A few days ago, my assistant was looking into toll
free number services. After researching the websites of two companies,
she called in frustration:
- The websites were a jumble of confusing facts and figures.
- When she called the companies, she got different answers from different people.
I bet you’ve had this same experience with at least one company.
Has anyone had this experience with you?
In
their struggle to get clients and customers quickly, many self-employed
business owners make the same mistakes again and again and wonder why
no one’s calling.
Here’s a look at just a few of them:
1. Confusing marketing with sales.
Before
asking someone to purchase your services, you need to educate them on
what you do and how you do it. By first building a relationship through
education (marketing), you’ll find the sales take care of themselves.
2. Participating in price competition.
Are
you the lowest price in town? Do you check out everyone else’s
offerings and deliberately undercut them to try and get clients?
If
so, you’re undervaluing your skills and, through your pricing, telling
prospects that you’re "bargain basement" — a sure way to turn away
customers. In order to charge what you’re worth, you need to
differentiate yourself from the masses: you’re a boutique, not Wal-Mart.
3. Lack of systems and misusing/underusing technology.
In
order to have a successful business, you need processes and systems
which are clear and, whenever possible, can be automated, delegated or
both.
I see so many business owners who are constantly recreating
the wheel in their business and their marketing efforts when, by
implementing systems for your prospects, customers and clients to
follow, you ensure that everyone has the same experience with the least
amount of your personal involvement.
While I’ve listed three
common mistakes above, there are several more and all can be solved by
implementing processes within your business. By taking the time to
create AND implement processes and systems, you set yourself up for a
"lifestyle" business — one which allows you to work less while earning
more.
Your Coaching Challenge
Do you
recognize yourself in any of the scenarios above? If so, it’s time to
take a hard stand to re-invent your business — otherwise you will
continue working in the "job" you’ve created with little chance of
experiencing real success.
For the past 5 years, Sandra Martini has been showing
self-employed business owners how to get more clients consistently by
implementing processes and systems to put their marketing on autopilot.
Visit Sandra at www.SandraMartini.com
for details, compelling client testimonials and her free audio series “5 Simple
and Easy Steps to Put Your Marketing on Autopilot”.