Business Services

Archive for September 5th, 2009

Cashing In on the Customer Success Story By Christine Taylor

Next to white papers, customer success stories  or case
studies  are the most popular tool in the technical
marketer’s toolkit. That’s because it’s one of the most powerful
tools available to your sales force.

Why are they so popular? Because they are compelling to
prospective customers. References and testimonials are great
things to have but customer success stories flesh out those
testimonials and give them teeth. And if you match the case
study customer’s industry to the prospects, it’s clear to
prospects that your company knows how to successfully operate in
a given market.

The ubiquitous case study can range from a 3-paragraph online
snippet to a full-blown magazine article. The most popular case
study in the marketing/PR arsenal is the 600-1200 word customer
success story following this pattern: company overview and
challenge, project details, and positive results. Elements
include:

Customer Overview and Challenge: Start with a 2-3 paragraph
overview of the customer’s company. This should be very positive
- since you’re going to detail a problem the customer was
having, the last thing you want to do is make them sound like a
jerk. So compliment them. Feel free to adapt the overview from
their own Website text, where they’re already placing themselves
in the best possible light.

Then move on to the business challenge. Don’t make the customer
sound stupid or incompetent. The challenge should always be
centered on something good that is happening to them -fast
growth, industry prominence, strategic IT changes – whatever.
Their challenge should be applicable to your readers’ own
business issues.

Project Details: Everyone knows that no project goes perfectly,
but save the debriefing for the longer-form trade journal
article. These short customer success stories should report on
the successful project by briefly discussing specific products
and benefits.

Don’t go all over the map. If the project is fairly narrow or
specific, you won’t have any trouble sticking with the main
point or product. In the case of very large and complex
installation, concentrate on the main product or application.
For example, Microsoft Great Plains has more modules than you
can shake a stick at. Concentrate on the ones that had the most
positive impact on your customer.

Business Benefits: Always quantify improvement if you can.
Numbers can be dollar savings, percentages, or other measures of
saved staff time, more efficient workflows, better customer
service, etc. Be sure that the benefits you list are the
benefits the customer perceives – hard costs are most easily
quantified, but soft costs may have the higher perceived benefit
to a customer. Ideally you will have both.

Putting the Customer Success Story to Work — How can you use
your completed stories? Some ideas:

1. Post them on your website. The more you have up, and the more
frequently you post new ones, the more often spiders will find
you and you’ll move up in the search engine rankings.

2. Include them in sales kits. If you have a lot of case studies
put them in a separate notebook, which can be very impressive
physical proof for a prospect.

3. Make them searchable. Encourage prospects to go online and
search your case studies. Use parameters like vertical market,
products, or customer challenges.

4. Use them as marketing support for resellers and integrators.
The easier your product is to sell, the more resellers and
integrators will push your product when they talk to their own
customers.

The More the Merrier How many customer success stories should
you have on hand? The answer is the more the better. A large
companies may have hundreds of them available on their website
and in sales and marketing kits, and even many smaller companies
commonly have 25 or more. Why? Because they work. Start
capturing those customer success stories today, and watch those
sales rise.

Small business grants and loans can be obtained by the government or local banks. Loans and grants usually require a business plan and information about the company. Understanding busines. . .

The value of having a Plan B should be familiar to most small business owners. However it seems that the concept of contingency planning is overlooked all too often with regard to commercial loans and working capital strategies.
One of the most entertaining and effective depictions of contingency planning can be witnessed in a movie called “Rare Birds”. This movie stars William Hurt and includes a particularly relevant line, “Always have a Plan B”, that is repeated several times. The movie should be seen by any business owner who doubts the importance of contingency plans.
The usefulness of a Plan B mentality is likely to be beneficial to many aspects of running a successful business. For various reasons, however, contingency planning appears to be under-utilized when business owners are seeking new working capital via business financing strategies such as commercial mortgages and business cash advances.
Contingency planning might be under-utilized when business owners are seeking commercial financing simply because business borrowers assume that there are not effective alternatives to the working capital financing they are seeking. As a result, many business owners might believe that it would not make sense to explore a contingency financing plan. A practical benefit of viewing the recommended movie is that it will become second nature to realize at times like this that businesses should “Always have a Plan B”.
Plan B contingency business financing can be viewed as insurance to protect a business owner in the event that something goes wrong with their working capital management. A few examples are provided below.
First, many small businesses have commercial loans that contain recall provisions that permit the lender to review the financing each year. With such terms, the lender can continue a business financing role for some borrowers and selectively eliminate what they consider to be marginal loans by exercising the recall clause. If they do, the borrower will need to pay off the entire loan or refinance within a limited period of time. The best solution for avoiding this possibility is to review current business loans and explore Plan B refinancing options if recall terms are included.
Second, a number of local banks throughout the United States have recently decided to pull the plug on future business financing. When they do so, very little advance notice has been provided in most instances. If a business has commercial loans or commercial mortgages with a regional or local lender, a Plan B should be developed for the contingency that alternative business loan arrangements could be needed in the near future.
Third, many providers for business cash advances are notorious for making unrealistic promises regarding the timing and terms for their financing. To prepare for this increasingly-common possibility, business owners should engage in thorough discussions with a working capital advance advisor before proceeding. Unlike the first two examples, in this case the Plan B approach must occur before financial arrangements are completed.
Fourth, many lenders for SBA financing, commercial mortgages and business opportunity loans are equally guilty of over-promising and under-delivering. This seems to occur disproportionately with local banks. Similar to the recommended business cash advance approach, commercial borrowers should pursue Plan B contingency financing. The ideal timing for discussing alternative commercial financing options is before committing to a specific lender.
“Always have a Plan B” is the connecting theme for the examples described above as well as other circumstances in which contingency planning is appropriate for business financing. The presence of a Plan B mentality is likely to contribute to many aspects of running a successful small business in addition to improving commercial loans.

When writing a business plan, make sure that the most important components, such as a summary, an operation on a management section, a marketing, a financial section and include append. . .

It is difficult for businessmen to concentrate towards the growth of his business if he is short of finances. Also financial help is a must for people who want to start their own business. Small business finance helps you with all your financial needs. It is meant for small business houses and can be availed in two forms secured and unsecured small business finance. It is also open to people suffering from bad credit history.

BASIC INFORMATION ON SMALL BUSINES FINANCE

As the name suggests small business finance is meant to provide financial help to small business houses. You can also avail small business finance if you want to start your own venture. Small business finance is basically of two types, secured small business finance and unsecured small business finance. To avail secured small business finance you will have to place one of your properties as collateral against the loan amount. This can be any of your property like car, home, bank account etc. Placing a security helps you to avail small business finance with lower interest rate and flexible repayment duration. Also you can avail large amount of money by placing collateral of high equity. On the other hand no such collateral is needed to avail unsecured business finance, but the interest rate is slightly higher compared to secured business finance and also the repayment duration is shorter. Small business finance can also is availed by people suffering from bad credit history.

SMALL BUSINESS FINANCE: ADVANTAGES

Small business loans are advance to businessmen running small business or those who want to start their own venture. Small business finance is available in both forms, secured and unsecured small business finance. If you don’t want to risk your property you can avail unsecured small business finance, but if you want to avail loan at low interest rate secured business finance is the best option for you. Small business finance open to all be it good credit borrower or bad credit borrower. Anyone suffering from arrears, defaults, CCJ, IVA, bankruptcy etc can also avail the benefits of small business finance.

SMALL BUSINESS FINANCE: SUGGESTION

While applying for loan, always give preferences to a well known lender having good reputation in the market. Also search well before applying for loan. With good research you can avail a lender offering small business finance at reasonable interest rate. Small business finance is the best option for small business house and for people wants to start their own venture.

www. Trafficgeyser. com – Credit Millionaire Marathon founder Paulie Sabol details of its new Internet video SEO strategy for placing high in search engine rankings when compared to competitors with the new Met. . .

The success of your business is directly related to the commitment and productivity of the people who work in your business. And yet it is generally recognized that 60% of employees, or more, are underutilized in their roles at work. 

So what are the factors that contribute to low performance standards and expectations?

Communication, or mis-communciation, is one of the major sources of low productivity.  The messages that move between the owner, employees, managers and even customers are not understood in the same way. One classic example is that business owners tend to assume that employees and managers see things the same way they do.

Managers tend to lower their expectations (unconsciously) so that they will not have to confront employees. Most people dislike discussing declining performance with their employees, and so actively avoid having to do so by reducing heir expectations of what’s required.

Employees have a tendency to protect themselves from possible failure by pushing back on what is expected. They will often negotiate/bargain the job down to a more comfortable level.

Business owners often have difficulty separating what they want done from how they want it done. Telling employees exactly how to achieve a certain goal leaves no room for the employee to think or use their own initiative. Consequently they often stop trying to contribute and become ‘sheep” – just doing what they are told. In this catch-22 situation, the owner is forced into a position where they must constantly be telling everyone exactly what to do.

Some owners may not understand the concept of person/job matching, and so have the wrong people in the wrong positions.  This situation can be extremely demotivating for the employee.

So how do you go about setting performance standards and expectations?

The owner and employee must collaborate together.They must work together on the fact that the role the employee is performing can be improved in a way where everybody wins – the employee, the owner, and the business. When you teach the owner to collaborate with the employee, not only does the performance go up, but so does the morale.

Short term goals, or wins, must be established. 90-days is the ideal.Set specific goals for the employee in 90-day increments so that there will be ample opportunity to monitor systems and progress, as well as to experience wins on a routine basis. Ideally, involve the employee in this goal setting process so they experience some control over their work.

Determine the strengths required to do the job well.If the employee is going to be successful, the owner and employee must decide jointly what strengths are required, and how the employee is going to be able to apply their strengths. This is where having a good match between the employee and the job is so important. The boss doesn’t have to figure this out on their own – the employee will probably already know what’s necessary.Set standards, and determine HOW they will be done.Decide the standards that will apply to each activity, as well as how the standards will be achieved. Understanding the level of performance required gives the employee a sense of achievement – which is one of the key ingredients to achieving performance standards. This is true for employees at any level.

Establish communication agreements.To ensure success, the owner and employee must decide at the outset how they are going to communicate progress (and challenges) along the way. Will it be day-to-day? Week-to-week? The minimum time frame is week-to-week. Less frequent than that and it all falls apart.

The employee decides how to achieve the desired results.The owner will be present and participating for this part, but it is essential that the employee be leading the process in order for them to have ownership. Help the employee take responsibility for deciding how to accomplish the results. You may need to determine if the employee has the skills and development to do this. If they don’t, provide maximum guidance to them.

Get it in writing.If it is not in writing, within one to two weeks everyone will be confused and uncertain. The focus, responsibility, resources, constraints, timetables and measures all need to be in writing. The purpose of doing this is to make sure the owner and employee are so clear on the goals and process that there is no confusion whatsoever. It sets everyone

Establish a monitoring method.Make sure you get agreement on how the performance will be monitored and how frequently. In order for the process to go forward, the employee needs to agree to monitor their own performance, and the owner must agree to sit down and review it with the employee on a pre-determined schedule. Let them know upfront that if they get busy and start canceling meetings, performance will not improve and expectations will not be met.I recommend having the employee keep track of their progress in writing and advise the owner weekly. A simple weekly progress update is a win-win solution and can take as little as 5 minutes. A monthly sit-down, face-to-face meeting is a must also.

What are the benefits of setting effective performance standards and expectations?Employees are energized and empowered to take ownership of their positions.Owners become energized and inspired, ceasing to lower expectations in order to avoid confrontation.The productivity of the company goes up.Everyone knows what is expected of them, which provides certainty to move forward.This process, itself, opens new channels of communication between owners and employees.

Small businesses can often be beaten out by larger competitors simply because they have better practices than small businesses. The good news is that there are a number of practices that can translate to small businesses. These strategies and tactics are some of the best-kept secrets and can make a business much more successful in the long run.
The act of borrowing ideas from other companies is called “best practice benchmarking” and can lead to vast improvements in business structure if done properly. Since most small businesses have a much smaller budget than big businesses, the practices learned can save money and be even more beneficial for them than for the big companies. If a small business emulates another business’s way of cutting costs, they will be able to do in a shorter period of time.
To begin borrowing practices from others, there needs to be a clear understanding of their methods. The best way to go about using successful practices is to do heavy research and ask questions to find out how others were able to achieve their goals. This step is important because if the practices are not studied well a small business will usually end up failing or wasting precious resources that they cannot afford to lose. A helpful tool for finding out better business practices is to send surveys to businesses that are successful in that job field.
Although emulating successful business practices is the goal, it is important for individuals to modify the practices to fit with their own business. Not everything will translate and there will be small, yet crucial modifications that need to be made.
Some of the most popular practices that small businesses borrow deal with communicating with others and saving money. One way business owners cut corners is by having a company meeting with their top employees to discuss strategies for conducting better business and the direction they want to see the company head. Individuals may also sponsor retreats or getaways for top executives, helping workers to bond and communicate better. This practice will also help get everyone on the same page as far as product development and business plans. Business owners can also poll and survey their employees, or the employees of other companies, in order to get their opinions on typical problems they face.
Many well-known businesses are now helping others research their successful practices in order to find the best methods for their companies. Some of these businesses are Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and Target. The research to be studied includes strategy models for how to run a successful partnership and real life examples of ways they saved money and cut costs. The research also includes access to popular certification programs and what those businesses learned from the courses. They also showcased the various rewards and recognition systems that they provided to their employees to encourage hard work and better communication.
The great thing about small business practices is that they rarely have to do the dirty work because big corporations have already done it. There are so many different business practices that translate from big corporations to small businesses, and small business owners can take advantage of the abundance of opportunities available to them. If small business owners can modify these popular practices in a way that will work with their company, they can save more money and have a more successful business with little effort.

Getting Rid Of The BrochureMentality Many business owners and entrepreneurs build a website without understanding the fundamental reasons for doing so. As such, they create what I call a ‘brochure’ website. You may have done this already.

Well don’t be upset, it’s a pretty natural thing to do. For some reason we decide to follow the lead of the majority, thinking if everybody is doing it, it must be the right thing to do… WRONG!

So, going against all conventional wisdom, why do we put up a website? What is the best way to use it? Why do you need or want a website?

The answer is LEAD GENERATION. Lead generation is marketing your business! How is your web site structure important when it comes to lead generation and marketing for small business? Landing Pages Well, in order to generate leads you will need to make offers. Offers need to be tweakable. Therefore, you need to be able to update your content easily and quickly. More importantly though you must have a specific page for your offer. These pages are called ‘Landing Pages’. Let me explain…

Lets say you have a website where you are selling weight loss products. One of your supply companies is running a marketing campaign and you think you can make more sales while the campaign is running.

Would you send your visitor to the home page of your website, hoping that they find the specific information about the sales campaign? That’s not going to going to be a very effective marketing campaign! Or would you send them directly to the promotion?

You’d send them directly to it and make the offer very clear, being very specific about that offer and nothing else. No matter what you do online, you must be able to make clear offers to visitors in order to generate leads and sales for your small business.

You do that by sending them to specific pages, which we call landing pages. Hopefully, you will be able to edit these quickly and easily, so you can tweak your offers and get the best response possible.

Search Engines Want ContentThey love to suck it up! The more content you have the better! There’s a saying ‘Content is King!’. Its true.

The more pages you have the better. The more often you add and update content the better. Did you know that the way your pages are linked together is very important?

Your internal page linking strategy is as important as your external links strategy. I can hear you thinking ’strategy, shhhhhmategy! this is getting technical, I don’t want to know about this’. That’s fair enough, it is technical.

And while you can put a website up and link it together any way you please, if you want a good search engine ranking, it pays to have your site built by a professional who knows about this stuff. By the way, what you call your pages and the physical directory or folder structure of your website is petty important too!

So if you’ve got a site that has pages named page1.html, page5.html etc, you should start thinking about keywords for your page names! Thats an important strategy too. Your small business marketing strategy must start by getting rid of the brochure mentality. You must start thinking lead generation. Everything starts with lead generation!

Part 7 of the E * Boot Camp specifically to the interests of Darden students. This is a free event for students, alumni, UVA, Charlottesville and the larger community. The E * Boot Camp consists of a f.. .