Building repeat business and loyalty through better customer service

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Customer service is an essential component of marketing your services, particularly when you are self-employed. You might be great at what you do, but that won’t matter to your clients if you provide terrible (or non-existent) customer service. Why is it important to provide great customer service – even when you are a company of one? Because repeat business and loyalty are important to the success of your business.

To ensure the success and longevity of your business, at least 70 per cent of your clients should come from past clients and their referrals. To be truly successful, bump that number up to 90 per cent. It costs less to market to and keep existing clients than it does to find new clients. And if your past clients keep sending you business, and referrals, then what you spend on maintaining those relationships (by providing great customer service) will be repaid many times over. Repeat clients serve as your unpaid marketing team.

Small increases in client retention pay off very significant dividends. According to one study, a 5 per cent increase in customer retention (or, keeping 5 more of your next 100 clients) will result in a 25 to 95 per cent increase in your long-term profits. Why?

• It is at least five times more expensive to get a new client vs. keeping an existing client.
• It costs almost nothing to provide existing clients with additional services.
• It is more efficient to deal with existing clients.

There are other reasons, but these ones are key to me as an independent provider of services with one employee (me).

Consider these ideas for building and maintaining loyalty among your clients:

• Aim for win-win (both you and your client benefit from the relationship).
• Keep the process simple.
• Reward partners well.
• Maintain honest, two-way communication.
• Follow up on what you say.

How do you provide excellent customer service? Let me know – contact@davidgargaro.com.

David Gargaro

A two-step guide to relationship marketing

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All marketing is about relationships, and how you develop and build that relationship will determine its success, and how well you eventually sell your services. Relationship marketing often begins with getting someone’s contact information, such as their email address. When you have the email addresses of people or companies that you think would be interested in your services, do the following:

1. Send an invitation: Contact the person by email, and ask them if they would be interested in receiving some free information or content that would apply to them directly. Let them know that if they do not respond, you will not contact them again (very important due to Canada’s law on anti-spam legislation). Make sure that the offer (e.g., chapter from your book, article, white paper, report) is of value.
2. Start a relationship: If they show interest, send the requested content. Include a brief description of your offer or service, and include a way for them to contact you for more information on your offer. Make sure that they can end the relationship at any time, such as including opt-out links in your email.

You could extend the second step by NOT asking them to order anything. Keep sending free information to keep them interested, and let them know that they will continue to receive information and emails unless they decide to opt out. People who continue to receive information are more likely to purchase your product or service down the road, and you can continue to market and sell to them as long as they remain on the list to receive this content. You can build the relationship over time and develop a good customer base.

How do you build relationships in your marketing efforts? Let me know – contact@davidgargaro.com.

David Gargaro

Four easy ways to expand your online marketing

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My previous post on email signatures offered one way to promote yourself and your services online. Why should you look for ways to expand your online marketing efforts? Online marketing is:

• Integrated marketing, as it provides various tools to promote your message (e.g., billboard, catalogue, brochure, focus group)
• Relatively inexpensive compared to other forms of marketing
• Fast, as you can provide instant responses and updates
• Relatively simple for you and your clients
• Customizable, as you can target messages for specific clients
• Ideal for clients who want to control the messages they receive
• Another avenue to provide customer service
• Effective for reducing and controlling costs
• Interactive, as it can encourage feedback from clients
• Information rich, with numerous ways to provide content
• Accessible to markets in your neighbourhood and around the world, and different groups of people
• Available all day, every day
• A great way to build community and strengthen online relationships

Here are 4 ways to expand your online marketing:

1. Give advice. Giving advice on websites, discussion groups, online forums, and mailing lists is a great way to build relationships and grow your brand. You can become known as an expert in any given topic. Helping others is a great way to develop your reputation as someone who is willing to help others to succeed. As an example, I answer questions on Linkedin and Quora on topics related to editing, writing, freelancing, and other topics where I have knowledge and experience. You can also add an email signature to your responses to further promote your brand.
2. Use hyperlinks. There are two key ways to use hyperlinks to market your services:
   – Get other websites to link to your site.
   – Link your website to other sites that would interest your customers.
   More links to and from your site will improve your ranking in some search engines, and will make your site more valuable as a resource.
3. Support bookmarking. Ask visitors to your site to bookmark the page they visited, especially pages that contain useful resources or are regularly updated. This will enable them to return to your page with one click, and keep you and your site top of mind.
4. Provide fresh content. Update your website regularly with new content – articles, links, resources, news, etc. Make sure that people have a reason to visit your website regularly. FourSome programs enable you to link pages to a database that will support the generation of customized content for visitors. You can also create dedicated information pages that cover specific topics of interest to different groups of clients.

What tips do you have on promoting yourself online? Let me know – contact@davidgargaro.com.

David Gargaro

Using an email signature as part of your online marketing

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Email signatures are an often overlooked component of the online marketing toolbox. Email signatures are a free and effective way to market your message to your potential and existing clients. Whenever you send an email, respond to an email, or post to a discussion group, your message should conclude with an email signature. It should include your name, website, contact information, and a message (such as a tagline). For example, here is an example of my signature:

David Gargaro
Consulting Editor
david@davidgargaro.com
www.davidgargaro.com

Check out my book – How to Run Your Company… Into the Ground: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B9HL53Z

You can create several different signatures for different clients, markets, email addresses, and purposes. For example, if you are a real estate agent who sells residential, rental, commercial, and investment properties, you can create a different email signature attached to different agents, email addresses and markets. For example:

Frank Sales
The Sales Guy
www.thesalesguy.com (this is just an example website)
I am your rental property specialist.

You can also include links to different websites, promote your newsletter, provide information on special offers, and more. The only limit is your creativity.

Do you have a great idea for an email signature, or a tip on how to make it more effective? Let me know – contact@davidgargaro.com.

David Gargaro

Six tips on giving a great presentation

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Good speeches, presentations, seminars, workshops, etc. have a number of common elements. Learning how to develop your presentation skills (particularly when doing PowerPoint presentations) can improve your career and help to make your subject more appealing to your audience – which should be one of your key goals.

1. Stick to the main points. One solid piece of advice for giving a good talk is to keep your speech or presentation to a few main points. Base your talk on one central theme, and support it with a few key points. You can support those key points with examples, case studies, stories, facts, etc. For example, suppose you are giving a presentation on “Writing an effective email.” Your three key points could be:
   – Write a powerful, relevant subject line.
   – State your purpose in the opening paragraph.
   – Conclude with a call to action.
2. Know your audience. It is very important to know who you will be presenting to so that you can tailor your speech accordingly. Don’t say the same things to different groups of people. Find out what people are interested in, and speak to those topics. Ask several key audience members what interests them, and what they want to get out of the presentation. Use the opening of your presentation to work in a reference to the situation. This will get your audience interested from the beginning of your talk.
3. Provide great content. Focus on a few clear and specific points, and provide a lot of details to support those points. Organize details and examples to keep the talk interesting.
4. Tell interesting stories. People remember stories, anecdotes, and relevant examples because they affect real people’s lives.
5. Be enthusiastic. Show enthusiasm for your topic and your audience will care about what you have to say.
6. Personalize your information. Customize the opening of your talk to your audience, and insert relevant points throughout to keep them engaged. Research your audience ahead of time, or talk to a few people before your presentation. I saw a comedian from the U.S. who made a number of jokes about things he saw when he came to town, and we laughed even more because we could relate to the content.

Do you have any tips for providing great presentations? Let me know – contact@davidgargaro.com.

David Gargaro

How to become a better public speaker

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In a previous post, I pondered the idea of developing my own seminar, webinar or workshop on an editing or writing topic that would interest corporate clients. Besides trying to come up with the right topic, another key issue is my introversion, as I do not like to speak in public or converse with strangers. However, I have often been complimented on my public speaking and speech writing, as I think that I am good at it when I put the requisite effort into it.

Many people have a fear of public speaking, but I think the main issue is that people don’t know how to do it well enough to overcome their fear. Here are my four tips on practicing your public speaking and presentation skills while overcoming your fear at the same time:

1. Work with someone else: Partner with a more experienced presenter, or split the duties with someone else in a similar field. You can focus on specific subjects, or let the other person do the majority of the speaking.
2. Attend Toastmasters: This organization allows you to learn from experienced public speakers and get constructive feedback on your presentation skills.
3. Talk at schools: Teachers at high schools and colleges are often open to experts speaking for free on different business topics, or subjects that would interest their students while tying into lessons.
4. Be prepared: Make sure that you know your material. Do not read from cue cards. Use real examples, case studies and stories that are familiar to you so that you are more comfortable with the content of your presentation.

What tips do you have on becoming a better public speaker? Let me know –  contact@davidgargaro.com.

David Gargaro

Finding markets for your workshop or seminar

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In my last post, I talked about whether I should give a workshop, seminar or webinar. Today, I’ll talk about how to find markets for these types of services.

There are three general markets you can use to give seminars, presentations, and workshops:

• Self-promotion
• Talks promoted by others
• In-house talks

Use the following methods to build an audience through self-promotion:

• Post a free calendar announcement in your local newspaper, online classified, etc.
• Send letters or flyers to local businesses.
• Take out ads in larger newspapers, business journals, etc.
• Combine your efforts with other experts to gain access to their clients (e.g., lawyers can partner with accountants, writers can partner with designers, financial planners can partner with bookkeepers).
• Invite your clients to participate in your seminars by providing testimonials, case studies, etc.

You can give a presentation or seminar where other groups are already meeting:

• Use online and published directories to find groups, organizations, networking associations, etc. that are already meeting, as they are always looking for experts to give talks.
• Find ways to get sponsors to offer your seminars and classes.
• Participate in college and university extension programs.
• Partner with national seminar providers that put together programs for speakers.

Getting in as a speaker for a large corporation can be challenging, as they usually hire people who are well known or experts in their particular field. You can also approach companies as a professional trainer with a list of seminar or workshop topics that would appeal to that particular industry or company. This also requires some networking and sales skills to convince companies to hire you to give a presentation. However, the payoff can be quite lucrative.

What methods do you use to find opportunities to conduct seminars, workshops and presentations? Let me know – contact@davidgargaro.com.

David Gargaro

Should I create a workshop, seminar or webinar?

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I’ve always wanted to develop a workshop, seminar or webinar as part of my strategy to build my brand and grow my business. I also think that it’s incredibly cool, and great for your ego, to be a good public speaker. I’ve attended enough of these events over the years to understand that they are very effective in accomplishing these goals, as well as building your speaking and presentation skills and expanding your network. Webinars are also becoming a big part of growing one’s business, as you can reach a lot of people at the same time with very little effort (beyond creating the webinar).

Much like my issue with writing a newsletter, I’ve wondered about what I would present at a workshop, seminar or webinar that would encourage people to attend. There are many great workshops, seminars and webinars (and many average and bad ones), so I would want to put some thought into creating one (or several) that achieve my goals while entertaining and educating my audience. The goal is to give the people what they want so that they think of you again in the future.

So, what would I give a presentation, workshop or seminar on? Some ideas include:

• How to write effective emails
• Writing and editing your business correspondence
• Becoming a more powerful writer
• How to write interesting corporate newsletters
• Writing more effective web copy
• How to edit your own writing
• How to publish information products

What do you think? Let me know at contact@davidgargaro.com if you like any of these ideas or if you have any of your own suggestions for a workshop, seminar or webinar. I am very interested in pursuing this option, and hope to create one on a topic of interest at some time in the near future. Skillshare approached me about putting together a course, but I had to put it off as I did not have the bandwidth for putting it together.

PS. Check out my talk on better communication via email, given at the Editors Toronto meeting.

David Gargaro

Ten tips on publishing your own newsletter

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When I worked at a small publishing company, I wrote a weekly newsletter called Cram This! I used the newsletter to promote the company to our customers, discuss new and existing titles, provide useful information found in our titles, entice people with special offers, and more. It was quite popular and effective during its time.

I’ve written, edited and subscribed to enough newsletters over the years to understand how useful they are in building a brand and a business. Newsletters are great for educating and informing your current clients, and attracting new clients by establishing yourself as an expert in your field. I’ve thought about writing a newsletter to do the same with my current business. However, I current write LinkedIn posts and tweet, and am not sure how a newsletter would significantly differ. It would also require more time away from my business and other activities. Still, I am seriously considering developing a newsletter to help grow and promote my business – but it has to be useful, interesting, entertaining, and different.

Do you want to put out your own newsletter? Then consider the following tips for making it more effective for your business:

1. Always provide contact information so that readers can contact you for more details about you and your business. Provide links to your website, email address, social media pages, phone numbers and so on.
2. Write in a personal style so that they feel like you are speaking just to them. Or find a style that works best for you.
3. Make sure that the headline is clear and powerful. The headline pulls the reader in – the content keeps them there.
4. Keep individual stories to less than half a page. Provide links for additional content.
5. Ensure that your newsletter contains useful information, not strictly advertising or promotional material for your business.
6. Remember that the goal for your newsletter is to attract new business while also building your image. Everything in your newsletter should build upon that.
7. Create a plan for your newsletter, where you know what you will be writing for the next few issues. Publish an editorial calendar if possible so that your readers know what to expect in coming issues.
8. Publish regularly – whether it’s daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly, keep it regular so that your readers know when they will get the next issue.
9. It can be difficult to come up with new and interesting ideas for each issue of your newsletter. Consider the following sources:
   – Press releases related to your industry
   – Clippings of your work in other publications
   – Free and pay clipping services
   – Academic publications
   – Library
   – Filler services with prewritten material
   – Government publications (mostly free, reusable content!)
   – Trade magazines
   – Online resources (via search engines and meta-engines)
   – Customers and employees
   – Experts
10. What should you include as regular features in your newsletter? Consider the following suggestions:
    – Case studies related to how your clients used your services to improve their business
    – Contributions from readers and clients
    – Articles on new products and services related to your industry
    – Quizzes and self-analysis sheets
    – Interviews with experts
    – Short tips and top ten lists
    – Summaries of materials from other sources
    – Quotes, jokes, trivia, etc.

Need help with writing or editing your newsletter? Let me know – contact@davidgargaro.com.

David Gargaro

Eight ways to be better on the phone

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I believe that the telephone/smartphone is essential for every marketing program, as we interact with people on the phone every day. I think that we can all get better at contacting people by phone, and making better use of the phone in promoting our business. This includes writers and editors, as we still need to reach potential clients.

So, here are my top 8 tips on making more effective use of the telephone in marketing your services-oriented business:

1. Start with people you know, such as past and current clients. People like hearing your voice, particularly when they know you, and it is a good way to remind them that you are available and present.
2. Call with an obvious purpose – to get together, catch up, discuss a project, ask for advice, do research, etc. (do not call “just to chat” or “to see how they are doing”). Other ideas include:
   – You are new in town or you have a new business or product/service.
   – You are doing research on an important topic.
   – You want to invite the person to join your newsletter or receive information.
3. Create a benefit-oriented message if you get their voice mail so that they have a reason to call you back.
4. Aim for “warm” calls ahead of “cold” calls. Send a letter or email ahead of your phone call, or ask someone who knows the person you want to call to provide a connection or introduction before you make the call.
5. Don’t give up – the average sale requires five calls, and many people give up after two.
6. Be prepared when you make the call; you can use a script, but you should at least write down your goals or key questions.
7. One tactic when making a phone call is to offer a package of your services. For example, for $400, the client can purchase a 4-hour training session, where I will teach their employees to write better emails, business letters, sales and marketing materials, etc. Or they can purchase a 5-hour block of editing, where they can use five hours of my editing services over a period of one month, one week, several different days, etc. This allows them to try the service without spending a lot of money, and it could turn into a long-term relationship.
8. Hire an assistant (or professional telephone salesperson) to make phone calls on your behalf. In most cases, their hourly rate will be less than your hourly rate. Your time is best spent doing work that pays more than what you are paying them to get appointments, client leads, etc. You can test it by spending $500 for a specific number of phone calls or hours, and then measuring the results. If it turns out to be cost effective, continue employing that person to make phone calls on your behalf so that you can do what you do best.

What tips do you have on being better at using the telephone to market your business? Let me know – contact@davidgargaro.com.

David Gargaro