Smart CountrySmart
Presented by Chantelle Mader National Award Winning Business Advisor And Profit Strategiest
BU S I N E S S N E W S December 2011
Creating Financial And Lifestyle Freedom For Country Business Owners In Three To Five Years... Or Less!
In This Issue Farmers Are Herd Animals Too Learn how to tap into our deep human need to belong to bring in the dollars. (Page 1 & 2)
Farmers Are Herd Animals Too. As individuals we are all perfectly flawed. We have our own unique styles and our own take on the world. Yet, as groups we seem to act as one. Just like a mob of sheep.
It has been said, I can’t remember by who, that we are all simply wondering around, umbilical cord in hand, looking for somewhere to plug it in!
So where does this tendency come from and how can we tap into this to grow our businesses?
(For blokes, it may be the bit you want to plug in is located a bit lower down... Ahem! Maybe this explains why sex sells? A controversial conversation for another day! *blush*)
Firstly, you must understand what our basic human needs are. Food, Water, Shelter... then the next most powerful human need is an emotional one, the need to belong. This is why we hang out in families, become members of sporting organisations and clubs, and why we are social beings that work in teams. Simply put, we like to hang out with those that like the same things we do because of our deep human social need to belong... Hmmm that sounds just like a mob of sheep to me!
Here’s how you can fill this deep seated emotional need to belong for your customers and pick up a pile of cash along the way... It starts by building a relationship with your customers and prospective customers. After all, people only buy from those they like and trust. And remember it is the strength of your relationship with your customers that keeps them loyal to you and keeps continued on next page
Smooth is Fast! Don’t run your business so fast that you trip yourself up. Discover the business lessons to be learned from watching a remote control car race. (Page 2 & 3) Making Your Christmas Cards Standout From The Crowd. How poking a bit of fun at yourself can make your business memorable this Christmas. (Page 4)
Pass It On Our Business Grows By Referral. If you like the content of our newsletter, please pass it onto other friends in business you know
Country Smart Business Solutions | Newsletter | December 2011
them buying from you, even when you may be the most expensive option. Your goal should be to build relationships so strong that your customers suffer feelings of separation anxiety at the thought of not being in contact with you. They should feel like they will miss out on something if they lose contact with you. We see this happen often around celebrities and music artists. Not so often in business. But on good example would be the cult like following that Apple computers have. (All I want for Christmas is something beginning with i!) Building a strong relationship is a bit like growing a dairy herd... It starts by feeding them great food (useful and timely news and educational information).
Entertaining them and involving them so they don’t get distracted and wander off. (Currently it’s illegal to fence in human beings! So entertaining we must be to keep them wanting to hang around.) And then, milking them when you need a feed (asking for the sale or getting them to buy). They will gladly give you their milk (money) when they are happy and relaxed in the environment you have created. The best shift you can have in how you view your business is to think of your business as a club. Almost all business can use this mindset to totally transform their business into a money making machine. Once you look at you business this way you understand the value of keeping your herd of farmers entertained and involved in order for them to renew
their membership with you. No one wants to be part of a club that is boring and doesn’t have regular special events just for it’s members... And when one farmer starts raving about these closed door events to their neighbours... They will come flocking in! Curiosity with get them every time. Relationships grow stronger with shared experiences because they become the stories we share around the campfire, over a beer at the pub or with neighbours over the fence...Which will create a buzz of excitement about your business and dream referrals. Make them laugh. Touch their heart. And your business will become the cash spitting machine you always dreamed it would be and you will have a whole heap of fun along the way with your very own herd of farmers.
SYSTEMS: Smooth is Fast! Don’t run your business so fast that you trip yourself up. Have you ever watched how a good racing car driver drives? Isn’t it interesting that those that travel too fast crash out of the race, or get damaged which slows them down, often meaning they are then not able to win the race. While the drivers that drive strategically, to the conditions, are actually faster as the ride is smoother. Sure, there is some luck involved. But the illusion is that those that appear to be travelling slowly are actually travelling the fastest as the ride is smooth. And this is exactly what can happen in a business. A business that runs fast and struggles to put in place good systems often crashes out of the race
as something critical is bound to go wrong when a system fails. While those that put in place solid systems, from the start, cope with growth with less stress and have time to plan and see any issues before they become critical. While it is exciting to run fast and make a lot of sales. Uncontrolled growth can also do a lot of damage. It doesn’t make sense to put yourself in a position where you can’t deliver because you are over stretched. Never mind the affect on your health as you go without sleep to try and keep up! Always remember that it is the strength of your relationship with those on your database that feeds you. And nothing destroys a relationship quicker than not being honourable, that is, not doing what
you said you were going to do. This has previously been more true for rural and regional areas more than city businesses, who can more easily find ‘fresh meat’ that are blissfully ignorant to what they are getting themselves in for, as it’s not until after you purchase that you find the ability to deliver is failing. Now, thanks to the internet and social media those that don’t deliver are more quickly found out and reputations ruined. (Which is sad, as I’m sure most business owners don’t go into business with the intention of not delivering.) If you are just starting out in business, make sure you give yourself a good foundation to build your business on by ensuring you have good systems in
Country Smart Business Solutions | Newsletters | December 2011
place that are readily scaleable. Many make the mistake of choosing a band aid system rather than a system that will give a long term solution. It’s far better to keep a waiting list and, funnily enough, when people learn you have a waiting list they want you more, which creates even more demand. But at least with a waiting list, or early bird list, you are being truthful and therefore honourable in the fact that you can’t cope with the sales you currently have. Having five to ten good lead generation systems in place is very important, but that doesn’t mean you have to have them all going at once! If just one, or two, are generating all the leads you can handle then switch off the others, for the time being. Just have them ready to go should sales go quiet. You can then get them all up and running quickly and easily when needed. Here’s some signs that you need to switch off some of your lead generation: Being forced to hire staff too quickly. If you find yourself not having enough time to properly assess potential staff ’s suitability to the role that they are applying for, or having time to properly train them. (Which means you are dumping them in the deep end. Sink or swim.) Remember hire slow, fire fast, or
you leave yourself open to getting the wrong people which will slow you down anyway. Systems not coping. Emails not being returned. Work going out the door shoved together and poorly finished off because you and your staff simply don’t have the time to take the necessary due care and thought? Not having time to make things look really good. Instead, settling for...near enough is good enough. I’m not saying, do perfect (Perfect doesn’t exist anyway). You do need to shoot for excellence with the finished product you produce and have systems in place to ensure it doesn’t leave the building if it’s not up to scratch. Churning through humanity. High turnover of clients, and staff. You sell a heap to new clients only to find they leave you after a year or two. Are they are disgruntled with your ability to deliver what was promised with quality, in a timely manner? Have you ever looked at your churn rate? It’s the leaking bucket. Doesn’t it make more sense to make sure your current customers are happy before spending more money on getting new ones? Blaming. I once had a client who allowed their vendor to decide how much stock they needed of a line of product. No surprise that they got a
shock at the size of the bill. And there they were blaming the vendor and missing the learning! I quietly informed them that it was their lack of systems in this area that caused the issue and that was their fault, not the vendors. Whatever happens in your business is your fault, not your staffs, not your suppliers. Take the blame and look for the systems failure that enabled it to happen, close the hole and tighten the accountability. But some still claim that “All employees go lame” when they have problems keeping staff. Remember you get what you expect in life! We have an uncanny ability to look around at the world and selectively pick out examples that prove or back up our theories. Ensuring we get more of the same! Stop creating excuses and blaming as everything in your business is a reflexion of how you view the world, which is why problems are rarely solved until we have a shift in our thinking. If you are going to blame, blame your systems. Do not take the blame personally. Nothing is gained by beating yourself up when something goes wrong. Although you are ultimately responsible, systems failures happen all the time. Learn and move on, it was just another adventure.
Country Smart Business Solutions | Newsletters | December 2011
TOOL BOX: Products and services tyre kicked, reviewed and tested to fast track your business success!
JibJab Review Christmas is not just an opportunity to say thanks to those that have supported you through the year but also a great opportunity to entertain and involve them.
Do something a little different, and by not shying away from poking a bit of fun at yourself, means you stand a far better chance of stay top in their mind next time they want to buy.
You have the ability to feature yourself and up to 4 four other people in the videos. All you do is upload a head shot picture of yourself, and any others you wish to feature in the video, and the site enables you to cut out your head and place it in many different Christmas and party themed videos. You even animate your mouth, as in some videos you will even be seen singing the song!
http://www.JibJab.com certainly has
From a disco Christmas to a rocken’
lling To Farm Se
ers Specialist
rketing An d
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Ma
a great sense of fun and had me in stitches! JibJab helps you send novel Christmas videos as eCards.
Phone:
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Fax:
1300 667 154
Email:
Info@CountrySmartBusiness.com.au
Christmas it’s a heap of fun. However, just remember not to get too carried away and be appropriate if you plan on making one to send to clients. Some of the videos are a little on the rude and controversial side. (Farting Christmas carols and stripteases.) It only costs $12 a year and just $2 to download any videos you create. (For those of you on my Christmas card list you will get a link to my crazy JibJab video right inside your real, snail mail delivered, Christmas card.)
Address: PO Box 4001, BUNBURY EAST WA 6230
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