Answering Questions Builds Customer Relationships

This month I read “They Ask, You Answer” by Marcus Sheridan. This was one of the better business books I’ve read recently, both because of the information it shared as well as how well my perspective lined up with that of the author. Marcus Sheridan was a part owner of a pool company and they were facing bankruptcy, and because they literally had nothing left to lose, Marcus decided to implement this idea of “they ask, you answer.” It worked out really well for him and the company, so well that he started a marketing consulting company to help other businesses do the same.

Let’s start with the obvious question of what is “they ask, you answer” anyway? Essentially it’s a company taking the questions their customers or potential customers are asking and answering them in blog or video format (best for SEO, findability and permanence). To use Marcus’ company as an example, everyone wants to know how much a pool costs, but there are so many factors that determine price that there’s no easy answer to that. So Marcus wrote up a post explaining all the factors that go into determining the cost of a pool and what costs could look like. You can also use it to address potential problems and concerns, versus and comparisons, best in class, and reviews.

Why do something like this? It boils down to trust building, showing the prospects that you know what their concerns and questions are, and being able to provide prospects with the information they need to make a decision. The more trust you build with a potential customer, the more likely it is that they will choose to shop with you. Like Marcus, I do understand that there isn’t always the ability to provide a “flat rate,” so I really appreciate how you can lay things out for the prospect so that they feel like they’ve been given enough information that they can understand where the costs are coming from, and what things could end up costing if they proceed. And I also support sharing a “base fee” so that people can get an idea of if they’re even in the same ballpark as you.

Another reason to create this type of content or provide this type of information is because of how informed customers are today. Rarely do you find a customer in today’s market that hasn’t done their research before contacting you about a product or service. In fact, according to Marcus’ research in 2017 70% of the decision is made before the buyer contacts the business.

One of the marketing concepts that I struggle in some situations is the “gatekeeper” type of content, wherein content is hidden behind a gate and you have to subscribe or pay to get access to that content. This isn’t the same thing as a newsletter, but you often see it on news sites or blogs who think that’s the best way to get a return on the investment of the content they’ve worked to create. However, in the book Marcus shared about a different type of gatekeeping, and that’s requiring your prospects to do a bit of homework before you’ll set up a sales call with them. Marcus sets it up beautifully from the perspective of wanting to make sure the prospect is fully educated and prepared for the transformation to their yard that’s going to happen with their new pool, as well as answering some of the questions everyone asks. He sends this information through a video and an eBook, asks the prospect to review the content before the meeting and says that he’ll check in with them the day before the designated meeting to make sure that they’ve had time to check out that information. The check-in allows Marcus to make sure the sale is still a go, and that the customer read the material and isn’t just out price shopping to try to get the best deal, but is really invested in working with this company and getting a great product.

Finally, I think “they ask, you answer” is a great way to begin a relationship with a customer. It starts the relationship with honesty and openness, and indicates that that’s how you’re going to proceed throughout the duration of your relationship. Yes, as we’ve talked about recently, reviews/testimonials are great, but they won’t go into the depth and breadth of information that you can address in “they ask, you answer.” A side benefit is that you’re establishing yourself, your team that helps create all the content, and your company as experts and knowledgeable about the business you’re in and the work you do. Not to mention that answering all these questions in a public format means you won’t have to answer them as frequently in conversations with customers. What questions will you answer this week?

Success, Failure and Honesty

Failure, secrets and lies. These are all things that can put a swift end to any success you hope to achieve. If you follow the news at all, you’ve probably been hearing about the partial collapse of the condo building in Florida, and the conflicting information that’s been provided to people over the last 3 years regarding the condition of the building. It’s always a tragedy when a natural disaster is able to destroy buildings that were designed to the best of our abilities, only to find it wasn’t enough and we still have a lot to learn about how we can build to be as safe as possible from things like hurricanes, floods and tornadoes. But when we hear that warnings were ignored or lied about, that’s an even bigger tragedy.

On one level I do understand, it’s scary to think about something you’ve invested so much time, effort and/or resources into being faulty, and you’re going to either lose all of your investment or have to do major changes or repairs to fix the issue. It can be scary to have to tell people that something isn’t right and/or you may have screwed up. But as we’ve seen in Florida, the cost of your lost investment or repairs is nothing compared to what the loss could be of human life if you don’t step up.

Thankfully, more often than not we’re not facing consequences this dire or massive. It’s usually stuff that is more along the lines of irritation or minor inconvenience in the long run, things that do cost a bit to address, but can be fixed if you catch them in a timely manner, and relationships can be mended with an honest and heartfelt apology. And another thing to be thankful for is when we do have people who step up and tell the truth or share warnings when they see something is wrong even if they’re not necessarily in a position to make decisions about addressing it.

But whether you know it or not, when you choose to pursue success, you also accept with it the risks that may develop and the possibility that you may not be successful and may even fail completely and spectacularly. Knowing what not to do or what doesn’t work is good information, but of course everyone prefers to be successful, not to fail. It’s why everyone who has a plan for success needs to also have alternative plans and paths to try if something doesn’t work out as expected. Failures like the condo collapse are why things of all types need to be checked out for issues or bugs or things that need improvement from time to time whether you’re talking about apps, buildings, people’s health or career paths.

Big determining factors into whether or not you’ll have enduring success include whether or not you can accept failures and your ability to address them, and your willingness to be honest and take responsibility for both the successes and the failures. The better you are at working through the tough times, the better you’ll be at continuing success. What tough lessons have you learned about failure and honesty?

Learning to Love Layers

Everyone and everything has layers. Even if you think about something simple like an orange you’ve got the skin and the little pieces inside the skin and sometimes seeds, not to mention the fruit and juice. So something that seems simple can be simple, but when you take a deeper look at it, you can really begin to see the layers. As I was driving the other night I saw the gorgeous full moon and there were some wispy clouds in front of it that made it look even more magical. Clouds have always fascinated me because they sometimes cover up the sun or the moon, but behind the clouds the sun/moon is still there. Looking at the moon and clouds the other night it was so easy to see those layers because the clouds were so thin and ethereal.

Another aspect of layers is our ability to simplify things or make them more complex. I was reading a story in a newsletter the other day about the woman’s daughter who was at a summer camp and the counselor was explaining something to the campers in response to a question and after the counselor finished the daughter said “so what you mean is…” and made the counselor’s explanation simpler and more understandable. It’s not always about the details, because a simple answer sometimes does have specifics in it. And there’s nothing wrong with sharing lots of details or having a technically specific conversation, it’s just not right for every situation or person.

One of the things you learn quickly with kids is how many layers they have. They can be playing make-believe one minute, building buildings the next, singing to themselves the next, and asking you crazy questions one second later. That doesn’t change as we become adults, we just get some different layers as we grow up, becoming parents, partners, hard workers, gardeners, chefs and countless other things. We explore different aspects of ourselves, try new things and often naturally have our preferences and loves become more mature with us (we may still love mac and cheese, but we prefer it not made from a box for example).

One of the biggest challenges though with layers is how we can struggle with them. We don’t always like having the sun/moon hide behind clouds. We don’t always like to learn that we like different things than we used to. And the biggest one of all is that we don’t always feel comfortable sharing our layers with everyone. If we struggle to accept our layers, what will everyone else say about them? No, it’s not always their business, but we do like to share with others and find common ground, and those layers are a big part of who we are which means that people will interact with our layers. The more we can learn to accept and love our own layers, the easier it will be to accept the layers of others, and to encourage our kids to find, accept and love their layers.

The Difference A Testimonial Makes

Something that’s always been important to businesses are reviews. They used to just come in the form of word-of-mouth reviews and testimonials, but now because of the internet and technology we’ve got online plus word-of-mouth reviews and testimonials. We businesses depend on those reviews and testimonials for many reasons. We may not like them, but we can appreciate the not-so-great ones because they can give us insights about areas to improve or help people decide that we’re not going to be a good fit, thus saving us and the customer hassle and expense.

We most like reviews and testimonials when they’re positive. The biggest reason being because it’s a mostly impartial source of information confirming that our product, service or company is as awesome as we say it is. As important as it is for us to provide sufficient, detailed information about what we’re offering and what we’re all about, it’s almost more important to have that information paired with positive reviews and testimonials from our customers because more often than not they’ll see something from a different perspective, point out something we didn’t think was important, or include a detail that we couldn’t say in our information (for legal or other reasons).

But testimonials and reviews are important for another reason: they affirm what we’re doing. Even if you and your team absolutely love what you offer and know how helpful or awesome it can be, we all have doubts from time to time. Maybe we experience them because we’re so wrapped up in the details or we’re been doing the same thing day-in and day-out, so when we hear from customers that we did a great job, or they tell us they gave a glowing recommendation to a friend or neighbor, or they tell us they’re thrilled with the products and it is now their go-to product in that category, it reminds us that all the work was worth it.

Sure, reviews and testimonials take a minute to do, but not only is it helpful to fellow customers, it’s something that can make our day as well and help us stay strong and focused on being the best we can be for our customers. What’s the best review or testimonial you’ve ever received?

Asking Different Questions

Summer has officially arrived and with it has come once again the humidity. Personally I’m thankful that it’s warm out and I don’t have to wear ridiculous amounts of clothing to be warm, but at the same time, for the large portion of the world that doesn’t have AC, summer can be really hot which can create all kinds of health issues and other challenges. So as I was standing in my more-than-warm kitchen doing the dishes all of a sudden through the open window came an incredibly cool breeze and everything felt better. And the question that ran through my mind was “why hasn’t anyone figured out how to better use the winds and cool buildings so we don’t all need to rely on AC as much?” It’s definitely not something I’m qualified to even consider how it could work and if it could work, but I know that fans don’t always do the job and often just pull in the hot air that’s outside, rather than cooling things off like they’re supposed to. So why not consider how we can harness the wind better?

As I was thinking about this, it reminded me how success is often not build only on hard work, but on asking different questions. Over the past decade we’ve seen companies like Uber and Ellevest who have gone out and asked questions a little differently, and as a result we’ve got resources and connections that we could have never had at affordable rates and are providing solutions to problems that we’ve been facing for a very long time. No, they’re not perfect, but they certainly have changed the game and forced more businesses to take a hard look at how customer-centric they were really being and become aware of what customers are really looking for and willing to pay for.

I’ve talked before about the importance of asking questions, and that is something that won’t change because when we take the time to ask questions it means we’re thinking and really taking the time to consider how we can improve things, which almost always means good things for our future success. But as important as it is to ask questions, it’s equally important to ask different questions from time to time so that you do your best to see things from different perspectives which may bring you to a breakthrough. So if you’re thinking about what new successes you can create in your life, consider how you can ask the question you’re struggling with differently, or ask a different question entirely to help you hopefully create a new way forward.

Dads Who Care

As we finish up another Father’s Day here in the US, I thought I’d share a few thoughts about what makes a dad a great dad. These hold true for men who are father figures as well, the men who stand up for dads who can’t be there or aren’t capable or willing to participate in the lives of their kids. I believe kids need to have strong men and women in their lives, people they can look up to and be comfortable talking with, as well as people who can show them what it means to be a responsible adult who cares about those in their life and their community too.

Dads spend time with their kids. Whether it’s bedtime stories, dinnertime, help with homework, video game competitions, yard work, hunting, fishing, or one-on-one vacations, spending time with their kids is one of the most important aspects of being a good dad. It’s also one of the most challenging because many people still work traditional schedules, which means that they can’t attend any of the daytime performances or sports activities that kids are involved in, and that can be difficult to explain to kids. But even with challenging schedules, dads who care find time to be with their kids.

Dads talk with their kids. It’s crazy to think about how many kids these days have cell phones, especially when so many previous generations including myself grew up with a house phone and nothing else (of course we didn’t know of anything else at the time). But all those cell phones means there’s almost no excuse when it comes to being able to communicate as a family. Those little text messages back and forth, the brief check-in type phone calls, and the long marathon calls when dads are on the road or working late are all opportunities to connect and build a strong relationship that not only supports kids growing up, but also shows them that dad cares.

Dads show they care. From presents that show that Dads have been paying attention to what their kids are interested in, to following up on stories and situations, to showing them how to do things, to picking up favorite snacks at the store, to bringing home craft supplies or other supplies for making stuff, to making time for their kids even when they’re tired or have tons of other things they could be doing, there are so many ways dads can show their kids that they care.

What are some ways that the dads or father figures in your life show you that they care?

Success is in the Details

Everyone makes mistakes from time to time, and that’s no different for businesses. Some mistakes businesses (and their teams) make are less avoidable (things like E. coli can’t be easily detected in foods, so it happens from time to time, although businesses should do their homework on who they get their products from). But other things are very obvious and very fixable, it is usually a matter of caring enough to find out what your issues are and making the time to address the issues, which some businesses do and others don’t.

There are always a variety of excuses as to why some businesses/leaders don’t fix issues. Sometimes they say it’s because of an “industry standard” that they don’t have to do better. Other times it’s because they can’t get the buy-in from their team to make changes, and it’s too expensive on many levels to bring in all new staff. Other times the leaders just don’t seem to care what anyone says and they just keep pushing along. Sometimes they don’t do anything because it’s “too complicated” to explain or address. But any excuse is really a great opportunity for your customers to go elsewhere, and often they do. They’ll go to whomever is willing to do better, be more open and honest, and work to earn their trust.

Let’s talk about a couple of the really big issues that I consistently see in businesses that are truly easy fixes, even if they may take a bit of effort and expense to address. One of the big issues in businesses that have a physical location whether that’s a restaurant, church office building or warehouse, is cleanliness. Whether you close for a day quarterly or are able to bring in a team to work during the hours that you’re closed, I think one of the best investments you can always make is to keep your location clean. It makes employees happier to come to work, customers are happier to spend time in your location and there’s also less chance of being the cause of a health issue.

Another issue is grammar, spelling and font inconsistencies on your website and in marketing communications. It’s one thing to occasionally (not often) have a broken link or spelling issue in an email, it’s another thing to have these kinds of issues on your website, and yet I see them with too many websites I visit. These types of issues raise flags for potential customers, making them concerned about the trustworthiness of your site and company, things that could easily be fixed if a couple people read through your site, and maybe also with the assistance of a copy writer/editor (or even college student majoring in English or whatever language your site is in). Also limit the number of fonts and sizes you use on the site, it can get distracting very quickly.

Along those lines another common issue is not providing sufficient information about the company, product, service, and/or shipping. I’m always amazed when I visit a (big) online retailer and one variety of a product has tons of images and descriptive information and another version of the same product has next to nothing. Did someone get tired in between writing the information? Did they not do any research to see what extensive information was provided by other companies? Did they not check to make sure that they had updated the template text to make sure that it accurately reflected their business and services/products? Also, could a stranger go to your site and learn not only what you sell but who is selling it and what their story is? How difficult is it for a customer to find and read a “use by” date on your products? Do you address common issues or concerns and questions customers have on your website and through other marketing you do?

I know that some of these are common sense, and yet, as common sense as they are day in and day out I see these issues with businesses of all sizes. But addressing these issues can make a huge difference for your customers and your sales. What seemingly little issues have you addressed recently that have made a big difference for your business?

The Problem with Busy

Lately much of the world has been moving again after almost 18 months of changes, standing still and uncertainty. In many ways it feels good to be busy again and to be out and about, working with new clients, and being part of the community. After all, rarely is success achieved without effort, action and connections. After being stuck for so long it does feel good to be accomplishing tasks and reaching goals again. But as I was busy with activities the other day, I was thinking about the last time I had a moment to really think about things and evaluate progress and do more than just check off tasks.

Why is this a concern? Because you can only truly plan things out so far before any plans you make are just too questionable to really trust. You may say you have a 10 year plan, but let’s be honest, how likely are you to be accurate with the plans you wrote down for years 5-10? Maybe some of the things will work out as you anticipate, but things change too much to really plan that far out in this day and age.

So yes, busy is good and I’m glad that we’re being active in the world again, but I think we put it into high gear because of how the last 18 months have gone, and now some of us are waking up to the fact that while busy is good, it doesn’t leave a lot of time for reflection and evaluation. If I’m honest, I’ve got some more busy to do before I get to having time for reflection and evaluation, but I’m getting there. And it’s OK if you can’t immediately free yourself from commitments and plans, for one because it’s not really the goal. The goal is to be moving forward and taking action in partnership with reflection and evaluation.

It brings us back to the question and challenge of balance in our lives, and committing time to see to our health, our relationships, our passions, relaxation, exploration, our careers, personal growth, our finances, and reflection. You don’t have to do everything every day, but you need to make time throughout the weeks and months for everything that makes you who you are, keeps you grounded, inspires you and helps you succeed, and one of those things is reflection and evaluation. How will a little time spent on checking in with your plans and activities help you succeed smarter and better before the month is out?

The Best Summer Vacation Ever?

Summer is often the time many families take vacation because with kids off from school it means only the parents have to alter their schedule and not everyone (and because the weather is awesome!). I took many summer vacations with my family growing up and remember feeling that those vacations were just an awesome added bonus on top of not being in school for over 2 months. I was talking with a friend who took his kids on vacation to Hawaii and he was saying that he hopes his kids say to him that it was the best vacation ever. I reminded him that they may not use those words, but if in the years to come the memories they continually bring up are from this trip, and they compare future trips to this one, then they absolutely do consider this the best vacation ever, even if they don’t specifically state that.

I don’t know that I have a “favorite” vacation that we took when I was a kid, but I certainly do have great memories from many vacations. And while I may not have a favorite, I would love to revisit some of those destinations and adventures with my partner some day. Wanting to do something again or visit a place again is also another great compliment and speaks to the quality of memories that were made on those vacations many years ago.

But of course as any adult knows, vacations do come with costs and stress, both before, during and after the vacation. No one likes to be stressed, but the moments I witnessed taught me problem solving skills, the importance of sometimes going with the flow, the benefits of being flexible, the value in knowing yourself and your limits, and what planning ahead can help you create. I also learned how important it is to always packing food with you when you leave home, and that a change of scenery can share something with you that you’ll really enjoy or be wowed by if you take the chance. What summer vacation success secrets have you learned from vacationing?

Does Size Matter for Your Business?

I started my business book of the month this week and quickly discovered that the author enjoys writing short chapters, and that rather than a handful of chapters in the 200+ page book there are dozens. In some ways this is nice because I can read a chapter in a couple of minutes when I have a break (or need a break) and can come back to it later and read another, instead of knowing I have to commit 10-15+ minutes to read through a whole chapter. But it also means that I can’t just say I’ll read a chapter a day, or I won’t finish the book in 30 days’ time. The same is true for so many other parts of our lives and businesses, whether we’re talking cookies, TV shows, books, diffusers, crackers, chicken, blog posts/articles, flowers, therapy, houses, toilet paper, restaurants and cafes, or hair salons/barber shops: everything comes in different sizes.

This is something we talked about a bit in the last post and I’m revisiting the question today: does size matter? The first cop-out answer is that as long as you’ve provided quality work and met the needs of the customer/client, that’s what matters, not how long/big something is. The second cop-out answer is that small is fine but anything and everything can be enlarged, grown, multiplied, or expanded. One real answer is that yes, things absolutely can be too small or too little or not enough, for instance we can’t survive on one fry, one bite of burger and one sip of beverage for dinner; a single flowering plant looks rather pathetic in front of a large house, one sentence usually can’t give all the details necessary for a court case to be won, and the dimensions of a non-pull out couch are too small to be a bed for two adults.

Consider that most people don’t have the time to read through a 200+ page book in a day, most people don’t watch a movie each day, day-to-day most people don’t need the same amount of food that they do for a summer BBQ with friends and neighbors, most business owners don’t need to do a deep-dive on their business each week, and most people don’t have the resources for buying multiple houses or luxurious vacations every year. A larger quantity, a longer blog post/interview/video, and longer/more in-depth services absolutely have a place and most businesses can include them as part of their business. But when you lead with the smaller, shorter, and more immediate (although not “bite sized”), you usually get more buy-in, more connection, and more people willing to give you a minute or two of their time for something valuable in exchange.

Don’t forget that not everyone has the time or ability to invest as you do, and that if masterpieces are your only focus, know that you’ll have to work harder and get luckier to get people to invest their resources in your work. Go ahead and invest in a masterpiece, but also provide people with the opportunities to get to know you, build trust with you and build a relationship with you little by little, knowing that those small investments can pay big dividends in the future.