Too many people running their businesses forge forward at breakneck speed- getting new clients, running new promotions, changing products – all in an attempt to get more sales, new clients and ideally – more money!
What many people fail to realize is that there are customers out there that they have had in the past who might gladly come back with a few small corrections. If 80% of our business comes from 20% of our clients – what if we were to raise the number that were the twenty percent?
Measure your success.Measuring your success is key to creating a viable business. Understanding what you client likes and dislikes about what you are doing is a great way to identify what changes you may need to make to retain more clients and attract new ones. Making small corrections in your business services, how or what is offered should not be based on rumor, innuendo or just gut feeling – although often these things might precipitate thoughts about change .
What do we measure?Everything! Not all at once of course. But during the course of each year you need to measure the effectiveness of your printed material, your website, your services, your customer satisfaction level, your products and your electronic communication. (newsletters and ezines) Measuring these things will help you to see where you are going wrong and where you are doing things right. Doing this can save you money, time and effort, and bring in more customers and help keep the ones you have. Isn’t that what business is all about?
How do we measure?
Measuring our actions can come in many forms. Have you asked your lost customers why they left? It may seem like a depressing question but it can really help you for the future – and may reconnect you with someone who just fell through the cracks. Surveying your clients, asking for feedback, and following up using electronic surveys and then giving a coupon for answering the survey is one way. If you would like a free survey tool – please check out http://www.surveymonkey.com
Another way to measure your success is to ask people regularly where they learned about you. Have customers give you feedback on your printed materials. Asking them what services that they are aware that you offer is also a good idea. Then you can see what you are not highlighting that they need to know about.
WebsitesUsing a statistics program is imperative to measure the effectiveness of your website. You should be able to track how people are finding your site, what pages the enter on and exit on, how many unique visitors you have daily, weekly and monthly as well as what search engines have ‘bumped’ into your site and how often. Knowing that most of your customers exit on page one or your order page may help you to identify that wording needs to be changed, or ordering is too difficult. You should also be able to see which pages are visited the most.
Electronic NewslettersNewsletters can be a very effective way to stay in front of your audience – but only if you are able to see several things. One of the reasons to use a newsletter sending service is that they are able to identify how many newsletters bounced, (soft or hard), how many were opened and how many links were followed. This can show you what people are interested in and what they could care less about. This too can save you time and money.
What is working?Knowing what works in a business is hard for a business owner to see when they are in the middle of the business themselves. It’s kind of like they cannot see the forest for the trees. To get the big picture - you really need to use some sort of measurement tools – to assess progress and success.
Rescue a few customers that have fallen through the cracks and you may just improve your business. If you can’t do it right the first time- figure out why and do it right the second time around! Now that is failing forward! And there is NOTHING wrong with that!
"One of the keys to effective communication and dispute resolution is understanding ourselves and how we think and also understanding how others are wired as well. Each of us has personality styles that are unique to ourselves - however there are also patterns as well. When you understand the differing personality styles and their blends - you begin to see people as they are with more understanding! For more information on understanding personality styles please contact Mandie at president@roaringwomen.com."
" Like this article? Sign up here: JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER list that offers more of these tips, coupons, inspiration and education that will help you propel your business to the next level! "
We assess your business, review the current marketing plan and suggest a step by step implementation plan so that you have a strong base for growth Access your Business here
Mandie Crawford is a marketing expert, business coach, trainer and motivational speaker who was recently awarded Calgary Business Woman of the Year for her contributions to the business community.
Mandie also has skills and expertise in providing high quality guidance in time management and system implementation for small a medium sized businesses. Her passion as a business and professional development coach is to helps women recognize their value and self worth.
She is the President of Roaring Women Ltd which is Canada’s premier national business support group for women in business that focuses on connecting, promoting and educating women in business. In her goal to encourage and educate women in building business across the country, she launched and completed a 6 week coaching tour in partnership with Staple Business Depot in 2008 where she coached over 600 women in business.
Mandie is mother to four children and 3 stepchildren and one highly energetic chocolate lab! Ms Crawford is also a former award winning police officer with Halton Regional Police.