secrets of Biz Success

Business owner, here are some important success tips to remember....
Secrets to Success for Business Owners
	Your key focus should be to: w improve cash flow w control costs w serve your customers with quality,  promptness and honesty w cover your assets with insurance w reduce your taxes w hire, train and develop good employees w sustain your business with great marketing strategies w take care of your health Develop your brand and image.  Branding strategy is ultimately about fulfilling promises. It is about trust, quality, service, and reliability. Successful branding is about promoting your strengths and matching these with your customer’s needs.  Successful branding increases your visibility, recognition, sales and also the perceived value of your organization. Communicate your “brand” with every brochure, advertisement, letter, etc. Make sure employees have a thorough understanding of your products and services so they can answer customer questions.  Goods news travels fast, but bad news travels even faster.  Be fair, honest and  deliver.  Your reputation is like money in the bank. Good customer service is becoming rare.  Serve your customer with excellence. Go beyond what is expected.  Shine with promptness, professionalism, integrity and product knowledge.  Respond to all sale leads, referrals and networking leads quickly. Thank customers who voice a complaint.       “Thank you for bringing this to our attention.         We appreciate customers who let us know when things aren’t right.”        “Thank you so much for your feedback. We appreciate you giving us         an opportunity to correct the problem and to meet your expectations.” Don’t hire carbon copies of yourself.  Seek those who have strengths and skills that will compliment  and support your business growth.  Good customer service is becoming more rare. Serve your customer with excellence. Go beyond what is expected.  Really shine with promptness, professionalism, integrity and product knowledge.  When you look in the mirror you will see your boss.  You must be self-motivated, a self-starter and believe in yourself.  If you are a sleeper, a procrastinator or only want the glory and money without the guts and behind the scenes daily details, you will fail in your business. Customers don’t care about your personal problems, your sales contests or excuses. Focus on their needs.  A satisfied customer is your sales staff.  Ask for referrals.  Success is a numbers game. Talk to more people to multiply your opportunities. Speaking is advertising.  Seize opportunities to talk about your products and service. Show, tell and sell.  "Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them." - W. Edwards Deming  "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning."  ~ Bill Gates Joe Girard is the only salesperson ever inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2001, renowned for selling more cars than anyone else in the World. During his fifteen year selling career, he sold 13,001 cars, all at retail - no fleet, wholesale or used cars*. JOE GIRARD'S 13 RULES TO SUCCESS! KEEP YOUR TROUBLES TO YOURSELF and make people believe you are having a wonderful time. ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE; keep an appointment book so that you don't have to use the words that sicken me: "I FORGOT."  At the end of each day, list what you did and plan your work for the next day.  If you know where you are going you will get there. WORK WHEN YOU WORK; don't take long lunch hours or play golf when you should be working.  Eat with people who can help your cause, not co-workers. DRESS THE PART; what kind of people are you dealing with.  If you are selling to blue collar workers, don't wear $500 suits and expensive shoes, jewelry or watches.  Wear it on your own time, not when you're working - clothes can turn people off. OBSERVE GIRARD'S NO- NOs; No smoking or chewing tobacco, no gum, no colognes, no profanity or dirty jokes, and men do not wear earrings while you are working.  Turn off cell phones - they're irritating.  The biggest killer of them all is NOT BEING ON TIME. LISTEN!  People can tell if you're not listening.  The longer you listen, the more obligated people will feel to you.  The more you listen, the more likely a customer is going to do business with you.  Listening shows that you care.  "The mouth should only be used for eating - keep your big mouth shut!" SMILE!  A smile increases your face value.  If people would smile more, they would feel better and make their customer feel like doing business with them. KEEP A POSITIVE ATTITUDE; hang around with positive people, stay away from naysayers or crybabies.  If something isn't going right in your life, keep it to yourself - no one wants to hear your problems. RETURN ALL PHONE CALLS & EMAILS; not returning calls or emails are a way to lose customers and friends.  Return your calls and emails as soon as possible. TELL THE TRUTH; if you get caught in a lie even once, you will always be considered a liar.  Even if you tell the truth for the rest of your life, you won't be trusted or believed. DON'T OVERCHARGE; if you do, and the customer compares your deal with somebody else, you will have lost him.  Take a little and leave a little; Joe only worked on a small profit, but he was heavy on volume, averaging six retail automobile sales a day.  Word of mouth got around that you can't beat Joe Girard's price. STAND IN FRONT OF YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICES; not behind.  The most important thing to do for your customer is SERVICE them, and they will do business with you over and over again. LEARN FROM EVERY SALE; when people tell you why they do business with you, they are reinforcing their trust in you.  You learn about things they like and what they don't like and if they like you they will do business with you forever.