Many people would consider him highly successful – he has authored a book that’s considered a definitive work in his specific field. He has even done what many of us want to do and productised his service so that it can be offered to thousands of people without him having to hire a huge team and it allows him to unlock new streams of revenue in his business.

He also has a service that is going to be in great demand this year (sorry in the interests of privacy I can’t explain the details, but suffice to say, the current economy will mean that his services will be much in demand).

What we did talk about was how he could be even more targeted with his communications for potential customers and the fact that he is leaving significant money on the table as he has offered a solution for people who can not afford either his consulting or the full productised service. Even some of his ideal clients, in the current economy are having to scale back on investments, so he needs to reconsider how he serves them.

This is not something that will take him long to put in place. He can segment the productised offering into the key elements that will be of greatest interest to clients this year and make them available for purchase both through an online store and by phone/fax/email/snail mail orders.

The biggest challenge for him was considering the re-packaging – not from a technical perspective of making it happen – but from his own mindset.

You see he is used to serving his clients with everything from A-Z. My proposition to him was that in the current economy clients probably only want, need and can afford elements D, G, N, Y (the letters are arbitrary – I am sure that you get my point).

At the beginning of the year it’s a great time for us to consider how we can repackage our products, services and offerings, fine tune our marketing communication plan, and serve our clients and customers with what they really want and need at this time.

I’ve been going through that myself in recent months and it can be challenging – stopping some activity, starting new programmes, perhaps even learning new skills.

So as we start the new year, why not take some time in the next few days to consider what your irresistible offer will be that’s going to attract more clients and more profits to your business in the year ahead.

Here’s an example of something I experienced recently. I hope it will stir up your imagination. And I’d love to know what you decide will be your irresistible offer – and any suggestions for me and how I can serve you better are always welcome.

All of us have a phone – be that a regular landline, a VOIP service such as Skype or even a mobile phone. Yet how many are using it to automatically generate leads and as a source of income? I would suggest less a 1% of businesses – and I’m not talking about using the phone for one to one mentoring or cold calling.

For almost 4 years I have been hosting teleseminars for lead generation and delivery of workshops. I’ve hosted teleseminars from car parks, hotel bedrooms, when on vacation, airports and the office.

I know that many people are finding it difficult to generate leads at the moment and the idea of cold calling turns most of us off.

That’s where being an educational marketer comes into play.

With a phone in hand and great content at the ready, you can share your expertise and build your list of potential clients, preview your forthcoming conferences and events, deliver content for paid workshops without the hassle and cost of travel, and even use teleseminars to continue to provide content to your clients and customers AFTER they have purchased or invested in your products and services perhaps to invite them to continue to invest in your services or for customer service.

You can repurpose your teleseminars into podcasts, white papers, ecourses, home study programme’s, articles, blog posts, ebooks and traditional books.

And with the continued interest in online video, you could even repurpose your teleseminar into a video.

That’s what Penny Haynes has done with a teleseminar she invited me onto earlier this week as a guest to talk about social networking for business success.

No Penny did not have over 2000 people attend her programme this week unlike my mentor Alex did on his preview call for his forthcoming programme. But watch the video below that Penny created with a short segment from our 60 minute teleseminar and consider how you could apply this to your business to generate more leads and attract more clients.

Could you integrate an offline marketing programme such as teleseminars into an online digital marketing programme like this? It’s easier than you might think.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Learn how to create video’s with Penny’s new software.

For just US$20 you can access the 3 hour preview call Alex hosted – it took place last night but you can get access to the recording and guides online – remember to enter the special code AM3964 to access the programme for just US$20 HERE

If you want to learn more about teleseminars and want to learn with the master of teleseminar profits, find out about Alex’s programme HERE – please note the doors close on this for any new registrants (the programme only takes place once a year – I’ve attended it for 3 years in a row and will be back again this year) – doors shut firmly at 5pm PST/3pm ET on Saturday December 6th – for those of you in Ireland and the UK we have till 1am on Sunday 7th December. And he really does shut the doors on new registrants – I know from the first time I tried to register and missed the deadline.

By writing and sending a newsletter regularly you have the opportunity to keep in touch with clients and prospects.

This last weekend at the BT Small Business Show where I was providing advice at the business clinic about branding and marketing your business, the subject of how to start your ezine kept coming up.

What many entrepreneurs don’t realise is that it’s much easier than you might think – in fact for one businessleader, we developed a publishing calendar so that now they have the core content ideas for the ezine for the next 12 months.

In fact, I’ve encouraged some of my smart and savvy clients to repurpose their ezine articles to create chapters of their book or other information product.

I am  therefore delighted to have as my guest on Biz Growth Live, denise cox (that’s not a typing error, it’s how she writes her name) of Newsweaver, Europe’s leading email newsletter specialist, providing businesses with the software to create email newsletters.

Newsweavers clients include Shell, BP, 3M, Irish Rugby, Ernst and Young and the Intercontinental Hotels Group to name but a few global brands that they work with. And we’ll have the opportunity to discuss with denice tips and tricks for ezine marketing that these multibillion dollar businesses have access to.

Here are the detils of the Masterclass on ezines and email newsletters:

DATE OF THE EZINE MASTERCLASS: Monday 19 May 2008

TIME OF  THE EZINE MASTERCLASS: 6pm Dublin and London/ 1pm ET/10am PT

INVESTMENT: FREE

REGISTER: Register at Biz Growth Live if you don’t already receive a copy of our newsletter which as all the details for the programme in it.

If you have questions for denise and I you can ask them by posting them here or on our live questions page.

Here are some of the areas I’ll be discussing with denise:

• Best practice in ezine marketing content
• What we should look for when selecting an ezine service
• An overview of the legislation we need to be aware of in the field of ezine marketing
• How to encourage people to register for your ezine
• The best day of the week to distribute your newsletter
• Best practice in formatting your ezine
• Whether with the increase in business blogging and connecting to customers using social media, the ezine is a marketing tool of the past.

If you don’t receive a copy of my newsletter Biz Growth Express which provides the details of how to join me on this call, you can register today.

Don’t forget to join me for this Biz Growth Live call as what we will be discussing is a strategy that you can get started with straight away to market your business and attract more lead, more clients and more profit.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

You can access a series of six articles I wrote about how to build your brand through writing and distributing an ezine or email newsletter here:

Part1, Part2, Part3, Part4, Part5, Part6.

The event will tak place on Tuesday 20 May, 2008 in Dublin and on Wednesday 21 May 2008 in Belfast.

It will feature a case study of how Irish call centre Gem is using coaching to enhance organisational performance and is being led by Andrea Close Quality Manager for Gem, and Carole Pemberton, of Coaching to Solutions.

At this event we will explore a case study of how Gem is creating a coaching culture. Gem was established in 2000 and is a privately owned outsource contact centre based in Belfast delivering innovative services for market leading organisations across a wide range of geographic regions, sectors and channels.

Employing over 1000 people, Gem is dedicated to delivering outstanding results for our clients and our performance has been recognised through the many industry awards for recruitment, training, innovative use of technology and business development. 

Gem faces the challenges of every call centre – how to engage, motivate and retain a young, educated and mobile workforce, so that its level of service delivery meets client needs.  Their answer has been to develop an approach to coaching that aligns with their culture and values, an approach that makes coaching a part of how people work together.

Details of how to book to attend the Association for Coaching in Ireland masterclass can be found online.

But what if you are concerned about the investment required to create online video’s especially if you have a limited development budget or you do not have the resources to outsource the production?

Well I just heard today that Camtasia Studio, one of the tools I use in my business, is making available a completely free, full version of screen capture video software Camtasia Studio Version 3 for a limited period of time. 

I use Camtasia Studio for tutorials around building your personal brand and developing your employer brand and for customer service resources to help the members of my online membership community get familiar with the environment and you certainly do not need to be a technical whizz at all to use Camtasia Studio. You could also use Camtasia Studio to create information products that you can then sell to realise new streams of revenue from your practice.

You can download your free version of Camtasia Studio here and then register it. Then develop your action plan to use online video’s to attract more clients, support your current clients and grow your profits.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• If you are looking for ideas and inspiration about how to use online video’s in your practice, you can read an article I wrote earlier this year
• My good friend and colleague Chris Austin has created some terrific free training videos where you can experience Camtasia Studio - Chris provides excellent guidance in how to use Camtasia.

On line applications can help you when working with current and potential clients. For example in connection with lead generation, delivering services to our clients and as internal tools in our practice – all of which enhance your productivity and effectiveness.

I was recently approached by journalist Marie Boran of the Irish Independent who asked me to do an email interview about my use of online applications in business to enhance productivity.

Online tools are particularly helpful when you are in a role where you are mobile and your team and the business partners you collaborate with are dispersed across the country or event the globe as is the case in my business.

Many of the applications are available at no cost or require a relatively small financial investment to assess them.

In addition, you do not have the challenge of installing and keeping the applications up to date on your own in-house IS platform.

Many of the tools and platforms are providing a bespoke solution for us and we did not have a previous desktop application. Other tools such as Skype we use in addition to our regular phone services.

I shared 32 of my favourite online applications that I use in my business.

Marie also asked me a number of questions about my view of online applications and you can read my perspective about why I think businesses big and small can benefit from online applications to build their brand, generate qualified leads attracting more clients, enhance their productivity, improve customer service and increase profits:

Do you see all productivity in businesses moving online within the next decade?

I am not sure that all productivity tools will move online – I think there will still be a need for desk top applications. There are still circumstances and places in the world where we can not always guarantee being connected to a broadband connection. In those circumstances it can be frustrating not to be able to have access to the applications as and when you want them

Online applications also require us to fully trust the hosting provider and I believe  there are some situations and business who will continue to be concerned about online applications for purposes of client confidentiality and security of data which provides competitive advantage. In these cases, online applications are probably not the right solution.

Do you think online applications are best suited to small to medium sized businesses rather than large corporations?

I think there are applications that are of value to all businesses. Larger organisations are sometimes a little more hesitant to explore them because of concerns over internet security.

I believe online applications offer a great, and as yet, untapped opportunity to both enhance productivity, reduce overheads and also enable us to connect and engage with customers, clients, employees and prospects to support your brand and marketing communications plan as for example, as is the case with business blogs.

Do you think those whose businesses are not in the tech sector can easily use apps like these?

The adoption of online applications is relevant for businesses no matter what their size or business sector. My business for example, is not in the technology sector and I have found many applications that are relevant for me, my team and my clients to enhance our effectiveness.

What drives you towards using online apps rather than using a piece of software installed on your desktop?

The online applications we use have been chosen primarily for their functional benefits and ease of use. Many of the applications are available at no cost which is a additional great benefit.

I think online applications also offer you an opportunity to try out new platforms with little risk. There have been some tools that we have explored, and as we have not had to make a huge investment and install them on our systems, it has not been a problem for us to move to other platforms when we have found that the tool did not deliver the benefits we were looking for.

Are there any drawbacks to doing and keeping everything online do you think?

The key areas I have found a challenge have been for example this last month where I have been away on an extended vacation and we have had no access to a phone line. It has been frustrating at times to have to find a Wi-Fi spot to get online to access and update information.

As I mentioned earlier, some businesses may be concerned about the security of their data – I know that I prefer to hold my word documents on my own PC at this time versus on an online application.

The other challenge I have found is that many online applications do not have a live help desk, so if you need immediate support, you often have to post a ticket to a help desk which can be a major draw back if you need urgent assistance.

What advice would you give to an SME who is unsure about how these online apps could enrich and improve their workload?

I would recommend that you explore which part of your business you would like to enhance productivity and cost effectiveness in – is this lead generation, communication, marketing, project management?

Then you can focus on exploring online applications that meet those specific needs. As most are available at no cost for trial versions there is little risk for you.

Be sure to make time available in your calendar to try the application. I know many people register to try online applications and then do not invest time in exploring them fully. Before they know it, the free trial period has lapsed or they find they have made a financial investment in an application they have not used or gained benefit from.

What would you say to SMEs that might fear applications such as RSS feeds, blogs, Facebook etc are time wasting and unproductive?

Yes it easy to think that many of the online applications can be a waste of time rather than enhancing your productivity.

You can always ensure that you limit the time you spend each day in reading your RSS feeds. Of course the starting point is to make sure that you only subscribe to RSS feeds from websites that are going to provide you with the content that you need to support your business strategy and growth plans.

In relation to business blogs and online networking, I think it is important to consider these as tools to use in your marketing and communications plan. Consider your business blog as having your own “column” in a trade journal or newspaper. And consider online networking sites as a community such as being a member of your Chamber of Commerce or other business networking forum, but with the benefits of there being no membership fee, no travel time and no geographic boundaries to finding and connecting with potential clients and business partners.

I have to disclose I am an advocate and evangelist for business blogging to build your brand and your business online as both I and my clients have seen tremendous results for our businesses through business blogs. I can not think of any other way that I could have hundreds of my articles available acting as members of my sales team 27/7 and 365 days a year, so that when people search online for services, products and programmes such as I provide then I am more likely to be found. And I didn’t even need a webmaster to help me make this happen as business blogging has such an easy interface – if you can type an email you can blog.

In relation to business blogs, given that they are considered a trusted resource for consumers and customers, even if you are not ready to author your own business blog, I believe it is important to follow the conversations in the blogosphere for your business sector. This can give you great insights as to what is happening in the world of your clients, competitors and the market place in general.

In relation to online social networking sites, as I mentioned earlier, as many of them are available at no cost it takes little time to make sure that your profile is there so that you can be found. However I do not advocate you have to be active in every community. Just as you choose which offline networks you want to invest in, you should do the same with online social networks. Find the online communities that meet your specific networking requirements be that personal development, connecting to potential clients, market research or networking for social reasons.

I have to say that I took little notice of social networking sites until a few years ago when a colleague of mine secured a contract in business worth €60,000 all through making connections and building relationships through LinkedIn – now that made me take notice.

And of course if you are in a company and looking for your next career move perhaps into a new business sector or a new organisation within your own sector, building your personal brand through writing a business blog and being visible and active in online networking sites is imperative today. Your business blog can express your expertise in your field. Be aware that HR professionals, recruiters, journalists and researchers in the media are all spending time online – wouldn’t you rather be found versus your competition?!

Online applications provide us as business leaders with great low and even no cost platforms to build our brand, generate more leads for our business and increase both productivity and profits.

With demands on us all to deliver products, programmes or services faster, more cost effectively and more efficiently, with more and more teams working virtually across Ireland and across the globe, with the ease of access and use, online applications can provide competitive advantage and are a great addition to our leadership tool box.

You can also read about the tools the other female and Irish entrepreneurs featured in the article, Claire Wilson and Annette Clancy use to enhance their productivity on their business blogs.

© Krishna De. All Rights Reserved

Krishna De is an Employer Branding and Personal Branding strategist. You can access free articles and resources to build your corporate brand, employer brand and personal brand online and offline at Krishna’s business blog and podcast at www.bizgrowthnews.com

Or perhaps the last time you went to your dentist you were met by a grumpy receptionist who made you feel as though it was easier to deal with the toothache than summon up to courage to book your appointment?

Every day, our experience of customer service is made up of hundreds of separate situations which leave with us a lasting impression of what great customer service is and also shape and influence how we connect with our own clients and potential clients.

It could be the way a phone call is answered. Or perhaps whether an email enquiry is responded to in a timely manner.

Let’s take as an example the first time you connect with someone face to face.

There are four key areas that people will notice when you talk with them:

1. Your language: do you use language that is welcoming, engaging and direct? Do you speak language that is jargon free and that your client resonates with?
2. Your tone of voice: is your tone of voice positive and uplifting so that the person you meet realises that you are enthusiastic and genuinely interested in them? Do you leave the people you meet feeling energised and looking forward to speaking with you again?
3. Your pace of speaking: what is the pace with which you speak? Talking too fast and you will be difficult to understand or that you are too busy to care about your client. Talking too slow the conversation can sound tedious and the person you are speaking with could want to run to the hills out of boredom if it takes you a long time to get to the point.
4. Your body language: what signals and unspoken messages you are giving by the way that you stand or sit? Your body language can speak volumes so be sure to smile, make eye contact and remember a firm handshake showing that you are purposeful.

YOUR BIZ GROWTH ACION STEPS

Here are three steps you can take to enhance he way you and your team connect with customers to make a postive lasting impression and build a platform for business growth:

• The next time you have a meeting with a client or potential client, prepare for your meeting considering the language you plan to use and the energy and enthusiasm you are looking to convey in the meeting through your tone of voice, you pace of speaking and your body language.
• Take the opportunity to record yourself either as an audio or a video recording – perhaps on a telephone call or in a meeting. Take time out to review the recording with a colleague, your business mentor or coach and look for areas that you could enhance the way you connect with your customers and clients.
• Identify three key customers who you would like to further enhance your relationship with and set about asking for feedback on how they experience working with you and your team. Remember their perception and experience of dealing with you is their reality. If you want to enhance the customer experience for them the first step is to understand how they see it at the moment.

Take these three steps and you will be setting the foundation of a cumstomer centric culture which is sure to build your brand, enhance your reputation and increase your profits.

And if you are interested in exploring this subject further, I would also recommend two books: “Raving Fans” by Ken Blanchard and “How to Talk tto Customers” by Tom Larkin.

When I was outlining to him the fact that my goal is to not only provide great ideas and information on our weekly programme but also to ensure that we provide strategies and ideas that can be easily applied so that our listeners take action, he generously offered to make available three copies of his book.

However you need to make sure that you join us for the call.

If you have not yet registered, you can do so at “Biz Growth Live” or at a new service I am using for online event registration – here. (Do let me know what you think about it as this is the furst time I have used it.)

And if you can not wait to attend the call, or perhaps you do not want to leave it to chance that you will win a copy of “How to Talk to Customers”, then got to our new online bookstore where you can purchase a copy today.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could find a way to connect with your customers so that they felt so good about you, your business and the customer experience with your company that they not only want you to be their preferred supplier but that they unreservedly refer you to others time and again?

On our next “Biz Growth Live” call on the 11 June, I will be in conversation with Tom Larkin, co-author of “How to Talk With Customers”.

Embedding a customer centric culture is one of the 8 steps we teach in our “Biz Growth Academy programme” and is critical to building and nurturing a strong brand.

Ken Blanchard , co author of the “One Minute Manager” remarks:

“How to Talk to Customers presents a system for interacting with customers based on empathy, dignity and doing the right thing. Use these ideas to turn your customers into raving fans”.

If you have questions about how create a customer centric culture and how to engage with customers, you can post your questions before the call here.

In today’s ever fast moving business world we seem to have an ever increasing workload – in fact can you remember the last time when you had everything marked off your to-do list?

One of the challenges in leading your own practice is the fact that many times your personal input is required before your colleagues and team members can move ahead and take action.

But is it really required? Or are you holding up the process because you want to be engaged and involved in everything?

MAKING TIME FOR CLIENTS

One of my clients who is a lawyer realised that the only reason he was holding onto his clients files was that he thought he wanted to be engaged in everything to do with the client.

We evaluated what he really needed to be involved and engaged with and as if by magic, the majority of client files were able to be passed to his team members. This meant that he freed up a significant amount of hours each week which he then could use to spend time face to face with clients, meeting key business contacts and coaching his team.

Our ability to effectively delegate key tasks can make a significant difference to our success – for example serving a client efficiently and effectively or losing a client to the competition.

Building, inspiring and retaining a high performing team is one of the eight key strategies we cover in the “Biz Growth Academy” where we teach our clients how to build their corporate, employer and personal brand so they realise the professional and personal success they desire and deserve.

One of the key ways to retain great talent is in fact to ensure that they feel valued and their contribution to the business is recognised. But for this to happen, as a business leader we need to be able to be effective in delegating key responsibilities.

You can still retain accountability for business performance and growth. However by being clear who is responsible for key activities means there is clarity about what has to be done when.

DELEGATE ACCOUNTABILITY IN MEETINGS

As an example, I was drafting some minutes from a meeting today and in the template we defined what the action was, who it would be undertaken by and when it had to be completed.

That same template will be circulated prior to the next meeting for all team members to update and use as a way to track that each team member is on track with what they were required to complete.

THE RASCI TOOL

A simple tool I often use in delegating activities is the RASCI. This tool enables you to identify the key responsibilities for each team member or key stakeholder.

You will also find this an excellent tool when managing projects or leading change programmes.

Taking each item or task you define who is Responsible, Accountable, who can Support you, who needs to be Consulted and who needs to be Informed of the actions being taken. The definitions are as follows:

• Responsible [R] – This is the person or group responsible for performing a task. Ensure that you only assign responsibility to those necessary.
• Accountable [A] – This is the person who is held accountable for the task being complete. Ideally only one person should be accountable for a task being performed.  
• Support [S] – These are people or a group of people who provide resources required for a task to be completed.
• Consulted [C] – These are the people you actively engage with prior to a task being completed as their input is highly valued and they are key stakeholders and can significantly impact on your success. Essentially, their input is sought and factored in prior to any action being completed.
• Informed [I] – These are the parties who are notified about a task after it has been performed. Their input is not critical to the successful completion of the task.

THIS WEEK’S ‘BIZ GROWTH’ ACTION STEPS

• Consider the actions in your inbox. Do you need to be the person who is responsible AND accountable for delivery of that task?
• Who else could you engage in moving the project or action forward?
• How could you use the RASCI process to ensure greater clarity and accountability of key activities in your business and in turn enhance your ability to deliver excellence in service to your clients?

NOTE: Every Monday on “Biz Growth News” I make available a full length branding and business development article.

If you enjoyed our weekly article, you may be interested in accessing more articles about branding and business development strategies to grow your practice. If so you can register to join our weekly newsletter and weekly no-cost workshops at Biz Growth Live.

TERMS OF REPRINT: You are welcome to publish this article in your own online ezine or news letter, providing the article is printed in its entirety and is left unedited and you include the copyright notice and the following statement:

©Krishna De, Oneocean Ltd 2007. All rights reserved. Reprinted from ‘Biz Growth News’ (http://www.bizgrowthnews.com/), a Oneocean Ltd publication for leaders in professional services practices, featuring inspiration, strategies and tips to build your brand, attract your ideal clients and enjoy greater success with less stress.  Subscribe today at http://www.bizgrowthlive.com/.