I recently attended a panel of speakers with the Power MOB. The discussion was Tips & Secrets for owning a Service Based Business. Since I fall into that category, I was eager to hear what the speakers had to share!

The speakers were:

Kim Campbell
Campbell Salgado Studio

Kimberely Bepler
ABC Doula

Robin Taylor
Folklore Media

Here’s some highlights from the discussion:

*Methods in Getting New Clients

-Donating to auctions

-social media

-Get referrals from other experts/consultants in your field

*Product vs. Service Businesses, What’s the Difference:
-Service isn’t a tangible product. Educating people can pay off. Focus on the value you offer, how are you saving them money and time? 1-1 consulting is important.

-Give a complementary session to qualify people

-Offer different budget packages so you can have a variety of clients

*How to price your services
-Market research/find out what is realistic for your city

-Protective pricing (not listing on your website) try not have your customers base their decision to work with you on price

-Offer a special package (a lighter version), just limit the options

-Be open to trade,but have a contract

*Customer Service

-Look for friendly contractors & employees to represent your businesss

-Satisfaction policy – Redo or fix things if customer isn’t happy

-Make your customer happy, it always pays off

-Ask for a testimonial at the end of a project

-Use Survey Monkey or Google Apps to have customers take a survey

*How to Stand Out in your Industry

-Keep yourself and your staff educated

-Promote you and your staff’s education through blogs & social media

-Do webinars, read blogs to keep up in your industry

-Join forums and email lists

-Professional development is a must, build on an expertise

-Don’t get caught up in trends

Want more info? Kim Gordon at Small Business Now offers up some useful tips for a service based business as well.

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The folks at 37 Signals are one of a kind! They started a web design firm and turned it into a web application company. They designed the official Meetup.com site, but they are most famous for developing Basecamp. Originally intended for internal use only, it satisified a need and became a commercial product and has been very successful as a project management tool.

37 Signals is about 10 years old, but they have managed to stay small and vibrant. They truly believe in investing in their customers, dishing up great customer service, creating intuitive software, and keeping things simple.

My colleagues and I really admire their business style, management, and how they’ve kept it simple over their years of growth. Jason Fried and David Hansson, the founders of 37 Signals, recently published a book “ReWork” that contains small essays of advice that can carried their company and helped it survive. Here’s some my favorites:

Nobody Likes Plastic Flowers
Don’t be a stiff boring professional. Show our flaws and personalities. Don’t hide behind a mask!

Out-Teach Your Competition
You can outspend, outsell, or out-sponsor your competition, but are they teaching their clients as well? Big Companies can’t afford to teach, but you can.

Long Lists Don’t Get Done
I could really use this tip – I’m so guilty of writing long to-do lists. Many times I get overwhelmed and can’t finish any of it. Long lists are like guilt trips and can easily stress you out. Instead prioritize visually. Write down the most important item first, keep it at top. Numbering and lettering doesn’t really work. Just keep it simple.

Meeting are Toxic
Yes, Meetings can seem evil, especially when there’s no clear picture or agenda. Sometimes you are in a room where there’s quite a few peeps who like to hear themselves talk. Here’s some suggestions: Invite as few people as possible-Always have a clear agenda-Time it, if you have to, bring in a timer so you won’t spend more time than needed

Making the Call is Making Progress
Decide and move forward. Don’t put off a decision and “think about it”. Don’t look for the perfect answer. You are likely to make a great call today as you are tomorrow or next week. Long projects zap moral!

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Here’s Part 2 of my 10 Common E-commerce Mistakes You Can Avoid! I posted last week….

#6 Displaying out of stock products

Don’t disappoint your customers, get them all excited and list a product that you no longer have in stock. Have your inventory set up so it’s synced with your online store. Manage expectations of your customers, it makes all the difference

#7 POP-UPs Annoy

Lots of websites try and lure customers in with pop-ups, but they cause the opposite effect. It’s intrusive,
usually looks ugly, and slows down page load time. Don’t make your customers want to hit the back button or run away
from your site. Unobtrusive, easy-to-use, and friendly is a much better tactic.

#8 Asking for too much or unnecessary info

Sure, sometimes you are tempted to gather info from your customer for marketing purposes when they
are registering, but if you attempt to ask too much, they may abandon the whole process.

Just stick to the necessary details to complete the purchase which are-

Delivery Address
Contact Number
Card Details

#9 Poor Customer Service

Treat your customers with the golden rule. Listen to them and be there for them which
includes answering emails, helping with returns, returning/answering phone calls. Providing a FAQ and and a return policy on your website that’s easy to find can go a long way as well.

#10 Plan for Growth

Before you begin selling anything online, talk to your web firm and web hosting about
how to prepare for:

-high traffic on your website
-high sales

You might consider what the costs are to upgrade your current web hosting plan and know at what point in your business’ growth that you will have special needs. Plan for peak sales around holidays and sales and know how to avoid traffic and bandwidth problems. vLearning what your options are early on will help your business grow faster.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, there are many more mistakes to avoid. Let me know if I need to mention others mistakes that are just important to avoid.

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