growth

The Power of your Net Promoter Score!

Leave a Comment / Market Reports, Operations, Sales, Small Business, Tips / By / / , , , , , , , , ,

For those who don’t know, Net Promoter Score ®, or NPS ®, measures your customer’s experience, how likely they are to refer people to you, and predicts business growth. You’ve probably even provided information for this business metric without even realizing it during a survey response.

How is the Net Promoter Score calculated?

The NPS is calculated by using the answer to one key question, answer by using a 0-10 scale: How likely is it that you would recommend [COMPANY NAME HERE] to a friend or colleague?

Answers include the following response options:

Promoters (score 9-10) are loyal enthusiasts who will keep buying and refer others, fueling growth.

Passives (score 7-8) are satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who are vulnerable to competitive offerings.

Detractors (score 0-6) are unhappy customers who can damage your brand and impede growth through negative word-of-mouth.

Subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters yields the Net Promoter Score, which can range from a low of -100 (if every customer is a Detractor) to a high of 100 (if every customer is a Promoter).

Why your Net Promoter Score Matters

Ultimately, you need to be aware of how your clients perceive your brand and products.  NPS data allows you to insight into the customer’s mind about their experience & journey with your company. If they aren’t a promoter, where can you improve, what went wrong, and why wouldn’t they recommend you to others? Your NPS is a prediction of your growth, so if your responses aren’t showing Promoters, then we have a problem!

How Can I use Net Promoter Score in my Business?

Net Promoter Score allows you to segment your customers by loyalty as well as identify unsatisfied or at-risk customers. It also allows you to benchmark against industry or competitor scores and uncover customer loyalty drivers. It is easy to complete with a fast one-question format and can be used to predict future trends.

Although the Net Promoter Score has gained huge popularity, there are some that criticize it. It can be seen to provide only a limited view of customer experience and the NPS question alone doesn’t provide any specific insights. This can be negated by adding open-ended follow questions or additional rating questions.

If you are part of our Red Barn Newsletter or a client, you’ve probably been sent a survey or two before and one of the questions we always ask is the Net Promoter Score question. However, we are firm believers in diving a little deeper and finding out why you answered the way you do. We always want to know what you like, if you find value, where we can improve – because if you don’t know the details, you can’t fix things and it can prevent you from getting a bad review on social media!

The Power of your Net Promoter Score! Read More »

How to take time off from your small business during the holidays!

Leave a Comment / Entrepreneur, Featured, Fun Stuff, Marketing, Must Read Blogs, Sales, Small Business, Uncategorized / By / / , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Depending on the type of business that you run, your business can either be super crazy during the holidays, think retail, or it could experience a bit of a lull. Many service providers, especially small businesses, often see a drop in business during the holidays. But just your potential buyers have checked out and gone on autopilot and decided not to decide until after the New Year doesn’t mean you put your marketing on hold for the last 2 weeks of the year.  Even if your business and customer engagement levels slow to a crawl this time of year it doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. And don’t worry – you can still enjoy some time with your family during the holidays too!

Reach out to top prospects before they check out for the season. Before the calendar rolls over to January, many businesses evaluate current contracts and services that they are using. Make sure you check in with your top prospects to stay front of mind, BUT you need to also make sure your current clients are happy and will continue to stay loyal to you. A little extra love during the holidays won’t hurt and may increase your sales.

Embrace the season of giving. Make sure that your clients know that you appreciate them. Sending them a holiday card or even a small gift will remind them that you care and take their business serious. At Red Barn, we bake cookies for our clients and we share the wealth with any top prospects that we are looking to woo as well. 😊

Optimize your email. Whether you plan to take a few days off or a few weeks, making sure your customers don’t feel neglected or ignored should be top of mind. Create an out of office message that lets people know when they can expect to hear from you, additional ways to reach you if it’s urgent, and when you may be checking emails while away. You should also list any special products or services with links to more information to help increase sales while you are away. You can also link to an FAQ page on your website that may be helpful to some common questions that you may receive. Be proactive!

Schedule, Schedule, Schedule. Just because you are going to be spending time away from your business, it doesn’t mean that all marketing and content comes to a halt. Create a bunch of content in advance and pre-schedule those weekly emails and blogs, and daily social media posts. Of course, you’ll need to check emails to see if you get any responses, and monitor social media for any messages and comments, but it takes a lot of the burden off when you automate and schedule in advance!

Don’t allow the demands of running your business overwhelm you to the point where you don’t know if you can take any time off for the holiday break. Everyone needs some down time and the holidays can be both stressful for your business and personal life. There’s no reason to miss out on a sale or lose customers just because you want to recharge and enjoy some family time – just set yourself up for success before you unplug!

How to take time off from your small business during the holidays! Read More »

No sales team – no problem. How to increase your sales without a sales team

Leave a Comment / Entrepreneur, Featured, Fun Stuff, Must Read Blogs, Sales, Small Business, Uncategorized / By / / , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When you own a small business, you may not have resources available to hire a dedicated sales person, but you still need to make sales, right? When sales are your goal but not necessarily your specialty, you need to make sure every lead, every prospect counts. That one missed sale could really affect your bottom line when you are just starting out. So how do you kick your sales effort into overdrive without a robust sales process and team? Check out these great tips to give your sales effort the boost it needs.

Email, email, email. If you didn’t read my previous blog on the importance and value of email marketing – go back and read it here. Email marketing is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to reach your prospects and clients. And yes, you should be emailing your current clients too – they still need nurturing to get them to continue to buy your services/products and buy additional services/product. Just because they bought once or twice, doesn’t mean they will continue to buy. Make sure you list is targeted as well. Don’t blindly email everyone whose email you have – unless they sign up for a specific newsletter. Make sure the people on your list are people who could actually buy your offering.

Be mobile-friendly. From your website to your emails to your social media profiles – everything should look great and be easy to navigate on mobile devices. Why? Because pretty much everyone nowadays owns a smartphone or tablet and they are using them to open emails, check social media, and visit websites. If they can’t quickly and easily access you on a mobile device, you may be losing a lot of sales.

Make the pathway to a sale easy. Can your customers easily place an order with you? Even if they can’t order direct from your website if it’s a service-based business, do you make your process easy? Are they able to get ahold of you or someone who can take the sale? Is there a lot of mundane paperwork they need to complete? Streamline your sales process to make it as easy as possible for your client to work with you.

Networking and referrals. What’s better than free marketing? Your network of peers sending prospects your way via referrals. When you network and build up a tribe of people who know you, know what you do, and genuinely like you – they are happy to refer business your way, especially when you reciprocate. The saying it’s not what you know but who you know still holds value.

Amazing customer service. Customers really learn a lot about your business from the customer service you provide. Providing timely responses to calls and emails, answering questions they may have about the product, and giving them value during the decision-making process could be the deciding factor in whether they purchase from you or not. Don’t go AWOL after the sale either – customer service is just as important as making the sale – you don’t want people spreading negative feedback that you could have easily controlled.

Still have questions on how you can take your sales to the next level – give us a call. We can help with everything from how to approach your prospects to defining your sale’s pitch and message.

No sales team – no problem. How to increase your sales without a sales team Read More »

It’s 2018 – why aren’t you using email marketing!

Leave a Comment / Entrepreneur, Featured, Fun Stuff, Marketing, Must Read Blogs, Sales, Small Business, Uncategorized / By / / , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’m sure we’ve written several blogs, emails, social media posts, and talked about the importance of email marketing, but it’s 2018 and there are still people who aren’t taking advantage of the amazingness of it so, it’s time to share some remarkable statistics with you.

  • The return on investment is MASSIVE! There are many reasons to use email marketing but if you are honest with yourself, the end goal is to make money. And for every $1 spent on email marketing, you get an $83 return on your investment. That is huge!
  • It’s bigger than social media. Yes, Facebook ads are big right now, but email marketing is the most direct way to reach and interact with your clients and prospects. People are twice as likely to sign up for your email list as they are to interact with you on Facebook.
  • People prefer to communicate via email. Let’s be honest, very few people like to pick up the phone and call people these days – and even fewer like answering – especially with all the spam robocalls these days. 72% of consumers prefer email as their source of communication – they can learn about your business and make informed buying decisions.
  • Your customers WANT emails from you. Surprised? Well, 61% actually enjoy receiving promo emails and 38% want more frequent emails!
  • Consumers who purchased products via email spent 138% more than those that didn’t receive email offers.
  • The conversion rate for men and women on a desktop is about equal, but women are more likely to purchase on a tablet and men on a smartphone.
  • Wonder why Red Barn predominantly sends plain text emails for our weekly newsletters? Because although people SAY they prefer HTML emails, the open rates are higher for plain text.
  • Don’t have a segmented email list – you might want to create them. Segmented lists have a 14% higher open rate and 100% higher click thru rate. WOW!

    • It doesn’t matter the size of your business, but when it comes to email marketing, you can’t afford NOT to invest in it. From a limited budget to a hefty one, you can still accomplish great things using email as a business tool. With so many awesome platforms out there, it’s easy to find one that can meet your needs and your budget. Not sure where to get started – give us a call. We love talking about email marketing!

    It’s 2018 – why aren’t you using email marketing! Read More »

    Why your current employer could be you #1 Customer

    Leave a Comment / Entrepreneur, Featured, Fun Stuff, Must Read Blogs, Small Business, Uncategorized / By / / , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    One of the biggest roadblocks for many “Want-trapreneurs” looking to launch a service based business (or any type of business for that matter) is maintaining their current income base.   It’s hard to leave the security of a guaranteed salary, health insurance, paid vacations and the almighty 401K, I get it – I’ve been there.

    When I sit down to coach people who are living in limbo land   – the land of “I really want to be out on my own” BUT “I need to still make 6 figures”.

    I first address the need versus want.  What many perceived as a necessity is simply a want that can be given up.  It’s no secret that many of us live far richer than we need to – everything from the $5 daily allotment of coffee to the big house and the fancy car to eating out 3x a week.  When you really track what you are spending your money on, you quickly realize there is a lot of fluff.  You need a roof over your head, basic utilities paid and food on the table, access to health care (don’t get me started on this one) – in other words, you NEED the basics, you WANT the other stuff.

    After we create that need budget we come down to what type of salary is vital for your existence.  I’m not saying you need to sell your car and your house and go live in a tent, but I do force people to be realistic.  The more fat you cut, the less money you need to leave your 9-5 and go out on your own.

    Once this is out of the way – I dive deeply into their current situation.  I often find many people really love what they do, they like who they work for but they have an “itch” to go out on their own. They want to have control over their destiny and work for themselves versus someone else.  They’ve done a great job, have aced their reviews but there is just something missing.

    If you want to start a consulting gig that aligns with what you are currently doing in your 9-5 job, your #1 big prospect should be your current employer.  Many, not all, will embrace the concept.  They get to keep great talent at a reduced cost – no longer paying taxes and benefits.  It will also help them bridge the gap until they find a replacement if indeed they decide to do so.

    I usually suggest to my clients that they flesh out their idea with some smaller clients that aren’t their employer to ensure they have refined their process before the ultimate pitch and the resignation letter. Some employers frown on or forbid a side hustle, so make sure you know the rules because the last thing you want to do is burn a bridge.

    The bridge theory works, I’ve done it and I’ve helped others to do the same.   There’s a bit more to the process than a 500 word article can articulate, but you get the picture!

    Why your current employer could be you #1 Customer Read More »

    Reducing Risk and a Well-Rounded Book — Expanding Your Insurance business

    Leave a Comment / Insurance, Sales, Uncategorized / By / / , , , , , , , , ,

    As an insurance provider or broker, you might have decided to specialize in a particular type of insurance. On one hand, that makes good sense, right? You’ve got expertise in a particular area, so you can give top-notch service and advice to your customers. But, by sticking to just one or two types of insurance and customer, you could be severely limiting your business growth, and no-one wants that. You don’t want all your eggs in one basket.

    Diversification is smart.

    Reducing your risk and liability, because no-one thrives on too much adrenaline. Insurance is all about managing risk, both for the carrier, and for you as an agent.

    If you break into new specialties or areas you’re spreading the risk that something bad will happen in a particular area or for a certain type of insurance. For example, if you’re just insuring residential property in coastal Florida, and a hurricane hits — That’s a massive impact to your business. You can diversify via location, types of industry, or lines of insurance.

    Expanding your business base, because you want to turn your revenue stream into a river. Selling insurance in more areas means more sales, which means more profit. There are probably only a handful of people who need insurance for their art collection, so it’s great to be an expert in this field – but make sure you are insuring all their lines of business! Their auto, home, workers’ comp, business insurance. Diversify, Diversify, Diversify.

    It gives you lots of new marketing opportunities, especially with existing customers, which brings us neatly onto our next point.

    Cross-selling and upselling, because just getting new customers is hard… One of the best things about having a variety of insurance lines is the ability to cross-sell and upsell them to existing customers. For Personal Lines – ensure you have home, auto and umbrella for all clients where applicable. For your commercial clients – do you have all lines of business and have you offered them life insurance and benefits?

    The more you expand your book, the better these cross-selling opportunities become — It’s like a virtuous circle of insurance joy.

    Better for your customers, because what’s good for them is good for you. Finally, having a more rounded book is better for your customers. They can buy all their insurance in one place, and have a single point of contact for all their insurance needs. That reinforces your brand, builds trust with your customer, and helps you stand out from your competitors. Well-rounded books have a much higher retention rate. And that’s pretty great.

    Reducing Risk and a Well-Rounded Book — Expanding Your Insurance business Read More »