Jon Cooper – When your customers return, will you recognise them?

Post-recession, everything's changed!

I was in the States last week, working on a deal I’ve been trying to land for years. More of that another time, but I also spent some flying hours reading the ever-brilliant Jeffrey Gitomer, an inspirational writer and guru of sales, marketing and networking.

I’ve always found his books and articles hugely entertaining and readable, but his latest newsletter really grabbed my attention.

I’ll paraphrase without plagiarising – for the real thing, visit www.gitomer.com

It’s all about how your customer has changed during, and maybe because of, the recession -

1 – He’s angry that his home and investments went down in value
2 – He won’t be banking, or buying homes, cars or insurance like he did before, and has lost all his respect for previously revered institutions
3 – He’s online, and blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking, Linkedining and YouTubing about his buying experiences. If your service sucks, all your other customers will soon know
4 – He’s Googling, not Yellow-Paging, and can do this anywhere, anytime on his mobile device
5 – He’ll buy immediately if you take credit cards online, including after midnight 365 days of the year
6 – By the time he buys, he will have checked your price and facts online in seconds, and read what customers, as well as you, have to say about your company
7 – Because of this, he knows as much about your products as you do, and more about your competitors’ products than you do
8 – He wants you to answer the phone, and is sick of your hold music, your automated options, your offshore so-called “help-desks” and you telling him how important he is while he pays 10p a minute holding on your 0870 customer “service” line
9 – He’s looking for ideas, answers, help and advice, not crummy, transparent special offers
10 – He expects you to be as computer-literate as he is, and will be utterly turned off if you reply to his online query from a Hotmail, msn, AOL, gmail or other proprietary address. Get your own domain name for £7.99pa to meet your customer’s minimum expectations!

As Gitomer wisely adds, we are not going to “recover” from this recession; we are going to “revive and revise”.

Is your business ready?

Jon Cooper is the founder of Jupiter Dawn Consulting. Add any comments or questions to this column online, or by e-mail to jon@jupiterdawn.com

Don't waste this crisis!

Positive thoughts and actions pay off in tough times.

One of my clients asked me today how it is that I’m always “up” and positive about things when so many businesses seem to be running out of steam, laying people off and reporting more pain yet to come.

I replied that there are some unique opportunities in amongst all the chaos. I am too busy working to identify them and using them to improve my life and the lives of others to ever feel down!

I could see he was unconvinced, and he challenged me to come up with 10 reasons why the crunch/recession/downturn isn’t all bad…

1: In a slowdown, it’s easier to see which of your goods and services are relatively unprofitable, and to focus on your core strengths or in developing your next core strength.

2: Many companies have reduced customer service and support staff. If you’re a competitor of theirs, they’ve made it relatively easier for you to impress in your own marketplace.

3: Advertising is cheaper and more accessible. I heard of a radio station offering 5 times the airtime per pound than 12 months ago, and some local free newspapers are desperate for your business at any price!

4: PR exposure is easier to achieve. Most of the media are eager to promote good news about the economy. Make a big noise if you’ve won a new order, opened a new site or similar.

5: Business supplies are really cheap. Now’s the time to replace the photocopier, stock up on stationery or give the office a makeover.

6: Vehicle leasing and purchase deals are incredibly sharp. That new van or company car has never made more sense.

7: Commercial property values are on the floor. Grab a bargain by purchasing or renting smart new premises you couldn’t have afforded a year ago.

8: It’s a great time to learn how to cut costs intelligently. When the economy upturns, you’ll be more profitable than before.

9: Government assistance is genuinely more available than ever. Check out the Solutions for Business portfolio via Business Link.

10: Recruitment is an employer’s market. Why not strengthen your sales or marketing departments, from a wide choice of potential staff at relatively low cost?

Have a question you'd like Jon, founder of JupiterDawn Consulting, to address? You can submit it by either adding a comment to this post online or by e-mailing it to jon@jupiterdawn.com