Author: k

Are Existing Customers Punished If You Gain More Customers?

I stayed in a new hotel
a few days ago.

The staff was great.
The experience was amazing.

Occupancy was low.

I want this hotel
to do well.

But…

The complimentary breakfast area
can barely fit
the number of guests
they currently have.

If I promote this hotel
to others
and it becomes busier,
I risk losing access
to the complimentary breakfast.

MY experience will suffer.
Greatly.

If the average person
sees the situation
the way I do,
they won’t tell others
about the hotel.

They will keep quiet
about their amazing experience.

If you want existing customers
to promote
your business to others,
ensure they know
their experience won’t suffer
if you gain more customers.

That could mean
building more capacity
than you currently need.

Emails Go Missing

I ordered a product
months ago
directly from
a company’s website.

On this website,
under my account,
I can see what I ordered
and the price I paid.

But I can’t see
if it has shipped.

When I emailed the company,
the customer service rep
told me I’d receive an email
when it shipped.

Email isn’t a 100% reliable
form of communications.
Messages go missing.
Or aren’t sent.

If you don’t want customers
contacting you
about not receiving products
that haven’t yet shipped,
consider providing a means
of checking online
whether or not the product
has shipped.

Remaining Quiet About How You Build Your Business

Unless I’m getting advice
about how to run my business
from another expert,
I tend to remain quiet
about how I’m running it.

Yes, I’ll talk about my products.
Often. To everyone.

But I don’t talk
about my business operations
to everyone.
Or to many people.

Because not everyone
wishes my business
or, heck, ANY business well.

And this is definitely
the era of surveillance
and will soon-to-be
the era of punishing people and entities
not falling within
the increasingly narrow
bands of ‘normal.’

(This is also why
I do my not-very-decorative
vegetable gardening
in the high-fenced backyard.)

Someone will have a problem
with some aspect
of your business operations.

Don’t tell everyone
everything.

If You Start Fights Or Argue…

A home in the neighborhood
was broken into.

The owners asked
if anyone had security camera footage
of suspicious people
hanging around
or entering their house.

There was no response.

Because no one wanted
to risk dealing with the owner
of the broken in house.

He has started fights
with almost everyone
in the neighborhood
over the past few years.

And the probability was high
that any help given
would result in another fight.

If every interaction with you
ends in a fight
or
an argument,
don’t expect people
to interact with you.

If A New Level Is Needed

A new level
has been added
to the heat risk system
– Magenta.

It warns of
“Very High Risk
for the entire population,
due to long duration heat
with little or no relief overnight.”

When a new level is added
to anything,
warning systems,
rating systems,
response systems,
it tells the world
the situation has changed.

The situation has changed so drastically
the notification system had to change.

And if that notification system
had to change,
other systems usually have to change
also.

I go through my business systems
and evaluate if the new level
i.e. the significant change
impacts them.

In this case,
for example,
our businesses will need policies
for when the heat is so high
it is dangerous for anyone
to be outside.

Do employees go to the office?
Do we deliver products
to our customers?
What happens if someone
has a heat-related health emergency
on our premises?
Etc.

New levels indicate
a new situation.

Do your business systems and policies
cover this new situation?

The iPad Pro And Marketing Destruction

Apple’s new commercial
for the iPad Pro
depicts the destruction
or flattening
of much beloved artistic
and cultural symbols
to form their new device.

It is horrific.
It is dark.
It fills me with despair
and doesn’t make me at all
hopeful
for the present
or the future.

We see destruction
and death all around us.

We’re not rushing
to buy more destruction.

And destruction is easy.
It is everywhere.

Creation is hard.
It is rare.

Sell creation,
not destruction.

Send Your Mother’s Day Present Today

Sunday is Mother’s Day
in North America.

I sent my much beloved Mom
flowers
today.

Why today?

Because she worries,
as many Moms (biological and/or honorary) do,
that she’ll be forgotten
on Mother’s Day
(even though I have NEVER
forgotten Mother’s Day).

Sending her flowers a few days early
eliminates that worry.
She can relax
and fully enjoy Mother’s Day week.

There is NO downside
to sending presents early.

If you celebrate Mother’s Day,
consider giving your gift
today.

Make It Easy To Contact You

I placed a large order
online
with one of the biggest stores
in its industry,
arranging for the order
to be picked up
in person.

I received a notification
to pick it up.

I picked it up.

Then I received another notification
telling me
if I didn’t pick up the order soon,
it would be cancelled
and my money would be refunded.

The notification stated clearly
that I should NOT reply
to that email address.

No other contact information
was given.

I couldn’t figure out
how contact the store
about the order.

The order I’d already picked up
was cancelled.
My money was refunded.

That big purchase
might have been free.
I don’t know.

Make it easy
for customers
to contact you.

Some of us
would prefer
to pay our bills.

Focus On YOUR Business

A writing buddy was complaining
yet again
about how another writer does no marketing
(that she knows about)
and still has great sales.

This writing buddy
would likely have better sales
and more happiness
if she focused on her own sales,
her own books,
her own business.

Sure, we can
briefly look
at competitors
for inspiration
but
we should spend
the majority of our time
working on our own businesses.

We have limited time
on this wonderful planet.

Spend as much of it as possible
working to make
our own dreams
a reality.

Stop worrying about
everyone else.

Making Decisions Based On Best Information

I planted some frost-sensitive plants
in the garden this weekend.

According to the weather forecast,
there should be zero chances
of frost
over the next two weeks.

That forecast could be wrong, however.
It IS a forecast,
not an absolute.

But I had to make a decision
and it is the best information
I have at this time.

We all have to make decisions
for our businesses
based on the best information
we currently have.

That information could also
be wrong.
And we’ll have to
hastily make some corrections.

That’s part of building a business.

There are no absolutes.

Make the best decisions you can
based on the best information
you currently have.

And move forward.