Articles
Browse every published article connected to Peter George, with exact attribution and full-archive search.
Articles
Browse every published article connected to Peter George, or search within this exact expert archive.
Getting referrals is like an iceberg; you're not seeing a great deal of what is actually there. In the case of an iceberg, ten percent is readily visible, while ninety percent lies beneath the surface. In the case of referrals, you're probably receiving ten percent of what you could and should be getting, while the opportunity for the other ninety percent goes unrealized.
I see it all the time -- companies using the terms "customer experience" and "customer satisfaction" as if they are synonymous. They are not! The former is based on emotion that is derived from a process. The latter is based on an outcome at a particular moment in time.
To increase sales at highly-profitable margins, you must connect with your most profitable target audiences. Better yet, they must connect to with you. You see, it's their choice whether or not to do business with you. However, it's your job to consistently tell them how you benefit them and why they should, in fact, choose to pay for your products and services.
A good friend of mine, Dick Herron, has a wonderful saying, "Success is a choice ... your choice." He has it pegged. Have you ever wondered why a competitor of yours -- a competitor who obviously doesn't have your knowledge, abilities, or experience -- is more successful than you? Let me assure you, it has nothing to do with knowledge, abilities, or experience. Having a better mousetrap no longer guarantees that people will beat a path to your door. Today, success goes to the one who has the proper mindset, the better plan, and the better system.
Developing better selling skills is not necessarily the path to more sales. In fact, often it is not the most direct route to greater revenues or profits. Yet so many small business owners turn to this as a panacea for low sales figures. Let me tell you a story so I can illustrate my point. I think you will find it relevant.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Jonathan Tisch, CEO of Loews Hotels and author of "Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing the Customer Experience." During this interview he explains his views about providing exceptional customers experiences and the results they provide.
Marketing is essential to the success of your business. But you already knew that, didn’t you? In fact, you probably have attended marketing seminars, read marketing books and articles, and even talked to marketing consultants about jump-starting your business through more effective marketing strategies and tactics. That’s great! Then what did you do?
I remember it well. I was 12 years old when I heard Eric Clapton's first solo album. I can tell you where I was. I can tell you the first song I listened to. (It wasn't the first track.) I can tell you that I was an instant fan and have been ever since --- so much so that my oldest child, Erika, is named after him. Mr. Clapton has had his ups and down in life -- battling alcohol and drug addiction as well as depression. Sometimes these battles led to inspired works; sometimes they led to songs and albums that caused some fans to determine that "Slowhand" had lost it.
So, you want to get more exposure. That's a great idea, but how are you going to do it? How are you going to get not only more exposure, but also the kind of exposure that results in more business? Too often I hear business owners say, "I didn't make any money from it, but I got our name out there." Getting your name "out there" is fine, but at some point, your efforts have to provide a return on your investments.
The hype surrounding the commercials is almost as great as that surrounding the game itself. Newscasters report on the cost of a 30-second spot. The list of advertisers is pored over, as is the list of previous advertisers that decided not to participate. It's covered on television, radio, newspapers and magazines, blogs ... seemingly just about everywhere. The big questionr
Some of your greatest opportunities are ahead of you, although some may not seem possible, at this time. To achieve them, all you have to do is decide to try ... to take the first step ... to put something into motion ... to just do it. There's a reason why Nike chose "Just Do It" as its slogan. It's the first step to getting results, and that's what business is all about.
I don't know how many times I have read it. Maybe I've heard it even more. Sometimes it takes place at Yale; other times at Harvard. In some cases, it was in the 1950s; in other cases, it was in the 1970s. It has been referred to in bestselling books and on college campuses. It has been quoted by some the best-known business gurus, as well as many small business coaches. None of this makes a difference because no matter where or when people said it took place, it didn't.
"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" Alice speaks to the Cheshire Cat. "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. "I don't much care where," said Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
I was heading out of town for the day and wanted to have some extra cash in my pocket. So, when I left my office, I grabbed a check that a business associate had made out directly to me as a reimbursement. Since I was driving by the bank he uses, I figured I would quickly stop in and cash the check. And that's when I learned something I didn't know.
As self-employed professionals, we are often looking for a brilliant marketing strategy to implement ... searching for the remarkable tactic that results in tremendous returns ... the latest and the greatest of these that give us all the business we can handle. Well, you can stop! There are no brilliant, remarkable, or even new strategies and tactics that will keep a steady stream of clients flocking to your door.
Many of us realize that, to get a buyer's attention, we have to tell them about benefits. As Jack Trout and Al Reis wrote in their best-seller "Positioning," everyone listens to the same radio station, WII-FM (What's In It For Me?). No one really cares about us as businesspeople; they care about how our businesses can help them achieve their objectives.
As a marketing coach, I work with self-employed professionals who are looking to better their businesses. It could be that they want more clients, more profits, or more time to enjoy their lives. No matter what their goals are, however, they must gain control of a particular facet of their lives -- time management.
As self-employed professionals, we are always looking for ways to get ahead -- ways to reduce costs, get more clients, increase profits, and enjoy our businesses more. We learn the latest marketing tactics, read how others have found success, develop beautiful marketing materials, and a host of other ways that are sure to get us more business. Yet often times, it seems like something is holding us back.
Some of your greatest opportunities are ahead of you, although some may not seem possible, at this time. To achieve them, all you have to do is decide to try ... to take the first step ... to put something into motion ... to just do it. There's a reason why Nike chose "Just Do It" as its slogan. It's the first step to getting results, and that's what business is all about.
"If Johnny jumped off a bridge, would you jump off too?" I can't remember how many times my parents asked me that when I was a kid. So many times I told them that I did something because my friend Johnny did it first. I bet you remember similar times from your childhood. Perhaps you've done something similar more recently.
It amazes me how a company can spend so much money on attracting new customers and spend so little effort, time, or money on keeping them. But this goes on everyday … even at my dry cleaners. I had been using the same dry cleaners for 16 years. They are not the lowest priced cleaners in the area, but they did consistent work and they were convenient. The owner once told me that I was one of the top customers. This wasn't a surprise; I took just about everything there — my suits, dress slacks, shirts, casual slacks, and sport shirts.
Comedian George Carlin had an infamous routine where he discussed the seven words you cannot say on broadcast television. Not surprisingly, five of the seven consist of four letters, enforcing the dubious connotation of something referred to as "a four-letter word." Other words such as "work" also have four letters, yet they have a good meaning ... that is until we are overstressed or thinking about a vacation. Then, the fact that it is a "four-letter word" becomes very evident.
I was giving a presentation about small business marketing recently, and it was very interactive. The audience members asked questions and gave opinions, which is the way I like it. At one point, when we were discussing customer service, one person talked about how she gives each of her customers the same excellent service -- how she treats the person who spends $50 the same as the person who spends $5,000. This is very common among proud business owners and, on the surface, is very commendable.
Eye of newt and leg of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog. This was actually a small portion of the mixture created by the three witches in Shakespeare's "Macbeth." Of course, since they were successful witches, their mix was well thought out and consisted of the ingredients necessary to achieve the results they desired.
One of the most important things you can do as the chief marketer of your own business is stay top-of-mind with your prospects and clients. The reason this is so critical is that, if you are not top-of-mind when their need arises for your services, the probability that they will end up buying from you is greatly decreased.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?" Actually, who are you not to be?rn- Marianne Williams
Each December you will find Santa getting ready for his big night. We hear so much about the long, arduous hours he puts in during the month, it would lead us to believe he relaxes the rest of the year. But Santa, being the world's greatest marketer, begins working on the upcoming year on December 26. I suppose he gets a good night's sleep after he gets back from his ride around the world; he may have even slept in the next morning. But you can be sure that once he gets up, he gets right to work. And if he can't take time off from his marketing efforts, how can anyone of us?
When it comes to marketing your services, two facts hold true. One is, when things are important to people, they buy -- or at least attempt to buy -- from a recognized expert. The other is, to be most profitable, you must differentiate yourself from your competition. One of the most effective ways to differentiate yourself is to be a recognized expert in your field. So why don't more people market themselves as experts? It's simple. They do not believe they are worthy of the title.
I recently read an article by Jim Rohn, the highly-respected business philosopher. The article conce ed time management -- one of the things many small business owners list as an obstacle to their success. In this article, he says that the idea of time management is a myth, if not detrimental... and he's right. As Jim goes on to say, we have no ability to manage time. It is going to move on no matter what we do. So believing that we can indeed manage time is setting us up for failure and disappointment.
If you had to survive solely on the fish you catch, you would do everything possible to give yourself the best opportunity to not only catch fish, but also catch those that taste good and provide bountiful portions. You would check reports about what kinds of fish are biting and where they are. You would make sure you had the appropriate bait for both the fish and the conditions. If you didn't have the right kind, you would get it. You would also need to know if they could be caught from shore or if you had to use a boat.
Sitting on the edge of a counter is a bucket. Only partially filled, it continues to let water escape -- drip by drip -- from a hole at the bottom. Scurrying back and forth is a team of people, trying in vain to add enough water to fill the bucket ... or at least keep it level. But the water leaks out faster than the people can add to it. So they work even harder, but again to no avail. Realizing that there is a problem, they call a meeting to discuss possible tactics for successfully adding even more water.
You've probably heard or read some of the nerve-wracking headlines that have been leading the financial news. The gloom and doom includes "Caterpillar, Inc. Joins Other Large Corps Warning of Recession." "Broad Profit Woes Spark Stock Plunge On Recession Fears." "Shares Tumble as Fears of Recession Cap Gloomy Week." "CEOs, Wall Street Warn of Recession." If these were warnings about an impending blizzard, milk and bread would be flying off the shelves.
Woody Allen, the American director, actor and comedian, once said, “80% of success is showing up.” This line has been repeated so often that it is now commonly thought of as being fact. But then again, who has said it isn’t fact? Mr. Allen may have taken this statistic from substantiated research. It may have come directly from the pages of the Harvard Business Review. It may have, but it didn’tr
You might not be able to attract ove ight all the clients you need, but you can immediately get yourself in a better position to do so. Implement these seven easy steps, and you're on your way. 1. Your cell phone message voicemail announcement I've heard just about every kind of message that you can imagine -- from the quick to the humorous to the its-so-long-I-don't-want-to-wait-to-leave-a-message. To me, this is one of the prime opportunities for technology to work on your behalf.
As the owner of a business, you are constantly looking for ways to improve the many aspects of your company. Of course, there are a myriad of ways to accomplish this. To increase profit margins, you might look to lower product costs, make distribution more efficient, or lower overhead. No matter what you do, however, nothing will be as effective as it should be unless you first establish an effective brand. What a Brand Is