In February I talked about trust taking a long time to build, only if you let it. I’m grateful to Paul Hayward of In Your Dreams Coaching for some further ideas on this subject.
There are actually some people we trust automatically. They don’t need to spend time, even a short time, cultivating and building our trust in them. We see them in an ‘innocent until proven guilty’ sort of way.
So who are these people? Could you become one of them? If so, how?
When you go to a networking meeting you will be getting to know people you’ve never met before, building credibility, rapport and trust between yourselves. You’ll be strengthening your relationships with the people you already know too.
But, even on your first visit to a particular group, or on your first visit to a particular venue, there will be people you knew you could trust, well before you ever started your journey!
Imagine the scenario. You walked in, you introduced yourself to the host, you got yourself a drink and you started chatting to other people. After a while you collected your food and carried on chatting. You may even have replenished your drink and listened to a guest speaker.
Did you establish credibility, rapport and trust with the chef? Did you do the same with the farmer who supplied his eggs and bacon? With the miller and baker who contributed the raw materials for your toast? Or the coffee plantation workers? Or the tea pickers?
Of course you didn’t! You intrinsically trusted them all to deliver products or services that were ‘fit for purpose’.
Maybe you can think of ways in which your business, and your products and services can be seen in the same light.
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Sunday, 12 April 2009
Don't Get Ripped Off
I’ve been hearing some horrific tales recently about the prices people are paying for web addresses and web hosting - some are downright scandalous! I have heard of over £100 being paid for a URL, and £100 per month for hosting!
Let me put you all in the picture. These are the prices I paid for my addresses and my hosting packages, and what I get for my money. I have checked with my hosting service and these prices are still obtainable now.
It doesn’t matter if you write your own pages in html, or with the help of something like FrontPage or Dreamweaver, or whether you pay someone else to write them for you. Creating and uploading the pages, and updates to them, can be separated from buying the web address and paying to have the pages available over the internet.
I am not saying these are the lowest prices available. I am saying you shouldn’t need to pay any more than this - plus my supplier’s service has been absolutely excellent in all the years I’ve been using them.
I am not a ‘reseller’ of this stuff and have no wish to be. Like you, I am just Joe public, buying for my own needs alone. I get no special deals and, as I am not going to tell you the name of my hosting service unless you specifically ask me, I hope you will believe me when I say I receive no incentive to recommend them.
The key figures for the hosting packages are:
Free, unlimited e-mail forwarding, catch-all e-mail, and junk-mail filters are common features of all four packages. 24/7 technical support and a 30 day money-back guarantee come free with the paid-for services.
Please, don’t pay more than you need to for your web addresses and hosting.
David
Let me put you all in the picture. These are the prices I paid for my addresses and my hosting packages, and what I get for my money. I have checked with my hosting service and these prices are still obtainable now.
It doesn’t matter if you write your own pages in html, or with the help of something like FrontPage or Dreamweaver, or whether you pay someone else to write them for you. Creating and uploading the pages, and updates to them, can be separated from buying the web address and paying to have the pages available over the internet.
I am not saying these are the lowest prices available. I am saying you shouldn’t need to pay any more than this - plus my supplier’s service has been absolutely excellent in all the years I’ve been using them.
I am not a ‘reseller’ of this stuff and have no wish to be. Like you, I am just Joe public, buying for my own needs alone. I get no special deals and, as I am not going to tell you the name of my hosting service unless you specifically ask me, I hope you will believe me when I say I receive no incentive to recommend them.
| Item | Unit Prices (ex VAT) | Minimum order Quantity |
| .co.uk address | £2.79 per year | 2 years |
| .com address | £7.99 per year | 2 years |
| .org.uk address | £2.79 per year | 2 years |
| Hosting Package 1 | FREE | |
| Hosting Package 2 | £39.87 per year | Cancel anytime |
| Hosting Package 3 | £89.99 per year | Cancel anytime |
| £8.99 per month | Cancel anytime | |
| Hosting Package 4 | £129.99 per year | Cancel anytime |
The key figures for the hosting packages are:
| Package 1 | Package 2 | Package 3 | Package 4 | |
| Web space | 2.5Gb | 5Gb | 20Gb | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | 100Mb/month | 30Gb/month | 60Gb/month | Unlimited |
| Mailboxes | 1,000 | 1,000 | 10,000 | Unlimited |
| Autoresponders | 1,000 | 1,000 | 10,000 | Unlimited |
Free, unlimited e-mail forwarding, catch-all e-mail, and junk-mail filters are common features of all four packages. 24/7 technical support and a 30 day money-back guarantee come free with the paid-for services.
Please, don’t pay more than you need to for your web addresses and hosting.
David
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Caveat Emptor - Part II
Ufindus/BT/Customer Street gets worse!
This week alone I've discovered two of my newer clients, who'd both made a payment to these jokers for a website design before I came across them, have websites where every page has a link advertising all their competitors!
Then the clowns have the temerity to say that simple things like trying to collect people's contact details on every page, in return for a free chunk of the client's wisdom, is not possible!
Please, if your clients mention these people, rapidly tell them there's a better option.
This week alone I've discovered two of my newer clients, who'd both made a payment to these jokers for a website design before I came across them, have websites where every page has a link advertising all their competitors!
Then the clowns have the temerity to say that simple things like trying to collect people's contact details on every page, in return for a free chunk of the client's wisdom, is not possible!
Please, if your clients mention these people, rapidly tell them there's a better option.
Saturday, 14 March 2009
Caveat Emptor
I don’t really like taking a snipe at individuals or companies but I really have been amazed over the last couple of weeks by the service offered by the Ufindus website design service. Since July 2008, Ufindus has been owned by BT and at the time of the acquisition it was stated that “Ufindus will play an important role in the continuing growth of BT Directories' new media business”.
One of my clients has paid Ufindus to develop and host his new website, and I have been working with him to create the sitemap, text, meta-tags and Pay-per-Click adverts that will form the basis of his new site.
To begin with, let’s all understand that Ufindus is an online business directory operation, and BT is a provider of telephone and broadband infrastructure and the use thereof. Therefore it is reasonable that they will be doing all they can to get as many people as possible to buy the infrastructure services and then use them. I can’t disagree with that.
They also provide the Ufindus website design service and hosting service, and on their website they say:
Like any other address selling and site hosting service, they will advertise themselves at a newly acquired address until the ‘proper’ home page is uploaded. Again I cannot disagree with this intention.
However, this ‘holding page’ gave considerable prominence to a link allowing viewers to search for my client’s competitors in nearby and further reaching locations, using the Ufindus directory!
With my assistance, my client quickly sent an ‘Under Construction’ page, in html format, to Ufindus and they merely replaced part of their holding text with his, rather than replacing the whole page! The link to search the Ufindus directory for his competitors remained!
He has now submitted the copy we worked on together for all his pages and Ufindus have constructed a page design that is certainly not in their ‘holding’ format. However, there still remains a link to search the Ufindus directory for his competitors! Hardly a “site to your specification” or “exactly what you were looking for” I contend.
I will certainly be recommending to anyone else not to use this service.
One of my clients has paid Ufindus to develop and host his new website, and I have been working with him to create the sitemap, text, meta-tags and Pay-per-Click adverts that will form the basis of his new site.
To begin with, let’s all understand that Ufindus is an online business directory operation, and BT is a provider of telephone and broadband infrastructure and the use thereof. Therefore it is reasonable that they will be doing all they can to get as many people as possible to buy the infrastructure services and then use them. I can’t disagree with that.
They also provide the Ufindus website design service and hosting service, and on their website they say:
Get a professional custom designed site to your specification, built by our team of professional designers and developers at a fraction of design agency costs.as well as being agents for the purchase and renewal of web addresses.
Looking for a unique custom-designed website that will give your company the professional image that you desire plus an edge over your competition? Our expert designers can create exactly what you are looking for at a fraction of the industry prices. Well don't worry, help is at hand!
Like any other address selling and site hosting service, they will advertise themselves at a newly acquired address until the ‘proper’ home page is uploaded. Again I cannot disagree with this intention.
However, this ‘holding page’ gave considerable prominence to a link allowing viewers to search for my client’s competitors in nearby and further reaching locations, using the Ufindus directory!
With my assistance, my client quickly sent an ‘Under Construction’ page, in html format, to Ufindus and they merely replaced part of their holding text with his, rather than replacing the whole page! The link to search the Ufindus directory for his competitors remained!
He has now submitted the copy we worked on together for all his pages and Ufindus have constructed a page design that is certainly not in their ‘holding’ format. However, there still remains a link to search the Ufindus directory for his competitors! Hardly a “site to your specification” or “exactly what you were looking for” I contend.
I will certainly be recommending to anyone else not to use this service.
Monday, 16 February 2009
Can You Be Trusted?
This time I'm returning again to one of my old themes, "Once the customers get to know us, they love us. The problem is getting more of them to know us."
Wouldn't it be nice if enquiries could arrive so pre-qualified that they already 'know' you well enough to already 'love' you.
Some people believe that trust takes a long time to build, but it only does if you let it! The element of trust with the longest time-frame is that of reliability; the certainty that you will deliver on your promises.
So it is wise to make more than long-term promises. Making shorter-term promises is an essential trust-building strategy. The simplest promises - fulfilled, of course - will build your 'reliability quotient' without question.
How simple? "I'll call you tomorrow" or "I'll put it in tonight's post" will do just nicely. So you should rarely pass over any opportunity to make and keep a promise. At every turn, separate promise from delivery wherever you can and so build people's trust in you.
We are often urged to under-promise and over-deliver, but I suggest you should do so sparingly. Unexpected pleasant surprises are hugely welcome at Christmas and Birthdays, but at other times why not flag up what you are about to do, and then do it!
If you were to gain a reputation for always under-promising and over-delivering, might it be self-defeating as your over-delivery would become the norm. But then again, you could be relied upon to do so!
Wouldn't it be nice if enquiries could arrive so pre-qualified that they already 'know' you well enough to already 'love' you.
Some people believe that trust takes a long time to build, but it only does if you let it! The element of trust with the longest time-frame is that of reliability; the certainty that you will deliver on your promises.
So it is wise to make more than long-term promises. Making shorter-term promises is an essential trust-building strategy. The simplest promises - fulfilled, of course - will build your 'reliability quotient' without question.
How simple? "I'll call you tomorrow" or "I'll put it in tonight's post" will do just nicely. So you should rarely pass over any opportunity to make and keep a promise. At every turn, separate promise from delivery wherever you can and so build people's trust in you.
We are often urged to under-promise and over-deliver, but I suggest you should do so sparingly. Unexpected pleasant surprises are hugely welcome at Christmas and Birthdays, but at other times why not flag up what you are about to do, and then do it!
If you were to gain a reputation for always under-promising and over-delivering, might it be self-defeating as your over-delivery would become the norm. But then again, you could be relied upon to do so!
Saturday, 10 January 2009
What's In It For Them? - Value Outcomes
I hope it goes without saying that what matters most about your business offering is the value that your customers get from buying it from you. This is the “What’s In It For Me?” that is the only thing the customers are really interested in.
I have been working on Value Outcomes recently and I have been studying the promotional material put out by some of the Marketing experts whose ideas I trust and believe in. In promoting their own services there are some very apparent and totally common threads. I don’t think it would be a bad idea if the rest of us copied them, especially those of us who sell our skill, experience, expertise and time.
I also looked at the promotional material of other service providers and found some mis-matches - OK I’ll admit some of my own stuff falls into this category, but that’s why I’m working on it! - which helped reinforce for me the good sense of following the experts.
The first thing to notice is that the experts’ material is much more densely packed with Value Outcomes than that of other service providers. The experts don’t stop when they’ve found one, they want loads. It would be a fair bet to say they’re always looking for more.
After separating the Value Outcomes from the ‘chaff’ in the other providers’ stuff, they could be categorised into five groups:
– True value
– Learning
– So what?
– I expected to be able to take that for granted
– Bu..s..it!
The fraction that were ‘true value’ was not huge either! However, in the case of the experts there was nothing representing the last three items, and true value and learning were in the ratio 5:1 to 10:1.
I rest my case!
The six common threads in what the experts are saying are:
– Numbers - of good things you’ll receive
– Time - either time saved, or how quickly you can put the advice
into action
– FREE - “stuff” whose value is established by including some of the
other points
– Regular - they’ll deliver value to you at a pace at which you can
easily absorb it - more Readers Digest than War and Peace
– Exclusive - not just that they’ve written it, but that the information
it contains is either unavailable through any other source, or that
it has been distilled from the very best practitioners in
whatever the art
– Growth - of your business, which is taken as read but is also
stated quite often
I hope this enables you to start adding more Value Outcomes to your promotions - don't forget to ask the customers for their opinions of what is or would be most valuable - and to cull the ‘chaff’ and unproductive outcomes to make room for it.
David
I have been working on Value Outcomes recently and I have been studying the promotional material put out by some of the Marketing experts whose ideas I trust and believe in. In promoting their own services there are some very apparent and totally common threads. I don’t think it would be a bad idea if the rest of us copied them, especially those of us who sell our skill, experience, expertise and time.
I also looked at the promotional material of other service providers and found some mis-matches - OK I’ll admit some of my own stuff falls into this category, but that’s why I’m working on it! - which helped reinforce for me the good sense of following the experts.
The first thing to notice is that the experts’ material is much more densely packed with Value Outcomes than that of other service providers. The experts don’t stop when they’ve found one, they want loads. It would be a fair bet to say they’re always looking for more.
After separating the Value Outcomes from the ‘chaff’ in the other providers’ stuff, they could be categorised into five groups:
– True value
– Learning
– So what?
– I expected to be able to take that for granted
– Bu..s..it!
The fraction that were ‘true value’ was not huge either! However, in the case of the experts there was nothing representing the last three items, and true value and learning were in the ratio 5:1 to 10:1.
I rest my case!
The six common threads in what the experts are saying are:
– Numbers - of good things you’ll receive
– Time - either time saved, or how quickly you can put the advice
into action
– FREE - “stuff” whose value is established by including some of the
other points
– Regular - they’ll deliver value to you at a pace at which you can
easily absorb it - more Readers Digest than War and Peace
– Exclusive - not just that they’ve written it, but that the information
it contains is either unavailable through any other source, or that
it has been distilled from the very best practitioners in
whatever the art
– Growth - of your business, which is taken as read but is also
stated quite often
I hope this enables you to start adding more Value Outcomes to your promotions - don't forget to ask the customers for their opinions of what is or would be most valuable - and to cull the ‘chaff’ and unproductive outcomes to make room for it.
David
Saturday, 6 December 2008
Even More Stuff For You
My new website is now up and running, packed with Sales and Marketing tips and advice plus information on how to get even more. Take a look at http://www.davidwinch.co.uk/
Thought for the week is about Networking Meetings.
A Networking Meeting is actually your Sales Team Training and Motivation Meeting, so you have to remember:
So now get them to sell for you!
You absolutely must be able to articulate clearly and succinctly what you do, who you do it for and the good they get from it. This is sometimes called an Elevator Pitch, and is often done poorly.
Other people must be able to recognise one of your ideal customers, then recognise that they have the sort of problem that you are an expert at fixing, and then be able to suggest that no longer suffering the pain that this problem causes would be of considerable value.
Then, when they say, "You really need to talk to my friend ..... about this," you know you will be getting a high quality referral and not just a random name from their address book just so they can be seen to be giving referrals!
To be continued ...
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