Biz Coach Steve

Tag: entreprenuer

  • TODAY!

    TODAY!

    There are two days in every week about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.

    One of these days is Yesterday with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains.  Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control.

    All the money in the world cannot bring back from Yesterday.  We cannot undo a single act we performed; we cannot erase a single word we said.  Yesterday is gone and should be forgotten.

    The other day we should not worry about is Tomorrow with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise, and poor performance.  Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.

    Tomorrow’s sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds—but it will rise.  Until it does, we have no stake in Tomorrow, for it is yet unborn.

    This leaves only one day – Today.  Anyone can fight the battles of just one day.  It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities – Yesterday and Tomorrow – that we break down.

    It is not the experience of Today that drives us mad – it is remorse and bitterness for something which happened Yesterday and dread of what tomorrow may bring.

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    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, and Author, a coffee enthusiast, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations and conducts workshops and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, steve@bizcoachsteve.com, or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #business #stevefeld #smallbusiness #smallbiz #entrepreneur #marketing #leadership #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #businesssuccess #businesscoaching #businesstips #entrepreneurship #success #entrepreneurlife #keynotespeaker #podcast #author #smallbusinessowner #speaker

  • Building a Customer Pipeline

    Building a Customer Pipeline

    There are several good reasons why every small and medium-sized business needs to build and maintain an effective customer pipeline, but perhaps the most important one is that failing to do so can jeopardize your financial stability, says Yoon Cannon, a business growth expert, author, and keynote speaker. “If 80 percent of your company’s annual revenue is riding on 20 percent of your total customer base, then you risk a devastating hit to profitability from losing just one or two of your biggest clients,” she says. Grant Cardone, author of Sell or Be Sold: How to Get Your Way in Business and in Life, adds that a pipeline structure is “essential to the long-term viability and growth of your organization. It is impossible to be too aggressive in this area.”

    The thought of building a customer pipeline can be off-putting to some business owners and managers, but that is most often because they lack knowledge about what the process entails, says Hunter Belington, a principal at Closer Consulting, which specializes in the recruitment and development of sales professionals. “They aren’t sure what goes into one or how to manage it.” But building a customer pipeline doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult, especially if you break the process down into a series of key stages.

    The goals of a customer pipeline include creating awareness, generating leads, converting leads to sales, boosting transaction value through upwelling and cross-selling, and increasing frequency through reorders and repeat sales. You should begin by mapping out the sequences that best align with your ideal target market profile and the products/services you would most like to begin or continue offering, Cannon suggests. “The low-hanging fruit is often your lower-price offerings in the early stages, and that’s a good place to start. But you should begin thinking about what you can offer at higher price points that might eventually provide a greater return on your investment,” she says.

    The pipeline creation process should include measuring performance in each stage of the process, setting benchmarks against existing performance, and establishing the potential for improvement. The pipeline must provide you with accurate metrics so that over time your understanding of the process and your ability to measure and boost performance will improve, says Jeff Connelly, a professor at the Acton School of Business and president and CEO of CMIT Solutions. “It is important to break down the process into phases so that you can measure each one. You can only improve it when you are able to measure it.”

    Gathering, analyzing, and leveraging customer information are critical activities, says Cannon, who breaks the process down into seven key stages. Stage one is prospects who respond to a free offer, indicating a willingness to learn more about you and your business. A subgroup of people who express interest in a low-risk offer emerges in stage two and is further refined by those who complete that transaction in stage three. “From the prospects in the first three stages, you should be able to identify those likely to be interested in your mid-price offerings. The ones who complete that transaction become stage five customers,” she explains. The final two stages are the high-price-point interest group and the high-price-point customer group, typically representing about 20 percent of your customer base but up to 80 percent of your profits.

    It is important to note the nature of the customer information that is most valuable in an effective pipeline. For the most part, general demographic information provides little value; it is customer contact data, information requests, and purchase patterns that are most useful. This crucial information can be leveraged through a segmentation process such as that described by Cannon, as well as through customer relationship management (CRM) and direct marketing. With CRM, employees answering incoming calls can know exactly who the customer is and what he or she last ordered. The same data can be used to do a better job of targeting direct marketing efforts, regardless of media channel.

    Finally, building a culture of performance, learning, and continuous improvement is essential to wringing maximum value from your customer pipeline. Metrics and performance benchmarks are part of that effort, but incentives, morale-building, and fostering an enthusiastic atmosphere that is conducive to your business goals are at least as important. “For many SMBs, a culture of performance means a change in behavior to consistently measuring performance metrics for the first time,” Cannon says. “Continuous improvement is about a consistent focus on a daily or weekly basis to monitor results and change variables as needed in order to better meet your target market’s needs and do a better job of motivating them to become customers.”

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    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, and Author, a coffee enthusiast, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations and conducts workshops and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, steve@bizcoachsteve.com, or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #business #stevefeld #smallbusiness #smallbiz #entrepreneur #marketing #leadership #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #businesssuccess #businesscoaching #businesstips #entrepreneurship #success #entrepreneurlife #keynotespeaker #podcast #author #smallbusinessowner #speaker

  • 11 Simple Ways to Develop a Daily Discipline

    11 Simple Ways to Develop a Daily Discipline

    A business owner I recently reconnected with, who in my opinion is one of the most disciplined business owners I know.  As we were talking, I had to ask him how he stays so disciplined in his business and personal life.

    He shared with me some simple ways anyone can be disciplined. He even stated he does struggle with his discipline every now and then, but he also knows if he stays disciplined, he reaches his goals faster.  He understands how discipline works, and how it shows you are in control of your life. It’s the path to getting anything you want.

    So how do you maintain discipline? By combining an automated brain program—doing whatever needs to be done—with an incredible commitment to your goal.

    It becomes increasingly harder to be disciplined in a society that prizes instant gratification. We are more concerned about feeling good all the time, so we seek immediate pleasures, whether it’s a new car, an exotic trip, or a new partner. Our long-term goals are not so important anymore. We get comfortable and wait for a special event to give our lives meaning, happiness, and success.

    Discipline is the difference between being in control of your future and letting your environment dictate your destiny.

    Discipline means freedom and happiness. It gives you the ability to do what you want because you know you can learn how to achieve any dream you set your mind to3.

    Discipline teaches you how to control your thoughts—and how to be happy in any situation, to visualize positive emotions and triggers, and optimistic mood.

    Discipline builds self-confidence, and mental and physical strength, and inspires you to grow as a human being. With growth comes the ability to enjoy life in deeper, more meaningful ways.

    Anyone can develop discipline. It’s a skill and it’s not complicated—you just must train yourself for it.

    Here’s how:

    1. Set BIG goals. When you challenge yourself to achieve bigger goals, you dedicate yourself to the craft. The more time you spend on it, the harder it becomes to quit. Once you have spent so much sweat, time, and effort on it, if you quit, it will be for nothing. The bigger the goal, the more invested you become.
    2. Set CLEAR goals. Clearly define what your goal means to you and what you will specifically do to achieve it. If you set a goal to live healthier, for example, will you go running every day? At what time and for how long? If there is no clear goal, there is no opportunity to create the specific steps you’d need to do to accomplish it.
    3. Know that everyday matters. When you wake up in the morning, do you know what’s most important for you to accomplish that day? Every goal, every priority, you have set for yourself has to be done – it will determine whether your dream lives or dies.
    4. Don’t argue with the plan. If you want to go to the Olympics, each training session matters; there isn’t one that’s less important than another. It’s the same with everything else in your life. When you start the process, you cannot question it, you cannot hesitate, you cannot back down—you must work hard every single day to reach your dream, full force.
    5. Build a no-matter-what mindset. Build the mindset that no matter what, you will accomplish things when you said you would. No matter what. You must create pressure on yourself, otherwise, nothing will get done. There is good stress and bad stress, and you must make sure you are operating under good stress – butterflies in the stomach, and manageable adrenaline that stimulates you.
    6. Plan a routine. Create a routine that becomes second nature, automatic, and normal. Athletes, for example, know what hours they train, when to break for lunchtime and dinnertime, and when to rest. In training, they know they must do warm-up, main training, cool-down, and recovery. By following the same routine, it becomes second nature—the discipline preps them to win. Planning your routine—and sticking to it until it becomes automatic—can prep you for success, too.
    7. Commit. Maybe your parents told you this when you wanted to join an after-school activity. “Be careful in choosing where you will spend your time because you won’t be able to quit. You will have to follow through with it until the end and do it well.” So, I really considered whether I would be able to commit to something for a long time. And when I knew, when I chose the one thing I wanted to do, it made me want to figure out how to keep getting better at it—it made me want to commit.
    8. Understand the transformation process. Your body and brain will do everything they can to resist change and growth. You need to know that it’s natural to feel lazy and undisciplined—but you also need to know that you have all the power to fight it. Start with your thoughts.
    9. Go above your feelings. The hardest part about discipline is maintaining the actions needed to achieve your dream or state of happiness. It requires constant hard work and fighting against comfort and instant pleasures. To do so, you must separate yourself from the feelings that stop you, like fatigue, laziness, or self-pity. You must go above them, even if your feelings tell you that you are tired, stressed, and alone in this struggle. Discipline is the direct training of a fighter.
    10. Resist the brain. All people are lazy, even the most successful businesspeople, the most accomplished athletes, and the most talented actors. But it’s not simply laziness—it’s your brain saving energy for you. Any movement takes energy, and the brain is doing everything to stop you from moving by sending body signals about how hard it is to move and thoughts about how scary it would be if you fail. But you can trick your brain. Imagine your body is a beautiful machine and you are operating it as a higher force from above. Separate yourself from your body. Play it as a computer game. You are the one who commands your body to accomplish tasks.
    11. Find pleasure in the hard work. Shift your focus to the process and concentrate on getting the work done faster and better every time. Speed is important; you must move quickly to achieve perfection in a set amount of time.

    So many people quit too early. Success is all about persistence, and discipline is what gets you to your destination. It’s the realization of your dream. The more you learn about your craft and your capabilities, when you start seeing yourself improve, the results will make you hungry for more. Self-improvement is an amazing drug.

    Self-discipline is a source of power. It is an engine that helps us understand and explore our capabilities and life’s opportunities. Discipline is not boring; it’s the freedom to put all our energy into creating something meaningful and beautiful.

    It’s up to us to choose life with discipline or without, with a goal or without, with a dream or without.

    #

    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, and Author, a coffee enthusiast, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations and conducts workshops and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, steve@bizcoachsteve.com, or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #business #stevefeld #smallbusiness #smallbiz #entrepreneur #marketing #leadership #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #businesssuccess #businesscoaching #businesstips #entrepreneurship #success #entrepreneurlife #keynotespeaker #podcast #author #smallbusinessowner #speaker

  • Money-Leverage!

    Money-Leverage!

    How to leverage the maximum amount of money out of every hour you spend working.

    I’d like to talk about one of your most precious, but grossly under-valued commodities…

    Your Time!

    You see, most of us are taught that you’ve got to work long, hard hours if you want to be a “success”.

    By the time you’re through reading this article – it’s going to become “crystal” clear to you that…

    Nothing Could Be Further from The Truth!

    I’m going to reveal to you my little-known but highly effective system for working “smarter” not “harder”. How many times have you told your spouse, friend, or significant other “I work so damn hard, I should be a millionaire by now” or ” My competition must be doing something illegal to make all that money since I work three times harder and make one-third less money than they do!”

    If you haven’t figured it out yet, making a lot of money has absolutely nothing to do with how “hard” you work.

    Let me try to be more specific with you.

    A renowned business consultant named Michael Gerber wrote a book called The E-Myth (which I highly recommend all business owners should read). This book is great in dispelling many business E-Myths.

    I strongly urge you to read it for yourself, but here is a brief synopsis of the invaluable lessons within the book.

    1. Most Business Owners Are “Technicians” NOT Entrepreneurs.

    Gerber explained that most successful employees figure to themselves that they could make far more money if they owned a business rather than working for someone else.

    So, what they do is go out, start their own business, and create a “job” for themselves.

    In most cases, these people end up working harder for themselves with less money to show for it because they now also have a dozen other “jobs” to worry about, and there are no other employees to do them. These business owners are worse off with their own business than they were working for someone else because they never truly understood what it meant to be an “entrepreneur”.

    2. You Must Work “On” Your Business Not “In” Your Business.

    If you truly want to be successful in your own business, you cannot and should not do everything yourself.

    Your job should be marketing and sales, getting and keeping customers. Not ordering office supplies, doing your own bookkeeping, answering your own telephones, making copies, faxing, typing, and doing everything else your business requires.

    If all of your time is spent doing administrative “detail” work, you will never have time to focus on truly important things like marketing, getting new customers, and keeping current customers happy.

    3. You Must Have Predictable “Systems” Set Up for Running Your Business.

    Every single business, no matter how large or small it is, must have a “systematized” way of doing things.

    Otherwise, your business will operate in constant “chaos” which will ultimately lead to customer dissatisfaction, and probably the failure of your business.

    A perfect example of a system is a franchise like McDonald’s. They have systematized every single aspect of their business so that any new franchisee can open a McDonald’s restaurant in their area, and their customers will have the same exact experience as they have had at any other McDonald’s restaurant across the world.

    Virtually every aspect of your existing business can be reduced to a “step-by-step” procedure that is repetitive.

    There are very few things that will happen in your business that are totally new or unfamiliar to you.

    Understand that most aspects of business are repetitive, and then set out to put together your own “operation’s manual” which explains how to do every function of your business in step-by-step detail.

    This way, when you start hiring new people, most of your training can be done by handing them your manual and telling them to read it. It will make running and growing your business much easier.

    Now, let’s talk about “Money-Leveraging”.

    What Does “Money Leverage” Mean?

    Good question. Let me explain.

    A famous copywriter and marketing expert named John Carlton coined the term “money leverage”.

    What he meant by this is that the goal of every entrepreneur or business owner should be to literally “leverage” the maximum amount of money out of every minute they spend working.

    To be more specific, he explained that most entrepreneurs have a difficult time differentiating between $15/hr. work and $250/hr. work.

    In other words, every time you make a copy, send a fax, answer your own phone, order office supplies, or do your own telemarketing or bookkeeping – you are “hiring” yourself to do $15/hr. work.

    I’ll bet you’re saying to yourself right about now – “But Brian, I don’t have the money to pay someone to help me do these things – I’ve got to do everything myself.”

    If this is the case…

    You’re Costing Yourself a Ton of Money!

    “How could this be?”, you ask.

    Let me explain. Every hour you spend doing $15/hr. work is a “working” hour you can’t spend doing $250/hr. work.

    Since most of us work about 8 – 10 hours a day, every hour you waste is money lost that you can never regain.

    To put this more simply, there are two types of jobs in every business, I don’t care what type of business a person is in:

    1. Money Dissipaters:

    These are jobs like administrative work, bookkeeping, running errands, etc. They don’t make the company any money, they cost the company money.

    These jobs must be done to run a business, but they do not bring any money into the business, and without sales, these jobs are useless.

    2. Money Makers:

    These are jobs like marketing and sales, setting up joint ventures, etc. All of these activities bring money into the business. These are the $250/hr. jobs. And if you haven’t figured it out yet…

    These Are the Only Jobs You Should Be Doing!

    You see, the true definition of an entrepreneur is a person who is a “Rainmaker”.

    You’re the one who “makes things happen”.

    Your job is marketing and sales, and keeping existing customers happy so they keep re-purchasing from you.

    All other jobs should be hired out – period!

    Let a $10 – $15 an hour person help you with every aspect of your business other than “Getting and Keeping Customers”.

    For example, if you’re still handwriting names and addresses on your postcards, mailing out the FREE reports, doing your own telemarketing, and filling out the financial aid forms yourself – you are now doing $15/hr. work.

    The only, and I repeat only thing you should be doing is conducting seminars, doing sales presentations, and continually staying on top of your marketing (i.e., making sure postcards are sent out every week, doing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd notice mailings, sending out a monthly newsletter, etc.).

    Every other job that you’re currently doing should be off-loaded to someone else who is probably far more capable in that area than you are.

    In fact, this is exactly how I was able to grow my businesses and help my clients grow theirs as well.

    I’m always asking myself the question, “Can someone else do this job cheaper and more effectively than I can?”

    If the answer is “yes”, I immediately pay someone else to do it!

    Every time you start doing $15/hr. jobs, think to yourself…

    “I’m Burning Up $250 Bills Right Now!”

    That should put you in the proper mindset, and make you feel guilty that you’re “costing” yourself hundreds of dollars.

    This is the “secret” to money leverage and making a fortune in your business.

    It’s not working “harder” that makes you rich, it’s working “smarter”.

    So, the next time you hear someone say, “I work so hard, I should be a millionaire by now!” – ask them if they have employees, or if they have an “operator’s manual” for running their business.

    I’ll bet you the farm these people don’t know how to delegate or differentiate between $15/hr. and $250/hr. work!

    #

    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, and Author, a coffee enthusiast, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations and conducts workshops and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, steve@bizcoachsteve.com, or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #business #stevefeld #smallbusiness #smallbiz #entrepreneur #marketing #leadership #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #businesssuccess #businesscoaching #businesstips #entrepreneurship #success #entrepreneurlife #keynotespeaker #podcast #author #smallbusinessowner #speaker

  • How to lose a Sale

    How to lose a Sale

    We have all had some great sales conversations and we have all had some not-so-great sales conversations that led to no sales.

    Nobody likes getting rejected. We’ve all experienced it and we’ve all figured out ways to avoid it. But just like with your high school crush, there are a few ways you can bring about rejection even quicker than you expected with a potential customer. The only difference is that this time, it has nothing to do with whether or not you are the captain of the football team and much more to do with how you handle a single interaction.

    There are several ways you can push a customer to the point of no return. By being aware of all these little ways you can put off your customers, you can learn to avoid them and work on becoming a better, more approachable salesperson. Here are four damaging sales interactions that can end up sealing your sales fate with a customer’s 180-degree turn straight for the door.

    1. Focusing on price instead of value

    One mistake many salespeople make is ignoring the difference between price and value. While they might seem similar at first, price and value are two very different things. Sticking to a customer’s price point is important, but it’s not all that matters. If you offer a customer a product that solves a distinct problem, and it’s something they’ve been trying to find for quite a while, that item will probably be pretty valuable. And when needs are met, price tends to matter less.

    On the other side, if you push a product that has little to no benefit, your customer is bound to walk out of the store empty-handed regardless of the price, and that’s bad news for both of you. You’re more likely to annoy them out of buying something they might want than to make a sale when you push worthless items. And doing this will leave your customers frustrated and destroy their loyalty to your brand.

    1. Avoiding the budget conversation

    Speaking of price, you should never start pushing a sale until you’ve addressed a customer’s budget. Sure, it can feel a little awkward; but until you know what a customer is willing to spend, your tried-and-true sales tactics won’t do any good.

    Think of your customer’s budget as a map. It can point you in the right direction as you promote various products, and it can help them find what they’re looking for at a price point that makes sense. Of course, there will always be opportunities for upsells, add-ons, and showcasing higher-priced products; but unless you know where your customer stands on budget, you’ll have a hard time selling them.

    If you push the customer too hard on an item that’s above their price point, it could lead them to skip a sale altogether. Or worse, take the sale to another retailer. And the last thing you want is your customers’ loyalty shifting to someone else!

    1. Being impatient about getting to the checkout

    A salesperson who runs to the cash register before the customer has committed to purchase is always a red flag. Doing this signals to the customer that you don’t care about what they need, just about ringing the till.

    Read your customer’s body language and verbal cues to get a sense of where they are in the sales process. Sure, most customers require a bit of coaxing and warming up before they’ll let you into their circle. But the sooner you can start building trust, proving that you’re there to help and not to force a sale, the better off you’ll both be. As soon as that trust is built and you can show them what value a specific item will bring them, you won’t have to drag them to the cash register kicking and screaming.

    1. Letting ‘no’ be the final answer

    It’s easy to let ‘no’ be the final answer. However, checking in with the customer a second time might magically turn that ‘no’ into a ‘yes.’ You don’t want the customer to live happily ever after with someone else’s product, right? Of course not. So, put on your big kid pants and ask for the sale again.

    In sales, a ‘no’ is rarely a cold, hard, set-in-stone ‘no’. Again, demonstrate your patience here and find out the real story. Establish rapport and you’ll usually find a way to solve their problem, encouraging them to change their answer to that one word you like much better — ‘yes’.

    By sidestepping these missteps, you can ensure you don’t find yourself in a sales dilemma that ends with losing a sale, or even a customer. Avoid the above interactions and instead of a lonely rejection, you’ll be enjoying the sweet success of a sale.

    Try to avoid these 4 simple ways to lose a sale.

    #

    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, and Author, a coffee enthusiast, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations and conducts workshops and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, steve@bizcoachsteve.com, or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #business #stevefeld #smallbusiness #smallbiz #entrepreneur #marketing #leadership #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #businesssuccess #businesscoaching #businesstips #entrepreneurship #success #entrepreneurlife #keynotespeaker #podcast #author #smallbusinessowner #speaker

  • Manage Yourself 

    Manage Yourself 

    Business leaders often get caught in the weeds within their business and may lose sight of the big picture. Leaders juggle many different items/crises a day and they should examine each crisis in three steps. 1) Fix the problem, 2) Find out how the problem became a problem, and 3) Make sure that problem never happens again.  This management tip has been passed down from many different sources, but still holds in running a business.

    Here are just a few tips to assist you in “defining the problem.”

    • Make your calendar your best friend.  As soon as you book an appointment or meeting, also book a date to prepare for it and make a to-do list for the appointment. Take time and prepare for the appointment or meeting.
    • Don’t waste precious time sweating over the small things out of your control. There will be items that “pop up” over which you have little or no control.  When that happens, go with the flow and don’t fight it, just work through them and get it over with.  
    • Manage the function, not the paperwork.  Remember that your job is to manage a specific function within the company, whatever that may be.  There might be a lot of paperwork that goes with the job, but don’t let that distract you from your real responsibility.
    • Get out of your office.  Make yourself more approachable and walk around your organization. You find out what is really happening and will get information firsthand from your staff.  
    • Delegate out the easy stuff.  Right now, there are people within your organization that will be more than happy to handle the small easy items that will eat up your time if you do them. Focus on the hard stuff. 
    • Don’t get caught up in “looking good.”  Appearances can be deceiving.  Don’t try to act big.  Don’t exclude rank-and-file employees.  And don’t think you know it all.  Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honest. Getting out of your office will assist with this.
    • Learn from the mistakes of others.  Benjamin Franklin believed you should learn from the mistakes others made, so you don’t do them.
    • Open your ears and close your mouth.  You have two ears and one mouth, so you should be listening twice as long or more than talking. Listen to what your associates, your employees, your suppliers, and your customers say, they all have something of value that will assist you.  Listen to the people around you.  You will never learn what it is if you drown them out by talking all the time. Shut up and learn.
    • Practice what you preach.  To lead, you have to lead by example.  Don’t go on an office spending spree for yourself and then tell your people to watch their expenses.  Walk your talk.
    • Know your numbers. Always be looking at your financial statements to know how your company is performing which will avoid those, “I should have looked at the financials more.”

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    Steve Feld provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. This is accomplished through one-on-one coaching in an environment of continuous learning, positive support, and results-driven accountability.  Steve also conducts workshops and training on a variety of subjects for business owners, executives, and their staff which he customizes to every organization to provide the greatest positive impact. Steve has spoken to a large variety of organizations in different industries of all sizes.

    All businesses have the same foundation and that is what Steve focuses on. Growing and getting positive results in the business, the leader of the organization as well as every else involved within the business. Contact Steve today to see how he can assist you to grow your business, at 602-750-3017. He is in the business of business.

  • Don’t build on borrowed land

    Don’t build on borrowed land

    This is great marketing advice. Don’t build ANYTHING on borrowed land.

    This means if you don’t own the platform (or have control), then don’t focus all of your marketing efforts on that platform.

    Do you remember a few years ago when Facebook went down for 3 days?

    I had a client that was doing all his business on Facebook and not one penny on any other platforms. He was grossing around $30,000 a day (yes, you read that right) selling products (affiliate marketing). He focused on placing targeted ads and putting people into funnels, which turned into sales. He had around 90 funnels going. His ad spend was shall we say – a crazy ridiculous high number.

    Then his business world ended all in 3 days.

    On the first and second days, his funnels were cleaned out. All those people in his funnels are done. They either purchase something or they will not be contacted for another month. But not one new person entered any of his funnels for 3 straight days.

    By the end of the third day of no Facebook. All his funnels were dry. His daily sales were close to zero.

    When Facebook came back, he had to rebuild all his ads and funnels. Everything was wiped out. This took him another 45 days to get set up. His business started recovering to the pre-black-out daily sales a year later.

    He built his entire business on borrowed land.

    When people connect with you on any social media site, work on moving them over into your database. Get them in your newsletters, anything you can control.

    Think of where you have the most followers, likes, subscribers, etc., and then think about what would happen to your business if that platform decided to shut down tomorrow.

    It could happen.

    Microsoft could close LinkedIn.

    The Zuck could shut down (or be forced to shut down) Facebook and Instagram.

    Elon ends Twitter.

    And so on.

    Don’t build your business on borrowed land.

    #

    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, and Author, a coffee enthusiast, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations and conducts workshops and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, steve@bizcoachsteve.com, or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #business #stevefeld #smallbusiness #smallbiz #entrepreneur #marketing #leadership #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #businesssuccess #businesscoaching #businesstips #entrepreneurship #success #entrepreneurlife #keynotespeaker #podcast #author #smallbusinessowner #speaker

  • Do you have a Customer Pipeline?

    Do you have a Customer Pipeline?

    There are several good reasons why every small and medium-sized business needs to build and maintain an effective customer pipeline, but perhaps the most important one is that failing to do so can jeopardize your financial stability.

    Having a sustainable pipeline structure is essential to the long-term viability and growth of your business. It is impossible to be too aggressive in this area.

    Many business owners lack the essential knowledge of what an effective customer pipeline entail. Items such as why I need a solid pipeline. Do I have to invest in more programs and services? How will I manage the pipeline? Do I have to hire someone to set a pipeline up?

    Building a customer pipeline doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult, especially if you break the process down into a series of key stages. There are many forms of customer pipelines. We are going to look at an automated pipeline.

    The goals of a customer pipeline include creating awareness, generating leads, converting leads to sales, boosting transaction value through upselling and cross-selling, and increasing frequency through reorders and repeat sales.

    Start by mapping out the sequences that best align with your ideal target market profile and the products/services you would most like to begin or continue offering them. It’s easy to look at “Low-hanging fruit” at a lower price, but you should be thinking about what you can offer at a higher price that may eventually provide you with a greater return on your investment.

    Any pipeline process needs to include measuring the performance of each stage (phase) of the process. Set benchmarks against existing performance and establish the potential for improvement. Knowing your numbers will allow you to make any adjustments and plug up any “leaks” in your pipeline and be able to “boost” performance in other areas.

    Gathering, analyzing, and leveraging customer information are critical activities for your pipeline.

    Here are 7 key stages in an effective customer pipeline.

    1. Offer your target market a free offer (guide, book, video, worksheet, etc.) to entice them to “opt in” to learn more about you and your business.
    2. Make the offer low-risk so they can easily “opt-in.” Just get their name and email.
    3. Once they ‘opt-in” get them what you offered to them ASAP without having them perform any additional steps.
    4. Have a “drip campaign” for your new prospect to get to know you better. Provide them with more relevant information – NOT selling to them.
    5. Introduce a new offer to them within the drip campaign. Sign up for a workshop, get another video or book, free consultation, etc.
    6. Once they take advantage of your second offer, they are now more likely to purchase a higher ticket-priced product or service from you. Now you can obtain more demographic information about your customers.
    7. Now you can offer a high price point product or service from you.

    Don’t forget to measure your activities. How many people opted-in to your offer? Stayed enrolled in your drip campaign? Took advantage of your 2nd and 3rd offers?

    One key to a successful pipeline (other than measuring results and making necessary adjustments) is to be consistent with your marketing efforts to always be bringing in more prospects into your pipeline.

    What automated customer pipeline do you have in your business?

    #

    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, and Author, a coffee enthusiast, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations and conducts workshops and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, steve@bizcoachsteve.com, or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #business #stevefeld #smallbusiness #smallbiz #entrepreneur #marketing #leadership #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #businesssuccess #businesscoaching #businesstips #entrepreneurship #success #entrepreneurlife #keynotespeaker #podcast #author #smallbusinessowner #speaker

  • 7 Marketing Strategies that will Skyrocket your sales and profits

    7 Marketing Strategies that will Skyrocket your sales and profits

    I know what you are thinking.

    OMG… not another marketing program that costs lots of money.

    Nope. Just 7 simple marketing strategies that you can use to grow your business.  There are literally thousands of different marketing strategies that you could be using to grow your business, but only a few that you need to do it consistently and that will allow you to make all the money you desire.

    Strategy #1: Create a Marketing Parthenon

    The only constant in business is change. Therefore, you need to be brilliant at the basics.

    A marketing Parthenon means having multiple different sources of revenue and lead generation instead of relying on just one. What worked yesterday, may not work today.

    To give you an example, we have private coaching, group coaching, mastermind, automated courses, book sales, speaking revenue, affiliate programs, and a formal referral program.

    What is your revenue Parthenon?

    Strategy #2:  Consistency

    This one seems so easy, yet so many people fail to be “consistent” in their marketing efforts.

    If you just mailed out 200 postcards, then you should be working on the next round of mailing out the next 200 postcards.  Just like running an ad in the local papers, or online. You need to create momentum and be seen. Not one and done marketing strategies that so many businesses perform. 

    Strategy #3:  Sequenced Mailings

    This is probably the most important marketing strategy you could implement, yet very few businesses put systems into place to allow them to tap into the power of consistent sequenced mailings. ** This also goes for email marketing – drip campaign.

    Here’s why this one is so powerful. Most people are gathering information before they purchase some items. If they see your ad once, they will forget you when they are ready to purchase. But, if you keep in touch with them through a consistent marketing program, then you will be top of mind when they are ready to purchase.

    Most marketers believe you should “touch” (not physically) your prospects 11 to 15 times before your message breaks through and they are ready to buy. Why do you think fast food restaurants advertise so much – repetition?

    Strategy #4: Monthly Newsletters

    Do you send out a monthly newsletter to your clients?  This could also be done via an email newsletter.

    It’s easier to re-sell to an existing client than to sell to someone who doesn’t know, like and trust you.

    Interesting stat: Did you know that you lose 1 ½ of the value of a client every 30 days you don’t communicate with them?

    It’s not just selling stuff but providing your clients with content that they can use and that is related to your product or service.

    Just keep in touch with your clients.

    Strategy #5: Create Joint Venture partnerships for your business

    As I just said, it’s far easier to re-sell to an existing client than to an unknown prospect.

    You’ve spent money and time acquiring a client, it’s relatively inexpensive to send them a letter promoting another product or service that is RELATED to yours.

    You can send (including email) a guide on behalf of your JV. If anyone from your list purchases anything from your JV, they will pay you a flat rate or percentage of the sale.

    This works for complimentary products and services to yours.

    Strategy #6:  Testing

    It is surprising how few marketers actually “test.”

    One example of this is A/B testing.

    • Test one marketing piece against another
    • One headline against another
    • One price against another
    • One guarantee against another
    • One medium against another (local papers versus city papers, Facebook versus Instagram, etc.)

    The list goes on.

    Most of the time no one tests to see what resonates with your target market to have them buy from you.

    I have done this before and it saved me $2,500 a month if I would have gone with one postcard with a negative return, versus a postcard that cost $100 a month and had over a 20,000% return. Yes, you read that right.

    Strategy #7: Create a Deluxe Version

    Airlines have “First Class,” nightclubs have “VIP” rooms, and hotels have “Suites.”

    Get the point?

    Give your clients more than one option. Offer them the “No Frills” service for one price, and the “Premium” service for a higher price.

    Put those extra bells and whistles into the “Premium” service and create a much higher “Perceived Value” and I GUARANTEE most of your clients will choose the “Premium” service.”

    Give your clients a “Yes” or “Yes” decision NOT a “Yes” or “No” decision.

    Which strategy will you implement in your business today to grow your business?

    #

    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, and Author, a coffee enthusiast, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations and conducts workshops and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, steve@bizcoachsteve.com, or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachstevef #business #stevefeld #smallbusiness #smallbiz #entrepreneur #marketing #leadership #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #businesssuccess #businesscoaching #businesstips #entrepreneurship #success #entrepreneurlife #keynotespeaker #podcast #author #smallbusinessowner #speaker

  • Start today to change EVERYTHING

    Start today to change EVERYTHING

     Think about where you were 5 years ago.
     
    Seems like only yesterday, right?
     
    Are you where you thought you’d be 5 years later when you looked forward back then?
     
    Are you leading the life you envisioned?
     
    Do you have the income, lifestyle, freedom, health, relationships, poise, and skills you thought you would have by now?
     
    Guess What?  Now you get another chance to look forward to the next 5 years
    Over the next 5 years, you can accomplish what people spend a lifetime trying to do. How do you visualize your life to be in 5 years? What job do you have in what industry? How much money are you making? What city do you live in? What kind of car are you driving? What kind of house/apartment/etc. do you live in? Who are you within your relationship? How are you viewed in the community?

    Be as specific as possible. Take the time to visualize all areas of your life. I only mentioned some of them. Write them all down and look at them every month, week, and even day. Start today moving to where you want to be in 5 years.
     
    A Goal vs. A Promise
    It makes a big difference if you turn your goals into promises.  That’s because most of us have set goals and know of other people that have set goals and didn’t fulfill them.  Our mind tends to see goals as something to strive for, something to aim at…but if we don’t “hit the target”, it’s fine because “we’re not the first or the last that have set goals and didn’t achieve them.”
     
    On the other hand, when we promise someone that we’re going to do something, our mind goes to work for us and we do everything that’s in our power to fulfill that promise because we don’t like to feel the pain, shame, or embarrassment of letting somebody down.  Our integrity is such that a promise means more to us than setting a goal.
     
    The Power of Accountability Partners
    Commitment is doing the thing you said you were going to do, long after the mood you said it in has left you.
     
    The pressures of life will not come to an end just because you have decided to begin this program.  It has been my experience that those who have the most success with the program are those who had 2 or more Accountability Partners (not within the same household) doing the program also.
     
    Some benefits of utilizing Accountability Partners include:

    • Assistance in organizing ideas, thoughts, and tasks into specific, measurable, attainable, and realistic goals
    • Assistance in prioritizing an effective and consistent plan
    • Ensuring accountability for task follow through
    • Mentoring through difficulties and indecisiveness
    • Sharing advice, personal knowledge, and experience
    • Follow up on your success


    During your search for appropriate Accountability Partners, keep in mind that the right person should be someone who will challenge, engage and evoke a sense of accomplishment in you.  Confidence, creativity, and strength are all traits that will be useful to you.  Also, consider choosing an Accountability Partner who you trust to keep confidence as you may get into financial and personal discussions that are confidential in nature.
     
    Promise yourself and your Accountability Partners that you will become a better person and achieve your goals.
     
    Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life
    Unlocking your full potential for Wealth, Success, and Achievement
     
    Your THOUGHTS,  your WORDS, and your ACTIONS are building blocks to creating the life that you want!
     
    Doing the same things over and over expecting different results is insanity.  The only way to get different results is to change what we do.  The process of change begins in our minds.  Our thoughts help shape and create our circumstances in life.  “As A Man Thinketh, So Is He.”  When we change our thinking, we change our lives.
     
    What does it mean to change?  Change = to transform or convert.
     
    When we find ourselves stuck in a rut or not quite where we want to be in life, it is time for a change.  Old habits, old thoughts, and old ways of thinking must go.  We literally have to cleanse our minds of negativity, scars, conditioning, and mental blocks.
     
    Living Your Dream is a continuous process of training and transforming our minds to achieve optimal living.  There are many ways to begin the process of changing the way we think.
     
    What we feed our minds affect how and what we think.  When we bombard the mind with negative images, fears, bad news, violence, pain, and suffering, etc.…our mind responds by conjuring up matching thoughts.  When we feed our minds with positive images, good news, peace, happiness, and prosperity …our mind responds accordingly.
     
    Our mind will produce thoughts based on the information we provide it with.  The thoughts that our mind produces set a wheel of events in motion.  Thoughts are creative and whatever thoughts we find ourselves preoccupied with always manifest in our lives.
     
    What you do with your life is up to you.  Life is what you make it.  You have everything you need to create life, destroy life, improve life, and touch the lives of others.  For every cause, there is an effect.  Every life represents a mission, a purpose, and a cause.  What will be the effect on your LIFE?

    I promise you if you commit today to reach your goal with the help of accountability partners, and change your thinking to positive thoughts you will be in a much better place in 5 years.

    How do you visualize your life in 5 years?

    All long journeys start with one step.

    What one step are you going to take today?  

    #

    Steve Feld, MBA, Certified Business Coach, and Author, a coffee enthusiast, provides training and business performance coaching to business owners, professionals, and executives. Steve also speaks to organizations and conducts workshops and training.  Focusing on lead generation and revenue creation to get growth results for the business.

    Contact Biz Coach Steve today to see how he can assist you to get the results you want in your business, steve@bizcoachsteve.com, or www.bizcoachsteve.com. He is in the business of growing businesses. Need a speaker, contact Steve today.

    #bizcoachsteve #business #stevefeld #smallbusiness #smallbiz #entrepreneur #marketing #leadership #coaching #businessowner #businesscoach #businesscoaching #businesstips #entrepreneurship #success #entrepreneurlife #keynotespeaker #podcast #author #smallbusinessowner #speaker