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WHY NAME A BUSINESS “TOBIT” (TOE-BIT)?

Tobit is a book that can be found in the Old Testament. It tells the story of aTobit man who was faithful to God, even as this faithfulness places his life in jeopardy. He loses both his wealth and health and the story tells of how he is restored to both. The book has everything. It has a secret angel, a journey, a romance, and a demon known for killing grooms on their wedding night. Regardless of the circumstances Tobit Consulting’s goal is to help clients a live a balanced, prosperous life, no matter what the world throws at them!

Make it Pop!

There are five major components to good advertising copy and the order of these is essential to success.

  • Command Attention
  • Showcase Benefits of Products/Services
  • Prove the Benefits
  • Persuade People to Embrace the Benefits
  • Call to Action

Advertising is sales in print. So, you need to think about the unique benefits your products/services offer and showcase that in a persuasive way. You need to emphasize results, not features.

Let’s take a minute to talk about each of these components:

  1. Command Attention: This is usually accomplished with the headline. You need an attention-getter that makes people want to know more about your products/services. The best headlines give a vivid portrayal of the benefits or show how a problem can be avoided with your products/services. The headline is the advertisement for the advertisement.
  2. Showcase Benefits: You have to showcase the benefits of your products and services and, more importantly, show how they will solve or prevent a problem. The consumers need to know what’s in it for them. Include useful, factual, and clear information to show precisely what the benefits are and how they are going to help the customer.
  3. Offer Proof: This is where you prove what the advertisement is offering. You need to establish you have a method to deliver. Consider information that establishes credibility and past performance.
  4. Persuade: You need to add compelling reasons for your potential customers to purchase your products/services. Use a hard sell approach and create scarcity. This will enact your potential customers to feel like they have to act now. Which leads into the last component.
  5. Call to Action: You need to compel your potential customers to DO something. They need to check out your site, sign up for your newsletter, purchase your products, contact you about services…something.  Offer a freebie-a booklet, sample, product, bonus, demo, consult, limited time price…the list goes on. There are lots of ways to get potential customers excited about ordering and help them feel like they are getting an amazing deal.

Good advertisements include all these components. You can sit down and think through any one of these components, then figure out how to best place them together for the most effectiveness.  

Approaching Big Clients

There are a number of factors to take into consideration when prepping yourself and your company to approach the large clients.

Today we’re going to start with a brief look at the three paths every business faces and show you which one is the path to success. Then we’ll talk about the mindset it takes to attract the big fish.

There are three major paths a business can take:

  • Snail Speed
  • Shooting Star
  • Catch the Big Fish

Snail Speed

Most business owners ended up working themselves into the ground without much reward or success. This is what happens when you fool yourself into thinking you will find quick success. You may also find yourself following this path when you are afraid of change.

Shooting Star

This describes a business that shoots to the top so fast that they are overwhelmed and don’t have the right resources in place to adapt. This can also happen from being overwhelmed by small clients and not taking the time to find large clients, which will sustain your business after the small client sales slow.

Catch the Big Fish

This is the path that allows you to build at a steady pace that you can manage by not allowing your customers to outpace you. You can do this by putting these tips to work:

  1. Attract, keep, and lock in big clients.
  2. Instill a “big business” culture into your employees.
  3. Acquire the expertise you need to grow.
  4. Have the courage to make changes as you grow.

Now we are going to transition a bit and talk about the “big fish” mindset. It may sound easy to just find and catch that big fish, but if you are stuck in the small business mindset, you may find it harder than you think.

Think of all the benefits of aiming at bigger clients:

  • Inexpensive
  • Highly Profitable
  • Longevity
  • Security

In order to catch the big fish, you need to believe your company can make a difference for their company. It’s easy to get into the mindset that a large company doesn’t need anything from a small business like yours, but this is entirely wrong!

Once you take a look at how big companies operate, it’s important to know which ones are the best fit with your company. One of the best ways to get in the door is by knowing someone on the inside who can put in a good word for you.

Before you can start the process of landing big clients, you have to make sure your entire team is onboard with your approach and vision. There are six keys to finding big client success. They are:

  1. First Impression: You must remember you have one shot to land a big client. If you make a mistake, they aren’t going to consider you again. Never give them a reason to doubt your abilities.
  2. First Priority: Your fish must always feel like they are your first priority. Return calls and emails immediately and find solutions to their problems or questions as quickly as possible.
  3. Flexible: You need to be flexible in your negotiations. If they need a special service or for you to customize a product, say yes for the benefit of the long-term. A little hassle now will be a big payoff later.
  4. Long-term: As you are approaching and negotiating with big fish you need to think about the long-term benefits for your business. If you go for a one-time big score you will lose their interest.
  5. Have Fun: Work should be fun, even when trying to land big clients. In fact, this should be the most fun. You are sharing your vision with new people and including them in your future success and likewise. People simply work better in a fun, happy environment. Your passion will also be contagious and pull the fish into your vision even more.

WHAT STAGE IS YOUR BUSINESS IN?

The Five Stages of Small Business Growth

by Neil C. Churchill and Virginia L. Lewis

Categorizing the problems and growth patterns of small businesses in a systematic way that is useful to entrepreneurs seems at first glance a hopeless task. Small businesses vary widely in size and capacity for growth. They are characterized by independence of action, differing organizational structures, and varied management styles.

Yet on closer scrutiny, it becomes apparent that they experience common problems arising at similar stages in their development. These points of similarity can be organized into a framework that increases our understanding of the nature, characteristics, and problems of businesses ranging from a corner dry cleaning establishment with two or three minimum-wage employees to a $20-million-a-year computer software company experiencing a 40% annual rate of growth.

For owners and managers of small businesses, such an understanding can aid in assessing current challenges; for example, the need to upgrade an existing computer system or to hire and train second-level managers to maintain planned growth. Click here for the rest of the article.

 

NO MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCE EMPLOYEES NEED TO BE TREATED WITH DIGNITY

Terminate with Dignity: Minimizing Personal and Professional Pain When an Employment Relationship Ends

Friday, March 22, 2013

A human resources director who I regularly counsel received a phone call from an employee who had been terminated recently. Upon hearing the director’s voice, the former employee began to cry and said, “I want to thank you so much for the way you handled my termination. You were very compassionate as you gave me the news. You walked me through the process with a sense of concern and direction. You instructed me to go home and read the separation agreement and to seek the advice of my attorney. I did that and I have just a few questions before I sign. You have been a good friend to me all these years. Thank you so much for helping me through what could have otherwise been a much more painful experience.”This HR director recognizes that, inevitably, each termination decision she carries out on behalf of her organization bears a profound impact on at least one human being’s life. With that in mind, when she needs to implement such an employment action, she makes it her mission to treat the employee with dignity, respect, and empathy. However, not everyone is like the professional I describe.Many terminations turn into lawsuits when the affected employee feels that he or she was treated unfairly. Here are some typical examples: Click here for the rest of the article.

 

 

ARE YOU A SERVANT LEADER?

We try to strive to make our organizations the best by empowering others. Find out how you are doing by taking this assessment…

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