By Gareth Price vs. Value – I’ve mentioned it before. So, is the cheapest always the best?
For some things, yes. But in general, the answer is… ‘maybe’!
You need to ask yourself “Does a high initial price hide the long term higher value?” Example – a simple halogen GU10 spotlight bulb – I’m sure you’ve all got some of these. Price, about £2 each – life approx. 3,000 hours. An LED GU10 Replacement is about £20, but its life is approx. 45,000 hours, so you’d have to replace a normal GU10 bulb 15 times at a total cost of £30 over the life of the LED replacement. There’s a saving of 50% already in the long-term even if it looks 10 times more expensive at the start – and that’s even before you calculate the lower energy costs of running a 3W LED replacement over a 35or 50W halogen GU10!
But when it comes to services, price vs. value has to be investigated a bit further – but the principles are the same. Someone may appear to offer their services cheaper than others, but are you actually comparing like for like? Are they offering the same experience, or do they wildly differ?
The only way you can find this out is to actively interview your potential suppliers. Ask questions about how they work, what experience they have and what’s included in their hourly rate. Don’t just take published testimonials as the truth – ask for references. A supplier with nothing to hide and confidence in their abilities will have no issue in supplying both.
It’s just not knowledge that builds up over time. More importantly, it’s experience.
As a supplier, what do you do if a client tells you that you’re too expensive? Do you rush to cut your price and/or offer them a discount, or do you explain exactly what they are getting for their money by explaining the long-term benefits to THEM? The chances are you have actively researched your rates and you know you offer good value for money, so on many occasions (there will always be some that just want to haggle, whatever the price/value offered) “That’s too expensive” usually means that the potential client does not actually understand what you are offering. Take time to ensure that they fully understand what you are offering, but don’t be afraid to walk away, it may be that they don’t really want what you are offering. Just as services can be good value, so can customers! In the long run, ‘bargain basement’ clients are often more trouble than they are worth!
Here are some tips when meeting potential clients:
- Believe in your service. If you believe in what you do it does comes across in discussions.
- Put yourself in your client’s shoes. What are they looking for? Make it a buying process rather than a selling one.
- Ask questions. Without knowing what your potential client does how can you show them how your service will benefit them?
- Before you quote a price spend time with a client showing how they can benefit from your involvement in their business. You will have then captured their interest which often makes them less price sensitive.
Don’t just assume that customers know the benefits that you can offer them. Don’t just set a price and leave the buying decision up to them. Often customers will gladly pay your price when they realise the value they are getting.
Make an appointment to meet up with Sara. I’m sure she can do plenty to help you run your business more efficiently and she explains it quite well!
By Sara Oscar Wilde’s play on words for the title of one of his most famous writings really puts the subject of today’s blog in a nutshell…
I like to think I’m trustworthy. I’m well-known for it and generally people (and in particular my clients) say they like the fact that they know they will get my honest opinion on anything they ask, sometimes to the point of brutality! All I ask in return is for that honesty to be reciprocated, which isn’t too much to ask, is it?
A good friend of mine recently parted company with their employer because they became frustrated with their dishonesty. The MD was constantly lying, including to some staff, suppliers and customers. Not just the usual “Cheque’s in the post” kind of thing that some feel is acceptable, but serious stuff about finance, staff issues and workloads. Because of the position they held this started to impact on my friend’s reputation, which could have ultimately damaged their career – it was time to move on, even without another position to go to.
The interesting and somewhat ironic element to this is that the same MD can often be heard locally on his soapbox about the importance of honesty!
I struggle with dishonest people, socially or in business and I would ALWAYS rather that people come to the point if there is an issue. That way, things can be dealt with and everyone can move on.
Besides, lying is hazardous. Not only do you need to have the memory of an elephant, you also need to hope that the affected parties never hold a conversation about that subject. That is something which is virtually impossible to control, especially within a local business community. Once you get caught out you lose all credibility, it’s as simple as that – and in business that can be fatal.
“What a tangled web we weave when first we venture to deceive”
It’s something that my mum used to say and it has stayed with me. I’ve tried hard not only to stick to it but also to instil it in those around me. My stepsons know that the very worst thing they can possibly do is lie and it will be this which will always get them into more trouble than whatever else they do.
Being wrong doesn’t matter. Not knowing the answer doesn’t matter. Trying and failing doesn’t matter… those things can all be sorted out.
Not being honest (or “Earnest”) does!
By Gareth Except Bank Holiday ones! But even with the recent run of Bank Holidays I found myself catching up on jobs that needed doing rather than doing stuff I wanted to do, all because I hadn’t had time to do them during the week…
Everyone has something they don’t like doing, for whatever reason. It may be something you’re “Not very good at” or perhaps “Don’t know how”. More likely if you are running your own business, you feel it takes time away from more important tasks – running your business or eating into time you should be sharing with your family.
Me?
I hate ironing (and so does Sara). So strong is our dislike that we now don’t own an iron or ironing board! We send all our ironing to John at Iron Maidens in Nuthall. His driver Lee arrives on a Tuesday and takes all our washed, crumpled clothes away and then brings them back on a Wednesday all nicely on hangers and wrapped in polythene. For us it works out at about £60/month and is worth every penny – we don’t have to do any ironing (hooray!) and it gets done far, far better than we could ever manage. It’s also one less thing for us to worry about and releases us to do other things (now all we need is a cleaner, a cook and a gardener!)
Small businesses need to work smarter in order to grow quickly. Outsourcing those tasks you find difficult or time consuming is one way of working smarter.
In the corporate world I work in, I have been involved in outsourcing since the day I started – right back in 1993 and it was going on long before that. Outsourcing in ‘Corporate-land’ is everywhere now; call centres, support companies, caterers etc. Outsourcing isn’t all about being cheaper (Cost-cutting is possible, but usually only if you off-shore at the same time to a country like India or, more recently, China). The client I’m currently working for could employ me more cheaply if they employed me directly but, by employing me through a bigger organisation, they gain flexibility. They also secure a route into a whole company of expertise. They know (and expect) that if they ask me a question and I don’t know the answer I can draw on the knowledge and experiences of over 50,000 other employees, worldwide, for help and guidance.
For small businesses outsourcing shouldn’t be all about cost either. Outsource those boring admin tasks, sales and follow up calls or book-keeping and, as well as freeing up your time to work on your business and giving you those evenings back to spend valuable time with your family or even just ‘taking a break’ you will also get a job done by a specialist in that role and will benefit from their experience in that task.
Cost saving is possible, but it shouldn’t be the primary reason and the saving may not always be immediately visible. For example, send out your book-keeping and it may save you time and effort in the short term, but in the long term it will also save you money. A specialist book-keeper will liaise with your accountant so that they provide your books at year end in a format that requires less ‘accountancy time’ to convert into your final accounts – and they can keep an eye on making sure your accountant is good value for money!
The other thing that people forget to factor in is how much their time costs. Could the 4 hours you spent doing your admin or books last week be better spent on running your business, or better still working for a client?
By Gareth Some clichés are often true. For example, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
There’s definitely some truth in that.
I came across an interesting concept whilst surfing for networking tips (I’m being dragged to a netwoking event by Sara in April!) and I’d like to share it with you. It’s called the four-minute rule and was explained to me by Steve McDermott (Follow him on Twitter HERE). It basically means you’ve got four minutes to make a positive impression, then it’s game over.
For example, Steve gives these two scenarios. You’re staying in a hotel, you’ve had a terrible journey. It’s been long and you’re tired and you’re really crumpled and it’s late at night and you just want to go to your room and take a shower and go to bed. You get to reception and there’s no one there to check you in. That’s getting it wrong in the first four minutes. But what the research says is this. If they do that kind of thing to you in the first four minutes, even if you’re on holiday and you are staying at that hotel for two weeks, the bit you remember, the bit you tell your friends about, is the first four minutes.
It’s also, rather worryingly been proven if you’re in court! The research says as soon as they wheel you out the jury makes a decision within the first four minutes about whether you’re guilty or innocent. And that’s just by looking at you; you haven’t even had a chance to say anything yet! And if they believe you’re guilty, they filter everything, and all they hear for the rest of the trial is anything that proved them right in the first place, and if they think you’re innocent, the same thing.
So I think we have to get good at those first four minutes, whether it’s at a networking event, or in a client or supplier meeting. It might be worth practicing this so you are ready for your most important customers!
Because I’m still employed as a little fish by this huge, global corporation I am almost never involved in critical business meetings, so a couple of my most important “customers” are, like Steve’s, my kids. Before I even knew of this concept I’d noticed that because my kids live with my ex-wife and don’t see me all that often, when I go and pick them up they are generally desperate to tell me stuff and are like, “Dad, dad! such and such this, such and such that…” and I used to say, “Can we just get home, can I just get in the house, can I just take my coat off and put my stuff away?” because I wanted to get as far away from my ex as quickly as possible! But that was their first four minutes – they were gaining an impression that a whole list of other stuff was more important to me than them so why should they bother behaving? But over time I’ve noticed how I act in the first four minutes of them getting in the car can influence how they behave, so now I don’t do that. I carefully listen to whatever they have to say – ask them about their week at school and stuff like that – In effect – act like it is, that nothing else in the world matters to me as much as what they have to say and tell me! And that’s because that’s the bit they’re going to remember. And that’s something that seems to influence their behaviour over the whole weekend.
Here’s the really good news, though, for all of us un-perfect parents – in theory at least you only have to keep it up for four minutes!
By Sara Some of you will know that I had originally planned to run a “Marathon” over the month of March, but an old foot injury ended that plan on 19th March – with 15 miles completed!
That was incredibly frustrating as I don’t like being beaten. After a few tears and tantrums I thought about the kind of people I’m trying to help - a cancer sufferer has little choice but to keep going and make the best of what life throws at them…
They don’t give up and I’m not going to either! So, on 25th March I’m getting on an exercise bike – and I’m going to keep pedalling until I’ve completed 26 miles, 285 yards (42.2 km). The only thing that is going to remove me before I’ve finished is gravity (i.e. if I fall off!)
Other than an update for those kind souls that have already sponsored me (or are considering it), what has this got to do with a business blog?
Well, sometimes in business, as in life, things don’t quite go to plan. The difference between the businesses that survive and those that don’t is often the ability to change…
Carol Brookes of Able 2 Consulting did a fantastic intereactive presentation to our 4N group yesterday about how people react to change – if your workplace is going through a turbulent time then I strongly suggest you check her out. I won’t spoil it for anyone that is likely to be involved in it in the near future by going into every detail, but it provided a really powerful insight into human behaviour. Something which really struck home for me though was the fact that, because I’d seen it before and knew what to expect, I felt much more comfortable the second time around.
I’m a bit of a change junkie - I love new challenges and the more flexible and adaptable I have to be, the better. But I still go through all the emotions associated with change – fear, anger, resentment etc. But over years of job (and at times, relationship) uncertainty I’ve learned to embrace those emotions in the way an actor learns to embrace and use their nerves. So, when things change in my business I rarely see it as negative for long – I simply dust myself off and “get back on my bike”…
Some things are out of our control. There’s a budget today and as I write this I have no knowledge of what will happen – but it will mean change for some, maybe me. How we react and survive/develop as businesses will depend not only on the impact it has, but also on our own attitudes to change…
By Gareth So, here I am, stuck at home following a trip to A&E which confirmed a badly sprained left ankle. Banned from driving until I can carry out an emergency stop without pain, probably a week to ten days… But am I off work sick? No, I’m remote working and am about 90% as productive as if I was in the office because I have a ‘business continuity’ plan in place.
OK, I hear you all saying that I’m a teccie and remote working is all well and good for an IT company but what about my, more traditional, business?
Well yes I’m a teccie and I work in a teccie department but the client I work for (a global petrochemicals firm) isn’t and remote working is available to almost every one of their staff.
They have a number of layers of technology which are probably cost prohibitive to a smaller company but there are a number of free, or low cost alternative which can be used to achieve the same result for the smaller business. To be productive, being connected to people is probably more important than being connected to technology.
Email
How did we ever cope before email? Once there was just ‘snail mail’. Documents took days to reach people for comment – or hours if you splashed out on a courier. Then there was Fax, but it required the person at the other end to have a fax machine too.
But email can be used for more than just sending documents. Need a meeting transcribed? Download on application for your smart phone, record the whole meeting and email the resulting file to someone like Marion at MCD Virtual Office and she’ll transcribe the meeting and email it back to you in whatever format you need.
Telephone
In the office we use a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephone service. I’ve logged on to this remotely and forwarded all calls to my mobile.
If you have a land line with BT then they have a call forwarding function which can forward calls to any number once activated. Alternatively, you can arm yourself with a VoIP phone number from loads of providers and an install of a ‘soft-phone’ on your laptop or home PC, with an appropriate headset this means you can take calls anywhere you can get an internet connection.
Instant Messaging (IM)
Handy for when the telephone might be too intrusive but quicker than email. It lets you know when people are on-line and perhaps available for an immediate response of a quick question.
We use Microsoft Communicator at work, because it’s an internal implementation it’s totally secure. It’s also standard so people only use the one service!
There are loads of messenger services out there, Microsoft Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Skype etc. To save on having to have loads of different messenger services running so you can connect with all your clients you can use something like eBuddy or Pidgin which communicate with many different IM clients
Remote File Access
When I’m in the office I have access to a multitude of file servers for various different businesses holding thousands of files. When I work remotely, we have a bespoke Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection to allow access to all these servers securely over the internet. It’s just like being in the office, just a bit slower. But, it requires an infrastructure which is probably overkill for a small business.
For small business use there are a number of ways to access files which may be on your office PC. Most require a small program to be running on your office PC to allow access (they also require your office PC to be turned on!). Some like LogMeIn allow remote access to your Office PC and allow you to transfer files between locations. Others, like DropBox, sit on your office PC and monitor certain folders, replicating the contents into the ‘cloud’ and making these available to any number of clients on many different platforms. I can access my DropBox files on my Android smartphone! Another way is to use something like Google Docs. This requires no continually running component but requires you to upload any documents you might want to share and then grant people access.
Meetings
Slightly more difficult – there is the good old telephone, but what if you need to show a presentation or document?
For work we use LiveMeeting – It’s integrated with our email and VoIP phone system but, once again, it requires a bespoke infrastructure setup.
For free, you can use a website like join.me. This allows remote access to your PC by another person, but, you have the option of only allowing others to view your desktop, enabling you to run any presentation or share the view of any relevant document.
For us teccies join.me also allows remote control of user PCs without the need for any software to be installed – great for emergency remote access support!
In summary
Being stuck at home does not mean you need to be unproductive. With a bit of planning and experimentation you can find some technical solutions that, should the worst come to the worst and you get stuck at home for any reason, (including the weather!) you should be able to continue almost as productively as normal.
Don’t get me wrong, as nice as it is once in a while, I’ll be back at the office as soon as I can drive – The big downside of working from home all the time for someone like me is I miss the company. I miss the ‘corridor meetings’ where a lot of unofficial business gets done.
If you would like some help in planning your strategy for when you can’t get into the office, contact Sara who will be only too happy to help you.
By Sara Social Media, Facebook, Twitter and Web 2.0 are all words that you’ll hear around the business community, but how can these work for you?
Firstly, we need look at these two questions;
Why do people buy the things that they buy?
Why do they choose particular places to buy from?
In order give a sensible answer, we need to go back to first principles. Here are our thoughts…
Why do people buy the things that they buy?
People buy things because they either need them, or want them – this is nothing new. Social Media’s part to play is as a tool to spread the word about your product or service. I was watching a TV program a little while ago which mentioned something called “Dunbar’s Number”, which states that the number of people one knows AND keeps in regular contact with is about 150. If those 150 people know another 150 people each (yes there will be some overlap, but you get the idea) then it doesn’t take long to reach a lot of people.
Take our experiment of trying to Sell Our House Using Social Media. We’ve done nothing really apart from create a page and a blog post which we’ve posted links to on Twitter and Facebook a few times. To date we’ve had over 100 page views and it’s been picked up by several “Trending” sites according to Gareth.
Why do they choose particular places to buy from?
This is a bit more involved. Value? Convenience? Price? Location? Quality? Yes, all of them have a part to play. Notice I list Price and Value separately – they are different, but that’s another blog post!
What if all these are equal between two potential suppliers? My experience shows that people buy from people they like and trust. For this to happen they have to get to know each other a little. This is the “Networking” part of “Social Networking” and is overlooked at your peril!
There is a school of thought which suggests keeping your business and personal profiles separate – do business contacts really want to see pictures of your dog or know what you’re having for tea? Personally, I think they are better merged, because it helps to have the transparency and openness and any customer with any sense will ferret in your personal profile anyway! Either way, please remember that whatever you put on your profile, business or otherwise, will be accessible throughout the world…
Someone who does a great job of this is Mike Handley from Graphic Results (one of my clients and a constant source of social media inspiration). He has an informative blog and an open and honest writing style. This, combined with a good balance between business and personal posts provides interesting content that reflects Mike’s personality, drive and motivation for what he does. It’s no accident that he has over 2000 followers on Twitter and people like Theo Paphitis retweeting his comments – quite an achievement for a “Little design studio” in Derbyshire!
You, but more importantly your customers, can have a huge impact on your message (and sales figure) by “word of mouth” referrals to their networks. Treat your Virtual Network in the same way as your physical one by offering advice, help and support where appropriate – and don’t underestimate the power of testimonials and recommendations online.
In summary, Social Media is a platform where you can interact and ask people to listen to what you have to say. Be warned though, if you go in selling hard then you’ll quickly lose friends, followers and credibility. If you’re asking people to listen to you then make sure you have something interesting to say once in a while!
If you would like any specific help then please let us know and we’ll be happy to point you in the right direction!
By Sara It is two weeks since I started training in earnest.
The support I’ve had from clients, fellow networkers and friends has been fantastic – and it’s not all been about money. I’m regularly being asked how my training is going and having my confidence boosted on the odd occasion when it’s been needed. The team at Impress Promotions are sorting me out some T-shirts to run in, Eastwood Hall are providing me with use of their gym and Becky from onesixeight: fitness has helped me to think about a basic training program and even made sure I had a water bottle!
I’m not (by nature) a creature of habit – for my work I consider this a benefit, because my own occasional forgetfulness has made me put strategies in place that also work well for my clients. So, I am treating this project in the same way as any other and planning it to within an inch of its life! This wonderful idea of “just popping to the gym” 3 days out of 4 has been hard work to organise around client meetings, work and life, but my tendency for early mornings has certainly helped.
The first session went well, I remembered how to use all of the equipment (I have been in a gym before, but not for nearly four years!) and I could still walk afterwards. In fact apart from stamina, I’ve been pretty impressed with my general level of fitness – it hasn’t taken me any longer to get to where I am than I thought it would, which has been good for morale.
Actual running has been a real challenge though. What is it about running that’s so difficult? I can cycle or row a mile with no real harm done, but 1 minute of jogging and I’m ready for the skip! I am the stereotypical “Fat Lass” on the treadmill – puffing, panting and no doubt leaving others desperately trying to remember their first-aid training ready for when I collapse.
It probably doesn’t help that my stubborn streak has kicked in – walking doesn’t count in my eyes, so I’m only counting the distance I cover when both feet leave the ground on a regular basis. This hasn’t helped my morale at times. The numbers are still painfully small in terms of distance covered and it’s only this week that I’ve started to feel like I’m getting anywhere.
So should I just accept that I’m not a runner and walk? In a word… no.
I’ve adapted in the same way that I do when I get a glut of work – I’ve re-planned, rescheduled and restructured my thinking. I can’t run for more than a minute, so rather than trying to and getting despondent I’m running for 30 second bursts, with 30 seconds “rest” in between. This is working really well and even in just a couple of sessions I’ve already increased both my productive running time and my distance.
I have also rediscovered the contents of my MP3 player, though I’d forgotten just how much of my music collection I wouldn’t admit to in public – thank goodness for headphones!
(If you want to encourage me then please donate at www.justgiving.com/aboveparr)
By Sara 
A client said to me the other day “I need you to know my deadlines for stuff and chase me to make sure I do the things I’m supposed to do, because if I set up a reminder on Outlook I’ll just ignore it”
Does this sound familiar? Perhaps more importantly – how many of us dare admit it???
After all, the reason a large number of us went into business “On our own” was to rid ourselves of the “Nagging boss” and to have the freedom to choose our own clients, workload and schedule – so why do we still need to be cajoled, nudged or even chased to meet self-imposed deadlines?
Of course with client-imposed deadlines things are different – we’ll do anything within our power to meet them and becoming a superhero for a few days if necessary is just part of the job description. But we have all used the excuse of being so busy looking after our clients that our own strategic planning has to take a lower priority, even though we know that without taking a step back then nothing is likely to change.
We should, as business professionals, be able to meet our own deadlines without outside intervention. But, as humans, our desire for acceptance and acknowledgement seems to be stronger and more motivational.
So what is it about accountability to others that makes us more likely to complete a task, even when it’s something we want to do and know will be beneficial to our business? Do we really need someone who we can’t disappoint? Why can’t that person be us?
I’d like to think that part of my role is to act as a Mentor to my clients, asking them thought-provoking questions when appropriate and also helping to provide answers to those questions where my experience allows. But it’s also interesting that “Virtual Harassment” is also a perfectly valid (and needed) service…
I’d be interested in your thoughts – and of course if you need a Professional Nagging Service then I’d also be interested in your business!
By Sara Nearly everyone has a Social Media presence of some sort - people even tweet, post and share on behalf of their pets! There is no denying that it’s a powerful thing…
But it is powerful enough to save me a big bill from an Estate Agent?
I used to be a New Homes Sales Negotiator – which generally meant I spent my weekends showing bored people around show homes and my weekdays showing interested people around building sites! As a result the actual selling doesn’t bother me and I’ve always found that I do a better job of it than any Estate Agent I’ve ever used – likewise the progress chasing.
So, I’ve set up a page with details and photos on my website so that I have somewhere to point people to. This way anyone genuinely interested can look in their own time and contact me when they are ready, rather than being hassled by salespeople and anyone just being nosey can waste as much of their own time as they like, without stopping me from working. It’s similar to Estate Agent’s details but without the fluffy sales language – as a “straight-talking” Virtual Assistant I’d never get away with that!
This may be considered cheating but I’ve also bought a “For Sale” board from Vistaprint and put it up outside, though we get very little in the way of passing traffic other than local dog walkers so I imagine this will be more use to people trying to find it once they’ve seen it online. Having said that we have already had a couple of enquiries so who knows?
The only other thing I’ve done is tidy up… with relevant threats to the step-monsters coming at the weekend!
Now I suppose I just need to tell everyone. I have all the relevant profiles – Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook etc which means that I should be able to get the message across, so as an experiment I think I’m going to give it a go for a few weeks.
Will my friends and followers pass the message on for me or will they just get bored? There’s only one way to find out – and I need to get the balance right for it to succeed.
I’ll let you know how I get on – by the way if you’re after an Extended 2 Bed Bungalow in a nice part of North Nottingham…
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