Business Owners Toolbox Blog Discussions and articles to help the small business owner solve the challenges they face as they grow their business.

March 29, 2017

Why You Should Fire Customers, And How

Filed under: Marketing — Tags: , , , — Mike Van Horn @ 10:18 am

With all the marketing focus on getting clients, let us not ignore the clients you should get rid of.

“You’re crazy!” you say, “Why would I want to fire a customer?”

Here’s why:

The client is unprofitable or distracting to the rest of your business. They may have been good in the past, or perhaps you should never have taken them on.

Here’s the thing – it’s possible you’re putting way too much attention and effort into a small a number of customers that are never satisfied. This is at the expense of other customers who are happy and complementary of your work.

When your company is small, you take in any business to build it up. When times are good, perhaps you take on any customer. But as you grow, it’s prudent and profitable to become more selective. And as business slows, you should be less tolerant of marginal or unprofitable customers. They can actually threaten your business.

When to fire a customer:

  • The job is too small, and the cost of serving them takes most of the potential profit.
  • They are too large, and keep insisting that you lower your price — until the work is unprofitable.
  • They are too different. They buy something that you have been selling but you no longer want to sell. For example, a print shop wants to close its graphics department, or a landscape contractor wants to close its maintenance section.
  • The job is too distant. When you had a lot of customers in their area, it was worth serving them; but now that you only have a couple, you actually lose money on them.
  • They are more trouble than they are worth. These customers argue with you, are never satisfied, are slow to pay, or all the above.

Now, obviously it’s not easy to fire a customer. Here are some suggestions to soften the blow:

  • Refer them to someone else that you know would be more appropriate for them. Sending business to someone else may entice that person to send a good referral back to you. However, don’t send problem customers to your good referral sources!
  • Give them some warning. “After this next project, we won’t be able to work with you any more.” Tell them why.
  • Instead of getting rid of a customer, ask yourself how you can turn an undesirable one into a good one?
  • Then when you tell them why you can no longer work with them, they may be able to change something that will make them a good customer.
  • Raise your price. They will either leave, or it becomes profitable and more enjoyable.
  • Change the way you work with them. Instead of 1 on 1, get them into group workshops, or steer them to online programs.
  • Change the terms of your work. Instead of fixed price, charge for your time and materials. Make sure you get change orders for extra work they request. Overcome your timidity and be polite but firm: “Yes! We’d be delighted to do that for you, and it will only cost you an additional…$$.”
  • Require pre-pay or payment by credit card, to cure slow payers.
  • Be the squeaky wheel. Stay on them. Oftentimes we don’t hold clients to the agreements they make with us. We let them slide and then we moan about it. Remind them what the agreement is, and request firmly that they abide by it.

You have nothing to lose by doing any of these things. Bad clients lower profits and distract your business. Since you were going to fire them anyway, they just might work.

May 20, 2013

Are You Having Growing Pains?

What’s keeping you from growing your business to the size and profitability you want? Has your growth been slowed by things that keep dogging you? How can you smash through those barriers and move to the next level?

Here’s what I hear all the time from owners:

— You’re a solopreneur, and you want to grow beyond what you can handle by yourself.entrepreneurial vision

— You have a handful of employees, but everybody’s reporting to you, driving you to a frazzle.

— You’ve got managers, but you’re still running day-to-day operations, and you’d love to hand this off to a trusted top manager, to free you up to focus on growth—and a vacation!

If you’re nodding your head yes to any of these, check out our free webinar, Smash Through the Top 10 Barriers to Growth, on June 4.

I’m doing it jointly with two other small business experts: attorney Nancy Lewellen and productivity consultant Rosie Aiello.

Here are the details.On that page, scroll down to see the 10 barriers we will cover.

I will focus on three areas:

1. Management style for growth. Make sure you’re not the bottleneck to your company’s growth.

2. Profitability. See how you stack up against the 12 Principles of Profitability.

3. Marketing & Sales. Make sure your Magic Chain of Marketing has no missing links.

This free webinar will be an exciting tune-up for you, to help you quickly discover ways you can overcome your own growth barriers.

Check it out and sign up now while you’re thinking about it.

Call me at 415-491-1896 if you want to find out if it would be right for you.

October 23, 2012

Has Small Business Marketing Changed Completely?

Filed under: Marketing — Tags: , , — Mike Van Horn @ 11:23 am

For growing small businesses, is marketing today completely different? Many say yes. It’s all about social media.

But this is not the whole story. Despite all the effort I put into social media, I still get 80% of my business the “old fashioned” ways:

— referrals from existing clientsmarketing priorities

— former clients coming back

— public speaking

— networking at small business venues

— my website

People I meet via LinkedIn and other forums, from ezines, via selling ebooks on Amazon, etc. account for the other 20%. So getting my face out there is still #1 by a long shot.

An example: Last Friday at a birthday party for a friend, I got to talking with a woman whom I learned works for chain of schools for massage therapists. When she heard what I do, she said, “We should bring you in to teach our soon-to-be-graduates how to run their practice as a ‘real business.'” Now I could get more business from this one dinner conversation than from all the social media I’ve ever done.

Also, there are the eternal verities of marketing that are just as true with online marketing. Things like:

— Your branding has to be consistent and appealing

— You have to know what your targets want, what message will appeal to them, where they hang out, and how to reach them there. You must know who is NOT your target, so you don’t waste time on them.

— You must take people through the stages of marketing, not try to ram your product down their throat, build relationships, address their concerns.

— You’ve got to ask for the sale!

— You must give excellent customer service.

etc., etc.

These rules are just as true for Facebook and Twitter as for people walking in through the front door of your brick and mortar.

This doesn’t mean you can ignore social media and web presence. Even people you meet face-to-face immediately check you out on the internet. But you must view your online presence, including social media, as an integrated part of your broader marketing strategy. More on what this looks like next post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 10, 2012

To Thrive, Banish Doom and Gloom

“I let myself get discouraged by telling and retelling the same old story of woe about how bad things were. This was killing the business. During the plan workshop, I wrote it all out in excruciating detail, took one last look and then tore it up in little pieces. Now the slate is clean for the coming year. From now on, I’m talking about how we’re laying the groundwork for recovery.”

You do the same. And don’t hang with doom and gloomers; stick with the problem solvers.

“The last two years have been humbling. I saw how arrogant I’d been. We assumed that growth would just keep going. But when the phone stopped ringing, we had to relearn Marketing 101. For example, setting targets for number of new clients, and tactics how to bring them in. We should have been doing this all along.”

This is one of the lessons in How to Thrive in Tough Times—Lessons From Small Business Owners–my newest ebook, just posted on Amazon for Kindle, iPad, etc. for $2.99.

When All Else Fails, Try Marketing

Marketing in 2008. *Ring! Ring!* “Hello! Joe’s Plumbing, this is Joe. How may we help you?…Sure! I think we could handle that. What about next Tuesday?…Thank you!” Joe scribbles on calendar. *Ring! Ring!* “Hello, Joe’s Plumbing.”

Marketing starting in 2009. . . . . . Joe sitting at desk twiddling his fingers. “Hum dee dum”…….. The phone is not ringing.

Marketing now. (Joe picks up phone and dials.) “Hi, Pat, this is Joe of Joe’s Plumbing. Haven’t talked with you in awhile. I just wanted to call and tell you how much we appreciate your business. We’re having a special! For the next 30 days, you can get ….”

Joe was really good at plumbing but he didn’t like marketing. But, at long last, he turned to his partner and said, “Everything else has failed. I guess we’ll have to try some marketing.”

Now, you may think this is an exaggeration, but I can’t tell you how many business owners I work with treat regular outreach to their best customers and prospects as a last option.

How about you?

Make some calls. Pick up the phone. Call some of your best customers and those you’d like to be working with.

Show your face. 80% of selling is just showing up. This is more important than all the rest of the high falutin’ stuff people tell you.

Ask, “Who’s buying?” Too often, we focus on who’s NOT buying.

Ask, “Where do we get the biggest bang for our marketing buck?”

Set a reachable target, and track your progress. Be accountable to someone else, so you don’t let it slip out of your consciousness.

If what you used to do doesn’t work, do something else. What will work best in this business climate to reach those you want to work with, and entice them to do business with you?

Want to see some more of this? How to Thrive in Tough Times—Lessons From Small Business Owners is my newest ebook, just posted on Amazon for Kindle, iPad, etc. for $2.99. Worth every cent!

November 29, 2011

How to market on a tight budget

Filed under: Marketing,Not yet categorized — Tags: , — Mike Van Horn @ 9:16 pm

My answer to a LinkedIn question from Leanne Smith

Short on money? Substitute time. For most  of us small-biz types, marketing is time intensive. So you’d better have a time budget plus a money budget.

Where do you get the biggest bang for your buck? or for your hour? List all the things you do for marketing down one column. Ads, press releases, networking lunches, social media, taking a prospect for coffee, etc. Whatever you spend money or time on related to marketing.
In other columns, list for each of these things:
— How much money you spend on this in a year
— How much time you spend on this in a year (Multiply by what an hour of your time is worth.)
— What results you’ve gotten: contacts, prospects, customers, nibbles, “laters”, etc.
— How much revenue this has brought in over the past year

Now you rate all these things you do, and compare them. What’s paying off? What isn’t? How could you improve the payback from any of these?

I hereby give you permission to STOP DOING THE THINGS THAT DON’T WORK! Networking groups? Yellow page ads? Online directories? Feh.

Do more of what works, and tweak it so it works better.

If your marketing pays off, brings in customers, and boosts your revenue and profit, then you won’t be on such a tight budget.

But beware! Marketing is like a yacht. If you’re around boats, you’ve probably heard people say, “A yacht is a hole in the water that you throw money into!” Marketing is the same way. There’s no end of ways you can spend money on marketing, and most of them don’t pay off.

January 21, 2010

Lessons From a Gawdawful Year

Some people have told me that ’09 was not their best ever year! But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. What lessons have you learned from this tough year? Here’s what people in my Success in 2010 plan workshop sessions have been saying:

“We’ve had to cut costs to the bone. We’ve managed to save 10%. It struck me, what if I had been that ruthless in good times and not just bad? I’d have 10% more bottom line. Money to put in my pocket, to create a cushion for future tough time or to create a growth fund.”

“2009 was humbling. I saw how arrogant I’d been. We assumed that growth would just keep going. But when the phone stopped ringing, we had to relearn Marketing 101. For example, setting targets for number of new clients, and tactics how to bring them in. We should have been doing this all along.”

“I let myself get discouraged by telling and retelling the same old story of woe about how bad 2009 was. This was killing the business. During the plan workshop, I wrote it all out in excruciating detail, took one last look and then tore it up in little pieces. Now the slate is clean for 2010.”

“We kept people on way too long. We should have laid people off sooner. I was afraid that we’d never get the good people back. I’ve learned we cannot guarantee jobs. We must retain labor flexibility. From now on, our scheduling must go along with revenue—not just shop people but admin as well.”

“We saw our employees perform better in tough times. They’re more friendly, supportive and team-oriented. Is this fear of unemployment? I think they just saw the trouble the company was in and it focused their thinking. As a result, people are doing better client work than ever.”

“I watch the books like a hawk now. During good times, I only kept half an eye on the books. I’ve got to track how we’re doing—even day-to-day. I can’t wait till the end of the month to see what we did a month ago.”

“We hunkered down and lost sight of our goals. We’ve had to get in touch all over again with our long-term vision. It’s the source of our direction and inspiration. Without this we’re just wandering around.”

“Tough times force us to make better decisions. In fat times, we get lazy; let bad decisions slip in; spend too much on marketing and keeping poor employees, etc.”

“We laid off 40% of our people and kept the best 60%. Now that business is picking up, I’m giving more hours to our remaining people—even overtime—rather than rehiring. I see that paying overtime for existing people is cheaper than paying health insurance, workers comp, etc for extra people we hire.”

“We got a lot less picky about our customers. We’re going after smaller clients we would have said no to before. And without these, we’d be dead now.”

“A key employee left unexpectedly. This threw us for a loop. The lesson? Cross-train. Don’t be put into a position so that the company is held hostage to whether one employee stays or leaves”

What lessons have you learned? Add ‘em below.

July 28, 2009

Solopreneurs and Marketing Budgets

Q: I’m curious if anyone has a rule of thumb on what should be spent annually by solopreneurs on marketing. Would anyone care to share their own marketing expenses? Or percent of revenue?
Maria

A: Maria
I’ll bet that not 1 out of 20 of us knows how much we spend on marketing. Three reasons:

1. Our biggest marketing cost is the value of our own time we spend on marketing, and we don’t track that, let alone assign an hourly value, or check the results for the hours we spend.

2. We don’t collect all our marketing expenses under one account called “Marketing.” Instead, we have line items for Professional Services (web design, podcasts, etc.), Advertising (display ads, google ad words), Memberships, Business Meetings, Travel, etc.

3. We don’t create marketing budgets, then track how much money and time we spend, compare budget to actual, and compare effectiveness of different marketing activities (“bang for your buck”).

“A yacht is a hole in the water you throw money into,” we’ve heard people say. I think this is the way most entrepreneurs treat marketing. “If I’ve got some money, spend it on marketing. A free evening? Go to another networking meeting.”

So I’ll be very interested to see if anyone can give a meaningful answer to your question. I hope you can prove me wrong!

August 14, 2008

My Top 10 Rules for Small Business Marketing

Q: What are the marketing needs for the average small business? Do you consider working with marketing consultants and, if so, what would you go to one for? 

I’m looking to get thoughts from those who are in/ run a small business (i.e., sole-proprietorship to a place with fewer than 20 employees)

 (Linked In posting, Aug 14, 08)

A: My Top 10 rules for Small Business Marketing? At least some good guidelines:

First, you asked about the marketing needs of the “average small business.” There’s no “average business.” Very different marketing/selling needs for a retailer, personal services, business services, and manufacturer/distributor.

• Marketing is essential, and it is expensive. You know what they say about owning a yacht? “It’s a hole in the water you throw money into.” Marketing can be the same way.

For a small company on a shoestring budget, the question is, how can you get the most from every marketing dollar you spend? And for every hour you spend on marketing and selling?

• Separate marketing and selling in your thinking. People who lump selling in with marketing often have lousy sales.

• Do you have more time, or more money? For the shoestringers, it’s time. So you need a time-centered marketing strategy.

• But then you must balance bringing in the work with doing the work. This leads to the eternal entrepreneur’s dilemma: You get a project; you stop marketing. The project ends; you have no work because you stopped marketing.

• Look at your marketing/selling at 3 different levels, and have a plan and budget for each:

1. Shortest route to cash flow. What sales can you bring in within 30 days?

2. Business development. How can you cultivate relationships that turn into sales within, say, 6 months?

3. Strategic development. How can you take advantage of big opportunities over the next 2 years or so?

• The “Goldilocks principle.” What size jobs/customers are just right for you?

1. Boulders. Big, lots of competition (thus lower margin), dominates your time if you get it, devastating if you lose it. They may view you as a contract employee.

2. Rocks. Solid, profitable, appreciative, no single job is more than 20% of your revenue

3. Pebbles. Tiny. Takes as much time to get as a larger job, low margin, demanding, slow pay

Aim your marketing at your “rocks.” If other good ones fall into your lap, take them.

• What works for you? Do more of what works, and stop doing the rest. To find out: List everything you already do (or might do) for marketing. For each one, estimate

…How much time you spend on it (per month, say)

…How much money you spend on it, per month

…What results you’ve produced so far: number of customers, size of jobs, type of work, desirability of prospects, etc.

…Lead time, sales cycle. How long does it take to pay off?

Ideally, you’d like to compare this ratio for each:

         Gross profit from the sales produced, divided by . . .

         Marketing/selling cost (including time)

When I do this for myself (I sell small business services) here’s what I learn:

…DOESN’T PAY OFF. Networking groups (wrong kind of prospects), display ads, yellow pages, PR campaigns, direct mailings or cold call campaigns

…PAYS OFF. Referrals from clients (remember to ask for them!), mutual referral sources, public speaking, writing books, writing articles (like this one), getting interviewed, professional organizations

…SHOULD PAY OFF BETTER. Website (search engine optimization)

Your list may be exactly the opposite of this.

• Get your face out there. Esp. for service businesses, people buy you. “80% of selling is just showing up!”

• Stick to it. The other 80% of selling is consistency and follow up. Have a regimen for marketing and selling, and get a coach to help you stay on it. Your coach is your de facto sales manager.

• Get needed help. Are you a great marketer/seller? Then hire someone to do the work for you. Are you best at doing the work? Then hire a marketer AND a sales person. (Rarely are these two skills combined in one head.)

Should you hire a consultant? For a shoestringer, be wary! Remember the yacht!

…Hire specific expertise: web designer, graphic designer, copywriter.

…Hiring someone to do a marketing plan for you is a waste of money. Find a FREE marketing advisor, e.g., through SCORE or your local Small Business Development Center. I could email you a page of questions, and if you answer them, you have a marketing plan.

…Hire someone to sell for you, and pay them mainly on results ($$$$) produced. Good sales people are rare and expensive. Ask one: “I’d like to pay you obscene amounts of money. How much is that for you? Now give me a plan of how you’re going to produce it.”

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