Page 58 - AVN December 2013

3.7 100 0.0 Pinpoint your best customers.
Give them a heartfelt end-of-
the-year thank you.
McBean insists that protecting company
assets is job one. Those assets are not just
monetary—far from it. Customers are some of
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the most important. (Without them, no one gets
paid.) What’s more, all customers are not created
equal. Some are more profitable than others, and
they’re not always who you think they are.
“Once you’ve identified your VIPs, create ways
to enrich the relationship and continually create
added value for them,” advises McBean.
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you’ll get from such a simple action.
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“Obviously, saying thank you doesn’t hurt, no
matter how often they hear it. No one likes to be
taken for granted. A call or letter from you will
show them that you don’t. It’s amazing the ROI
“The bottom line for all owners is this,” he
adds. “Both the gross profit and net profit you
make is actually your competitor’s opportunity.
Just as your opportunity is their customers and
the gross profits they generate—they are worth
attracting and worth fighting for.”
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Don’t neglect your other big ‘asset’:
key advisers. These specialists almost certainly know
things you don’t. Their perspective can be extremely
”Meet with your accountant, your attorney, and other
employees.
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If possible, meet with each one individually. Even if it’s not a “formal”
performance review, a quick end-of-year conversation one-on-one can help
you shore up relationships, challenge low performers to do better, and reward
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and re-recruit your highest performers. (Rewards don’t have to come in the
valuabl e to an entrepreneur who has been
form of a big end-of-year bonus. You might offer an extra couple of days off,
a gym membership, or a gift card for a spa treatment as a thank you for a job
chained to his or her desk all year.
well done.)
s
“The idea is to show employees that you recognize and appreciate their
contributions,” says McBean. “A heartfelt thank you, a compliment passed
along from a customer, an inquiry into an employee’s goals and aspirations,
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or a simple handshake and acknowledgment can be incredibly meaningful. A
good motto to follow is ‘Be firm—but fair, and show them you care.’”
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Review your marketing campaign.
Does what you’re doing make sense for you?
Ask yourself some specific questions: Are you marketing aggressively
50.0.100.0 25.0.100.0 enough to attack the market, or are you trying to coast by, letting your
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competitors stir up the market? Are you targeting the best possible
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markets and customers? Might a customer reward program improve repeat
purchases? Would the money you’re pouring into ad placement be better spent
on direct mail? Does a huge social media campaign really make sense for your
company, or are you tweeting fruitlessly into cyberspace just because everyone
else is doing it?
“It takes marketing to bring customers in and it takes marketing to keep
them,” points out McBean. “Many companies see marketing as an expense but
it’s actually an investment and deserves your focused attention. There are two
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key points often neglected when businesspeople think of marketing. The first
key is marketing without measurement is being reckless with your money.
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Results matter and have to be measured. In other words, create an objective
and measure results against it. Secondly, your best market opportunity may in
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fact be your own customer base.”
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