston is the Director of Footprint Recruitment, a Central Coast based Recruitment and HR agency which is run by locals, for locals. Kristy’s background includes 10 years in Recruitment, as well as 10+ years in a broad range of other customer facing sectors. She possesses Post Graduate qualifications in Psychology, as well as a Masters in Human Resource Management. Kristy is passionate about bringing something unique to the recruitment sector in her local area and wants to see all businesses make the most successful staffing decisions they can.
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Customer Service Tips: What Happens if Your Product Sucks?
April 20, 2012
By Vivienne Kane, Minuteman Press Prahran
Photo credit: cleaningspot.com.au
Were we expecting to have a great customer service experience when we looked at vacuum cleaners last Sunday? Not really – we just needed something that sucked! (unlike the sadly ineffectual model we were replacing). We ended up at a well known electrical retailer with limited time and pretty low expectations.
Enter the customer service specialist – friendly, efficient, and an absolute expert at getting inside our heads.
Did she blind us with choices from the jump? Absolutely not.
She asked lots of questions. We didn’t look at a single vacuum until she’d:
- Established our budget ballpark
- Quizzed us extensively on the purpose and expectations we had for the product
- Discussed the pros and cons of different product types
By that stage, she could show us a range of models from just below our budget to a few just above – but with value propositions that were very appropriate for our needs. She had us thinking through the options – with all the things that were important to us to the fore.
We had a play with them – and ended up with a model that was at the top of our budget range – but covered every base we were looking for brilliantly. Win win.
Really great customer service is not about bowling the customer over with your opinions.
You probably know more about the features and benefits of your product, and can appreciate the subtle differences between options better than the average customer. (Though not always, which will definitely keep you on your toes!)
Of course, for most customers, your expert advice is valuable – but don’t assume your preferences are the same as theirs. What you think and value may or may not correlate. The aim isn’t to make the customer think like you, it’s to provide great customer service and to find the best option for them.
Is that what you’re doing for your customers? And are your staff singing from the same song sheet or do you provide a great customer service experience?
MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY VIVIENNE KANE
- You paid for the phone to ring – so don’t make these 9 mistakes
- Are You Hiding From Your Customers?
- If your business came to life as a person, what would your customers think?
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Vivienne Kane – Minuteman Press PrahranAs the owner and operations manager of Minuteman Press Prahran, a franchise print supplier, Vivienne works with small business customers every day. She runs the business, and their online specialty division CalendarPrint, with her husband Nicholas and their talented staff. With a customer base which often has little experience in buying print, Minuteman Prahran’s point of difference is making the process as painless as possible. Vivienne is a strong advocate of clear and reliable communication as a key tool in winning and keeping customers. She started her professional life as a Speech Pathologist, and enjoyed a variety of roles in administration and community groups before establishing Minuteman Press in 2000. She has three Gen-Y adult children, is an almost an empty nester, loves travel and is a member of two book clubs.
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