Head in the Clouds?

Today readers please forgive me if a run a little longer than normal. It is just that this blog is a subject matter with which you do need to get comfortable. It is going to change your business forever!

“You’re a dreamer son, always got your head in the clouds!’ How often I heard that expression when I was growing up. Mind you, it did suit a young boy constantly on the look out for the next adventure rather than focusing on the here and now. Today heading to the CLOUD has an entirely new meaning and more importantly potential impact particularly, for and on small and medium enterprises world wide.

The reason is simply the drive for greater efficiency. Cost reduction is a priority; particularly post the GFC, if SME’s are to remain competitive. More money must be allocated to sales or product development to remain competitive. The question is where does this cost saving come? Well there is an answer, or at least the beginnings of one. Before I go there though, some background mainly for those readers not around ‘back in the day’.

Since the mid 1980’s business has become more reliant on IT, computers and now software. The evolution of these processes has resulted in instant communication across the world. For business the delivery of quotations orders, invoices, banking transactions and conferences are now instantaneous. For all business though, this transition has come at a significant cost.

Initially, computers would be installed in a business and no sooner were they operating, a new up-graded version or entirely new more powerful computer would be available. The price didn’t go down in those early days! Some ‘magic’ formula ensured they were always around the same price as the previous model. Small business didn’t have a hope of keeping up.

Then along came the desk top with its DOS code, laptop with Lotus 123 and the eventually Windows. While the technology became more affordable, software was now the major cost factor. It required specialists to load the software onto business systems, licenses needed to acquired for a given number of users and restrictions around use limited the flexibility.

Again small business was not going to be in a position to benefit from the efficiency of this marvelous technology and the often ingenious business software (not Pacman or Mario Brothers) being developed that was held tightly inside a ‘black box’!

Fast forward to 2009/10 and the chatter really begins in earnest about ‘the Cloud’ and the opportunity this will for ALL businesses and more specifically I think for the SME sector.

SME’s will now be able to access software through the internet as if it were ‘on their own system’ without the inherent upfront and ongoing licensing costs. Today you can access software you need for your business when you need it and only when you need it.

No more buying programmes and down loading them or up loading a programme from a CD. All those boxes with discs, booklets etc all dispensed with. Never mind the money, what a space saver! Today this service has an acronym (isn’t there always one.). It is SaaS or Software as a Service.

No more high upfront capital expenditure); which results in a high cost of ownership. No need for skilled on-site or off-site software maintenance. This is now a very promising solution path for SME’s.

Now, you can afford the best software solution for your business without investing anything at all on the infrastructure or development platform or skilled manpower. The only requirement is a computer with browser, quite basic. SaaS is a recurring subscription based model delivered to customers on demand – Pay as you use.

Those of you who have been following us since we launched in 2008 will now recognise that we have been delivering to from ‘the Cloud’ since our inception. We didn’t even recognise this fact, certainly not in the early days.

Our services are provided as and when you the user needs them on a pay as you use model. All our business programmes are available instantly from any computer 24/7 literally globally. We store the information for you in a safe, secure environment for instant recall and updating. That is the beauty of SaaS. It is only going to get better.

There is a lot of other great business software out there e.g. CRM programmes, Accounting, training etc. We will be reviewing Cloud based software solutions over the coming months so stay tuned. In the meantime, I encourage you to get familiar with what is out there and ‘test’ the Cloud theory. We are and like us, it delivers!

Your, forever with his head in the Cloud, business guru

Neville Calvert
neville@thesmallbusinesstoolbox.com

How to Get Your New Business Started

Thinking of starting your own business? We’d like to share this thought provoking article “10 Mistakes that Start-Up Entrepreneurs Make” By ROSALIND RESNICK

Goals in Strategy

Goal setting is a necessary and critical aspect of any strategic plan and developing your strategic plan is a process that requires both introspection and vision. Setting goals is the bridge between dreams and reality and they must be tangible and realistic to avoid frustration and disappointment.

Simple goals are definitive and historically elicit a better success rate from the implementation team. Specific targets give staff a clear sense of purpose, eliminate confusion and minimise distractions. By including staff in the discussions and goal setting process you increase your success rate 10-fold and build a strong and committed team along the way.

Seek consensus on achievable expectations from the ground level and discuss different methods of committing to goals and implementing the action plans. Incentives, beyond any usual bonuses or commission structures are a great way to challenge comfort zones and stretch the boundaries. Aim to inspire your staff, not necessarily with monetary incentives but perhaps some time off or even just a simple and sincere thank you!

Allowing the goals, which are typically managerial decisions, to evolve through discussions with employees builds a sense of shared work, common goals and team rewards. In turn this builds a sense of accountability and responsibility, which your customers will reap the benefits of by way of improved service levels and you, of course, will see the impact on your profitability.

Good communication between staff and employer aligns the team to the corporate mission. Persistence is the key to living the Strategic Plan and later revelling in the rewards. For a simple step-by-step guide to Strategic Planning visit TheSmallBusinessStrategicToolbox.com today.

Filling the Sales Funnel

Any small business owner knows all about the need to keep the sales funnel full, and the pain that comes if it dries up.

The “sales lead funnel” is the phrase used for the methodology employed to take a person from the initial cold call stage right through to the first (and hopefully repeat) orders being placed. We all know that not everyone you or your sales team speaks to will buy from you so if your funnel isn’t full, neither will your pipeline be!

The old saying goes that, on average, you have to make 10 calls to get 1 sale! However if you don’t have 10 irons in the fire none of them will get hot and the funnel will dry up.

There are a few things you need to think about in order to improve your sales success rate. Today we’re going to take a look at three basic selling tips that are critical in order to keep your funnel full:

First: Make sure you don’t lose any leads. Keep name, telephone numbers and email addresses in a system that you can quickly and easily access … and don’t ever throw a lead away, you never know when your sales will depend on being able to contact that person.

Second: Determine your sales pitch. You don’t have to be the pushy, hard-core salesman; you just have to understand the value of a lead. So much of your selling style depends on your industry, your needs and your personality. However, a process is required to take a person from initial contact through to a successful sale. Sit and think about how to handle objections, how to defer a no today to a maybe in six months time and how to mention something that connects with the contact. Only by having a system, trying it out, tweaking it and retrying it can your sales conversions improve. Remember to assign your leads with the future lifetime value they could have for you, only then will you treat them in a way that will connect and resonate with them.

Third: Convert your lead from being a suspect to a prospect and then through to being a loyal customer. There is only one way to do this, follow up relentlessly! You or your sales team need to be there when your prospect decides it’s time to buy. If you aren’t in regular contact you won’t be top of mind when the buying decision is ready to be made and they’ll have forgotten about you and go to whoever is convenient or whoever called on them the day before. Get to know your leads so that you understand them at a more personal level, then connect with them one on one and look for ways to give them something of perceived value for free. That way they’ll feel indebted to you and feel more receptive to your buying signals in future.

Selling and the sales process is one of those challenging areas in small businesses that are fraught with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. At The Small Business Toolbox we know this and that’s why we’ve focused on getting our next programme, The Small Business Sales Toolbox, underway. Stay tuned it’ll be going live in time to set your sales strategy and sales targets for 2010!

Sales Letters – Part Three

In this last in a series of blog posts about how to write sales letters that work we look and two more story-line angles that have been tried and tested over the years and have been found to elicit the right action from recipients, purchasing the product concerned!

Connect with the reader by highlighting a problem or fear they may have.

This is one of the most effective tools and connects on a basic psychological level, which can convert, if written correctly, at an astonishing rate.

For example: “You may feel safe from retirement worries now, but did you know that nearly all small business owners reach 60 without having a business that is saleable and without having made adequate provision for their retirement income? Now is the time to develop your Small Business Strategy to ensure that you can sell and receive a lump sum payment or develop a business model that will ensure your nest egg is in place and well tended when you want to start slowing down!”

This approach has been used by the advertising industry for years. It’s referred to as “pushing the ouch button” and you’d be surprised at how many situations you can use it in. It really works like a charm.

Finally, you can mention someone the reader knows.

This is a very effective method if you can personalize your communication and use someone that the recipient admires, respects and wants to emulate.

By way of example: “Did you know that your friend *Sue Brown* told us that you could really use some help in developing a more effective business model for your business? That’s why we’re inviting you to visit The Small Business Strategic Toolbox and find out how you can work smarter, rather than harder, in your small business. She loved the programme and knows it can help you too.”

If you introduce a referral programme at the same time this can be an extremely effective way to reach out and touch your potential new clients and reward your satisfied customers at the same time.
Approach your clients and ask them for the names of a few people who they believe may benefit from also using your products or services. Offer them an incentive if those people respond and you’ll develop your own sales force of committed and loyal followers very quickly and effectively. These types of referral programmes take some time to generate, but they’re well worth the effort!

In closing this Sales Letter mini-series:

Always remember that it is your primary objective in writing a sales letter to “hook” your reader as quickly as possible! We’re all receive tons of e-mails, brochures, flyers and phone calls every day from someone wanting to sell us something so you have a limited amount of time to grab their attention and get them reading on.

Ideally you want to keep your sales letters to within a maximum of two computer screens or two A4 pages and while there can be exceptions it is vital that you only write as much as you need to connect with the reader and share the benefits of buying your product/service and no more. People don’t buy waffle, they buy solutions to their problems so get to the point in a way that makes the reading a pleasant experience!