long term customer relationship

How To Keep Your Clients Long-Term?

While it’s essential to focus your energy on generating new business, it’s also necessary to keep your existing clients long-term. But how do you do this?

One way is to keep in regular touch with them. Keep communicating with them in some way, so you stay on their radar.

Connecting with clients on social media and regularly interacting with them is a great way to stay in touch. You can also send an email now and then, even if it’s not necessary, to keep the lines of communication open.

You might want to occasionally ask if they have any feedback for you on your work. There might be something your client want or aren’t satisfied with that they’re not telling you.

When you first started working with a client, they were impressed with your services. Sometimes, it’s good to do something nice for regular clients to keep them feeling that way.

We call this the “wow” factor. “Wow” means exceeding expectations and delighting people.
Occasionally throwing a freebie or some extra help a client’s way is an excellent way to create this feeling of delight.

How To Keep Your Clients Long Term

Through your regular communication, you can also keep abreast of what’s new in their business. Follow your client online and ask them occasionally about what’s new.

You might discover a new area of their business you can help with. You also might find a significant change that will affect your relationship with your client, and you can prepare for it.

Offering educational opportunities is another great way to keep in touch with past clients. Offer webinars and other events to share your expertise and present this to ongoing and new clients.

Staying in contact with clients is essential to keeping them long-term. Make sure you’re regularly in touch.

Improve Company Value

What Is Your Company’s Position?

The stand or position of a company refers to its place concerning other firms in the industry. No company is an Island, and its activities and brand image would undoubtedly be affected by other companies in its space.

We can see a company’s position from two perspectives, brand and strategy. 

Brand Position

Refers to the way consumers view your brand compared to how they view your competitors’ brands. It is the position you hold in the hearts and minds of the consumers in your market space. Are you the high-end brand serving only the crème de la crème of the market, or are you the affordable option serving the masses with the best quality possible? 

Strategic Position

Strategic position refers to the unique role you hold in your industry as regards value creation and production. It relates to how you do things differently to optimize productivity and ensure efficiency. The process is sometimes referred to as comparative advantage, as it is usually the one thing you do or have that puts you ahead of your competition.

Positioning

How do I Position My Company to Profit?

One major mistake that entrepreneurs make is to go into an industry without figuring out which position they had like to hold. This event sometimes leaves them in the middle of the industry, which is the worst place.

The middle suffers the pressure from the top and the bottom, and if your company is stuck there, the pressure will crush you in no time.

Where does your company stand?

As an entrepreneur, you must take a step back and decide which side of the spectrum you want to serve or cater to. Furthermore, it would help if you chose which side of the spectrum you can cater to operate.

These are very tough questions to answer, and answering them entails a lot of honesty, coupled with in-depth thought and research. This process is crucial, and once you are through with it, you have made the firsts step in positioning your business or start-up for exponential growth and enormous profit.

Pinpoint Available Role

Another way to figure out which position you want to hold is to pinpoint your chosen industry’s available role. It is important to note that the choice of positioning isn’t binary.

There are a lot of factors that a company is measured by concerning others. It doesn’t always have to be class or price; there is speed, durability, taste, etc. If you can’t be the cheapest or the most luxurious, then hold the fastest and most stable position.

The key is to find a vacant place, utilize your core competencies, and easily be translated into your brand image.

However, business isn’t always straight forward, and, likely, all these three factors don’t align. You might discover a strategic position that works well with your core competency to realize that a much bigger firm already occupies the role.

Or perhaps you have a brand position in mind, but you don’t have the competence or strategic leverage to hold that position.

A good example is the fashion space. There is so much competition that every position seems filled; This is where real positioning comes in.

Process of Positioning

Positioning is the process of making constant decisions and changes to create an absolute value, depict that value, and own a dominant position in your field.

Positioning is more than a one-time decision or show of intention; it is an uphill battle that involves brand and operative strategy. 

If you want to take the right position in your industry, you must get the right help. With its industry-specific consultants, who have the right combination of skill and experience, SiMar Inc. is undoubtedly the right help.

Conclusion 

In business, it is not just enough to have a goal of becoming better. Most times, it is more profitable to streamline your plan and choose your identity. Don’t spread yourself thin. Choose a position and dig in. You can’t be the best choice for every customer, but you can be the only choice for your target market.

clarity in business

What is Clarity And Why Is It Important In Business

Clarity definition is the quality of transparency or purity. However, in business, clarity means a lot more. It ranges from: 

Clarity of Vision – the mission and goal of your company, 

to

The Clarity of communication– how sharing information within your firm and how your company relates with the world. 

Clarity is the only way to keep your business focused and running as smoothly as possible.

Business Clarity of Self

However, before clarity of communication and clarity of vision, there is one type of clarity that lays the foundation for your business. It’s called the clarity of self.

As Aristotle said, knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom; knowing yourself is also the beginning of business wisdom. The clarity in a business begins with you as the entrepreneur. 

You must know who you are and why you are in business. Knowing who you are would ensure that you play to your strength and operate at your optimum capacity without crashing and burning out. 

Knowing why you are in business would make sure that you stay focused when the going gets tough. The industry has many ups and downs, and sometimes you would need to remind yourself of why you started your business in the first place and why you need to carry on.

Business Clarity of Vision

Next is clarity of vision. Clarity of vision is essential because it helps a lot when it comes to decision making. Focusing on your company’s vision is one way to navigate your way through the toughest of decisions. 

Your vision is your north star, and it can lead you out of the thickest of mazes. When you have to choose between staying up late to fulfill an order or updating your website’s content, your vision would be the shining light to guide you. A clear vision creates a straightforward operation and makes the prioritizing of goals and objectives extremely easy. 

Business Clarity of Communication

Finally is clarity in communication. When your company’s vision and mission are clear, communicating that vision to your employees and customers would surely be a cake work. 

The beautiful thing about clarity is that it spreads out from the core of your business- you. When you are clear, not confused, or murky, your company’s vision would be concise and easy to grasp, making it easy for your employees and customers to key into it and connect. 

When a company’s vision is clear, the employees have an apparent belief to become a part of, and the brand image you create wouldn’t be ambiguous or murky. It would be clear and relatable.

Conclusion

Charity begins at home, but clarity starts with you. As a boss, if you are a chaotic mess, then your company is sure to become a chaotic roller coaster. Achieve clarity today and watch your business soar peacefully even through the darkest storms and the worst of days.

blogging benefits

How To Use Blogging To Get More Clients

Blogging is a great way to attract new clients. You can write about topics you know well and show your expertise, which will tell potential clients that you have the solutions to their problems.

The only problem is that blogging requires constant content creation and you need a never-ending supply of topics to blog about. 

The best way to manage this is to keep an ongoing ideas list. Add ideas to this list and refer to it when it’s time to start writing.

You should also create a list of great sources for ideas. When your ideas list runs low, refer to this and go where you need to get new ideas.

The internet offers a wealth of places to get ideas. 

Look at social media and see what topics people are discussing and what questions they’re asking. Answer these questions with a blog post.

Question and answer sites and online forums are also great places to find out what questions people are asking.

You can also think of things you’ve helped people with before. In what areas has your expertise helped others?

Look at emails you’ve received from clients with requests for help. 

Keyword research can also reveal good topics to blog about. Use a free keyword tool to find out what’s trending in your industry right now.

You can do similar research on social media sites like Twitter by searching for hashtags related to your niche.

Look at other content creators and news sites in your niche. Don’t steal their ideas, but see if there are any unique angles you can take on their topics. 

Sometimes you can get ideas from your old content. Go back and see if there’s anything you can update, expand on, or go deeper into. Especially look at topics that performed well in the past.

Once you start looking, your ideas list will grow faster than you can write. This is how you keep a constant stream of blog content coming.

How To Use Blogging To Get More Clients

Why You Should Always Look For New Clients (Even When You Don’t Need Them Now)

It’s only natural that you don’t feel the need to look for new clients when you have plenty of work. 

When you’re up to your ears in work, it doesn’t seem necessary to keep searching for new clients. 

But in reality, you should always be on the lookout for new clients; This is because it takes a great deal of time to find and nurture clients.

You have to build relationships with people who might get you work. You need to connect with them online and start interacting with them.

These methods take time to implement.

Just because you’re busy with work right now doesn’t mean there isn’t someone out there who’s a perfect match for your business.

But most of all, what happens if you lose a large client now and you’re out of work? You’ll have a gap before you can cover what you’ve lost, and this will affect your income. 

If that gap continues for too long, you might have to take on less-than-ideal work to pay the bills. However, if you have new prospects lined up, you’ll have some choices. 

But how do you keep doing this when you’re busy? The way to do it is to be organized.

Create a strategy for finding new clients. Systematize, so you don’t have to think about it.

For example, create regular content to post on other people’s blogs. Search regularly for new people to connect with on social media.

Choose a few simple strategies for finding new clients that you can do on an ongoing basis while performing work for current clients. 

An excellent way to manage this is to spend a bit of time each day on client acquisition. Set aside a half-hour or hour each day for these activities, an amount of time that won’t take away from your working time.

It’s better to have too many leads and too much work than to be left without any.

It’s only natural that when you have plenty of work, you don’t feel the need to look for new clients. 

When you’re up to your ears in work, it doesn’t seem necessary to keep searching for new clients. 

But in reality, you should always be on the lookout for new clients. This is because it takes a great deal of time to find and nurture clients.

You have to build relationships with people who might get you work. You need to connect with them online and start interacting with them.

These methods take time to implement.

Just because you’re busy with work right now doesn’t mean there isn’t someone out there who’s a perfect match for your business.

But most of all, what happens if you lose a large client now and you’re out of work? You’ll have a gap before you can cover what you’ve lost, and this will affect your income. 

Why you should always look for new clients

If that gap continues for too long, you might have to take on less-than-ideal work in order to pay the bills. However, if you have new prospects lined up, you’ll have some choices. 

But how do you keep doing this when you’re busy? The way to do it is to be organized.

Create a strategy for finding new clients. Systematize so you don’t have to think about it.

For example, create regular content to post on other people’s blogs. Search regularly for new people to connect with on social media.

Choose a few simple strategies for finding new clients that you can do on an ongoing basis while you perform work for current clients. 

A good way to manage this is to spend a bit of time each day on client acquisition. Set aside a half hour or hour each day for these activities, an amount of time that won’t take away from your working time.

It’s better to have too many leads and too much work than to be left without any.

What To Do When You Have a Difficult Client

Unfortunately, not every client you take on is going to be a walk in the park. It’s inevitable that sometimes, you’ll have a difficult client. 

Since your professional reputation is at stake, you need some strategies for dealing with a difficult client.

The challenge with clients like this is that usually, they’re overly demanding. They may also clash with your working style. You have to finish whatever work you’re doing with them, but there are ways to do it that will make it as painless as possible.

When dealing with a challenging client, choose your words carefully to avoid confrontation and escalation.

Listen well and acknowledge without apologizing. Take breaks whenever you need to or limit communications, but not in a way that feels like you’re ignoring them.

Emphasize that you’re working together toward a common goal. Discuss things in terms of the results you’re trying to get and make sure they understand you’re on the same team.

If they’re asking you to do more than you offer, set clear boundaries, remind them gently of the job’s terms and your business’s capabilities. 

Even though they may be driving you insane, try your best to find a solution that will make them happy. 

Try to find a quick solution to finish and send the clients away feeling satisfied. The best-case scenario is that they leave you happy, and you never have to work with them again.

Keep in mind throughout the encounter that you shouldn’t take it personally. The person is probably unhappy because of unrealistic expectations or their issues. 

When you’re stuck with a problematic client, chalk it up to a learning experience. In the end, try to figure out what wasn’t working so you can avoid it in the future.

Growing Instagram Followers

Top Digital Marketing Trends to Look Out For

We live in a digital era. With rapid digitization going on around in every industry vertical out there, it is high time that modern businesses should look forward to adopting the digital transformation as soon as possible.

As per a study report; In estimation, around 50% of individuals will be clicking on a particular brand name if they have relevant visibility on the search results. This is wherein the role of reliable digital marketing services from a reputed agency like SiMar is a leading digital marketing agency.

Allison Todd –Founder & Chief Strategist at SiMar –a leading business advertising agency, explains the importance of digital marketing and why follow the trends in this post.

As digital trends keep evolving every year, your business must be aware of the same. When you adopt the same in your business structure, it will provide your brand with a competitive edge.

At the same time, it will also increase the overall leads while improving the relationship with the existing customers.

Here are some trends to look out for:

There is no denying the growing popularity of voice search in modern times. A recent study report reveals that around 50 percent of the queries online will be voice-based by the end of 2020.

In fact, top brands are nowadays thinking about innovative ways to deliver the respective promises of utilizing voice-enabled devices. These solutions serve to be highly affordable while providing excellent capabilities to entice the visitors to your website.

2. The Popularity of Chatbots

Chatbots are highly AI (Artificial Intelligence) software solutions to serve as the virtual concierge that allows brands to connect with customers while assisting them in completing their respective goals.

Moreover, chatbots can naturally interact with humans –primarily with the utilization of advanced text chat windows.

Over time, as the system can collect more meaningful insights, Artificial Intelligence technology helps learn more about customers. 

Thanks to some innovative social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, live content has become one of the fastest-growing segments in video-based traffic on the Internet. That is why live streaming of relevant content on these platforms becomes highly effective as it is available for free.

Moreover, it takes just a short time to produce the same while offering real-time user engagement. Moreover, using this leading digital marketing strategy, the viewers can view the content on your time.

Top Digital Marketing Trends to Look Out For

4. Engagement-oriented Email Marketing

With email marketing’s scenario getting smarter, marketers are now focusing on sending emails to subscribers who tend to be quite active on the given email lists.

Moreover, email marketing is also headed towards delivering a highly personalized experience to the end-users.

Conclusion

In conclusion, make the most of the latest digital marketing trends for optimum results!

Learn 2 Love Social Media for Business Owners

Learn 2 Love Social Media for Business Owners will help business owners position their brand for growth. You already know how to post content, but does it fit into your digital marketing strategy? And is that strategy working to attract your ideal client? During this 3-Day Challenge, you will understand the value of social media for small businesses.

Above all, you will gain a greater understanding of your data which improves your social media strategy. Learn why businesses need social media. Then understand how to grow your business simply by telling your brand story. With some simple tips and social media management strategies, businesses of any size can grow. Plus this event provides a community to connect with other supportive business owners.

No more missed opportunities. I love social media and hope you will Learn 2 Love it too. Let’s get to work and reveal your brand’s true potential. Let’s have some creative, strategic fun. As a result, you will Learn to Love LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook Groups.

Learn 2 Love Social Media

Event Highlights:

 Collect digital marketing tips, tools, resources

 Content creation templates from digital marketing experts

 Understand the types of content perfect for your social media plan

 Automate your social media tasks and increase the engaging personal touch

 Create meaningful digital business connections

 Execute your social media plan for real-time results

PLUS, all registered guests receive a Learn 2 Love eBook, Email Marketing Cheat Sheet, and a Digital Marketing Planning Tool. Most importantly, you do not have to post 12x a day to get something done. And you do not have to be on social all day to make an impact. And….. it can be tons of fun.

This is a fully interactive event. What better way to jumpstart your 2021 business goals! Learn 2 Love Social Media for Business Owners only has 20 virtual seats available. Act now! If you market your brand, your audience will find you.

Join Position 2 Profit with Allison Todd to receive event updates and exclusive content.

being your own boss

The Good, The Bad, and The Profit of Being Your Own Boss

Being an entrepreneur has its pros and cons. Running a business and being your boss sure has its benefits. However, roses have thorns. A proper understanding of an entrepreneur’s life would help you prepare for the positive and negative aspects of running a business.

While running a business affords you a sense of happiness and fulfillment, stress and pressure are also significant parts of the package. It’s a packaged deal of freedom and control, mixed with long hours and compulsory dedication.

Benefits of being an Entrepreneur

You are the boss

Being the boss is a rather obvious benefit of being an entrepreneur. It is one of the primary reasons why being an entrepreneur is so fulfilling and attractive. You are in control, the captain of the ship calling the shots and making things happen. 

Your thoughts and decisions make real impacts. It is way better than submitting suggestions to a middle manager who ignores them or takes credit for them. Every move you make affects real impact and change. 

You are in charge of your earning and finances

Another significant advantage of being an entrepreneur is that you determine how much you earn. You have the power to improve your earnings. How much you make isn’t left to the mercy of your boss or some obscure company policy. 

How much you make is based on the effort you put into your business and how much you decide to pay yourself. Of course, you must be careful not to suck your business dry. Nevertheless, financial independence is a major source of joy for all entrepreneurs.

Flexible working hours

Another major advantage of being your boss is flexible working hours. You get to decide when and how long you work. You can organize your schedule so you work at the time you are most effective. For instance, if you are a night owl, you can manage your schedule to sleep during the day and work through the night; This is impossible in a corporate 9-5 job.

Flexible working condition

As an entrepreneur, you get to determine and influence the environment in which you work; This ranges from equipment, co-workers, furniture, office location, etc. You get to create the perfect conditions for you and your business to grow by surrounding yourself with the right people and the right ambiance.

Job security

Being an entrepreneur means you can’t get fired. The fear and pressure of getting that threatening letter from your boss don’t exist. Your drive to work hard is based purely on achieving your goal and taking your business to the highest peak possible. Your motivation is positive enthusiasm to meet your full potential.

The joy of building something real

The joy of creating and nurturing a business is so overwhelming and fulfilling. Building your business from the ground up brick by brick, client by client, project by project, and sale by sale is bound to fill you with a sense of achievement. There is a special and joyous pride that comes with being the owner and builder of a successful business. That feeling is worth more than silver or gold.

The good, the bad and the profit of being your own boss.

Cons of Being an Entrepreneur

Your clients and team are your employers

As an entrepreneur, you are your boss. However, you are still accountable for a lot of people. You are responsible for your clients and customers. In many ways, you are responsible for your teammates whose careers are in your hands. If you want to run a successful business and lead an efficient team, you have to relate with everyone with guided respect and care. To be a good entrepreneur, you have to be answerable to your clients, customers, and employees. Treating them with respect and thriving for their joy and satisfaction is a necessary ingredient for success.

Long hours, pressure, and stress

Being an entrepreneur requires impossible hours. Sometimes you had wished there were more than twenty-four hours in a day. Success in entrepreneurship usually requires dedication, consistency, and determination. Everything hangs on your shoulders. There is no pressure or fear of getting fired. However, the task of keeping your business running and growing is enough to keep you busy and under intense pressure.

Financial insecurity

One secret that most people tend to miss is that with financial independence comes financial insecurity. Earning a salary gives you a steady stream of income, making it easy for you to plan for the future. However, as an entrepreneur, your rating is reliant on the success of your business and the market and economic cycles.

In essence, you don’t know for a fact how much you or your company would earn. Plans and projections are essential; however, they are not guaranteed. The business world is very fluid, and so is the financial state of an entrepreneur. To stay in business and avoid brokenness, you would need to have good financial discipline and money management skills.

Conclusion

Most times, entrepreneurship is presented in a single light. Super dark or super bright. However, entrepreneurship is a spectrum, and getting a clear picture would require careful consideration of all pros and cons.

In truth, some features of entrepreneurship double as pros and cons. It all comes down to how well you manage your business.  The good news is the pros outweigh the cons by an extensive margin.

Position 2 Profit Membership

Position 2 Profit Membership is for an online business community of leaders who want to position their business for profit. Business evolves at a different level when profit begins and how does your business grow from there? The group is led by Allison Todd, Operations & Digital Growth Strategist. Our members are committed to building a network of referrals, resources and accountability.  Entrepreneurship is hard but you don’t have to do it alone.

customer onboarding

Webinar: Customer Onboarding After the Sale

This webinar Customer Onboarding After the Sale will maximize your customers’ success, satisfaction, and retention with an exceptional post-purchase plan. The strategy taught in this webinar will give you the tools to welcome your new customer.

There are two reasons your clients decide not to stay after purchase. And you want to be prepared for both. Firstly, the customer doesn’t see the value in what they purchased. Secondly, the customer doesn’t understand your product or service. As such, you will create a post-purchase system to ensure customer satisfaction and successful product use.

AFTER THE SALE

Your customer wants to hear what you have to say. After all, they made the purchase. During the event, you will create content to ensure your customers achieve their desired results with your products and services. You will also outline the automated components of your post-purchase system. Your host, Coach Allison Todd, will guide you through each module.

  • Plan the Post-Purchase Experience
  • Set Up the First 30 Days
  • Create the Process for the Next Month & Beyond

WEBINAR TAKEAWAYS

During this webinar, you will get the tools and content needed to create your post-purchase process. From start to finish, this framework guides you through the planning and implementation of your customer onboarding process. Plus, all registrants receive a free download of the 3-Step Customer Onboarding Checklist. Tell your customers what to expect up front.

  • Understand the value and necessity of having a structured customer onboarding process to aid in customer retention and future sales
  • A step-by-step process for developing a customer onboarding program
  • Identify the key customer components that motivate future sales

ABOUT COACH

Allison Todd helps micropreneurs scale their teams and their profits through operations and digital marketing strategies. She is an accomplished executive with more than 20 years invested in managing businesses, building brands, and coaching executives. As a result, her work includes a variety of consulting services such as sales, team development, digital marketing, and executive coaching.

CUSTOMER ONBOARDING AFTER THE SALE CHEATSHEET 
Customer-Onboarding-After-the-Sale-Cheat-Sheet