How Answer Center can Improve your company's profits - Today!
Posted by
Paula Ford on Mon, Oct 24, 2011 @ 03:31 PM
Disclaimer: This is shamelessly self-serving - I'm promoting Answer Center, but I promise there is money in it for YOU if you read this.
How many people have called or knocked on your door, promising to increase your business's profitability if you let them redesign your website, do radio, TV or print advertising with them, engage in marketing research, join a networking group, the BBB or the Chamber of Commerce, etc.? Now...How many of them are willing to be paid on commission... out of the new income your company actually generates? I don't know whether I'm brilliant or just have an evil sense of humor because I've offered to pay several of them DOUBLE their normal fees if they'd do the work on commission. All but one retreated at the speed of sound.
So, what the heck do I think I know that they don't? Frankly - I have a deep respect for what a real marketing pro can offer, and I don't discount the importance of anything they've offered, but there are actually one or two ways to immediately increase profits for almost any business.
The first is obvious - raise prices - but be sneaky about it. "Regular" Coffee used to come in 1lb. can's or bricks - now it's in 13 or 14 oz. bricks.
The second is even more obvious. Give your existing customers more time and more channels to give you money!
- Keep your business "open" 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. It only sounds expensive and impossible. You can be "open" by using Answer Center to catch business opportunities you never realized existed. We have a new contractor who does siding and windows. This business tried us for one month - against their solid belief that they didn't get calls from new customers at night or on weekends. They only got 2 "good" calls in their first month, but those closed over $23,000 in business. The extra cost to use Answer Center for the month was less than $150... and now this client has signed a 1 year contract.
- For years almost all plumbers have charged extra for night calls. The customer gets the choice of which level of service they want. A same night appointment will have a 50% premium - or the customer can commit to have the work done early the next day and save money. The plumber CAN take his own night calls and negotiate the day call/night call price, or he can sleep soundly while we do the negotiation and either way he wins. He gets a job schedled for the morning... and only gets awakened if he's getting extra pay.
If you own a small business, you either constantly update your skills or you... and your business... stagnate. A very good friend of mine, Michael Vernon, volunteered to lead a class in marketing and consultative selling. He said something profound today which I just have to share:
Over time, many small businesses accidentally create barriers that limit their customers' ability to spend money with the company.
Examples? A first time customer needs an estimate, but the receptionist isn't allowed to schedule one for Saturday so the new business goes to another company; a past due customer calls in to pay his bill with a charge card but the office is closed; an online customer abandons her order because the website's checkout is so cumbersome.
The economy stinks, and many businesses are just holding on because they are still running their offices as if it were 2007 when they had more work than they could handle. We are cross selling our existing clients - but without new customers we would gradually slip backwards - so we've found ways to be more available to our customers and to gratefully accept their dollars.
Take down your barriers to your customers. Make them welcome with a warm, helpful telephone receptionist. Call Answer Center today for a free consultation.
