Strings, Strings, or No Strings!

If you follow any team sport, you know that a draft or picking of teams has to take place in order to play. It could be kickball, volleyball, or football. From the playground to the pro ranks; you have to choose your team.  When I was a kid, we would pick our captains for touch or backyard tackle football with the following method: you take the football and spin it behind persons back and then say, “strings, strings, or no strings”, and if they guessed right they were the captain and could pick the team!  It worked, don’t judge me.

You would think people wouldn’t pick their staff this way, but the fact of the matter is this type team building does exist in the business world today. You may be responsible for building your team or business and the team that you build will carry out your vision, represents you, and will interact with your customers when you are not present. 

Read the following quote,

"In the long run, no matter how good or successful you are or how clever or crafty, your business and its future are in the hands of the people you hire."

 Akio Morita, co-founder, Sony

As you can see hiring (or drafting) the right person is very important.  Here are some tips for to help build a team that will represent your company and will help develop the relationships with your customers to create the fanatics you want.

1. Hire those you can trust to build up your brand and your reputation.     Remember, they will be the face of your company when you are not there.
2. Make sure the person hiring understand the impact of bringing the right person in, and their impact on the company.
3. Remember the Culture = the way you do things. If you bring in new hires, make sure they understand your culture. It is your responsibility to train new hires on how you do it at your company.

Get better about how you pick your Team.

by,

Mark Wiggins

CEO Xtreme Effort Speaking and Consulting,

Creator of "Customer Service is as easy as, delivering news papers, making cookies, and selling t-shirts" 

Mark@markthespeakerman.com

Recommended Reading List:

• Hire With Your Head: Using Performance-Based Hiring to Build Great Teams
• Who: The A Method for Hiring
• Match: A Systematic, Sane Process for Hiring the Right Person Every Time

When it comes to customer service, it's all about relationships..

One of the most common customer complaints is about the uncaring customer service they receive. From rude staffs, endless phone systems, the list goes on and on. It seems that few businesses are going above and beyond to truly satisfy and wow their customers. Fortunately, there are some good companies out there that truly get it when it comes to customer service.  I am starting a series on lessons learned from some of best in the business. Let look at a practice that is a lost art forum.

Make It Personal

The worst thing a customer service department can become is impersonal. Yes, a certain amount of technology is necessary for efficiency, but customers should never feel like they are at the mercy of it when all they really want is to talk to a live person. Perhaps no company takes this lesson to heart more than Zappos.com..  They have legendary customer service and they and their customers have come to expect the unexpected when they use them.  In an article in footwear news written by Jennifer Ernst Beaudry in 2009 she gives an great example of making customer service personal. 

One of the craziest stories," said Jerry Tidmore, who manages Zappos' help-desk concierge service, "was that a guest checked in to the Mandalay Bay hotel [in nearby Las Vegas] and forgot her shoes."
According to Tidmore, the guest called Zappos, where she had originally purchased the style, looking for a replacement, but they didn't have any in stock. So the company found a pair in the right size at the mall, bought them and delivered them to the hotel - all for free. 
Such anecdotes are a testament to the company's central tenet, which is written right under the Zappos logo on the Website: "Powered by Service." And while most customers don't call the company looking for pizza, Zappos takes its commitment to service seriously - sacrificing short-term profits for it, investing a minimum of four weeks of training for each employee and operating a 24-hour warehouse that is admittedly not cost-efficient.

The goal, Hsieh said, is to make Zappos' customers very happy - and that leads to big cost savings elsewhere. "We let our customers do the marketing for us.”

So what would your customers say about your companies customers service? Is it personal enough to keep them coming back  Zappos says yes! 

by,

Mark Wiggins

CEO Xtreme Effort Speaking and Consulting,

Creator of "Customer Service is as easy as, delivering news papers, making cookies, and selling t-shirts" 

Mark@markthespeakerman.com  

@speakerman87

Suggested Reading:

• The Zappos Experience: 5 Principles to Inspire, Engage, and WOW
• Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness
• Permission to Succeed: The only person who needs to give it is you
• Customer Service Training 101: Quick and Easy Techniques That Get Great Results

Marketing Plan - 4 Components of a Marketing Strategy

Reading List:

• Marketing As Strategy: Understanding the CEO's Agenda for Driving Growth and Innovation 
• Business To Business Marketing Marketing Your Business: A Guide to Developing a Strategic Marketing Plan 
• Small Business Marketing for Dummies, Second Edition

OVER-RATED! .... OVER-RATED

Customer service is sometimes overstated.  It get's watered down with tricks and gimmicks, but if you understand some basic principle or as I like to say some fundamentals, of customer service you can create long term relationships, as my old mentor Spencer Bartley use to say, " it’s all about relationships". Let’s take a look at  2 quotes that speak to the fundamentals.  First up, Jeffrey Gitomer, who is a guru on customer service and sales,  and is brutally honest says,  

"Customer satisfaction is worthless. Customer loyalty is priceless." Jeffrey Gitomer

 What Jeffery is saying is that, as a business you should not be happy with average.  Being “ok” is not enough.  A satisfied customer does not have the same impact as a loyal customer, or as I like to say as Fanatic customer does. 

Bestselling author and speaker Shep Heyken puts it this way  “Don’t just try to satisfy your customers – satisfaction is not enough. Loyalty is what you need Think about the word “satisfactory” – what does it mean? It means “okay” or “average.” If you are a restaurant owner, would it please you to know that the diners rated your food as “satisfactory”? Wouldn’t you rather have them raving that their meals were amazing or fantastic, planning to return again, and telling their friends the same? That’s more than satisfaction. That’s customer loyalty.”

 

Sam Walton states 

"There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down simply by spending his money somewhere else." Sam Walton

Sam Walton understood the fundamentals. Either you service your customer and build that relationship, or they will go elsewhere and spend their money.

 So in order to build loyalty, don’t try to make them satisfied, create loyal Fanatics for your business and get back to the fundamentals of customer service, which is the Customer first.

by,

Mark Wiggins

CEO Xtreme Effort Speaking and Consulting,

Creator of "Customer Service is as easy as, delivering news papers, making cookies, and selling t-shirts" 

Mark@markthespeakerman.com

Reading List

• It's the Customer, Stupid!: 34 Wake-up Calls to Help You Stay Client-Focused 
• A Culture of Service ... Creating Customer Service That Lasts 
• Superior Customer Service: How to Keep Customers Racing Back to Your Business--Time Tested Examples from Leading Companies

Find a Niche and Stand Out

One of the first steps to business planning is determining your target market and why they want to buy from you.

For example, is the market you serve the best one for your product or service?  Are the benefits of dealing with your business clear and are they aligned with customer needs?  If you are unsure about the answers to any of these questions, take a step back and revisit the foundation of your business plan.

The following tips can help you clarify what your business has to offer, identify the right target market for it and build a niche for yourself.

Know Exactly What You Have to Offer

Beyond basic products or services, what are EXACTLY are you selling? Consider this example:  Your town probably has several restaurants all selling one fundamental product--food, but each is targeted at a different taste or clientele.

One might be a drive-thru fast food restaurant, perhaps another sells pizza in a rustic Italian kitchen, and maybe there's a fine dining seafood restaurant that specializes in wood-grilled fare.  All  these restaurants sell meals, but they sell them to targeted clientele that is looking for the unique qualifies each has to offer.  What they are really selling is a combination of product, value, ambiance, and brand experience.

When starting a business, be sure to understand what makes your business unique.  What needs does your product or service fulfill?  What benefits and differentiators will help your business stand out from the crowd?

Be Strategic and Specific... Not a Jack-of-all-Trades

It's important to clearly define what you're selling.  You do not want to become a jack-of-all trades and master of none because this can have a negative impact on business growth.  As a smaller business, it's often a better strategy to divide your products or services into manageable market niches.  Small operations can then offer specialized goods and services that are attractive to a specific group of prospective buyers.

Own Your Niche and Become the Expert

Creating a niche for your business is essential to success.  Often, a business owner can identify a niche based on their own market knowledge, but it can also be helpful to conduct a market survey with potential customers to uncover untapped needs.  During your research process, identify the following:

• Which areas your competitors are already well-established
• Which areas are being ignored by your competitors
• Potential opportunities for your business

Reading List

• Riches in Niches: How to Make It Big in a Small Market
• Own Your Niche: Hype-Free Internet Marketing Tactics to Establish Authority in Your Field and Promote Your Service-Based Business
• Niche Methodology: 9 Strategies For Identifying, Gathering and Developing A Profitable Niche Market

Elements of a Successful Business Plan

Believe it or not, true business success does begin with a plan... a thorough business plan.  It's often a dreaded task that most business owners would like to skip, if they aren't looking for funding.  No matter how tempting, don't skip this essential step.  Your business plan is a living, breathing document that generally projects 3-5 years ahead and outlines the route a company intends to take to reach, maintain and grow revenues.

A well thought out plan also helps you to step back and think objectively about the key elements of your business venture and informs your decision-making.

So what are the key elements of a business plan?  From market analysis to your company financials, this guide walks you through the essential components of your plan, including how to develop a funding request.

1.  Executive Summary

Your executive summary is a snapshot of your business plan as a whole and touches on your company profile and goals. 

2.  Market Analysis

You should conduct research of your specific industry, market and competition and provide an analysis of that research in this section.

3.  Company Description

In this section, you should tell exactly what your company does, what markets it serves, and what will differentiate your business.

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4.  Organization & Management

All businesses are structured differently.  Describe your organization and it management structure, regardless of its size.

5.  Marketing & Sales Management

Include detailed information on how you plan to market your business and what sales strategy you will use.

6.  Service & Product Line

Give details on what you are selling.  You'll also want to include the benefits of your services or products.  If you have a product, describe your product's life-cycle.

7.  Funding Request

If you are seeking funding for your business, find out what information you need to include in your plan to ensure success.

8.  Financial Projections

If you need funding, providing financial projections to back up your request is critical.

9.  Appendix

An appendix is optional, but a useful place to include information such as resumes, permits, leases, etc.

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How to Respond to RFIs

When the federal government is considering a procurement, but is not sure about specifics or methods, they may issue a Request for Information (RFI). 

An RFI provides you with an opportunity to make suggestions regarding what they should include in the future RFP if it goes forward.  In cases where the government knows exactly what they need, RFIs are used to determine whether there are any qualified small and/or disadvantaged businesses that can do the work.  If there are, they may decide to set the work aside specifically for those businesses.  Otherwise, the procurement will become a full and open competition.

With some agencies, responding to an RFI is required if you want to be able to respond to the future RFP. In most cases, this will be stated in the text of the announcement. In other cases, it’s important to know the practices of the agencies to determine whether or not RFPs will only be issued to those companies that respond to the RFI.

According to www.CapturePlanning.com, when responding to an RFI, there are several things that you can try to influence, in order to give you a competitive advantage should an RFP actually be released. There include influencing the:

• Technical scope. Try to include requirements that will limit the field of competitors.
• Specifications. Make recommendations that you can comply with, but will be difficult for others.
• Contract Type. If you have a preference, here is your chance to make a recommendation.
• Contract Vehicle. If you have a contract vehicle that you think is advantageous, recommend its use.
• Small Business. If you are a small business and think you can do the work yourself, recommend that it be released as a small business set-aside.
• Pricing. With many programs, choices made early on can have a big impact on the price.
• Past Performance. If you don’t have any government project past performance, make sure you recommend that they consider relevant commercial experience.
• Certifications. If you have any relevant certifications, recommend that they become requirements to limit the competitive field.
• Methodologies. If there is a particular approach you would take, describe it so that they can make it a requirement.

Make sure that you describe your recommendations in language that can be included in the RFP. Keep in mind that if you make a recommendation and it ends up in the RFP, everyone will see it and bid accordingly. Sometimes this will level the playing field and you will lose the competitive advantage. These recommendations are better to save for when you are responding to the RFP, so that you can keep the advantage and stand out from the crowd.

For more information on responding to request for information or similar documents such as Sources Sought Notices and Market Surveys, visit www.captureplanning.com.

Know When to Bid or No-Bid

As a small business owner, it is very tempting to bid on every opportunity that flows into your inbox. Before making that next leap—wasting time, energy, and other resources—to bid on an unwinnable opportunity, consider looking for reasons to “no-bid” it.

Here’s a starting point:

1. You find out about the opportunity when the RFP is released.
2. The customer has not budget or can’t afford what is actually required.
3. Your competition is cheaper.
4. There are too many competitors.
5. There is a requirement in the RFP that you can’t live with.
6. The price risk is too high.
7. The performance risk is too high.
8. You have negative past performance.
9. The customer doesn’t like you.
10. You don’t like the customer.
11. The RFP is too vague.
12. The RFP is too specific.
13. You don’t have enough staff available to write the proposal.
14. The schedule is unrealistic.
15. You don’t have the staff to do the work.
16. You can’t promise delivery of key personnel.
17. You don’t know who the competition is.
18. The customer likes someone else.
19. Your awareness is limited to what is in the RFP.
20. Pursuing it would distract you from other opportunities.
21. Your started working the proposal after the RFP hit the street.
22. The customer doesn’t know you.
23. You can’t adequately perform at the price you plan to bid.
24. The technology requested is already obsolete.
25. There’s not enough profit in it.

You can find additional reasons to ‘no-bid’ opportunities and other related information atwww.captureplanning.com.