Having A Good Website
You’ve got a website, so that’s the first step. But is it a good website? There are a lot of bad ones out there. Here are the problems I see most often. I have to plead guilty to making several of these myself:
No calls-to-action (CTAs). In Lean Marketing, owning your traffic is one of the fundamental principles, and you need a name and address to do this. Offer your visitor a newsletter sign-up, downloads of free information, or “request a quote” forms. I like to have CTAs on every web page. It also helps to have your contact information featured prominently.
Poor design. Mistakes often happen when you try to design the site yourself using a hosted solution like Wix or Weebly.
If your site looks like some throwback to the early days of the internet, it’s probably time to update.
Not mobile-friendly. Since most searches are on phones, a mobile-friendly site is essential. Most visitors assume that your website will work on their phones. If it doesn’t, they’ll leave and go to your competitors’ sites.
Outdated content. Regularly updating your site can be frustrating for many small business owners. It’s also bad when you have vague content like being “a leading provider of business solutions.” Try specifying your target customer, so they know they’ve come to the right place.
No analytics. Without performance metrics, you can’t track your progress and make revisions. Free tools like Google Analytics can help you do this. Unresolved problems on your site will only get worse over time.
Poor SEO. You need all the help you can get when it comes to getting found on the internet. 26 percent of businesses like yours can’t be found online and have a page rank of zero.
Bad logos and branding. Nothing detracts from a good site like a bad logo. If your uncle created your logo for free, it could be hurting your business. It doesn’t cost that much to redo. There are many good logo designers on 7Upwork.com.
Slow site. Even if you have a gorgeous website, it won’t rank high with Google if it takes too long to load. It’s one of the most critical factors for page ranking. Consider the speeds when you’re choosing a hosting platform. Cheap hosting is usually slow hosting.
No social links. Social sharing is a vital component of any digital marketing strategy. So, make it easy for your customers to share their experiences. Why do 91 percent of all sites lack Facebook widgets?
No support. Almost 1/3 of small business owners maintain their websites. If you’re like me, it’s easy to neglect critical functions and keep the content fresh. By going to professionals, you can easily prevent many of the technical glitches and have regular website updates.
7 www.upwork.com
Mistake #13
Not Treating Your Suppliers Like Customers
I learned a precious lesson in my first company, Bullseye Database Marketing, and that was the importance of suppliers. At the time, the conventional approach was to treat suppliers with a heavy hand. Instead, I took them on sales calls, got their input on our production process, and even invited them to our Christmas parties.
In this book, I often refer to the benefits of outsourcing, so it only makes sense that I discuss how to manage these relationships. You need excellent and reliable suppliers. And, when you find them, treat them the way you’d like to be treated. It’s essential in marketing because you’re likely to have many suppliers. Treat your suppliers more like business partners and less like “vendors.”
Approaches to Suppliers
One goal with suppliers is to get assistance and buy-in on the operations of your business - as you do with employees. It may involve a complete change of perspective for some business owners.
There are two philosophies on how you deal with suppliers:
Reactive approach. Managing supplier relationships is to confront them when something goes wrong. This approach wastes a lot of time and resources.
Strategic approach. The strategic approach calls for a change in mindset – your suppliers are viewed as partners and are vital to the success of your business. They even help with your strategy because they are so much a part of your business.
Suppliers can make or break your business. They impact the quality of your product or service, the timeliness of deliveries, your competitiveness, and can even be a source of great referrals.
How to Manage Your Suppliers
Build good relationships with your suppliers like you do with your top customers. You can be demanding, however, be fair in how you treat them. Here are some of my guidelines for dealing with suppliers:
1 Price fairly. You need to negotiate the best price you can but, remember, your vendors want to make money too. Continually changing vendors to save a dollar here or there will cost you time and money. Sometimes it’s good to pay a little more because your supplier will give you better customer service.
2 Pay bills promptly. Whatever you do, pay your bills on time. Nothing will gain you more goodwill and benefits with your suppliers than observing this one simple rule. Suppliers like timely payments just like you do.
3 Communicate expectations. Two-way communication is critical for a successful customer/supplier relationship. Communicate expectations in writing, which can be in the form of an SLA (service-level agreement) or just a memo outlining expectations. Provide as much lead time as possible on your orders.
4 Review performance. It’s a good idea to review your suppliers’ performance regularly. Schedule periodic performance reviews and evaluate the timeliness of deliveries, quality control, communication, and anything else that you feel is important to the relationship.
5 Show them some love and personalize the relationship. Visit their facilities if possible. Invite them to strategy meetings (or Christmas parties like I did). If the subcontractor isn’t local, try to move the relationship to a more personal one.
6 Make referrals both ways. Your suppliers can be a great source of referrals. You should do the same for them. Make referrals a part of your regular meetings. You can even co-sponsor events with your suppliers.
7 Manage risk. When you develop these great supplier relationships, always make sure that you have a back-up. You don’t want the exposure of being too dependent on any one supplier. Keep a second on hand in case of emergencies.
Mistake #14
Being A One-Trick Pony
Is your small business a one-trick pony? When someone buys from you, do they come back? A one-trick pony in urban lore is someone with only one talent or expertise. In Lean Marketing, repeat sales are the lifeblood of small businesses. They’re especially difficult to come by if you only have one product or service.
There are two requirements for recurring revenue. First, you need more than one product or service at increasingly higher price points. Second, you need to nurture your customers and prospects until they’re ready to buy. When you have a process for nurturing customers, the result is a predictable stream of leads.
