Becoming A Solution To Your Customers Problems

Those of us in home based and small businesses are in effect selling our product. So becoming an effective salesperson is very important. Remember, however, that selling is not the only thing you do. Don't forget to use your time wisely.

What you want to do to help you move forward is to:

Plan and prioritize. If the majority of your day is spent with your customers, you will need some down time. You need to have time to look at the trends in your business. By this I mean go over your customer records, see where patterns are, what changes you need to make and then set up a plan to implement those changes. If you spend a little time at the end of each day going over what transpired during the day and set up your plan and schedule for the next day, you will be much better prepared for the next day and the subsequent days.

At the beginning of each week, take a look at where you want your business to be and make plans on how to get there. If something you are doing isn't working, make changes. However, then you need to give those changes time to work. If they don't work, change them again. Most important is that you spend the time each week to figure out what your business needs are and what your needs are, till you come up with what works best for you, your business and your customers.

As many of our long time readers know, I am a big proponent of To Do lists. Make up a daily to do list, a weekly and a monthly. Remember to consider your goals when making up your To Do list. Where do you want your business to be in five years, ten years? When you ask yourself these questions, you focus on the direction you want your business to take and the income you want to make.

Remember, after you have determined what your goals are, then take your goals and figure out the steps you need to take to get to that particular goal. Do this with each of your goals. Since we are concentrating on sales in this article, ask yourself: Do I need a new product? Do I need to look for other ways to sell my products? If I make these changes will I need additional funds? If I need funds should I get a parnter or find an investor? If I increase my business will I need to hire someone? Once you have answered these questions, then take the steps you have come up with and put them on your To Do list.

It is very important that you have a calendar and that you set deadlines. Your calendar can be paper or electronic. The most important thing is that you use it. Put all your goals, the steps needed to get to your goals, and deadlines to meet those steps in your calendar. Remember, if you use your calendar wisely it will help you accomplish what you need to and help you to get things done efficiently and on time.

To show you how your calendar can work for you, let's set up a marketing campaign. First, you want to schedule deadlines for everything that needs to be done before you can even start the campaign.

First set a deadline of September 4 to re-price all your current products. By the 12th of September contact the media you will be using for rate information along with their readership information, and what their ad copy requirements are. In our example the media would be newspapers and magazines. However, you can also do the same for television, billboard, etc. By the end of September (the 30th) make up your ad budget for the year. You will want to determine how much it will cost you on a monthly basis, so you can have an accurate determination of your monthly expenses. By the middle of October (let's say the 15th) set a deadline for your ad copy and any art so that you can meet their deadline. Let's say in our example it is the 1st of the month. So that would be November 1st.

The above example illustrates how to take a large project and break it down into smaller projects and to set deadlines for them so that you can get the whole project done.

As any successful business owner will tell you, of paramount importance is to keep in touch with customers. You can call your regular customers often, perhaps every six weeks or every month. Or if calling is not feasible in your business, keep in contact by sending post cards, flyers, or a special announcement. Be sure to keep track of when you last talked with each individual, or were in contact with them. Also, if possible, make some comment that personalizes the call, or written contact. For example, ask about new developments in their business or mention the spouse or children by name. Know your customer. Make your customer feel important.

A great way to keep in touch with your customer is after you've made a sale, send a thank you note. If your business warrants it, if your customer will probably run out of supplies in three months, send a reminder note.

As we all know catalogs are great, however, they are very costly to mail. Rather than send a catalog why not just send a postcard to your customers announcing the new items you have added to your catalog. If they use a particular product, mention that on the post card. The holiday is a great time of year to contact customers. If your business warrants it, a birthday card is a nice touch. For example, my insurance company sends me a birthday card every year, along with a calendar.

Some other ways to stay in touch is to send them an article about your business or a catalog sheet (these usually focus on one or a couple of items) or start a newsletter and send it to your customers on a quarterly basis or more often if warranted.

Another excellent way to keep in touch with your customer is to become a resource for your customers. Remember, many times when you make a sale, you provide a solution to a problem. Lease purchasing is a solution for those who need to move their home quickly. A repair service is a solution for wear and tear that comes with time. Tax preparers provide a solution to those that dread tax time and all the paperwork involved. Newsletters are a great way to become a resource. You could have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) article on a particular product you sell. Make your customer aware that you can provide them with solutions for a certain type of problem. If your customer has a problem that you can't solve refer them to another expert. If you are not sure of something when your customer asks, don't bluff your way through it. Tell your customer that you will get back to them with an answer.

One of the most important things is to deliver what you promise. If you say something will go out on a specific day, be sure it does. If you say you will get back to them with certain information, be sure you do so. Never let your customer down.

When your customers and others think of you, you want to be thought of as a problem solver. Someone who is reliable, organized, and cares. If you do all of the above you can accomplish this and customers will call you, and more importantly, refer others to you.

Copyright 2003 DeFiore Enterprises

Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 19 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our "how to" Home Business Solutions Digest, it's like having your own personal coach: subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com

---

Creating the Right ?Viral Reputation?

Unless you are brand new to business, or have been... Read More

E-Business?s Best Friend: eCRM

From Ebay to the smallest home-operated start-up, e-businesses of all... Read More

Complaining Consumers

The salesman's job is to be well informed; extremely well... Read More

Customer Loyalty

Loyal customers are the foundation of almost every business. Going... Read More

What Every Employee Should Know About Putting Positive Phrases Into Customer Service

If you were a customer on the telephone with a... Read More

Modern Call Center Solutions - Keeping in Touch is the Key

Call center solutions solve a range of age-old problems. As... Read More

How To Build Stellar Client Relationships

Your opportunity to build a stellar client relationship starts with... Read More

Breaking the Ice and Winning Over the Client!

Wherever you turn these days you'll find articles covering every... Read More

Customer First Customer Service

The world of customer service is rapidly changing. Thirty years... Read More

How to Retain Your Customers the Dish Network Way

Customer retention is vital to a business. If you cannot... Read More

Customer Service Tips for Mail Order Businesses

Can we be too good to our customers?... Read More

How To Handle Customer Billing Snafus

Q: I just discovered that for the past six months... Read More

What Exactly is Customer Relationship Management?

The defintion of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) that I favor... Read More

What Every Employee Should Know About How to Prevent Customer Service Conflicts

There are five techniques that have been proven to be... Read More

Customer Service and Call Center Outsourcing, Whats The Buzz?

The buzz is all about customer service and call center... Read More

Customer Service For Huge Profits

Customer service is the most vital asset for Business either... Read More

What Every Employee Should Know About How to Win the Loyalty of Customers

Dr. Michael LeBoeuf, in his cassette album entitled, Win... Read More

Be A Resource

What is one of the greatest ways to add value... Read More

Increase in Customer Sales = Increase in Customer Service

One of the most popular questions asked in online business... Read More

Astonish your Customers With These Customer Service Tips

Customer service today is getting worse. Win customers over and... Read More

Learning from Your Employees and Customers Complaints

Listening to complaints, whether they're reasonable or not, is a... Read More

Outsourcing: The Unspoken Costs

Outsourcing seems to be the new-new thing and approximately 50%... Read More

Stand Out in Business the Write Way

When was the last time you received a handwritten note... Read More

At the Carwash; The Customer really is always Right

You have no doubt heard the saying that the customer... Read More

How to Easily Increase Your Profits

Do you remember the last time you went into a... Read More

Wholesale Buyers Versus Retail Customers

Are wholesale buyers and retail customers really different? Frankly, there... Read More

Clients?Do You Really Need Them?

Running a successful business takes a lot of energy and... Read More

Sorry, No Customer Service After 4:00 P.M.

A few months ago, I wrote about ingenious styles of... Read More

When a Customer Has Done Everything to Get Your Goat

You try to make your customers happy. You sincerely WANT... Read More

The Death of the Loyal Customer

One of my classes in management focused on the repeat... Read More

Restaurant Scheduling for Success

- Excerpt from Richard Saporito's latest e-book "How to Improve... Read More

Under Promise & Over Perform: The Art of Managing Customer Expectations

I'll always feel warmly about Conrad's restaurant, in Glendale, California.On... Read More

Why Communication Skills Dont Work In Customer Service

Every time my firm conducts communication skills training, we know... Read More