How To Cope in The New Normal: 10 tips for your business

How to cope in The New Normal is the question on so many business owners’ minds that I started listening closely to what was working for them, and thought that I’d share them.

How To Cope with The New Normal

1. Stop, and assess the situation.  Everyone knows that news outlets thrive on shock value.  Trying to put all the bad news aside, what’s your realistic situation?  Sometimes it’s not as bad as it may seem.  Are you facing a temporary setback, or is are most drastic measures called for to make major changes
2. What can you control, and what can’t you control.  We’re each dealt a hand of cards.  Focus your efforts on what’s in your control.  Change what you can.
3. Supposedly (but not really) the Chinese character for “crisis” is made up of two different ideas: “danger” and “opportunity.”  In every crisis there may be opportunities for those who can take a step back and find them.
4. What’s changed, and what’s the same?  While there are many people are hesitant to go to retail stores, these same stores do have necessities that they need to get some way or another (like chocolate and toilet paper)
5. What do you do best?  This was the reason you were successful in the past.  How can these same skills help you thru the current situation?  While many of us keep trying to work on our weaknesses, I’ve hear it said that one secret is to improve your strengths.  Many times you can outsource the things you don’t do well (and never will…like accounting)
6. Customers come, and customers go.  Give them reasons to come back.
7. Take a break.  Getting out of the office for a short while at lunch can help.  Doing something exciting over the weekend can change your outlook.
8. Find the most positive thing you can do.  Do it.
9. What was the project you thought was really important in January, but were too busy to do?  Why not do it now?
10. Remember networking?  It’s different, but it’s not dead.  Call your best connections.  Help them out.  They’ll return the favor.

This too shall pass

I talk with people all day, every day.  I’ve heard how things have changed.  April’s crisis has changed…it’s not gone, but its working better

What are your goals?

There might actually be new ways to reach them now that didn’t exist before.

There’s always a New Normal.  Our job is to find the best way to cope with it, and make it work.

Why not try giving your customers ideas about how you can help them in The New Normal.  Informer Messages on hold can help.

 

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12½ Reasons to Buy From You: Do your customers know?

Do your customers actually know the best reasons to buy from you?  If they don’t, they’ll probably end up buying from your competition. When your prospect asks “So why should I buy from you?” do you have a good answer?  This might be a good time to sit down and come up with a list.

Don’t bother telling them that you have “award winning service,” or “the best product.”  Even if you’re talking with your brother-in-law, consumers want a good reason to buy from you, and not shop around for a better deal.  So here are ___ Reasons for your next customer to buy from you.

Reasons to Buy from you

1. You were referred to them by a friend.  A personal referral is one of the most powerful reasons to buy from you.  Because the prospect doesn’t know you, they don’t know if they can trust/rely on you.  But if you came through for a friend, that hurdle is eliminated
2. You have 137 great Google Reviews: these are actually just as powerful as Personal Referrals.  If an entire crowd think that you were a great choice, that’s convincing.
3. Low Risk: product demonstrations, free trials, money-back guarantees, month to month contracts all reduce the risk of making the wrong decision, so they make it easier to try buying from you.
4. Guarantees help in the same way: if the product doesn’t work, you offer a written guarantee that you’ll make it work
5. Convenience: if everyone else makes it inconvenient to buy from them (they have inconvenient hours, they’re not easy to reach, their sales reps don’t help, etc.) and you make it easy, I’ll be more likely to buy from you.  Amazon makes it more convenient to buy just about anything: just a few clicks, and it arrives at your doorstep in days, at no extra charge.
6. But some businesses compete with Amazon very successfully: so there’s more that convinces the customer than overnight delivery.  You can buy a hammer or pliers online, but my local hardware shows you…hands on…how to use them.  That’s added value.
7. You understand your prospect’s problems and show them how you’ll solve them.  Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and think about what their problems, needs, and desires are.  Then talk about them.
8. You understand your competition, and show how you solve their weaknesses.  Everybody has competition, and every business has weaknesses. Show how what you do is important so when your prospects are talking with your competition, they understand that you give them more of what they really need.
9. Your product’s best feature: what do your best clients tell you that they like most?  This might just be one of the features that sets you apart.  Tell prospects about it.
10. Your product really is different.  This is your USP, or Unique Selling Proposition.
    What’s different about your product?  Some products go to extremes to be different: like “Death Wish Coffee,” that brags about being “The World’s Strongest Coffee.”  Start by making a list of specific potential “differentiators” and compare them to your target market’s needs.
11. You offer more: if everybody sells cookies, but you sell cookies AND you sell milk, that’s a great idea.  Your customers want complete service.
12. Try telling a story about your clients’ frustrations and how you solved them.

12½  The benefit you offer.  Educate them about the value of your product: Consumers don’t buy
features, they buy benefits.  Do you solve a “pain” that many people have?  Tell your customers.
Solving their problem could be the best reason to buy from you.

Have you ever wondered…

Think about when  you’re the customer, and a salesperson is pitching you.  You have choices.  You have other suppliers who will sell to you.  Have you ever wondered…or asked…”why should I buy from you?”

Your customer wants to know

Your customer wants to make the best decision, and may ask you.  So be prepared.  Understand your customer’s needs, and why they really should buy from you and not your competition.

Why not tell everyone?

When you have a good reason for shoppers to choose you, why not tell them all?   Informer Messages on hold deliver the right message to the right people at the right time: when the shopper is interested enough to call you.  When they’re looking for the answer to “why should I buy from you.”

Interested a marketing tool that will help shoppers decide to buy from you?  Find out about how Informer Messages can work for you by clicking here.

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The Sales Funnel for Norwalk businesses: Are you using it to sell more?

The Sales Funnel for Norwalk businesses helps them deliver “the right information to the right people at the right time.”  If you’re like most businesses, you try lots of different marketing ideas.  But sales are still disappointing.  So what’s the problem?

You’ve tried all the “hot” marketing and advertising ideas, and even a few others.

• you have a new website,
• brochures, and
• great signage outside your Norwalk store or building
• you’ve tried Google Pay Per Click, and
• “starting a conversation” on social media.
• You may go “retro” and use direct mail or outdoor advertising.

So what’s wrong?

Maybe it’s time to think about your sales funnel.  One possibility is that these are all “Top of The Funnel” (TOF) marketing techniques.  TOF marketing gets consumers’ attention.  But it takes a different approach to actually turn these shoppers into customers.  Your problem may be “follow through.”  That’s the stuff you do “Mid Funnel”

The Sales Funnel for Norwalk Businesses helps you make sales

At different stages of the sales process, consumers want and need different kinds of information to make their decisions.  If you’re buying a car, great styling catches the consumers’ attention, but before they buy they want to know about features, comfort, fuel economy, and more.  The shopper who wants this information is in the “Mid Funnel” stage.

Different kinds of information are best delivered in different ways.  For autos it could be a booklet, a visit to the showroom, or a test drive.  For IT service it could be studies, white papers, or statistics.  This is when the consumer wants more information that you have on your website.  The consumer typically wants specific information, and contacts you, usually by phone.

Mid Funnel Marketing tool: Messages on hold

When consumers call a busy business, they want help. Fast.  But the fact is that many of your phone calls are placed on “hold,” at least for a few moments (AT&T Research).  That’s when the “Mid Funnel” marketing tool Messages on hold make an impact.

Informer Messages on hold are custom written messages, geared to the “mid funnel.”  They give your best prospects the specific information that’s crucial for making the sale.

What would you like your best prospects to know about you?

When consumers become interested in buying from you, what would you like them to know about your products and services?  Do you have unique offerings?  Do you provide special service?  How about features? Or the best reasons to come into your Norwalk showroom?  Or educate your customers about your specialties?

At this point in the sales process, your potential customers have questions.  To win them over, you’ve got answers that you’d like to give them.

Why not use every opportunity to give your callers helpful information?

Informer Messages on hold do just that, even when your callers have to wait on hold.  Callers placed on hold actually appreciate helpful information hold.  In fact:

• 85% of phone callers prefer on hold messages over silence (Cellular Marketing Magazine)
• Callers waiting on hold will actually “hold on” longer when listening to information…up to 3 times longer! (US West Communications)
• Callers waiting in silence will abandon their call in less than a minute. (North American Telecom)

Want happier callers?  And more customers?

Find out about how Informer Messages on hold work by clicking here or give us a call to learn how Informer Messages can help consumers.  In Norwalk and throughout Connecticut call (203) 655-3920.  Nationwide call (800) 862-8896.

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Bicycle Shop Marketing is more than just a sign and a website

Bicycle Shop Marketing is pretty easy, right?  Get someone to design an eye-catching website to help you advertise, and put up a sign above your door, and business will come walking in.   Right?  Not always.

The past 3 months have been crazy good for Bike Shops, but we all know that this was a “once in a lifetime” marketing opportunity.  Unfortunately with supply chain problems, the “gold rush” is over.  So how do we use recent successes to build for the future?

Bicycle Shop Marketing is a three step process

Bike store owners know bikes.  But it’s worth understanding a marketing tool called the Sales Funnel.  Simply put, the funnel breaks down the consumer’s “journey” to making a purchase (like a new Road Bike) into specific steps

1. Awareness
2. Interest
3. Desire
4. Action

What each of the four steps means.

Awareness

That’s when we realize that we want or need something, and might start looking for it.  This is the time when great SEO and a nice website help you get noticed by the consumer, and help them narrow their search

Interest

When consumers reach this step, it’s more than a whim.  They’re really getting interested and look closely at their options.  They want more information than is found on your website.  Many of these consumers pick up the phone and call you.  You can “fan the flames” by giving them more information.  Videos and messages on hold are valuable here.

Desire

They’re getting close: they have identified features and possibly sources of the bicycle they want.  Now’s the time to convince them to choose you, with Reviews www.reviewshelpdesk.com , Testimonials, FAQ’s, and product comparisons.

Action

You make the sale.

Making the sale depends on the consumer taking all the steps along the way: they don’t skip any, no matter how much you’d like them to.

The Neglected Step

The most neglected part of the process is in the “Interest” phase.  It’s where you can lose your best prospects to the competition (ouch!).  That’s why Informer Messages on hold are especially tailored to help build interest.  They’re written specifically with the customer in mind, and to help move them to the “Desire” phase.

More about how Messages on hold work

Think about your experience: there are lots of consumers who want what you offer.  Google Analytics will tell you how many of them visit your website.  And your own experience will tell you how often consumers call your shop.    But what percentage of your callers visit you?  That could probably be better.  The solution: use the right marketing tool at the right time.  That’s when they’re most effective.

When you realize where on the Funnel these potential buyers are, it’s easier to understand the best way to help them take the next step.

Want to bring more of your “Interested” consumers a bit closer to buying?  Let’s talk about delivering your message to the when they call.  And make every phone call more profitable.

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Mid Funnel Marketing: it’s the most neglected part of the process

Mid Funnel Marketing is the part of the sales process that everybody ignores.  Everybody tries to feed the top of the funnel, searching for prospects wherever they can, with wild “shotgun” advertising.  It’s the Wild West, trying to “lasso” anybody “with a pulse” who could be talked into buying from you.  The top of the funnel is where the money is spent, and that’s exciting.  In fact, businesses spend 94-96% of their marketing budget just trying to attract potential customers, and load them into the funnel.  That doesn’t leave much for the rest of the process.

The Bottom of the Funnel is where all the fun is: that’s where the money is made.  A few of the prospects who got shoveled into the top of the funnel are still there, and they’re ready to buy.  That’s when the cash register rings.

Mid Funnel Marketing is where the work is done.

Once a prospect shows any interest in your business, it’s time to show them how you can help them.  They’ve visited your website and they might be interested.  But shoppers are better prepared than ever, and will do their research online.  Once they have they’ll want more.  Many will pick up the phone and call you.

You need to be ready.  This is the crucial point of the sale where you can win.  Customers want answers that they didn’t get from your website.  Every time your phone rings, it’s a potential sale.  Are you ready?

You can be.  This isn’t “your first rodeo.”  You know your products and services, and you know what your customers need.  So be prepared with

• inside sales reps (or CSR’s) who know what to expect, and have the answers
• a strong knowledge of your products
• specific information that they can point callers to on your website, and
• testimonials from satisfied customer
• marketing messages on hold

Marketing Messages on hold

What are they?  They’re the informative messages that your callers can listen to when they wait for “the next available customer service representative” (while they wait in the “queue”), or while on hold when waiting for your salesperson.

Marketing Messages on hold are custom written and recorded to provide the key information that your prospects want when they’re in the middle of the sales funnel.  They have a specific job to do, and will make your CSR’s job easier.  Well written messages prompt the right questions, and start the right conversations that lead to sales.

Affordable marketing tool

Your business spends almost 96% of your marketing budget trying to attract prospects.  But what do you do to move them through the middle of the marketing funnel?

Find out more

Find out more about the affordable marketing messages that help your prospects become customers.  Click here for more information.

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Medical Practice Marketing in New Jersey Usually Misses the Point

Medical practice marketing in New Jersey is pretty predictable: “Acquire new patients” by building a better website, invest in SEO, and get noticed with Google Ads.  That can mean a large investment.  A basic website template can easily cost $2000 with $100 in monthly fees.  SEO usually runs you a minimum of $300/month, and your Pay Per Click bill increases with every click.

Yet research reveals that online conversion rates are about 2.51% for medical practices, so is your investment going to pay off?

There’s more to marketing than uncovering “one time” patients.

Medical Practice Marketing in New Jersey fails: here’s why

Most marketing consultants focus on their ability to bring new patients into your practice.  With claims of 10…25…50+ new patients a month, success is just a small investment away, right?

Not so fast.  Focusing your success on simply attracting new patients isn’t a long term plan for success.  Forrester Research shows that acquiring a new customer or patient is five times costlier than retaining an existing one.  The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 to 70 percent, whereas the probability of selling to a new customer is 5 to 20%.

Where does your current success come from?

The answer is simple:  Did you know that 55 to 70 percent of your appointments are with long term loyal patients, in spite of your investment in attracting new patients in New Jersey?

These patients demonstrate their loyalty (and value) to your practice every day.  They already “know, like, and trust” you, and they’re most open to your suggestions about added ways you can help them.

Increasing practice revenue

Some of the best strategies for increasing your medical practice’s revenue don’t have anything to do with attracting new patients.  Simple ideas include:

• Make your practice more welcoming with training for your front desk
• Offer patient-friendly experience: a clean, well-lit waiting room, free Wi-Fi, and good reading materials
• Don’t play the local news on a waiting-room TV. You can’t control the content. https://informermessages.com/waiting-room-tv/
• Compete on your strong points: quality and personal service beat low prices
• Participate in community events
• Expand your medical services
• Partner with local causes and groups
• Add “cash” services that may not be insurance covered products or services

Let your loyal patients know about these and other new ideas at every opportunity.

One tool that puts wasted opportunities to use is Informer Messages on hold.  Informer messages give patients who call your practice information every time they have to wait on hold (According to AT&T research, 69% of your calls are asked to “please hold.”)  Why not tell your patients about new ways that you can help them, added specialties, and profitable expanded offerings.  Inform them about community activity and office amenities that will make their visit more pleasant.

Click here to find out how Informer Messages work

Your practice’s success depends on a lot more that attracting new patients. It depends on your loyal patients who will be with you for the long term.

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Patient Acquisition for Urgent Cares often misses the point

Patient Acquisition for Urgent Care practices is a “top priority” for clinics across the U.S.  But attracting new patients in a competitive market can quickly become an “arms race” trying to outspend the competition, and it can also miss the point.

Patient Acquisition is only the first step

There are over 10,000 Urgent Care Centers in the US.  Industry-dominating players like CVS Minute Clinics already control over 55% of the retail health industry and is converting over 1000 of their locations into urgent-care providers.  Urgent Care facilities face explosive competitive factors for new patients.  Most Urgent Cares rely on a steady flow of new patients for their survival, but it may be time to look back to lessons from a more traditional model.

With increased competition, the cost to acquire new patient continues to rise, with an average “cost per click” for Google Ads of over $5, and a patient acquisition cost of $18 to $27 in many areas across the US.

The Urgent Care Association (UCA) Industry News regularly presents Industry Perspectives focused on Patient Acquisition Rate, with a combination of new and traditional marketing expenditures to attract patients.  But acquiring patients is just the first (expensive) step. The long term payback of your investment comes from patient retention.

It costs less to retain a patient

Industry statistics show that new patient acquisition is 6 to 7 times more expensive than patient retention.  Retaining a patient immediately translates bottom-line profitability.

There are many tried and true ways to retain patients

• Improve the office experience
• Minimize wait times
• Communicate with patients on an ongoing basis
• Build relationships
• Help patients in additional ways

The overall patient experience, from check-in, to waiting time, to communicating (both during the visit and afterwards) is directly related to patient satisfaction and their interest in continuing the relationship.  Once that is achieved, try something new, like…

Helping patient in additional ways.

The top reasons for patients to visit an Urgent Care are:

1. Bites and Stings
2. Ear Infections
3. Tests
4. Urinary Tract Infections
5. Sore Throat

But you do far more than that.  Today there’s COVID-19 Testing, Flu Shots, School and Immigration Physicals, Stitches, and ongoing family care, all at a convenient time and place.

How to promote your additional services

Every day your phone rings.  Prospective patients call with questions about location, hours, insurance, test results and more.  According to AT&T research, up to 69% of those phone calls are placed on hold.  Your callers are probably stuck listening to  the default “music on hold” that came with your phone system.

Why not use that time to educate callers?

Informer Messages on hold replace music on hold with information about your Urgent Care: building your professional reputation, educating callers about your “additional” services, and reinforcing the value of these services.

Did you know that most of your patients know about less than half of the services your provide?

Patient Retention depends on

• Patients knowing how you can help them
• A quality patient experience and reason to return

If they don’t know, they don’t have a reason to come back.  Inform them.  With Informer Messages on hold.

Click here to find out how they work for other Urgent Cares, and can work for you.

For answers to your questions, call to speak with an Urgent Care Marketing Pro: call (800) 862-8896 today.  Or email us by clicking here.

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