Tag Archives: Job

Do You Tell Your Customers Who You Are?

Posted on 03/27/2012 by admin
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This blog post was inspired by the lovely Steven Carter Hewson, otherwise known as @carterhewson on Twitter if you want to check him out! How did he inspire me? Well he posted on Twitter that he had written a personal Blog put he was undecided whether to publish it or not – everyone, including me said Yes, go for it!

When we are in business its easy to put on your business head and keep it stuck there day in and day out, but in reality one of the big reasons your clients chose to work with you is not because of the price or anything else, its because of YOU!!!

People want to know who you are, more so now than at any other time people want to know all about the person. Its why reality programmes are so popular now, on X Factor its not the best singer that is voted for its the one with the best story. ITs why Facebook and other Social Media is not only so popular but also such an important and fantastic sales tool!

Your clients want to know WHO you are, they want to know all about you because they are buying from YOU, not from your company or your business but from YOU! Have you ever heard the expression people buy from people? Well its true. People want to buy from the person that they think is most like them, they want someone that has similar ideas and views as them, similar morals, similar sense of humour etc – you don’t have to be an exact copy of them, now that would just be spooky and weird but they think if you are LIKE them then you will do a fantastic job for them because you will instinctively KNOW what they want and how to please them.

So – don’t be afraid to show your customers and potential customers who you are. Reveal a bit about yourself to them – tell them about your dog, your family, your favourite foods etc. Of course on the flipside keep in mind that you ARE showing yourself to customers and potential customers -you don’t want to start revealing that you are into satan worship or anything, unless of course these similar people are your target market (probably not! lol)

Reveal some, but don’t reveal TOO much is the key!

 

Claire x0x

If you need help building your business and attracting more clients the easy way then get in touch for your FREE Breakthrough session….. Email me now claire@bombshellacademy.com

 

Are Your Customers Leaving Without You Knowing?????

Posted on 02/06/2012 by admin
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I love really nice make-up! A couple of years ago I was in John Lewis and had in mind that I would buy new make-up, I was browsing the Chanel counter, didn’t find what I wanted and then a woman from the Bobbi Brown counter spoke to me and asked if I’d like to sit and have my make-up done with all the new season colours, I wasn’t in a rush and gladly said yes please! The woman did a great job and I bought lots, and lots, and lots!  :)) They took all my details and I received updates now and then, and about a year later I received a nice marketing postcard telling me about the new colours launching and would I like to book a demonstration when they came out (nice marketing I thought) and phoned to make my appointment.

When I arrived at the counter for my pre-booked appointment I was told that the person responsible was still on her break so I’d have to wait, not happy but I waited about 10 minutes and she arrived. Then she asked my name and typed it into the computer and told me that they didn’t have my details because of a new computer system and in short she had no idea why I was there. She then did a demonstration half heartedly and surprise, surprise I bought nothing!

The next time I went to buy make-up I was looking for something specific and went into John Lewis and looked at every department except the Bobbi Brown one where I got such bad service, in fact I’ve resolved to never buy anything from them again because they obviously couldn’t give a stuff about their customers!

Its said that when you have good service you tell a couple of people about it but when you have bad service you tell about 10 times as many people about it, the people you tend NOT to tell are the ones that actually provided that bad service, including me, I was tempted to write to John Lewise an express my disatisfaction at their Bobbi Brown department but I didn’t, I just voted with my feet and shopped elsewhere.

It takes a huge amount more time and effort to convert a stranger into a customer but only a small effort to get a current customer to spend more money with you - so make sure you take care of the current customers you have icon smile Are Your Customers Leaving Without You Knowing????? ))

 

Claire xox

 

See how Bombshell Academy can help your business get new customers and make more profit from those you already have, without spending all your cash

How Becoming An Expert Will Help You Get Clients…..

Posted on 06/06/2011 by admin
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Before people do business with someone they like to know that they are dealing with an expert. Its why we pay top-notch for certain people when someone else supplies the same service for a 10th of the price, we do it because we feel less worried that we are making a bad decision. One great example is hairdressers, they have different prices for their experts and people tend to want to be seen by someone at the top but in all honesty you probably have just a good a haircut from someone lower down as they might not be so set in their ways and more up to date with new skills etc. But you pay for the expertise of these people.
So how do you become an expert? Well there is no sure-fire way to suddenly become an expert in your field but the daft thing is you probably already are, you just aren’t telling people enough! Have you ever seen someone in the same business as you that you KNOW doesn’t know half as much as you or do anywhere near as good as a job but everyone seems to think they are great? Its maddening isn’t it? But the truth is they’ve probably shouted about their expertise a whole lot more than you have, so stop hiding your talent and start blowing your own trumpet!
There are lots of ways to become perceived as an expert, the easiest way is to get writing. Give away Free reports on your website that demonstrate your skills, knowledge and talent, write regular blogs, write articles – this is especially good because if you submit them to online article companies such as Ezine google will start believing you’re an expert as well! Other ways are to write articles and blogs for other people, contribute to forums and discussions online.
Also, contribute articles to your local paper, listen to radio shows that have discussion etc and contribute to them. In fact many of you know the lovely Sue Lovell from Savvy Cinderella and her business completely went hyper after appearing on the Jeremy vine show when she phoned in to talk about starting a business in a recession.
One of my favourite ever quotes is from Marianne Willamson, altho its often attributed to Nelson Mandela for some reason…
“Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? ….. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine……”
So the simple answer to how to appear an expert is to get involved, keep active and stop hiding your skills and talents, that benefits no one, if you want your business to really take flight then let people know exactly why they should be doing business with YOU, if you don’t you can guarantee the next upstart chomping at your heels will……..
Claire
Need help with your business? Wedding Wealth coaching is for you…...

How To Answer – You’re Too Expensive…..

Posted on 04/05/2011 by admin
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How many times have you heard that? When I was  Wedding planning I used to hear it from people all the time and do you know what I said? YES!!!!  Were you mad I hear you say? Well maybe just a little but after I said yes I continued….
YES, I AM too expensive if my service was like that of every other wedding planner, but its not…… and then I went on to explain why my business and service was better than everyone elses, and do you know what? I almost always got the job!

One piece of advice I was given many years ago that proved invaluable and really thought-provoking was that people only say no to what you are offering if they don’t fully understand how you will benefit them. The excuses they say, such as your too expensive or they need to think about it are just ways of saying that you haven’t explained your offering enough.  Now this advice is hard to get your head around but when you do it is SO true – think of something in the past that you REALLY, REALLY wanted that was expensive, I bet you managed to find the money for it? I do it all the time with my passion which is shoes! I see a pair of shoes that I ADORE and they will be a ridiculous amount of money (I wont embarrass myself by revealing the actual figures involved but some have cost me a small fortune! ) I will do ANYTHING to get them, I will save the money or figure ways to raise the money until I’ve bought them, but show me something practical that costs 20 quid that I need but don’t necessarily want and I’ll think its expensive!

You will always get brides that set themselves a budget and really need to stick to the budget but if they take the time to have a consultation with you and THEN tell you its too expensive then the problem is NOT the price!

So how do you deal with this objection? Well you need to explain the VALUE of your product, whether its a cake, stationery, photography, whatever your service is, if you’ve spent the consultation time listening to the client and finding out what is important to them, then you can use this to demonstrate how you can fulfill their needs  in a way that makes them appreciate the VALUE of your service and therefore makes them happy with the price you are asking.

Be confident about your product and service and confident about your uniqueness and communicate this to your prospects and price will never be an objection again……

 

Claire x0x

 

Do you need help to put together a Marketing Strategy for your business that will make it SOAR! Are you ready to Step Up??? Click Here NOW

Can You Sell More Than Just Your Time?

Posted on 03/10/2011 by admin
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When my Wedding Planning business started taking off one of the things that bothered me was the fact that I only had so many physical hours in the day which effectively meant that there was a limit on what I could earn. Of course I could raise my prices but the limit would still be there. Luckily with Wedding Planning I was able to train people so that they could work for me and I could in effect do more than just one wedding on any single day and when business was booming I was doing 4 weddings a day. Unfortunately, many of the professions within the wedding industry mean that it is impossible to clone yourself such as lots of stationery, photographers, designers etc which mean there is a ceiling on your earning potential right? Well no!

Many experts say that the mark of a good business is if you could go away for a year and come back and its still running, could you do this with your business? If you can’t then you don’t have a business, you have a job! And unfortunately for many if us the job we have doesn’t come with the perks of working for someone else because you don’t get bonuses, holiday pay, sick pay, company parties etc, etc.

So how can you get out of this time for money trap and start to build a REAL business? Well the answer is to sell your knowledge. We all have a whole ton of wealth and experience in our heads and this is what people pay you for, but what if you could put some of this knowledge and experience down on paper and sell it? If you’re a wedding planner can you do online workshop advice or sell checklists or planning guides? If you are a photographer could you sell a guide to doing your own wedding photography??  But claire, I hear you say, if I do that I’m going to lose customers!!! NOOOOOOO !!! You will NOT lose customers, if anything you will gain them. The people that will buy your guides are NOT the same people that are your clients, they wont pay your prices, BUT you never know, some may be so impressed by your expertise that they end up booking you!

So, if you want your BUSINESS to grow and to start earning a PASSIVE income, think about what you can sell. If you want help with developing the PASSIVE INCOME side of your business then click here now, the Wedding Wealth Program covers this and many other aspects of growing your business and soon you’ll be earning money in your sleep!!!!!


Claire x0x


Do you need help to put together a Marketing Strategy for your business that will make it SOAR? Are you ready to Step Up??? Click Here NOW

What Risk Are your Customers Taking With You???

Posted on 12/29/2010 by admin
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We all like to think we offer a really great service and that our customers will be completely satisfied but how do we convince new customers of this? Well, if you are in the wedding industry you actually have an advantage because weddings are so emotive and the brides are pretty much driven by how your service or product will make them ‘feel’ What does every bride want her wedding day to be???? PERFECT!!!! But what is perfect? Well it varies from bride to bride of course but your job as a supplier is to let the bride know that her idea of ‘perfect’ is exactly the same as yours and that you will do everything you can to ensure it – what about if you GUARANTEED it? Wow – thats scary stuff isn’t it? Could you guarantee to your brides that your element of the wedding would be perfect?? Lets put it slightly differently, how many of the brides that you have dealt with in the past have actually thought things weren’t perfect? I bet there’s been very few, if any at all!

So – what is stopping you from offering some type of guarantee to your clients to help them make the decision to buy from you? Forever Living is a huge, global Multi Level Marketing company and has a completely brilliant guarantee, it really does make the decision to buy from them a complete no-brainer :-

“You will have the right to cancel any order within 14 days of it being placed. In addition, we are so confident that you will love our products, that we offer a complete money-back guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied with any item, simply return the receipt to me together with the unused part of the product or empty containers, within 60 days of the date of purchase and I will refund the price paid”

The other guarantee I always think works well is the one on the shopping channel QVC – it really gets round the possibility that people will not buy because they can’t actually see something…

“Every product purchased is backed by our 30-day money-back guarantee for extra peace of mind. So, if you decide you’d prefer a different colour, size or a refund, just return it to us within 30 days of receipt using the enclosed returns label”


Even I offer a guarantee to all my new clients, I’m so confident that I can help people build a successful wedding supplier business that I guarantee that if you follow all my recommendations and you don’t see an improvement in your business then I will refund all your money – win, win all the way!


So – what can you guarantee to your new clients to make the buying decision a no-brainer????



Happy and Successful New Year Everyone


Claire  x0x


Remember – if you want your business to grow and bring you wealth in 2011 my Wedding Wealth Program

Yes – I want Wedding Wealth!

Appealing to everyone appeals to no one…..

Posted on 12/08/2010 by admin
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One of the mistakes I come across often, especially from new businesses is that they are so busy trying to appeal to absolutely every possible type of bride that they end up appealing to not one of them and getting no business.I always think the idea of niching your business to a small market is a difficult thing to get your head round when you’re just starting out because your head tells you that you want your possible clients to be as broad as possible right? Well thats all very well but in actual fact you end up putting off the people you really want to work with and end up with fewer clients.

Let me give you an example :- Imagine you wanted to buy a gift for someone, you have no idea what to buy them but you know they love daisies and reading, so you spend ages going around random general shops and bookstores looking and then as you walk down the high street you come across a store called ‘Everything Daisy’ and you leap with joy because all the shop sells is things to do with Daisies, and you know without a shadow of a doubt THATS the store for you and you will find something perfect! Well thats the joy of niching – your customers know without doubt that you ‘get’ them, and not only that but you get the customers that you enjoy working with and you know you do a great job for, so its win-win all round.

Now I can hear you all saying “But Claire if I do that I’m going to lose out on lots of clients” Well I admit some clients will look at you and say Daisies? Ewww I don’t like daisies! and they may go somewhere else but they are usually people that end up being the ones that you wish you were never working with in the first place to be honest, and they just aren’t the same wavelength as you.

The other great thing about finding your niche is that it makes it SO much easier to market yourself – you end up sending a completely personal message to your market that they can really relate to and you can keep you message consistent and highly targetted.

So – get thinking about your niche and what sort of clients YOU want to work with and don’t be afraid to make that niche really small – if you want to work with brides that only want pink weddings then go for it, I bet they’ll be beating down your door to book you!


Claire x0x0

 

If you want your business to grow into the something that brings you the profit you always imagined then sign up for my Wedding Wealth Program NOW, its guaranteed to succeed!


R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Posted on 10/27/2009 by admin
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This weekend I went to visit my very lovely Mum and Dad, they’ve been happily married since 1963 and the operative word in that sentence is ‘happily’ – its quite an achievement I reckon and my Mum is very proud of the fact that she thinks my Dad had to jump through hoops just to date her let alone anything else.

Anyway, while I was at my parents I was leafing through the Sunday papers and started reading the problem page in one of the magazines. The first problem was a woman that had a very lazy, overweight husband that had no job and went fishing every evening whilst she worked 2 jobs, paid all the bills and mortgage and did everything around the house! The second problem was a woman that was having an affair with her boss (his wife didn’t understand him) and of course she loved him and wanted to know if he was ever going to leave his wife!
My reaction to both these problems was the same – ARGHHHHH! When did it become OK for women to be treated like this and for women to not have the backbone to stand up for themselves and scream out loud that they deserve so much better before running at the speed of Ussain Boult out the back door?
Somewhere between 1963 and today women seemed to have allowed men to stop jumping through hoops just to date them and handed everything to them on a plate, and in doing so are finding that they no longer treat us with the respect we deserve. Well there’s only one way to get back that respect and that starts with yourself. If someone treats you like rubbish you cant expect them to change unless you stand up for yourself and say – enough!
The only person in control of how you are treated is yourself – set your standards high and live by them – I guarantee if you start now, in no time at all everyone around will raise their standards to keep up with you and those that don’t are best left behind.
Have a wonderful, respectful week!
Claire x