The Business Buddy Work Less Make More Report Volume 5

Each volume of this report will show you a simple idea or strategy you can use immediately to make more sales and profits in your business without working harder.

 I invite you to invest a couple of minutes to read this idea and then try what we cover in your own business. You will be delighted with the results.

Choose who you sell to:

 This can be amazingly effective way to improve your profits with very little effort.

 Choosing who you will sell to can be as simple as asking yourself the question:

 "Who are my best customers and what do they have in common"?

 Example:

 A large franchise company began looking at the characteristics of their most successful franchisees, and discovered (to their surprise), that a large number of them had short haircuts. 

 Further research revealed that the majority of these franchises (with short hair cuts) came from an armed services background like the air force or army.

The reason these franchisees were so successful was because they were used to following orders from their armed services background. 

So they tended to do everything they were told to do in their franchise manual and got excellent results when they did this. 

 The franchise company began to focus a lot more effort on getting people from the armed services into their franchise business and their sales went through the roof.

 Action Exercise:

 Who are your best customers and what things do they have in common?

 What can you do to sell more of your products and services to people who are more like your best customers?

 "There is always a better strategy than the one you have; you just haven't thought of it yet."

Sir Brian Pitman, former CEO of Lloyds.

Kind regards

Kirsten Hawke

The Business Buddy Work Less Make More Report #4

Each volume of this report will show you a simple idea or strategy you can use immediately to make more sales and profits in your business without working harder.

I invite you to invest a couple of minutes to read this idea and then try what we cover in your own business. You will be delighted with the results.

Do you use the 'wow' factor in your business?

If you pay attention to small details that make your customers think "Wow!" when they come into your place of business, they'll convince other people to become your customers too.

Here are three examples of the 'wow' factor in action:

1. One of the first things you notice if you go to Disneyland or Disney World is the incredible cleanliness of the place. There is no rubbish on the ground, and everything looks spotless.

People go home and tell their friends how different it is from other amusement parks they've visited and it makes their friends want to go there too.

2. Paddy Lunn is an incredibly successful Australian dentist.

When you visit Paddy's dental office, there is a shiny cappuccino machine in the waiting room for you to use. And you know which treatment room you will be in, because it has your name on it!

A sign on the door reads "This room prepared especially for John Smith."

Paddy's customers often comment on the "Wow!" experience and they pass the word on a lot of people they know as well.

3. Carl Sewell runs the largest and most successful Cadillac dealership in the United States.

He makes sure that the restrooms at his car dealership are immaculate. The wallpaper on his walls cost $250 a roll. His high-gloss floor tiles are washed every hour on the hour. Carl has positively differentiated his business from those of his competitors -- and his customers keep coming back.

Think about what you can do in your business to get your customers to go "Wow!"

I'll be in touch again soon with the next volume of 'The Work Less Make More Report'.

"Do what you do so well that people want to bring

their friends to see you do it again" Walt Disney

The Business Buddy Work Less Make More Report

Each volume of this report will show you a simple idea or strategy you can use immediately to make more sales and profits in your business without working harder.

I invite you to invest a couple of minutes to read this idea and then try what we cover in your own business. You will be delighted with the results.

The magic power of a 'success list'

All your customers want to be around happy, positive, likable people. One of the main reasons for this is that it makes them feel good.  Research also shows that customers that feel good will spend on average up to 25% more than those who don't. 

So making your customers feel good will put money in your pocket!

We all know that emotions are contagious. So when you are happy, positive and enthusiastic; it will tend to rub off on the people around you. (Including your customers.)

Here is a very simple technique that you can use in a few minutes to be happier and more positive.

It's called a success list and it's very simple to use. Get a small pocket notebook.

Get into the habit of writing down in this notebook five or more successes each day you have at work. A success is anything you do that makes you feel good about yourself. .

For example: 

You met a positive customer, you got to work on time, you received positive feedback from a customer, you got all your accounts done early etc. Within a few weeks of doing this you will have a success list with dozens of successes in it.

All you have to do any time you don't feel enthusiastic is to pull out your Success List and read it for a few moments. Just by reading and remembering some of your successes is a very simple way to stay positive and enthusiastic.  (It's a bit like looking at a photograph album of some of the best times of your life.) When you look at these photos it tends to bring back all the positive feelings you experienced from these events.  A success list works in a very similar way.

Most people focus on the negative experiences they have at work and wonder why they don't feel enthusiastic. The Success List can fix this fast! As you feel more positive so do your customers.

So get that pocket notebook and start using a Success List today!

I'll be in touch again soon with the next volume of 'The Work Less Make More Report'.

 

"Enthusiasm is contagious - and so is the lack of it"

Kind regards
Kirsten Hawke

Astill Hawke & Associates Limited | Chartered Accountants
| P O Box 58 359, Botany, Manukau 2163 | Phone: (09) 985 9791 | Fax: (09) 985 9792 | www.astillhawke.co.nz | office@astillhawke.co.nz |

Referral Systems Can Help

Have you considered establishing a referral system that will encourage your customers to refer their friends and associates to your business? 

This could include:

•   Developing a database for prospects and customers

•   Using the pareto principal to list your customers and their purchases so that you know the top 20% of your customers

•  Thinking about the extra products and services that you can sell to them

• Making sure you communicate to your customers and tell them about the products and services that you have developed

Appropriately training, motivating and rewarding staff so they won’t let you down.  It’s important that a business be able to produce excellent service in accordance with its system on EVERY occasion that contact is made with a customer, not just occasionally

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The Business Buddy Work Less Make More Report Volume Two

By Kirsten Hawke

Each volume of this report will show you a simple idea or strategy you can use immediately to make more sales and profits in your business without working harder.

I invite you to invest a couple of minutes to read this idea and then try what we cover in your own business. You will be delighted with the results.

 Increase your sales by 'reducing risk'

There is a certain amount of risk associated with buying your product or service by new customers. Until you reduce this perceived risk (in the minds of these potential customers) they will often 'vote with their wallet' by giving money to your competitors. And the number one rule with risk is this: 

'Everything Counts'.  This means that everything you say or do is causing your customer to think it's either more risky or less risky to do business with you.

 Example:

Imagine you phone two tradespeople and leave a message asking them to contact you about their services.  One person phones you back within one hour and the other person phones you back two days later.  The tradesperson that phoned you back in two days could be twice as good as the one who phoned you back in one hour.  But because they took two days to make contact you assume they are slow, sloppy and not that good at what they do. In other words you think it is more risky to do business with them, simply because they didn't return your phone call promptly.

Here's a very simple way to reduce risk:

The big question going through every customers mind is 'who else has purchased your product or service and how did it work out for them?' 

A good way to answer this question  and reduce risk is to use positive testimonial comments from happy clients. 

You can usually get these testimonials comments from your existing customers just by asking them for some of the positive benefits they have enjoyed.  

Here's an example of what I'm talking about.

 I find that Astill Hawke & Associates are very quick and helpful in their response to any request.  The Inland Revenue requirements and tax terms are sometimes very hard to understand and Astill Hawke explain very clearly all the everyday aspects of accounting that I find daunting.

Astill Hawke & Associates are very good at keeping me informed on what's due and what to expect and when to pay, so I certainly don't have any problems with Inland Revenue.  I feel confident that they have my best interest at heart, I also don't feel like a number or just a client with Astill Hawke, I feel like a friend.

I believe that my business has been so much more profitable with Astill Hawke handling my accounts.  I feel confident that all has been done and the best advise is being given constantly.  No question is silly to them!  They are very happy to explain everything in a language I can understand and that's important to me.

Chrissy Hutching
Brayco Stainless NZ Ltd
East Tamaki

So make contact with some of your happy clients and get some positive comments in writing from them.  It's an easy way to improve your sales with very little effort.

I'll be in touch again soon with the next volume of 'The Work Less Make More Report'.

To win you have to risk loss.  ~Jean-Claude Killy

Astill Hawke & Associates Limited | Chartered Accountants
| P O Box 58 359, Botany, Manukau 2163 | Phone: (09) 985 9791 | Fax: (09) 985 9792 | www.astillhawke.co.nz | 

The Business Buddy Work Less Make More Report

Volume One

By Kirsten Hawke

Welcome to our new Work Less Make More Report.

Each volume of this report will show you a simple idea or strategy you can use immediately to make more sales and profits in your business without working harder.

 I invite you to invest a couple of minutes to read this idea and then try what we cover in your own business. You will be delighted with the results.

 How to get great referral and repeat sales in less than seven minutes a day:

Most business owners know that repeat and referral sales from existing clients are good business.

Repeat and referral sales take less time and are often more profitable than normal sales.

So how do you generate more repeat and referral sales without a lot of effort?

One very simple strategy is to make two phone calls each work day to existing clients.

Each phone call should take you no more than 3-4 minutes. Keep them short and simple.

Say something like: "Hello John it's Mike here from ABC business. I just thought I would give you a quick call and say thanks for being a customer. How are things going for you?"  

Your client then has the opportunity to answer your question. 

And here's the interesting thing...

Just by phoning several of your existing customers and saying hello some will say something like this.  "I'm glad you called today Mike; because I have a friend who is thinking about buying XYZ and I actually think they should probably talk to you."  Bingo you have a referral to talk to.

Or they might say something like; "I'm glad you called because I was just thinking about buying more XYZ a few days ago".   Now you have a repeat sale possibility.

Not every client you phone will give you a sale or referral when you call them. However if you phone two clients each work day that's 10 clients a week or 40 clients in a month you have now spoken to. And some of these people will often volunteer either referral or repeat sales.

The key is to invest seven minutes a day and make those phone calls.  Maybe you do something as simple as phone one client in the morning and one client in the afternoon. Don't ask them if they want to buy; just thank them for being a client and ask how things are going for them.

Seven minutes a day is not much time to invest to get some good repeat and referral sales happening.

I'll be in touch again soon with the next volume of 'The Work Less Make More Report'.

"Paying attention to simple little things that most men

neglect makes a few men rich" Henry Ford

Kirsten Hawke

Director

 Astill Hawke & Associates Limited

Chartered Accountants

P O Box 58 359

Botany, Manukau 2163

Ph (09) 985 9791

Fax (09) 985 9792