by Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

Did you know that it cost 12 times more to get a new customer than it does to keep one? Here’s a story I came across the other day.

This man died and met with Saint Peter. To his surprise the first saint told him that it was his lucky day, he was going to get to choose whether he wanted to go to heaven or the other place. He first took a look at heaven and it was a very lovely place filled with people walking around with beautiful smiles on their faces, all in white robes playing small harps and looking contented. “Not bad, but not terribly exciting.” he thought. So, he asked to see the other place expecting to see what he’d always heard about it. But much to his surprise, it was beautiful. It was like the best resort in the world with a long sandy beach, blue water, wonderful climate and best of all a lot of beautiful people walking around in bathing suits while sipping exotic looking drinks.

“This is for me!” he thought excitedly. And he told St. Peter that he had chosen the other place. The old saint smiled and waved him in.

But once he got there the man saw that it was just as he had been told. There was fire and brimstone, and screaming, moaning and gnashing of teeth. He was, of course, disappointed, so he walked up to the devil to ask him what had happened.

And with that devilish grin the devil happily told him, “before you were a prospect, now you’re a customer.”

Now this is more than a funny little story, there is a serious message here. Most of us in business spend almost all of our time trying to acquire customers. We advertise, we offer first time offers, we give two for one deals and super introductory offers just about anything to win new customers.

But then what do we do once those prospects become customers? Think about it. It’s not much different for our customers than it is for that poor guy who chose the other place.

That is why we need to focus on giving our customers great service. We have to do everything we can to not only satisfy our customers, but also delight them into sticking around.

Here is what exceptional customer service can mean for your company:

• First of all, happy customers will tell other people about how happy they are with you and thus, you will get new customers.
• Increased retention means increased profits.
• Happy customer will buy more from you.
• You will have a happier business environment. Employees are much happier delivering great customer service.
• And distinct competitive advantage.

And one more thing: Customers will focus on the service they received much longer than the price they paid. – Kelly Henry.

And that’s the best way to grow your business.

Note to reader: This column was influenced by Kelly Henry’s excellent book Define and Deliver Exceptional Customer Service

by Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

Hiring: It all starts with the right process.

“I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not strategies.” – Lawrence Bossidy GE

“I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way.” – Lee Iacocca

I have heard you loud and clear. The hardest thing about owning a small business is finding, hiring, and keeping good people. It has always been a problem, no matter the condition of our economy. The problem with so many small business owners is they don’t take the time to do it right. They are just too busy managing day by day affairs to lift their heads long enough to make the time to hire the best people. Often, they need a person, and they needed her yesterday so they are just appreciative when they can find someone, anyone. And this of course, leads to a great deal of frustration for both the owner and the people he hires.

Look, as Larry Bossidy said in the above quote, nothing is more important than hiring the right people.

With that in mind, here are six tips to make sure you hire the right people

• Hiring is a process: have a plan: To be successful you have to plan ahead and that means having some kind of idea where your company is going and what your employee needs are going to be when you get there. These factors can be as straight forward as you, a contractor, need more people in the warmer months. You run an ice cream parlor or a ski resort, your hiring is based on your specific needs. Plan for those needs in advance. That will also give you the right amount of time to hire the right people.
• Know exactly what you want. What is the job and what kind of person do you need to fill that job? No matter the job, full or part time, you need to have a well-thought out job description. Describing not only what the job is, but the description of the right person for the job.
• Hire slowly and fire quickly: Take your time. Here, if the old adage applies, “you don’t have time to do it right, but you have time to do it over.” Take your time and hire carefully. It will save a lot of time in the long run.
• Keep the application form simple: Make it very clear. Use the job description you developed in item three as the format for your job application.
• Develop good interviewing skills: The interview is where you really get to know your candidate. You can tell much more from an interview than from what is written on the job application. Think hard about your interview process. Develop a set of questions that will help you discover exactly what you need to know about the candidate.
• Show them the future: If you are serious about your company, then you have a vision for that company. Share it with the candidate. Get her excited about working for your company and most of all show her that this is not a job, it’s a career, it’s a future.

Probably the most important piece of advice here is to be thoughtful, take your time to do it right.

In the words of Jeff Bezos, “ I’d rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone, than hire the wrong person.”

Hiring the right people is the best way to grow your business.

by Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

Well it’s happening again. Contractors are getting busy. Despite the pandemic, contractors who come to your house, plumbers, electricians, landscapers, carpenters, painters, you name them, they are all very busy right now. People have been taking advantage of the warm weather to get work around their homes done while they can.

As the pandemic continues some customers are having things done to the outside of their houses and properties since they are uncomfortable with having strangers in their houses.

This has a led to a shortage of good professional contractors. Right now, it is even difficult to get some of them to answer their phones or return your phone calls. Some of them are not even using their phones but rather insisting that you leave them an email! (which with Maine having the oldest per capita population in the country, cuts them out completely as few of them even have email).

To you busy contractors, here’s a bit of advice.

So, I get it contractors, you’re busy. You’re having a hard time keeping up. I know it’s hard in this feast or famine business world you live in. But always remember just that…it is a feast or famine world for you guys, so you need to be careful how you treat all of your customers and potential customers when you’re feasting. Keep in mind that you have to treat all your customers as if their business is valuable to you no matter how much business you already have.

This means business courtesy as usual. Answer the phone, return phone calls, try to fit customers in no matter what. Most of the time customers are calling you because they have a problem, and they feel you have the solution to that problem. So, give them that solution no matter what.

Treat all customers with respect and try to solve their problem no matter how busy your are. Always keep in mind how much of a privilege it is when a customer calls you with business.

Don’t brush them off. Don’t just say something like, “Sorry, I’m too busy right now,” and hang up. Or worse yet, not even bother to get back to them. Instead, either find a way to take their business, or provide them with an alternate solution.

No matter what, your job is to find a way to help your customers. The great business writer Peter Drucker once said that, “the purpose of a business is to accumulate customers.”

With that in mind no matter how busy you are you always have to find a way to keep and grow the customers you already have; as well as accumulating new customers. That in the end is the only way you are going to keep growing your business.

by Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

To grow your business, you have to not only be better than your competition, but you also have to be the best you can be.

No matter what your business is. Whether you are a landscaper, or a plumber, or a contractor, or you own a small business, you have to find ways to not only differentiate yourself from you competition but also be better than anyone else in your field. And yes, be better than you have ever been.

There is an old business term that I have lived by for years which is called continuous improvement. The Japanese have a term for it as well which is “Kaizen.” This is something that needs to be part of all businesses. This is the thing that is going to not only keep your customers loyal to you and your company, but also will make your customers want to brag to their family and friends about how smart they are for doing business with you.

The better way to do things can be different for every business. Well, at least there are some common things that everyone can do to be outstanding. Here are the ten things to make sure you have a good company delivering good products and services.

• Deliver a great product or service;
• Consistently deliver a great product or service;
• Have great communications. Answer your phone. Return phone calls within hours if not minutes;
• Show up when you say you are going show up;
• Do what you say you are going to do and more;
• Be consistent on your pricing;
• Always be courteous;
• In these times respect the Covid safety rules;
• Present well. Clean uniforms, clean establishments, clean trucks, and tools. And leaving the work site clean when you’re finished.
• Always follow up to make sure the customer was satisfied with your product or service.

But if you want to be a great company there’s more. Let’s assume that you have a good company. Good for you, congratulations. But now you want a great company. What do you do now?

This is where you have to be creative. Here is when you are going to have some fun.

You have to study your customers and decide what you think they will like. You have to be introspective and consider what you like when someone is providing you with a service or product. You have to ask the questions .

What will make my company memorable?”

What extra thing can I do that will get my customers talking about my company?

What can I do that will make my customers, customers for life”

Think about that for a long time. In fact, always be thinking about that. Always be looking out for a better way to do things. Come up with better ways to help your customers.

If you are a landscaper, it can be always offering an extra plant or shrub. If you are a restaurateur, it can be a special trademarked dessert that you surprise your customers with. If you are a plumber, always offer to check out all the faucets in the house to make sure they are running properly once the job you were hired for is done.

You get the picture. Do more, investing in delighting your customers, is the same as investing in your own company. It is the best self-promotion you can do for your company. And yes, the very best way to grow your business.

by Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

You have to be better than anyone else right? Isn’t that what makes business great? That extra little thing, that special thing that makes you stand out from the rest of the crowd. Often it’s not just the product or service but what doing business with that certain company does for you; how doing business with that company makes you feel.

Apple is the perfect example of this. It has been proven they do not have the best phone on the market. When they introduced their MP3 player a few years ago. The IPod was certainly not the best player on the market, so what was it that made people and still make people for that matter camp out overnight in line to buy their latest new product? It’s the story, it’s the brand, it’s how cool it makes the buyer feel to have one of their products. That’s how Apple has become the most profitable company in the world.

Think Nike for another example. They sell sneakers that costs about six bucks to make and sell them for hundreds of dollars, and later, some of their more famous collectibles go for thousands of dollars. Heck people have been robbed and murdered over a pair of Nikes. Again, it’s all about the story, it’s all about how people feel when using their products.

The same thing goes from cars and beer and clothing and tools, and well, just about any product or service you can imagine. It’s all about the company’s story, the company’s brand and how the consumer becomes literally part of a cult when she buys into their story…she becomes part of that story, too.

This is why it is so important to develop your own story, your own brand, no matter what business you’re in.

Here are some differentiators that make companies stand out, things that make the consumer want to brag about using that company. Here are some things that drive people to buy your products and services.

• People want their friends to be impressed.
• They want to see review from past customers or users.
• They want to see success stories.
• When they see people, they respect using your products and services, and they want to join in.
• People want to know your story, neat stories worth repeating sell.
• People want to feel they are part of your company’s story.
• People are not afraid to pay more, even knowingly, too much because they so want to be part of your story.
• People want to seem unique; they want to buy something that makes them feel smart and discerning.
• And people want to be rewarded for their loyalty

So what is your company’s story? How do you stand out? What do you do that makes people want to tell their friends and family that they are so smart and discerning that they use your services or go to your restaurant or boutique? Think about it. It’s up to you if you really want to grow your business.