How to Develop Relationships Using Social Media

| July 28, 2016
Business Coaching

 

Now that you have created an audience with the content you have been putting up and engaging with prospects, you have to develop a relationship. The trust with prospects is how you turn them into customers.

Now, I know must of us know we have to make relationships with our customers in order to keep them coming back. But you need to take a step back and ask your self if you are being personal enough and relationship minded. Are you being helpful, doing something for your customer and not asking anything in return? Because that is what the formula for gaining trust is all about.

Like we have talked about creating value is number one when trying to gain peoples trust, through content that supports and answers their questions. Creating content also shows that you’re a thought leader in your space, people will in turn look up to you for your questions and complaints.

When consumers know that they can reach out to you through social media, which you should encourage them to do, with content that is fun, simple, entertaining and conversational, you’ve begun to gain their trust. It is a good opportunity to provide excellent service in front of a large audience when you handle customer questions or even complaints with care.

Being honest with your customers can also go a long way towards building that trust that you want with them. Be transparent, let people know that you have nothing to hide from them. Everyone makes mistakes, don’t try to hide them, understand what was done and confront the problem. For example, if someone posts a complaint about your company, it may be tempting to delete, but responding to it directly, demonstrates that you’re not trying to hide anything.

Gaining this credibility and trust with your audience is a must if you want to gain a relationship with your prospects and consumers. Remember it’s not all about you when it comes to your business you have to pay attention to people and show them how much you care for them.

Next week we will talk about the online relationships we have created with prospects and consumers and how turn them into our customers, looking at the sales conversion process.

Thanks for learning with us!

What Social Media Platform Should my Business be Using?

| July 26, 2016
Business Coaching

 

The Million-dollar question when looking at social media is what platform should I be using? At this time with so many out there it can seem overwhelming to even know where to start.

Thinking about where to start should take you back to your core goals, where you want to go and the audience you want to be in front of. Look into each social media channel to determine which will suite you best. Don’t just sign up for every platform because it is the newest or the most popular. Your objective should be to work towards generating quality content that’s relevant to your audience on one or two social media channels that your audiences prefers.

Once you set up your social media platform, make sure to work out a clear plan. This will save you time and be less intrusive for your business. Remember social media may be free, but the value of your time can cost just as much.

To get started, here is a list of 3 popular and effective social media platforms:

Facebook:

Facebook is by far the biggest social media platform with 1.23 billion monthly active users and 945 million mobile users. Facebook can be used as home for your business where people can stay in touch with you on a personal level. You can build your brand loyalty and reputation. People can gain knowledge and get exposure to the work you do and the solutions you provide. You can also create ads that drive traffic to your website through detail targeting that reaches the audience you want. Staying consistent on a daily basis with promotions, personal stories, testimonials and content that is interesting and engaging will make your future customers feel welcome.

Twitter:

Twitter is a platform with 310 million monthly active users. The difference here is, twitter is not a place where you just keep people updated. It is a place you go to communicate and listen where you can share quick news or updates and promote new products or content. The hashtag feature on Twitter, that is very popular, allows you to stay connected to content you want to see or find the latest trends. Many people look to Twitter for quick info, news and fast responses to questions. So it gives you a chance to show off your customer service.

LinkedIn:

LinkedIn is largest social media platform for business people and professionals. Still, many small business owners have not yet realized the power of this platform. Approaching this social media platform, keep in mind that it is more serious than Facebook and Twitter; users will want professional and informative information. What really makes LinkedIn special is the “LinkedIn groups,” it is a place professionals in the same industry or with similar interests start and participate in discussions within the group. You can find answers, share content, view and post jobs, make business connections and establish yourself as an expert in your industry. The exposure is significant, some groups having hundreds to thousands of members.

Remember, trying to spread yourself to wide, in too many social media platforms can affect your productivity. Know what platform you want to focus on and become an expert within it to see true results.

All Purchase Decisions Are Made By People

| July 25, 2016
Business Coaching

We recently touched on the importance of being a sales resource for business owners.  Here’s a well stated summary of a recent article by Gavin Finn of Kaon Interactive.

According to a paper by Gavin Finn, president & CEO of Kaon Interactive, posted by Chief Marketer, B2C and B2B marketers must look at both the macro and micro forces that are shaping the behavior of their audiences, along with the increasingly rapid pace of technological change.

To understand how to drive interesting and exciting discoveries and innovations in almost every personal, business, and public policy arena, the paper identifies primary sentiments of populations in many markets.

Uncertainty.

When the status quo is being challenged, individuals and companies develop a heightened sense of awareness of how things are (or might be) changing, and they are less able to feel confident in their plans. This translates into hesitancy to embark upon long-term strategic initiatives, or even to change in small ways, says the report.

Risk Aversion.

As a result of the dual forces of rapid change and uncertainty in the future, individuals and businesses become highly risk averse. This means that they are more likely to do nothing than to try something new. Each decision is weighed not in terms of the possible benefits, but in terms of the risk of failure.

Dissatisfaction.

When people are unhappy with the way things are going in their immediate environments, though this response may appear to be contradictory to the feelings of uncertainty and risk aversion says the report, there is a consistency in the prevalence of erratic consumer and business buying behavior.

While some might see these prevailing sentiments in a negative light, says the report, these forces can inform impactful strategies for successful acquisition and retention this year and beyond. The paper continues with some suggested ways that marketers can leverage this knowledge and deliver superior results:

  • There is so much noise and clutter in both B2B and B2C marketing, that getting people’s attention and developing any kind of interest has become exponentially more difficult. As businesses and consumers feel unsettled about the future, they especially appreciate when brands deliver on their promises, resulting in a combination of increased loyalty and a deeper sense of confidence in their buying decisions.
  • In order to reduce the perception of risk in a purchase decision, marketers should build a continuous dialogue with their customers at every stage of the buyer’s journey. This is a different approach to “marketing communications” in the sense that the customer is just as involved in the communications process as the marketer. The result is true customer engagement, which increases confidence, proven by behavioral psychology to be much more effective at knowledge transfer and delivers long-term customers who make better buying decisions.
  • When markets are uncertain, and buyers are risk averse, decisions to purchase are most often made for only those solutions that are necessary and urgent. Identifying a customer need is no longer sufficient, understanding “why” is important to address now. The more the marketer focuses on helping customers arrive at outcome-based conclusions themselves, the more successful they will be.
  • While data science and analytics has become an essential element of every modern marketing arsenal, all purchase decisions are made by people, says the report. Even in business purchases, the individual decision-makers are subject to the same strengths and weaknesses as consumers.

Neuroscientists have proven that every decision has an element of emotion to it, even when business decision-makers believe that they are being entirely analytical. In fact, many behavioral scientists believe that the primary decision drivers are mainly emotional.

Addressing the emotional state of the decision-makers (addressing their sentiments of uncertainty and dissatisfaction) can yield significantly better results than focusing on quantitative benefits of solutions, concludes the paper.

The Business Source is Your Resource

| July 22, 2016

 

One of the main reasons I started The Business Source LLC in 2008 was that small and medium sized companies were facing dire straits with the recession coming on strong. When sales plummet and people stop buying where do you go for help?

What do I do first? Do I focus on my sales training? My sales process? My sales people? Which way do I look to get sales moving in a profitable direction?

Should I change my advertising? Should I provide a better customer experience? Should I work on some innovative ideas to make my product or service even better than the competition? Should I make changes to my website?

Should I try direct mail? Outdoor?

All these options are expensive, especially if they don’t work.

As a business owner where can you turn for honest advice, counsel and what might work best to boost sales?

Most business owners start making calls, or start taking meetings with sales people who have a “solution” to your sales problem.

To fully evaluate all your options you might have to meet with 3, 4 or more sales reps. Who can you believe? Who can you trust? Isn’t their motivation to sell their product first? You just happen to be the lucky business owner.

Or you can call The Business Source. We’re really good at helping you find the right solution without taking all those sales calls and meetings. We work with many business owners and understand markets and consumers. We’ll recommend the best strategy for you, not what’s best for me as the sales person who wants you to buy my product.

We’re independent. We’re objective. And we only want what’s best for you.

The next time you ask yourself, “what can I do to help increase my sales and bottom line profits?”

Call or email John at The Business Source LLC. john@thebusinesssourcellc.com (608) 445-7462

We’ll get you started heading in a better direction. You’ll begin to see results immediately. And we’ll help you craft a long-term plan that is focused on you and your company first.

Content Attraction

| July 21, 2016
Business Coaching

 

Last week we talked about why social media for small business is no longer a question. As we have transitioned into the age of the attention economy the question comes up about how to get content in front of the audience we want to see it.

“Attention is a resource- a person only has so much of it.” Matthew Crawford

As a small business owner you want to attract prospects, convert them into customers and keep them coming back.

Your goal is to create awareness with value and make sure that your solution meets the buyer’s need. Know what they need before they even need it by putting yourself into the consumers head. What problems are they facing and how can I help them solve those problems.

To be successful on social media you have to be active, watching out for what people are saying and asking in your field. That is when you direct them to solutions first and then once they show interest, to your material to help them make an informed decision. In order to do this you must be consistently curating and sharing information. Make sure when communicating with prospects via social media, you inform them about the resources your business has to offer.

Converting prospects into customers is all about building trust. With social media the content you create has to show proof that the customer will meet their goal. For example, a case study proves that others have had success with your product or solution. In turn, this shows that your solution provides more value than another solution the prospect has looked into.

Now, to keep your customers coming back you have to support them by creating content that supports and teaches customers how to solve their problem. You can use social media as a customer-service tool by answering questions directly rather than diverting them to tech support phone call or email, which is not the most convenient for the customer or efficient for you.

The next step after you start to create an audience with your content is social engagement, developing relationships using social media to develop trust, turning your prospects that much closer to the sales conversion.

Thanks for learning with us! Next Thursday we’ll go into depth on social engagement.