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good relationships with your suppliers like you do with your top customers. You can be demanding, however, be fair in how you treat them. Here are some of my guidelines for dealing with suppliers:
1 Price fairly. You need to negotiate the best price you can but, remember, your vendors want to make money too. Continually changing vendors to save a dollar here or there will cost you time and money. Sometimes it’s good to pay a little more because your supplier will give you better customer service.
2 Pay bills promptly. Whatever you do, pay your bills on time. Nothing will gain you more goodwill and benefits with your suppliers than observing this one simple rule. Suppliers like timely payments just like you do.
3 Communicate expectations. Two-way communication is critical for a successful customer/supplier relationship. Communicate expectations in writing, which can be in the form of an SLA (service-level agreement) or just a memo outlining expectations. Provide as much lead time as possible on your orders.
4 Review performance. It’s a good idea to review your suppliers’ performance regularly. Schedule periodic performance reviews and evaluate the timeliness of deliveries, quality control, communication, and anything else that you feel is important to the relationship.
5 Show them some love and personalize the relationship. Visit their facilities if possible. Invite them to strategy meetings (or Christmas parties like I did). If the subcontractor isn’t local, try to move the relationship to a more personal one.
6 Make referrals both ways. Your suppliers can be a great source of referrals. You should do the same for them. Make referrals a part of your regular meetings. You can even co-sponsor events with your suppliers.
7 Manage risk. When you develop these great supplier relationships, always make sure that you have a back-up. You don’t want the exposure of being too dependent on any one supplier. Keep a second on hand in case of emergencies.
Mistake #14
Being A One-Trick Pony
Is your small business a one-trick pony? When someone buys from you, do they come back? A one-trick pony in urban lore is someone with only one talent or expertise. In Lean Marketing, repeat sales are the lifeblood of small businesses. They’re especially difficult to come by if you only have one product or service.
There are two requirements for recurring revenue. First, you need more than one product or service at increasingly higher price points. Second, you need to nurture your customers and prospects until they’re ready to buy. When you have a process for nurturing customers, the result is a predictable stream of leads.
The Value Ladder
The concept of a Value Ladder is critical because you can’t be a one-trick pony and get recurring sales. A value ladder illustrates your products or services in ascending order of value and price. It enables you to target leads with the most relevant product and offer upsells from one product to the next. You may think that a value ladder applies more to online businesses, but that’s not the case. A value ladder applies to any company.
Mapping your value ladder
There are many ways to build your value ladder, but an excellent place to start is with your core customer. What do they want from your product or service? In general, you start with a free offering that a prospect gets in exchange for their email address. It’s called a lead magnet. They are then offered additional products or services in ascending order of price and value.
Tiers in a Value Ladder
The illustration shows multiple tiers of offerings. By adding additional levels, at various price points, you have a higher chance of giving customers exactly what they need. Here are the tiers in a value ladder:
Lead magnet. These are free offers designed to capture the prospect’s email address. Examples include white papers, checklists, templates, videos, coupons, etc.
Front-end offer. Low to mid-range products or services that build trust with the customer while they receive more value. The price is usually less than $100. Books, courses, and productized services are good examples.
Middle-tier offers. The next step up the ladder is higher-end offerings designed to make a profit. Examples are customized products, packaged services, or group coaching. Often there are sub-tiers, one with offers under $1000 and another from $1000 to $10,000.
Back-end offer. A back-end offer is the most valuable thing you sell. It could be an elite group, exclusive membership, annual engagement, or executive retreat. High-end offers priced at $10,000 or more occur frequently.
Continuity program. A continuity program is something that keeps you in touch with your customers regularly. It’s not a newsletter; it’s something you bill for each month. Continuity programs take the form of software, membership sites, or ongoing coaching. They range from $10 per month up to several hundred dollars.
Mistake #15
Not Asking For Customer Feedback
We all know that customers are the key to any business, and not communicating with them is a sin. Soliciting feedback from customers helps you improve and innovate.
As digital marketing has exploded, the need to collect customer feedback has skyrocketed. Customers are sharing their views in a variety of ways, such as surveys, online reviews, social media, comments, posts, Facebook, Twitter, etc. And their feedback has a direct correlation to the success of your business.
Why Ask for Feedback?
Proper feedback gives insight into your customers. Their unbiased viewpoints help you deliver better service and improved customer satisfaction. There are eight reasons why small businesses should make this a focal point of their marketing:
Understanding your customers. You want to know more about your customers, what problems need solving, and how your company can help. Receiving feedback is crucial for improving the customer experience.
Improving products and services. Customers will gladly tell you about any negative experiences, but they’ll also give you some ideas on how to improve. Benchmark their response and use it to get better.
Engaging your customers. Asking for regular feedback is an excellent addition to any nurturing program you have.
Uncovering opportunities. Customer feedback not only helps your business grow, but it uncovers unexpected opportunities. Feedback helps you fix customer problems or stop them from leaving.
Building loyalty. 13 percent of unhappy customers will share their problems with 20 or more people. Instead, head off these problems before they spread and build more loyal customers.
Getting referrals. Feedback also brings you more business. When you make customers happy by asking their opinions, they are more likely to refer new customers.
Making better decisions. Proactively listening to your customers helps you make all sorts of decisions. If you’re thinking about a price increase, change of hours, new products, etc., run the choices past your customers in advance.
Boosting your online presence. Customer feedback also works behind the scenes to make your business more visible on Google and improve your SEO rankings.
Asking for online feedback is free, and getting reviews means that your customers are marketing your business for you. What could be better than that?
How to Get Feedback
Small business owners should get feedback continuously. When the data is recent, it’s much more actionable. There are different ways you can ask customers for information. You can use the standard 5-star scale, the NPS (net promoter score) method, or ask for a third-party review. The methods of collection are even more varied:
Customer surveys. A well-designed survey will help you get honest answers. If you’re using email, it’s especially easy to