Archives for May 2016
Customer Delight | Empowerment and Promises
The vast majority of small business leadership, over 80%, say they give great customer service. However, when their customers were asked if that were true, less than 10% agreed. The marketing phrase, “we give great customer service” is now an old cliche. Obviously, a discrepancy exists in the data or their is a total lack of connection between the service provider and their client.
Is customer satisfaction good enough? Is true customer delight the objective? Perhaps it depends on who is delivering what and what it is that the firm values.
The statistic shows that saying you're going to do something and actually doing it are two different things. Customer delight is the do here, not just pure satisfaction. You have no guarantees that your customers will want to stick around with you long enough to really give your business a chance. Satisfied customers will not be your advocate.
True customer delight starts with being client focused. Its components are exceeding expectations, empowering employees and making promises that can be and are kept. Giving value beyond expectations is not easy! However, it is a challenge worth accepting.
We aren’t your standard tech geeks; rather than forcing technology to be a solution to every problem, we apply our outstanding knowledge and sales processes to the technology that’s available to us. This makes for much more effective, streamlined marketing campaigns. Today, Viral Solutions’ mission is to provide its clients with the assistance needed to experience bursts of growth in their operations, and a big part of that is through the use of technology. When business owners feel overwhelmed, burnt out or unmotivated, Viral Solutions steps in to give them the tools they need to achieve new levels of success. We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
You've won their business. Let's make sure you keep it! Here are some tips to achieving customer delight.
- Listen to what is not being said. Reading between the lines is an art of the wise. You don’t have to wait for your customers to tell you what they need in order to provide it for them. If you are constantly paying attention and reading between the lines, you should know what your customers need before they do. By observing first, you can stop being a reactive company and start being a proactive one. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning”. ~ Bill Gates
- Focus on their need rather than what you want them to know. The beauty of email is that it can be personal and scalable in mass. When delivering helpful ideas, put yourself in the customers shoes. Deliver a delightful email that doesn't pile on. Each email you craft should have an objective, and most importantly, when engaged with tell you what the need of the recipient is. If you’re using Infusionsoft, dig into their contact record to uncover what pages they’ve visited on your site, what informational resources they’ve downloaded or viewed, or emails they’ve interacted with in the past. Use these insights to gauge which topics they are most interested in, and send them content that is relevant to that area of focus. “Make a customer, not a sale”. ~ Katherine Barchetti
- Your customer must be your priority. Your employees, your products and services, your marketing plan and your financial records are just a few of every small business owners priorities. Your customer should be your number one priority. Is that really the last item on your to-do-list that you drop? Do you know your customers name, birthday, likes/dislikes and life challenges? Customer delight is about extra attention. Empower employees to bring it! Both are more expensive to replace than they are to publicly cherish.
- Technology can get in the way. There is a myriad of technology driven tools, widget and gadgets to keep you in front of your audience. How much of what you do is human touch supported by technology? It’s important that we don’t let technology stand in the way of real, personal engagements with clients. At the end of the day, people want to do business with other people — not machines. When was the last time you picked up the phone and called your customer just to make them smile? “Your customer doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” ~ Damon Richards
- Stand and deliver. Often times you need to deliver reports to your customer. Do you hit the send button and have that delivery automated? Reports serve as an excellent conduit to customer delight. Glean your report of industry jargon, highlight key metrics that stand out as a positive gain, provide clarity and stand by your questionable numbers with confidence. Deliver the reports in person or over such services as Go-to-Meeting and Skype. “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
- Beyond the scope of work. You've delivered on your promise and you've done the work you were paid to do. Customer delight is about going beyond your product delivery. Be open and available for follow-up questions. Approach them with heart felt probing questions to gauge their experience and allow that conversation to get personal. Often times, you will find an area of additional need, that need may not have been in your scope of work and furthermore, it may not be an area you excel at – if you can help – do so.“Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.” ~ Donald Porter
Your customers have chosen to partner with you. They have also invested their time in you, beyond the financial commitment. Your customer has the ability to refer business, be a brand beacon, provide social proof to increase your credibility – but only when they are beyond satisfied. Building a loyal customer base is the key to success. The better you are at delighting your customers the less competition you will have. “The customer's perception in your reality.” ~ Kate Zabriskie
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
by Thomas von Ahn | Chief Elephant Slayer
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords.
Customer Delight | Empowerment and Promises
The vast majority of small business leadership, over 80%, say they give great customer service. However, when their customers were asked if that were true, less than 10% agreed. The marketing phrase, “we give great customer service” is now an old cliche. Obviously, a discrepancy exists in the data or their is a total lack of connection between the service provider and their client.
Is customer satisfaction good enough? Is true customer delight the objective? Perhaps it depends on who is delivering what and what it is that the firm values.
The statistic shows that saying you're going to do something and actually doing it are two different things. Customer delight is the do here, not just pure satisfaction. You have no guarantees that your customers will want to stick around with you long enough to really give your business a chance. Satisfied customers will not be your advocate.
True customer delight starts with being client focused. Its components are exceeding expectations, empowering employees and making promises that can be and are kept. Giving value beyond expectations is not easy! However, it is a challenge worth accepting.
We aren’t your standard tech geeks; rather than forcing technology to be a solution to every problem, we apply our outstanding knowledge and sales processes to the technology that’s available to us. This makes for much more effective, streamlined marketing campaigns. Today, Viral Solutions’ mission is to provide its clients with the assistance needed to experience bursts of growth in their operations, and a big part of that is through the use of technology. When business owners feel overwhelmed, burnt out or unmotivated, Viral Solutions steps in to give them the tools they need to achieve new levels of success. We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
You've won their business. Let's make sure you keep it! Here are some tips to achieving customer delight.
- Listen to what is not being said. Reading between the lines is an art of the wise. You don’t have to wait for your customers to tell you what they need in order to provide it for them. If you are constantly paying attention and reading between the lines, you should know what your customers need before they do. By observing first, you can stop being a reactive company and start being a proactive one. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning”. ~ Bill Gates
- Focus on their need rather than what you want them to know. The beauty of email is that it can be personal and scalable in mass. When delivering helpful ideas, put yourself in the customers shoes. Deliver a delightful email that doesn't pile on. Each email you craft should have an objective, and most importantly, when engaged with tell you what the need of the recipient is. If you’re using Infusionsoft, dig into their contact record to uncover what pages they’ve visited on your site, what informational resources they’ve downloaded or viewed, or emails they’ve interacted with in the past. Use these insights to gauge which topics they are most interested in, and send them content that is relevant to that area of focus. “Make a customer, not a sale”. ~ Katherine Barchetti
- Your customer must be your priority. Your employees, your products and services, your marketing plan and your financial records are just a few of every small business owners priorities. Your customer should be your number one priority. Is that really the last item on your to-do-list that you drop? Do you know your customers name, birthday, likes/dislikes and life challenges? Customer delight is about extra attention. Empower employees to bring it! Both are more expensive to replace than they are to publicly cherish.
- Technology can get in the way. There is a myriad of technology driven tools, widget and gadgets to keep you in front of your audience. How much of what you do is human touch supported by technology? It’s important that we don’t let technology stand in the way of real, personal engagements with clients. At the end of the day, people want to do business with other people — not machines. When was the last time you picked up the phone and called your customer just to make them smile? “Your customer doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” ~ Damon Richards
- Stand and deliver. Often times you need to deliver reports to your customer. Do you hit the send button and have that delivery automated? Reports serve as an excellent conduit to customer delight. Glean your report of industry jargon, highlight key metrics that stand out as a positive gain, provide clarity and stand by your questionable numbers with confidence. Deliver the reports in person or over such services as Go-to-Meeting and Skype. “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
- Beyond the scope of work. You've delivered on your promise and you've done the work you were paid to do. Customer delight is about going beyond your product delivery. Be open and available for follow-up questions. Approach them with heart felt probing questions to gauge their experience and allow that conversation to get personal. Often times, you will find an area of additional need, that need may not have been in your scope of work and furthermore, it may not be an area you excel at – if you can help – do so.“Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.” ~ Donald Porter
Your customers have chosen to partner with you. They have also invested their time in you, beyond the financial commitment. Your customer has the ability to refer business, be a brand beacon, provide social proof to increase your credibility – but only when they are beyond satisfied. Building a loyal customer base is the key to success. The better you are at delighting your customers the less competition you will have. “The customer's perception in your reality.” ~ Kate Zabriskie
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
by Thomas von Ahn | Chief Elephant Slayer
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords.
Infusionsoft Secret Sauce: Part Four – Determining Your Advantage
No matter how well defined your niche is, the field is crowded and full of content noise. You need to separate yourself from that noise through targeting your avatar and knowing what their problems are. However, you also need to be a fit for them as much as they need to be a fit for your services and core offer.
It is time to look in the mirror. It is time to rigidly define your advantage. Your Infusionsoft Secret Sauce is going to need it!
In this article, part four of a series, we will help you take that hard look at yourself and your team. Let's make sure your organization's attributes line up with your niche's needs and wants.
What does this have to do with Infusionsoft?
Infusionsoft delivers your message. That message needs to be delivered to the right target, at the right time, with the right tone and have the reader feel like you are the best solution to help them achieve their objectives. In our previous articles, we discussed that one of the keys to success was the demographic definition of your perfect prospective customer. However, there are factors that determine your success that are external to your business and those that are internal. The Infusionsoft Secret Sauce ingredients require this key component of strategic planning – the SWOT Analysis.
REMINDER: The secret sauce to successful use of Infusionsoft, or any other SaaS automated marketing platform, does not contain tactical marketing knowledge as its key ingredient. The most successful users of Infusionsoft are smart digital marketers that have a defined strategy. They do not start with a bunch of widgets, gadgets, plugins, API or other integration tools in order to succeed at digital marketing. They start with strategy, not with tactics!
Here is how you avoid paying tens of thousands of dollars going to seminars, live events, paid webinars and corporate universities in order to be successful with digital marketing while using Infusionsoft as one of your tools.
Infusionsoft Secret Sauce: Determining Your Advantage
Develop Your Marketing Strategy through Strategic Planning Sessions. This service digs deep into your processes, systems and strategy. During your session, we make sure you have defined, rigidly and systematically, your perfect prospective customer. This definition must include the obvious demographics as well as the psycho-graphics. We then test your willpower to prove that your approach, tactics, messages and core offerings match what that perfect prospective customer is looking for. It is absolutely imperative that you understand and can articulate your plan, vision and position statement effectively and with fire in your gut. We help you accomplish this.
A component of strategic planning is the SWOT analysis. SWOT is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses/Limitations, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. Defining your SWOT's will help you determine if your objective, your deliverable, your business plan is attainable.
Answer these questions to find your competitive advantage:
- What have you accomplished in the last twelve months? The curse of many solopreneurs and small business owners is that they have forgotten at least five big accomplishments. Set the tone for this exercise and list what you have accomplished. Keep in mind that negative actions can be positive accomplishments too, like dismissing an employee that did not fit in your organization.
- What lessons have you learned in the last twelve months? There is power is articulating what you have learned so the pain is not repeated. However, when you generate this list, make sure you drill down to the root cause. Example, maybe your employees are cranky. Why are they cranky? Because you still use dial-up for internet access?
- What are you good at? It’s healthy to acknowledge where your competencies are, especially when it used to be a weakness. List your strengths and be proud of them.
- What areas do you need to improve? Create space for lots of open dialog about what you aren’t good at. What is not working? List your weaknesses and understand this is what you need to hire for, study, learn ….. and perhaps move away from. Example, you're horrible at managing cash flow – awesome admission – now hire a CPA.
- What’s happening around you that you could take advantage of? Opportunities should be external to the company. Here you want to list the economic factors that are expanding your service offering. Example, you work with coaches and consultants that used to be middle managers in corporate cubicles prior to 2008.
- What’s happening around you that could hurt your business? Threats should be external to the company. Most list competitors here. Your answers should be about a technology that could impact your offer or perhaps your product has a patent that is running out. Think on a macro scale and think about outside factors.
Infusionsoft is just a tool that helps you stay organized and turn your sales and marketing process into a machine. That machine requires fuel and maintenance. Strategic planning is the key ingredient in the Infusionsoft Secret Sauce. In this article we only touched on one of the smartest things you can do during the planning process and that is a SWOT analysis. In our next article we will discuss how to perfect your elevator speech with a position statement, by using a formula from all the ingredients of the previous four articles.
Reference Links for Infusionsoft Secret Sauce Articles:
- Defining Your Target Market
- Pain Problem Solution
- Online Buyer Psychology
- Determining Your Advantage
- Crafting a Position Statement
- Digital Marketing Excellence
- Automated Relationship Marketing
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
by Thomas von Ahn | Chief Elephant Slayer
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords.
Today's Top Trends in Small Business Marketing
As a small business, you’re undoubtedly aware of the pressing need to stay relevant and competitive in your market. As quickly as marketing trends come and go, it might not be clear which ones to cling to and which to let go.
We’ve collected a handful of small business marketing trends that are steadfast and inspiring, so keep them in mind as you examine your current strategy and consider making updates.
Strategic planning is an organization’s process of defining its direction and making decisions on allocating its various resources to pursue this strategy to achieve the company’s stated mission and vision. This service digs deep into your processes, systems and strategy. During your session, we make sure you have defined, rigidly and systematically, your perfect prospective customer. This definition must include the obvious demographics as well as the psycho-graphics. It is absolutely imperative that you understand and can articulate your plan, vision and position statement effectively and with fire in your gut. We help you accomplish this.
Technology and innovation
Speaking of trends, what’s new in technology changes by the second, it seems. How do you decide which technologies to employ? First, examine your brand. What does it do? How does it work? Align the technology you use with your brand instead of simply using a new technology for the sake of using it. Make sure the tech you use reinforces your story and message and is effective in broadcasting it to your audience. In the same vein, consider how innovative your strategy is. Does it have long-term impacts? Your technology can go a long way to helping you assess if your marketing strategy is memorable and engaging.
Get personal
What’s key in marketing trends today is establishing a personal connection with your target audience. When you create a real, human connection, you have a greater chance to engage with your consumer and make the conversion. Commit to creating content that is relational — make it funny, make it smart, make it inspirational. Doing so will help you build that all-important personal relationship.
Don’t neglect the hashtag
Hashtags are the marketer’s best friend. As communication devices, they make it easy to categorize and locate information. They create connections in digital conversations that encourage the personalized experience we discussed above. Utilize hashtags as creatively as possible to engage your audience and encourage them to participate in your campaign.
Circle the wagons
Your audience is often one of your best broadcasting systems. There’s nothing wrong with asking them to use their voices to help promote your brand. Not only does it serve you to utilize their word-of-mouth, but it also actively engages them with your brand, which reinforces a personal stake in your company. User-generated content helps to establish another personal, human connection with your brand, and can open the door for creative ideas from your target audience.
by Christine Kelly
CEO and Queen Bee | Viral Solutions LLC
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
Prior to joining Viral Solutions, Christine held executive leadership roles at some of the largest small business consulting firms in the USA. Her experience includes leading direct reports of over 130 remote sales agents who generated $38mm in annual revenue. She obtained her Marketing degree from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Bring her C-Suite experience to your small business. Although our company is virtual, and we can work with you wherever you are located, she is located in Denver, Colorado and owns a second home in Vancouver, BC Canada.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner and an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Today’s Top Trends in Small Business Marketing
As a small business, you’re undoubtedly aware of the pressing need to stay relevant and competitive in your market. As quickly as marketing trends come and go, it might not be clear which ones to cling to and which to let go.
We’ve collected a handful of small business marketing trends that are steadfast and inspiring, so keep them in mind as you examine your current strategy and consider making updates.
Strategic planning is an organization’s process of defining its direction and making decisions on allocating its various resources to pursue this strategy to achieve the company’s stated mission and vision. This service digs deep into your processes, systems and strategy. During your session, we make sure you have defined, rigidly and systematically, your perfect prospective customer. This definition must include the obvious demographics as well as the psycho-graphics. It is absolutely imperative that you understand and can articulate your plan, vision and position statement effectively and with fire in your gut. We help you accomplish this.
Technology and innovation
Speaking of trends, what’s new in technology changes by the second, it seems. How do you decide which technologies to employ? First, examine your brand. What does it do? How does it work? Align the technology you use with your brand instead of simply using a new technology for the sake of using it. Make sure the tech you use reinforces your story and message and is effective in broadcasting it to your audience. In the same vein, consider how innovative your strategy is. Does it have long-term impacts? Your technology can go a long way to helping you assess if your marketing strategy is memorable and engaging.
Get personal
What’s key in marketing trends today is establishing a personal connection with your target audience. When you create a real, human connection, you have a greater chance to engage with your consumer and make the conversion. Commit to creating content that is relational — make it funny, make it smart, make it inspirational. Doing so will help you build that all-important personal relationship.
Don’t neglect the hashtag
Hashtags are the marketer’s best friend. As communication devices, they make it easy to categorize and locate information. They create connections in digital conversations that encourage the personalized experience we discussed above. Utilize hashtags as creatively as possible to engage your audience and encourage them to participate in your campaign.
Circle the wagons
Your audience is often one of your best broadcasting systems. There’s nothing wrong with asking them to use their voices to help promote your brand. Not only does it serve you to utilize their word-of-mouth, but it also actively engages them with your brand, which reinforces a personal stake in your company. User-generated content helps to establish another personal, human connection with your brand, and can open the door for creative ideas from your target audience.
by Christine Kelly
CEO and Queen Bee | Viral Solutions LLC
Copyright 2016 Viral Solutions LLC
Prior to joining Viral Solutions, Christine held executive leadership roles at some of the largest small business consulting firms in the USA. Her experience includes leading direct reports of over 130 remote sales agents who generated $38mm in annual revenue. She obtained her Marketing degree from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Bring her C-Suite experience to your small business. Although our company is virtual, and we can work with you wherever you are located, she is located in Denver, Colorado and owns a second home in Vancouver, BC Canada.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner and an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.