EDUCATE

In today’s market of “hard selling,” sometimes what people really need is INFORMATION. Customers appreciate it when you go out of your way to provide them with a useful tidbit — updates about what’s going on in your industry, a checklist for choosing the right product or service, and article about a topic that might interest your customers, some free tips or suggestions — even if they don’t buy from you right now. They will be a lot more likely to buy later if they see that you are willing to share some of your EXPERTISE for free upfront.

For example, at our website (www.onlineorganizing.com), we offer a free checklist for choosing the right professional organizer. This is available to anyone who visits, whether they shop with us or not. But the number of people who tell us that they visited our site for the free checklist and then decided to use our referral service to find an organizer in their area — or stayed to buy organizing products through our website — is amazing! That one bit of info on our site brings in more business than any other “freebie” we offer.

THROW IN A COMPLEMENTARY PRODUCT

Notice I didn’t say “throw in a complimentary product” — the fact that it is free is great, but it’s more important that the gift you give away be RELATED to in some way to the product or service you are trying to sell. If you sell washing machines, give away a free box of laundry detergent or a set of those plastic balls that keep your socks from tangling up (with your logo on them, of course). If you are a printer, give away a free notepad with your company info printed on each page. Any freebie you offer needs to REMIND that potential customer of your company.

As a professional organizer, I give away giant paperclips with my logo and contact information on them – they are eye-catching, useful, and they get people thinking about organizing their offices. Plus, it has my web address on it so potential clients can contact me easily the next time they think about doing something more with their papers than clipping a big pile of them together!

BE EASY TO WORK WITH

One thing that people are looking for today is CONVENIENCE — they don’t want to have to put forth any more effort to make a purchase than they absolutely have to. So ask yourself what you can do (that your competition isn’t) to make it incredibly EASY for people to do business with you. Could you extend your hours? Make house calls? Provide free shipping? Accept several forms of payment (cash, checks, and credit cards)? Shorten the amount of paperwork the customer has to deal with? Help a client make a decision by doing the research for him or her?

The reason that I work exclusively with one insurance agent is his commitment to convenience. Whenever I need to sign a document or make a change to my policy, Howard always arranges his schedule around whatever is most convenient for me. He also comes to my location — no matter where I happen to be that day. When we meet, he has researched all of the available options for me and presents a summary of plans along with his recommendations. And I never have to worry about playing telephone tag for weeks trying to get together with him if I have a question. In return, I refer anyone and everyone who needs insurance to Howard.

PROVIDE AN EXTRA SERVICE

No matter what your industry, customers always appreciate it when you take some of the burden off of their shoulders. And an incredibly easy way to do this is to provide a free service that goes above and beyond what they have paid you for. My printer provides free pickup and DELIVERY of my printing orders. My virtual assistant buys stamps and office supplies for me — I simply reimburse her for the cost of the purchase. And I absolutely love the fact that when I take my car to have the oil changed, they vacuum the rugs for me while I’m there. I don’t know about you, but that makes me a pretty LOYAL customer!

One of the most valuable services I offer as a professional organizer is the drop off of donations. I keep a list of local charities that accept different kinds of donations — and when I help a client clean out a bunch of old clothes or housewares or whatever, I offer to drop their “discards” off at the appropriate charity for them. I pick up a tax receipt and mail it to the client with a thank-you note for their business. It takes me all of 15 minutes to do this, but I earn my clients’ never-ending loyalty for taking care of this bothersome chore for them.

MAKE CONNECTIONS

As a business owner, you are in a position to know a lot of other business owners throughout your community. And you can use this knowledge to your advantage. It greatly behooves you to develop STRATEGIC ALLIANCES with related industries, and to get to know other business people who can be of use to your clients. If you are a financial advisor, you might start introducing yourself to estate planning attorneys who have clients that are thinking about their (and their children’s) futures. If you own a moving company, real estate agents and mortgage lenders are great contacts. Think about which businesses are already working with your POTENTIAL CLIENTS.

I tend to hand out a lot of business cards for my colleagues in other fields. People who hire professional organizers are almost always in need of other service professionals — administrative help, cleaning services, professional coaches, bookkeepers, custom closet designers, you name it. Not only have I made my clients happy (because they are now able to make use of valuable services they didn’t originally know about) and made my colleagues happy (because they have a new client), but I am rewarded with loyalty and increased referrals from both parties. It’s a complete win-win situation!

HONOR PREFERRED CUSTOMERS

You probably have two kinds of customers — “one-timer’s” who drop into your life for a moment and then leave, and REPEAT customers who make up the core of your business. There is nothing wrong (and many things right) with treating those clients a little bit differently — REWARDING their loyalty. You can do this by offering preferred customers a special discount, flexible payment terms, a “membership rewards” program (“buy 6 items and your 7th is free”), extra-speedy delivery, or even a small “thank-you” gift to show your appreciation for their continued patronage.

I recently sent out cards to all of my “core” customers thanking them for 3 ½ years of patronage. In addition, I offered a special sale just for those clients — buy 3 hours of organizing and get the fourth free. I was astounded at the number of clients who contacted me for appointments — some of whom I hadn’t working with in months. It just goes to show that all it takes sometimes to encourage a sale is making that customer feel special.

DON’T FORGET SPECIAL OCCASIONS

Nothing lets a client know that you care like remembering those special occasions. Many companies send a CARD on major holidays like Christmas, but how many businesses acknowledge your birthday? Your child’s graduation? Your moving to a new home? The more important LIFE EVENTS that you can make note of and recognize, the more your company will stand out in your customer’s mind.

My hairstylist is a master at making people feel special during important times in their lives. While he’s cutting hair, he asks how the kids are doing, what’s up with your spouse, and how your job is. Since folks love to talk about milestones and changes in their lives, they almost always mention things like promotions, awards, and pregnancies. Then, when he leaves the room, he has his receptionist make a note on the calendar to send a card (with a discount off of your next visit) for each of those occasions. He not only has more clients than he can handle, but his customers all consider him a friend rather than a “vendor.”

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Ramona Creel is a Professional Organizer and the founder of OnlineOrganizing.com — offering “a world of organizing solutions!” Visit www.onlineorganizing.com for organizing products, free tips, a speakers bureau — and even get a referral for a Professional Organizer near you. And if you are interested in becoming a Professional Organizer, we have all the tools you need to succeed. (Copyright Ramona Creel)
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“Delegation can be a tricky business. You don’t want to simply “dump” distasteful work on someone else — but you need to make sure the job gets done, and it doesn’t need to be done by you. And delegating can become a particularly sensitive issues when it is latera; — asking a fellow colleague, freelance consultant, colleague, family member, or friend for help. But by approaching delegation in the right way — with a formalized agreement about your goals and how the project should proceed — you can make the experience enjoyable for both parties:

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

When delegating a job to someone else, keep in mind the person’s talents, area of specialization, and schedule. Make sure you are delegating to someone who can successfully complete the task at hand. Handing a job off to someone who is missing a key ingredient — time, skills, resources, experience, or willingness — will only frustrate you both.

THE LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR

The quickest way to turn someone off to a delegated job is to give that person an assignment that is substantially below his or her skill level. Delegate a project to the most junior person who is capable of successfully completing the job. Besides, it’s silly to waste $30 an hour on an administrative assistant when a $10 an hour temp could complete the work.

USE DELEGATION AS A TOOL

Delegate interesting projects in addition to drudgery. You will wear your team members out if you only give them the “dregs.” You want delegation to serve as an opportunity to help the other person grow and expand their skills, as well as a way for you to get menial chores done. And if you challenge your delegees today, you’ll be able to give them more difficult assignments in the future (without worrying that they will be overburdened!)

KEEP A DELEGATION LOG

There’s nothing more frustrating than handing a job over to someone and forgetting that you delegated it, or WHEN you delegated it, or when it was DUE BACK to you. Keep track of what projects you give to whom. You don’t want to wake up at 3AM thinking, “Oh no — did I ask my web master to update my newsletter yet, or not?” We all suffer from mid-life Alzheimer’s at times, so write it down!

TELL THEM WHEN YOU WANT IT

Don’t ever hand a job off with the instructions, “I need this back when you finish.” Give your delegees a firm deadline along with the assignment. Although the ultimate responsibility for completion of the job lies with you, you don’t want to waste all of your time chasing after someone saying, “When will you be done?”

BREAK IT INTO CHUNKS

Since the ultimate responsibility for completing a delegated project does lie with you, it’s not always the best policy to wait until two days before the deadline to see what kind of progress your assistant is making. Set milestones or sub-deadlines for completing sections of the project. When you break a job up into smaller “bite-sized” pieces, it’s much easier for the delegee to handle. Also, you have set up a series of natural follow-up points throughout the project. Instead of showing up the day of the final deadline, you can check in with your team member at each sub-deadline for a status report.

HAVE THEM CHECK IN

You should not have to guess how far along a delegee is in a project, at any point in the process. Ask your people REPORT their progress at regular intervals — these milestones are the perfect excuse for a meeting or written report. This allows you to discuss any problems the person has run into, any additional resources he/she might need, and make any adjustments to your project schedule.

AGREE UPON A GOAL

Similarly, you shouldn’t have to guess what kind of a finished product your assistant will hand you when the final deadline comes around. Communicate what end result you expect before you delegate the job. That might seem obvious, but few people do this thoroughly enough. Give your helpers enough to go on so they don’t have to keep coming back and asking you for more information every step of the way. The whole point behind delegation is to save you time — and that doesn’t happen if you’re always on the phone or in meetings clarifying requests.

LET THEM LOOSE

Once you feel the person has a firm grasp on the expected end result, allow your delegee enough freedom to decide HOW to accomplish the job. Delegation is not about “micro-managing” — it’s about letting go of a job you didn’t need to do in the first place. And as long as it gets done, who cares how it was accomplished? As long as you don’t get arrested, you’re fine!

A PAT ON THE BACK

Give credit where credit is due! No one likes to work hard on a job for someone else and receive none of the glory. And your delegees will work harder for you in the long run if you give them a bit of praise.”

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Ramona Creel is a Professional Organizer and the founder of OnlineOrganizing.com — offering “a world of organizing solutions!” Visit www.onlineorganizing.com for organizing products, free tips, a speakers bureau — and even get a referral for a Professional Organizer near you. And if you are interested in becoming a Professional Organizer, we have all the tools you need to succeed. (Copyright Ramona Creel)

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