There are many mistakes / errors / bad thinking (judgement) you can make in the process of building & keeping (developing) your business. None of them aren't making you're clients more satisfied and/or making them come to you in higher quantities, however some could be fatal for your business. You need to have full awareness of them, so please take a close look on the
list below.
- CRITICIZING YOUR PRODUCT (that's it's shit etc.)
You can't ever criticize you're product that "it's shit" or "for poor". However that is not so much important – remember that you're selling emotions and people are rather much emotional than logical (more in the articles, that links are attached below). Keep it mind that you can know the negatives of you're product and point to customer to buy other
(probably more expensive one) product which hasn't got them or they're masked, slightly improved.
· HOW TO SELL, PART I: general rules (introduction)
· HOW TO SELL, PART II: manipulation in action (manipulation techniques)
· HOW TO SELL, PART III: Inner game (fake it, till you make it) in practice
Painfully was touched by this mistake an jewelry empire magnate which had over 1,200 shops in the whole UK, I don't remember exactly his name/surname, however he was mentioned in one of the: Business.Nightmares.With.Evan.Davis.S01E01-03 series. He talked on the business conference with only business people, but he didn't realized that there were also reporters (or
rather he wasn't aware that his "joke" – which in reality wasn't a joke, but clear statement on the product quality he sells). The statement that his product was shit quality (however, how would you expect high quality product for $1 [rings]) and you must be poor/blind to buy it – was an insult to many people who were touched by those words. Consumers
started to avoid & claim refunds on the jewelry they've bought in his shops.
He made yet another mistake – instead of silencing it, he has appeared in the public TV and denied the words he told, making it even worse (more people have spotted this & more was insulted by his talk).
It appeared that he must to close (on start) more than 300+ shops to sustain his business and his empire was on the precipice of financial disaster. He needed to go down from board (or owner) position and need to left the company. There was nothing he could do.
TIP. Even if you know that you're product is very-low quality ("cheap shit"), don't ever consider to say it loud, ever. You can propose instead a customer another higher-quality product. Keep it mind that for you it may be a cheap nothing, low quality shit, but for the customer it may be his whole life & best product ever (due to emotions).
- IT'S NEVER CUSTOMER FAULT (e.g. that product has technical defect)
Unless proven by you that seals were broken – the product, when he has some defects – you need to be aware that you're the only person responsible for it's repair/replacement. I would like to add that it isn't so fatal as it seems to look (last sentence). Just remember that when the product was damaged through you're fault (e.g. in production) or technical
problem which was spotted after releasing it – how absurd it would be – you need to propose a free (best) or "little" paid solution, in the "non important ones" (which don't make him unusable) [look at patches at games], however when the reason is important (it disrupts the normal usage) or serious: you need to replace the product on you're cost. It's the
risk you're taking when entering wide markets, but it is worth to take.
You never can say customer that it's his fault, where it wasn't in reality his. Seek for explanation, serial numbers, photos. Let him talk. After you get the all needed information make sure you would improve you're product in the future or would prevent making it in the actual process. If you're product, which has been sold to particular customer has been
bad/damaged, sent to him 5-10x of it to customer (e.g. like in the case of "broken Snickers, snack"; where the person which send a complaint to the company was resent with whole box of Snickers snacks). You need to remember that
those kinds of replies are always very appreciated & they cause the customer loyalty (& happiness). He would also probably share it with his friends. It's very important in the times where Internet is widely available and 1 post could provoke a company collapse or instead, ENORMOUS boost of sales.
TIP. It's just worth to treat customers as you would like to be treated. Remember also that defect/problem could be for your irrelevant or absurd (e.g. 20% less "snickers" in the – 1 snack), but you must smile and send to him the product. This 1 box, would be multiplied by 100x times or more, just do it (and analogically in any other situations/issues;
industries).
P.S. This story was posted on the polish social portal, something like "digg.com" or "reddit.com"; he received 100,000+ views and record amount of "diggs"; link to the original story is here: pokazywarka.pl/snickers/ (outbound link was supplied on the actual portal), mirror (for backup purposes).
- TEST YOU'RE PRODUCT BEFORE RELEASING IT (give it to external people you don't know, which don't know you & you're opinion is not in their interest)
You must understand that before releasing product you need to supply it (commonly, unless it's a food or a book) to other people & ask them: do they understand it – do they make a purchase (e.g. in the website, shop case – however not only). You need to test all the process. Furthermore you need to find a people which you don't know and ask them for help
(not mentioning that's your product). It's a smart move to do. Why? To avoid complaints & refunds and to ensure you're product is defect-free & you didn't missed something. You need to test you're product before release in a
various methods, some of them: non intentional (very good example would be programmers job: he needs to find out all the "flaws" in his application, of not intended use; secure all the scripts; it could be "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" [no-spaces], comments which destroy completely page [wordwrap()], or uploading photos to other user). TEST, TEST, TEST. However best option seems to find a idiot-proof people or with "different" thinking, some sort
of people with some sort of disabilities and to give the product to normal users (to just do trials, when the product would be available for the wider audience) to make sure: everything works & it's just fine.
As a example: PERSIL created a washing powder which destroyed cloth, again featured in: Business.Nightmares.With.Evan.Davis.S01E01-03 series.
- APPROPRIATE PRICE
Best is to make it affordable for everyone, however just make sure it matches it's value. If you don't want to maneuver with price, just add the quantity. Make sure it's "worth" the price.
An example could be a new (magical) "cure" featured on television – it costs 400 PLN (due to expenses on advertisement) in a country where the average net salary is 1,000PLN. Common, who would buy it? I've searched the available sources and the reality was, that the product wasn't selling. It was then withdrawn from the market. I would also would like to add that similar product was in the price range of 30PLN, however nobody knows about it (it would be featured in next point).
It's not currently a marketing flaw, but it's important.
Another things are restaurants which spend TONS of money on the advertisement, but when you actually get into them – you get "little less" or "very little", instead – they would put A LOT on the plate. Yes, I know I need to pay for more, but JUST THOSE EXTRA BIT, but PUT MORE (or leverage prices). You would actually spot that the amount of people would
increase when everybody would be eaten full and not hungry after leaving restaurant and spending 30-50PLN on dinner...
Next example: Lay's chips which are produced in the same factory and are tasting almost the same by (or on 2 brands?), ;;; (nobody knows it; "Walkers" [or something alike] in UK), cost is: LAY'S (80g), 3 PLN; where the same chips (but without adverts in TV & other), "Top Chips" (140g or 160g), 2 PLN. Then companies complain that nobody buys their products...
(note: when you sell the same product under 2 different much prices you need to change the brand to not make you're clients spot it & mad; I've spotted it, however there is very slightly difference between those 2 products)
TIP. Think about the price & quantity & quality. Just make it reasonable for the logical mind.
- LACK OF VISIBILITY / AWARENESS of the product you're selling
You can have the best product in the world, but nonetheless what it gives you when nobody knows about it?
I think, that article: How to get clients? (business) describes the process of advertising (& thinking) about possible ways to attract you're clients.
You must understand that not every business needs a TV spot. Furthermore: often those very highly paid TV ads are producing loss (sales of the product doesn't compensate the amounts paid on ads). Brand? It's not only about the brand – I would say that it's always about the sales.
I think that also articles in the related (on the bottom of the article) might be helpful. It's up to you to get to your clients. I can't say anything more.
I need to write here some content more to make it look good, so I would put information & supply more links. Firstly, make sure you're product name & company name is memorable & connects with something known for the customer, e.g. IDEAS NAME, choosing the right, secondly (or
rather it's more important) – you need to play HUGE. By playing small or being small, acting small – you would be always smaller than anybody else. You need to play in terms of winning, developing & buying competition – dominating the market place. This factor alone would change you're visibility. In other terms – you would probably be acquired
by the bigger company and dominated by it, being out of business in a relatively short amount of time. Think about it.
THINK BEFORE YOU DO. (the most important rule)
…
Keep in mind that cheated or not fully satisfied client is a nail to your coffin as well as lack of innovation & lack of persistent, continual development of your company.
When you start to think that you don't need to more expand / develop or innovate – you perish.
Why? Because of the Universal Rules set in this world. It's the main cause of goal, described here:
What and Who is God? What's the purpose behind creation? What is our role (I don't want this knowledge to public; if you're curious about
the reasons & explanation "WHY", please buy the access).
…
Always wish everybody luck &
never criticize. By telling people the truth about them you're making yourself enemies and they would envy you → could make a possible competition (very hard, because based on emotions). Besides, truth for you –
could/would be an insult (disastrous) for them, in the 90% of cases – however they may not tell it loud. Just don't do it. It's the most future thinking, you won't earn on it and you could
only loose.
Motivation doesn't work this way.
RELATED.
·
Basics of Marketing (understanding marketing) part I
·
MARKETING IDEAS, innovative marketing, promotion ideas
·
How to generate innovative ideas (unique, nowhere published approach)? Edit
