{"id":169,"date":"2014-08-07T10:48:18","date_gmt":"2014-08-07T10:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/copyexpressold\/?p=169"},"modified":"2021-08-26T22:52:41","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T22:52:41","slug":"putting-your-best-foot-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/putting-your-best-foot-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting your Best Foot Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I recently had our team watch a video by Robin Robins and discuss it as part\u00a0of our weekly staff meeting (link is at the end of the article). \u00a0In it she talked about \u201cbroken windows\u201d &#8211; those things that put your business in a negative light that we get used to as internal people. \u00a0We had a great discussion (and regularly come back to these concepts &#8211; have you noticed that our shop workspace is now cleaner?). \u00a0When I coach business owners we talk about the idea of \u201cMoments of Truth\u201d: every interaction with a prospective client is a moment of truth that will either increase their view of you or decrease their view of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many businesses fail not because they do their core business wrong, but because they do not put enough attention to the small things. \u00a0They let the broken windows stay broken. \u00a0They allow the small annoyances to continue simply because they (the owner and staff) no longer notice them. \u00a0But your clients and prospective clients do! \u00a0And it could be costing you thousands in lost clients and revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are 11 short ideas that put your best foot forward (or their absence is a \u201cbroken window\u201d). I suggest that you choose two or three and see if you can make an improvement in them over the next few weeks. \u00a0To encourage you, I\u2019m offering a $50 Copy Express voucher to one person who replys by the end of August with an example we can publish in next month\u2019s newsletter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#ff9900\" class=\"has-inline-color\">The Basics (Business Hygiene)<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Answering the phone &#8211; is it answered politely and clearly? \u00a0I called a motel today to make an inquiry and the phone was answered \u201cHello.\u201d \u00a0No business name, no identification of the person answering the phone. \u00a0Made me wonder if I had reached a real business. \u00a0Are calls transferred well, messages taken effectively, etc?<\/li><li>Physical appearance of your premises &#8211; when we moved into our new space earlier this year we moved a sofa from the staff room to the reception area that has a few water stain marks on it &#8211; it doesn\u2019t look disgusting, but you can see the faint outline. \u00a0We started noticing that people didn\u2019t often sit on it, and when we asked people to take a seat they often choose to sit. \u00a0Hmm. \u00a0By the time you read this that sofa will be long gone! \u00a0We were so used to it we didn\u2019t think it was a big deal, but our customers were obviously thinking differently.<\/li><li>Signage (or lack thereof) &#8211; they (mostly sign writers) say that having no signage is a sign if no business. \u00a0But I think that having stale signage is a sign of a bad business. \u00a0When you drive past a business and see a sign that is cracked, faded, has out of date data on it (think 6 digit phone numbers) and just looks grotty, it makes it difficult to take them seriously. \u00a0Now I know that many people say that the ebest food comes from \u201cwhole in the wall\u201d restaurants, but why take the chance?<\/li><li>Your web and email address &#8211; it just baffles me when people publish xtra.co.nz, clear.net.nz, hotmail, gmail or yahoo email addresses or websites on some free server. \u00a0It makes you look cheap and ill-informed! \u00a0(sorry if I just offended you). \u00a0Its also stupid (there, I probably did it again!). \u00a0It is so cheap and easy to get your own domain name and a basic web site that there is no excuse for not doing it right. \u00a0By using your ISPs domain (xtra, clear, etc.) you are tying yourself into their services and if you ever want to change providers you will have to pay for the right to keep the email address. \u00a0Using gmail and other such services just looks cheap. \u00a0gmail will host your domained email for free so why not make it look good. \u00a0Oh &#8211; if this is you, we offer a basic website service that will get you up and running quickly.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#fffb0c\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Dealing with your Prospects<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Look professional with your correspondence &#8211; whether it\u2019s a nice email footer, a colour letterhead, or proper business cards (printed in NZ sizes, not like those cheap ones you get from that Dutch company starting with V), it really does make a difference! \u00a0It costs very little to get these designed and printed. \u00a0We have helped clients design nice email signatures, digital letterhead templates as well as the \u201ctraditional\u201d printed variety.<\/li><li>Never leave them empty handed (and your business card doesn\u2019t count) &#8211; I once called a pest control company over to talk about an ant problem at home. \u00a0The guy left by handing me a business card. \u00a0I had to write the quote on the back myself! \u00a0He should have had a quote book and some literature on their service that showed how professional they were and set them up as experts in the field. \u00a0It does cost a little more to get this created but it will significantly increase your sales conversions!<\/li><li>Follow-up &#8211; I\u2019m amazed at how many businesses go through the motions of collecting some information from me when I make an inquiry and then never contact me again. \u00a0You make yourself stand out from the competitors by following up. \u00a0In fact, I am reluctant to give my business to anyone who doesn&#8217;t show me that they actually want it, so a failure to follow up on my inquiry is generally a failure to get my business! (yes, I\u2019m a harsh bugger!)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#39c208\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Delivering your Core Service<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Do what you say you will do &#8211; surprisingly this is still not as common as it should be. \u00a0Now no business is perfect &#8211; we all make mistakes. \u00a0But strive to deliver on your promises. \u00a0Understand what is important to your customer and then deliver that consistently well. \u00a0And if you make mistakes &#8211; learn from them! \u00a0At Copy Express we call it a \u201cservice failure\u201d and have a place in our weekly staff meetings to talk about it. \u00a0We try to understand in what way we failed to meet the customer\u2019s expectation, why this happened, and how we can avoid this from happening again.<\/li><li>Pay attention to the small stuff &#8211; we had a DVS system installed in our home a few years ago. \u00a0It left a really sour taste in our mouth because the guys who did the installation took so many short cuts and left our house a mess. \u00a0They failed to cover the clothes in my closet and got sawdust all over my suits (not that I wear them often), and run the ducts in the most inconvenient places. \u00a0They didn\u2019t even vacuum up! \u00a0(yes, there was a formal complaint). \u00a0Most of the time it costs no more to attend to the small things, and creates such fantastic goodwill and referrals that it can actually make you money!<\/li><li>Do what you say you will do &#8211; surprisingly this is still not as common as it should be. \u00a0Now no business is perfect &#8211; we all make mistakes. \u00a0But strive to deliver on your promises. \u00a0Understand what is important to your customer and then deliver that consistently well. \u00a0And if you make mistakes &#8211; learn from them! \u00a0At Copy Express we call it a \u201cservice failure\u201d and have a place in our weekly staff meetings to talk about it. We try to understand in what way we failed to meet the customer\u2019s expectation, why this happened, and how we can avoid this from happening again.<\/li><li>Pay attention to the small stuff &#8211; we had a DVS system installed in our home a few years ago. \u00a0It left a really sour taste in our mouth because the guys who did the installation took so many short cuts and left our house a mess. \u00a0They failed to cover the clothes in my closet and got sawdust all over my suits (not that I wear them often), and run the ducts in the most inconvenient places. \u00a0They didn\u2019t even vacuum up! \u00a0(yes, there was a formal complaint). \u00a0Most of the time it costs no more to attend to the small things, and creates such fantastic goodwill and referrals that it can actually make you money!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#00c2ff\" class=\"has-inline-color\">After-Sales Service<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Send thank you notes and cards &#8211; yes, a little old school, but definitely still worth doing &#8211; mostly because no one else is doing it any more. \u00a0A hand-written thank you note for their business, or nice comment written on a compliment slip, or something similar goes an incredibly long way in building customer loyalty.<\/li><li>Remind your customers that you are still there &#8211; send printed newsletters (better than email by a long shot; and less regulated), invitations to special events, Christmas Cards, etc. \u00a0Not only will this result in increased sales, but your customers will pass some of this on to their friends. \u00a0We\u2019ve been doing Christmas Cards to local businesses at Copy Express for the last several years, and every year someone walks in with one of these cards because on of their friends showed it to them and they wanted some too!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope that you found a few areas here that you can improve upon. \u00a0It\u2019s not about being perfect &#8211; just choose one thing and try to make a significant improvement. \u00a0Most changes don\u2019t even cost much money. \u00a0When you\u2019re satisfied with that &#8211; pick another and keep moving.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I recently had our team watch a video by Robin Robins and discuss it as part\u00a0of our weekly staff meeting (link is at the end of the article). \u00a0In it she talked about \u201cbroken windows\u201d &#8211; those things that put your business in a negative light that we get used to as internal people. \u00a0We &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/putting-your-best-foot-forward\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Putting your Best Foot Forward&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1563,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169\/revisions\/1563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}