One Minute Business Multiplier
Special Report
One Minute Business Selection Blueprint
One Minute Business Multiplier Table of Contents
The Top Three Ways to Grow Your Business The Big Idea How to Get More Customers for Less Than $100 Creating the Flyer Four Secrets to Success The Quick and Easy Business Expander Beating the Competition The BICC Sales Process Summary One Minute Business Multiplier Tips
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One Minute Business Selection Blueprint
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One Minute Business Multiplier It is 11:30 pm. Instead of snuggling in bed with your spouse, you are in your office going over the books yet again. When you started your business, you were prepared for hard work and long hours; yet, this is ridiculous. Your business has been open six months, and you have not taken a salary in that time. Your family relations are getting strained and your health is suffering from all the stress. If only there was a way to get more customers into the business. If only there was a way to get your existing customers to buy more products. If only… Almost every entrepreneur has faced a similar dilemma at one time or another. You go into business for yourself so that you can have more time and money, and yet it seems that you are left with less time and less money than when you were an employee. What can be done to remedy this dilemma? This special report will cover several ways to increase your business. It contains examples of how to increase the number of customers, along with the number of sales per customer, thereby improving market share. This report will introduce: • • • • • • •
The Top Three Ways to Grow Your Business The Big Idea How to Find More Customers for Less Than $100 Common Thinking and the Four Secrets to Success The Quick and Easy Business Expander Beating the Competition The BICC Sales Process
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The Top Three Ways to Grow Your Business The truth is there are only three proven-effective ways to grow your business. They include: • • •
Get more customers (quantity of people) Get customers to buy more (quantity of product) Get customers to buy more often (frequency)
The following sections of the special report will address each of these ways to grow your business.
The Big Idea Any great marketing campaign has, at its core, a big idea. This is an idea about what the product or service was supposed to deliver to you. The concept behind the big idea is that you do not sell the product, but rather, the emotion behind the big idea. Upon which, you can then build product groups around the initial concept. Take the opportunity to develop your own big idea. Exercise: The Big Idea Are your products and idea selling themselves? Complete this exercise to find out more: What is the big idea behind your product? What emotion are you selling? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ How does your marketing campaign reflect that idea? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________
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How to Get More Customers for Less Than $100 The best way to generate the business you want for less than $100 is to expand your marketing channels. One such way is to create a flyer or a postcard. We have all seen flyers stuck on windshields or doors. It is one of the simplest and most cost efficient methods of generating business. Start by passing out 1,000 flyers. A 2% response to the flyers would result in 20 customers that you would not otherwise have recruited. If you distribute 5,000 flyers, at a 2% response rate, you will recruit 100 new customers. By the time you have 100 customers you will the beginnings of a profitable business. Not every flyer will be successful at attracting customers. To design a flyer that will standout, you need to consider a few key points. The following page contains a template of a successful flyer that you can follow as you create your design.
Personalization
Headline
Affordable Elegance List of Services
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Exclusivity Point
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Creating the Flyer As you create your flyer there are several critical elements of successful, attention-grabbing flyers that you should consider. There is also a list of tips for you to follow as you create your flyer. The important elements include: • • • • • • •
The Headline Personalization Benefits Exclusivity Point Testimonial Call to Action Contact Information
The Headline The headline should be the primary attention-grabbing feature of a flyer. Studies have shown that you have only a second or two to catch the attention of the viewer and convince them to keep reading. There is no better way than to have a well-worded headline. Regardless, of your positioning (positioning will be discussed later in the report), include a carefully worded headline that will secure the reader’s attention. Personalization One of the benefits that you have as an entrepreneur is the ability to develop rapport with people. Larger corporations generally do not have the same ability to connect with customers. You, as an individual, are able to initiate a connection and build a relationship. Therefore, include a strategically placed picture (or graphic) on the flyer will begin the process of creating rapport. Benefits In the sections following, detail how your products and services will benefit the customer. Bare in mind, benefits are not the same as features. The difference will be explained later on in this report. The benefits should clearly state the way that the product or service will make the customer’s life easier. Exclusivity Point To enhance your flyer, add in an exclusivity point. Always include a statement that makes it sound as if this is a limited opportunity for people. If possible, include a logical reason why the customer should take advantage of the offer. Testimonial Always give proof that the product or service you are offering is legitimate and will benefit the customer. This provides people a reason to believe your claims. This increases the trust the customer
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places in you. One of the best ways to provide proof is to feature a testimonial. Testimonials are not only effective; they are extremely powerful. Testimonials build rapport. Call to Action You want to ensure your flyer features a call to action. Once you have secured the attention of a potential customer, recruit them by urging them to act. Without a call to action, all you have managed to do is create awareness. Proven methods of wording a call to action include using phrases such as: “Call today” or “Limited openings.” This creates a sense of urgency, causing people to act. Contact Information Make sure you include multiple ways for customers to contact you. The customer is more likely to contact you if you make it convenient for them. Give them as much information as you can. If you have a website, that will often contribute to your rapport.
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Four Secrets to Success Encouraging your existing customers to buy more, and buy more often, requires that you explore and overcome common misconceptions of business, and identify the real secrets to success. Common Misconception You need a certain personality type to succeed in business Do you need to have an entrepreneurial personality to grow your business? While some people do indeed have naturally entrepreneurial personalities, you can be successful in business without an innate knack for business. Effective entrepreneurship and good business acumen can be learned. In fact, people who may seem to be natural entrepreneurs occasionally fail because they do not know how to grow their own businesses. In this section, you will learn proven-effective steps to grow your business. Success Secret The first secret to success is that you do not need to have any certain personality to succeed in business. You just need to know the steps to take. Common Misconception All failure is bad, and should be avoided at all costs Ken Blanchard, author of the One Minute Entrepreneur, sums it up best: “Failure is successfully finding out what you don’t want to repeat.” With that said, be willing to go to a customer that you have never met and ask for a sale. You have to be willing to risk your time and/or money to pursue unexplored avenues. You have to be willing to fail in order to achieve long-term success. As entrepreneurs, you must accept the fact that you will experience a certain amount of failure before you achieve success. The trick is to fail intelligently. You want to avoid repeatedly making the same mistakes, hence, you need to be able to ascertain what when wrong and apply it to your next effort, so that you grow a step closer to success. Success Secret The second secret to success is to not avoid failure, but to accelerate it. Common Misconceptions You need to do something entirely different from the competition to succeed In all businesses and in all industries there is a steady stream of cash flow. This stream, most often, follows the trend. It is typically representative of the consumer spending market. If you are in a specific industry, the first step is to identify from where that cash flow is coming; then you have to immerse yourself in the market to be apart of it. This requires that you develop, market, and distribute products that are similar to what is already selling, but all the while creating your own unique niche. For example, Domino’s Pizza was not the first company to deliver pizza. Yet, in recognizing a strong market, and therefore a potential for a significant cash flow, Domino’s Pizza created their own unique niche with their “30-minute delivery or the pizza is free” guarantee. As a result, Domino’s now has
Everyone’s a Coach: You Can Inspire Anyone to Be a Winner by Don Shula, Kenneth H. Blanchard
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8,000 corporate and franchised stores in more than 54 countries. It is the second-largest pizza chain in the United States with total sales exceeding $4.6 billion in 2004. Success Secret The third secret to being successful in business is to find the simplest way to get into the cash stream. In order to capitalize on the cash flow, discover what is working so that you can glean ideas that can assist you with your entrepreneurial endeavors. In other words, if someone in your industry is doing something that is working well, investigate the strategy and pattern a similar course of action. With business, if certain trends prove successful, you need to act quickly. Trends tend to fluctuate quickly. So, you have to take a risk. It is not necessary to mimic the products of other companies. You can create similar products and services to those that you currently offer. When you have a product or service that is working well, create your own knock off product. Doing this requires you to develop it before your competitors do it themselves. Capitalize on the market. While this might require you to invent another new product, or a variation of an existing product, it secures your competitive edge in the industry. For example, if you have a book, consider making it into an e-book. That way, you are also increasing your potential for additional revenue streams and thereby increasing business profitability. Take the opportunity to practice coming up with additional products based on those in your industry. Exercise: Knock it off! Creating various different versions (or updated versions) of a successful product gives you a competitive edge in the industry. Are you taking advantage of this opportunity? Complete this exercise to evaluate your aptitude for this technique. What is the most successful product in your industry? ________________________ How can you put your unique spin on that product? ________________________ What is your most successful product? ________________________ How can you knock your own product off? ________________________ Common Misconception Your customers will buy only the amount of product they need When people start buying products, they rarely buy a sensible amount of products. People, when shopping, often get into a so-called buying frenzy. The very fact that they purchased the product indicates an interest, not a need. Shopping creates a sense of excitement often leading to the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino’s_Pizza
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purchase of more products. Customers tend to purchase more than they need. Honestly, the people that will buy the most products are those that already have sufficient amount of that product. This is akin to a bell curve that shoots very high very quickly with the first purchase, and then gradually tails off over time. Your existing customers will essentially buy the same type of product from you as many times as you offer it to them. The secret of maximizing that relationship is to spend quality time thinking about ways you can repackage your existing product. You can repackage it; re-price it; resell it as a CD-ROM, ebook, seminar; or create an audio disc. There are a myriad ways of repackaging an existing product. By offering your product to your clients in various forms, you will be amazed how many times they will buy it. Success Secret The fourth secret in maximizing your business is to recognize that your customers don’t want to just buy one product; they want to buy a lot of products. Backend sales create many sources of revenue for companies who learn how to take advantage of it. Backend sales are the sales that come through presenting new offers to existing customers. Never forget, the core of every business is selling. There is power in backend sales. Are you increasing your backend? Complete the following exercise to find out more. Exercise: Increase Your Backend How many products do you currently offer? ________________________ What other products can you offer them? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ How can you repackage your products? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________
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The Quick and Easy Business Expander In addition to your core business, there is an infinite amount of ways to expand it. You are literally bound only by your imagination. For many businesses, there are very large markets, which is what a critical element. A diverse market range is a major element for growth and expansion in the business world. Here is a case study that illustrates how expanding the core business can prove beneficial. Case Study—Jeff Jeff is a successful entrepreneur who owns a large veterinary hospital. He also co-owns, with a friend, a pet grooming business. In addition, Jeff has several micro-businesses among which include: a pet sitting service, an in-home animal training business, and pet photography. The revenue from all these businesses adds up to more than one million dollars annually. All of this originated from Jeff’s initial business—the veterinary hospital. Jeff built the other businesses by learning how to acquire new customers and learning how to turn customers into buyers of multiple products, thereby increasing the amount of money they spent. Exercise: The Business Expander How many ideas can you come up with to expand your core business? Do not limit your ideas only to the ones that you would necessarily want to do. Simply come up with as many ideas as you possibly imagine. 1. _______________________ 2. _______________________ 3. _______________________ 4. _______________________ 5. _______________________ 6. _______________________ 7. _______________________ 8. _______________________ 9. _______________________ 10. _______________________ 11. _______________________ 12. _______________________ 13. _______________________ 14. _______________________ 15. _______________________ 16. _______________________ 17. _______________________ 18. _______________________
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Beating the Competition As an entrepreneur, it is in your best interest to position your business in a way that gives it credibility. In a nutshell, the positioning of your business is how you are going to convince customers to do business with you. For many businesses, the fastest, easiest way to secure a piece of the market is to find a way to secure lower prices for the customers. With low overhead and economic creativity, (and maybe a slightly lower profit margin), you can offer products and services at a substantially lower price than your competitors. Another position you may want to take is one of a premium business. This means that you will be making the claim that your business specializes in high quality offerings rather than offering products and services at a low price; however, do not try to take both positions. If you do, you may compromise the credibility of your business. Maintain a consistent position with your business. Complete the following exercise to define the position of your business. Exercise: Position Yourself How do you position your business apart from the competition? Is it a low price or speed of service? Are you a minority business owner? List five qualities that make your business different from others in the industry. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
_______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________
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The BICC Sales Process Having a fantastic product line, a stellar marketing campaign, and droves of customers coming into your business does not, by itself, guarantee success. If you lack an effective sales process, you cannot maximize the full potential of your business. In other words, an effective sales process, combined with the above-mentioned factors, allows you to reach your potential. The following is a sales process that works for almost any type of product or service. It is the called the BICC sales process. They include: • • • •
Build a Relationship Identify Pain Create a Solution Close the Sale
Build a Relationship Building a relationship is the first stage of the sales process. It is about identifying what the sales agent and the prospective customer have in common. Relating to the customer has a powerful impact on building rapport. Therefore, begin with statements such as: “You’re from Anaheim Hills, my sister lives there right now,” “I love going to the symphony too,” or “You’re a Bulls fan, I love basketball.” However, it is important to note that you should be sincere. Remain in this stage until some common ground has been reached and you connect with the customer on an interpersonal level. Identifying Pain After you build rapport with the customer, the next step is to help the potential customer to identify pain. It is important to note that this is an emotional state, as opposed to an intellectual state. The pain will provide the motivation that will influence the customer to make a purchase. The deeper the pain, the more motivation the customer will have to want to get rid of the pain. Do not move through the sales process until the customer wants to change his or her current situation. In the following example, John, who owns a copier sales, lease and service company, is talking with Christine, the owner of a small business. The copier that Christine owns is really slow and breaks down a couple of times each month. John has already established rapport with Christine and so he is able to talk freely. The rapport allows Christine to give open, honest answers. Look how John helps Christine identify pain: John: How is your printer working for you? Christine: It is all right; it is pretty old and I wish it were a little bit faster. It always seems to be bogged down by large projects. John: So, the capacity is lower than you want? Christine: I guess so. It would be nice to quickly print the reports each month. They take all day sometimes. John: Well, is the printer reliable? Christine: Most of the time. John: How often do you have to have it serviced? Christine: Actually, once every couple of weeks or so.
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John: Really? How long does it take to get a repairman out? Christine: Usually within a day, sometimes two. John: What do you do when it is down? Christine: We can usually wait; it is really only a problem when it goes down at the end of the month. As you can see, Christine is beginning to realize that the printer is a thorn in her side. John is allowing her to see the problems with her printer. Keep in mind this is not the time to provide a solution for the pain. The pain will build as the customer is allowed to think about the problems. Create a Solution The next step, following the identification of the pain, is the opportunity to create a solution that will offer the customer relief from the pain. As you present your product service, tailor it to the customer. Make sure that you do not focus on the features (technical specifications, batteries included, selfsetting clock, pages per minute, etc.) of what you are selling; rather, focus on the benefits (the convenience of a self-setting clock, how much less time it will take to print because of the increased pages per minute, etc.) that will improve the customer’s experience. Remember to specifically address the areas of pain the customer is feeling. It is important to help the customer emotionally connect your product or service with pain relief. Encourage the customer to envision a state of resolution. The emotions of the customer will drive the sale. We will return to the example of John and Christine to illustrate this step of the sales process. John: I have a great printer that would fulfill your needs perfectly. You would be able to print your reports in a third of the time of your current printer. Christine: That would save me so much time. John: Also, with our affordable lease option, we guarantee that we will repair it the same day that you call. Christine: So we wouldn’t be without a printer when reports are due. John was able to illustrate the solutions to the problems that Christine currently experiences. Christine is beginning to recognize remedies to the pain that she discovered in the second step of the sales process. However, this is not the time to close the sale. You still have work to do. Close the Sale The final step of the sales process requires the most amount of practice to become proficient. During the Close the Sale stage, you will need to determine when the customer is ready to make the purchase and, at that exact moment, close the sale. Learning to recognize that moment, and asking for the sale at that time, is key to your success as a salesperson. Prior to that moment, the vast majority of customers will have concerns that you will need to help them resolve in order to close the sale. These concerns will be as diverse as the customers that you meet; however, they do have one thing in common: In order to make the sale, the concern must be addressed.
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Identifying the concern takes practice. Despite the fact you have a great relationship, the customer is often unwilling or unable to directly address their true concern. You must learn to ask probing questions and effective follow-up questions in order to find the root of the concern the customer is facing. Only once you have arrived at the root of the concern can you begin to overcome it. Once the concerns have been overcome, and the customer has arrived at the point when they are ready to buy, you must ask for the sale. Be direct and do not ask yes or no questions when you ask for the sale. By following the BICC sales process you will be more effective and achieve more success.
Summary It is not necessarily your personality or how hard you work that determines your success in business. As you have learned in this special report, if you understand the steps you can take to grow your business, you can have the time and money you envisioned when you started the business. The following statement describes the path you should take to success: “I once heard profit is the applause you get for taking care of customers and your people.� - Ken Blanchard, One Minute Entrepreneur
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One Minute Business Multiplier Tips There are three primary ways to grow your business: Get more customers (quantity of people) Get customers to buy more (quantity of product) Get customers to buy more often (frequency) You do not need a certain personality to succeed as an entrepreneur. In order to succeed in anything, do not avoid failure—accelerate through it and use it as a learning experience. Find the quickest, most efficient way to get into the cash stream. Customers will often buy far more of your product than they “need.” Even with a fantastic product line, a great marketing campaign, and droves of customers coming into your business, you cannot maximize your business if you do not have an effective sales process.