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We always talk about the importance of listening to your customer, have good follow-up strategies, keep a relationship and a conversation going with customers.

So sometimes, people get the wrong impression that this is the same as saying the customer is always right and that they have all final decisions. From how your business processes should be, to when they should pay you. Believe me, to understand this relationship is not only good for business, it is part of marketing too.

Have in mind that you as the business owner decide how to run your business, not the customer.
I found this blog post at Duct Tape marketing that I think explains this right:

“There is absolutely nothing wrong, in fact there’s everything right, with building a culture of making the customer thrilled at every turn, but you can’t adopt the mentality without two things firmly in place first.

1) You must absolutely set up every communication with the goal of attracting the ideal customer – ideal is a customer that values what you have to offer, values how you offer it, and determines that value is a mutual exchange of such – very much like any healthy relationship. Bad relationships come from misunderstanding yourself and what you really have to offer and the same might be said for attracting customers for the wrong reasons.

2) You must build an experience that does indeed thrill at every turn – from lead generation to getting paid.

With those two qualifications in place you can allow the customer to always be right, because you’ve designed a culture of mutual benefit and your “we won’t rest until its right” policy will serve both of you long term. Small businesses simply can’t afford to attract the wrong kind of life robbing customer and expect to make them thrilled, it’s a nearly impossible task and will be accomplished likely to the detriment of your ideal customers.”

So, repeat after me, the right customer is always right – with that mindset the accountability shifts from the customer to you.

by Shahar

We are living in a moment where the media is selling crisis. Most people are buying into this message.
I hope you don’t buy into that but it is a good time anyway to reflect a little on the reason you are in business and how you do business. This is a good time to think about choices. Results in business are based on choices.

We might not like to admit, but we are responsible for self-inflicting bad times or prosperity. We are responsible for our choices.

Think about this: you can choose to sell rocks or diamonds.

You can pick rocks from your driveway which will be really cheap and won’t require a lot of work. They don’t have a lot of value unless you sell them in bulk.

On the other hand, mining diamonds is a similar task although it takes a little bit more work. You might have to travel to find diamonds, you need some specific tools etc.

The difference is that every diamond you find has a lot more value than a whole truck of rocks.

You are responsible for the business you are in and the results you get.

When marketing a business, same thing.

You can do what is easy and cheap or you can do a little more than your competition, use some tools they are not willing to use. Like social media, write on blogs etc.

The value you’ll get from these efforts are also very different.

Yes, sometimes it takes a little more work, a little more effort, an extra mile.

At the end, it is your choice: Rocks or diamonds?

Whenever you see yourself in a moment when you need to make more money in your business, generate more leads and get more customers, you need to know you have 3 basic options:

1. Sell something different
2. Sell to someone different
3. Sell differently.

The one thing you absolutely cannot do: Keep on as-is.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could just close our eyes, take a deep breath and wait for bad times to go away? And then, open our eyes and see everything back to normal?

Yes, it would, but in real life, this will not happen and you will have to change the way you do things in order to get different results.
Not only that, you might have to set up the alarm clock, get out of bed earlier and go do more of the things that are working for you now.

Not to discourage you, but allow me to tell you how things really work today.
We are all living in a new economy. The people willing to do what it takes will succeed and thrive in this new economy. Willingness to change and implement new strategies are a must. It is not difficult or hard. Just need to take action.

Now, back to the 3 surefire ways to get more customers, more leads and therefore, a lot more money that I just mentioned above; think for a moment how you could apply them into your business.

Here are a few questions/tips for you:

1. Can you incorporate a new product or service to your business?
2. Could you make some changes to an existing product or service and launch as a new one?
3. Could you add a continuity program to your existing business?
4. Can you find another channel to sell your services?
5. Could you sell them online?
6. Could you incorporate new follow-up systems in order to sell different services to your existing list of customers? (this is always cheaper than go out looking for new clients)
7. Can you learn how to generate new leads online using inexpensive social media tactics?
8. Could you sell using Teleseminars? (you’d be selling to different people and in a different way)
9. Can you create automated lead generation and follow-up strategies? (using auto-responders, free reports etc?)
10. Can you use tools like Twitter and Facebook to generate a flow of new prospects and traffic to your website?

Let me answer that for you: Yes, you can! It doesn’t matter what kind of business you have, B2C, B2B, with low budget, almost no budget etc.
Anyone can sell something different and/or sell to someone different and/or sell differently.
You might have to sharpen your saw, learn some new skills, but this is an easy problem to solve.
What really matters is that once you acquire the new skills you need you take action fast and implement.
Most people do not implement or just freeze and do nothing. That is the main reason why only 5% of the population ever gets rich. They are the ones that take action and implement.

People like to say they don’t do it because there is no budget, no extra money or no time. These are not the real issues.
Today, we have the internet with social media. Social media is not free, there is the time you need to commit, and it doesn’t work overnight, it is a process; but the return on your investment is huge.
By social media I mean tools like Twitter, Facebook, online videos etc.
Anyone can learn how to do it and can do it with almost no investment.

Did you know that Facebook alone has over 400 million active users (people that login at least once a week)? Do you know you could be selling to those people? Generating traffic to your store, office or website?
Did you know that 6,000 new accounts are created on Twitter every day? And you could be selling there?

Let me give you some examples of what I’ve stated above:

Sell to different people in different ways, through different channels

A pastry chef called Morita works for a restaurant in Hawaii. With the recession, attendance in the restaurant went down and he feared he would loose his job.
He started taking pictures and posting on Flickr and then announcing on Twitter what would be the desert of the day.
People started showing up, different people from a different channel. Hint, hint.
Today, the restaurant is selling way more than before the recession.

Hawaii is too far and your business could not do the same?

Ok, here is another example close to your home.

Some months ago, Pizza Hut started selling pasta (sell something different).
You probably saw the commercials. They used the fact that Americans tend to eat pasta at least once a week and that with the recession tend to stay and eat at home more. They saw an opportunity to steal sales from casual restaurants like Olive Garden (sell to someone different), and gain and edge over other pizza delivery chains.
They sold 2 million boxes of past just on the first month and plan to produce $500 million in revenue from this source on the first year.

I know, you are not in the pizza business. But your business is not different from these examples, you might like to think they are, so it would give you an excuse not to try something different, but at the end of the day, you could sell something different, to someone different that came from a different channel.

It is not about money, time or resources. It can be done.

The only thing you might need to get this accomplished is some new skills.
Maybe understand and learn how to use the Internet and social media the right way.
Maybe understand how to apply effective follow-up, generate leads, how to incorporate continuity programs to your business etc.

But not even that is a problem. Let’s cover the possible obstacles for you to invest in acquiring new skills to apply in your business:

Where to find training specific to your needs, to the point, with easy steps to implement, no fluff and proven to deliver results?

That is a very easy one! Buzzbooster Marketing just launched a whole series of multi-media training covering business issues that other places don’t.

You’d like to master Social media and use in your business, but every expert you met is broken and all they know is how to get a bunch of virtual friends.

I feel your pain! Most people think because they know how to do a profile on Facebook, they understand how businesses could profit with this.
The BuzzBoosters have a track history online, have several small online businesses and invest a lot in their own skills. They rub shoulders with some of the biggest online marketers and know what is working online.

Money is short.
Not a problem! During the launch phase, all training programs have a specials that are very affordable. They all have flex payments options too!
Not enough? Ok, I’ll give you a coupon code that you can get a 15% investment reduction. This coupon has a limited time offer, so don’t leave to the last minute.
Use the coupon code: Imsmart on check-out at www.training.buzzbooster.com

I need to know everything, so I won’t have to go look for training somewhere else.
Our trainings are based in 6 easy steps. One step per week is covered in depth. Clear action steps and organized.
For 6 weeks, you will learn all that you can apply in your business for that topic.

I’m ADD
So are we! That is why we cover all bases. The training programs have easy to watch instruction videos and how-to videos, audio, and text. You can learn using what you feel comfortable with. All material is available for download, so you can use when you feel you can focus more.

I’ve no time.
Time is our most valuable commodity. There is never enough of. That is why these trainings are so effective and different.
They last 6 weeks, but you will have access for a lot longer. Don’t forget that you can also download everything, and use when you have time.
You don’t have to attend classes in one specific time. You consume the training when you can, where you want. Just need to have internet access and a computer.

I need support!
You have it. We’ll support you all the way. After all, that is our mission “to empower entrepreneurs and business owners”. We want you to succeed. We want you to see us as partners.

I need to feel safe!
You are safe with us. We have the BuzzBooster ironclad guarantee. If you don’t like, you get your money back.

The only thing you need to do is take action!
Choose the training program that you want now! You’ll have instant access and will be able to apply what you learn right away.
Then, take action and implement right away, so you see more customers coming, more sales happening, more money flowing into your pocket.

Remember: www.Training.buzzbooster.com
You have flex payment options.
Use coupon code: Imsmart for 15% off.
Offer is limited; prices will go up in mid-summer.
Bonus: When you join one training program, I’ll send you a FREE CD of your choice and one issue of the Engage Magazine in the mail.

Questions: 801-8429765 or buzz@buzzbooster.com

Here are a few of the training programs available:

Rank First on Google -Ultimate SEO Course!

Discover How You Can Profit With Online Videos!

Generate an Avalanche of Leads and Traffic to Your Business!

The Power of Continuity Programs – Make Money Over and Over Again
Twitter for Business: Harnessing the Power for Profits in 140 Chars!
Facebook For Business Magic!
Create a powerful joomla website from the ground up!
Powerful Direct Response Marketing Strategies
7 Steps to Increase Productivity
Magical Follow-Up Strategies for Business

Secrets of information marketing business

Social media inside out

How to create a sticky business- The power of positioning

Brand goes way beyond logos and taglines. Brand is the customer’s perception of your products or services.
Every touch point with the customer defines and reinforces your brand. This includes how you answer the phone, your appearance or the appearance of your sales force, your website etc.
It is critical for your business to manage this perception and to differentiate yourself from your competition.
Does your customer’s perception match the personality you want them to see?
Here are a few points to consider:

1. Are you really different?
What differentiate you from your competition? Please, don’t say it is customer service, quality or good price. These are expected and cannot be considered added benefit.
What differentiates you must be relevant to your customer and unique to your company.

2. Do you and your customers speak the same language?
Use their words and not your own. Pay attention to what your customers say when they interact with your company. On your website, find out what the search terms are.

3. Always remember you are selling to people and not to businesses. If you do B-to-B remember that it is really B-to-P. Business to person.

4. What is the emotional gain that your customer receives when doing business with you?
Make things simple and meaningful to your customers. Do not complicate.

5. Consider every point of contact an opportunity to reinforce your message. Use everything you can to get your brand reinforced, your website, packaging, direct mail, appearance.
6. Make your message relevant and special to the person placing the order.
Think of your brand as a persona instead of a commodity.

Defining and refining your business personality, or brand is a necessity. Your business should be constantly re-evaluated to make sure the message is consistent with your audience.
Remember that your audience is made of people with real lives, dealing with daily challenges.

Don’t leave up to the customer to decide your brand, this is up to you.