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How not to plan your Company’s Future — Five common mistakes when identifying customer needs?

How not to Plan your Company’s Future
5 common mistakes when identifying customer needs

By Jeff Mowatt

When managers plan their business strategies, common sense dictates that these game-plans should be in line with customer needs. The first step in planning is therefore to identify customer preferences. Unfortunately, most conventional approaches to determining customer needs are flawed. Here are five of the most common methods used to gather customer opinions along with their drawbacks. Keep these often-made mistakes in mind when planning your business strategy.

Mistake #1 — counting cash
One way to find out what customers think — indirectly at least — is to look at revenues. The assumption being that if revenues are increasing then customers must be happy. Dangerous. A repeat customer isn’t necessarily loyal. Customers may come back more by default than desire. If that’s the case, the moment your competitor finds a way to truly satisfy your customers, those repeat customers will abandon you. Or, if your team is providing support services to internal customers, you may be setting yourself up to be outsource. So, even though your revenues may indicate that you have happy customers, unless you do the research, you are potentially vulnerable. Business leaders whose companies endure are those who do not just assume that customers are happy, they create the right systems to know it.

Mistake #2 — counting complaints
Some managers assume that if they merely reduce the number of customer complaints, they are satisfying more customers. In reality, fewer complaints often mean that fewer customers are angry enough to complain. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are happy. When it comes to measuring complaints keep in mind your own experience when visiting a restaurant with mediocre service. It wasn’t bad enough to complain. But, it wasn’t good enough to bring you back. If the restaurant manager was only counting complaints as a measure of customer satisfaction, he or she’d be off track.

Mistake #3 — trust focus groups
A popular method of collecting customer information is using focus groups. This is where a manager or consultant gathers a group of customers and asks their opinions. Consultants often like focus groups because the information looks scientific and they can charge a fee for conducting them. It’s been my experience, however, that focus groups tell you a lot more about group-think than anything else. In virtually every focus group I’ve been asked to observe, opinion leaders in the group influence the responses of others. That alone renders focus groups practically useless in terms of finding out what individuals really think.

Mistake #4 — paid phone surveys
The most promising way of identifying preferences is to have a one-on-one conversation with the customer. The problem is that the conventional approach to interviews receives miserably low response rates. Imagine you’re at home one evening when the phone rings. An unfamiliar voice on the line says, «Hello Mr. or Mrs. So-and-so, we’re conducting a survey on…» You’re thinking, «Not again,» and end the conversation — click.

As an alternative, rather than using standard telephone surveying, the manager of the company uses a resource I often recommend to my clients -business students. Picture yourself again at home. The phone rings. When you answer, a youthful voice says, «Hi, I’m a business student at the local university. For my marketing class I’m doing a project where I’m conducting a survey on such and such.» You find yourself saying, «OK, kid, let’s make this quick.» Response rates soar. Bonus — students work for the price of Kraft Dinner!

Mistake #5 — trust high ratings
On a customer survey, you can ask, «Overall, are you satisfied with the service?» And you may get results that show that 96% said, «Yes.» But be careful how you interpret those results. This is where many managers assume that they’re getting an A+ score. Think of the question again; it asks if overall you are ‘satisfied.’ In other words, the survey is asking if the service is adequate. By responding ‘yes,’ customers are not saying that they were impressed or even pleased-merely that they were satisfied. It doesn’t mean they feel loyal. Imagine your sweetheart talking to a friend and describing you as being adequate. You’d probably see that as reason for concern! It certainly isn’t reason to think you’re getting an A+ performance rating. Yet, that’s exactly what so many managers think when they see a 96% customer-satisfaction rating.

The lesson is that managers need to stop interpreting high percentages the way we did in high school. If you have a 98% customer-satisfaction rating you may still have serious problems in customer loyalty. According to marketing research expert, Dr. Mike Heffring, «It has been shown that it’s the percentage of people who give you excellent or outstanding ratings (e.g., nine or ten on a ten-point scale) who matter. If you increase that percentage, then market share actually moves. If you don’t, then you may feel better if the percent satisfied goes up but the impact is insignificant.»

Identify what customers really think
In other words, when it comes to planning your corporate strategy, the focus becomes, What do managers need to do to shift customers from being ‘satisfied’ to being ‘delighted’? Just make sure as you do this, that you also ask yourself if your current information is telling you what your customers really think.

Is John Reese's Outsource Force a Scam? My Honest Review

So you’re looking for a John Reese’s Outsource Force Review?

Well let me just tell you straight up that I am not going to be repeating the same crap you find everywhere else on the net…

FACT IS: It is almost impossible to find an unbiased, honest review online these days. It seems everyone is doing the same thing, simply trying to convince you to buy the product so they make money instead of giving you the cold hard facts, whether good or bad, to help you make up your mind…

I can’t stand those who just try to sell, sell, sell constantly so I am just going to tell you straight up what I think…

What is Outsource Force?

Simply put, Outsource Force is a course put together by John Reese teaching the «$2 Per Hour» power formula for those who want to do less work and make more money! You shouldn’t have to do everything on your own. Image if you had 10 clones of yourself who were just as productive as you at performing day to day tasks that slow you down. You would make a lot more money, wouldn’t you? Well that is the Idea behind Outsource Force.

Before I consider buying any product I always check out what the creator’s personal history has been like in the past….

Where his past products any good?

In this case, a big YES! John Reese, the man behind Outsource Force, is an Internet Marketing legend. A true pioneer in the field who has made millions for himself and many others as well.

After 20 years in the industry and over 110 products under his belt, he has decided to share his close kept secrets of productivity, what he says, is the biggest factor responsible for making the kind of money online that he does.

I mean seriously, when you Google your name and get millions of results, real results all about you, I think you have accomplished something here.

This guy created the original «Traffic Secrets» a few years ago and was the first Internet marketer to generate over $1,000,000 in sales in under 24 hours (18 to be exact), and he did it without spending a dime on advertising!

Ok, enough talk about John Reese now, I just had to make you realize how big this guy is in this industry if you didn’t know him already.

So enough with the past, let’s get back to the real question: What is Outsource Force by John Reese?

Of course, John Reese did not achieve his $1 million day by himself. In fact, he is a master of exploiting the power of leverage! He has built a very successful outsource team. The thing is that outsourcing in Internet marketing is not about hiring people to work on a weekly salary, or about stopping administration. You must always remain the brain behind the operations, basically you are responsible for running the show.

Outsourcing is all about getting more done in less time! And that is exactly what you are going to learn in the Outsource Force training course.

Unlike offline businesses that need to spend fortunes hiring in-house employees, in the online world you can build your very own team quickly and easily, at a fraction of the costs associated with hiring employees. In Outsource Force, John Reese will show you how to find the best freelance workers for as little as $10 per day! This is the secret formula that allows him to earn millions of dollars online year after year!

Using the Internet, it has never been easier to outsource most of your work to experienced, professional freelancers. There are dozens of marketplaces online where you can request for specific skills and locate hundreds of potential freelancers who can get the job done for you.

You would be surprised how you can find freelancers for almost any online task you can imagine. From graphics designers, web designers, SEO gurus, copy writers, server maintenance, and even product development! You name it, someone can do it, and for a lot cheaper than you think. This type of outsourcing can really help you grow and build your online business.

My Final Thoughts…

Here is my personal advice on whether or not you should buy Outsource Force…

Making money online takes hard work, anyone that tells you otherwise is not giving you all the facts. If you have ever done anything online then you know this.

But here is the good news, John will show you how you can actually have other people do all the hard work for you.

Imagine how great it would be if all you do with your time is just come up with new money making ideas, then pass the idea to someone else to grow the idea.

This is what been an entrepreneur is all about. So if you are willing to put in a lot of effort and want to live off your online income and enjoy what you do, then make a promise to yourself that if you buy Outsource Force that you will follow it through till the end and apply everything that you have learned.

There is no doubt the training is top notch but if you’re not willing to put in the effort to make a real go at it then Outsource Force and everything else out there isn’t for you…

Do me a favor, don’t just buy it and expect to be making five figures a month right off the bat. Making large amounts of money online takes consistent effort and time, but if you are serious, then this eye opening course could really change the way you handle your online business and help you achieve your goals, but it won’t happen overnight. This is a serious course for long term profits, way more than anything a «dominate Google overnight» eBook can make you.

That being said… If you are able to dedicate the next few months to making a full time income online then I recommend you seriously considering buying Outsource Force by John Reese.

Pound for pound it is probably one of the most complete courses out there. Remember this guy knows his stuff, he has been making a killing online since the early 90’s.

As I mentioned getting the ball rolling will take dedication and effort from you, but if you’re willing to do that then I am sure you will have great success…

Click link bellow or visit http://digitalreviewcenter.com/is-john-reeses-outsource-force-a-scam-my-honest-review/ if you want to buy Outsource Force

How To Handle The Occasional Oop-See!

Q: My company is really in hot water with one of our best customers. I can’t reveal exactly what happened, but suffice it to say that we really dropped the ball and the customer is furious. I’m not even sure we can save the account. What’s the best way to get back in a customer’s good graces after making such a mistake?
— Charles W.

A: Without knowing the full story, Charles, I can’t give you a specific course of action, but let’s start at the sharp end of the uh-oh stick and work our way back to see if we can come with up some advice that might help.

First off, it’s important that you understand that the magnitude of your mistake will determine the course of action you take to make amends. If your company’s error was such that it caused your customer a significant amount of lost time or revenue, embarrassed them publicly, caused damage to their reputation, or otherwise negatively affected their bottom line, you may face legal repercussions that saying «I’m sorry» will not deter. If that’s the case you should consult an attorney immediately and prepare for the worst. Whether or not the worst comes is irrelevant. You must be prepared for it.

Now on to dealing with more minor offenses. As anyone who has read this column for any length of time knows, I’m cursed with daughters. I used to say I was blessed with daughters, then they learned to walk and talk. Blessed quickly became cursed. Now my oldest daughter is an inch taller than me and getting all lumpy in places I’d rather not think about. She’s a sad case, really. The poor kid needs an operation. She has a cellphone growing out of her ear. But I digress?€¦

When she was a toddler she coined the phrase, «Oop-see!» Whenever she did something innocently destructive, like knock over a glass of orange juice on my new computer keyboard or shove a Pop Tart in the VCR tape slot, she would look at me with her huge brown eyes and say, «Oop-see!» My wife says there is a reason God made kids cute. Oop-see moments are evidence that she is right.

Oop-see meant, «Uh oh, I didn’t mean to do that. I was wrong. I’ll never do that again. Forgive me? Love me? Buy me toys?€¦ Oop-see worked like a charm every time. Now, I certainly don’t expect you to bat your eyes at your customer and say, «Oop-see!» but consider the effect her words had on me. Instead of screaming at the top of my lungs like I wanted to do (hey, have you ever tried to dig a Pop Tart out of a VCR) I immediately softened and found myself actually taking her side. «Aw, it’s OK, really, we all make mistakes?€¦»

What my daughter had figured out is that it’s hard to stay mad at someone who admits a mistake, sincerely apologizes for it, and vows never to let it happen again. Little did I know this was only one of many tactics she would employ over the years in her never-ending quest to wrap her daddy several times around her little finger, but that’s a whole different column.

Dale Carnegie said it best: «Any fool can try to defend his or her mistakes — and most fools do — but it raises one above the herd and gives one a feeling of nobility and exultation to admit one’s mistakes.»

Carnegie and my daughter were basically saying the same thing: When you (or your company) make a mistake, no matter how large or small, the best thing you can do is quickly admit the error of your ways and face the consequences, come what may.

Here are a few things you can do to help set things right with your customer.

Assemble the facts. The very first thing you should do is find out what went wrong and why. Meet with your key people and gather the facts. Ask specific questions like: What was the mistake? What caused it? Who was involved? What could have been done to prevent the mistake from happening and what can be done to prevent it from happening again in the future.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. I’ve been on both ends of the uh-oh stick and neither is very comfortable. My company has dropped the ball on occasion and we have also been negatively impacted when one of our vendors did the same. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and consider what could be said or done to remedy the situation from their point of view.

Take responsibility for the actions of your company. In my role as a company president there have been times when I’ve had to call up a customer and confess that a mistake was made, and as president it was also my responsibility to take the heat for it. Remember, you’re the head cheese, Charles, you get to sit behind the big desk and take home the nice paycheck. You’re also the one that gets to mop up when your employees makes a mess. It just goes with the job.

Do not place the blame on specific employees. No matter how tempting it is to put the blame on specific people in your organization (even if that’s where the blame lies), do not do it. It is unprofessional, counterproductive and can backfire on you, especially if the person you’re blaming reports directly to you. Saying something like «My sales manager is always making mistakes like this!» is not going to make your customer feel any better. To the contrary, such statements will make the customer question your leadership ability and the quality of all your employees, not just the one that made the mistake. If you don’t have faith in your company and employees, why should your customer?

Don’t deny that a mistake was made, especially when there is clear evidence to the contrary. You’re not Richard Nixon, for petesake, so don’t try to pretend that the mistake didn’t happen or stage some elaborate cover-up to try and dodge the blame.

Admit your mistake. This may sounds trite, but you must admit your mistake before you can move ahead and start to make amends. Don’t be so afraid to take this step. I doubt your company is the first one to screw up with this customer and I can guarantee you certainly won’t be the last.

Apologize for the mistake. The one thing that could make the situation better is often the thing that companies find hardest to do. I don’t mean to sound like Dr. Phil, but simply saying you’re sorry is often the best way to get a business relationship back on track. Ensure the customer that it will never happen again. After you have taken responsibility for the mistake and apologized in a sincere and professional manner, you must then start the process of rebuilding the trust that was lost. Promising that such a mistake will not happen again is a good way to start.

Compensate the customer for his loss. Even if your mistake didn’t cost the customer a dime, he will appreciate an offer of compensation. This can be something as simple as a lunch on you or a discount on his next order. The size of the compensation offered should be in direct proportion to the size of your mistake. A word of warning: don’t let the customer bully you into overcompensating him for your mistake. That can be more detrimental to the relationship than the mistake itself.

As my daughter understood all those years ago, Charles, a sincere Oop-see can help make things all better.

Here’s to your success!

Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net

Innovative Way To Overcome «We Have To Think It Over»

Here is a final, last ditch, Hail Mary close you can try when you get customers who want to think it over and you have tried other ways to get past the objection that didn’t work. This close uses what many perceive as a weakness (the right of rescission) and turn it into a fulcrum that is used to get the sale.

Most managers and salespeople don’t like to talk about the right of rescission but when you are leaving anyway, it may be time to use this close. What is it? Most states have laws that give consumers 3 business days to cancel any contract made in a place that is not the normal place of business for the company. This applies to the customers? home. They have, by law, the right to cancel with a full refund.

For this article, I am going to assume you have some first night special that the customer only gets if they make a purchase on the first night. This package might be $300.00 installation, a full half ton of salt (a $100.00 value) and an extended warranty on the equipment worth $300.00 for a total savings of $700.00 If they make the purchase on the first visit.

Now, let’s assume the customers have told you they want to think it over and that you have tried several other ways to overcome this objection that have not worked. You might say something like, «I don’t blame you for wanting to think about it. In fact, I am glad you want to be sure this is for you. How long do you think it will take to think it over? Would two or three days be enough time? OK. Here’s what I suggest. As I explained, if you go ahead tonight, you get free installation, a full half ton of salt for free and a $300.00 extended warranty. Those items together add up to a whopping $700.00 in savings. I hate to see you miss this opportunity to save so much. I have great news. The state has passed laws that give you three business days to think it over. If you decide to cancel, we are forced by law to cancel and give you a full refund.»

«But here’s the thing. You have two choices. You can send me away tonight and take three business days to think it over. BUT that means you won’t be eligible for our savings package, which as I explained is only available the first time we come out to your home. OR, we can get the paperwork done with the $700.00 savings. Then, you take three business days to think it over. If you have any doubts, just cancel and receive a full refund by law. Either way, you get to think it over. It just doesn’t make sense to think for three days and lose $700.00 when you can think for three days and save $700.00? I’ll get the paperwork started.» Then, put your head down and start writing the order.

Notice I am not suggesting that you end by asking them if they agree or if they want to proceed. You will sell far more if you end with a statement and not a questions like, «I’ll get the paperwork started».

If they say they still want to think, it means they didn’t believe you or that they have another objection. I would suggest that if this happens, you say, «I know you would be taking advantage of this if thinking about it was your only concern. Can I ask, what else is keeping you from making the right decision tonight?» When they answer, you have uncovered the true objection.

Does this close work every time? Absolutely not but it works a lot better than leaving without trying it.

legitimate ways make money internet

CB Predators (ClickBank Predators) by Chris Fox and Jerome Chapman is a very interesting piece of software.

What is CB Predators – What can it do?

It is essentially a web site builder which enables webmasters and online marketers to create fully functional sites simply with a few clicks of the mouse. The interesting thing, which sets this software apart from others, is the fact that it will create complete affiliate review sites with all the site content and settings ready to go.

It will use WordPress as platform to build its web sites. Those sites will already be highly SEO optimized for high search engine rankings and traffic from the search engines.

The system works from an online interface where a user can choose a desired affiliate marketing product, for example from ClickBank. After some clicks, a complete site is created, in far less time than was possible before.

CB Predators uses WordPress which is very good in terms of SEO. Most webmasters who are successful online today use WordPress as their platform of choice. The fact that this new software uses WordPress sets it apart from other, far more simple site builders. An affiliate review site based on wordpress is usually very powerful, and CB Predators will create exactly that.

What is CB Predator exactly and what can it help me with?

After having done marketing research, Chris Fox and Jerome Chapman discovered that many marketers just like you had problems to set up websites that are fully optimized for SEO. Without proper SEO, it is very difficult for online marketers to generate high page rankings on Google and thousands of daily visitors. CB predator is a software that can generate up to 100% unique and highly successful affiliate webpages. Ok so far this sounds like a lot of different products that are available on the market, but what I need to tell you is that the it is 99% automated! All you need to do is setting up the settings and pressing on a couple of buttons and that’s it: your pages will be created and will be entirely SEO optimized meaning that you are more likely to rank high on Google without doing any hard work. The next thing you need to do is waiting to get your cash coming in!

For the webmaster and online marketer this means enormous time savings creating sites with this system. Not only will the web sites already have content like product reviews, making tedious writing of content for a site obsolete. The system will also save time in regards to SEO efforts which otherwise are necessary if sites are created the old way. In fact, the creators say that there is no additional SEO needed at all, its simply optional.

CB Predator Capabilities

Automatic Niche Research – CB Predator instantly spies new markets and options for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When it has discovered an opportunity it’ll pretty much inform you of which products to promote and also create the complete tactic!

Automatic Sites – As soon as CB Predator has noticed a ripe lucrative specialized niche for the capturing, you can make a perfectly seo’ed site in a mere eighteen clicks of the mouse. It manages every little thing for you personally, including graphics, Web optimization, content as well as affiliate back links!

Automated Confidence – Eradicate guess work or perhaps stressing if you have done anything right, display self-assurance within your websites on account of CB Predators advanced research and automation features.

The prospect being able to quickly create fully configured and optimized review sites simply with some clicks is very attractive and provides big potential for all kinds of online endeavours, entrepreneurs and online businesses.

For the seasoned marketer this means that those can now simply scale up and expand their income streams, digging into more niches and sites in less time. For the newbie webmaster this means that he can create optimized sites «like a pro» without the need to have in-depth knowledge of site design, let alone SEO.

You can trial the predator without risk for 60 days! In case you get it today, Chris Fox will back it with his personal no questions questioned 100% cash back guarantee.

Click here if you wish to learn more on CB Predators.