Client Acquisition

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AI and Client Services – Chatbots and CVAs Are the Wave of the Future

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AI and Client Services – Chatbots and CVAs Are the Wave of the Future

In our most recent post, we shared the belief that Artificial Intelligence (AI) would impact the design and furnishings industry sooner rather than later. Beyond AI-powered design apps, we will most likely see the increasing implementation of bots and virtual customer assistants (VCAs) to blend and improve AI and client services.

According to the research and executive support firm Gartner, emerging technologies such as “Bots and virtual customer assistants (VCAs) are becoming more widely adopted. They are of medium-high importance now but are expected to grow in importance in the future. These technologies act on behalf of the organization to deliver information or act on behalf of the customer to perform a transaction. Bots and VCAs can guide customers to the right resources at the right time to free up rep resources.”

“‘Sixty-eight percent of service leaders indicate that bots and VCAs will be more important in the next two years,’ says Lauren Villeneuve, senior principal, advisory at Gartner. ‘Service centers should seriously be considering how this technology could be integrated into current operations, in both customer-facing and rep-facing systems.’”

The Practical Use and Importance of Bots

“Leveraging AI bots and VCAs through web chat channels has proved successful for many service centers. Deploying bots can deliver various benefits, including:

  • Greater capability and scale. AI bots are able to solve simple issues while letting advisors focus on the more complex tasks. Additionally, bots are able to help serve a growing customer base without the necessity of adding advisors.

  • Faster chat speed. AI bots can drastically reduce customer wait time. One client reported chatbots replying with[in] five seconds of customer contact, while typical advisors take 51 seconds.

  • Better gatekeeping. AI bots can learn to recognize other bots trying to gain access to systems, thus freeing advisors to only focus on actual customers.”

It is this nearly flawless flow from initial client contact to results-oriented solutions that improve client relations and free up a designer’s time, enabling them to focus on what they most love to do – reimagining a homeowner’s spaces. So, despite our nearly universal dislike of dealing with an AI when seeking service ourselves, the trend is for more, and better, chatbots and CVAs in our personal and professional lives.

As long as the better part of that sentence holds true, the inevitability of this trend should be something we look forward to seeing.

Ted remains available for business consulting to the trade on diverse issues which can include AI and customer service questions. To get in touch with him, simply… Contact TD Fall today.

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Marketing the Possible – And Doing It

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There are so many “tips” available from online marketing experts these days that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. When that happens, when there are simply too many choices, most people simply give up and choose to do nothing. For us, the real key to successfully marketing a business online is – knowing what’s possible, doing that, and doing only that.

In other words, as an entrepreneur, you need to know what you're capable of and limit yourself to those things alone. Granted, it’s tempting to try to be all things to all people but, that rarely works. It also leads to stress, exhaustion, and sleepless nights!

The Art of the Possible

This brings to mind the classic quotation that is normally attributed to Abraham Lincoln about whether you can “please all of the people all of the time.” In fact, the Lincoln quote was quite different (and quite a bit more cynical):

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln (emphasis added)

For cynical marketers (and far too many politicians), this is a truism that often has them crying themselves to sleep at night. For the rest of us, the gentler interpretation of poet John Lydgate has more appeal:

“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.” – John Lydgate (emphasis added)

Perhaps we can simplify that even further with this famous (or infamous) movie line:

“A man’s got to know his limitations.” – Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry

Knowing Your Limitations Has Value

What’s the point of all this quoting and deep thinking? Simply this… When you consider an online marketing strategy, you have to start from this basic premise… YOU know what's possible – and your prospects don't.

This is especially true today, when people’s values, needs, and priorities may have changed dramatically.

Consider for a moment these shifting attitudes from the business and personal worlds, in response to the recent health crisis which has had an impact on all of us.

According to Fortune.com, the top concerns of business leaders will be:

  • 48% say their top concerns over returning to business as usual are health and safety

  • 38% cited financial management and cash flow

  • 27% cited concerns about new laws and regulations

  • 25% of business leaders say the biggest challenge to working remotely is productivity and motivation

  • 24% said connectivity with coworkers

  • 19% home-office setup needs

  • 48% of business leaders think technology spending at their company will increase [in our new reality]

Whether your business is focused on products or services, or a combination of the two, these changing behaviors and priorities could have a direct effect on your target audience. This will have a profound effect on you and your design or furnishings business.

Where Can You Be Supportive?

For many, it’s a new world out there. For some, the changes are practical while, for others, they are driven by fear. Understanding which of these you are dealing with will go a long way to determining how you can offer the support and services prospective clients may need. And, since they do not know what may be possible, it’s your responsibility to educate and illuminate the possibilities for them.

That is what online marketing has always been, and always will be, about, the art of knowing and marketing the possible!

If you're still unsure of how to share your expert knowledge of the possible through online marketing, Ted offers business consulting to the trade that can help you figure it out. Simply… Contact TD Fall today.

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A Product Launch or New Service Launch Is All About You?

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If you perform a Google search for “product launch checklist”, it will take less than one second for the search engine giant to deliver more than 30 million search results… 30 million! Plus, some of those results will be from companies selling “product launch software”, while others offer some sort of product launch template as a guide. A limited number will actually present recommendations for a checklist.

Yeah, sounds like typical Google search results, right?

Of course, even if you discover a reliable site with a decent checklist for your product launch, you still have to act on it. You still have to shoehorn that list into a process that works for you and your product.

  • You have to set priorities.

  • You have to figure out the timing.

  • You have to set deadlines for content creation.

  • You have to assign tasks to yourself and your team.

  • You have to… have to… have to…

  • You have to do all the detail work and, if there are any problems, and

  • You have to take all the responsibility for not being prepared! YIKES!

Don’t you just love being the boss?!?

What to do, what to do?

Now, as you sit there contemplating all the things you must do to launch your product or service, you're likely wishing you already had a process in place with tasks, responsibilities, and timing ready to rock and roll.

While your product launch to-do list may seem endless right now, we’d like to offer some guidance on what needs to be done and how to set up your launch schedule.

How to Make Your Launches Easy (Well, easier!)

First, the good news: You can either create a launch template for yourself or you can choose from a variety of them available online. (And, when we say variety, we mean choosing from about 128 million Google search results!)

Below is an example of just one of the possible product launch templates you can choose from. As you’ll see, you can pick from the simplest to the most complex and detailed, as you please.

What really matters is how you format your own or fill out the cells in the template you choose. (Did we mention that a ton of these templates are FREE!)

Images courtesy of Smartsheet.com

And, oh yeah, there is no bad news!

All of a sudden, you have a comprehensive to-do list that includes who, what, and when: i.e., person responsible, type of task, timing, and deadline! This includes critical launch tasks like:

  • Content creation – lists of promotional materials, types of videos, blog posts, social media posts, etc., + Due Date for each.

  • Subscriber list promotion – email creation, email nurture campaign, newsletter announcement + Due Date for each.

  • Affiliate marketing – SWIPE file content needed for your affiliates, promotional content, affiliate agreement, etc., + Due Date for each. (FYI... SWIPE files are a collection of tested and proven advertising and sales letters.)

  • Graphic design for Sales Page – headers, images, upsell and down-sell pages, + Due Date for each.

  • Shopping cart setup – when to pick one, when to set it up, when to launch + Due Date for each.

Why do we keep adding “+ Due Date for each” to all of these tasks? Because this is where the template helps you out so much – by arranging and scheduling Due Dates for every launch task you and your team need to perform.

More than a simplistic checklist; more even than an overly simple template; these are a blueprint for a successful product launch. AND… So many of them are FREE!

Do you still think you might need help with your product launch or new service launch?

Remember, our hero Ted Fall remains available for business consulting to the luxury furnishings and design trades. Maybe he could help you brainstorm ideas to generate new revenue streams. Couldn’t hurt, right? So, go ahead and…   Contact TD Fall today.

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Client Attraction Tips - Who Is Your Ideal Client?

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“How do I attract more clients?”

Without a doubt, client attraction is one of the greatest challenges for businesses when developing an online marketing strategy. This is true not just for emerging online business owners, but even for veterans of the internet marketplace. Regardless of past success, client attraction remains an important element of your business, leading to increased referrals and long-term growth – as well as a steady revenue stream.

Attracting new clients requires two basic steps:

  1. Creating or enhancing your brand

  2. Identifying and appealing to your target audience

Being recognized as an expert in your niche, someone who can offer solutions is critical to your success. However, it’s just as critical to understand the needs, wants, and desires of potential clients. In other words, HOW you present yourself is as important as WHAT you have to offer, while knowing WHO to target is as important as knowing WHY they will benefit from your services.

Identify Your Ideal Client

To become a client attraction guru for your online business, you have to be able to step into your ideal clients’ heads. If you can create a clear profile of who they are and what they need or want, you’ll be able to speak to them in a way that will make them WANT to work with you! You can repeat this process over and over again when creating new products or services. The result is marketing materials you can use in multiple ways.

Of course, to accomplish this, there are a number of questions you’ll need to answer:

  • Who is your Ideal Client?

  • What are their Pain Points?

  • What are your Solutions?

  • What do they need to Know/Learn/Do to find a Resolution?

  • What is their Ultimate Why for Seeking your Help?

  • What is their Ultimate Outcome?

  • What will Success look like?

Ultimately, your goal is to answer the most basic question of all for them, “What’s in it for me?” If they can’t identify a benefit from working with you or from buying your product, they won’t.

When you’ve completed your Ideal Client Profile, develop one simple sentence to put it all together: what’s often called an “elevator statement”. When you’ve finished, you’ll discover a stunning type of clarity around who you want to work with and what you can do for them!

Your elevator statement can then be used in multiple ways: in conversations with potential clients; in networking situations; as material for your home page – and as inspiration for blog posts, articles, newsletters, and list-building materials.

If you have more than one ideal client, work your way through this process again to create a new profile. It’s just that easy, and that hard.

Once you’ve created your unique, identifiable brand and developed your ideal client profile, you can begin to generate content that enhances your identity and speaks directly to your target audience, enabling you to take your client attraction strategy to a new level.

Remember, Ted remains available for marketing and business consulting to the trade. Simply… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

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Interior Design Budgets – A Designer’s Nightmare Come True

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Too often, discussing interior design budgets with potential clients can be a nightmare. So many homeowners think they know what a job is worth yet may not have the knowledge to understand the full range of steps needed to match their dreams. So, while they feel like they “know” what a project should cost – and that may be all they’re willing to spend – it’s your job to educate them about their misconceptions and help them move toward a more realistic number.

Yeah, waking from that nightmare is a huge relief!

Take Command of Conversations About Interior Design Costs

Good thing for us, the folks at Business of Home corralled five interior designers to explain how they deal with unrealistic expectations about design costs with their clients.

Needless to say, it all begins with communication and education with plenty of follow-up during a project, if you’ve accepted the job. Then too, it may not be worth your time, energy, and frustration of the budget is unrealistic. Sometimes, as you’ll soon see, you just need to say, “No thank you”.

This is true for Robin Gannon of Robin Gannon Interiors in Lexington, MA:

“Sometimes that’s just what their budget is, and they’re not a fit for us. As a firm, it’s important to understand what you do and what you do well. You can’t sacrifice the quality of what you do simply because of somebody’s budget.”

The same is true for Helena Brana of Brana Designs in Corona del Mar, CA:

“Transparency with our clients is one of our founding principles. We discuss clients’ budget expectations very early in our communications and estimate costs based on our experiences with comparable projects. [Not all] clients are the right fit for us, and it’s better for everyone to find out early to avoid disappointments later on.”

interior design budgets

Adjust Your Design Clients’ Expectations

Doing this is a priority for Daniela Holt Voith of Voith & MacTavish Architects in Philadelphia, PA:

“We seek to set client expectations not just about budget, but also about schedule and fees. We can design a beautiful, functional project for a client based on all the listening in the world, but if it’s not in the budget, it’s a nonstarter. As much as you never want to walk away from an opportunity, if there’s no consensus, it’s better to part ways amicably.”

Handling the budget conversation should be done up front, says Johanna Barger of Johanna Barger Design in New York:

“Design is a very creative field, but it is also a business – my business. And I never shy away from budget discussions. I take the financial aspect of the process very seriously, and one of the first discussions in our initial meeting is cost expectations.”

And further, she says:

“Many clients do not have a sense of the financial commitment it takes to create what they see in magazines or on social media. Part of my service is to educate the client through direct, transparent conversations about numbers while also realizing their design aspirations.” (emphasis added)

Finally, we have these comments from Alison Downey of Downey Interiors in New York:

“The project budget is always part of our initial conversation before moving forward. As our fee is commensurate with the budget, and [considering] clients don’t always understand the vast range of options when it comes to price points, we take the time to educate them from the get-go. In order to determine a realistic level of investment [rather than] ‘budget’, we prepare a project plan that includes a high and low total reflecting the items we anticipate will be used.” (emphasis added)

She continues with:

“If the client doesn’t feel comfortable moving forward, we need to determine whether the project is a fit [for us]. When a project doesn’t align with what’s needed for a successful outcome, it likely won’t be a good experience for anyone involved. That said, we wholly respect a realistic budget that is set at the beginning of the project. We work hard to be as accurate as possible and guide the client when they are veering off course. It is our job to check in with them, let them know where things stand financially, and ensure they are well-informed.”

Conversations about money can be tough, as can dealing with a potential client’s expectations based on their interior design budget. Yet, as we all know, they must take place and must be frank and open. Anything less would be not only a disservice to your client, but to yourself, as well.

If you find yourself regularly getting caught in the nightmare surrounding interior design budgets with clients, Ted is available for sales coaching and business consulting to the trade. Simply… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

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Client Acquisition Tip – Take The LEAD & Get More Clients

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Despite the ongoing disruption to many of our businesses and lives, we are convinced that things will improve, and we will return to a more normal state of affairs. Why do we believe this? Because it’s what we do – what human beings do. Always have and always will. With that in mind, we’d like to offer a client acquisition tip that will almost certainly help you grow your interior design and/or luxury furnishings business.

  • Now, since acronyms are all the rage these days, we’ve developed a li'l sumpin’, sumpin’ we call the LEAD approach to client acquisition:

  • Listen – to your target audience and they will tell you how to convert them.

  • Educate – your audience on solutions to their pain points.

  • Adapt – to the needs of a broad client base.

  • Develop – services or products that meet specific needs.

These steps will become the foundation for a fully integrated, well-conceived approach to generating leads that will address the needs of your target audience. This will enable you to communicate with them as individuals, not as a vague, superficial, poorly defined collection of personality types.

get more clients

4 Tips for Improved Client Acquisition

Let’s dive a little deeper into the practical steps of the LEAD approach; steps you can take to effectively generate leads for your business in virtually any business environment:

  • Listening includes increasing communication – in both directions. As we’ve mentioned before, prior and existing clients may be your greatest asset. Since they already know and trust you, they are an invaluable source of information about the value of the things you do – as well as a resource for referrals. Engaging with them will enable you to speak to them about alternative offers, explore new value-added services, and make yourself invaluable to them and prospective clients.

  • Education and learning are equally valuable – to your audience and you. Learning about the challenges your clients are facing will create opportunities for you to offer increased, targeted support. The current situation could create life-altering changes that will need both short- and long-term solutions. Regularly scheduled meet-ups with clients, prospects and team members should become the norm.

  • Adapting to the needs of a broad client base now includes adjusting to new challenges. This is where you will begin to employ some outside-the-box thinking since new challenges are going to need new solutions. You may need to get some online training yourself, as a means to offer more services and greater value. You may want to offer special deals, temporary rate reductions, and freebies to generate interest. You may even want to reexamine your values in an effort to discover what really matters – to you and your clients – in these challenging times.

  • Developing new products and services will be critical to your success. This will likely include broadening your own skill set, as well as finding new ways to present them. This is especially true for service providers, like interior designers for example. You may need to expand your services menu to use your entire skillset, as you figure out new and inventive ways to offer value to your clients.

Many design clients struggle to articulate their vision for a particular space, which is where you come in. Find creative ways to offer them the greatest value by presenting practical, real-world solutions to their pain points. Assure them that you’ve spent years building relationships with dependable contractors and furnishing suppliers that enable you to deliver as expected in a timely, cost-effective manner.

Even if staying in touch with clients and team members regularly involves nothing but sharing stories and commiserating, staying engaged has value. Being visible will keep you front-of-mind with your audience as the economy and markets return to normal. Showing you care will build trust and loyalty, which will allow you to retain and acquire clients more smoothly.

And yes, we believe that optimism is key because we know that life and business WILL return to normal and, when it does, you want to be ready.

Are you looking for more client acquisition tips or other marketing ideas and support? Ted remains available for business consulting to the trade. Simply… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

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Client Retention – Building Relationships is Critical to Keeping Clients

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How often have you heard that relationship building is the key to client retention and acquisition? We know we have trouble counting the number of times we’ve read about it. Guess that means it’s important, huh?

Of course, this begs the question of how you build relationships online, as well as person-to-person.

After all, and as we’ve often claimed and continue to believe, the internet is as impersonal a place as can be imagined. By its very nature, it is completely indifferent to your wants and needs and, while it has value to all of us, we have no value at all to it.

Now that we have the metaphysics of our online world out of the way, what does all of this mean when it comes to doing business online?

The simple answer is – it is entirely up to you to learn how to build relationships with your clients and prospects as the foundation of your online marketing strategy. To do this, you will need to understand what compels them to search for solutions in such an unforgiving environment and let them know that you can be trusted to help them.

Clearly, this is no small task.

client retention

Sustain and Grow Client Relationships

Thankfully, we’ve found help for you (and us!).

In an article at Business.com, editor and author Chad Brooks keys us in on how to get this done: “The most important thing in marketing is to retain your most profitable business customers.”

While Mr. Brooks offers a dozen or so valuable ideas to help small businesses improve client retention, we will focus your attention on those we believe to be the most valuable. Our hope is that these will resonate with you and inspire you to follow the link above for more.

  • Continually evaluate your market and network – Research your customers’ markets, needs, and goals. Big data analysis tools should be part of your sales team’s planning. Market trends shift often, and you need to know what strategies to employ to increase shares or enter new markets. Engage customers in product development and enhancement via beta tests, focus groups, and pilot programs. Learn their business habits, purchasing patterns, and requirements for effective proactive solutions.

  • Use a CRM system – A Client Relationship Management system stores client and potential client data in a format that is digestible by your team. It also monitors things such as customer satisfaction and may provide overviews of sales and other metrics. Typically cloud-based, these programs help businesses organize customer relationships and facilitate interactions.

Since existing clients are your most valuable asset, it is critical to your ongoing success that you understand them on both an organic (i.e., in-person) and digital level (i.e., the metrics).

  • Communicate relevant information regularly and effectively – Keep in touch with existing clients with targeted emails and newsletters. Update customers on industry trends potentially affecting them and give your take on upcoming issues. Let them in on your visions for their (and your) success, and then explain your take on achieving it.

Social media is a great connector, so use it wisely to keep communication channels open. However, making a person-to-person connection means much more. Be a person, not a talking head on a website. Humanity trumps digital every time.

  • Be accessible and responsive – Talk and listen to customers to maintain a dialogue and build a trust-based relationship. Make it easy for customers to reach you. When they contact you, make it a point to return calls and emails promptly. Implement a customer satisfaction policy that provides a way to resolve and remedy problems and issues. Provide support, service, advice, and information. Train team members on how to manage calls efficiently and effectively so customers have their concerns addressed no matter whom they reach at your business.

  • Become the “Go-To” person in your market – Develop skills and knowledge that make you an authority for your customers. A reputation for expertise means the ability to provide valuable resources to clients unobtainable elsewhere, especially your knowledge. Look for ways to add value, be a real partner, and help your customers achieve results. Provide guidance even when there is little chance it will mean any immediate business gain for you. Doing so almost always pays off down the road.

  • Redefine your concept of who and what a client is – Clients are much more than a roster of potential purchasers of products and services. Retaining customers requires fostering long-term relationships over pursuing short-term money-making possibilities. Recast the relationship as more of an extended partnership. Then be prepared to meet client needs by adjusting your business services as necessary.

Existing Clients are More Likely to Buy Again

There’ are a few reasons we are so focused on client retention. Based on the latest market research, designers and furnishing dealers will do themselves a favor if they can devise ways to retain or reengage existing and past clients. Why?

  • New clients are 7x more expensive to acquire than keeping or reengaging existing or past clients.

  • Probability of converting an existing customer is between 60% &70%.

  • Probability of converting a new client is just 5% to 20%.

  • Repeat clients spend an average of 33% more than new clients.

  • Repeat clients are 60% to 70% more likely to buy an up-sell.

These are just a few of the reasons that re-engaging and working to establish customer loyalty is critical to the growth of your business.

Clearly, there is work to be done to improve the future of your business. There is also further guidance available if you choose to use it. Ted remains available for business consulting to the trade. We think he is a master at both relationships with clients and retaining them. So, feel free to… Contact him at TD Fall today..

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Getting to Know Your Target Audience – Online Client Acquisition Pt2

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The concepts we shared about online client acquisition in a previous post are important steps in a successful marketing strategy. What we’re talking about today though is even more important – gathering product development information directly from the folks you hope will buy it from you.

Once you have the demographics of your target audience in place, thanks to your online surveys, it’s time to get serious about focusing your services on the client profile you’ve developed.

know your target audience

Target Audience Surveys

Here, we employ the advice of some real audience survey experts, the folks at SurveyMonkey.com. In an article titled, The best questions to ask for developing any product, they share ideas for, well... The best questions you can ask for developing any product – or service:

  • How do my target consumers currently use my product?

If you don’t already have a product, answering this question may involve discovering what problems consumers have with what they’ve found on the market. Knowing these points of value can help you focus your business on the qualities that are most important. If your business wants to add complicated features or services, yet your customers prefer a simplified experience, that’s valuable time and money lost.

(In other words, learn to accept a “Yes, we like it” statement and stop pushing for more.)

  • What do my customers dislike about my product/services?

While it’s useful to find out what your customers enjoy about your products or services, some of the most important information you can gather is what customers dislike. Sometimes the best questions to ask for developing products or services are the easiest to answer, too, as many customers aren’t shy about voicing their concerns.

(It may be hard to do but you often have to set your ego aside and take the feedback in the spirit intended, even when it’s negative.)

  • What ideas do customers have for improvement?

Ordinary customers have plenty of great ideas to improve what you offer since they’re the ones using it the most. Surveying customers regarding improvements will not only provide valuable insight but also helps them feel engaged and more invested in you and your offerings.

(Offering them the opportunity to help you improve your product/services shows you are genuinely interested in their opinions, which can gain you huge loyalty points with them.)

  • What problems can I solve that my competition cannot?

This question is your classic competitive advantage. It’s the secret sauce in your product recipe. In our scheduling software example [from the article], the software may be faster and easier to use than a paper schedule, as well as cheaper than hiring a secretary or assistant. A paper schedule can be fragile and requires continual hand-entry, and an assistant can be expensive.

(No product is perfect, especially when offered through an impersonal medium like the internet. Use this client input to refine your offerings and try to make them “more perfect” than your competition.)

And then there's this one, based on our experience...

  • How can I do it better than my competitors?

This may be the most important question in your target audience surveys because the answer takes you directly to the heart of the matter. That is – exactly why your target customer is looking for an alternative to your competition. Is it their presentation style? Is there a personality conflict between the provider and the customer? Has a once-ripe offering aged beyond its “Best if used by” date?

(There could be any number of reasons a consumer has lost interest in a once-favored product or service. However, you simply cannot presume to know why that has happened. Instead, you need to know exactly what the issue is and find ways to make your offering better.)

The Hard Truth We All Must Accept

We mentioned this earlier but think it bears repeating. It’s a hard truth that ego is often the downfall of even the most sincerely committed, otherwise empathetic entrepreneur. After all, if you’ve devoted the time and invested cash to get training in your niche, you are entitled to some pride in your expertise. We get that, of course.

But, if you're struggling to sign up clients; if you're finding it hard to justify investing time, money, and energy in your business; if you're losing sleep trying to figure out what went wrong, it may be time to realize you don’t have all the answers. But, you can get them, through surveys of your target audience.

We sincerely hope the steps we’ve shared today will work for you to improve your online client acquisition efforts. If you need help, Ted remains available for business consulting to the trade. Simply… Contact TD Fall today.