Sandra Martini's Success Strategies

Is your business client friendly?

There was a teleseminar I was interested in attending last week (promoted in a colleague's e-newsletter) and so I dutifully clicked the "register here" link.

That link took me to another web page (after 3 tries), which gave me another description of the same teleseminar and asked me to "register here". I clicked that second link and it brought me to yet a third page which asked me to, you guessed it, "click here to register".

Enough is enough!

Now THIS is an "iron cage"

I wrote a post late yesterday about the difference in providing a service versus an experience.

And something that happened this morning is a clear example of the difference...

Do you provide a service or an experience?

You ordered a glass of wine and two bottles of water. The bill came to US $40 Are you shocked? Horrified?

I recently came across a receipt from my trip to Italy last year and, rather than cringe in pain when seeing that receipt again, I smiled at the instant memory of the experience which it generated. It was one of the few nice weather days we had and I was sitting with my uncle and mother at an outside table in the center of Piazza Navona (Navona Square) in Rome watching local artists selling their works and people milling about.

Why did I smile rather than cringe? It was the "experience". I was immediately brought back to the people, the chatting, the smells, the feel of the warm sun on a winter's day, the sound of the Fountain of Four Rivers -- all of it, generated off a receipt for wine and bottled water.

Now I want you to stop and think for a moment. What type of *experience* do you/your business leave your clients with?

Marketing Mess of the Week: Why Won't You Let Me Give You Money?

I was recently out on a site related to feng shui (a hobby and great love of mine) and wanted to purchase a new crystal for my office window.

After clicking NINE different links, I finally got to the shopping cart only to find that there was no "checkout" link.  When clicking to "checkout", the site kept bringing me back to the product description page.

Now it only took about 3 tries for me to get that things weren't going to change and start to hunt for a phone number to call and order this $16 crystal.

No such luck...another site with no contact information on it.

When all was said and done, I left the site grumbling, frustrated and having spent well more than $16 of my time. . .and without the crystal.

Somehow I don't think the business owner intended this to be her clients' experience.

Whenever you create a new product or service, be sure to walk through the steps you're clients will experience as if you were one -- even better, ask your mother (or someone unfamiliar with what you're doing) to order the product WITHOUT you standing over her shoulder.

Is the experience simple?  Or are you frustrated by the amount of time and energy it takes?

Test, modify and test again until the process becomes effortless. :-)

Client Retention Strategy EVERY Business Can Use -- Are YOU Doing It?

I've used Constant Contact (www.ConstantContact.com) in my business for years and just signed up for a second account for my husband's band.

Within hours of signing up, they called to ensure I had no questions and to give me the name and number of a real live person in case I DID have any questions down the road.

Contacting, or "touching", our clients just to touch base is an art which seems to have gone the way of the payphone.  Hardly any businesses are doing it these days, but those who do are generating immense customer loyalty and with it, higher revenues.

When was the last time you picked up the phone or sent an email (NOT an autoresponder) just to check in with a client?

More importantly, when will be the next time you do it?  Think about it...just one client every day. 

3 Reasons Your Prospects Aren't Buying From You

You've worked for months to create the perfect ebook. It includes the answer to every possible question your audience could have. You've created a sales page.

You even offered a discount and threw in a ton of bonuses.

So why aren't they buying?

Despite what all the "instant gurus" may tell you about how you can generate millions of dollars of sales simply by purchasing their program and doing X, the reality is there's a system to building your business - whether online or offline.

Before you embark on any new business, product or service offering, you must determine:

1. Is there a need?

Is there a group of people who believe they have a need or want which you can fulfill?

Notice the language. . .I did not ask if YOU THINK there's a need. What you think is irrelevant unless you plan on purchasing your own products.

2. Do they know-like-trust you?

Have you built a relationship with the people you are asking to purchase your products and services or do you fly in, offer to sell something and then disappear until the next offer?

Much, MUCH too often, I receive emails which call themselves newsletters, but are nothing more than sales letters which contain NO content (Can we say UNSUBSCRIBE here?). You want to take the time to get to know your prospects and clients.

3. Why are you special?

What do you offer your clients and prospects that your competitors do not? What makes you stand out? Many experts say you should share the "what" and the "why", but not the "how" until your prospect purchases something.

I disagree in that it's not authentic to me to do that. If you've been on any of my calls, you know I believe in giving a lot of content - that makes me special from other coaches. I'm a teacher at heart.

What makes YOU special in your industry?

If your prospects aren't buying from you, you're missing at least one of the above three critical components of a successful and profitable client/vendor relationship.

Always remember, in designing your business, regardless of your industry, you have to be constantly aware of what your clients and prospects are searching for even as you build a business to suit your lifestyle.

Your Coaching Challenge

Starting with your business, step outside yourself and ask each of the above three questions from an objective point-of-view. If your business passes, ask the same questions for each product and service you offer/plan to offer.

Once you have the answers, you can confidently move forward.

For the past 5 years, Sandra Martini has been showing self-employed business owners how to get more clients consistently by implementing processes and systems to put their marketing on autopilot. Visit Sandra at www.SandraMartini.com for details, compelling client testimonials and her free audio series “5 Simple and Easy Steps to Put Your Marketing on Autopilot”.

How to Stay in the Forefront of Your Customers' Minds

Have you ever noticed that people get incredibly happy whenever you unexpectedly think of them or do something for them?

It doesn’t matter if it’s related to your business or personal life. Take Oprah Winfrey for example. At a live event a few years ago, she mentioned how she loves to purchase makeup whenever it’s “Clinique Bonus Time” as she gets a gift.

Here we have a woman worth over a billion dollars who she loves receiving the cheap little makeup bag with free blush and lipstick, in colors she will never wear, just because they are FREE.

F*ree gifts, particularly those that are unexpected and just “show up” go a long way in reminding your clients that you are thinking of them – even when they’re not paying you to!

I recently spent two weeks in Hawaii. While there, I picked up a t-shirt for a special client and also got one for her 2 ½ year-old-son. It didn’t cost much, it didn’t weigh anything (I even mailed it from Maui so I wouldn’t have to think about it), but it was unexpected and meant a lot to my client (and to her son).

With the holiday season fast approaching (sorry, but it’s true), think about what you can send your clients as a “thank you”.

This year, I’ll be sending Thanksgiving Day cards to all my clients as a “thank you” for being my client – can you think of a better time to say “thanks”? While I’ll also be sending holiday cards, I fully expect them to get buried with the onslaught of holiday cards that tends to arrive each December.

If you sell widgets, you can send a coupon for a free item with a $50 purchase. If you sell services, you can send something related to what you offer.

Are you stuck?

Send a gift card: Starbucks, book stores and Dunkin Donuts (in the Northeast) are all good choices. Plus, with so many shopping online these days, an Amazon.com (or any online retailer) gift card is a great option.

Still stuck?

You can always find something at either Harry and David (www.harryanddavid.com) or Dale & Thomas (www.daleandthomas.com).

Don’t think it needs to be expensive or unique. It’s amazing how you can change someone’s day just by giving them the unexpected. I even get happy when receiving the sample pens that arrive every few months – it’s a pleasure to receive something other than a bill or solicitation in my mailbox!

Need to send several things without breaking the bank? Check out Oriental Trading Company (www.orientaltrading.com) for inexpensive goodies that you can send out to everyone on your list.

Gifts and goodies are an inexpensive way to help with client and customer retention – remember it’s much less expensive to keep an existing customer than it is to get a new one. This is a great and simple way to stay at the forefront of your customers’ minds.

For the past 5 years, Sandra Martini has been showing self-employed business owners how to get more clients consistently by implementing processes and systems to put their marketing on autopilot. Visit Sandra at www.SandraMartini.com for details, compelling client testimonials and her free audio series “5 Simple and Easy Steps to Put Your Marketing on Autopilot”.

Recommended Resource: Broadcasts and Autoresponders Training

Finally! A Step-by-Step Training Showing You EXACTLY How to Set Up and Send Out Broadcasts and Autoresponders From Your Shopping Cart

It's here. . .a STEP-BY-STEP live webinar training where I personally take you through each step from signing in to your shopping cart to sending out broadcasts and autoresponder series.

Are you:

• currently sending out "personalized" emails manually by changing the names and sending individual emails from your Outlook, Yahoo, Gmail, or ISP account?
• currently sending out generic "Hi There" emails to everyone which lack all personalization?
• wishing you knew how to automatically include first names in subject lines?
• wishing you knew how people create even line breaks rather than some long lines and some short lines?
• wishing you could automatically follow-up with clients and prospects without having to remember to send them a note yourself?

I'll be showing you LIVE, with time for questions and answers, how exactly to use the 1ShoppingCart branded systems to do all of the above and more.

The live training will be held on Thursday, June 5th at 8pm Eastern and we'll create a broadcast email together, and then an autoresponder series together -- step by step, including creating a way for people to sign up for your autoresponders (even if you don't have a website).

I'm ready to teach you -- are you ready to show up for your business?

Click here to learn more and sign up for my Step-by-Step Training Showing You EXACTLY How to Set Up and Send Out Broadcasts and Autoresponders From Your Shopping Cart today -- spots ARE LIMITED and this will fill up quickly!

Are You Client Friendly?

There was a teleseminar I was interested in attending last week (promoted in a colleague's e-newsletter) and so I dutifully clicked the "register here" link.

That link took me to another web page (after 3 tries), which gave me another description of the same teleseminar and asked me to "register here". I clicked that second link and it brought me to yet a third page which asked me to, you guessed it, "click here to register".

Enough is enough!

Even though the teleseminar is something I'm interested in and, as an added benefit, it's f'ee, it's just not worth the hassle of TRYING to sign up. I gave up at the third registration link.

So I have to ask you, are you "client friendly" - that is, are you easy to do business with?

Do your clients cringe in frustration when trying to order something or pay you for services or do you make it as easy as possible?

Here are just a few things you must incorporate into your business to be "client friendly":

1. Accept different payment methods.

Even though many of us live in an "online bubble", reality is that many people aren't comfortable with paying online. As a result, offer your clients the option of printing your order form and faxing it in or consider accepting checks and money orders.

The slight inconvenience to you will be more than made up for by the number of increased sign-ups and sales.

2. Minimize the clicks.

The more hoops you make your clients jump through, the less likely they're going to do it. Our attention span is short and it's very easy to click over to another website.

Recognize that and adapt your business accordingly.

3. Accept multiple payments.

Many people (and business owners) live on budgets and use credit these days -- by offering payment plans which allow customers to spread out their payments, you make it easier for them to do business with you.

Your business systems must take into account that we are, as a people, too busy and overwhelmed with different things competing for our attention. The easier you make it for us to do business with you, the more likely we will, and in greater quantities.

Your Coaching Challenge

I've seen an overwhelming amount of emails lately from people professing to teach systems and processes and yet working with their businesses is tantamount to running a gauntlet: emails aren't responded to, product links don't work or take you through a maze before you can actually order, etc.

In setting up the systems for your business, I challenge you to pretend you are your own client and go through all the same steps your clients and prospects must experience.

Then improve your process.

After you go through the steps, ask someone who is NOT familiar with your business to go through the same steps.

Then further refine and improve.

For the past 5 years, Sandra Martini has been showing self-employed business owners how to get more clients consistently by implementing processes and systems to put their marketing on autopilot. Visit Sandra at http://www.SandraMartini.com for details, compelling client testimonials and her free audio series "5 Simple and Easy Steps to Put Your Marketing on Autopilot".

3 Steps to Getting The Most Out of Conferences and Workshops

Once you return home from a conference or workshop, it's easy to forget all the things you learned and promised yourself you'd implement.

After all, you're back in your regular environment: your family needs attention after you've been gone, work tasks have piled up, personal items need handling. How are you to "catch up" and incorporate all the new things as well?

Here's my simple process for ensuring I implement and put new ideas into action as soon as I return from a conference or workshop:

1. Create an Action List.

While at the workshop, I make an action list of all the ideas I want to implement in my business - some are new and some are refining things I'm already doing.

The important thing to note here is that I do NOT censor this list - everything I think of goes on it.

2. Take a day.

If possible, take a day or 1/2 day when you get home to unpack, get back in the swing of things and take a good look at your Action List (mine usually runs 2-3 pages).

Review the items and decide which make sense for your business right now, in the next six months and in the next year.

Once you've separated the items into different lists, take out the "right now" sheet:

Are there items which can be done in 10 minutes or less? If so, identify those items and schedule an hour for each group of 5 activities over the next week (this allows a little extra time). This will insure you make steady progress soon after the seminar.

Do you have bigger projects? No sweat, break them down into smaller chunks -- 30 minutes at most -- and schedule them on your calendar.

By scheduling these activities *on your calendar*, you'll have a start and end time for getting them done and ensuring you got the most out of your time at the workshop.

File the other two lists in your tickler file for future action.

3. Follow-Up

Chances are you've met new friends and potential clients.

Now's the time to drop them a brief note and let them know you're happy to have met them and follow-up with any information you may have promised.

And, remember, if appropriate for you, thank the speaker for the seminar and all you learned.

Your Coaching Challenge

Think back to the last conference or workshop you attended. Did you create an Action List of things to implement in your business?

If not, schedule some time on your calendar to sit down with the workshop binder, go through your notes and create an Action List of everything you want to implement.

Then follow the steps I outline above for getting them done! I set the intention to get at least one thing (new idea, better way of doing something, etc.) from every conference or workshop I attend - after all, the cost of attendance is high: money, travel, hotel, and, most importantly, my time and energy!

For the past 5 years, Sandra Martini has been showing self-employed business owners how to get more clients consistently by implementing processes and systems to put their marketing on autopilot. Visit Sandra at www.SandraMartini.com for details, compelling client testimonials and her free audio series "5 Simple and Easy Steps to Put Your Marketing on Autopilot".