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A Costly Cost Cutting Measure

Written on June 8, 2009 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Money

Bigg Success is life on your own terms. Today, we’ll focus on one of the five elements of bigg success – money.

We’re all looking for more ways to save money. That’s understandable. However, we need to think about not just survival, but “surthrival.”

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Many business owners and managers, small and large, are cutting back on their advertising. This cost-cutting practice can be very costly in the long run.

Could not advertising cost you $1.5 million?

A McGraw-Hill study, about the recession in the early 1980s, found that companies that maintained or increased their advertising had sales 256% higher three years after the recession ended.

Think about that … two companies, each with a million dollars in sales go into a recession. The company that holds tight on its advertising, or perhaps even increases it, will do over $2.5 million within a few years after the recession ends if the second company, the one that cut its advertising, treads water.

Signaling the end of your business

A recent study by Ad-ology found that 56% of the people surveyed thought that retail stores that cut back on advertising must be struggling.

In other words, your advertising sends a “signal” to both your existing and potential customers. Just like a company cutting back on its dividend, you’re telling the public you don’t expect your future to be bright when you cut back on advertising.

The signal is so strong that 15% of the people surveyed thought it meant that the firm who cut back on its advertising wouldn’t be in business much longer.

The time – money trade-off

One of the other elements of bigg success is time. If you’re a regular here you’ve heard it before, but it bears repeating:

If you don’t have money, you have to spend time. It’s part of the price of bigg success.

So if you really feel the need to cut back on how much money you spend on advertising, it will pay to spend more time promoting your business.

That means networking

Depending on your business, you may primarily build relationships offline or online. However, you will probably be well-served to do both. Integration is one of the keys to success in business today.

If you have employees with down time, make good use of it. Tell them that you want to keep spreading the word so you all surthrive.

What you ask them to do will also depend upon your business. You may have them put out door knob hangers or give away free samples of your product. Perhaps they can make some phone calls or send e-mails to your list of customers.

Where to place your focus

We stated it subtly in that last sentence. We should emphasize it – focus on your existing customers to get the best return on your investment (of money and time).

Research has shown that it costs between five to eight times as much to get a new customer as it takes to keep an existing one. So, at the very least, make sure you’re communicating with your existing customers at least four to six 6 times a year.

Find out what their problems are. Find a solution – even if you can’t solve it directly, help them find the answer to build your relationship.

The most cost-effective way to grow your business

Building relationships with your best customers is the most cost-effective way to grow your business. When you can “wow” your customers, they will …

buy more

buy more often

tell others

Segment & tailor

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marylynn While we’re talking about your existing customers, can you segment them into smaller groups so you can tailor your communications more precisely?

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george I used to own a heating and cooling service company. We got our technicians to note the age of the furnace or air conditioner when they were in our customer’s home or business. Then we wrote a letter specifically to this group. We generated over $300 of sales for every letter we mailed!

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This highlights another point we alluded to earlier – get your staff involved. Help them understand how it not only makes their jobs more secure, it also means you continue to grow as a company so there will be more opportunities for everybody. That’s bigg success!

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Thanks so much for reading our post today. Please join us next time when we discuss what the underlying meaning of “I don’t have enough time.” Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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(Image in today's post from hisks)

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How to Start a Business

Written on April 30, 2009 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Business, Entrepreneurship

A lot of people have an idea for a business, but they don’t know how to turn that idea into a money-making enterprise. Bigg success is life on your own terms. If that means owning your own business, we encourage you to get started – even if it’s just part-time.

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Hear George & Mary-Lynn discuss today's topic on The Bigg Success Show! To listen while you read, click the purple player: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Talk with potential customers to find out if your idea might make money. Tell them about your product or service.

Ask questions. What do they think about it? Do they like it? What would they change? Is it priced correctly?

The difference between “would” and “will”

Imagine yourself being asked these two questions: Would you buy this product? Will you buy this product?

There really isn’t a consequence if you say “yes” to the first question. However, your pocketbook will take a hit if you respond affirmatively to the second one.

As you talk with potential customers, keep in mind that you’re getting hypothetical answers. It’s play money. Once you launch, you’re looking for real money.

Research is great, but it’s important to understand its limitations.

We have a friend who was a very successful business person before he retired. He had a great solution to the question, “How do I get started in business?” He said:

“Find a customer.”

If you have a customer, you’re in business! What do you do next? Get another customer!

You don’t want to depend on just one to support your business. When you have two customers, get a third.

His advice didn’t end there. Would you like to know when to hire an employee? When you’re too busy to do all the work yourself!

We love it! He had reduced this complex subject down to its core.

So do you want to start a business? Find a customer.

However, there’s something you must find before you try to find a customer:

Find an unmet need

We’ll discuss three ways you might go about doing that:

Do you need something?
This is one of the best ways to find unmet needs. If there’s a product or service that you could really use, you might have discovered an opportunity!

You may have purchased a similar product or service, but it’s not quite right. You’ll deliver a product that completely meets the need that you’ve noticed.

Does someone you know need something?
It’s the same idea as the first one. The trick here is to listen closely to what people around you are saying.

You may hear them register a complaint or show dissatisfaction with a product or service. Your two ears may help you find your business!

Does your area need something?
When you travel to other regions of the country or even to other countries, are there products or services there that aren’t offered in your area? There are a lot of examples of people who have done this successfully.

We caution you to be careful – there are differences in tastes and preferences between regions and countries. However, the world is getting smaller all the time!

So do you want to start a business? Find an unmet need. Then find a customer.

Getting your bigg start really doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that!