 Gain Business with Targeted Brochure Distribution
You now have effective brochures designed, printed and in your hands. They are a valuable tool for growing your business, but they can only fulfill their full potential when you get them into the hands of your target audience. If they sit in your office and collect dust, they will do you no good. You must distribute your brochures so they can generate revenue for your company or you have wasted your money. Below you will find many surefire ways to distribute your brochures and achieve the results you are looking for.
If your markets are businesses and/or attorneys:
#1 – Hit the pavement. Take your brochures to attorney offices and businesses. This yields a high response, especially if you can speak to the decision maker and follow up afterward.
#2 – Create a cover letter introducing yourself and enclose your brochure. To make this more effective offer them something of value, such as a free consult on one of their tough cases or a free business analysis. Be sure to follow up for the best results. Without follow up you will get less than 1% response from your efforts. This can be very costly.
#3 – Attend trade shows and conferences of your market and distribute your brochures. You can even slip your materials under the hotel room doors of conference attendees the day they arrive.
#4 – Align yourself with others who will be at trade shows and conferences, and ask them if you can place your brochures at their booth.
#5 – Hire someone to pass out your brochures at the trade show and conferences if you cannot attend yourself.
#6– Attend association meetings of your market and distribute your brochure.
#7 – When presenting at an event be sure to place one in front of every seat.
#8 – Upload your brochure to your website for visitors to view and download.
If your market is individuals:
#1 – Place your brochure in places where people will see them and have time to read them. This works if your market is predominantly the general public.
Some ideas:
- doctors’ offices
- garages
- post office
- dentist offices
- chiropractors
- coffee shops
- hair salons
#2 – Upload your brochure to your website for visitors to view and download.
If your market is other professionals in your industry who would call on you for work:
#1 – Create a cover letter introducing yourself and enclose your brochure. To make this more effective enclose your CV and let them know what you can do for them. Be sure to follow up for the best results. Without follow up you will get less than 1% response from your efforts. This can be very costly.
#2 – Attend industry trade shows and conferences and distribute your brochures. You can even slip your materials under the hotel room doors of conference attendees the day they arrive.
#3 – Align yourself with others who will be at trade shows and conferences and ask them if you can place your brochures at their booth.
#4 – Hire someone to pass out your brochures at the trade show and conferences if you cannot attend yourself.
#5 – Attend association meetings and distribute your brochures.
#6 – When presenting at an event be sure to place one in front of every seat.
#7 – Upload your brochure to your website for visitors to view and download.
True Perceptions has been helping private investigators, subject matter experts and attorneys market themselves for almost a decade. We can do the same for you. We know your market and how to reach them. If you need more business call us today at 678-583-0401.
 Seven Top Tips for Creating an Effective Brochure
It is not easy to create an effective brochure. It is, however, a very important tool for marketing your business to potential clients. Before you can even start your brochure, you must know your market, their needs and how your service fills those needs.
Tip #1 – An effective brochure should convey your services and the benefits of those services that your prospective market will receive by utilizing your services, rather than about you or your services. It should have a call to action.
Example: Service is surveillance. The benefit of surveillance if your client is an insurance company who handles workman’s comp would be, Reduced Cost – Smooth, focused video will allow you to prove your case thus reduce your cost.
Tip #2 – An effective brochure should be well-designed to build your brand and provide a professional image for your business. Your logo should appeal to your market and provide a professional look and feel for your business. Your tag line should evoke emotion and tell your market what they will receive by utilizing your service.
Example: WalMart’s tag line, “Save Money. Live Better.” paints a picture and evokes a positive emotion that makes people want to shop there. It does not tell you that they are a retail store.
Tip #3 – Select pictures that tell the story and colors that evoke a positive emotion.
An effective brochure is memorable and appeals to both the creative and the analytical side of the brain.
The creative side prefers photos, graphic images, diagrams and colors. This builds the picture without words. The colors used in the brochure should be consistent with your company colors and evoke the emotion you wish to convey.
The analytical side likes information in the form of data, numbers, letters and other such material—just the facts. This element appeals to people who like to read and analyze.
Keeping a balance between the analytical and creative elements will ensure that your brochure appeals to a larger audience.
Tip #4 – Write your text carefully. Make sure you have a lot of white space, and avoid repetition.
The text should be short, sweet and to the point. Only list the key points you want the reader to remember. By nature people are tuned into the “What’s In It For Me” station (WIIFM). The majority of people will have only three uninterrupted minutes to read your brochure and most people are on information over load.
Proper ordering of information, organization and layout of your brochure make it easier for readers to get to the important information. People will read the front cover, then back cover, and then if you caught their interest they will open the brochure and read from left to right. If it is a tri-fold brochure, they will read the inner flap before opening all the way.
Tip #5 – Present benefits on the front cover and either testimonials or case studies on the back cover. Remember, people only believe 10% of what you say about yourself or your service and 90% of what others say.
Tip #6 – Have your brochure printed on quality paper. You do not want your paper to be too thin or think. If it is to thin, it screams “cheap”. If it is too thick, it cracks and looks of poor quality. A glossy paper gives the feeling of a high-end, professional or corporate. Everything you do or don’t do says something about your business. Choose wisely.
Tip #7 – Once you have an award-winning brochure, be sure that you get out there and market yourself. Whether attending a Chamber of Commerce meeting or networking group, giving a seminar, or speaking with a prospective client, share your brochure freely. An award-winning brochure will do you no good if it sits in your office collecting dust.
True Perceptions has been creating effective brochures for private investigators, subject matter experts and attorneys for almost a decade. We can do the same for you. We know your market and what matters to them. If you need an effective brochure call us today at 678-583-0401.
 The Mechanics of Creating a Winning Corporate Identity
What Your Corporate Identity Should Be
First and foremost your corporate identity should be market-focused. It should establish your relevance to the market and communicate your unique value proposition. People are much more interested in what you have to say if they believe that you are qualified to say it and that it will benefit them to listen.
It is important that your corporate identity is consistent and harmonious. All elements of your identity design should work together in versatile media with a consistent brand message. People should be able to recognize ‘you’ wherever they find you.
It should be memorable. A good corporate identity has longevity in consumers’ minds and in the marketplace. Strive to develop an identity that will remain relevant long-term and won’t be easily swept away by the tidal information feed we all experience on a daily basis. For example, naming your company after yourself may seem like a good idea, but consider what it will mean long-term. How well recognized is your name? Will it help or hinder your efforts to grow your company beyond local or regional markets? What consumer benefits does your name convey?
Developing Your Tag Line
Your brand tag line should speak to consumers about them, not you. It should paint a picture of how someone’s life will be better for doing business with you. Wal Mart’s tag line, “Save Money. Live Better”, is a perfect example. It is succinct, catchy, and evokes the feeling that If I shop at Wal Mart I will have more money and a better life. ‘Better’ might be a beach vacation, new appliances, or more money to pay bills. The details don’t matter. What does matter is that many consumers who hear this tag line believe that shopping at Wal Mart will help them achieve what they envision.
Designing Your Logo
Many consumers will be introduced to your company through your logo. What first impression do you want to make? When designing your logo you need to think first about how you will use it. Finishing effects like shading, shadowing, foil stamping and embossing that add pizzazz to stationery and business cards may not be reproducible on signage, vehicle graphics, and web sites. Colors that pop on paper may look diffuse or mottled on cloth or plastic. You need to select design features that are transferable to various media.
Color and style are two important elements of logo design. It’s important to choose colors that represent who you are and what you stand for. Colors have meaning and evoke emotions in people.
Red is excitement, strength, sex, speed, danger, sale and stop.
Blue is trust and reliability.
Orange is playful and vibrant.
Green is growth and abundance
Black is sophisticated and elegant.
Gold is prestigious and expensive.
Silver is prestigious and scientific.
Your logo style should be consistent with your identity. Who are you in the marketplace? How do you want to be seen? Professional, sophisticated, trendy, high-tech, serious, playful, elegant, flashy, global, conservative, fun, reliable, dedicated? Choose a style that matches your corporate personality.
Producing Your Logo
Logo production and reproduction is as important as logo design. The quality of your logo production speaks volumes about your company and sets a consumer’s initial expectations about you. Details such as the quality and thickness of paper, font size, and print quality speak volumes about your pride and attention to detail.
Business Card, Letterhead and Envelopes
Your logo figures prominently in the success of your business card, letterhead and envelopes. Every piece of company stationery impacts the person who sees it and reads it. You want the perception of your company to be one that builds trust, credibility and quality. Stationery that is of good quality and consistent with your corporate identity is a powerful way to brand your identity in a consumer’s mind.
At True Perceptions we are corporate identity experts. We understand your market and we know how to reach it. We offer exceptional attention to detail and a guarantee of your satisfaction. Call True Perceptions today at 678-583-0401 for a free consultation and let us elevate your business above a crowded market.
 Who Are You? The Role Corporate Identity Plays in Yours Success
Your company has an identity. Your corporate identity comprises everything the public perceives about your company – what you do, where you are, how you communicate… the value of your work, the integrity of your people, your level of commitment to your clients – your corporate identity is all of these, and your business is either strengthened or weakened by it every day.
Many times businesses are so busy trying to figure out who they are and what they do that they fail to recognize the dangers of identity crisis. A business may struggle for several years before the owner feels ready to solidify a corporate identity. In that time, business plans are developed and re-worked, marketing campaigns are launched and re-tooled, employees come and go, and consumers form and respond to their impressions of the company. The most basic truth about corporate identity is that if you don’t define and manage your identity, the market will.
Left to their own perceptions, consumer will choose your corporate identity based on their experiences. If you lack consistency in image or message, consumers will not understand how your business can benefit them. If your company changes direction or appearance too often, consumers will question your stability. Your market is an ever-changing mix of subsidiaries, spin-offs, mergers and acquisitions. A consistent corporate identity ensures that consumers can always recognize you. It lets people know that your vision and commitment are consistent, regardless of what changes around you. Your portfolio of services will change over time, the size of your company may expand or contract, you may venture into new markets or shift personnel, but your identity – the essence of who you are and what you do – remains clear.
A well-developed corporate identity says, “We are proud of who we are,” and is integral to a company’s vision, mission, strategic planning, marketing efforts, and daily operations. A solid identity has the power to inspire partnership within the company and between the company and clients by satisfying the human need to be part of something bigger than oneself.
A corporate identity is one of the most basic ways to foster consumer loyalty. People like to do business with people they know. People who come to know you trust your corporate identity whenever and wherever they find it. It doesn’t matter if it is on a web site, letterhead, a bill board or brochure. It is you, and they trust you. That is the power of a corporate identity.
How do you feel when you hand your business card to someone? Proud? Confident? Or do you feel the need to say something like, “I know this card is not great, but…” But what? But your firm is top notch? But you are an industry leader? But no one works harder for their customers? A business card that falls short on quality or design will undercut a customer’s impression of your business and undermine your own confidence. If you wouldn’t wear torn clothes to meet a customer or prospect, why would you hand them a business card that reflects poorly on you?
At True Perceptions we specialize in identity development. We know how to translate your unique value proposition into a unified corporate identity that retains its value across various markets and media. We leverage corporate identity as a tool to help you create assets, attract new business and build consumer confidence every day.
Call True Perceptions at 678-583-0401 today for a free corporate identity consultation. Find your voice. Speak boldly. Achieve more.
 Does the Verbiage on Your Invoices Help or Hinder Your Collection Efforts?
Is it a good idea to include standard verbiage on all of your outgoing invoices? When you consider that it is an opportunity to make your clients feel valued and important, and that it can serve as a reminder of payment terms, it seems clear that invoice verbiage is a good business practice. But research has shown that like many aspects of your business, the actual effectiveness of invoice verbiage depends on what you say and how you say it. Here are some things to consider to get the most from your invoice verbiage:
Politeness has its rewards. A simple “Please pay your invoice within…” or “Thank you for your business” can increase the percentage of paid invoices by more than five percent! What difference would a five percent increase in paid invoices make in your business this year?
Specific terms yield better results. To many clients, the term “payable upon receipt” is akin to “payable whenever you get around to it at some point after receipt.” It is your responsibility to establish the terms of payment, and using specific terms in your invoice verbiage is a good way to help a client uphold their end of your relationship. “We appreciate payment within 21 days” is more helpful to a client (and to you) than “We appreciate your prompt payment.”
Clarity counts. Adopt your clients’ perspective as an internal check for clarity. You may be familiar with a phrase like “Payment terms: net 30. Interest accrued at 1.5% per month thereafter”, but your clients may not be. The phrase, “Payment not received within thirty days of the date of this invoice will result in an additional charge of 1.5% per month which will be applied each month until payment is received” leaves little room for misunderstanding.
Similarly, you need to specify any additional charges that may accrue in response to an unpaid invoice. The phrase, “Client is responsible for costs of collection including reasonable attorneys fees incurred in the collection process” puts the client on notice and also protects you from having to pay additional fees to collect monies owed to you.
Never assume that a client knows where to send payment. Each invoice should include accounts receivable contact name, mailing address, phone number, fax number, and email if applicable.
Reinforce value. You can be nearly sure that someone in your client’s business looks at every one of your invoices. You have a captive audience for at least a brief time. Take the opportunity to reinforce the value of your business to the client and to acknowledge the value of the client to your business. Invoice verbiage should include a phrase that conveys gratitude, such as “Thank you for your business,” “We appreciate your business,” or “Your business is important to us.”
The appearance of your invoices will either reinforce or diminish your brand in the client’s mind. A neat, accurate, well-organized invoice suggests to a client that you are in control of your business and able to productively manage your relationship with them. Conversely, an invoice that is incorrect, sloppy, or confusing gives the impression that you are disorganized, inattentive, careless, or all three.
Of course, with all this said, the very best thing you can do to get paid more often and faster is delight your customers with a quality product every time. Politeness has its rewards, specific terms yield better results, clarity counts, and it is important to reinforce value, but nothing is better for your business than a customer whose expectations you have exceeded.
The professional business consultants at True Perceptions are ready to help you develop the verbiage or design of your invoice. Contact True Perceptions today at 678-583-0401.
 Lucky 7: Strategies for Collecting Past Due Receivables
“I would rather get a root canal than follow up on overdue invoices,” a small business owner recently confided. That got me thinking that overdue invoices are a lot like cavities. Both can usually be prevented with proper care and attention. If you ignore them they just get worse, and both cavities and overdue invoices are disruptive, distracting, and can become outright painful. With proper planning and prompt attention, you can minimize the impact of overdue invoices on your business. Here are seven strategies to get you started.
1. Feel the urgency. You lose money every day an invoice is past due. Outstanding monies owed to you cannot be used for sales and marketing, procurement, or capital improvements you need to make to grow your business. Also, your chances of collecting a past due invoice diminish with each passing day. Feeling the urgency about past due receivables will keep you focused on the action strategies outlined below.
2. Invest an ounce of prevention. Minimize the occurrence of overdue invoices with a system of formal credit policies and terms that includes non-refundable deposits for large orders and scheduled progress payments for long-term services. A 20-30% up-front deposit helps ensure client commitment and assigns value to your work from the outset. Scheduling periodic payments throughout the life of a work agreement can help you identify and react to “slow pay” clients before one unpaid invoice becomes two, three or more.
3. Always be polite. Even the most conscientious client may misplace an invoice or experience a temporary cash flow problem. Your client may be embarrassed about their late payment, and you can help preserve your relationship with politeness.
4. Flex when you can, direct when you must. Do what you can to meet a client halfway. Most clients will appreciate your willingness to adjust a payment schedule, and it increases the odds of you collecting monies owed to you. However, your first obligation is to your business bottom line. Make only those compromises you can afford to make, and take the lead on establishing the terms of the new payment schedule.
5. Be proactive. One missed payment easily becomes two, and a client who is unable to make a single payment will almost certainly be unable to make two. Reach out to clients within a few days of a missed payment. Politely point out that they missed a payment and ask when you can expect to receive it.
6. Standardize your collection procedures. Having a formal plan in place will make your collections more efficient and fruitful and will free you up to focus on other aspects of your business. It’s important to detail both a schedule and strategy for collections. It is critical to be consistent with your invoicing. For example, who will be responsible for managing collections contacts? How far past the due date will you initiate a collections contact? Will your first contact be a phone call, an email, or a letter? When and what will your second contact be?
Keep in mind that some larger companies pay invoices according to their own internal schedule. Make sure to ask when they process invoices for payment and what deadlines you need to follow in order to receive on-time payments from them.
7. Cut your losses. Every business owner has experienced the point of diminishing returns, when they realize that the cost of pursuing an unpaid invoice has become higher than the money owed on the invoice itself. If you reach that point, you can either accept the loss or contact a professional collection agency for assistance. Collection agencies are well-versed in legal means of collection, and sometimes the involvement of an outside agency is the motivation a client needs to bring their account up to date.
The professional business consultants at True Perceptions will work with you to develop accounts receivable procedures that fit your business and improve your bottom line. Contact True Perceptions today at 678-583-0401.
 Successful Businesses Need Leadership: How Well Are You Leading?
Your perception creates your reality. Whatever you perceive as being unachievable you will not achieve, but whatever you perceive as being achievable you will achieve.
Let’s talk today about leadership, one of the five key business principles. Along with vision, perception, reputation and consistency, leadership is vital to you, your employees, and your business.
Every business needs great leadership. A great leader learns from the past, acts in the present, and plans for the future.
Without leadership, a business struggles. It could even fail. Employee morale and productivity are low. There is no structure, no vision, no growth. Is it any wonder that leadership is the difference between success and failure in business?
And it’s not just a lack of motivation or desire. As an entrepreneur, you have plenty of both, so what’s keeping you from becoming the leader your business needs, the leader you want to be? Many times it’s fear, but because we’re financially and emotionally too close, we can’t stand back far enough to see what others can see.
Stop and think about the friends whose businesses or personal relationships don’t seem to be working—yet although it’s clear to you, they can’t understand what’s wrong. What’s clear to an outsider is often impossible for us to recognize. We need perspective.
Yet gaining perspective isn’t enough. The missing cornerstone is accountability. Great leaders need accountability. We always do what we promise others, but many times put off what we need to do as entrepreneurs to propel our own business forward. Maybe it’s fear, or a lack of clarity, but the end result is inaction. Inaction leads to frustration and discouragement, and many times, to failure. Is it any wonder that running your business sometimes just isn’t enjoyable any more?
Just as employees are held accountable for helping to achieve the company’s goals through evaluations, constructive criticism, and following a plan for improvement, a leader must also accept and welcome accountability. Accountability keeps us focused and allows us to get more accomplished. It’s in our nature as human beings.
Great leaders always have a coach, someone who keeps them accountable, supports them in their growth, and helps them achieve their goals and objectives. Medieval kings had their fools, who weren’t fools at all, but wise and observant men who questioned and challenged their monarch through jest. Abraham Lincoln surrounded himself not with people who agreed with him, but with people who questioned him and held him accountable. Throughout history, great leaders have sought out a trusted advisor who could be counted on to provide focus, honest feedback, and accountability.
There’s no better time than now to call True Perceptions and ask us to be your business coach and accountability partner. We will help you achieve what you want to achieve. During your coaching sessions, you will:
* Gain clarity and perspective
* Identify what you really want
* Uncover what is stopping you
* Set goals
* Map out a strategy to achieve your goals
* Accept accountability for meeting those goals
* Experience positive change
* Reduce your stress level
* Experience business and personal growth
Yes, you will.
 You Will Never Be Greater Than the Vision That Guides You
No athlete gets to the Olympics by mistake. It is not a matter of luck or training, either. The one thing that drives all Olympians to persevere through years of pain, failure, and heartbreak is VISION. A vision answers the question, “What will success look like?” It is the pursuit of this image of success that really motivates people to work towards their goals.
Vision is as important for the health of your business as it is for Olympic hopefuls. Vision inspires creativity, ignites purpose and innovation, and fosters growth. It provides a blueprint against which to measure your progress and make course corrections as necessary along the way.
It is not enough to have a vision. The power of vision is unleashed when it is written. Developing a written vision for your business is one of the surest ways to achieve more. With a written vision you can begin to set goals, make a plan to reach them, monitor your progress, measure your success, and move forward with clarity. With vision, all things are possible; without vision, most things are impossible.
Are you a follower or a leader? Do you look for opportunity or make opportunity where there is none? Do you want to act upon the world or be acted upon? A company without a written vision is destined to remain reactive, forced to respond to the conditions that develop within and around it. With management spending a majority of time putting out fires, little time is left for nurturing the business. Creativity stagnates, work products and services are inconsistent, and customers leave, taking revenue and profits with them. Internal chaos and poor communication lead to role confusion, low employee satisfaction, and high turnover.
Conversely, a company that is guided by a written vision is proactive and able to stay on track when circumstances threaten to derail forward momentum. An ordered structure of leadership and accountability feeds productivity, award-winning customer service, and an abundance of the right kind of referrals. Time is spent where it should be – advancing business objectives – which increases profitability, business growth, and employee satisfaction.
Every day True Perceptions helps companies create roadmaps for their success, and we have the means and motivation to help you create yours. Through our exclusive Coaching and Ask the Expert programs we can help you define a vision that will motivate you and the members of your organization to stretch expectations, aspirations, and performance.
Consider this: Yale University surveyed its graduating class of 1953 on commencement day to determine how many of the graduates had written goals for their future. Only 3% had such a vision. In 1973 the surviving members of the class were surveyed again. The 3% who had written their vision twenty years prior had accumulated greater wealth than the other combined 97% of their class.
What difference can a written vision make in your business? Find out! Call True Perceptions today at 678-583-0401 to unleash the power of your vision.
 Inconsistencies…What Are They? How Are They Hurting Your Business?
The key to differentiating yourself in a competitive market is consistency. Consistency builds credibility, security and long-term business partnerships with clients, prospects, and employees. Inconsistency undermines your credibility and diminishes your reputation. Inconsistencies in communication, performance and customer service are particularly potent.
Communication
Inconsistent communication – for example, delayed responses to phone calls or e-mails – makes people question your reliability, accessibility, and opinion of them. If you are too busy to communicate they may assume you are too busy to handle their work and handle it well, or they may think you don’t consider them important. Either way, it’s not a message you want to send. The quality of your communication is as important as the timeliness. Inconsistencies in the look or tone of your correspondence quickly erode your professional image and dilute the power of your brand.
Performance
Performance comprises everything about the way you conduct yourself and your business. Inconsistencies between your brand assertions and the quality of your marketing communications confuse potential clients and diminish your message, making it more difficult for you to gain new business and command a higher rate for it. If your marketing message is not consistent across industries and media, potential clients will be confused about who you are and what you can do for them. Your core value proposition is the same in every market. You need to express it clearly and consistently in order to grow your business.
Regardless of what you say about your work performance, inconsistencies in the quality or format of your work product, the timeliness of work submitted, and your availability for follow-up all signal the same thing: I am not reliable or professional, and I may not have the ability to do the work you require. Whenclients and prospects experience performance inconsistencies they are highly likely to look for someone else to work with.
Many employees and sub-contractors will do the same. Almost all people want to know how their performance compares with expectations. Employees and sub-contractors look to you for performance guidelines, protocols and evaluation. Inconsistency in direction or feedback from management damages morale and makes it difficult for employees to achieve their goals.
Customer Service
Most clients are willing to forgive delays and errors provided they are infrequent and resolved quickly and consistently, but they shouldn’t have to. Prospects with no history of success with you may be less forgiving. Inconsistent customer service implies a lack of concern on your part. It catches clients off guard, turns prospects off, and breeds discontent among employees and sub-contractors. Great customer service is remembered for a while; poor customer service is never forgotten.
Inconsistent phone communication can cost you business right out of the gate. Clients and prospect notice whether or not the phone is answered quickly and professionally and whether or not it is answered at all! It makes a difference in their impression of your business and their comfort level with you.
Pricing and billing are two other areas where consistency is important. Inconsistent pricing can cause surprise and resentment with clients and prospects, as well as significant administrative challenges for everyone involved. If clients are not billed as they expect to be, they lose time and money clearing up confusion in accounts payable. You lose their respect, their trust, and maybe their business.
At True Perceptions our mission is to eliminate inconsistencies that could undermine your credibility. Call True Perceptions today for a free one hour consultation.
 How to Eliminate Inconsistencies and Increase Your Profit
Building a business is exciting, gratifying and energizing. It’s a dream come true. Maintaining that business? That feels like hard work, and it is. It is always easier to build a business than it is to maintain it. But anything worth building is worth maintaining. Eliminating inconsistencies in your business will help you maintain its health and increase your profits, and that brings you back to the fun part of business.
The best way to eliminate inconsistencies in your business is to scrutinize what you do and how you do it, and develop written business policies and procedures that will build consistency at all levels of your business. Without written policies and procedures, you are vulnerable to inconsistencies that will challenge your business (at best) or destroy it (at worst.) Developing well-thought out policies and procedures will keep you focused on doing the right things well when workloads and time constraints threaten to compromise the business you work so hard to build.
The benefits of creating best practices through written policies and procedures impact all levels of your business and brand as experienced by your clients, prospects and employees. It is particularly important to eliminate inconsistencies in communication, performance, and customer service. These three areas are major leverage points for growing your business, and also points of myopia for a lot of companies. Many people are too busy in their day-to-day operations and too close financially and emotionally to be able to conduct a granular assessment of internal inconsistencies.
Michael E. Gerber’s book, The E-Myth Revisited; Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to do About it, cuts to the heart of the issue with fresh, useable insight that can help any business owner improve the way they do business.
Nothing beats a trained set of eyes and an outside perspective to analyze what works and what doesn’t, and most importantly, why. True Perceptions has the knowledge and tools to help you identify areas of inconsistency and develop the policies and procedures to eliminate inconsistency from your business. We understand that “Consistency created credibility. Credibility brings longevity.”
Call True Perceptions for a free one hour consultation.
Don’t Lose Clients: Keep them satisfied.
How are you evaluating your business? Do you routinely examine your business image and performance though the eyes of your client? Do you know the right questions to ask?
To some degree, we all have blinders on. Do you think your clients see every aspect of your company exactly as you do? Do you assume your clients agree with every action you take just because they never object?
We all tend to project our personal ideas about 'how things are' onto the way we believe others see us. Though we may see ourselves as honest, hard working and integrity driven, how can we be sure that others see us this way?
Studies show that the majority of customers will not complain about a service when something is wrong. They will, however, share bad experiences with a dozen or more friends and colleagues, after they take their business somewhere else.
How are you evaluating your business? Have you even looked to see how many clients you are losing? Most small businesses do not evaluate their business in this context. Only with proper assessment of your business can you determine what is working and what is not. If we fail to take the time and invest the resource to review the quality of our work as others see it, all too soon it may be too late to salvage the brand-name security we believe we already possess.
Gathering pertinent information about how others see your company is the only way to know the truth about how your company is being perceived. And there is much more to gaining clarity, direction, and focus than having your assistant send out a questionnaire by email.
The questions you ask, how you ask them and the way a survey is constructed must build trust with those responding so they feel comfortable to give honest opinions. And there is no point in conducting a survey that aims at less.
There must be an ironclad assurance for each respondent's anonymity. Consider, perhaps, that one of your best clients has a recurring issue with your work but, for whatever reason, is reluctant to broach the subject. This client must by some means be persuaded to understand that their candid response will benefit them as much as it benefits you.
Also, the questions you ask must be pertinent, direct, brief and meaningful. Finding out what you need to know without offending or boring the busy people you serve is delicate work that requires expertise in cognitive, behavioral and marketing science. Are you up to the task?
In addition, it is beyond difficult for anyone to hear criticism from others without emotionally flinching. Many times, this will provoke a knee-jerk reaction which may further damage a client's perception of you.
Essentially, all such research must be conducted so that the process itself enhances your company’s image. That’s why online surveys are unreliable. The impersonal, standardized, oversimplified approach comes across as clinical. In addition, you can’t know absolutely who is actually answering your questions.
At True Perceptions, we personally talk with each respondent. We provide a 'buffer zone', free from emotional attachment. We also provide respondents with the guarantee of anonymity, so they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
True Perceptions helps you measure your performance and shows you how to obtain more business by analyzing what others think about you. We work with you to set short- and long-term goals to keep your clients satisfied and we soft-sell your business to your clients every step of the way.
Quarterly assessments of your business image, coupled with immediate actions to dispel rumors and resolve complaints, will positively affect your bottom line year after year after year. True Perceptions is the specialist when it comes to employee and client satisfaction surveys. We let your employees and clients know that their opinions and what they see matters to you. And letting everyone know how much they are valued helps employees buy-into your company’s vision, mission and action plan.
Just doing a professional satisfaction survey says something good about your business. It says to your company’s clients: “Wow! This company actually cares!”
Stand out from the rest by taking the time to hire a professional to help you learn how to serve your clients better. Call True Perceptions for a free consultation. Let’s examine your business image together. Perception Creates Reality®. Let us assist you in learning how you are actually being perceived and in creating True Perceptions of your business, today. ~~~
Perception, Reputation and Your Bottom Line
Reputation is everything. Should you doubt this, just ask Toyota.
Dubbed with Honda as "best by a wide margin" in the Consumer Reports' 2008 Car Brand Perception survey, the automaker's first-rate marketplace identity seemed unshakable.
Then in January this year, drivers' reports of life-threatening problems erupted across global media. By the time a full-blown recall made headlines, the BrandIndex rating on U.S. consumer perception of Toyota's overall reputation had fallen by nearly 60%.
The amount Toyota will have to spend on damage control and to regain customer trust is still unknown, but you can bet it will definitely cut into their profits, big time.
Hopefully, your company will never suffer such consequences. Still, allegations of incompetence may erupt at any moment no matter how good a job you are trying to do.
Sustainable success hinges on reputation. Your company’s image, in the mind of your client, must be above reproach. Trustworthy, consistent, reliable, steadfast, true-to-your-word. Is this how you’re being perceived?
Perhaps you think so, but do others see you this way?
Your opinion isn’t the most important one when it comes to perception.
No matter your preference for brutal honesty, evaluation of your company's public image boils down to taking a skeptic's inventory of your business practices and performance through the eyes of your employees and your clients.
How your employees perceive your business operations and management style will influence the way they represent you to clients, and you can rest assured that your clients will feel what is happening internally in your business, both the good and bad.
Are your clients and market seeing you as you want to be seen? Are they recommending your services to others? What is their candid impression of you and how competent you are at getting the job done?
From the way your telephone is answered to the organization of data on your website, every iota of information about your business coalesces in the mind of your client. Is your company seen as responsible, dedicated and tenacious, or a chaotic mix of the haphazard, flaky and obstinate?
What others see may be far removed from what you envision. There’s a story about a company whose solid reputation was the target of a smear campaign. Before they even knew it, their reputation was in tatters because of rumors spread by an unhappy client on the Internet and by listserve.
A study conducted by the Technical Assistance Research Program (TARP) in Washington D.C. shows that most consumers will not complain to management if something is wrong. The average client will tell between 9-15 friends about their bad experience.
Some 13% will tell more than 20 people but you will never know. More than two out of three clients will never come back. But, 95% of dissatisfied clients will return if their problem is solved quickly and with care, because they were made to feel valued and understand mistakes happen. A client survey makes your client feel valued and gives your client the opportunity to share things about your company that you otherwise would never know.
No matter that the rumors are false, the damage done is incontrovertible. What can you do to protect yourself from a blow-back like this?
For starters, keep an eye on the virtual world. Type your company’s name – and your name – into a search engine a few times a month. Get to know what’s out there about you. Keep an ear to the ground in-house. Listen not to pronounce judgment of those who deviate from your optimal norm, but strictly to get a clear idea of what others are saying about you.
The best way to harvest such information is by surveying your employees and clients. What do they see as your strengths or your weaknesses? How do they view your services? Are they happy with your customer service? Do they think your services are fairly priced? What inconsistencies do they see? What is their overall perception of your company? Do they routinely recommend you?
Finding the answers to these questions isn’t a task you can take on independently. People in general are reluctant to be critical to your face, however warranted criticism is one of the best business development tools around. Remember, you can only improve what you know about.
If your business takes a sudden downturn or company growth has stalled, it may be that undetected rumors or unaddressed complaints are negatively impacting your reputation. Do a reality check. Make sure that what your clients and employees are saying and thinking about you business matches the business identity you think you have and strive to maintain.
Quarterly assessments of your business image, coupled with immediate actions to dispel rumors and resolve complaints, will positively affect your bottom line year after year after year. True Perceptions is the specialist when it comes to employee and client satisfaction surveys. Call True Perceptions for a free consultation. Let’s examine your business image together. Perception creates reality®. Let us assist you in learning how you are actually being perceived and create a True Perception for your business. ~~~
It Is Cheaper To Keep A Client Than Replace One
In an article entitled "Keep Those Customers Coming Back!" the Better Business Bureau stated that businesses will spend roughly five times more to obtain a new client than they would to keep an existing one. And yet when you think of marketing, you think of reaching new clients, not your current client base.
In today’s economy, every client and every dollar counts. You cannot afford to lose any business or client. However, many times your current clients become neglected because you are too busy running day-to-day business operations.
It is your current client base that can provide you additional revenue by utilizing more of your services and referring you to others. Clients who come to you by referral are 2 ½ times more likely to refer you. This equals additional business and a growing client list.
By communicating with the clients you already have, you increase the chances of repeat business, add-on sales, and referrals. If you currently retain 70% of your customers a program to improve that to 80% will result in a 10% growth rate.
Many times, your clients are not aware of all the services you provide, or sometimes they simply forget about you when a need arises. You can prevent this by keeping in touch on a consistent basis. If you are not on their mind, you could lose additional business and even clients. Staying in touch with your clients on a regular basis will also build trust and brand awareness, which will give you a more competitive edge in the marketplace.
It is easy to become lackadaisical or too busy when it comes to staying in touch with your client base; you might even think “they will call me if they have a need.” Those with whom you have strong relationships will probably be loyal. Those with whom your relationship is not as strong can easily be swayed to another company. Make no mistake, your competitors are out there soliciting your clients through sales calls and marketing. If they become more familiar to your clients than you, they can steal your business.
Here at True Perceptions we saw that our clients were struggling to keep in touch with their clients due to time constraints. We did our research on possible solutions. We put together a focus group comprised of attorneys and businesses, and started asking questions when conducting client surveys with our clients’ clients. The results were that 86% would appreciate and welcome electronic newsletters that provided them with information about new bills, legislation, laws, educational pieces about different things a private investigator can do to help them, different case strategies and successes, how to identify fraud in a business, how to collect money, and other valuable tips. They want the information to be relevant and beneficial to them and want it to be short and to the point. Just like you, your clients are too busy to keep up with what is happening around them and you will actually be doing a great service to them.
The Internet is here to stay. In fact, e-marketing will increase by 13 percent in 2010. So, we got busy researching the best ways to put the Internet to work for you and your clients. To that end, we have launched a new service called E-novations: A service that will help you bring added value to your clients; keep your name and brand fresh in your client’s mind; foster relationships and create loyalty. This customized service will be targeted, monitored and measured. Your clients and potential clients can read your message and respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week. E-novations utilizes the strength of the Internet to increase your business and client list. This new service provides you three different ways to educate and market to your current clients and prospective clients: E-Newsletters, E-Proactive Marketing and E-Greetings. We have added new members to the True Perceptions team who will make this service seamless and effortless for you. Our experienced writer will write clear and concise articles, our creative designer will make sure your brand stays intact, and our administrative assistant will take care of all administration needs.
Let True Perceptions keep you in front of your clients so you can continue to run your business. To learn how we can help you, take advantage of our one hour FREE phone consultation.
Smart Marketing Strategies for 2010
As the year begins and the economy continues to struggle, there has never been a more important time to plan your marketing strategies. Like never before, markets are changing at a rapid pace. It is important to keep your finger on the pulse of your market so you know which segment of your market is flourishing and which is declining.
It is critical that you plan well and spend your marketing dollars where they will yield the greatest return on investment. When preparing a marketing plan for 2010, first review what you did in 2009:
- Identify the segment of your market that provided you the most revenue
- Research to see if this segment of your market is still viable
- Identify which of your services grossed the highest profit margin
- Research to learn if these services are still in high demand
- Research to see which services you offer might now be in high demand
- Look at other services your current client base needs that you can offer
You do not want to waste marketing dollars to promote a service that is no longer in high demand nor market a high-demand service to a declining market.
Example:
For those of you who provide surveillance to insurance companies, the trend nationwide is that insurance companies are seeing fewer workers’ comp cases as claims drops because employees are fearful of losing their jobs and loss of business due to company closings. This has put a financial strain on the insurance companies. They are evaluating what they do and how they do it on a continual basis to stay alive. Many of them are now utilizing their own in-house investigators instead of outsourcing. You can see where this market is on a decline and has less of a need for surveillance. However, the need for some other services, such as fraud, bankruptcy and foreclosures, are still on the rise. Think about what part of the marketplace deals with these issues and how you can assist them with surveillance and other services you offer.
The five most important things when creating a successful marketing strategy are:
- Know your market
- Know where to find your market and where they look to find the services you offer
- Craft all your marketing messages so they speak directly to your market and their needs
- Develop a marketing campaign that will consistently keep you visible to your market
- Talk about the benefits your market will receive by using your services — “what’s in it for them”
If you are marketing to attorneys, do not waste your dollars on an ad in the yellow pages. Very rarely will an attorney hire a private investigator out of the phone book. An overwhelming majority of attorneys — 96% — hire private investigators first through referrals from their colleagues, and second through sales calls, where they had the opportunity to meet the private investigator. If attorneys need a private investigator outside their geographical area, they will search the Internet. What they look for when searching the Web is a professional Web site and credentials that show competency. If you have met their criteria, they will then call your office. If you do not answer your phone, they move on. Why? Attorneys do not want to look bad, nor do they want someone who is not accessible or is unreliable.
With this type of knowledge of your market you are able to see the huge advantage of having a professional Web site that highlights your core competencies, and that answering your phone is of the utmost importance.
This information also tells you that this segment of your market finds and hires through referral. Now you can develop winning marketing strategies that work for a referral bases market.
Tips that work for this market:
- Have frequent communication with your current client base
- Focus a majority of your marketing campaign on educational marketing to make yourself the “subject matter expert”
- Use a marketing tool so that attorneys can easily put your information in their colleagues’ hands
- Build your brand through continual visibility
There are many ways to do this, but one of the most effective ways to market to a referral base market is through e-marketing. Tools such as newsletters and proactive marketing that highlight your services on a continual basis are the most effective forms of e-marketing. You can also conduct educational seminars, do postcard campaigns, e-greeting cards, sponsor events, network, have a booth at trade shows, write articles and place ads in magazines that your market reads, put out press releases, update your Web site and if your market utilizes the Web to find services you offer, spending money on SEO’s are important.
When planning your 2010 marketing plan, make sure you have a strategy that will work for your market. Make it concise and be sure it gives you the highest visibility to your market and will yield a high return on investment.
If you need help developing a marketing strategy for 2010, be sure to contact True Perceptions. We know your market and what type of marketing works best to create the results you want.
We hope you gain wisdom that will make a positive difference in your business.
A Solid Foundation for Success
To develop and maintain a consistent business image the first and most important task is to prepare a solid business foundation. Now I have never been invited to look at the foundation of anyone's new home. Instead, I am invited to the house warming, when all of the construction has been completed. Yet, everyone knows how important the foundation is to the structure of the house. Think about it, once the land was acquired, the builder's first project was to lay the foundation. It is the same with your business. Like a builder: the" land" you are building on is the idea. To implement the idea... More >>>
Advertising May Bring Customers In The Door, But Your Business Image Keeps Them!
Business image is extremely important to customers deciding where to spend their money. Customers leave for many reasons, however studies show that seventy percent of customers who abandon one company for another report doing so because of the poor attitude exhibited by your employees. This is easily avoidable through perception management, which develops and maintains your business image.
In my experience, less than 15 % of businesses know how their business is perceived in the marketplace, or how critical it is to their success, credibility, and longevity. A company’s leadership may have a difficult time seeing the image they are currently projecting because they are too close and caught up in the day-to-day operations... More >>>
Is Your Business Image A Victim of Chaos?
Many CEO's I have worked with say that one day they woke up to realize that their company looks nothing like the original vision. The business may have changed as a response to:
- Government regulations or deregulation as with telephone industry.
- Innovation in the Market Place such as Google.
- Customer Driven Trends in the Marketplace such as quitting smoking.
Companies must change to meet the demands of doing business by diversifying products as well as research and development of new technology. Small businesses may make alterations to their original vision based... More >>>
Bottom Line vs. Serving Others
In today’s business world, we hear much talk about increasing the bottom line. Many companies have actually sabotaged themselves by focusing solely on the bottom line. Why does focusing on the bottom line sabotage a company? Because the true core of business is about people. When a company looses sight of serving people their company culture changes and both employees and customers notice. When a company focuses solely on the bottom line, judgment can become skewed, decisions can be made out of fear, and their reputation becomes compromised. We all recognize that the bottom line is important to stay in business... More >>>
Hiring The Right Employees Are Key To Your Success
When developing and maintaining your business image, your employees play an important role. It is your employees who interact the most with your customers and perform jobs, which in some way affect your customer and how your customers perceive your company.
You must hire the right employee and not just fill the position out of desperation. I know there are times you are tempted to hire someone in a pinch, but this will cost you more than you can afford in the long run. We find when you hire out of desperation... More >>>
Leading By Example
It is critical to set a positive tone for your company by being a leader who leads by example. The phrase “do as I say and not what I do” will not allow you to be an effective leader. As a leader, you are a role model whose behaviors send a powerful and unforgettable message to your employees about what is expected of them and what is most important to you. You are the one who sets the standard by which your employees will calibrate their own choices and behaviors. This is why it is so important to lead by example and not by words void of action. To lead by example you must first... More >>> |
