Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

Go Team Go!

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Hank & Goldie’s Olympic Spirit

We have Olympic spirit here at Yellow Dog Consulting WHQ/Chez Case. Friday night we had a great Olympic Opening Ceremony BBQ with friends that included Jell-O Shots made with Sake and that looked like the Japanese flag, pancit, and Spotted Dick. Creative friends, I know…

All weekend my husband has been GLUED to the TV. I’ve never seen a CPA so exited about gymnastics or volleyball or judo. As I was heading outside to read on Sunday, I commented that he’s REALLY glued to the TV, and his response? “I love it! Every time I turn on the TV I know who to root for!”

Which got me thinking… Every time your client and network are asked about you, or need your services, do they know who to root for?

Don’t Doddle Amaryllis

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Hank WaitingIt’s really frustrating to be in a holding pattern. You’re waiting for an answer and can’t move forward (or don’t want to move forward) until you get the answer you want. But once that answer comes, good or bad, there’s a lot of work to be done.

When you are working on any project or towards any goal find ways to continue to keep the momentum going when it’s easy to let the project come to a halt. Yes there are always great excuses for why you shouldn’t keep moving forward, but identify from the beginning ALL the work that needs to be done on the project so that you can continue to work on different pieces of the project while other ones may be waiting for an answer.

We can’t always identify what’s going to hold up a project but we can identify what work will need to be done given either outcome. Instead of sitting around complaining or screwing around, figure out what else is on your to do list for the project that can help keep the momentum going.

Respond To Your Audience

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One of the wonders of modern technology and social media is that you can schedule your posts and organize your social media so you don’t have to sit around and manage it all day. And that’s great. BUT…

You still have to manage your social media and keep an eye on it once or twice a day at least. Make sure that you are paying attention to what people are saying about you, to you or asking for your help with.

A couple weeks ago I signed up for a 30-day trial of a program. Within 2 hours I had a phone call from a sales rep, and an email a couple hours later. This went on for 3 days. Really, just let me play with the product, I’ll let you know if I need anything. The sales rep was so bad that I’ll never use the product again. I was so annoyed I went to the company website, found their twitter account and tweeted them about their over bearing sales reps. And I got NO RESPONSE. AT ALL. If you aren’t using and managing your social media outlets, don’t promote them.

On the flip side, Full Circle Farms does a great job of managing their twitter account, answering questions and paying attention to what customers are saying. A couple months ago I had a string of too-fresh produce showing up in my weekly box. I tweeted about it, and another follower responded to me having had a similar issue. Within 12 hours I had an email from Full Circle that they were going to credit me a box of produce for my inconvenience. And they did the same for the other guy I was tweeting with. Happy customer, and see, I’m talking about them, and saying NICE things!

Where in your business can you make your clients happier or provide an unexpected service or upgrade that will remind them why they love you and would never leave you?