Always remember,  it could be worse.....

A few minutes a day is all it will take.  Yet most of us will use the excuse that we just don’t have any more time to cram into our daily schedules or we have other pressing issues that need our “immediate” attention.  The problem is that we have made every issue a pressing issue and of the utmost important that as a result, we spend too much time working in our business instead of on our business. The downside to the instant flow of information in the business world we now live and work in have giving us the perception that the busier we are the more effective and successful our business will become.

When is the last time you silenced your phone, closed your email, sat with a pen and paper (or Word doc if you so choose) and really thought about your business.  What is going well and what needs improvement?  Where do you want your business to be in the next 3-5 years?   It can be a daunting task to say the least if you are trying to cram all of your thinking and planning into one brainstorming session.  Instead, why not try the following exercise: Take 10 uninterrupted minutes (no email, phone) every day to focus on your present and future business by doing one or more of the following exercises:

1.  Analyze your web site to see if there are any areas that can be altered to be more attractive to both your potential customers and search engines.
2.  Focus on your social media presence by sending out one quality Tweet, Facebook post or YouTube video each and every day. The goal is to use the social media platform to expand your brand.
3.  Research your competitors to find out how they are attracting and keeping their customers. What is their go to market strategy?
4.  Spend the time reading an industry specific article or book to gain further insight on your industry.  Even if you are not the industry leader, the goal is to be a resource for your customers to turn to.
5.  Focus on personal development by reading an article or book on leadership, sales or marketing.

The reality is there will always be more work that needs to be done, issues that come up and the pressure to squeeze more activities into the work day. We often fool ourselves by letting every issue, task, and deadline blow up and become a “hair on fire” crisis. We need to always remember, our goal each and every day is to work on our business and not just in our business. 

The placement of your branding is just as important as the design. Take a look at the example below to see that the old adage rings true even with branding, "location, location, location."

Being in the service industry myself I know all too well how difficult it can be to satisfy every customer, every time.  When consumers are loyal to a company’s brand they are voting with their heart not just with their head. They feel strongly enough that the company will take care of them if something happens that they often will stay loyal to the brand even at a higher price. The consumer these days has a plethora of options at their disposal that it’s even more important than ever for companies to ensure to continue to focus on building brand loyalty each and every day. Studies show the total cost of securing a new customer is far more expensive than having a repeat customer so companies that build brand loyalty also often have an advantage to their bottom line.  Another advantage of brand loyalty is the consumer will usually be more than willing to give referrals to their friends and family which helps these companies continue to expand their customer base.

As a consumer though, it’s not which company will never make a mistake but rather how the company responds to the mistake that makes all the difference for me. I recently was in the position of needing to buy a new set of tires for my car and given how insanely expensive tires are these days, you can imagine that I did my due diligence on getting price quotes from different tire centers. Truth be told I have been a loyal Les Schwab for many years and in the back of my mind, I knew I would probably purchase from them this time. However, they are not the lowest cost so I wanted to keep them honest by checking out their competitors.  Even more importantly I have always had good service with Les Schwab and didn’t know what kind of service or lack thereof I may receive from their competitors.  I decided to go with my gut and go with brand that I have been loyal to over the years.

I received a competitive price and sat down in their waiting room to get some work done while I waited.  I was glad to see the serviceman approach me in anticipation of telling me my vehicle was all ready to go. However, instead what I heard was the following “I apologize Mr. Schneider we have a new employee working today and he accidentally put the wrong size tires on your car.  I will get “all hands on deck” and have it done for you in the next 20 minutes and again I am sorry about the mix up.”  As I was paying the cashier, he had heard about the little snafu and told me not to worry, he would take care of me.  It really wasn’t that big of an inconvenience as I was not running late but I appreciated the fact that he wanted to make sure I was completely satisfied and would return again.  He did just that by giving me an additional discount of $60 to make up for this error.  To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect but all I know is that not only did I feel satisfied but I realized that I received another confirmation of why I am loyal to the Les Schwab brand.

What are you doing today to build brand loyalty with your customers?

The next generation for the ever growing ecommerce business for many retailers is Mobile Business.  This is a dynamic segment as it allows companies to expand their brand and build customer loyalty by allowing their consumers to take them wherever they go. There is no better time for companies to launch a Mobile Business segment as the numbers of consumer Smart Phones are rapidly increasing.  In fact, we are at a place in the US where the number of cell phones is outnumbering the US population.  Just like when companies starting doing business online, there of course will be the naysayers who can’t believe consumers would buy certain products from their Smartphone, iPod, iPad or other device.  If there is ever a company that is use to these naysayers it would most likely be an online Jewelry company. Some old school consumers may have a hard time believing a person could buy a piece of Jewelry off the internet while not have the privilege of touching or holding it in an actual Jewelry store.  One such company has not only helped disintegrate those fears but has taking buying Jewelry to the next level through their Mobile Applications.  Click on the link below to find out more:

http://www.bluenile.com/mobile_applications.jsp

As the U.S. economy continues to remain soft, many companies have turned their focus on expanding globally. This is primarily due to the fact that off shore business is an untapped market for many companies.  According to Forester Research, 25% of U.S. web traffic comes from international shoppers, but the actual orders from these shoppers are only 4% of total U.S. web sales. Global expansion can often be a complex and challenging project for companies, which is why they focus on solidifying their domestic business first before they look to expand overseas.   Here are four key areas to think about as you focus on expanding globally and improving the off shore shopping experience for your customers:

Fully-landed cost for shoppers- This allows the off shore shopper to see the “total” cost—including retail price of the product, customs duties, local taxes and transportation charges—prior to submitting the order. It ensures a better customer experience and increases customer loyalty.

Purchasing in the consumers’ own currency- This also ensures a better customer experience as the company instead of the end consumer assumes the risk of currency exchange and the fraud risk.

Export and Import Regulatory Compliance- One of the complexities of Global business is dealing with Customs Compliance and all the rules and regulations that exist. The regulations change depending on what country you are exporting to as well as the type of products you are exporting. Companies normally outsource compliance to a 3rd party company or slowly build their own compliance department.

Global Returns Management- Something to think about is how you will handle return as it can be very costly when you return products back into the U.S? Again, there are some rules and regulations enforced by customs depending on the country and product being returned.

If you've been on this planet for any length of time, you’ve had ample opportunity I'm sure to say the words, I’m sorry.  In the business world, when is the last time you heard a CEO use those very same words? It can be difficult for executive to let down the curtain and show vulnerability but it’s often even hard to admit their decision or product missed the mark or that it just wasn’t the right time.  Listed below is an apology letter crafted by the Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix regarding their recent announcement to raise their subscription rates.  Now many cynical people will smirk and say the timing of this is just to protect their shareholder value or try to win back the customers they lost.  Regardless of the motivation, I don’t believe you can ever go wrong admitting your mistakes, especially to your customer base. In business, it’s not always about which company never makes mistakes but rather how the company responds to the mistakes that truly counts. 

Dear Dennis,

I messed up. I owe you an explanation.

It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing.

For the past five years, my greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn't make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming. Most companies that are great at something – like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores – do not become great at new things people want (streaming for us). So we moved quickly into streaming, but I should have personally given you a full explanation of why we are splitting the services and thereby increasing prices. It wouldn’t have changed the price increase, but it would have been the right thing to do.

So here is what we are doing and why.

Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD. DVD is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection of movies.

I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV, and I can watch anytime I want. The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail. We need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolves, without maintaining compatibility with our DVD by mail service.

So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are really becoming two different businesses, with very different cost structures, that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently.

It’s hard to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”. We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery. We will keep the name “Netflix” for streaming.

Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go to qwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies. One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games. Members have been asking for video games for many years, but now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done. Other improvements will follow. A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated.

There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!). If you subscribe to both services you will have two entries on your credit card statement, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix. The total will be the same as your current charges. We will let you know in a few weeks when the Qwikster.com website is up and ready.

For me the Netflix red envelope has always been a source of joy. The new envelope is still that lovely red, but now it will have a Qwikster logo. I know that logo will grow on me over time, but still, it is hard. I imagine it will be similar for many of you.

I want to acknowledge and thank you for sticking with us, and to apologize again to those members, both current and former, who felt we treated them thoughtlessly.

Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to regain your trust. We know it will not be overnight. Actions speak louder than words. But words help people to understand actions.

Respectfully yours,

-Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO, Netflix

p.s. I have a slightly longer explanation along with a video posted on our blog, where you can also post comments.

I received this little bag of goodness from one of my customers who knows what I am passionate about. Do you know what YOUR customers are passionate about? When is the last time you surpised THEM with a token of appreciation?

It may be surprising to those who still think Social Media is all fun and games but Social Media is revolutionizing both the business world and the world in general.  Naysayers continually look at Social Media as a fad and only for the younger generation but they are ignoring its ability to make the world smaller by connecting with other people, companies, and brands.   If you need further proof, look no further than the following great story about how a company connected with its customer in an extraordinary way:

http://shankman.com/the-best-customer-service-story-ever-told-starring-mortons-steakhouse/

There are many other great stories that are being told on a daily basis on how companies are using Social Media to connect with their current and future customer base and also to help drive top line revenues.  However, as mentioned earlier Social Media is also changing the world as we know it.  There are many stories about how people have reconnected with long lost friends and family they have never met. In other words it makes this world we live in a much smaller place. Just recently a story made national news of a young man that went missing in Asia while on a trip with a group of people.  His family and friends used Facebook and Twitter as a way to communicate with anyone who might have seen or heard from him.  This is just one of a growing number of stories of how Social Media has revolutionized our current culture.

The question then is how are you harnessing the power of Social Media in your business?