Have you been tempted to buy online coupons, called “daily deals”? They are offered for spa treatments, restaurants, “boot camps”, hair salons or any one of a huge variety of other tantalizing things for half price or more. Maybe you bought one but didn’t use it. Maybe you threw it away because you thought it expired.

Good news. You can still use it or at least get your money back. Do talk to the merchant because they really sold you a gift certificate, even if it were called a coupon by Groupon, Living Social, Google, Amazon or any of the other 40 providers in the Austin area or the over 500 providers nationwide.

It’s a good chance the spa, restaurant, bakery, etc. didn’t realize that this was a gift certificate. But, it is. You paid for it and under Texas and federal law it’s your property indefinitely.

Yes, indefinitely. If you paid for the coupon, it falls under Texas’ Stored Value Card Act and has to be treated just like any other gift certificate. So, like other gift certificates, the merchant has to honor it for five years.

If you haven’t used it in that time, it still belongs to you. But after five years, it falls under Texas’ Unclaimed Property Laws and the merchant has to turn over the total amount you paid to the Comptroller’s Office. Then the Comptroller lists it at https://txcpa.cpa.state.tx.us/up/Search.jsp and you can claim it.

This is not just true in Texas. There are federal laws, the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act and the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, that make electronic coupons the permanent property of the purchaser. At last count, there were over 14 state class action suits against Groupon and 2 against Living Social related to this issue and deceptive trade practices. These suits include the merchants who used these “coupons” as a method to attract customers.

If you are a merchant and are considering using online coupons, you can learn more about your responsibilities by watching the Business Success Center’s YouTube video “Do No Harm with Daily Deals” at http://www.youtube.com/user/runitright#p/a/u/0/mmyXRmm2mAA.

If you are a consumer or a merchant with questions, please email me at triplett@runitright.biz. Ms. Lehman and I are also happy to give our presentation to any interested group. Just contact me.

What Goes Up Must Come Down

Sir Isaac Newton statue from Trinity Chapel. Photo by Harlequeen

Songwriter & singer Dame Shirley Bassey

How many ups and downs has your business experienced? Since we started our business, we have been through seven ups and downs – oil, banking, real estate, savings and loans, dot.com, Wall Street, and now real estate again. It has caused us to refine and redefine our business at least that many times.

If it’s a part life, it does not make sense just to try to survive this one because another wave is coming. If you own a business, the wave that could take you under could be something global like this “Great Recession” or something unique to you and your business. So be watchful; be prepared.

At the Business Success Center, we have identified five potential challenge areas that are always out there:

1. Economic

2. Environmental

3. Political

4. Social

5. Technological

What’s happening now? We are being hit by all of these all at once or so it seems.

What are people doing? Some are giving up and calling it quits. Some are digging in and just trying to survive  —  to just be able to “stay” in business. The successful ones are looking for ways to thrive.

What do you choose? Give up, give in, or stay in?

Keeping Your Head

Rudyard Kipling wrote his poem “If” in 1895 but it was not published until 1910. It’s a litany of actions to take to become a man (or woman). I think it’s also a useful guide on how to have a successful business no matter what is happening in the world outside or inside.

So how do you keep going when others are losing their way and people are blaming you?

It starts with confidence. This makes sense. After all, confidence in you (your product and service solutions, your staff, and how you do things) is the prime reason someone decides to buy something from you. No confidence, no sale — end of story.*

Step One: keep your head no matter what others are doing. Don’t just be confident you can survive, envision yourself as thriving. Pass on this confidence in your ability and skill to overcome any challenge that comes your way. Be confident in staff and customers, too. Confidence is contagious; spread it around.

Can you trust, wait, dream, think?

People buy from you because they trust you will provide them with the level of quality, service and selection they expect. Because you give them what they want not just what they need, they’re willing to pay your price and be glad it’s not more.

Owners who thrive in tough times are what authors Albert Bernstein and Sydney Rozen describe as “Believers” in one of my favorite books, Neanderthals at Work. It is an oldie but a goodie. (Buy it from your favorite local independent bookstore but they will have to order it.) This term does not have to do with a religious faith but in the thought that some people believe there is order, rules that matter and following those will make you successful and proud of it.

How do you demonstrate this?

You trust in yourself. You are willing to wait and see what happens. You think and plan ahead because the world turns and the best will rise again. You dream big and take actions that are counter intuitive to those who are quitters or just survivors.

What do you do, Little Red Hen? While Chicken Little** is saying the sky is falling, do you get out there and “Just Do It” ? Do you keep thinking how to work smarter not harder?

Here are some good “Thriver” choices. Dreaming, thinking and trusting are required.

1. You don’t cut prices or quality. You do contain your costs by setting up processes and systems that make you more effective and efficient. You may even raise your prices and get a better grade of customers.

2. You spend more on marketing. But you do it more efficiently. And, you do seek out alliances with other like-minded businesses and organizations.

3. You don’t cut back on staff. But you do get rid of the dead wood or at least rearrange that wood to light them up and get a roaring fire going instead of just fizzling out.

4. You become more selective in your customers. You go for the platinum and gold customers™ and dump the lead, concrete, and radio active waste customers™.

Risk Takers

“If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;”
(From “If” by Rudyard Kipling)

Banks, the government and non business owners think those of us who own small businesses are too volatile, too much of a risk taker. Just plain crazy.

I can tell you in working with owners of product and service businesses from accounting firms to zoos, we are the most risk adverse group on the planet. Any risk we are willing to take only happens after we have examined the other options and trust we can take an “informed leap of faith”.

If we guess wrong, then we usually start again. You can do that relatively easily in the US and even easier in Texas that is famous for being a “boom and bust state”.

In many parts of the world you “lose face” or even your life if you close your doors. By the way, even in tough times, most small business do not “fail” (close due to nonpayment of bills). They close the doors because the owners give up. They lose their dream, their trust and confidence in themselves, and their will to go on.

In the end, it’s your choice

As Kipling says,

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;”

And

“Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;”

And

“If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

“Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And — which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son!”

You WILL always be a thriver, not just a survivor.

Author’s Notes:

*In experiments, researchers found they could influence the education outcome by telling the teacher ahead of time that a student was bad or good. Confidence does have consequences good and bad. We are talking here about honestly feeling positive about what you do for customers, your community, and others who count on you.

**If you are interested, the Chicken Licken or Chicken Little story comes from the Jataka Tales of Buddhist folklore not Aesop’s Fables and Little Red Hen is most likely a Russian folktale. I am confident that you will impress others with these bits of trivia and be well on your way to a more successful you.

Here’s to your long lasting success!

How do you thrive in tough times? Share your experiences. They could help the rest of us when we need a little inspiration.

Not the belle or beau of the ball? Don’t do well in groups? Are you kind of shy or just hate playing the networking game? You can still be a great networker. The best part is, you don’t have to and shouldn’t change you.

You do have to play by the rules. Networking is a balancing act; give and take. It’s not just about sales or prospecting. Although these can happen.  You can also use it for finding friends, jobs, fun places to go or avoid, and a million other things. Think about it as a combination of a “net” which gathers things in and keeps things out and a lot of hard “work”. Believe me, it doesn’t come easy to extraverts either although it may seem that way.

Rodin's "The Thinker" could have been named "The Introvert". Photo by James Whitesmith.

But you can play to your strengths and get great rewards. What are those? Most introverts I have known are great gathers of information and deep thinkers. When I did a session on Networking for Introverts at SXSW two years ago, I first wondered if anyone would show up. They did and all those introverts made me a true believer in their abilities. This depth means introverts have a lot to give. Most are good observers, intuitive, with great analysis skills. Hard work and thoroughness is central to how they operate. I recommend to every extravert, that they network with at least one introvert.

If you are an introvert, here are three abilities you already have that will make you a successful networker and a valuable member of anyone’s network. They are things you can capitalize on because your energy is focused on concepts and ideas. These are (or should be) highly prized by extraverts.

Number 1: Use your powers of observation and your inquiring mind to collect information that an extravert would find valuable.

Help us do the work. We’re not lazy but we do put our focus elsewhere usually.

We want to know about people and what’s going on because we want to always be in the know ourselves so we can share that with our network of people, We want to know enough about the “how” of things that we don’t appear unprepared or stupid. That doesn’t mean that a good, extraverted networker should steal your thunder and expertise. It does mean that generally, we like to learn. Help us and we’ll help you.

Number 2: Use your analysis skills to listen, read, and prepare for a meeting where your goal is networking.

At that meeting, share your news with the right people who need or want to know this. Not everyone will be open to this, but some will. Watch for them. Also include “Negative Networking” information in what you share. This is not gossip but does provide warnings about potential problems. These can range from things like places to avoid because of bad food or service to issues related to functionality of a product or even integrity of a firm. Extraverts, like everyone else, don’t like to make mistakes or give bad information to their network. That makes them less valuable in their own eyes and others.

Sometimes big & small can work together. Photo by Daniel Voyager

My colleague, Dan Diener, was working with client who was re-negotiating an existing contract that was up for renewal. It ran into a snag because the contract was for a higher amount than the previous year in order to be in line with our client’s other contracts. This was crucial since our client provides personnel to others and significant benefits to his employees.

Our client, based in Austin, Texas, is a small business with a very large state client. Because of the nature of the industry and how these two organizations work together and share information, the decision was made to talk to the larger client about the situation. The result was a good rationale to stand firm on price by leveraging the larger client. Our client said no, he could not honor the same deal he had with the state client if he cut the price for this existing client. The contract was signed at the price our client proposed. Honor and ethics were well served as well.

This was an unusual situation. Frequently, a larger client wants a “discount” for the prestige of working with them. But, it can work in your favor when someone else wants the “discount”. Don’t feel you have to give in. Stand firm for your existing customers and leverage them when appropriate.

You can use this strategy also when dealing with Daily Deal coupon buyers who want more than they bought. You have negotiated a deal with an online coupon marketing company and you should stick to the deal. In a recent article Groupon Nightmares by Sarah Jacobson Purewal for Entrepreneur, she cites the case of Sound Roots, a music school in Oregon. When numerous people called to try to bend the rules and get more than the value of the LivingSocial coupon, owner Fara Heath, told her manager to say, “This is a very good deal, and take it for what it’s worth.”

A great rewards program, based in Austin, Texas, to encourage people to buy locally.

I have just finished a five-hour sales training session for Go Local an Austin, Texas company that is licensing its program nationwide to encourage people to support their locally owned businesses and buy locally. This is a great marketing tool for businesses and reward system for new and existing customers. Even though some of the licensees had sales experience, their questions and concerns prompted me to put together this list of sales concepts that I consider critical to success.

It starts with agreeing with the first “golden rule”.

#1 Sales is all about giving the right someone an opportunity to buy what’s right for them.

Sales is not about “selling”, or about selling to any and every one, and that it is about selling to a real live person, not a company. If you want more sales conversions and more conversions bringing other converts, you may want to follow the other rules. These focus on getting more “gold” from each sales opportunity as well as set in motion after sales potential from “champion-advocate customers™”.

1. Never take “No”, from someone who can’t say “Yes”.
2. Be willing to tell a prospect (or an existing or former customer) that your product or service is “not right” for them or “not right for them at this time”. Honesty really has a huge payoff.
3. Be patient. Most sales are made after the 8th contact. That doesn’t mean eight meetings necessarily. It can take you multiple tries to get a meeting or get one with the right person or persons.
4. Your sales goal should be to go beyond customer satisfaction to customer passion. Passion makes people talk and want to share their good fortune. That turns your customer into your advocate or champion and makes the next sale easier and faster. I identify these people as “Champion-Advocate Customers™. They are extremely helpful when I need to give prospects someone to talk to who has been a client. They also send me referrals like them which I greatly appreciate.
5. The best sales are face-to-face (or as I like to think of it “belly button to belly button”). Your business card, your website, and every other kind of advertising media stands in place of that. If you can see them, don’t miss the opportunity.
6. You are always selling your company as well as your products and service. Good products do not out weigh a company that is badly run.
7. And, this one is my absolute must. Have a proactive sales plan and then do it. If you are proactive, you don’t wait for prospects to call, you call on them first. To do it successfully, you need to do your homework. That means a Platinum Customer Profile™ to know whom you are looking for and identifying and selecting appropriate targets to go after. You have to go prepared knowing as much about them ahead of time as you can. When you are with them, listen, react to what they say, and ask questions based on what they said. Show them they matter. Don’t just sell, sell, sell.

Do you have sales rules for your sales staff? What helps you get and keep the right customers? I would love to pass your wisdom along to others.

I am very grateful for the people who have steered me in the right direction. Special thanks to Maury Coats (former head of the Texas Commission on the Arts and a great sales teacher), author Sharon Drew Morgen, and almost 30 years of the best clients one could ask for.

I want to encourage everyone who is interested in creating customer passion to consider attending the upcoming Usability Professionals Association International Conference on “Designing for Social Change” in Atlanta, June 21-24, 2011. I will be presenting a tutorial and a workshop on strategic alliances and attending as many sessions as I can. Usability issues can make or break a customer’s experience with your company, your website, and your products and services. You do not have to be a UPA member to attend, but you might want to join for the insights they can provide to make you more successful.

It’s common wisdom that what people want is a solution. There is even a school of sales training and many books around the concept of “solution selling”.

I disagree. Not everyone wants a solution, i.e. something solved.

Your best customer wants something specific to happen when they use your product or service.

Sometimes they want and need something else. Not everything is a “problem” for a customer; sometimes, it’s a “gap” that needs to be filled. I talk to my clients about “gaps” not “problems”.

I referred to these five valued outcomes in my “Best Practices in Pricing” session at ProductCamp Austin. (My slides from the session are on Slideshare .)

In my 30 years experience, there are actually six different results a customer values. The one to stress as a benefit and to base your product or services features depends on the Platinum Customer Profile™ of your best customers.

Your Platinum customer may want:

1. Something solved.
2. A problem reduced.
3. A way to maintain the status quo.
4. A potential problem prevented.
5. An issue eliminated.
6. An opportunity created.

I call this Situational Outcomes™ because it puts the emphasis on the right thing: results from the customer’s point of view..

Your product or service should do that. Your benefits and features presented in your collateral and website should reflect that. Your pricing should reflect the value the customer gets — is it high value, low value, moderate?.

TAKE AWAY: Before you offer to “solve” something, make sure you are really giving them what they want and value. The outcome they need may be different than you imagined. Just saying you have a solution is too simplistic and second guesses your client — never a good idea.

How do you determine what they want?  You ask. You listen intently to what they say. You respond accordingly with a product or service that can do this.

On my "Worth Reading" list.

Asking can be tough. One resource to give you ideas on good questions for all kinds of situations is Smart Questions by Dorothy Leeds (lots of examples)  and  Smart Questions by Gerald Nadler (process focus). You will find them both in my “Worth Reading” section of my blog along with other books I recommend.

I will be doing a webinar on pricing for the Business Bank of Texas on February 10 at 10am that will deal with this in more detail. On February 11 at noon,  I will do a pricing session for Tech Ranch. On March 8 at 2:00pm at Chase Bank (Northcross & Burnet Road), I will do a free RISE Austin session on the topic and be providing a Pricing Glossary &  Concepts sheet with over 50 top terms. If you would like a copy of this, please send me an email (triplett@bscusa.com).

This is a good update of the earlier book which I also like a lot.

Another book I recommend is by Thomas Nagle, the Strategy & Tactics of Pricing. It has inspired me for many years in its earlier version by Nagle and Reed Holden. This is another of my “Worth Reading” books.

Finally, when pricing make sure it does not violate laws including the Deceptive Trade Practices Act  of the Business and Commerce Code and Clayton Act (Robinson-Patman Act amendment).

What does your best customer want? Does your experience match mine that they are looking for more than just a solution? I would be interested in your opinions. Do you have books that inspire and help you formulate questions or give you pricing ideas?

Price right & reap your reward. Cartoon by Roger Stewart, Porthole Productions

Although the session has sold out, there is a waiting list. I encourage you to get on it. For more information on Austin Product Camp, go to http://productcampaustin.org. For information on my session on Pricing and the 39 other great sessions, go to http://bit.ly/e6chc0.

If  you can’t come or can’t wait, I thought I would provide some things to think about to sharpen your pricing skills. At least this will get people to reconsider their pricing strategy — hopefully they have one.

3 Wrong Ways to Price

1. Blindly following the pricing of your competitors – they may or may not be right or right for you.
2. Not knowing your “true total costs” before you price.
3. Not including profit, contingency & hassle-factor in your price structure.

3 Right Ways to Price

1. Match price to preferred positioning.
2. Choose a price that does not exceed “flinch point” of your desired Platinum Profile customer. (See my earlier post on Platinum Profile customers at http://bit.ly/arxFwB
3. Use value- based pricing rather than just cost-based pricing.

If I do the presentation, I will be talking more about best practices that I use and giving some examples of pricing problems I have addressed with clients. It is a Town Hall session so I will also be asking for attendees examples, questions and best practices. My goal is for us to learn from each other. I hope you’ll be there to share your experiences.

Do you have pricing issues, questions or examples of good or bad pricing practices?  I want to hear from you. You don’t have to wait until Saturday.

If you are going to ProductCamp, I hope you’ll vote for my session. I really want to hear what experiences others have with pricing.

Worth reading for more on lefties - good & bad

I am left-handed. It was interesting to read about other prominent lefties. Some of my favorites include: Queen Victoria, Charlie Chaplin, Michelangelo, Leonardo daVinci, Madame Curie, Henry Ford, Ramses the Great, and Joan of Arc. Several US presidents (Reagan, Ford, George W. Bush, and Clinton) were on the left – when it comes to hands at least.

Lefties have been burned at the stake, made to use their right-hands, refused as marriage partners and basically abused. Being left means we have an extra step in our learning process; to adapt the right way to do something to our way. We are acutely aware of who we are and where we are.

Wright’s comments about characteristics that make lefties successful got me thinking. Do we make good salespeople? Are we better than our right-handed colleagues. I think maybe so.

Is it only because, as all lefties know, “we are in our right mind”? That’s part of it. But here are five other reasons suggested by Wright’s book. See if you agree.

1. Good salespeople are willing to risk it all – a “Yes” or a “No”. Lefties are risk-takers. We are willing to keep on putting ourselves out front and center.
2. Good salespeople are intuitive. They need to be able to cut through the mess and get to the core. Wright says those of us who are left-handed can read situations better and more closely. We often come up with unique solutions that surprise others. (Think of lefty Sir Isaac Newton, for instance, or battle strategist Alexander the Great who conquered the known world).
3. Good salespeople are empathetic. They can put themselves in others shoes. They can make others feel more comfortable and that they really understand the situation. Those who are left-handed know what it’s like to be different and are used to being the outsider. Consider scissors, pens, ladles, etc. — all made the right-handed way. We want to be part of the “rights” but we can’t completely. So we are inclusive and try to bring people to us.
4. Good salespeople can size up a situation quickly and adjust.  Wright refers to this strong left-handed trait as “Visual Spatial Ability”. They can take in the whole picture with a quick glance. He says it applies particularly in artistic, scientific, and mathematical applications. Got something complicated to sell?  Lefties will understand it first and be able to describe it to others.
5. Good salespeople can make connections between things that at first glance seem miles apart. Lefties, Wright says, have lateral thinking. They can adapt and see a thing in terms of another. They think in metaphors. I can attest to that. Sometimes our leaps can blow a righty away. How can we think that way? Because we think in many ways all at the same time. This drives my partner crazy. I live in a world in which I don’t completely fit so I will make it fit.

Bad News Lefties

The news is not all good about lefties. We can also be hot-tempered, ambitious, solitary, iconocastic (change agents who love to destroy “the usual”) , want it our way (self taught as Wright says), experimental (“what if”, we say), and a fantasist (coming up with solutions that don’t exist within possibility at least right now).

Look at your salespeople. Who are the best ones? Bet at least 8% are left-handed. (Wikipedia says about 8-15% of the human population is left-handed.)

If your sales are down, hire a lefty. Then, stand back.

Are you a lefty, too? Do you agree?  Are you good at reading people and creating sales opportunities? I would love to hear from you. (Comments from right-handers as well as left-handers are welcome.)

How a lefty’s mind works

Musings on the author by this author:

1. Is he left-handed?
2. Is it odd for a man named “Wright” to be writing about the left? How did he feel about it?

The book is definitely worth a read. You may get other insights out of it, especially if you are left-handed.

I love Upper Crust Bakery on Burnet Road in Austin. Great birthday cakes, eclairs and great service. They always know what I want and make me feel special. A few weeks ago, one of their terrific staff told me I was a great customer. Wow!

That got me thinking. What can customers do to give great “business service”? This would help businesses have better sales and create more Platinum Customers™. It’s just what our economy needs: all of us to play a positive role and take responsibility.

It takes time and effort but there’s a huge payback for everyone. You can be that Platinum Customer™.  Are you up to the challenge?

1. Be open with me. I am not the enemy. I won’t use the information to jerk you around. I view sales as an offer to a friend. The offer is that I have something that might prove to be a good opportunity for you. Tell me what I need to know so I can make you the best offer I can. That means BUDGET and timeline, too.
2. Be respectful of my time. Things happen; you have changes in your life and business. Respect me enough to let me know as far in advance as you can. Let me know that you can’t come, will be late, aren’t prepared, etc.
3. Don’t expect it tomorrow. If you want it tomorrow, give me what I need to do it right long enough in advance. If you can’t, understand why it costs more or it might need “tweaking” when there is more time. But more than that, I have put you ahead of other priorities so a “thank you” would be nice.
4. Tell me first if you are dissatisfied. You are my quality control. I value that highly. If you must tweet about it or tell your friends, give me the opportunity to address the problem first. This is a relationship not a war. My job is to truly listen and hear what you say; then act.
5. If you just want a price, don’t call me. Go to the web. My value to you as an independent business owner comes from my total solution and my experience in helping others successfully achieve their goals. Please remember that my price has to cover: wages, taxes that support our community, my overhead costs, reasonable profit to get through hard times, and contingency funds in case something goes wrong or you don’t or can’t pay. It’s not just about what it costs me out of pocket.
6. Fulfill your obligations. I expect my Platinum Customer™ to put in some effort because after all it’s their money and their business. Work with me to make my solution work for you.
7. If you come to me for advice, don’t brag about how much you know about the topic or try to prove I’m wrong.
8. Don’t use your cell phone if you are talking to me or use it quickly and get back to business. My time is valuable, too.
9. Ask me first. If you need something that I might be able to provide, see if I can. You are under no obligation to buy but I’ve invested time with you, so give me an opportunity to serve you.
10. Make referrals without my asking you to but know whom to refer to me. I chose you as my client but I don’t choose everyone. What I have to offer is not right for everyone. I appreciate the referral but please don’t give your sister who is hard to work with.

What do you do to help provide great “business service”?

If you are a business owner and want to know how to identify Platinum Customers™, read my suggestions about how to create aPlatinum Customer Profile ™and see my slide presentation that I have given for several organizations.

There are 7 potential customer types you could have. But you should have only the best, the Platinum Customer. They give you money and a lot more.

If you aren’t satisfied with the value of your current customers, make better choices by setting up a Platinum Profile™ identification system. This is more than just “target” or “niche” marketing. The four parts of a Platinum Profile™ are demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and geography.

The right profiling system will give you a way to improve your sales process and avoid those radioactive waste prospect/customers who are out there. It will also give you a metric to judge how well your message is working: if it attracts the right prospects great; if not, fix it asap. That makes the effort to set up this system a money maker and mind saver.

The hardest part is coming up with the profile in the first place. You can put the results into most sales programs (ACT!, Salesforce.com, etc.). You can use the profile to be more specific with your salespeople about who to focus on. An added advantage is that it also makes it easier to communicate who you really want to work with to your strategic allies and other people in your networks.

In addition to setting up the profile, it’s critical to understand how a customer buys. There are 7 steps no matter what the purchase. Some are longer; some are shorter. Some are more important, some less depending on many factors.

I recommend using 7 steps in your sales cycle as well. These do not have an absolute one-to-one correlation with the customer’s buying cycle. But each must happen for the best kind of sale, a platinum sale, to take place. No matter what, the customer has to go through their version of the buying cycle in order for any sale to take place. What happens when they don’t? They DIY it, Do-It-Themselves, or DNAAs, Do Nothing At Alls, two ever present competitors. (More on this at my previous post on Ghost Competitors.).

I did a presentation on this topic for “Meet Here Mornings” at CoSpace coworking space in Austin, Texas, last week. I will be doing a shorter version next week for a local chamber. For those of you who can’t come,  I thought I would share the slides. If you need help or have questions, email me at T-R-I-P-L-E-T-T@ b-s-c-u-s-a.com.

Do you have a system for being proactive when it comes to identifying the best customers for your business? What system do you use?