Where is the new customer? He's in the new world... are you?

This week I have a guest post from Jeffrey Gitomer. Jeffrey is a leading expert in the area of sales and sales management. If you want some no-nonsense advice and techniques to improve your sales conversion, I highly recommend you buying one of his sales bible books.

"The customer is making a comeback - slow though it may be. And when he (or she) returns, you're going to notice a change. A big change. FAIR WARNING: How you prepare for the new customer will determine your long-term success.

REALITY: While your customers were away, online has officially taken over. It's the new showroom and comparison shopper. You can chat, or phone in a heartbeat. You can see every option and some you never knew existed. It's fast, it's accurate, and anyone can choose anything, any time of the day or night.

Yes, the Internet has been there for a few years, but it has taken a firm hold as a trillion dollar option for consumers and customers every place in the world. Your world.

It's a different world now. We are not going to "recover," per-se. We're going to revive and revise. And you can be in it, or watch it pass you by.

Here are some examples of "different" on the business side. Car dealerships, stock brokerages, insurance companies, banks, homebuilders, commercial real estate agents, residential real estate agents, and mortgage lenders have all revised and restructured their business - and that's the short list.

And the customer is different too. Way different.

Let me give you the details of what the new customer (both business and consumer) looks like: (NOTE: I'm using "he" but I also mean "she.")
* He's going to decide somewhat slower. He's been hesitating for more than a year.
* He's angry about the value of his home, and the value of his investments.
* He will not be doing business the same way it's been done before.
* He will not be banking the same way he banked before.
* He will not be advertising the same way he advertised before.
* He will not be buying a car the same way he did before.
* He will not be buying a home the same way he did before.
* He will not be investing the same way he did before.
* He's online. Checking out your website - and your competitor's website.
* He's socializing. Telling everyone what's happening in his world and the world.
* He's Tweeting, Facebooking, and Linked-In-ing. Social media is still a firestorm.
* He's blogging about his experiences with you, for the world to read.
* He's YouTubing about his experiences with you for the world to watch - by the millions (any questions United Airlines?).
* He's Googling, not yellow-paging.
* He's texting. A lot.
* He's using his mobile device to do damn near everything.
* He's WiFi-ing in his hotel room, on the plane, in Starbucks, and at home.
* IF he's reading a paper, or getting the news, it's online.
* He's as likely to watch The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, or listen to Howard Stern for news as he is to watch a network "news" person read a tele-prompter.
* He's purchasing after midnight. By the billions.
* He's looking for ease of doing business with you.
* He is value oriented, but will look to price as part of the decision.
* He wants a relationship.
* He wants, needs, and expects GREAT service after the sale.
* He does not want to wait for anything or anyone.
* He needs help and expert advice.
* He's looking for ideas and answers.
* He can check your price and your facts in two seconds or less on Google.
* He knows as much about your product as you do.
* He knows MORE about your competitor's product than you do.
* He can pay right now IF you can take a credit card online.
* He expects someone to answer the phone when he calls that can actually HELP.
* He is SICK of off-shore call centers, erroneously called "help desks."
* He is SICK of you telling him how important his call is while he stands on hold.
* He is SICK of your recorded hold message.
* He demands the truth. All the time.
* He no longer trusts the institutions he used to hold sacred.
* He expects you to be as computer literate as he is.
* He needs to be understood and feel your sincere concern.
* While you are qualifying him, he is qualifying you.
* If he needs a referral or recommendation, he'll go to Craig's list or Angie's list or Google or his next door neighbor, or anyone else but you...UNLESS you have video testimonials online.

As you're thinking about (and making excuses about) these statements, you better be thinking about your answers and responses to them. And you better be making the strategic decisions and game plans to make them happen.

The economy is coming back - BUT NOT TO THE WAY IT WAS. Don't take my word for it. Ask any daily newspaper.

After reviewing these statements, ask yourself this BIG question: Will your new customer buy from you, or your competition?

One final warning that is only available online. Go to www.gitomer.com and enter the words NEW CUSTOMER in the GitBit box."

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Little Red Book of Selling and eight other business books on sales, customer loyalty, and personal development. President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on sales, customer loyalty, and personal development at www.trainone.com. Jeffrey conducts more than 100 personalized, customized seminars and keynotes a year. To find out more, visit www.gitomer.com. Jeffrey can be reached at +001.704.333.1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com

The Best Advantage in Business

A lot of people (including me) talk about competitive advantage and how it is vital to the ongoing success of a business. This is very true, but what is the BEST sort of competitive advantage to have and what is plan B if you don’t have one.

Without doubt the best competitive advantage to have is competitive UNIQUENESS. This means the features of your product or service that is unique in the market and your competitors cannot match it. This could mean that your whole product or service is totally unique, or perhaps just certain features of it. For example, you may have a unique chemical compound for preventing rust on marine steel, protected by patent, that no one else has available. This is a totally unique product. Another example could be a photocopy machine that has a unique feature of low toner use. Lots of other companies have photocopiers that do what yours does (in general terms) but don’t have your one unique feature.

Does your product or service have elements of uniqueness? If so focus your marketing on these points. Target customers who will benefit from that particular feature and dominate that segment of the market.

Don’t have a UNIQUE advantage with your product or service? Don’t worry. All is not lost. Plan B is to look at your offering and determine what your COMPETITIVE advantage is, i.e. What do we do/offer to our customers that our competitors also do, but we do it BETTER and we can prove it? This will also provide you with a focus for your marketing and sales efforts and provide a better return on investment. Going back to my rust prevention compound, an example of competitive advantage would be where two companies have the same type of compound available, but one can be applied to wet or dry steel, but one can only be applied to dry steel. The ability to apply to wet OR dry steel is their competitive advantage.

If no competitive advantage exists, you may need to create one by focussing on the reputation of your company, use of customer testimonials, adding extra value through enhanced service to create a positive reputation.

For help in determining YOUR competitive advantage and what to do with it, contact the author at andyburrows@iconbusinesssolutions.com

A Problem Shared....

Last month I started the first group “coaching” program for 2010, called the Icon Business MasterClass, at my office in Albany. Participants are well through the first “Your Business Defined” diagnostic phase and already seeing the benefits of coming on-board.

I knew from my experience that participants would receive tremendous value in the 3-way analysis that is conducted on their businesses, but I was pleasantly surprised of a benefit to the program that I did not rank nearly as high as the participants themselves.

That benefit is the power of working in a group of like minded business owners and the opportunity to share their dreams and frustrations with people who they don’t know (yet), but can relate to very easily. This benefit is ranked ahead of the much lower cost that the group format affords and was the key driver to most people joining. The fact that they can save themselves a heap of money in the process is just a bonus!

If you have been thinking in the back of your mind that getting some outside advice on the business would be useful, but the cost and risks of signing up to an intensive 1-on-1 program are too high, I urge you to look at a group training type program. Obviously I would like it to be mine, but it doesn’t have to be. Look around in your area as to what is available, weigh up the benefits and costs of each and then DO IT. You won’t regret it, as long as you implement what you learn, steadily and consistently through the program and beyond.

For further details on how my Business MasterClass works and the commitment required, send me an email to andyburrows@iconbusinesssolutions.com