I said goodbye to my website and email host recently, who was also my original website designer. During those 5 years, I paid each invoice promptly and made a few frantic phone calls when my email failed. Otherwise, there was no interaction. No questions about my satisfaction. No offers to upgrade. Simply no contact. Likewise, when I sent them an email to tell them that I had moved on, there was no response. Now perhaps they have also moved on. Perhaps their target market no longer includes my business. Perhaps they never intend to serve businesses like mine ever again. Perhaps they expect a vast gulf to open up between here and there so that our paths will never again cross. Perhaps they have reason to believe I will never meet any of their prospective customers.
Now here is a brilliant growth strategy for the auto industry: Despite Risks, Internet Creeps Onto Car Dashboards If you help drivers crash more cars, you can sell more cars! What could be better?! And with any luck, all those air bags and other safety devices that you’ve concentrated on in the past will prevent you from killing off your entire market. Has anyone stopped to really picture the risks? Are the risks unlikely? This feature will not be limited to passengers and drivers in parked or fully stopped cars. If you think otherwise, I’d like to sell you a bridge.
The phone rang as I was trying to finish up a little project before a 1:30 appointment. It was the salesman scheduled by the regional office to visit my home the next day. He needed to reschedule. Unfortunately, that is not what he told me. Instead, he told me about his son’s flight time and how he couldn’t get to the airport from here fast enough. He listed every town he was scheduled to visit all over New England on Wednesday and then did the same for Thursday. There were no openings on Wednesday or Thursday anyway. He never let my response regarding best times dampen his enthusiastic narrative, nor influence his suggested times. I was watching the clock tick down to 1:30 as I heard about surgery appointments, more towns, and his frustrations with the regional office. Maybe I would like to just place an order over the phone now if I knew what I wanted? I repeated for the fourth time that a late afternoon or evening was needed. I was about to suggest he call me back when he finally found one in the evening that was just fine, thank you.
In a WSJ article on finding the next great idea, experts recommend relaxing if you want to generate great ideas. It mentions star-gazing, washing dishes, and playing ping-pong as ways to free the mind and allow the subconscious to hatch ideas. I totally agree. From my experience, I would add walking and showering to that list. I often bemoan the fact that my voice recorder isn’t waterproof because great ideas can slip back into the subconscious as quickly as they surface. Jay Walker of Walker Digital disagrees and advocates endless questions and rigorous analysis.
Over a period of many months, Comcast called me two times to see if I would like to add digital voice. They quoted a great introductory offer and a competitive rate to follow. Calls like this aren’t uncommon, but what they did next is surprisingly unusual. When I turned them down, they asked why. I usually have my reasons, yet amazingly, almost no one ever asks.
If a hospital can make good after a crippling mistake, you can too! Businesses make mistakes faster than anyone can count. Customers suffer from those mistakes daily. And many businesses ignore their mistakes, sweep them under the rug, and deny them vociferously. Why? What does it do for anybody? Not much, is the answer. In the August 25th Wall Street Journal, Laura Landro writes about a hospital mistake that left a smart little 18-month old girl with a crippling brain injury. Unlike many businesses, and hospitals, this hospital admitted their mistake. They explained to the parents exactly what happened and why. And then they set about preventing a recurrence.
When you write or speak, tell your audience what they need to know, not everything you know. This lesson applies equally well to sales and marketing. Too often, businesses inundate customers with too much information, feature details, and technical gobbledygook. Watch this YouTube video for a dramatic lesson in the value of simple, clear, focused messages: MicroSoft designs the iPod packaging
I think it must be contagious. Symptoms: When I talk to many small business owners they lament the lack of opportunities for their business. They tell me how their sales force is out there every day looking for opportunities. Employees attend trade shows and conferences to stay attuned to their industry. They meet regularly to discuss the state of their business and the possibilities for growth. And they mostly don’t come up with anything of consequence. They tell me that if there were opportunities out there, they would be finding them. Thus, they conclude that times are just tough and successes are random. The economy, the state of their industry, outsourcing to China, any number of factors could be the source of their stagnation. They will just keep there eyes open and something will come along or the situation will change. Eventually.
Moan if you like, but many are thriving. It is true in this economy as well as every other. It is your choice. If you choose to thrive, you can. If you choose to wait and hope, you probably won’t. For those who wish to thrive, here is a list of some of the companies and industries that are doing well. crafts cooking equipment and instruction Walmart McDonald’s yoga consultants alcohol Hyundai
I sent an email to my account representative in an effort to prevent a problem with an order. I got no response. Three possibilities came to mind: She took care of my concern but didn’t bother to tell me She was out of the office and did not have her email forwarded to someone who could ensure prompt attention She did not understand my concern and simply dismissed the email without following up None of these left me with a good feeling. I felt like I had dropped one more well-intentioned email into the abyss. Are you leaving your customers suspended in uncertainty?