What do you think of when you determine whether a business is easy to do business with?
We all know that the economy is, let’s say, “less-than-ideal” so how can you make your business more attractive to your ideal clients?
• While watching a movie the other night, I noticed a commercial for Walmart – they’ve brought back no fee layaway for the holidays.
• Then a Sears commercial came on advertising their layaway offer.
• And I thought of my own recent installment plan for Escalator Profits™. When prospective clients mentioned they were tight on cash during the holiday season, I added a 9-installment plan for a 3 month program.
Are you making it easy to do business with you?
• Do you accept all credit cards and PayPal? Can you take a payment on your iPad/mobile phone while at a conference/on the go? Are you checking into Facebook gift cards? If not, you should or you’re leaving money on the table and sending potential clients elsewhere.
• Do you accept “installment” or “payment” plans. . .”every 30 days” so payments are spread out over months rather than “every 21 days” where 2 installments can show up on the same bill?
• Can a prospective client go to your website and order something or do they have to call you to see what you offer? Do you offer a free consult to see if you’re a good fit for each other?
• Is it easy to stop doing business with you or do you attempt to lock your clients into long agreements? Do you have any guarantees? If so, are the terms clear to you, and your clients?
• Do your clients receive practical steps to move forward or is everything theory? For example, I popped out to my Facebook page yesterday and saw this comment from Alyn Rossellini of www.SilkLabyrinth.com: “I am just AMAZED at your [free] eCourse!!! I’ve started taking action already and it’s made a HUGE difference.” This helps me know that the eCourse is doing “its” job of sharing practical steps.
Many of these items sound like no brainers, but I assure you that many small businesses aren’t attending to them or think it’s not worthwhile to do things like have a shopping cart or a PayPal account when, in reality, these “little things” can make or break your business.
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My Request to You
Before you head to the nearest guru to discover what mental block is holding you back or spend hours attempting to manifest your next client, take a step back and look at your offers, your payment plans, your website. Is it easy to do business with you?
• Do you have something for sale? Seriously! It’s easy to complain about a lack of revenue only to step back and realize your website isn’t offering anything 24/7 and you only *sell* when you launch/announce something.
• If you do have offers, buy something. Experience the process from your client’s perspective. Better yet. . .ask your mother or grandmother to purchase something to get a true insight into how easy it is to do business with you.
• Once someone invests with you, what next? Do you tell them or are they left to figure it out on their own?
Give your business a thorough review and tweak what needs tweaking while you overhaul what needs overhauling. You’ll find it’s much easier to attract true clients when you’re easy to partner with.