Debbie Mayo-Smith: Simple strategies to help you get the jump on the competition

How do you get ahead of your competition? You can outspend them. Or you can be smarter and set up simple, inexpensive processes to ensure you get the business. Here are seven ideas for your consideration.

Presentation matters. Heaps

Last November I went to a quilt show that had at least 50 exhibitors. Most were similar, with their little quarters of fabric for sale. Except for one, Susan Claire Patchwork. It won best of show. She used creativity to display and sell her pieces of fabric differently.

She had them rolled and sold as sushi with chopsticks on a plate; as cupcakes, lollipops and in jam jars. I couldn't resist buying four selections and I don't even quilt any more! Do you think it surprising that she was doing a thriving trade (even though her prices were a touch higher) and also won best of show?

Takeaway: If you have goods for sale, revisit how you have them displayed or packaged. A little ingenuity in presentation can do heaps for your sales.

Thankyou cards

Everyone, and I mean everyone, is too busy today to take the time for basic courtesies. For example, I have sent out gift copies of my new book, 101 Quick Tips Effective Communication to over 50 clients, speaking bureaus and prospects. I had only two emailed thankyous. Try sending thankyou cards after a meeting or when someone does something nice for you. Not a thankyou email - an actual card. It will be remembered.

Takeaway: If you carry the stationery and postage with you, it's easy to immediately jot the thankyou right after the meeting.

Thanks for your time

Following on from the card idea, when someone gives you their valuable time - in an initial meeting, for an interview - why not give them a small thankyou at that time? A small box of chocolates is usually great and will ensure you get remembered long after.

Eyes, ears wide open

Always keep alert for clues into your clients' and prospects' lives to help you build relationships. Is there a picture of a sailing boat on the wall? Their kids in soccer gear? Did they tell you about a family member? Not only should you remember it, write it down in your database so it's not forgotten, and so it's accessible to others.

Takeaway: If you had a client with a 10-year-old rugby player, and in Paper Plus you saw a child's book about rugby on sale - can you imagine the impact of sending that book with a note saying it's for the son?

Follow up

"Get back to us in six months' time" says the prospect. Yet how few actually make that call?

Takeaway: Systematise your follow up and build in automatic persistency. Use the Task, To-Do or Calendar function of your on the competition software to prompt you. By setting the prompt when asked, you can literally forget about it until your computer reminds you.

Never let go

Ensure you have a system and communication strategy to stay in touch. From your website, to your networking, to your incoming phone calls, do not waste the time, money and effort you spent finding new prospects just to let them go if they don't do business with you immediately.

Takeaway: ensure that every page of your website has a sign-up to hear from you; your receptionist has a form to fill in then enter into the database; there are enrolments at every cash register. Make certain all staff are in, keen and even rewarded for data collection.

Communications

This tip is more applicable to small businesses. If you're like me, you pump out a lot of proposals. In fact, it's been a regular activity of mine for years now. I admit I had been a cheapie when it came to printing them, as colour ink is so expensive. I had been trying to minimise the use of colour to keep the cost down. When my new assistant Marnie first started, she looked at the proposals we were mailing and said, "These really look so washed out. The pages we print at uni are so much better. Why don't you use a colour laser printer?" It never occurred to me. Could my cheapness have been costing me business by not projecting the right image? I went out and got a colour laser. What a difference it makes. The output is significantly more professional.

Takeaway: Aim to have your marketing material equal to or better in quality than that of the company you're sending it to.

Debbie Mayo-Smith is a bestselling author and international speaker. Twitter mseffective

www.debbiespeaks.co.nz