Happiness is an Inside Job

Happiness is an Inside Job

by | Mar 2, 2022 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice

Let’s be honest, compared to years gone by and even before COVID, fewer employees bring their smiles to work on a regular basis. Depending upon which source you want to believe, 50-70% of the American workforce is disengaged and/or unhappy. 

There was a time when being positive, upbeat, and happy was a given. As an employer, offering them a job was enough. In today’s “me” world, it’s not enough! The challenging question is… is it worth the price and effort to intentionally create a happy work environment.

Here are some fascinating, yet not surprising, facts that prove having happy employees will reap great rewards. Companies with happy employees…

  • Have 50% fewer workplace accidents
  • Happy employees have 37% less absenteeism
  • Companies with happy employees outperform their competition by 21%
  • 69% of employees said they would work harder if they were better appreciated
  • Employees who like their job are 10 times more likely to deliver good service

The statistics of happy vs unhappy employees are startling.  

As owners and managers, it’s easy to zero in on those things that employees do wrong, and we take for granted the things they do right. 

Psychologists will tell you, “Behaviors that get rewarded get repeated”.  If you want your staff to exhibit more customer-friendly behaviors, you need to recognize those behaviors. 

If you aren’t intentionally creating a work environment that breeds happy employees, start doing so today. 

When it comes to creating a culture of happiness, start at the beginning. Tip #1 in the Twelve Ways to Create Happy Employees is “Hire Based on Attitude, Effort, and Honesty”.  Attitude will win over skill nearly every time. Skills can be taught; attitudes are hard to change.  Effort nearly always follows attitude one way or the other, and you can never go wrong with hiring based on honesty.

The rewards of happy employees will pay huge dividends!  

To improve morale and productivity in your company, click here and read the Twelve Ways to Create Happy Employees.  

Wanted: Unhappy Customers

Wanted: Unhappy Customers

by | Jan 25, 2022 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice

Who in their right mind would ever “want” unhappy customers? The truth is…no one. But an ever-bigger truth is… if you run a business that deals with customers, you will have unhappy customers. 

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning” –Bill Gates

The key is, how do you deal with unhappy customers?

When it comes to handling problems or unhappy customers, using this philosophy can help you look at the situation in a better light: “It’s never a problem. It’s an opportunity to create a solution to a certain situation”.

Handling customer complaints IS an opportunity to turn an unhappy customer into one of your biggest fans!  A study done by Ford Motor Company revealed that an unhappy customer who is turned into a happy customer is twenty times more loyal than a customer who has never been unhappy.

In the pre-digital world, studies proved that an unhappy customer would tell at least twelve other people about their poor or unpleasant experience, and a happy customer would tell one or two. In today’s digital world this quote is apropos, “A happy customer tells a friend; an unhappy customer tells the world.” 

Ask yourself this:

• Is your staff trained and empowered to turn unhappy customers into happy customers? 

• Do you regularly survey your customer satisfaction levels intending to improve the customer experience at your business?

One of the most important things a business owner can do to achieve high customer satisfaction is to look for and talk to the unhappy customers. Whenever possible, even if it costs you some money and pride, make it right. It will prove to be a good ROI!

We know you will get a higher return on every customer our advertising generates if you can keep them happy spreading word of mouth and keep them coming back for more.

To receive a copy of the Eleven Commandments of Customer Satisfaction, click here. 

The reality of this that I’ve seen over and over again as a customer and as a business person is that when things are always going “just fine”, the customer’s emotional connection with the business is often neutral.  However those emotions flare when something goes wrong.  When  customer emotions are highly negative, you can flip it around and create a raving fan and turn those into highly positive emotions about you and your business.

Talk to the Expert

Talk to the Expert

by | Dec 14, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice

Some consumers make purchase decisions based on relationships and some make them purely on price. They are referred to as either Relational or Transactional customers.

If your business sells on price alone, this information may not pertain as much to you. If you would like to sell more on relationships, pay close attention and heed this information.

Chris Lytle, the author of The Accidental Salesperson, says “If you become known for what you know instead of what you sell, buyers will come to you for help and advice instead of the lowest price.” The good news is, they will pay more for your knowledge than they will for just the product!

Chris goes on to explain “To become known for what you know, you have to actively market your knowledge instead of your product.”

A group of hugely successful auto parts stores created a strong market position with the DIY category by promoting and exploiting the knowledge of their employees. They had employees that loved Ford, others that knew Chevy, Chrysler, or Dodge inside and out. Even some that were more knowledgeable about the older “muscle cars”. This knowledge took the focus off of the price and put it squarely on the fact that they had people with the knowledge, and they had the parts.

As they say, knowledge is power, and the more knowledge you are perceived to have, the more people will look at you and your company as the “experts”.

In Eight Ways to Market Your Knowledge, the author suggests that you have an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website. Monitor the questions your customers are asking and publish your answers clearly in layman’s terms. Allow your prospects and customers to ask questions online, and always be prompt in posting your answers. Most importantly, take credit for your answers and make sure the public recognizes the answers came from you.

Click here if you want me to deliver all Eight Ways to Market Your Knowledge. 
Customer Trust Builds Customer Loyalty

Customer Trust Builds Customer Loyalty

by | Oct 26, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, Sound ADvice

In last week’s article and podcast episode which featured material from my SoundADvice newsletter, I mentioned that when all things are equal, the decision we use to determine who we purchase from is based on… perception! And that perception is, who’s better, who’s more “trustworthy”, and who’s more reliable!

The internet has changed the way your customers buy.  Before most purchases, they go online to learn more about you and your competitors. Successful marketers today know the route to higher closing ratios and sales is built upon stronger customer relationships. And those relationships are built upon trust.

“Trust” is defined as, confidence in a person or thing because of the qualities one perceives in them. Your advertising, your website, and your front-line people can create the qualities your prospects perceive in you and cause them to choose you over your competitors when they go online.

If your customer count and page views are not reflected in your sales, you need to examine four key areas:

  1. Does your advertising pre-sell customers and build realistic expectations?
  2. Do the expectations match the actual shopping experience?
  3. Does your website answer the questions your customers are asking?
  4. Are your front-line salespeople competent and confident?

The powerful four-way marketing of credible advertising to pre-sell your prospects, matching expectations with actual experience, combined with helpful websites/Facebook pages and knowledgeable salespeople to improve your closing ratios will increase your sales.

In the Twelve Trust Techniques, Technique Number 3 is Be Real – Turn Weaknesses into Strengths.  Every business has a “perceived weakness”. Don’t be afraid to share the weakness and turn it into a strength. People will trust you more when you share an inadequacy.

Click here to review our Twelve Trust Techniques to create a pre-need trust and preference for your website and your salespeople.

Feelin’ Good

Feelin’ Good

by | Oct 13, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Really? The Personal ScLoHo, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

How are the feeling right now?

Are you:

Happy?

Sad?

Excited?

Scared?

Hopeful?

Hurting?

Melancholy?

Enthused?

No matter what you said you are feeling right now, it’s okay.

I just randomly came up with 8 possible emotions that you could be feeling at this moment and if you were in a room filled with 25 other people, I’m sure you could find someone else who is experiencing the same emotion you identified with.

Some of us have days when we go thru all 8 of those emotions in just a few hours.  Others can experience the same emotion for not just hours, but days, weeks, or even longer.

Emotions are part of our human experience and even if you think you are a facts and logic person, your emotions are actually in the drivers seat of your life.  If you are a facts and logic person and you got a little miffed by what I just said, it simply proves the point.

But I’m not here to play with your emotions today.

No, instead I want to help you understand the importance of our emotional side.

Because I write and talk about media and marketing and offer tips for businesses, I’m going to focus on how our emotions work in that context.

The emotional state of the people you deal with are going to have an influencing factor on how that conversation or interaction occurs, just as your emotional state at the moment will too.

Quite frankly there is a lot of negative news out there, and some peoples emotions are rubbed raw.  I’m not even talking about the political stuff, I’m referring to the challenges we are facing as we wrap up 2021.  Prices are going up.  We have shortages of everything from computer chips to staffing shortages.  A year ago we saw empty shelves instead of toilet paper and sanitizing supplies, and in my visit to the store recently, we seem to have plenty now.

There are other reasons people are having a tough time.  In my circle of friends and acquaintances, I’ve witnessed marital discord and divorce, loss of loved ones, either permanently by death, or because of disagreements that are hopefully temporary.

If you own or run a business, realize that your team wants to be the best versions of themselves, but there are other things going on that could be preventing that, at least temporarily.

If you work for someone, what I just said also applies to your boss.

Customers and clients, they are going through the wide range of emotions too, and we just don’t know the full story of what is going on in their lives do we?

I titled this piece, Feelin’ Good, because ultimately that is what we all want.

We want to feel good about our lives, our jobs, our family and friends.

We want to feel good when we spend our money.  

My wife recently spent money on two very different experiences, one was a gift box that included some fun things she picked out to send to out of town family members.  The other was spending money on getting her car repaired.

Two very vastly different reasons to spend, and yet both times she wanted to feel good when she punched in her pin number as she paid for her purchases.

It might be easy to make someone feel good when they are buying gifts, and more challenging to make them feel good when they are spending it on a repair.  But no matter what your business, please do your best to help your customers and staff feel good.

That’s the best kind of marketing you can create, an experience for all that leaves them Feelin’ Good because of what you did for them.

One more tip and this may not be earth shattering but after living in a world where we couldn’t see peoples smiles because of being masked up, please smile purposefully.  Even behind a mask, we can see a smiling face.