Many business owners would say that this statement is true without a doubt. No matter what the issue or what the expense, the client is always right and every remedy should be made to ensure that the client is always satisfied. I would love to challenge you to think about the following situations and determine if you still think the client is always right.

1. The Customer/Client that Challenges Your Boundaries. As a business owner it is important to determine boundaries for your business. These boundaries would include such things as; hours you are available to your clients, projects you are willing to undertake, pricing policies, turnaround times, etc.. When a client continually expects you to step outside these boundaries and challenges you when you stand behind your boundaries, is it necessary to allow them to be right? For example, if you stated to a client that your turnaround time was three business days and anything under that time was considered a rush job and subject to premiums, when your client insisted that a job be done within two days and then was unwilling to pay your rush premiums, would you fight to obtain those premiums?

2. The Client that is Never Satisfied. We have all dealt with one of those clients before, I am sure that you know the ones I am talking about. I call them the “suckers” … they suck everything out of you so that there isn’t much left for the other clients. This is the client that changes their mind constantly, that is always right (even when they are wrong) and that never seems happy with anything.

3. The Client that is Bad for Business. So many of us can remember that client that something just didn’t feel right, but we decided to work with them anyways. The biggest lesson that can be learned from working in a situation such as this one is to always go with your gut. Don’t ever be afraid to fire a client, especially a client that is effecting the value of our work for the other clients.

4. The Client that Makes us Unhappy. Remember the reason you started your own business was to make your own decisions and to work with who you wanted, when you wanted, doing what you wanted. The minute that a client makes you not want to answer their phone calls, not want to answer their emails or worse yet not enjoy working with them or on their file, it is time to part your ways.

Of course, each situation and answer is not cut and dry. Many times it depends on a variety of circumstances such as who the client is, what was stated in writing and verbally, how determined you are to “stick to your guns” and how much there is to lose if the situation is reversed or if you stick to your guns. Remember that when determining if the client is right, do what feels right to you and your business and don’t ever let a client “bully” you into doing something that goes against your personal and business ethics. I challenge you to answer this simple question when determining if your client is always right … What is the worst thing that they could do to you and your business if they were told they were wrong?

So you built a business, you have a great product or service to offer, and still nothing. The clients just aren’t coming. Whatever happened to the saying “Build it and they will come”? If only building a business was that simple. In order to build a thriving business you have to create your own demand … get people talking about you and the great product or service that you offer.

Here are just a few ways to create your own demands:

Start Talking
Tell anyone and everyone about what it is you do and why it is better than your competitors. Don’t be afraid to describe your ideal client when talking with others so that they can get a true picture of just who it is that you are looking for to purchase your product or service.

Become an Expert
People are more likely to buy from you if they trust you. A simple way of building that trust is by becoming an expert in your field. Providing seminars, writing articles and blogging are just some of the avenues for providing that expertise. By showing others that you know what you are talking about and by providing valuable information to them (free of charge), you can be sure that when people are looking to buy a product or service like yours, yours will be the first one that they think of.

Testimonials
When your present clients are satisfied with your product or service make sure to ask them for a testimonial. By providing your potential clients with proof that your product or service is what you offer, they are more likely to purchase. When providing testimonials it has even more of an impact if you provide a picture of the person or at the very least a telephone number or link to their website so that these people seem more real.

Offer a Trial or Incentive
Many who have never used your product or service may be leery to take the plunge. By offering them a trial or promotional incentive to try your product or service, they are more likely to “become hooked” by what you can offer them. Some people even purchase on impulse so give them a reason to act on those impulses … don’t give them a reason to have second thoughts.

Referral Incentives
Getting others to talk about your service or product is another great way to promote your product or service. By giving people something (whether cash, gift or discount) for helping spread the word they are more likely to remember to assist you in telling others about you and your business.

Create an Urgency
As I stated, many people buy on impulse so why not feed that impulsivity. Create a reason why they need to buy now. Limited time offer. Only 99 available. Don’t waste another minute or another dollar … I think you get the idea. When creating an urgency remember two things … a) make the urgency real – if you say you have 99 then you should only have 99; and b) the incentive to act on the urgency is maximized when you market to a person’s problems – give them the solution they need.

I urge you to try just some of these ideas in your business. Many entrepreneurs realize that running a successful business takes a lot of work and find themselves frustrated when business takes a downturn. The most thriving businesses are those that can see a downturn as a challenge, rise to the challenge and then hang on for the ride.

Today at my BNI (Business Networkers International) meeting I was honored by being presented with a notable networker award. I was very touched by this presentation and I must say it was a huge reminder as to what it means to be a notable networker.

Within my group I am definitely not the biggest referrer, but each and every referral that I give is well thought out and I work hard to get those referrals. I have made it a commitment to meet with each of the members of my group and learn as much as I can about their businesses. I know exactly who their ideal client is and I work hard to find them. When I do find them I just love how putting them in touch with someone that can help them makes me feel. It truly aspires to the BNI motto … “Givers Gain”.

I have learned a great deal about networking and referral marketing through my BNI membership and for this I am truly thankful because I think so many of us network in order to get business and stand around waiting for the referrals rather than working to become a good networker.

One of the biggest questions I see on message boards and hear from new business owners is “How do I get clients?” Many have the opinion when first starting their business that the clients will just be “chomping at the bit” waiting to purchase from them. However, running a business is not as easy as “Build it and they will come”. You must work at attracting your ideal client and the easiest way to do that is by developing your niche in the marketplace.

Simply put a niche is what attracts your ideal client to you. A niche is what makes you “stand out” from your competition … it is the one thing that allows others to determine that working with you, over your competitors, is in their best interest. A niche can be defined by a particular client, a particular service or a particular geographical area that you service. It is the target that you are striving to reach.

Imagine the array of potential clients to your business as a dart board. Your niche is the bulls-eye in the centre of the board. Just as throwing a dart and hitting the “bulls-eye” earns you the most points in a game of darts, by hitting the niche “bulls-eye” you earn the greatest return for your time and investment.

Although, in the game of darts you collect the most points by hitting the bulls-eye, you can also collect points for hitting others around the dart board. The same holds true in business, just because you have your niche (or bulls-eye) doesn’t mean you can’t earn “points” from others. The bulls-eye is simply something to aim at. When you choose a niche to aim at, I am sure you will see your business begin to grow and thrive.

The second thing to keep in mind with a niche is that it must be very clearly defined. Your niche needs to be able to know you are looking for them and you do this by allowing them to identify with you and your business. Here are just a few ways to define your niche:

Your Wording
Have you clearly defined your niche and given someone the opportunity to find you? Don’t be afraid on your website or in your marketing materials to spell it out for them in very clear words. “Our ideal client is ….”, “We specialize in ….”, etc.

Your Brand
Does your brand appeal to your niche? What images will your brand conjure among your niche? Remember that your brand extends into such things as your logo, the colors you utilize in your business, your business name, your tagline, etc.

Your Pitch
When you are talking to others and “pitching” your business are you clear with others just what it is that you are looking for and what it is that you provide?”

Finally, remember the most important reason for choosing a niche market is to allow yourself to become an expert within that niche. In business, failure will surely come to those that try to be everything to everyone. Once you choose a niche and make it your goal to be the best that niche has to offer, a true expert in your niche, your business will not only flourish and grow, but it will thrive!!

When you are choosing a target market, many business advisors and coaches will have you target a very specific market. They will spend a great deal of time having you determine who the best client for you and your business is based on the service you provide, the experience and expertise you are offering, as well as other criteria. This market is known as your primary target market. However, those that are “thriving” are those that have a secondary target market as well.

A secondary target market is a market that could also be described as a “backup” or “alternate” market. For example, let’s look at a business that is located in an area that is subject to the snows of winter and the warm temperatures of the summer. Their target market may be landscapers, construction workers or real estate agents, but this may mean that in the few months where their target market is slower, they end up suffering a downturn in their own business. This is where having a secondary market is a great way to maintain a balance. Looking for a business that is busy only during the slow season of your primary market is a great way to find a balance for your business and be able to service two clienteles.

Your secondary market should compliment your primary market, yet still have the key ingredients of utilizing the products or services you provide and the experience or expertise that you possess. To determine a good secondary market, there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. What businesses run on an opposite cycle to your target market and are, therefore, a complimentary business to your primary target market? For example, landscape companies are busy during the summer months and snow removal companies are busy during the winter months. These are great examples of complimentary businesses.

2. What skills do you possess or offer that could be utilized by other businesses during a slow period for your target market? For example, a bookkeeper that targets the wedding industry such as photographers, caterers, videographers, wedding planners, etc. would not find as many brides and grooms utilizing those services during the winter months. Should this bookkeeper take that opportunity to utilize the winter months of December – April to target Accountants that are preparing tax returns for their clients due in April? This could be a great way to work within their skill set.

3. Your secondary market could also be a market that you enjoy working with and has nothing to do with your primary market. There is absolutely nothing that says you can’t choose two completely different markets which have nothing to do with complimenting each other or utilizing business cycles effectively. For example, you may just determine that you love working with two very different markets. Perhaps one utilizes one skill that you possess while another utilizes a completely different skill. Possibly they both utilize the same skill, but their businesses are such polar opposites they cannot be lumped together and described as a particular target market.

Next time that you are looking to grow your business, perhaps instead of looking as to how you can grow your present primary target market, it might be time to look at a secondary market. For many, the introduction of a secondary market can be just the thing they need to take their business to another level.

How do you get anywhere new without utilizing a map or asking for directions? Do you just pile the kids in the car and hope that by driving around aimlessly for hours you will eventually find the place? If you didn’t have such things as the address and a general vicinity it would make your job even harder. Similarly how can you have a successful day without mapping out where you need to go?

Like the map which provides directions, so too does a daily task list (or to do list, if you rather) provide you a direction for your day. The tasks that you list are small tools that help you to make sure that you stay on the road to success. I guarantee you that if you take the time to write out your list daily of all the things you need to accomplish you will be on the track to having a successful and thriving business.

Better yet, why not prepare your task list the night before? That’s right … This is when you are likely best to remember all the things you need to do the next day that were not accomplished in a particular day. Then it is easier for you in the morning to just jump right in and get a great start to your day.

For myself and my business, I take the time each and every night to map out what I need to accomplish the next day so that nothing is ever forgotten. I have found for myself because I do have a busy business, that by setting this out each day I am more productive and I no longer feel lost!!

Good luck!!

Today I am most thankful for my Business Advisor and my local Small Business Centre.

When I started my business I did so with the assistance of a program called the SEB program (Self - Employment Benefit). The biggest part of this program was to get the participants to think “outside of the box”. We were all expected to create a business plan that would show that our business idea was plausible and would be a profitable venture for us. I was so proud of my business plan when I handed it in, but that all changed the minute that my advisor reviewed it and sent it back to me with his comments …

In particular, my business advisor told me that my business plan was solid and would make a successful “JOB”, but he wanted to know what I was going to do to make it a thriving Business? I was really setback by this and offended. In my opinion this was a business … if I wanted a job then I would go get a job from someone else. So I challenged his comments and I can tell you that this was the best thing that I ever did.

His comment was that there was absolutely nothing wrong with what I had handed in, but from just speaking to me he could tell that I would never settle for having a Virtual Assistant business that would peak at 120 billable hours per month and never take that next step. What he wanted to see from me was that “next step” … what was I going to do to make this a really thriving and booming business? That he said is what would set me aside from all the other Virtual Assistants.

So, that’s what I did, I set out to be more … I set out to grow my business into something that no other Virtual Assistant had done … I had (and still have) big dreams for my business and I am so thankful to my business advisor for that push.

My challenge to you is this … what are you doing to make your business stand out, reach the next level and become the thriving business it can be? What are you doing to revolutionize your business?

“What’s in it for me?” The answer to this question may just be the key to having a truly successful and thriving business. If you can answer this question on behalf of your ideal client and market with that answer in mind, you will have creating a thriving business all figured out. Easy isn’t it? Well it should be easy once you figure out why that answer is crucial to taking your business to the next level.

When your ideal client is trying to decide whether to buy from you or not, it all boils down to selfishness. If you cannot fulfill a need, want or desire they need filled then they will definitely not purchase from you … it’s as simple as that. So the solution to creating a thriving business is to first determine what that need, want or desire is and then fulfill it. Gearing the marketing of your product or service to fulfill that need, want or desire will ensure the success of your product or service.

So what need, want or desire does your product or service provide for? I know that each of us thinks that people cannot live without our product or service, but that just is not true. People are living right now without it and living just fine … but it is up to you to change that. You need to make your target client realize that they cannot live another day without purchasing from you.

Many people make the mistake of marketing with features and advantages in mind as opposed to the benefits (whether real or perceived). Look to your marketing campaigns, past and present. Did you tell people all about the great things that your product or service did? If you answered yes then this could be why your marketing campaigns are not working. Here are some examples of marketing based on features and advantages:

- “Our fabulous blue felt-tip pens have easy grip handles”

- “These super duper shovels are curved for painless lifting”

- “Virtual Assistants handle your administrative tasks remotely”

Benefits answer the pain that you will solve, the problem that you will fix and the desire you will fulfill by purchasing your product or service. It is the benefits that will truly answer the questions “What’s in it for me?”, “Why should I care?” or “Why is your product/service better than your competition’s?”

- “Write for hours with our easy grip fabulous blue felt-tip pens that reduce writer’s cramp”

- “Stop throwing out your back by utilizing the super duper shovel”

- “Gain six extra weeks each year by partnering with a Virtual Assistant, ask us how”

Once you start marketing with the benefits in mind, remembering your client’s buy because of their selfish needs, wants and desires and remember to answer your client’s questions “What’s in it for me?”, “Why should I care?” and “Why is your product/service better than your competition’s?” you will start seeing improved results in your business and be well on the road to creating a thriving business.

Every business has a story. Afterall that is what sets each business apart and makes them unique. You can look at any two businesses and they will never have the same story. Your business story tells others about what your business looks like, why you do the things you do and how. It tells others all the important things so that they can truly understand your business as you do.

When we start our business, we have this vision in our head. We know what we want to do, how we are going to do it and why. Some take the time to write out a business plan, while others jump in with both feet figuring that they will “wing it” as they go. We spend a lot of time as business owners reading about the importance of business planning and many financiers and investors would never give you money without being able to see a solid business plan. So, if you took the time to write this plan when you started your business, have you ever taken it farther? Do you update your plan as your business changes? Have you written out your policies, your procedures, your BUSINESS STORY?

Your business story should be written in such a format that anyone can read it and step into your shoes. They should know your purpose and your vision, together with the steps necessary to achieve that vision. Here are five key ingredients to include in your business story:

1. Description of your target market, your niche and the products or services you provide and why. Let the reader get a feel for exactly what your clients look like, act like and desire and what products or services you deliver to fulfill their needs and desires.
2. Your visions, goals, hopes and dreams for the future; the exact steps you hope to take your business in to achieve these dreams.
3. The policies you have put into place to protect your clients, your products and services and most importantly your business reputation.
4. The procedures you follow each day to achieve those successes including all the behind the scenes tasks, your sales process and your formula for creating the top notch products and services you provide.
5. Your no-fault, absolute, make everything better, disaster recovery plan, a.k.a. your contingency plans. Those things that you will put into place to make sure that anytime there is a “hiccup” in your business it will go unnoticed by your clients.

Creating your business story is easy you just have to look within your heart and your head and it will almost write itself. Now you just have to set aside the time to write it out. This is important and you won’t realize how important until one day you face that obstacle and say “If only I had written my story!!”

When you market to a client, it is imperative that you answer the question “What’s in it for me?” (WIIFM) because, let’s face it, we are in a society where we have been conditioned to take care of Number 1 first (and why not … we all deserve that!!). If you want your potential client to take a serious look at the service or product you are offering, they need to know that they are going to get some value from purchasing from you. Even more importantly they need to be reminded constantly of the value they are continuing to receive.

Marketing Materials
The very first place that your client will be looking to answer WIIFM, even before they agree to do business with you, is within your marketing materials. If the front page of your website does not speak to their pain or entice them to look further, you have lost your opportunity. If your business card doesn’t quickly explain to a client what you do and why they need you, you have lost your opportunity. If your 30-second infomercial, doesn’t tell that potential client why they can’t live without you, you have lost your opportunity.

Give your potential client a reason to keep looking and to keep listening. Speak to their pain and answer how you can ease that pain. Tired of suffering from backaches? You need a chiropractor. Struggling with paperwork? You need a Virtual Assistant. Don’t know a debit from a credit? You need a bookkeeper. Make sure all your marketing materials and your infomercial answer your client’s questions and entice them to want to hear and/or read more. Keep them excited and interested in what you are going to offer them to make their life easier.

Making the Sale
So you’ve gotten the potential client to hear how you can make their life easier and they are interested in what your product or service has to offer them. Now what? Now it is time to close the sale and “seal the deal” as they say. When you are “closing the sale”, make sure that you ask probing questions that you know your product or service can solve. Be ready and know ahead of time what the usual objections are to your product or service and then answer the questions before they are asked. Give the client every reason to know that they cannot live without your product or service because life with your product or service is going to be so much better. Paint them a picture of how life will be once they make that purchase.

Service and/or Product’s Value
So the client has agreed to make the purchase … now is the time to make sure that your product or service delivers. Make sure that you deliver on every promise you have made. This is the best way to get your clients talking about you and referring others to your product or service. A client is more likely to talk to others about a product or service that has made their lives better, easier or more exciting. If your product or service excites, eases or enhances, then you are sure to get your clients talking.

When you answer your client’s question “What’s in it for me” they will be sure to spread that word when they hear of other’s with that same question. If you take it one step further by following up and thanking that client for their business you will truly create a thriving business and even more importantly a base for referrals!!