Clients want the "What's in it for ME" factor

Do you know your  'what's-in-it-for-my-clients factor'?  If not, get to know it intimately, inside and out, upside down and sideways and be able to recite it in your sleep.

Fact:  The longer a company is in business the more they get away from knowing, understanding and explaining the 'what's-in-it-for-my-clients' factor.

SFG asks our clients a key question during the intake process:  What do you offer your clients?  This allows us to look at what executives or business owners think they offer their clients. More importantly we learn how they present themselves to their existing and potential clients. And generally they don't articulate it well.

No surprise to us when the UGLY client category has more names than the GOOD category.

Solution Suggestion:  Ask yourself what you can reasonably deliver to your potential and current clients that align with your current resources and personnel. Then stick to that concept.  Stay focused and repetitive and state it clearly to your clients in terms that has meaning for them.

Example:  SFG helps you identify the Good, the Bad and the Ugly clients of your business.  We work with you to convert the Bad to Good, fire the Ugly and create a good client program that keeps the cash flow positive.

So - What in it for YOUR clients?

The Price of Bad Service

"For two years, FreshDirect stopped soliciting new customers to work on better serving its existing patrons. That strategy seems to have paid off: A loyal core of repeat customers — about 45,000 to 50,000 in all — now generates two-thirds of the company’s revenue. Richard S. Braddock, chief executive, reports that the company had its first profitable year in 2009 on revenue of $250 million and he expects the company’s 2010 revenues will rise to $300 million."

Reprinted from the New York Times, Thursday August 19, 2010 by Jessica Bruder

I am constantly reminding my clients that revenues primarily come from their existing client base.  How they treat and service those clients who opted to work with them in the first place is key to that magic in business called "repeat revenue."

This is why Strategies for Growth exists. I wish to beat our own drum a bit here. We create Client Retention Programs designed to keep your good clients repeat customers, convert the bad to good and fire the ugly. Our success rate has been an overall up-tic in revenues of over 250%!

It is more cost-effective to maintain and resell your existing client base than to constantly try to acquire new customers.   For a review of how Strategies for Growth can help increase revenues from your existing clients, give us a call at 818-512-6477.

Women and Intellectual Property Protection

This past month one recurring theme among my female clients rose above all others: Intellectual Property protection.  Each woman had confusion on who owns what in their partnerships. They seemed unable to ask for just compensation for their ideas or unique products invented. 

Let me say this very clearly:  It's yours if you invented it.  Copyrights, patents, trademarks are easily registered with the US gov't to ensure ownership and revenue rights for years to come. Tony Robbins does it, Martha Stewart does it, so why not you? 

I asked Beth Andrus, author of "The Essential Business Handbook," to weigh in on the matter.

"I work with very small businesses and many of the women I encounter are new to the business world," says Beth.  "Women are often reluctant to take legal steps to protect their intellectual property as they think it involves a long expensive process with lots of attorney fees.

"I have found that women will form partnerships quickly, without committing to paper the division of labor and IP.  Women don't want to appear distrustful as most of their partnerships are based on some type of 'best friend' emotions. Important to have someone neutral draw out the terms of the agreement for you so the emotion is kept to a minimum," suggests Beth, CEO of  www.minibizbuzz.com.

This is so true! We meet a woman with whom we have instant bonding. We talk, we plan, we dream and work our fingers off to get the 'dream' going. And then when "putting it writing" needs to be done, it's either blood on the table or dissolution of the partnerships with hurt feelings on both sides.

I advise all my clients the following: 

Protect all your material.  File with the US Gov't all your ideas, process, books, CD, DVD that you have developed.  Hold the material as an individual so you can then license it out to the company created to sell the service or item. You enjoy the protection of the US gov't on ownership and revenues.

Take a toy away from any two year old and they'll tell you firmly, 'Mine!' Let's take a page from their playbook shall we?