Saturday, February 28  

Branding - not just for cows

We've been doing a lot of branding work lately. In our research we've been reviewing what people perceive what is meant by a brand. The best definition I've come up with so far is:

A brand is a way to tell people a whole of information about the product/service/experience instantly.

* McDonald's
* Coke
* Heinz

Brands one and all. And I'd be willing to bet that you know a lot about each and every one of those. You also have perceptions of quality - and by that I mean quality across a whole range of issues pertaining to the brands mentioned. Ideas about taste. Ideas about freshness. Perceptions of value. The list goes on.

That's a brand. And that's the value of a brand.

Cheers. It's 12.30 on Saturday afternoon and we're about to go camping. Perfect summer's day, the boys are back from playing cricket, my lovely daughter is just getting out of the pool.

The camping ground is on the Pacific Ocean, about 1/2 hour's drive away. It's clean, quite and beautiful.

Hope you have a great weekend too.

Brendon the Camper!

How we all benefit from competition

Over the past week or so Yahoo has stopped using the results from Google when people search for things via their web site.

Now instead of 1 search engine (Google) providing a lot of the search results on the Internet, Yahoo looks like providing some serious competition.

And competition is always good news

One of our web sites has had a big surge in orders with a lot more people finding the site because the web site is now listed high in Yahoo - that means I, as the provider, am not reliant upon a single other entity for a major part of my marketing strategy. I now have choice.

Web users now have more choice in finding things they search for on the Internet. This competition should result in better (and more relevant) results being displayed by the search engines.

Back in the offline world, here in Australia a new airline has just launched. Jetstar is to take on Virgin Blue in the discount air travel market.

Ticket prices have been slashed and hundreds of thousands of people have been able to snap up heavily discounted tickets.

Good for eveyone

I also think that competition can be healthy for the competing businesses. It gets the business reviewing their processes and building quality. It helps to ensure the best experience for the customer - which results in increased profitability through increasing sales because of the resultant happy customers. It makes the business proactive in meeting their customer's needs - because if they don't, the competition will happily take the unhappy customer away.

Competition is good for everyone. Take a look at your competitors and see what they do better than you. Then do that!

Have a good weekend.

Brendon

Thursday, February 26  

In 20 years time.....

I wrote on Monday on the home page of this site about taking a long term view. Well, tonight I want to provide an example that will illustrate what my usually goofy writing was trying to get across.

Jo and I spent yesterday and today in Sydney. We flew out at 6 am yesterday and got home at 7 pm tonight. The airfares came to about $650. Hire car another $220. Fuel $40. All up the costs would have been about $1,000. That's before wages, etc.

2 short meetings

Yesterday we had one meeting that went for 3 hours. Today the meeting went for about 2 hours.

$1,000 for 2 short meetings might seem excessive. And pretty hard to justify short term. But we have to look at it long term.

The client yesterday might be a long term client. I'm talking 10 years long.

The meeting today was to finalise a deal for a business we're getting involved in that, hopefully, will still be going in 20 years.

We have to look at the long term picture to ensure the continued growth of our business. These 2 meetings can help us achieve our long term vision for the business, so we do them. Not regardless of cost, but taking into account the lifetime value of the clients compared to that $1,000.

Good night.

Brendon

Making every single sale

Howdy. Jo and I have been in Sydney for the past few days seeing clients and finalising a deal.

Last night Jo and I drove out of Sydney with the intention of finding a motel on the highway so we could get an early start for our meeting about 100 km out of Sydney this morning.

That was the plan.

But then I got lost.

Well, actually more than a little lost. Well lost. Off the map kind of lost. (I really blame Jo - after all, she had the map!!) Having said that, I prefer to call it "temporarily disorientated" rather than "lost."

After we found the right road it was late. About 11 pm. After driving for what seemed like hours we couldn't find a motel. We eventually stumbled across a couple, but they were closed and no-one answered the reception bell.

Then finally, we located a "Formule 1" motel. Like the other motels, this one was closed for the night.

But unlike the others, this motel had a machine out the front that took my credit card. It then checked the availability of the motel, charged my card and gave me a print out with my room number on it, along with the access code to open the front door of the motel and the front door of my room.

I booked a room for Jo and we went in for a nice, snug sleep (My sleep wasn't that snug. Jo's room was across the hallway and I could hear her snoring from my room! Man, can she whistle a tune through that nose! Just kidding Jo. Relax.).

Make it easy

We have to make it as easy as possible for as many customers as possible to buy our product. And that's what Formule 1 does very, very well.

Further review today revealed that these guys are trialing a machine that accepts cash as well as cards (that's making the product accessible to even more customers).

And the info I've obtained is that these machines (depending on location, of course) make about 5 sales a night. 5 x $65 = $325. $325 x 365 = $118,625. I'm not sure of the profits of these sort of joints, but $118,625 on the bottom line is good rather than bad!

That's about it for now. I'll write a blog on 'the latest' page and then go to bed.

Have a good night.

Regards

Brendon

Monday, February 23  

Even night owls need service

I'm off to Sydney on Wednesday with Jo. As you can probably tell from the late hour of my usual posts, I'm a night owl.

Last night at 1 a.m I booked our flights on the Internet. And promptly booked the wrong day. D'oh!

We're flying Virgin Blue, so I quickly checked up on their web site and found the customer service number. I rang the number at 1 a.m not really expecting anyone.

The charming Mary answered the phone and even sounded like she was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She fixed up my booking in a matter of seconds and sent me on my way a very happy boy.

2 points there:

1. Virgin Blue have a great system. Instant booking straight into their system.

2. Great support. 24-hour.

In this day and age of instant everything we really need to provide exceptional levels of quickness (my old grammar teacher - Ollie Wilson from New Town High in Tasmania, Australia if you're reading Mr. Wilson! - will kill me for that sentence!) in our business.

Cheers.

Brendon

Sunday, February 22  

Drinking beer in the name of research - all in a day's work

The things I do to get material for this web site!

The father-in-law and I visited a local sports club today. Sat down in the bar and had a few beers, watched the cricket on the TV and listened to a wonderful singer.

I'm a member of a few clubs around my house. There's the soccer club. The local surf club. And this sports club.

And one thing all of these clubs do well is create and foster a sense of community within them. There are raffles galore, special member discounts, member nights, theme nights, days to meet other members, a members business listing - the list goes on.

Everything is done to foster that sense of community. And there's a good reason why. It's because if you feel welcome, you'll return. If you feel like one of the family, you'll return lots.

What do you do in your business to generate the same sense of belonging? Maybe a loyalty card. Maybe a special discount group. Maybe a 'customers only' party.

Whatever you do, create a sense of community and your repeat purchase rate will go up.

===================

I then made the mistake of agreeing to go for a 30 km bike ride with my brother. Yeah. Real smart. 38 degree C. Sleepy after a few beers. A competitive brother.

Oh yeah, I'm smart!!

By the time we'd finished I was a heavy breathing, sweaty, quivering mess!

The point there? Don't drink beer then agree to go for a bike ride in hot weather against a brother who wants to crush you physically just for fun!

Don't say I don't give good advice ;-)

Cheers.

Brendon

Saturday, February 21  

Psssst - did you hear this?

Howdy. Rather hot here today - a mind frying 40 C. Spent the day in the pool, at the beach, went to an air conditioned bowling alley with the kids, went out for dinner to a local outdoor cafe and have just got out of the pool after an almost midnight swim with my wife.

For regular readers - yes, the mother-in-law is still here. Another 4 days............but who's counting!

In one of the newspapers I read today, there was an article talking about "Whisper" marketing. The example used was this:

A good looking girl in a bar starts chatting to a guy. He buys her a drink. She asks for a new vodka, called "Vodka-O". Whilst she is drinking it, she talks up the product. Soon after, like a lot of guys in bars who buy drinks for women (!), you're left alone with just an empty glass as a reminder of a fleeting meeting.

Us guys can take heart. The girl disappearing might not mean we are unattractive and dopey. It might mean we've just been "roached".

And by that I mean we are the "victim" of a marketing campaign.

The good looking girl has just educated us about a product. She's started the branding process.

Two points I want to mention:

1. This is the 2nd article I've read on this in about 6 months. That tells me it is a well-entrenched marketing strategy that is starting to be accepted by the big players as a legitimate marketing technique. Which means it probably works. (And when we know that word of mouth is fantastic marketing, the success of this sort of "whisper" campaign shouldn't surprise us.)

2. Seems a very slow and laborious way to market your product. Reaching 1 consumer at a time (at a minimum of $20 an hour) is slow. No matter what way you look at it. But then if 1 person tells 3 and all of those tell 3 and they tell 3......................it might just make sense.

Have a good night.

Brendon

Labels: business marketing

Friday, February 20  

Do you have a problem?

If the answer to that is "No", then don't worry. If a good salesperson was selling to you you would have one very quickly!

You see, sales is about providing solutions to problems. So a salesperson needs to find out your problems before he/she can sell.

Find out your prospects problems. Then restate the problem to them. Then tell them you have the solution.

Bingo! You've made a sale.

Bye.

Brendon

Here's the deal - putting it together

We're putting together quite a complex deal at the moment with a Sydney businessman. It's complex in regards to we have to develop a strategic view of the deal and how we can make the most of it, whilst ensuring great value for both parties.

We've had our strategy meeting and have also been giving some good hard thought to how the best to go about it. There are a number of issues we need to address and we are working through those at the moment.

We are at that critical time where we need to keep up the communication. But it can be difficult because I'm busy trying to figure out if the deal is a good one. I'm trying top cover all of my bases, as is the other party.

But to keep up that communication takes time. And time is in short supply.

But of all the elements of the deal, communication is the most critical. It underpins everything else. So even if you are outting together a deal under time pressure, don't forget to stop and say hello, ask a question or 2, or just general discuss an aspect with the other party.

Your deal will benefit.

Have a good weekend.

Brendon

Thursday, February 19  

Man, it's hot

It's hot here. Real hot. Click here to read the local newspaper about it.

As I said in the other blog - on the home page - I've just come in from a run. The reason I ran at 9.30 pm because it has started to cool down.

As I was running I thought about business.

One part I was thinking about was this web site. And how I wrote yesterday that there are opportunities everywhere.

I visited the local shopping centre today and it was absolutely packed. People everywhere. It was like Christmas.

I spoke with a client who has a shop there and he was telling me that the place was full because of the hot weather.

"They all come in for the airconditioning. They don't actually buy anything. They just sit down and rest for hours," he said.

And sure enough, it was true. There is a retirement home about 100 metres away from the shopping centre. I reckon every single resident was in the centre (the retirement centre doesn't have airconditioning)!

So here's the opportunity

Print 10,000 flyers. Get them dropped in 10,000 homes. Advertise your mobile airconditioning units that can be delivered to your door with a simple phone call. And all at a deep, deep discount because you don't have the overheads of a shop.

Your costs would be about $800. That's it. Don't buy your air conditioners until you have orders. And you'll have orders.

Especially if you telephone 1,000 of those houses your letterbox dropped.

And even more so if you doorknock on 500 doors.

That's an opportunity.

And you might be real smart about it and measure things.
Let's say 10,000 leaflets gives you 50 sales. But of the 1,000 you ring you make 30 sales. And of the 500 you doorknock you make 20 sales.

Do the math on all of that and see if your cost benefit analysis tell you to keep telephoning and/or keep door knocking. (Psssst. And get a mobile billboard for a week as well. Park that around the area you target.)

Brendon

And one other thing!

Geez, this is my 3rd post today......must have too much time on my hands. Just a quick note that I'm about to post a blog on the latest about opportunity, following up from the one below about opportunity.

Bye.

Brendon

My Accountant wants me to get drunk......here's why

Howdy. It's 10.20 pm here and I've just called into the office on my way home after going for a run. The run was great - along the foreshore of the Pacific Ocean. Nice breeze, but still quite warm (24 degree C - that's 75.2 F).

I had a meeting with our Accountant on Tuesday. We reviewed some of our goals and strategies for the coming months and years. One bit of advice he gave me was to put my feet up, open a bottle of wine and just sit there and think about my vision for the business. Just where do I want to have it in 5 years time.

Those times of quite reflection can be very valuable. I know that they are for me.

Today we had a team meeting and discussed our short to medium term goals and strategies.

What to do with our web businesses?

We talked at length about how we should develop our web businesses. You see we own and manage a few web businesses - here's our Eczema site (we also have one in Australian $).

We are about to take on another niche health product. And we have a Pregnancy Calendar site, and we manage the site of another fairlyu decent e-commerce site on behalf of a client.

Our thinking was to join all of the businesses into 1 large health business. Lessens the workload, lots of simple synergies to make us more efficient, .....the list goes on.

So that was the decision today at about 3 p.m.

But I think I've just changed my mind.

You see, on the run I get thinking. And I seem to be able to think better when I'm running or swimming or biking - might be a sign of boredom!

I'm thinking (and I could be wrong) that we'll be better off with the smaller sites. Strong niches are eaiser to market. We have a loyal customer base already. We are able to sell a smaller business easier. That gives us more flexibility. And that makes us more cash fluid because we can sell easier.

We all think differently. And we all do our thinking differently.

Take the time to smell the roses and sit down and really think about the strategy for the success of your business. It can be the best investment of time you'll ever make.

See ya!

Brendon

A complete stranger walked into my life

Yesterday a couple came into the office and strode up to reception. They told Bianka that they had were here for a meeting with Brendon (that's me!) at 2 pm. Bianka checked with me and I'd never heard of them before. And I didn't have a meeting set for 2 pm.

They were a young couple, he was dressed in tradesmen gear and his wife was dressed in some sort of office uniform.

Bianka led them into the boardroom and got them both a coffee. I went in and introduced myself, and they both very enthusiastically shook my hand. I excused myself for a second as I went back into my office to see if I could figure out who the hell they were!

I still had no idea.

As I walked back into the boardroom to try and figure it out, the couple were laughing.

Laughing because they had come into the wrong office. You see, the next office along from us is an Accountant. And his name is Brendon. These guys had wandered into the wrong office and got the wrong Brendon!

Now although that's the story, it reminds me of 2 stories. One I'm pretty sure I wrote about on this blog before, but I'll mention again for new readers.

Here they are

1. A friend of mine runs a web design business in another city. One of his team, I'll call him Tom, answered the phone one day. It was another web design company, asking if that was "ABC business who wanted a web site?"

Tom said, "No, not us. You must have the wrong number."

Tom hung up and then picked the phone back up. He rang ABC company and said, "We're a web design firm and I understand you after after a web site. Can we help?"

Tom made an appointment, went in and made the pitch and got the job!

All from a wrong number!

2. One of my biggest successes came from the time a client knocked back my proposal. He went with someone else. That web site turned out to be ineffective and the client gave up. He then asked me if I wanted to be the Internet distributor for his product. I said "Yes" and a terrific business was born.

Opportunity comes in many disguises. Keep alert and keep looking. Opportunities are out there!

Regards

Brendon

Wednesday, February 18  

Gave me a giggle

I just posted a blog on the latest page. It bought a smile to my face when he came out with his speech.

Brendon

Monday, February 16  

Don't underestimate the brand

We've been doing a fair bit of brand work lately. A travel agent, a nursery and a management company.

A bit of variety there, but they all have one thing in common.

We have to get the branding right. And by that I mean the corporate identity from:

* logo,
* stationery,
* web site,
* newspaper ads,
* signage,
* caps,
* shirts,
* packaging,
* loyalty cards,
* flyer,
* direct mail.

Everything.

Everything has to say the exact same thing. When you see 2 bits of material from a business they should be instantly recognisable as being directly releated to each other. If they're not then that business isn't doing itself any favours.

A strong brand can be the best thing for a business. How's yours looking?

Have a good night.

Brendon

Wednesday, February 11  

The importance of relationships

Howdy. I had a situation today that I'd like to relate to illustrate a point.

I have a client in another part of the country who rang yesterday desperately needing the following:

* Embroided caps and shirts
* 3 large signs
* A4 flyer designed and printed
* Full colour 1/2 page newspaper ad written, designed and developed to specifications
* Stationery

She rang yesterday and needs it all by Friday.

I rang the guy I use as my graphic artist (I'll call him Byron..........after all, that's his name!). I use him the majority of the time and also refer him a fair bit of work direct. We work well together and it's a great arrangement.

Because of the relationship we have, this is what has happened.

Today the signs, the stationery, the A4 flyer and the newspaper ad were fully designed and sent to print. The caps and shirts were designed and embroiding is being done tomorrow.

I hardly did anything. Byron dropped everything and got the work done. He rearranged his schedule to fit in my work because of our relationship.

I use him a lot. We look after him. I'm sure we could find cheaper graphic artists. No question about it.

But it's not about price. It's about value.

And it's about being nice. So that when a rush job comes in at the 11th hour, you can still get the job done. And that's what it's all about.

Have a good day.

Brendon

Who'll I'll hire next

We have a terrific group working here. We all get on well and, with very different strengths, complement each other pretty well.

As we've expanded I've given thought to who we might hire next. And I know exactly.

I'm not putting an advertisement in the newspaper. And I'm not going to a job centre.

All I'll be doing is marching up to the person I have identified and making them the offer. You see, I already know who we'll hire next. I've dealt with this person regularly and they have the skills, personality and professionalism to make a significant contribution.

With a small business, it's critical to get the right person. The wrong person can cost some businesses the business.

When you're out and about working in your business, take a look at who impresses you. If they do it regularly then they might just be your next team member.

To read my rather controversial (by that I mean I got lots of emails) article on hiring, click here.

Have a good night.

Brendon

Monday, February 9  

Why 1 camera is better than the next

On the weekend, the boys and I bought one of those disposable cameras. Cost me about $12 for a 27 exposure Kodak camera.

The camera worked a treat and we had used the entire film up by the end of the day.

We dropped it in to be developed and looked to buy another one.

Jack and Harry (my sons) looked at the collection and decided on 1. It was an AGFA camera, same exposure and same price.

When we got outside the shop, Harry said, "This is a better camera Dad."

"Oh yeah. How come?" I asked.

"It's in a nicer box," he said.

The question is this:

Is Harry correct in saying the AGFA camera is better?

Well, firstly, I know that the colour of the box doesn't mean it will be a better camera.

But the truth is, I don't know if the AGFA camera is better than the Kodak camera. The price is the same. Takes the same number of shots. Works just the same.

I have very little to base my assessment on. After all, I know nothing about cameras. So it's a case of me assessing things I know nothing about in making my decision.

* Many people will assume a more expensive camera equates to a "better" camera.
* Many people will think the bigger the camera the "better" it is.
* Many people will be swayed in their assessment by the packaging.

The vast, vast majority of time we simply do not have the technical expertise to assess the "best" of anything. So what we do as customers is assess a whole range of criteria that we think impacts on the quality of what we are purchasing.

How do your customers assess your product before they purchase?
How can you influence the positive assessment of your product or services?
What can you do to appear to be the best?

Cheers.

Brendon

How the monkeys showed me that we're sheep

Howdy. Hope you had a good weekend. The Sydney weekend was wonderful. We packed as much as we could into it - I think the highlight for the Jack and Harry was.......................the mini-bar in the hotel room. They couldn't believe that we had this fridge filled with drinks and chocolates. That's kid heaven!

One of the things we did was visit Taronga Park Zoo. This zoo has to have one of the best views in the world. Situated right on Sydney Harbour, it is simply amazing.

Anyway, on with the shoe........

As we wandered from exhibit to exhibit at the zoo, it struck me that - given a choice - people automatically gravitate towards the exhibits that have the most people around them. Even if another exhibit is the same distance away, people are drawn to what others are viewing.

It's like we have to see what everyone else sees. We don't want to miss something.

The boys and I were walking past an empty monkey cage. It even had a sign up saying, "This exhibit closed for maintenance."

We stood there talking about what the zoo staff might do to maintain the cages. And before long we were joined by some people. And then some more. And then even more. All looking at an empty cage!

And then there was dinner

Later that same day we went to a place called Darling Harbour for dinner. We went into a food hall that provided a big variety of dishes. We had a choice of Japanese, Chinese, Italian, fast food, Mexican.............the list went on.

All of the outlets were doing a brisk trade, except for a guy selling Hot Dogs.

No-one bought a Hot Dog for 15 minutes.

But then a guy came up and ordered one. And whilst he was waiting, another guy. Then another, another and another.

It was just like the zoo.

As soon as the Hot Dog seller had a crowd, it attracted others. It's like an endorsement.

"There are lots of people there, so it must be good."

The more people at the stall, the more the stall is validated as a provider of good food.

And this is the very same way that testimonials work for your business. They validate that you are okay to deal with. That you are good and decent and honest. And safe to buy from.

Get testimonials from everyone you can. And show these testimonilas to everyone you can.

It's great for business.

Cheers

Brendon

Labels: business marketing

Friday, February 6  

3 quick things:

1. I've just added a new article where I talk about Internet businesses and if they are worthy of the hype they sometimes get.

2. I'm using an autoresponder called Quicktell with some of our sites. I looked at heaps and settled on this one. If you are looking at using an autoresponder for your web site this one is fantastic. I can't believe how good it is.

Check it out - I don't get a commission or anything. It's just good enough to tell people about!

3. I'm off to Sydney tomorrow with my 2 sons aged 11 (Jack) and 9 (Harry).

This is the plan:

1. Plane trip 1 1/2 hours
2. Train ride to Circular Quay
3. Dump our bags at the hotel just 200 metres from Circular Quay
4. Have brunch at Circular Quay looking at the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House
5. Jump on a ferry and go to Taronga Park Zoo
6. Come back from the Zoo and go up the Centrepoint Tower (Sydney's tallest building)

After that the plan gets a little hazy. Museums, walks, dinner, a swim....our list of things to do goes on and on. I don't think we'll fit it all in.

The point of all that is that I think I'm as excited as the kids.

It will be a great weekend and one I'm sure we'll all remember for years to come.

And that brings me to this point. As a businessperson we all need to be aware of the opportunities that are out there. The only reason I haven't done this sort of trip before is because I haven't gotten around to organising it.

Maybe there is an opportunity there for a smart operator to start "Father & Son" tours to Sydney. They pick you up at your door on the Friday night or Saturday morning and drop you back on the Sunday night - after a fantastic fun-filled and fully organised weekend. I'd go for that.

Maybe that could be the start. Then offer week camping trips. Everything organised for the busy dad.

Then start "Mother & Daughter" trips...........

Business opportunities are out there. It's just a matter of identifying them and then acting on them.

Have a good weekend. I'm about to have a great one!

Regards

Brendon

P.S: For those wondering.....yes, the mother-in-law (and father-in-law) is still here. Another 19 days. This may have influenced my decision to go away for the weekend. But you won't get a confession out of me!

A fresh perspective

Howdy. Hope your day is going well.

Jo in the office is a talented soul. And talented at lots of things. One thing Jo has never done is write brochures for clients because.................well, I'm not actually sure why not. I've never thought to ask her.

Today I tossed a brochure job on her desk and we had a chat about the why's and where for's of brochure and I gave her some basic pointers. She then went away to learn more about the client's business so she would understand what they were trying to put across.

A couple of hours later Jo presented a wonderful concept for the brochure, with a basic outline of its structure. From what she has provided already, she's going to be great at this sort of thing.

And I think I know why

She may be so good at it because she brings a new perspective to it. She isn't constrained by training, or rules, or anything. She just presents the brochure so that it's clear, relevant and gets the message across.

A fresh perspective can be all that's needed to get great results.

Can you get a fresh pair of eyes looking at your business?

Have a good weekend.

Cheers

Brendon

Thursday, February 5  

The power of the brand

My lovely wife (whom I've mentioned twice on this web site today) runs her own web site business.

When she set up the site she adopted quite a dynamic strategy. The web site originally sold the products of one manufacturer in a niche market.

Now, she had a couple of choices on how she was to develop the site.

# 1: Push the brand of products
# 2: Push herself as an expert on the niche

She chose to brand herself as an expert via a pretty strong education strategy and it's paid big dividends.

She is now widely recognised as an expert with the industry and people buy the products she sells, not because of their brand but because of her brand. And because she recommends the products.

Which leaves her great scope to grow that business. She's not stuck with the one- (1) product. She hasn't imited her business to the whims of the manufacturer. My wife has all the power in terms of being able to discontinue product lines if she wishes, without it affecting the success of the site.

She can also add additional products and brands as she wants.

All that sounds nice. But in reality it's more than nice.

The manufacturer of the product she sells once but up the prices by about 33% because, in his words, "Your making more profit than anyone else." The price rise was just for her!

Now there are a million reasons why the manufacturer shouldn't have put the prices up, but the lesson was this. Busiensspeople sometimes make stupid and illogical decisions.

You have to protect yourself from that.

Think strategically about your business. Think about what could go wrong. And plan your strategy accordingly.

Cheers.

Brendon

Happy Anniversary to me

It was my wife and I 15th wedding anniversary yesterday.

We had dinner with the family then, at about 8 pm, and then palnned to go to a local beach to grab an icecream and take a stroll along the beach.

I stuffed $50 into my jeans pocket and we headed out.

When we got to the beach we changed our mind about the icecream and went into a restaurant on the beach to have dessert.

My wife loves dessert wines as well, so we had dessert and wine. And then coffee to finish off.

I came up short!

Because I only had $50 on me I kept a mental tally of what the cost was. In my head it was about $46.

I went up to pay and the waiter handed me the bill for $56.

"Mate, I'm going to be short. But I'm pretty sure the bill is less than $50."

"No, it's $56. You had this and this and this...."

Turns out they charged us for 3 desserts instead of just 2.

He adjusted the bill, we paid and left.

Opportunity missed

Another example of appalling service by what's supposed to be a service business.

There was no apology. The waiter simply adjusted the bill and handed it to me to pay.

I'm the customer. I'm sitting there thinking "Have these guys just tried to rip me off deliberately?"

I would have been very interested to see what happened if the bill really was $56 and I only had $50. My guess would be a lot of complaining on their part.

As businesspeople, we have to do everything to make sure our customers come back again and again and again.

I might go back tonight, have more dessert and wine and try it again!!

Cheers.

Brendon

Wednesday, February 4  

Your customers have all the answers

It never ceases to amaze me the value of a customer. I don't mean in terms of pure sales, but I mean in the amount of information they can provide.

You see, we've been completing surveys for a business over the past couple of weeks. We've been surveying their customers via phone, face to face and a web based survey. And the results are worth a fortune to our client.

No-one sees the business like your customer. And they are, when it all comes down to it, the only one that matters.

* They know how they were attracted to your business.
* They know why they really buy.
* They know what turns them off.

Asking them those sort of questions can give you information that is absolute gold.

1 Mystery call - $100,000 in profit

Part of our review for this very same client was what we call "Mystery Shoppers". We have someone call, buy, complain....whatever, and assess the treatment the person receives.

Our very first Mystery Shopper phoned the business. She got through to the message bank. The Mystery caller left a message saying she wanted to buy a $1,000 product, could they please call her back so she could complete the sale.

That was on January 21. It's now February 4. And she still hasn't heard back.

(BTW, each customer of this business refers - on average - 2 others.)

As disappointing as that is, it's just a simple breakdown in a process. It will only require a tweak of the systems in place and there will be no more potential sales falling through the cracks.

It's simple stuff. But it's the simple stuff that makes all the difference.

Cheers.

Brendon

Monday, February 2  

Grappling with killer sharks - what I do on the weekend!

Jack, my 11-year-old son, loves camping. As regular readers of this site know, he saved his money up and got himself a tent before Christmas. Then at Christmas he bought himself a gas cooker.

He's been dying to use them, so on the weekend we packed up after the boys finished cricket and travelled to Byron Bay - a slice of heaven on the beach about 45 minutes down the coast. With swimming, sightseeing, beach cricket, eating icecreams and wandering through the Byron Bay markets we had a great time.

On Saturday evening at about 7 pm Jack and I were having a swim in the ocean. There was a guy swimming at about the same depth 20 metres away. He called out to us:

"Mate, there's a shovel ark humming your say."

At least that's what I thought he said. I said the only thing I could:

"What?"

"There's a shovelhead shark about 4 and a half feet coming your way."

Now these sharks are about as aggressive as a cat that's asleep. Jack and I had a look to see if we could get a look at the shark, but we only saw him glide past about 15 feet away.

We swam for a bit longer and then went in.

But when we got back to the campsite it was a different story!

My wife and 2 other children were relaxing back at the campsite when we got back. And my version of the story was a little different from the above.

* It wasn't a shovelhead harmless shark 4 and a half feet long - it was a 50 foot white pointer that I wrestled for 15 minutes! This shark made Jaws look like Nemo!

* It wasn't a relaxed paddle in the ocean - it was a titanic struggle between life and death!

And then the attack of the stingrays!

The next day I was swimming again with Jack and my 9-year old son Harry. This time Harry saw a stingray. It was about 2 metres wide and was followed by a smaller one.

And that just gave us more ammunition for our stories. No longer are we the Sinclair boys taking a dip in the warm coastal beaches of Byron Bay. We are now the courageous Sinclair boys swimming without fear in shark and stingray infested water. But we're so brave, so tough and so strong that it doesn't concern us one little bit.

We're basically like Superman, Spiderman and Batman rolled into one! That's us Sinclair boys!

The point of all this is to try and get across this point.

When we communicate - I mean all of us, not just the Sinclair boys - we tend to exaggerate our stories so they sound more exciting, more interesting and just plain better.

And keep that in mind about your business. If it's a positive experience your customer has had they'll often exaggerate just how good you were. This is done to basically demonstrate to the person they are speaking with that they (the speaker) made the correct decision in choosing to buy from you.

And if it was a negative influence then they'll exaggerate that to make the story sound even worse than what it was so that they (the speaker) appears as the highly aggrieved parties.

Either way, it's generally done to make the speaker look good!

This is why great customer service is so critical. And why, if your customer ever complains, you have to rectify it fast!

Cheers.

Brendon "Shark Wrestler" Sinclair

Sunday, February 1  

Alan Davis' Retaining Walls

Enjoy your Friday.

Get Flash to see this player.

Alan Davis' Retaining Walls

Enjoy your Friday.

Get Flash to see this player.