The Wayfaring Voyager
How to Keep Your Team Engaged for the Best Results
Managing a team requires constant feedback and knowing that you are doing the right thing for another group of people. Part of managing a team also means keeping them engaged over a project or over any business changes that your company might be making. While the members of your team might start out as interested for a while, they might start to lose focus and you might run into some problems.
Here are some ways to keep your team engaged over the long term.
Keep in touch
When you are in a management role, you can often become overwhelmed with all the responsibilities you face. Sometimes it can be easy to lose sight of how you plan on organizing your team and how you can develop a constant source of communication. This usually tends to be the first thing that happens when well-established and chosen team falls apart—communication tends to be essential to remaining productive.
This means that you need to find a good platform where you can all remain in touch. There are a number of different applications available where you can keep in touch with everyone and make sure your team is focused. You can also include features like Slack polls and emojis to make communication more fun and interactive for your team.
Check in often
One of the biggest mistakes a manager can make is not checking in on your team in order to make sure that they are doing what they need to. Even the most self-motivated workers can feel lost when they don’t have some guidance and have someone telling them what they need to accomplish. Without some help, you can quickly find your team falling apart or not finishing tasks because they don’t have someone to support them.
Try to talk to your team members a few times a week so you know that everything that needs to get done is, or so individuals can ask any questions about a certain project.
Make achievable goals
No matter how ambitious your goals are, you might find yourself having second thoughts when you’re overwhelmed. You need to take some time and come up with solutions that work for your whole team and that you think will end up actually end up being accomplished. Goals that seem to large or unattainable can kill your team’s morale and make it all the more difficult to get anything done.
You’ll want to choose goals that also mean something to your team members and that they can get behind. Make sure that when you meet with the team members that you ask them about which challenges they want to overcome and how they can see it benefitting your business.
Have fun!
Who said work had to be a drag? Taking some time to build as a team can be essential to its success and can also be fun too. You might want to have a night out with coworkers or see if you can organize events that everyone can participate in. Having fun can also help you to build a positive workspace that makes coming to the office much more enjoyable. Take some time out and make sure to organize events for fun, as well.
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How to Narrow Down Your Brand to Appeal to Your Ideal Buyer
Finding your ideal buyer can be one of the most challenging parts of beginning your marketing journey and deciding how you are going to go about reaching new clients. It might seem like a good idea to search broadly, but the truth is that you’re less likely to reach the customers that will actually make a purchase—and that can end up harming your business and your marketing budget more than helping.
When you want to find the right buyer, here are some basic tips to go about narrowing down who you want to attract to your company.
Do some research
The first thing you will want to do when you are identifying who should be your perfect buyer is to sit down and find out who that is. What gender is he or her? What kind of work is he or she involved in? Do you have a specific age group that you want to market to? Defining these characteristics can help you go a long way to finding a way to narrow down to a number of buyers that are more likely to commit to purchasing your product.
Look at your successful clients
You’ll also want to take a look at who has been a successful buyer in the past. By finding the buyers that have been repeat clients or those who have positively spread word of your company, you can determine the type of buyer who you should reach out to. Make sure you talk to buyers who have enjoyed your product and see what it is exactly that attracted them to your brand and what you can do to continue to improve experiences for clients who might not know about you yet.
Look at how you market
Every company chooses to market a little differently, and knowing the ins and outs of how your company does it can give you a significant edge over the competition. Where does most of your marketing budget go? Should it be going somewhere else? Which social media channels are the best to promote your company and content that you are distributing? Once you have an idea, you can allocate the proper budget and time to finding buyers who fit in more with your deal persona.
Experiment
A lot of the time, the best way to know what can work and what doesn’t is by experimentation. Not all companies have the budget or the time to do it, but if you can, test some options and see what works for you. This also includes trying new campaigns on social media, knowing how use pay per click, and asking customers how they think you can improve. Experimentation is often the best way to get insight on how you can improve as a marketing team and what changes you can make to appeal to your ideal buyer.
Narrowing down your brand and how you want to be perceived by the right customers is an important part of developing a marketing strategy that works for your business. While you can always rebrand, creating an initial branding that works for your buyers can be the best way to encourage people to check out your company.
1 Comment
Great tips, I think looking at what has been successful in the past and the buyers you had success with in the past is a great way to focus your search for who you are marketing yourself and your brand to. Thanks!
The Wayfaring Voyager
How to Market to Clients Who Are Afraid to Pay
Convincing clients that your product is worth buying can be one of the most difficult parts of marketing correctly. Now more than ever, you might run into clients that feel hesitant about fully committing to your product because they can find information from somewhere else, they are exposed to information that is incorrect, or they are convinced that a better deal might mean better quality.
However, there are some ways you can assure skeptical clients that they are in good hands and that your product is worth purchasing.
Make yourself an authority
One of the first things you should do when establishing your brand is to think about how you can become an expert in your field. This often means finding out who your ideal buyer is, his or her buying trends, and how best to assure him or her that your product is the best choice on the market. Once you have done that, you need to make your website, social media, and blog a valuable source of information so buyers can learn why your business is a reliable place to buy from.
Build customer trust
Where many companies fail is in giving clients a reason to trust them. Trust is something that takes time to earn and can be one of the main causes a client chooses not to buy—if he or she doesn’t trust a brand, it can be difficult to feel as though a product is worth purchasing. Make sure you talk to your customers and that you are readily available to answer any questions he or she might have. Make sure the information you offer is reliable and that it in choosing your product.
Make payment easy
Many businesses face the problem of finding themselves struggling to clench the deal if payment processes are too complicated. If you are selling a large item (like a car), there is likely to be some more paperwork involved, and clients might have to take some time to consider whether or not it is a good option for them. Try to make contracts as a readable and simple as possible, and make sure that you sit down and explain all the details mentioned in the contract.
Also, you’ll want to consider how best to set up payments with your clients. When they know that it can be simple (like using an online payment system), then they might be more likely to agree. Buying a car can be a huge investment, so having a few different options that can work for a client’s lifestyle can often be a great way to show that you care about their trust.
Experiment
Finding new ways to encourage clients to buy might take some experimentation and thought. Each client can be slightly different, and even when you’ve found a way to market to your perfect buyer, there are still going to be customers on the fringes who require a bit more assurance before they buy. It might not hurt to run through several different scenarios in order to find a way to entice hesitant clients about buying from your business.
1 Comment
I was just having this conversation this morning with a colleague about our Business pages on Facebook. I was explaining to him that these pages need to be a resource for our customers and potential customers in order to build trust and become an authority on what we sell! If it's all a sales message all the time people tune out, they can get that anywhere!! Thank you!
The Wayfaring Voyager
How to Market to New Customers Who Might Not Know about Your Business
Finding your first customers is always the easy part of marketing your business. When you have an idea of how you want to present yourself and how you can show off your company’s best assets, then marketing can be an easy thing to do when you are first getting started. However, with more time, finding new clients can be frustrating and might require thinking in some new and innovative ways.
Here are some ways you can appeal to new clients effectively and to encourage them to try out your business.
Provide them with information
Part of how you can attract new people to your business is by offering ways that they can learn about what you do and why you are the best choice over the competition. Much of marketing is showing customers that you care about their needs and helping them along on their decision-making process. The best way to do this is to provide quality content that reaches customers who still might be on the fence of which company they should use and why.
Nail down who you want to attract
Marketing to everyone might seem like a good idea, but it can often take interest away from the clients who really would use your business. It’s always a good idea to sit down and think about who your ideal customer would be. How old is he or she? What socioeconomic standing does he or she have? Once you know the basics of why this customer would need your business, you can start marketing directly to him or her. Not everyone needs your product or service—as much as you might think that they do!
Promote effectively
Where are you sharing the information you are creating for new customers? If it is only on your business’s website, you’ll probably have to look at some other ways to connect with potential clients. Fortunately, social media makes it easy to reach out to your buyer personas and to target exactly who you want to check out your business. Whether you choose to market through Facebook, Twitter, or Google Ads, you can determine how much you want to pay for advertising beforehand.
Don’t forget local
While much of marketing has gone the way of using social media and the internet, local customers are usually the ones who will end up returning to you again and again. Word of mouth is still a valuable form of marketing, and it’s easy to know your buyer persona because you interact with him or her every day. Don’t forget to include some local advertising, as well, and use SEO as a tool for targeting these specific customers.
Be active
Marketing effectively often means that you spend much of your time being consistent and available to potential clients. By offering to answer any questions that potential buyers might have, you’re do much more of the legwork than you think you are. You want to be available to talk to unsure clients on the phone, email, and through social media. Being active in the marketing process shows clients that you care about what you are doing and helping them.
Appealing to new clients often takes thinking outside the box and how you can represent your business in new ways. With a little thought and knowing who you want to attract, you’ll find innovative reasons to reach customers.
I'm a writer. I eat a lot of pizza.
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ED PIllsForever
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The Wayfaring Voyager
How Customer Security Can End Up Building Trust with Your Clients
Building trust and knowing how to appeal to various customers is something every business has to deal with at some point. Whether you have taken years to accumulate that trust or you are just starting to realize how important it is to the success of your business and how you can have a strong connection with your clients.
The best way to do this is by showing them that you have their most important information safe and sound. When you are wondering how crucial security is, there are some reasons why you might want to make it tighter.
Customers don’t share information willingly
Releasing important information is difficult for everyone, and if that information includes credit card numbers, addresses, or emails, it can be difficult to give up. When a client has made a step to give you that info, it means that he or she is trusting you with a portion of his or her life. Taking care that this information is not released is part of your job as a business owner, and you should respect that a client has trusted you with personal data.
Make that information difficult to acquire
When you want to retain that trust, you’ll want to take into account that you will actively need to protect that information. Whether that means investing in a virtual data room, creating multiple levels of passwords, or taking extra steps against hackers, being aware that this information can easily be compromised can help to keep it safe. You might also want to talk to consultants who can help you decide the best route for you.
Assure clients that their information is safe
You might have a number of potential clients who are hesitant to sign up for email newsletters or join your business because of security issues. By letting them know that you have security measures in place and that this is an issue that you care about, you’re informing them that you are doing everything you can to keep their information hidden away and that this is an issue that you care about too. Let potential customers know on your website the measures you’ve put in place so they know beforehand.
Answer any questions
Nothing builds trust more than be available to answer any questions that current or future clients might have about your product, service, or business practices. Part of being a good businessperson who legitimately cares about the client’s needs and wants is being there to offer advice and to help the client receive the information he or she needs in order to make an informed decision. Be active on social media and Tweet or message back. Answer emails directed toward questions about security, and always keep in mind that the customer is entrusting you with some valuable info.
Building trust with clients is something that takes time, but when you have a way to keep information safe and you can easily explain that system to customers, you’re taking steps to making that bond stronger. Your customers are putting their most valuable and personal info in your hands—so you want to make sure that it remains safe for years to come.
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The Wayfaring Voyager
5 Tips for Branding Your Company Positively on Social Media
Finding new ways to brand yourself on social media has become a major challenge for those looking to brand themselves in a positive way. Knowing how best to represent yourself as a business can take time and putting together a strategy so you know that you are getting your message across as a company. The good thing is that you don’t have to be an expert in order to do a good job on social media.
Here are 5 ways you can come across as a solid, quality brand on social media.
1. Have a clear image in mind
How do you look to potential customers? Do you know what your logo and website design looks like to customers? Knowing clearly how you look to those who haven’t heard of you and don’t know which industry you are in can help you find any changes you might need to make to your social media pages. If potential customers don’t know what you represent, then it can be almost impossible to market online to the right people.
2. Make sure it looks nice
If you want clients to look at your site, then you want to make sure that it is nice to look at. Design is something that many businesses forget when they are looking to reach customers, but it can be one of the most important aspects of getting your message across. How your information is presented can make the difference of whether a customer will choose your business over your competition.
3. Interact with customers
Unfortunately, sometimes social media serves as a medium for customers to express any issues or problems that they have been facing while using your company. Along with the good, you might also have some negative comments or complaints. The best way to take a hold of the situation is to interact with customers on social media and to answer any questions they may have.
By interacting with customers, you are showing that you care about them and their feedback on your business. It also gives you a chance to provide some information for other customers, as well. Trust is the most important part of appearing positively to clients, and by answering any inquiries, you are showing that you care.
4. Post positive content
What you post can also give curious customers an idea of what is important to you and how you plan on conducting business. Negative politics, contentious issues, and radical posts rarely do well as a business. There’s nothing wrong with having an opinion, but expressing it over your business’s page might not be the best way to encourage new customers to visit your company and see what you have to offer.
5. Be honest
Just as posting negative news might not be the best way to go, posting content that does not express your views can be equally dangerous. You want to be honest about what you believe and why you have faith in your product or service. Branding your company means sharing with your buyer personas exactly what you are trying to accomplish and why that is needed in your industry. If you have any doubt about whether a certain type of content fits with your business’s model, then you should think twice about posting.
Finding the right way to brand your company is an important part of creating an online presence that will appeal to potential customers. When branding yourself, take some time and think about what you want to represent as a company and how you can through various social media outlets.
1 Comment
IncentiveFox
This is great and I think Interaction is key, especially in a business where customers aren't frequenting as much. A dealership is not a grocery store or an e-commerce site. So keeping customers engaged through positive and fun interactions is crucial in keeping a customer today! To really superpower interactions - using rewards and gamification is a great option.
Why? 65% of consumers say that receiving rewards impacts their frequency of purchase and 69% of consumers say that they’re more likely to try a brand if it gives rewards. - Social Annex
The Wayfaring Voyager
Marketing to Customers Who Might be Skeptical about Buying a New Car
No matter which industry you work in, there are always customers who might be on the fence of whether or not they want to buy a new product. If you are trying to sell a new car, it can be even more difficult as a large purchase. Fortunately, there are ways to market to these clients in order to give them the information and confidence they need in order to invest in a new automobile.
Here are some ways you might want to consider when you’re marketing to hesitant customers.
Information
Clients today are smarter than they have ever been. Because they have access to whatever information they need at their fingertips, it’s up to you to provide that information. Content should be your number one focus if you are looking to convert skeptical buyers. Not only does that information offer you a chance to connect with someone who might be interested in your cars, but it also gives you a chance to show why you’re the business clients should go to when they want to buy a new car.
Post testimonials
Many times, if a customer is undecided, it might be a matter of trust. Building that trust as a company can take time, and it’s likely you have already done it with other clients. Don’t be afraid to share your success stories and to ask loyal customers to share their stories. New clients often relate to positive experiences and might be more willing to trust in your expertise and the reviews of others when they are looking to make a quality decision. Ask some of your happy customers if they wouldn’t mind putting in a good word so you can post their testimonials on your website.
Look to other industries
Oftentimes, other industries have new and innovative ideas to gain the respect of buyers. While it might not always be a perfect fit to market your dealership like an RV rental company or computer software business, you can get some new ideas on how they interest new clients with their advertising. Purchasing a new car can be a big commitment to many people, so seeing how other industries take on convincing clients to buy other expensive items can be incredibly helpful.
Know your buyer
If you are consistently having buyers turn away from your company, you might need to rethink who you are marketing to and whether you are sure of what your brand represents. Who is your ideal buyer? Why? What makes your brand the one that he or she would choose over the competition? When you are able to answer these questions, you can appeal to those who still might not be sure if they want to make the leap and buy a new car. Who have been your most successful clients, and how do you reach more people like them?
Marketing to a reluctant customer takes some insight into what your company can provide that no one else can. It also takes a little bit of self-awareness as a brand in order to know what is succeeding and what you can alter in order to clench the deal and win over a new, happy customer.
1 Comment
Give, Give, Give... I really like that you started with information because that's our common ground with our customers, isn't it? They want information and we can/should provide it, and QUICKLY & PROFESSIONALLY!!
The Wayfaring Voyager
How to Market Yourself in the Auto Industry
Marketing yourself to potential buyers can require taking a deep look at what you mean as a business, who exactly you want to market yourself to, and what your goals are for getting your brand messaging across. How you are perceived by your potential buyers is incredibly important to coming across properly and to encourage people to consider your dealership when looking for a new car.
Here’s how you can take your marketing to the next level and to hone in on your specific industry.
Provide information
Content is becoming the aspect that you really want to focus on when attracting new buyers. While advertisements and deals can help attract people to your business at first, they are going to stick around for the quality of information that you provide. Posting to a blog about how buyers can find a new car, which cars are great for families, or any questions that they might have can encourage buyers to see you as a resource rather than just as a way to get a new product.
Testimonials
A well-written testimonial can alter someone’s opinion on your business, and they also serve as a great marketing tool. Think about interviewing a few highly-satisfied customers and ask them whether or not they would be interested in putting in a good word for your dealership. Having these testimonials posted on your website and having a few blogs based around them can help to establish trust with a potential buyer.
Post relevant content on social media
Once you have some content you can share, you’ll want to post it to your social media channels and make sure that they form a cohesive narrative. You should post things that are relevant to your business and that make sense on your social media pages. Buyers and followers like knowing what to expect from you and what exactly they can get out of using your business over your competitors. Try and do this a few times a day to keep that interest in your brand!
Know your buyer
Is your buyer young? Old? Is this his or her first car or does he or she usually take public transportation? You should know all of this before you make huge efforts to market yourself. One of the most difficult parts of marketing is knowing who your product is for and how you can market directly to that group of people. Knowing your buyer can take some time, so don’t feel afraid to wait until you feel as though you know him or her well before you spend a lot of money on a marketing budget. Come up with a list of questions of what your ideal buyer is looking for and how you can provide that for him or her.
Fortunately, marketing is easy when you know your industry intimately and you can form a relationship with potential clients and give them exactly what they want. Providing information on how someone should choose a car can be the best way to bring new customers in who want your expertise.
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The Wayfaring Voyager
How Best to Organize Your Business for Maximum Benefit
Running a business is not just about making sales and working well with your employees. Much of it come down to the nitty gritty of making sure that everything is in its place and that you are working well as a manager to ensure that files are properly stored, contracts are readable, and that your customers feel satisfied when they walk out the door. Much of this has to do with knowing how to organize yourself properly in order to receive a return on your investment.
Here are some tips that you might want to keep in mind when reorganizing your business.
Refile old files
As much of a pain as it can be, having a proper filing system is incredibly important when you want to track your success and know exactly what has been a successful client relationship and which ones you can improve on. In order to do this, you need to have a refresher on your former sales. Refiling your old files so they fit within a modern system can not only streamline finding them in the future, but it can also remind you of what you have done well in the past and what you can improve on.
Move everything online
This can be a big step—especially if you have been in business a long time. However, as the world changes and more and more work is being done online, you might need to upgrade your business to the 21st century and consider moving files to the cloud. The cloud offers you a number of options including password protection for both you and your clients, contract-signing so they don’t even have to come into the office, and a number of tools to keep in touch with your employees. This can also be a big project, but it is likely you will have to do it at some point in the future.
Talk to employees
As a business owner, you might not even know where your company is failing on an organizational level. That’s why it is important to sit down with each and every one of your employees to find out what you can improve on. Maybe they need a new computer or access to a program that allows them to organize themselves better. Perhaps they need a physical notebook in order to make notes because they are easier to remember that way. No matter what it is, if it makes your working environment run more smoothly, then it is worth taking a listen.
Keep track of, well, everything
When you have hundreds of receipts and files lying around, it can be tempting to simply deal with it later. Unfortunately, in order to keep an accurate record of your business (and to file taxes when the season rolls around), it’s a good idea to know what is going on and how you can even save a few bucks by knowing what information is where. It’s a lot of work to take on, but knowing your business inside and out is part of being a responsible owner. Once you know how you have operated in the past, you can find the best way to move forward into the future.
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How to Put Together a Well-Marketed Event for Your Business
There are so many different ways to market now, and finding the best way to get your business out there takes more than just traditional advertising. When you are thinking about ways to appeal to new clients and to retain the old, marketing events are a great way to build interest and reward loyal customers. Here are some ways you can put together a quality event that will market your dealership effectively.
Plan well in advance
It might seem obvious that it takes some time to create an event that you feel proud of, but you might not realize how much time it can take. Depending on the quality and what type of event it is, you might have to consider catering, the setup, and who exactly you want to invite. Make sure to give yourself a few months to put all the details together and to give yourself enough time to promote the upcoming date so others know when to attend.
Know who the event is for
Just like marketing on a daily basis, you need to know your buyer persona well before you begin the process of putting together an event. Who are you trying to appeal to? Are you looking to invite potential customers who might want to buy a car? Or are you looking to establish yourself in the community and become a name that customers turn to when they need a new vehicle? These are all questions you should be able to answer before you book the venue and decide what exactly you want to accomplish with an event.
Promote, promote, promote
Once you have figured out who you want to reach, the next step is to actually reach those people. Think of your ideal buyer and where he or she gets the news. Radio, TV, and social media are all ways you can connect with others to let them know that this event is taking place. You’ll also want to take care to do this at least a few weeks in advance so those who are interested in attending can mark it on their calendars and they aren’t surprised by the date.
Create an incentive to come
While regular customers might come to the event because they respect your business and the advice you provide them, new customers need to have a reason to attend an event—especially if they have never heard of your brand before. The best thing to do is offer an incentive. Maybe new clients receive a discount on new car models on the lot or they are entered into a raffle to win a new car. These incentives give potential clients a reason to believe that you care about their business and want to reward them for their interest in your dealership.
If you can’t do something so drastic, free food or music is also a way to entice new customers to check the event out.
Be available
Events like these are meant to encourage new customers to ask questions about your products and industry. While you might be busy with the party, you should also be around to answer any questions they might have or to have information available about your dealership. This personal touch is what will make your business stand out. After all, the whole point of an event like this is to show that you care about educating potential clients on what you have to offer them.
Marketing events are essential to establishing your business within a community. With a little planning and knowing exactly who you are marketing to, your event is all the more likely to be a success.
1 Comment
DrivingSales
I love this! These elements are so important for making sure you are getting the most out of your events. They can be the keystone of your marketing effort!
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Scott Larrabee
Great communication is huge in everything we do, especially managing people/teams! Great tips!