Hi Champ!

In the last post we started our series on word of mouth and talked about how to make your customers purchasing experience a short, easy one. We are going to continue with that theme a bit today. We’re going to talk about the power of word of mouth and how to mold it to your advantage.

The reality is everyone needs an advisor to guide them to make a decision. We rely on the expertise of others to make the right decisions as they are explained to us. When you take the time to understand exactly what and how word of mouth works, you’ll see all the great advantages it has to offer you. Remember this path when working to understand word of mouth:

• Accelerate the decision making process for increased profits.
• You can accelerate product making decisions by making the process easier.
• Instead of low-ball advertising and the used car salesman approach, try delivering on your word of mouth promises.

Traditional advertising draws about one response for every...

Hi Champ!

Today we’ll start a new series talking all about Word of Mouth and how it can make or break your business in an extremely short amount of time. In this first lesson we’ll get a feel for what exactly word of mouth is.

Word of Mouth (also known as advocacy as a result of an ideal customer experience) is easily the most powerful form of marketing and is absolutely free. People talk about ads they see, experiences they have and the products they purchase. If you treat people right and spread the word about your new products/services in a positive way, you’ll attract the right customers and clients who will sustain your business for a long time.

Now, as positive as word of mouth can be for your business, the other side of the coin is how negative it can be as well. Bad news seems invariably to travel faster than good news and if you have a less than high-quality product or weak customer service system, then your customers will tell everyone they know to not...

Today I'm going to talk about the life cycle of a business and how to get the most out of each cycle while also extending the lifespan of your business.  At Springboard Consulting we use our Elevate Your Business consulting model, NewBizSpringboard & ElevateYourBiz e-learning platforms to identify key objectives necessary to springboard companies to the next level.

The five different stages of a business life cycle are:

1. Inception
2. Survival
3. Growth
4. Expansion
5. Mature

Let’s talk a little about what each of these cycle’s means and how they can each help expand your business’ lifespan.  At each level of maturity there are also eight factors that influence growth and the high gain objectives (Springboard's) in each of these change based on maturity. 

The eight Springboard's are:

• Owner Focus
• Strategic Direction
• Sales and Marketing
• Cash Flow Management
• Performance Management
• Processes and Systems
• Risk Management
• Business Funding

Inception

This is...

It’s extremely important to build relationships with your vendors and those around you can bring in new customers/clients and increase awareness of your company branding.

The people you work directly with on your products and services are really the ones with the most to gain when you find success. By taking the time to get to know them, you’ll find a whole host of opportunities you didn’t realize were there.

Look for great ways to offer your vendors rewards for helping grow your business and everyone wins. One of ways you can do this is by offering performance based incentives and strategic alignment strategies that are much larger than their normal charges.

Here’s the step-by-step process to putting together a strategic partnership with a vendor:

1. Approach all the vendors you work with and offer an incentive based on performance.
2. Put the generous incentive plan together from their perspective, even take suggestions.
3. Develop a clear, concise and easy to...