by Donna J Davis | Aug 15, 2024 | Business
As a business owner, you must be aware of your competition. But there’s a fine line between being aware of your competition and fixating on them. Focusing too much on your competitors can lead to these five mistakes:
1. Copying your competition
When you spend too much time and energy focusing on your competitors, you can lose sight of your unique selling proposition and customers.
Your competition is probably doing many things right, but they also have weaknesses. So you can miss opportunities to set yourself apart from the competition.
Don’t allow your focus to move into being better than your competition. Every business needs leads and sales, but in trying to beat your competition, you can forget the importance of caring for your current customers.
So while it’s essential to monitor your competitors’ actions, it’s usually better to honor what makes you unique and focus on that.
2. Spending less time connecting with your current customers
If you start trying to implement more of what your competitors are doing, it leaves less time to do what you’re good at.
Learning the marketing strategies of competitors may benefit you. But in today’s world, it’s your uniqueness and connection to potential and current customers that will spark your business’ growth.
Don’t lose sight of who you serve and what got you to where you are today.
3. Missing opportunities to improve your business
When your attention shifts to evaluating your competitors’ actions, you miss being able to constructively evaluate important aspects of your business.
Small improvements can build a stronger business. Focus on where you can improve current processes, products or services.
Tennis champion Venus Williams said, “I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals and try to ignore the rest.” Great advice.
4. Losing sight of your own goals and objectives
Every business has unique goals and objectives. While your competitors may have similar goals, there are always differences.
When you lose sight of your goals, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the day-to-day tasks of running your business. This can lead to burnout and a loss of motivation.
Losing sight of your goals makes measuring your success against your objectives difficult. Evaluating whether or not you’re making progress becomes fuzzy.
5. Wasting a lot of time and energy
You can spend too much time worrying about what your competitors are doing instead of taking productive action that will make a difference in your bottom line.
Being a successful business owner requires tremendous time and energy. Every decision can have far-reaching consequences, and there is always the potential for failure. Use your time and energy wisely.
Guard your time. Learn from your competition, but don’t waste time trying to one-up them. Showcase your unique skills. Show your customers you appreciate them. Choose to spend time improving what’s good about your business.
Author James Clear said, “Focus is the art of knowing what to ignore.” If you are tempted to shift your focus to your competition, remember the benefits of prioritizing your business and goals.
Tony Robbins shared this wisdom, “The more focused you are, the more successful you will be.”
Remember these five reasons to maximize your time, energy, and resources to grow and thrive.
by Donna J Davis | Apr 29, 2024 | Customer Service, Marketing
Two main activities help increase your revenue:
- Getting new customers and
- Keeping those customers happy so they stay with you and buy more.
Did you know that 44% of businesses aren’t calculating how many customers stay with them over a period of time (known as customer retention rates)? And Customer Gauge’s December 2023 article says those businesses are “missing a huge opportunity.”
Business owners, managers, or your accounting team study many numbers. Revenues, gross profit, the direct cost to get those sales, your overhead expenses, and your net profit are a few financial markers.
You probably understand the importance of your financial reports. But don’t be a part of those 44% of businesses that neglect to track customer retention percentages.
If you aren’t a numbers person, this may seem like A LOT of data. Aren’t your financials enough to give you a good representation of your business? Yes, and no.
Your financials tell you the results of your activities, but knowing stats about your customers’ loyalty gives you a deeper picture of what’s happening.
Consider these facts reported by HubSpot:
- Customer acquisition is expensive. It can cost up to five times more than keeping your existing customers happy.
- The chance of selling to a new customer is between 5% and 20%.
- That percentage jumps to 60-70% for existing customers.
- “Customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable than companies that aren’t.”
- When introducing a new product (or service), 50% of current customers are more likely to try it, and 31% are “more likely to spend more on their average order value.”
Businesses that focus solely on acquiring more and more customers often struggle.
A focused effort to keep current customers happy can result in more revenues and profits for your business.
If you don’t already know your customer loyalty numbers, you need three numbers.
- The number of your customers at the Start (S) of a given period. Let’s say you want to measure your customer retention for this (or last) year’s first quarter. Your starting point is January 1.
- The number of NEW (N) customers you added during this period.
- The number of customers at the End (E) of the given period. In this case, that’s the number of customers as of March 31st.
Here’s the formula with numbers as examples:
(E-N) divided by S times 100 = Your Customer Retention Rate Percentage
So if you started with 110 customers (S), added 15 new customers (N), and ended with 90 customers (E), your formula looks like this:
90 (E) -15 (N) = 75 divided by 110 (S) = .68 x 100 = 68%
You subtract your new customers because you want to know how many of your CURRENT customers stay with you. So, take your ending number, subtract your new customers, and divide that by your starting number.
Another example: (E-N)/S x 100 = Customer Retention Rate
You started with 190 (S) customers. You added 30 (N) new customers. You ended with 200 (E) customers.
200 (E) – 30 (N) = 170 divided by 190 (S) = .89 x 100 = 89%
If that made your eyes roll because you already have so many responsibilities to juggle, I can help. Book a Zoom call with me. I’ll share a spreadsheet with you so you can plug in your numbers. I’ll learn more about your business and customers, and you’ll leave knowing more information.
If nothing else, leave knowing this…
Your current customers can have a significant impact on your revenues and your bottom line. They can be a vital source of ongoing income. Tap into easier sales with simple strategies.
I’ll discuss what to do with this information in future posts.
by Donna J Davis | Apr 28, 2024 | Customer Service
You? Your employees? New customers? Your existing customers?
Acquiring more customers and clients is a main focus for many businesses. Yes, that’s important to for your business’ growth. But if you neglect prioritizing those customers, you’ll lose them to a competitor who appreciates them.
The financial side of loyal customers
Here are some quotes from entrepreneurs, founders, and authors. Wise words on the financial impact of keeping your existing customers happy.
“One customer well taken care of could be more valuable than $10,000 worth of advertising.” ~Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker
“The single most important thing is to make people happy. If you are making people happy, as a side effect, they will be happy to open up their wallets and pay you.” ~Derek Sivers, Founder of CD Baby
“It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages.” ~Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company
Focus on the customer, not your competition
“Until you understand your customers – deeply and genuinely – you cannot truly serve them.” ~Rasheed Ogunlaru, author, speaker, coach
“If you don’t appreciate your customers, someone else will.” ~Jason Langella, marketing entrepreneur and brand builder
“A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” ~Michael LeBoeuf, business author
“Instead of focusing on the competition, focus on the customer.” ~Scott Cook, American businessman, Co-Founder of Intuit
“Make your customer the hero of your stories.” ~Ann Handly
Customers are your most valuable assets
“It takes months to find a customer… seconds to lose one.” ~Vince Lombardi, American football coach and executive
“Customer service is the new marketing.” ~Jim Bush, EVP at American Express
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” ~Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
“Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the customer gets out of it.” ~Peter Drucker, management consultant, educator, and author known as the father of management thinking
Are you paying attention to your existing customers? What are you doing to show appreciation to them?
Ideas to improve your customer relationships
- An excellent well-written email campaign to engage your readers. This can include welcome emails, thank you’s, onboarding info, specials for current customers and many more
- Newsletters on a pre-set schedule to share information, tips, and something entertaining
- Phone calls to new customers
- Webinars for more information on your product or service
- Office hours so customers can ask questions
- Surveys
If you’d like to improve how you connect with your customers, let’s brainstorm ideas.
Schedule a call with me here.
by Donna J Davis | Dec 2, 2023 | Marketing
Knowing and addressing your customer’s intent is critical to successful marketing for your business. First, let’s clarify customer intent.
Whenever anyone goes to Google to search for a solution to a problem, they enter a phrase or question. That signals their intent. In marketing, intent is someone’s purpose when asking a search engine a question.
Keywords are the clue
That phrase or question will contain certain words (keywords) that Google analyzes, and within seconds, a list of “results” pops up to help answer that question. You want to be on that list!
Let’s say you own a pet supply or supplement business. You understand many factors that can affect and improve a dog’s health.
We also have Maggie, who is concerned about her two-year-old Cocker Spaniel.
When Maggie types into Google, “Why is my dog so lethargic?” you want your website to be one of the top options in Google’s search results. Maggie sees your company on Google and clicks to learn how you could solve her pet’s problem.
You must understand what your customers need at different stages in their buyer’s journey to do that.
What is the Buyer’s Journey?
Online searchers fall into one of four categories (or intents):
- Research. At this beginning stage, users want to find information about a problem, a product, or a service. In our example, Maggie was at the research stage. She didn’t know why her doggie had no energy.
- Compare. Once users understand possible solutions to their problems, they move into this stage to compare different brands or products. Maggie learned that something her dog ate (or has been eating for several weeks) may be a factor. She starts looking at different brands of healthier dog food.
- Buy. A user has decided to buy a particular product or service at this stage. They may need even more information to reassure them that you have the solution but they are ready to spend money.
- Succeed. After buying, the buyer wants to get the most value from their purchase. For Maggie, serving suggestions or other supplements are options you could offer to help her care for her fur baby.
This business should have an email series to help with the Succeed intent. Stay connected with your buyers by emailing them additional information, tips, or resources they can use.
A second email can include info on the company and its quality standards. Connect with new customers and make sure they know how to contact your company if they have any questions. Help your customers know you care and you’re there for them.
You want information on your website that addresses all four customer intent stages.
Where to address these intents…
What parts of your website address each intent? Watch for my next post. I’ll give you more information on what pages should address these buyer intents. In future posts, I’ll go into more detail on these specific buyer intents. Until then, please check out the post on keywords here.
by Donna J Davis | Nov 6, 2023 | Communication, Marketing
This week, on the singing competition show “The Voice,” coaches shared valuable advice with the contestants about the value of connecting with others and storytelling. And you can use these two specific pieces of advice in your business, too!
At this stage in The Voice competition, contestants are competing in the Battle Rounds. They are paired with one other contestant to showcase their talent. Coaches then had to make difficult decisions about who they felt deserved to continue in the competition.
Good but missing a key element
Contestant A was a young teenager with a lovely voice. Even though she performed very well, she sang with her eyes closed during most of the performance.
Contestant B was in another pairing. She had a velvety tone to her voice and technically sang perfectly. But the emotions of the lyrics were lacking in her performance.
What did the coaches say?
Singing with eyes closed during most of her performance blocked Contestant A’s ability to connect to the audience.
Many singers briefly close their eyes to deeply feel the music. However, in this case, not looking at the audience during her song broke the full impact of her performance. Her competitor won this round of the competition.
Contestant B heard recommendations to really feel the lyrics and express emotion throughout the song. Some of the best artists in the industry are great storytellers. Singing with emotion helps those listening feel every nuance of the lyrics.
A story’s pain, heartbreak, or joy is more deeply conveyed when you can hear and feel the emotion in the artist’s voice.
Contestant B’s competitor did a much better job of singing with emotion…and won that round.
How does this apply to your business?
So, how does this apply to your business?
I’m sure you don’t go through your day with your eyes closed.
And you don’t speak in monotone to your customers.
But you are competing with others in your field.
Did you know that Google gets 8.5 BILLION searches every day? So, how do you stand out and “win” more customers?
Like in the singing competition,connecting with others and storytelling are two essential skills. Be vulnerable. Share your reason for doing what you do.
When writing blogs, emails, or video scripts, you want the customer or potential customer to resonate with you. You want them to feel “They get me!”
Today, you must develop “know, like, and trust” factors with customers. You can do that by providing genuine value and by being authentic. That is rare today, and customers connect with the businesses that show they understand them.
Imagine looking eye-to-eye and listening to someone. You feel a connection to them, right?
Create that in your marketing materials. Listen to the needs of your audience and provide the solution to help them.
Draw your audience in
Next, imagine how you feel when a friend tells you about a hilarious encounter while on vacation. It pulls you in and makes you feel like you were there, right?
Everyone leans in when they hear a good story.
Instead of rattling off all the facts of what your product or service can do for customers…tell a story. Share what happened to an actual customer.
Tell about someone experiencing a specific problem and how your product or service solved it. We all have pain and struggles. It’s encouraging when we hear how someone found a solution.
Connecting to others and storytelling were two priceless words of wisdom for “The Voice” contestants. Businesses should never forget the importance of these two concepts as well.
And if you love hearing an artist excel at storytelling when singing, check out contestant Alexa Wildish on “The Voice” – a four-chair turn for any Voice fans.
