The awakening of a new 'business' world.

I was recently re-reading Ekhart Tolle's book, "A New Earth" and was prompted to think about the changing of human consciousness. - as it related to business.

Photo courtesy of http://www.freefoto.com

Tolle speaks of the ego and greed and the madness that is humanity - and how the world is awakening to a more enlightened state.  I think of how this has affected business.

One of the key principles we have a Roaring Women is that there is enough business for everyone.  In that spirit, despite my financial circumstances or the health of my business I have always maintained that each of us has the ability to attract the 'right' customers and that the transactions that occur for the service we provide will ALWAYS sustain us if not bring incredible abundance.  But this can only occur when we live (and function) with the understanding that 'there is always enough'.

However when we come from the understanding that we must 'compete' - it really reflects a scarcity mentality.  When there is competition there must always be a winner and a loser.  In the abundance mentality - there are no losers - we all are blessed with what we need.

So where does marketing and advertising fit into this picture?  Both of these activities really do support the abundance theory.  Marketing is a process of educating your market on the products and services and how they will benefit your potential clients and also of making them aware of the value that you offer.  Advertising is the posting of special offerings or the activities that will notify and make your target market aware that you exist.

Is marketing a competitive activity?  No.  Not if you believe that there is enough business for everyone and there are clients who will prefer you over other suppliers.

In an example I like to use - I buy my groceries at Safeway.  Do I read all the flyers from all the other grocery stores?  Yes - but my preference is to shop at Safeway.  I like their service, their corporate philosophy and the fact that they identify me by name - even if it is something they collect through a loyalty program.  There is nothing nicer than hearing "Thank you for shopping at Safeway, Mrs. Crawford".  (I'll have to remind them, many women prefer MS. to Mrs.)  But that is just my preference.  Some people I know prefer to shop at Sobey's. For them - this is their 'right' choice.

It does not matter what specials exist other places - I choose to follow and buy the specials at my favorite grocery store.

The same thing happens in your business - whether you understand it or not.  There are people who will use your services or products regardless of other similar services that may be easier to access or cheaper, simply because they prefer to.  Isn't that cool?

If there is one customer out there like that - then there are likely hundreds of others just like that.  So now instead of the frantic attitude around marketing and advertising, a business owner can now focus on finding, educating and notifying their customers of what they have to offer.

With the abundance principle at work it stands to reason that if you are not making enough money to make ends meet - then you have 'customers in waiting' ready to buy your product or service but may not yet be aware that your business exists.

Think about it.  Customers in waiting.  If you knew that there were customers waiting just for you - would this change how you ran your business?  Would you market with a different attitude?

I guarantee it would.  Practicing and thinking abundantly changes our businesses from competitors racing to beat 'the other guy' to a customer service based business - focusing instead on finding those clients in waiting and providing them with the services they need.

Wow.  A new business world.  I wonder what Eckhard Tolle would think of this?

Easy... easy like Sunday morning...

I may be giving away my age - but the song "Easy like Sunday morning" by Lionel has been playing over and over in my head when I think of the last phone call I had with a supplier.  But first let me begin with....

I am not always easy!  Although I try to be fairly mellow about most things - I know that I am a tough customer. I do my very best to be polite but I expect to be treated with respect as I am purchasing a product – or may be purchasing one – and I would hope that the company I am dealing with would like continue to do business with me.

But lets turn the table. From a business perspective – I wonder – am I easy to do business with? Are you?

Recently, I have had several experiences that taught me a lot about how we can make it easy to do business with us. Let me explain.

This past week, I was doing some business house keeping. Over the holidays I had found several over charges on my credit card, noted some accounts that were being mailed to the wrong address and decided to switch all my business purchases to one credit card. Many of these jobs were quite simple in nature – but added together they took me the better part of a week to get done. Here are some of the issues I encountered:

• One supplier refused to speak on the phone with me. All correspondence had to be done via email. This resulted in 25 emails to get cleared up - because the business overcharged me and I wanted reimbursed. Total time spent for 25 emails – 1.5 hours
• One supplier did not have my account information viewable – so I had to call and leave a message to change my credit card number. Then after I received a call back I was sent a form to fill in and fax back. Total time spent – 35 minutes
• The phone company said they changed my billing address after the first 25 minute call – but one month later I called back – was transferred to 4 different operators who all had to verify who I was and my account number and two pieces of I.D. before they changed the billing address a second time. Total in tow calls 1.25 hours 
• A mail support supplier over billed me by $75 dollars and when I asked for a refund they would credit the card – but they had the incorrect address. To change the address I had to send and email on letterhead to the company. I used the email address they gave me and it bounced. I had to call back and start over. Then they told me it was MY responsibility to check and see if the refund went through. Total time spent – 1.5 hours

These are only a few of the activities that consumed my week. 

The final one was a call to American Express Merchant Services. It was after 5 pm – but I tried calling anyway. I got an operator after pressing zero only one time! (wow!) When I explained that I wanted to close the account - the operator asked me why. I explained – and she offered to reimburse me for 6 months of fees and created a better solution where I would not have monthly fees.  

I did not even ask for a refund -  they offered it!  Then they made it so easy to do business with them - I could not find a reason to leave!

Now that is one SMART company!

In 5 minutes I was refunded 30 dollars and had a pleasant conversation- and remained a customer! Now there was a company that was easy to do business with!  Easy like Sunday morning even!

I thanked the operator and told her how I she had been the easiest call I had all day. She laughed and told me the same was for her – that I had been her easiest call.

The lesson I learned was that even big companies can have customer friendly policies. Most do not – but creating easier ways for a customer to do business with you can make everyone’s day a lot less stressful and enable them to be more efficient!

This opened a whole new door for me to re-examine my policies and determine how I can be easier to do business with. If you are having a lot of push back or difficulties with clients – chances are – you are not that easy to do business with.

Is it time for a change? I mean really – isn’t life complicated enough?  If you are looking to create more customer loyalty, streamline your processes and make it easier for people to do business with you – why not consider a coach? More information on coaching here

Customer service - polite - but to no avail. I will never buy a DELL again

Ok, so I admit it. I was seduced by the advertising. Despite warnings not to buy a Dell computer, I decided to purchase one 3 years ago. Now let me begin by saying, I love technology, and feel almost as attached to my laptop as I do to my puppy. Unfortunately computers do not have the longevity of a dog. ( I think one computer year is equal to 7 dog years) I have owned several Toshiba laptops and have been very happy with them - but alas the time came when I had to replace them. And so three years ago I replaced them with a DELL Inspiron 9400. Within 9 months the adapter cord failed. As a great customer service company would do - DELL replaced the cord. It took 2 days. Nine months after the adapter cord was replaced the hard drive blew up. At first I thought it was my fault - I know better now. (turns out the adapter cord is not reliable and the current varies causing surges - ergo blowing up the hard drive) I again replaced the adapter cord thinking perhaps that the inconsistent power supply was the problem. I also added a fan driven cooling mat under my laptop because I was told that the DELL model I have over heats. (this would explain the spontaneous shutdown every now and then). Predictably, nine more months later my power cord adapter again failed. So I replaced it temporarily with an "IGO" power adapter - the only adapter cord that will fit a DELL. I went to the Dell site - and voila - found a forum that identified my adapter as possibly faulty. In fact there were 117 complaints from customers that indicated that they had replaced their adapter cord up to 3 times within 2 years. HMMM... one would think this may be a problem! You can read the customer reviews here. Be sure to look under the power cord picture for the "read customer reviews" link. Be aware that DELL does not think that there is a problem, even though this forum on their site is truly very negative. After reading the issues others faced with the power adapter with their DELL Inspiron 9400, I called DELL. Five dropped calls later I spoke with technical support - who advised me that there was no problem with the power cord and that over 120 prior customers were not telling the truth. So I asked the representative.... "are you telling me that 120 customers are not telling the truth and posting these comments for no reason". His answer was that yes, that is probably true and that DELL has not identified any problems with the power adapter cord. So, 120 vocal (I am sure many did not complain, or gave up) customers who have replaced their cords more than once in 2 years are wrong. There is no problem according to DELL. I let DELL know that I have 3000 members on my newsletter list who would be interested in knowing that although the customers have told them there is an issue, that they have their fingers in their ears and are singing "la, la, la, I can't hear you", and they did not seem to care. Apparently there are enough other suckers out there, who like me will be seduced by their marketing. For me - it will happen only once. My advice - don't buy a DELL. It's only my opinion however. And I am sure as time goes by there will be thousands more who agree. Read the customer reviews about the power cord here - click "read reviews" under the photo. Total cost to date: Many missed hours of work, my sanity (which was in question anyhow), computer cost + 2 power cords ($310.00) and 1 hard drive. ($300 in labour and materials).

Why will some small businesses not survive the recession?

Ok – so I admit it. There appears to be a recession. Yes, the media has mentioned it a few times. Yes, it seems to be a little too quiet around the office. And yes, I have seen the going out of business signs being posted on what seems like every corner. Most of them are smaller businesses. So, why will some small businesses not survive the recession? I recently did some research on how to survive a recessions and was surprised to learn several interesting facts. Some businesses come out of a recession in better shape than when they went in! That’s right. They are ahead of their competition. Many are lean mean money making machines when the recession finally ends – and are better positioned to become very profitable. However, none of this happened over night. The truth is – that during the recession, they were as concerned as everyone else about the bottom line – but instead of pushing the panic button – they became very strategic. Here are a few things that they did. Businesses that survived the recession: * Measured everything, their marketing efforts, their employee performance, their time management, their cash flow and their mark up and pricing matrix. * Continued to market their business (above all else) * Invested in systems – positioning themselves for effective customer and product management for future growth * Were patient. They recognized that “Robbing Peter to pay Paul” was a strategy that they may have to use – short term. Unfortunately micro businesses and small businesses are not all paying attention. They are panicking. Some are paying off loans that have interest rates of 3%. Ridiculous! Why not use that interest rate AND take advantage of lower pricing. An interest rate like this and lower prices can cut the final cost of a purchase by 50%. Others are discontinuing their marketing efforts entirely. There is no faster way to kill a business. Finally, others are burying their heads in the sand, hiding in the office and biting their fingernails. What a waste of time and energy! Why not take this time to visit clients, strategize on guerrilla marketing efforts and begin measuring your efforts. It has been reported that there are several companies that sell bargain goods who have increased their sales in the last quarter. Fast food is on the rise – yet middle of the road restaurants are suffering. Macaroni and cheese sales are up. You get the drift. However, upscale companies like ‘Coach’ that sells upscale accessories for women (purses etc) have recognized that they too need to do something – and have looked at bringing in cheaper goods to tide them over. They have reduced staff and closed stores that were not making a profit. Small business owners however, continue to astound me. They cancel advertising costing less than $20 a month – but continue to buy coffee at the local coffee shop. (Which has the ability to make them money, the advertising or the coffee?) Many are paying off their loans and paring services back so far that recovery may be impossible. For many, the recession is a perfect excuse to close a business they are really not interested in running anyway! So what does this mean in the end? It means if you consider the strategies mentioned earlier that the larger businesses use – chances are you will emerge from the recession with a stronger company. It also means that the people who are not dedicated to their businesses or whose customer service is poor, or whose prices are too high will have to close their doors. Finally though, the real trick to surviving the recessions is to recognize - nothing happens over night. Marketing efforts must be consistent and target your market correctly. When considering what you need to do to survive the recession – measure everything. Get rid of bulky, overpriced items and services whether you buy or sell them. Marketing is a 24 hour 7 day a week task. Finding better marketing strategies is a great idea. But getting rid of marketing all together is not a wise decision. If you don't know what to do - invest in good advice. There is no better time than now. You have the time - and need the help. Another option is to meet with your peers in a formal or informal setting. Get to know what is working for them. Share your expertise! Buck up people. Now is not the time to panic. Now is the time to get strategic with all you do, and be patient.