How to Use Mass-Customization to Broaden Reach, Boost Bottom Line
While we know that “one size fits all” is seldom – if ever – true, we know that in sales the more people who are good fits for our products and services, the more profitable we’ll be. This fundamental truth has created what we call “mass-customization” and it’s a strategy that everyone from retailers on Etsy to huge manufacturing B2B companies are doing. Yes, I agree, the term is something of an oxymoron, but if you can wrap your brain around the concept, you can put your small business on the path to better sales. While there are four different approaches to mass-customization, let me start with a simple illustration. Imagine an ecommerce site that designs and sells music education materials, like learning how to play the blues. The original course may have been written by a guitar player with other guitar players in mind. However, the heart of the teaching materials apply to a wide variety of instruments, so the small business owner decides to pursue other market segments, such as piano players. He soon discovers that his materials that are emblazoned with guitars and talk about different makes of guitars is a turn-off to piano players. Changing the look While the core information doesn’t change, the business owner produces a version of his course that includes keyboard graphics. He even creates a micro-site that is designed totally around pianos and keyboards and tweaks all of this email marketing materials so they are customized for guitar players, keyboard players and eventually even saxophone players and others. Of the four approaches to mass-customization, this one would fall into the “cosmetic” category. The core product remains the same, but its appearance is changed to appeal to different market segments. To pull off this kind of customization successfully, you need to be able to precisely segment your prospects so they get into the right sales funnel and then be sure they are delivered the right follow-on offers after they become a customer. A good cloud-based small business customer relationship management system will handle this, but there are also challenges in advertising and marketing to find the right prospects. Targeting advertising channels such as AdWords or perhaps even better, Facebook ads, for my music teaching example you need to be able to find people who play the right instruments and are open to learning. If accomplished musicians were included in your ad reach you wouldn’t see a very good response. As I explained, my example is basically cosmetic. However, there are others that are more substantial. A friend of mine bought an inflatable kayak he uses for fishing. The kayak itself comes in a basic package, however it’s available in a variety of configurations depending on if you want to use it for fishing or whitewater rafting. Adapting for special uses This is adaptive mass-customization. Your small business starts with a basic product and the customer gets add-ons to make it suit his or her specific use. With software we see some programs whose functions can be customized by adding various plugins. With this approach, not only do you need to deal with prospect and customer segmentation as we discussed above, you also have significant supply chain challenges. With my kayak example, you need to order the specially adapted angler seat in...
read moreHow to Rally Brothers and Sisters To Fight For Your Small Business
Band of Brothers. Today we know that phrase because of the outstanding HBO series. Yet those are the words of William Shakespeare, and as is with much of what he wrote, these three simple words speak of an eternal and universal truth: the greater power and courage of individuals when they join together for a common cause. Shakespeare put those words into the mouth of King Henry V as he rallied and joined his flagging troops on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt. Sometimes as small business owners, we too feel beleaguered. But if we band together, we can rally and find the strength to move mountains. I want to suggest some simple ways you can discover great power in a band of small business owners or entrepreneurs. You must participate First you need to be part of a “Band of Brothers.” A lone business owner operating in isolation doesn’t have a good chance for success. Groups like local Chambers of Commerce were formed for this reason. Other business-related community-service organizations also, in part, serve this function. The Internet has created another dimension in this area. Mastermind groups, forums, and various social media groups can serve as tools for small business owners to band together and achieve results that would be impossible if everyone was acting independently. My first strong advice is to get involved in as many good groups as you can, but not too many that you’ll be unable to meaningfully contribute. And don’t overlook the possibility of starting your own group. Private Facebook groups, for example, can be a great way to bring together a band of people who have shared interests. Victory in the online battlefield Once you have established your involvement in one or more groups, “rally the troops” to support one another’s social media marketing efforts. This can be as simple as people sharing posts and newsletters to their personal social media contacts. This will greatly increase the reach of your social media and content marketing. Another excellent idea is to review one another’s products and services. This can be through review sites like Yelp, via Amazon.com reviews, or as website “social proof” testimonials. For example, if you’re putting out an e-book to promote your authority, give free copies to your “Band of Brothers (and Sisters, of course)” and ask them to review it for you on Amazon. The possibilities are endless, but the foundation upon which they rest is a single, simple truth: You can accomplish far greater things when you band together with others who have shared interests. Image: “PPC ph-so-EarthDay,” © 2012 Fort George G. Meade Public Affairs Office, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike...
read moreHow to Turbo-Charge Customer Service and Holiday Sales with Mobile POS
This post is sponsored by Samsung Business. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was standing in line at the movie theater recently. We were running a little late and the movie was scheduled to start in just a few minutes. The line was longer than we had ever seen at that theater and I thought I might miss the beginning of the movie. Then suddenly an employee emerged with a tablet in hand that was equipped with a credit card reader. She started working her way through the line and within a few minutes the line dissipated and people were munching popcorn, watching the coming attraction trailers and settling in to enjoy the feature presentation. By now I’m sure almost everyone has experienced the mobile point of sale (POS) systems that are in use. An employee armed with a tablet or smartphone can go out onto the sales floor – or anywhere for that matter – and complete a sale. There are a number of systems out there, including Samsung’s that use the company’s Galaxy tablets. Frankly, I’m shocked that more small businesses aren’t using this technology already. It has a long list of benefits and I can’t think of any downside. Let’s explore several of the reasons you should add a mobile POS system to your small business. Improves the customer experience and increase sales. Today a world-class customer experience is often what separates the winners from the businesses that walk away with participant ribbons. You can train your employees to be as cordial as possible and put all kinds of customer service systems in place, but few things have the impact of actually speeding up the process and making it more convenient for buyers. Mobile POS does this…and without a huge investment on your part. How many times have you abandoned an in-store purchase because the line was too long, or there was no one around the cash register? It happens all the time. When you arm your employees with mobile POS systems and train them how to best use them, you can virtually eliminate this problem. Says you care about your customers. You can post all the “We Care” signage you want around your business, but what really matters is how you treat your customers. Going to your customers, rather than making them come to you, is a concrete way to demonstrate your commitment to your customers. If you’re at their side, helping them with their purchases, it makes a huge impression. It creates loyalty. But a good POS system can go even further. With the right software, these systems can create a personalized shopping experience and offer unique recommendations for repeat buyers. Suddenly your business has established a noticeable difference in a very competitive market. Captures email addresses. When completing a purchase via a mobile POS, customers are more likely to request a receipt via email and this can pull customers into your email list. You can then advertise private sales and other benefits to your customers and increase sales even more. Boosts overall productivity. In some businesses there are processes that take a fixed amount of time – the restaurant business, for example. Cooking food takes a while, but there are process adjustments that can speed up the food ordering experience. I’ve...
read moreWhat Your Small Business Can Learn From 60 Years of Disneyland Success
Disneyland is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. This kind of staying power is rare today. I’m certain that you probably know several amusement parks that have opened and closed over the course of your life. Yet – as anyone who has waited an hour or more in the Pirates of the Caribbean line knows – the popularity of Disneyland is as strong as ever. This is despite shifting demographics, the rise of video games and all the other societal changes that have sunk so many other businesses. A book or more could be written on how Disneyland has maintained its popularity, but let me just hit some of the highlights that teach us lessons that can be applied to virtually any business. Disneyland employs cast members Everyone working at Disneyland is called a cast member. Those two little words immediately – and without any ambiguity – communicate the ultimate objective of the theme park. They are there to create an all-encompassing entertainment experience for the guests. As a cast member, employees know that their “performance” is being viewed by the “audience” all the time. There is an image that must be maintained. Shakespeare said that all the world’s a stage. Walt Disney said that all of the Magic Kingdom is a stage. Always changing with the times “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world,” declared Walt Disney on July 17, 1955, the day Disneyland opened. People who have visited several times over the course of their lives know that this is true. The planners at Disneyland never rest on their laurels and that would have been very easy to do. It takes guts to shut down a popular ride and totally redo or replace it. I’m writing this 60 years after Walt Disney spoke those words on opening day. It’s impressive to note that the concept he communicated then – “Disneyland will never be completed” – is still a central guiding principle of the company. It’s just five words and it offers a tremendous amount of direction. It doesn’t take 50 pages of detailed bullet points to keep an organization moving forward. Attention to detail One of the first things that will impress a visitor to Disneyland is that no detail is overlooked. This extends all the way to the park’s commitment to not allow even a single stray piece of garbage to litter the streets. Smartly uniformed cast members armed with brooms and dustbins are constantly on the prowl for any windblown wrapper or kernel of popcorn. Of course, this attention to detail to the various themes throughout the park is what makes visitors fall in love with the experience. This is a reason employees need to view themselves as cast members rather than “soda stand attendants” or “cashiers.” The magic of the Disneyland experience starts the moment you step onto the tram outside the massive multi-story parking lot and it doesn’t stop until you leave the park…usually as near to closing time as you can manage. The power of branding Disney is one of the most valuable and powerful brands in the world. When we see a product that carries the official brand, we immediately associate all the good feelings we experienced at...
read moreThis Week in Small Business: Negotiation skills, ACH payment info, influencer marketing, low-cost marketing.
Negotiate like a pro and check out the small business advice of pro Shark Tanker Robert Herjavec. Add just a few of the tips in this week’s collection of curated content and it will make a major impact on your business. Leadership, management and productivity Don’t miss these 11 tips for negotiating a contract like a pro. What does your customer experience say about the value of your brand? Roz Bahrami explains how all the elements work together. If yours is a woman-owned small business, you need to understand the new government contracting opportunities that are available to you. You may have a killer business model, but if you don’t have the company culture to go with it, you’ll end up with far more management woes. Money, money, money! Here’s the info you need on ACH payments and online small business loans. Check out how small business owners can take advantage of cell phone deals. Marketing and sales Digital marketing may on the surface seem impersonal, but if you want to be successful at it you must dig more deeply and make it “people marketing.” You can’t wait to launch your inbound marketing program. Develop and publish content that draws buyers in. If you’re behind the curve, here’s what you need to know right now. Attention gamers and small business owners: If you want to see the future of marketing, check out the Halo 5 “Hunt the Truth” series. If you’re doing influencer marketing – and you should be – here are three questions you need to ask yourself. Looking for small business marketing plans that won’t break the bank? Here are five. Blog posts published on weekends actually have a better chance to be shared on the social media, says this study. Entrepreneurship, startups and innovation Shark Tank star Robert Herjavec talks about small business and the “Small Business Revolution” campaign. There’s only one right time to launch your startup: early. If you need convincing, read this. Politics, government and the economy New regulations coming out of the Obama administration would change the requirements for financial advisors who set up 401(k) accounts and many think they impose an unfair burden on small businesses. Of every $100 spent at a small business, $68 stays in the local economy and today small businesses are the big...
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