If the risk is likely to be fatal, forget it

Whenever you need to make an important decision assign a risk factor to it. If the risk is high, the consequences fatal, and it is likely to happen, forget about it.

Everything has a life cycle. Nothing lasts forever, but some things last longer than others. There are various decision-making models you can use to help you make better business decisions. There is a quick and simple way to determine of something is a good or bad idea. Simply ask yourself if this will make sense in the long term. Will this be viable 12 months down the line?

Most businessmen who run large corporations will tell you to try before you buy. First stick a toe in the water before you jump in. The key component with regards to making decisions is to think about the consequences of your decisions.

The figures look great, the plan is in full colour on gloss paper, everyone is dressed in top-dollar suits, but your gut tells you something is not adding up. Trust your gut. Don’t make decisions while you are under pressure. The Chinese have a saying: “Never make a decision on an empty stomach”. Trust me, it is always the things that you didn’t think through properly that cause the most damage. Trust your instinct, it is usually right.

Don’t get sold on the prospect of potential revenue. It takes money to make money. I strongly advise you to study the long-term cost implications of the decision you have to make. Your intentions might be good, but your decision could yield large costs instead of profit over the long term.

It’s who you know that really counts

Successful businesses are glued together by their advisors. Unless you have some divine ability to know everything there is to know in your industry, I strongly recommend that you compile a list of experts and key contacts and nurture them.

It is more often than not the advisors, negotiators and analysts that put the “big” in front of a company’s name. The best available advice is a key ingredient to become a big business. On you way to the top you might not have all the answers. Make sure you know people who know the answers, and secure your way to the top.

Surround yourself with smart people. They have the knowledge that will enable and empower you to become successful. Advice isn’t always cheap, but good advice is priceless. It’s who you know that really counts.

The only thing that might keep you from becoming a star is arrogance and pride. When was the last time you made a good decision without advice from a friend, family member or loved one?

So… sit down, shut up and listen.

Don’t guess what your customers want

Sometimes the best advice is free. The key ingredient to successful market research is to get as close as possible to the customer. With Internet and email it is now possible to get even closer to your clients. If your clients are so “close” to you, why not get them to do some work for you?

Your customer is the most reliable source of information at your disposal, and it is free. “Quality purpose recordings” are used to train personnel; on-line surveys and polls are used to collect valuable information directly from the targeted market.
If you collect information with the intention to improve the quality of your service your clients will certainly not have any problems giving you a piece of their minds.

You cannot get close to the consumer with aggregated data. Making one-to-one contact with a few clients will provide valuable, accurate data that cannot be matched by aggregated data.

If you do not have time to talk to your clients you better make time. You need to get rid of the “average” data and discover the real consumer. If you “make” time for your customers your customers will make more time for your business. In the process of communicating with your clients, your clients become part of the product development process. You will discover new segments and provide products and services that were actually developed by your clients.

Market segmentation – Less is more

Even with the technological advances and vast choice of media at our disposal, the possibility of effectively reaching “everyone” is nothing more than marketing utopia.
Small companies develop into large corporations because they realise that segmentation multiplies opportunities. They also realise that market segmentation is the most efficient and profitable means to better client service.

Unless you want to remain a small, run of the mill business you have to realise that you cannot be all things to all people all of the time. This is especially true in business. You simply do not have the time, energy and money to give every customer everything they want.

Through the process of market segmentation you will group clients together who have similar requirements or behaviour. Once you have set the criteria for your focus groups you can begin to tailor your products and services in a way that will appeal to your focus group, and therefore “attract” the clients you want.

The trick of segmentation is to have more than one market segment. In other words, you need more than one product or service with every product or service aimed at a specific segment of the market. The more segments you have, the more opportunities you will have.

As time goes by you will notice that new segments emerge. You will also notice that your existing segments are living organisms. They constantly change as a result of economic climate changes, advances in technology, political influence, fashion trends and a whole range of internal and external economic factors.

Start growing your business through successful market segmentation and claim a bigger piece of the pie.

Secondary tools of selling

In my previous post I covered the primary tools required for selling to, setting up and maintaining your client data base. Although some salespeople have a natural "feel" for it, sales and marketing is not an art. Many "natural" salespeople make the mistake of thinking that it is not important to keep their client databases, stats and information sheets up to date. Following are a few secondary sales tools you can use to keep record of everything that is developing in your pipeline and maintain customer contact frequency:

Get a personal assistant

As your business grows and begins to put a lot of strain on your time I suggest that you get a personal assistant. Although it is not you who will talk to your clients personally, having a personal assistant will help you to keep the relationships together. It is very important that your personal assistant shares your high appreciation of good client service. Sometimes it ha pens that personal assistants disregard the importance of returning a call. It is important to remeber that the personal assistant can not replace you, and should therefore rather be seen as an additional value add to your sales force.

Develop a proper support system

As a salesperson you will know about all the capabilities and value added features your product offers. However, it is a brilliant idea to have an engineer, system developer, or product designer call an important client to answer the more specific technical questions.
I served in the South African Defence Air force many years ago. In the air force you only have pilots. That is the perception of the general public. Many people asked me if I was I pilot, since I worked for the air force. I always told them that I was not a pilot, but if it wasn't for the majority of the air force personnel, that the pilots would not fly.
The moral of the story is this:
Make sure you are backed by people who know about the technical things. There won't be time to suddenly get a support system in place once the aircraft's engine dies while in flight.

Use your fax machine

Just think about it. Your client receives hundreds, if not thousands, of emails per week. There is a very good chance that your email will not be read by the intended recipient. Most directors and CEO's have personal assistants who screen their messages. Your email might not seem to be important enough, and will most probably be deleted. Sending an sms is very unprofessional, and reeks of mass marketing. It will probably be forgotten and lost between the hundreds of sms messages received by your client. A fax message, on the other hand, is more personal. There is a 99% chance that your message will be read by the intended recipient. Most people will respond quicker to a fax message. If you decide to send faxes you should make sure that your fax messages are not hand written and stand out from the rest. It is also important to confirm receipt of the fax. Sometimes people take faxes out of the fax machine and file them or throw them away. Sometimes I send a fax into space because I got the number wrong.

Some other tools you can use:

If you use these tools smartly and sincerely you can also expect a higher return on investment for your time:

• Personal thank you's.


• Company awards.


• Let them know you read their article in the newspaper.


• Someone got promoted.


• Company won an award.


• Greeting cards.


• Post cards.


• Newsletters and invitations.


• Endorsement letters.


• How to's and helpful hints.


• Industry announcements.


• Specific offers and information matching your client's needs.