3 Easy Ways to Turn Clients Into Raving Fans

Whether you own a small brick-and-mortar store or an online business, you will likely have some type of competition. There is a good chance that some – if not most – of your competition will come from bigger businesses that have more financial resources for marketing at their fingertips, especially if you’re just starting out. Although it may seem like your competition has the advantage, it doesn’t have to be that way. There are a number of different ways that you go about “wowing” each and every one of your clients that comes to you, to the point where they will be a returning customer, and more importantly, a raving fan.

1. Make the buying experience as simple and pleasant as possible. When it comes to “wowing” your customers, the “wowing” process isn’t actually as hard as you may believe it to be. For instance, the first step is to make sure that your store is pleasing and easy to navigate. In physical shops, that means making sure that your customers can push a shopping cart down each of your aisles, without running into merchandise or boxes on the floor. You will also want to make sure that your store shelves are organized in a nice, professional matter. If you have a home-based or online business, that means ensuring that your website is fully functional, with all links pointing to the right place, so that customers can quickly and easily get where they need to go. The last thing that consumers want to do is shop at a store, physical or virtual, that leaves them frustrated and unable to find what they need. You want your customers to enter your store and say “wow.”
2. Kill ‘em with kindness. Another way that you can go about “wowing” your costumers is by just being nice to them. Yep, it really is as simple as it sounds. In today’s society, where everyone is in a rush to get things done, and where we’re often consumed with thoughts of our own priorities, we often forget to be kind and polite to others. The best way to “wow” your customers is to follow the old saying: kill them with kindness. For brick-and-mortar storefronts, you will want to make sure that your employees greet your customers as soon as they walk into the door, ask them if they need any help finding anything, and thank for them for their business after being checked out. If you run an online business, smile just before answering your business phone; clients and prospects will hear the smile in your voice and know that you’re happy to hear from them. Just being kind and compassionate to your customers is a great way to “wow” them and bring them back for more kindness, especially since that kindness is now missing from many of your big-time competitors.  Go a step further and call them up once in a while just to see how they’re doing.  Even if they’re not available for a quick chat, the gesture alone will ‘wow’ them.
3. Give them extra incentives to shop…on the house. Another simple way that you can go about “wowing” your customers is by offering them free discounts or savings. You may want to think about making coupons that can be handed out to all of your customers, preferably those who end up spending a certain amount of money, like fifty dollars or more. Or maybe run a “Client Appreciation Month” where you give all current customers $25 off that month’s invoice, just for being a loyal customer. Of course, money-saving coupons are used by many shoppers, but most of the time you have to go searching for them, as most retailers don’t hand them out free of charge, preferring instead to hoard them or only use them to entice new customers to buy. Gifting your loyal customers with money-saving coupons is a great way to give your business a good public perception and also greatly enhance your chances of long-term customers.  I’m part of a group-coaching program that meets every 60 days.  Each time we show up we receive a gift card that can be used toward other programs or VIP days.  This is one of those ‘unannounced’ bonuses and everyone loves them.

The above-mentioned approaches are just a few of the many that you can consider when looking to “wow” your customers. When it comes down to it, the best way to “wow” your customers is to look at your business from the prospective of a customer. If you were to walk into your store or visit your website as a potential customer, what would you want it to be like and how would you like to be treated? Then be sure that you’re doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? The coach or the VA? The VA or the OBM?

It was four years ago this month that VA-4-Hire was born. Before that I had flirted with the idea a bit, taken on a few projects, done a ton of research, but August was the month when I launched my first website and really put myself out there as a business owner.

Approaching this milestone has put me in a reflective mood and I realize that every time I invested in my business, in a big way, whether it was an expensive training program, bringing on a team member, or working with a coach, my business leapt forward.

I’ve also seen a huge difference between working with clients who have worked with a coach and those that did not.

Nowadays, when I’m speaking with potential clients, I can tell almost immediately whether they do or not. The ones who’ve never worked with a coach are usually the ones without a clear vision or plan for their business. They’re unsure about their ideal clients or what to say to them, or cloudy about how they want to do business in general.

Sometimes, I have to gently suggest that a business owner seek the help of a coach to help them move forward. For many of you the cost of coaching seems prohibitive. For many of you the cost of working with a VA seems prohibitive. Some of you will go ahead and try to do one or the other and still feel stuck.

What’s the answer? Which should you do first? How can you afford to do both?

There is tons and tons of advice on both subjects, working with a coach and working with a VA. I won’t get into all of that, but I will share my experience with you.

My business coach, Suzanne Evans, often talks to us about finding the fastest path to cash in our business and although it seems obvious, I often see, firsthand, how much time business owners spend on non-essential or non income generating activities.

Last week I shared with you the opportunity to attend a call with Suzanne called.

How to Streamline Your Project To-dos

When it comes to launching a new teleclass series, a new e-book, live event, or membership site, things need to happen quickly, and any virtual assistant worth their salt understands that. They know you don’t have time to waste, because the longer things take to complete, the more time you lose getting potential business in the door. Yet, if you don’t take enough time to properly map out what you’re going to do and involve your VA in that process, you are basically shooting yourself in the foot!

For instance, it might only take your VA a couple of days to get your teleclass landing page ready, complete with the registration thank you page and accompanying autoresponders, but if you haven’t allowed at least four weeks of marketing before the event starts, then the push to get the word out not only presses your VA for time, but you’re not going to get the participants you want, due to poor planning.

So, for a more successful scenario, I recommend creating a project matrix or map of your project that includes every single task involved, who is responsible for that task, and when the relevant deadline is. Listen, I know most online business owners don’t want to know everything little thing their VA does, they just want to say “Engage,” like Star Trek’s Captain Picard. But I promise you, this not only makes everything clear for both you and your VA, but it will cut down on extraneous communications and make the process a lot more streamlined. And your VA can easily take this task on an send the matrix to you for approval and then engage!

Oh, and this procedure does more than just map out project steps!
It also helps you understand the typical time and turnaround times your VA needs for repetitive tasks, which in turn, helps you when creating foundational systems for your business, like an operations manual.

Plus, when you start hiring more VAs to become part of your operations team, you’ll have a guideline for the time it takes to do certain tasks, which will be the benchmark you can use when monitoring team performance.

Not only that, you’ll also have some great information that will help in training new VAs to take on various duties.
Who knew all these benefits would be created from making the time to map out project specifics! Imagine how much more productive and effective both you and your VA and/or VA team will be when you put a project matrix into action? I think there is something to be said for being able to view everything in one place – like a spreadsheet, for example – that way, no one has to guess what the next step is or when tasks need to be completed. Everyone is on the same page. Yeah!

Next time you start to plan a project, try this and see how it goes. I’d love to hear about it!

4 Tips For Hiring Your First Virtual Assistant

When most people start their online businesses, they typically fill all the positions of chief, cook, and bottle washer. This isn’t a bad way to start, as in the beginning, finding clients is generally the focus. And until you’re swimming in them, it’s pretty easy to run your business yourself.

But as soon as you start getting busier, your ability to keep up gets compromised. Oh, oh…this is an unfortunate part of the process…now tasks start slipping through your fingers, and soon clients will, too, if you‘re not careful. As the weeks start flying by, you keep thinking to yourself: That’s okay. I’ll just catch up on the weekend. The weekend comes, and you’re in another frenzy, trying to finish a presentation for a meeting with your exciting, new client or the family has talked you into a day at the beach. Now the harder you try to keep up, the more overwhelmed you get. Yikes, not a good place to be!

Well, guess what? This is the ideal time to bring a virtual assistant on board.

You might think this is intimidating, especially since you’ll be handing over tasks to someone you can’t see. Not to worry, though, it is easier than you think. Just have a little faith!

Here is a simple checklist that will help anchor you as you take steps toward hiring your first VA:

1. Make a list of all the things on your plate, no matter how big or small. Then separate the list into two sections: “Tasks I know/want to do” (List 1) versus “Tasks I hate doing/don’t know how to do” (List 2). Now choose what the priorities are on List 2. You’ve just zoned in on what you need to hand off RIGHT NOW. The rest can be added in as medium and lower priorities accordingly, and expanded as you grow.

2. Choose the priority tasks you will hand over first to your new VA. Then create a job description that summarizes what they are so you are well prepared ahead of time when it comes to interviewing potential candidates.

3. Create your ideal VA list. Put down all the qualities you want, e.g., do you prefer someone who is upbeat and cheery or someone who is straightforward and direct? Also add the things you’re looking for in the relationship overall, as well as what your expectations are for the short and long term.

4. Decide on what you can afford. When hiring someone else to help you shoulder tasks, don’t look at doing this as an added expense, but an investment in you and your company. Your business simply cannot grow without this crucial step.

Once you’re really clear on what you need to delegate, who your ideal virtual assistant is, and what your initial investment will be in this partnership, you can then begin searching for the right candidate. Give yourself plenty of time to do some online research, ask colleagues for referrals, carry out phone/Skype interviews, and check references before making your decision. With any luck, you’ll hit the bulls-eye on the first try, and start getting the relief you deserve so you can carry on building the business of your dreams.