Hard selling can be difficult and yucky. Persuading someone to buy something they don’t need is just icky – whichever way I look at it. When Dr Flint McGlaughlin, an American academic and business leader used the phrase ‘clarity trumps persuasion’ it certainly resonated with me.
As contemporary business owners, I believe we need to understand that our audience is quite educated. They have a plethora of choice and the internet searching device they are holding in their hands is giving them all the tools they need to carry out extensive searches in a matter of seconds. In response to this, I believe we need to consider moving out of persuading mode and into clarity mode – if we’re not already there. You may call it June 30, end of quarter, end of financial year, half way through 2017, whatever you call it - you are right and we only have 37 more sleeps until we wake up and the calendar ticks over to 30th June 2017. What will you be prioritising between now and then?
Generally most people have a basic idea of what they believe a graphic designer does. The list probably goes something like creating logos for businesses or brands, fixing or editing images using Photoshop and probably making magazine ads… correct? Well technically yes, graphic designers do in fact do all of these things, but they’re only a fraction of what makes up a much bigger picture.
Graphic design is everywhere - just look around! I can guarantee you’ve had some interaction with a graphic designer’s work - possibly before you even leave your house of a morning. Did you pick up a cereal box this morning? There’s a great example of graphic design! The Australian Government has established a website to make it easier to find out what funding, development, support or assistance your business may be eligible for.
Signwriters are an unruly, unlicensed bunch - I should know, I married one of them! In Australia, signwriting is not a licensed trade. Yes, there is a four year trade apprenticeship and yes there are formal signwriting qualifications. However to own a sign shop, you don’t need any of this. In fact, I checked out a signage franchise a few years ago and they stipulated that they only wanted unqualified franchisees! With this in mind, it doesn’t surprise me that navigating the field of signwriting as a business owner can be a bit tricky.
In today’s highly competitive world a customer can find anything with just a few keystrokes and a click of a button. In business it only makes sense to make it EASY for your customers to do business with you.
Ask yourself these simple questions:
A plan without action is just a dream – Cielito Bello.
This is so true. Of course it's great to dream. I encourage you to dream big. But don't get your head stuck in the clouds, or in paperwork. The power is in the action. You've spent time creating a vision and you have identified your goals. That’s GREAT, but it's what you do next that is most important. START is the key word here. Don’t over complicate things, try and achieve one goal at a time before moving onto the next, it’s better to complete one, than start thirty-three and not complete any. Are you wasting time analysing the wrong metrics?
People often ask "How many likes is enough on Facebook?" Of course, there is no definitive answer, however once we really start talking about what their objective is and what they should be measuring, it's not the answer they really want - it's a different question. To save yourself some time and energy, I thought I would share the 5 most common metric errors I've seen and of course some advice on how you can avoid these and get on with running your business. If you can imagine each client relationship is like a bank account. The currency is love and the bank account balance will reflect the overall relationship health.
The transactions between you and your client will dictate your love account balance. For example, if you deliver on time, love goes in. This is a deposit, just like when you deposit some money at the real bank. If you deliver late, love goes out - just like an ATM withdrawal. If you give exceptional service, love goes in (another deposit). If you don't call a client back, love goes out (another withdrawal). A while ago one of my favourite mentors, Andrew Griffiths said to me "Do small really well". At first I wondered if he was just being supportive of small business in general, or if he had a specific thing in mind when sharing this pearl of wisdom with me.
Either way, it has had me thinking about what this really means for me and what the key lessons are in this powerful little comment. After some thought and some real life application, here are my key take outs: |
AuthorRoxanne Grey |