“keeping the entrepreneurial spirit · “no, i'd prefer a soft drink.” wally smiled and...

W elcome to the Mayissue of ‘The Business

BuilderNewsletter’.Summer isinfullswing.Thesun’sshiningand as most people lookforward to their holidays (oryou may have had yoursalready?) itgivesusalla timeto re lect on our businessesand the progress we’remaking!

As you know, we work withdozensofbusinessowners.Manyof them are what I would call‘Entrepreneurs’ (with a capital‘E’). Some are ‘Serial’entrepreneurs, but they all haveone thing in common—they arebuilding something. Hopefully,something special. Somethingthat de ines their knowledge,expertise, hard work (blood,sweat and tears!) andcommitment.

Butfromtimetotime,wealltakea battering. I have never seen abusiness go from start‐up, to

growth andthroughtosuccessfulsaleorexitwhere everything was perfect.And it’s at these ‘challenging’times when the entrepreneurreally shows himself or herself.It’s what sets us apart from the‘paleimitations’oftherealthing.

Most of the successfulentrepreneurs we work withhave at some point taken a realbattering, but they pickthemselves up, dust themselvesdown and drive forwardrelentlessly (hopefully, learningfromthemistakestheymade).

Nevertheless, it’s at these pointswhereourentrepreneurial spirittakesitsbiggestbattering.

At times, because of thepressures of running your ownbusiness, your entrepreneurialspiritgetslost,hiddenandoften

continuedonpage2…

“KeepingTheEntrepreneurialSpiritAlive”

SumitAgarwal

“Successisthesumofsmallefforts,repeateddayinanddayout.”

RobertCollier

P1: Thought Of The Month

ANY QUESTION? WANT HELP? NEED SUPPORT? CALL THE TEAM ON: 03300 886686

Keeping The Entrepreneurial Spirit Alive

P2: Moments of Truth

P3: Dumb Criminals

P5: Customer Perception

P7: Brain Tracker

P8: Bet You Didn’t Know

Creating Outstanding Customer Service

Levels To Obliterate The Competition

This Month’s Incredible Dumb Criminals

True Story

The Huge Pitfalls of Reducing Your Price

What To Do Instead

Pit Your Wits Against This Month’s Brain

Tracker Challenge

May 2017

Continuedfrompage1...

subdued. You must ightagainst this. It’s yourentrepreneurial spirit thatgets you up in the morning.Thatsays,‘Here’sanotherdayfull of opportunities’ (the‘NON’‐entrepreneurial spiritsays,‘Iwonderwhatproblemswe’ll have today!’ ‐ there’s abigdifference).

One of the bestways to keepyour entrepreneurial spiritalive and kicking is to keepworking ‘on’ your business,ratherthan‘in’it.

That’s what makes youentrepreneurial. Readingsuccess books(autobiographies written bysports stars, ilm actors, andbusiness millionaires) and, ofcourse, reading thisnewsletterwillkeepthejuiceslowingandkeepyouthinkingdifferently—as we do asentrepreneurs.

But you must keep the ireburning. Don’t take it forgranted. And don’t let otherssquash your thinking. It’swhat keeps us pushing ourbusinesses forward. Have agreatmonth.

SA

In 1987 Jan Carlzon, the CEOof Scandinavian Airlines,wrote the book, ‘Moments OfTruth’. It explained how hetooktheairlinefromde icittopro it by ‘moving’ the airlineto a customer‐focusedorganisation.

Now,asyouknow,therehavebeen many books written oncustomer service, but wherethis book and Carlzon’sstrategies really differ is hisfocus on each interaction thecustomer has with thebusiness.

He calls these ‘Moments ofTruth’ and, of course, eachinteraction can be a positiveoranegativeexperience.

Scandinavian Airlinesprospered because theyworked very hard to makesure each Moment Of Truthwith their customers was avery positive experience, andtheresultstheyachievedwereatestamenttothis.

Little did Carlzon know thatwith Moments Of Truth hecreated, in my opinion,arguably thebest, easiestandmost amazing customerservicesystemeverdevised!

Take a look at the diagramopposite. It shows how ateach contact (Moment OfTruth) you need to ensureeach interaction is afavourable one for thecustomer.

So a Moment Of Truth is aninteraction between thebusiness and the prospectivecustomer,clientorpatient.

It’s called aMomentOfTruthbecause, irrespective of thetypeofinteractionthatoccurs(meeting, letter,phonecall,e‐mail, etc.), the outcome caneither be a positive or anegative experience for theprospectortheclient.

What continues to surprisemeishowfewbusinessesuseMoments Of Truth or similarstrategies to ‘WOW’ theircustomers or prospectivecustomers.

Think about your ownexperiences with otherbusinesses—from a businessperspective or simply as anormalconsumer.Thinkbackover the last ten years or soand try to pinpoint aninteraction that occurredbetween you and a business

MomentsofTruth

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“Makesureyoukeepyourentrepreneurial

spiritalive”

MomentsOfTruth:Eachpointofcontactwithyourcustomercanbea

goodorbadone!

where you said to yourself,‘WOW,thatwasamazing’.

So where and when shouldyou be looking to implementMoments Of Truth in yourbusiness?That’seasy.Lookatallyourinteractionswithyourcustomers, clients or patientsandforeachsingleinteractionwritedownwhatyoucoulddotomakethemthink‘WOW’oratleastmakethemthink‘thatwasimpressive’.

Once your team grasp theconceptofMomentsOfTruth,they too will come up witheven better ways to createWOWs for your customers.But like everything, you haveto implement—otherwiseyou’ll never get the resultsyoudeserve.

Now I’d like to inish thisarticle by giving you one ofthe best examples I’ve everseen regarding Moments OfTruth.

I’ve taken it from a book Irecommend titled ‘How ToSwim With The SharksWithoutBeingEatenAlive’byHarveyMacKay.

When I read this, I thought itwas the perfect remedy forany of our clients who didn’tfeelMomentsOfTruthwouldwork for them, or felt theywere too dif icult toimplement. It’s a short storyof how a cab/taxi driver hasimplemented Moments OfTruth in his business and theeffect they have had on it.Readthisverycarefully.

It’sfullofnuggetsyoucanuserightnowinyourbusiness...

Harveywaswaitinginlinefora ride at the airport.When acab pulled up, the irst thingHarvey noticed was that thetaxi was polished to a brightshine.

Smartly dressed in a whiteshirt, black tie and freshlypressed black trousers, thecab driver jumped out androunded the car to open theback passenger door forHarvey.

He handed Harvey alaminated card and said: “I'mWally, your driver. While I'mloadingyourbagsinthetrunkI'd like you to read my

mission statement.” Takenaback, Harvey read the card.Itsaid:‘Wally'sMission.

Continuedonpage4...

MomentsofTruth

DumbCriminals

It’s generally a good idea tosetupasecurealarmsystemat your house which alertspolice at the irst sign oftrouble.

Unless of course you happento be growing marijuanaillegallyinside.

Suchisthefateof53yearoldMarlon Gene Kelley ofMuskegon,Michigan.

Kelley’s home alarm trippedone day when he wasn’t athome and of icers arrived atthe scene and walked insidethroughanunlockeddoor.

They found 8 plants, 5 gunsand a bunch of growequipment.

ForKelley, it all addedup tothreeto12yearsinprison.

3


JanCarlzon’sbrilliantbook—yetsofewbusinessesapplyMomentsOfTruth—

thisisyouropportunity!

Statement: To get mycustomers to their destinationin the quickest, safest andcheapest way possible in afriendlyenvironment.’

This blew Harvey away.Especiallywhenhenoticedthatthe inside of the cab matchedtheoutside.Spotlesslyclean!

As he slid behind the wheel,Wally said, “Would you like acupofcoffee?Ihaveathermosof regular and one ofdecaf.” Harvey said jokingly,“No,I'dpreferasoftdrink.”

Wally smiled and said, “Noproblem. I have a cooler upfront with regular and DietCoke,waterandorangejuice.”

Almost stuttering,Harvey said,“I'll takeaDietCoke.”Handinghim his drink, Wally said, “Ifyou'd like something to read, Ihave The Wall Street Journal,Time, Sports Illustrated andUSA Today.” As they werepulling away, Wally handedHarveyanotherlaminatedcard.

“These are the stations I getand the music they play, ifyou'd like to listen to theradio.”

And, as if that wasn't enough,Wally told Harvey that he hadthe air conditioning on andasked if the temperature wascomfortable forhim. Thenheadvised Harvey of the bestroutetohisdestinationforthattime of day. He also let himknow that he'd be happy to

chatandtellhimaboutsomeofthe sights or, if Harveypreferred,toleavehimwithhisownthoughts.

Then Harvey said, “Tell me,Wally, have you always servedcustomers like this?” Wallysmiled into the rear‐viewmirror.

“No,notalways.Infact,it'sonlybeen in the last two years.Myirst ive years driving, I spentmost of my time complaininglike all the rest of the cabbiesdo.

“Then I decided to do thingsdifferently. I looked around atthe other cabs and theirdrivers. The cabs were dirty,the drivers were unfriendly,and the customers wereunhappy. So Idecided tomakesomechanges.Iputinafewata time. When my customersrespondedwell,Ididmore.”

“I take it that has paid off foryou?” Harvey said. “It surehas,”Wallyreplied."Inmy irst

yearIdoubledmyincomefromthepreviousyear.ThisyearI'llprobably quadruple it. Youwere lucky to get me today. Idon'tsitatcabstandsanymore.My customers call me forappointmentsonmycellphoneor leave a message on myanswering machine. If I can'tpick them up myself I get areliable cabbie friend to do it,and I take a piece of theaction.”

Wally was implementingMomentsOfTruth,eventhoughhedidn’t realise it!With just afew changes to the way heworked—and, moreimportantly, the way everyother taxi cab driver/ irmworked —Wally transformedhisbusiness.

This true story demonstratesthatifMomentsOfTruthcanbesosuccessfulforataxidriver,itcan work for any type ofbusiness – ESPECIALLY YOURBUSINESS!

MomentsofTruth

4


…Continuedfrompage3

Applying Moments Of Truth to your business conveys outstanding service and positions you more favourably than the competition!

As the economy struggles to recover,and competition gets more and moreierce, we thought it was important tobring to your attention the problemsyou encounter by reducing your pricesinthehopethatthiswillbringyoumoresales.

One of the most common and mostcostly traps business owners fall intohas to do with the perception that thequickestwaytoincreasecash lowwhensalesaredownistohavea‘sale’.

On thesurface, theconcept itself seemstomake sense.Weneedmore sales, sowelowerourprices.

Lower prices will attract more buyerswhowillpurchasemoreofourproductsatthereducedprices.Andwe’llmakeupfor themoneywe’ll losewith the lowerpricesbytheincreasednumberofsales.

Buttherealityis,rarelyisthisstrategyasuccess.

Having a sale, reducing prices in ordertoattractmorecustomers, canoftenbethekissofdeathforbusinessesunawareofthebiggerpicture.

In reality, there is rarely a good reasonto reduce your prices. No matter whatyou think,most people doNOT buy onprice and price alone. In fact, researchover the last 6 recessions has shownthat only between 5% and 20% ofpeople buy onprice.Most people thinkit’stheotherwayaround!Solet’stakealook at the effects of reducing yourprices...

Let’s assume, for illustration purposes,that your business operates on a 30%

marginandyouwanttoreducethepriceto increase sales. If you lower thepricejust 10%, you’ll need to increase thenumber of sales you make, or thenumber of customers you sell to, by50%justtomaintaintheoriginalpro it.

Don’t believe it? Let’swalk through thenumbers…

Let’ssaythatyousellan itemfor£100,andthatyourtotalcoststoacquirethatproductandgetitoutthedoorcomesto£70.

Thatleavesyouwithanetpro itof£30onthatitem.

Now,let’ssaythatyoureduceyourpriceby10%.Younowsellthatitemfor£90.

You didn’t do anything to reduce yourproductcostsoryourexpenses.Allyoudid is reduce the amount you chargedyourcustomers.

Ifyousubtractyour£70costs fromthe£90saleprice,younet£20.

Now,ifyousubtractthis£20fromyourpreviouspro itsof£30,youendupwitha£10difference.Dividethe£10by£20,andyouget50%.

So to get back to the same pro it levelthat you were enjoying before youlowered your prices, you’ll have to sellmore items or the same number ofitemsto50%morecustomers.

Now, here’s another problem mostbusinesses fail to take into account. Noone knows you’re having a sale unlessyoutellthemaboutit.

So you need to advertise or sendsomething out to let everyone knowyou’rehavingasale.

And if you expect to attract morecustomersandsellmoregoods,youmayneed to beef up staff, salespeople,delivery, packaging, money processing,accounting, stocking, signage and anynumber of additional things that youmay not initially consider and all ofwhichfurtherincreasesyourcosts.

Sowhen you look closely and carefullyat having a sale, you may have to sell

considerablymorethanthe50%toevencomeclosetobreakingeven.

TheHugePitfallsOfReducingYourPrice&WhatToDoInstead

Cryptic Puzzle Of The

Month Daft Dave has beenhired to paint thehouse numbers on arecently completedhousing estate.Thereareonehundredhouses and thereforeDavehastopaintallofthenumbers from1 to100.How many times willDave have to paint thenumbernine?

ANSWERONPAGE6!

SteveHackney—Helpingyoutoquicklygrowyourbusiness

5


IMPORTANTREDUCING PRICES IS THEREFORESOMETHING YOU NEED TO THINKVERYCAREFULLYABOUT.REMEMBER,VALUE AND PRICE ARE LINKED – SOPROVIDE MORE VALUE AND YOU’LLSTILLGETTHESALES!TheValueOfIncreasingPricesIn our estimation,we believe that 90%of ALL businesses charge too little fortheir products and services. Oftenpeople are scared to increase theirprices, and business owners rarely testdifferentpricepoints(doyou?).

But having carefully targeted yourprospects and customers (like wealways advise you do), you are in aposition to charge premium pricesbecause you are seen by themarket asTHE go‐to company for their speci icrequirements.

And there is no quicker way ofincreasing your pro its and the successofyourbusinessthanbyincreasingyourprices.Let’stakealook...

Using the same 30% margin as in ourpreviousexample,insteadofdecreasingpricesby10%,youraisethemby10%.

Theresult?You can now maintain the same pro itmargin with a 25% reduction in salesvolume…either in thenumberof itemssold,orinthenumberofcustomerssoldto.

Youcouldactuallyloseoneoutofeveryfourcustomersandstillmake thesamemoney.

Now, let’s compare two identicalbusinesses which sell exactly the sameproducts. Business A lowers prices by10%andBusinessBincreasespricesby10%.

As was pointed out, Business A has tosell 50%more, andBusinessB can sell25% less, and they’ll both make thesamepro itsasbefore.

While the owner of Business A isworking his/her tail off just to breakeven,BusinessBowneriscruisingalongwithout all the stress, worry and otherproblems, and yet is making the samenetpro its.

Furthermore,whatisoftensurprisingtobusiness owners is that when they doincrease their prices, the opposite ofwhat they expect actually occurs.Instead of losing customers, theyactuallygainmorecustomers.

Why?Because thehigherprices aremetwiththe perception that your products orservices are worth more and thereforethisperceptionof‘addedvalue’givesthebusiness a welcome in lux of sales itwouldpreviouslyneverhavereceived.

Wehavenumerousexamplesofthis.Forinstance, a photographer was chargingjust £450 per day for his weddingservice. With very little change to theway he carried out the service, heincreased his prices to over £3,000 inthreemonths.

Arestaurantownerincreasedherpricesby20%andsawanimmediateincreaseinbookings.

A jewellerystore increasedprices15%,resulting in an increase of £25,000 amonthinsales.

These are not isolated incidents. If youget your target market right and youdeliver a good‐quality product orservice, increasing your prices andincreasing your sales is NOT a pipedream.

So what if you’re selling a commodity‐typeproductorservice,wherebypeoplecaneasilyshopforthebestprice?Well,it’s no different. What you have to do,though,iscreatealevelofservicethatisunmatchedbyanyofyourcompetitors.

This includes offering superior deliverytimes, quicker service or using apowerful guarantee which no othercompetitor offers and creating‘premium’ products or services thatcustomers will be happy to pay morefor.

So even if you’re reluctant to increaseyourprices,concentrateongivingmorevalue and you’ll still get many moresales. As long as you create a gulf ofvaluebetweenyouand thecompetitionyou’llbeabletoincreaseyourprices.

Believe us no matter what you sell,increasingyourpricesissomethingyoushouldlookatdoingnow.

Of course, don’t just make a wholesaleincrease right across the business.Increasing your prices is a tactic thatshouldbeapproachedlikeallyourothertactics. Test small and then roll outwhen you have suf icient evidence thatitworks.

TheHugePitfallsOfReducingYourPrice&WhatToDoInstead

6


Super Referral Program WehavecreatedourReferralSchemetorewardourclientsforrecommendingus.Wewillpayyou£100whenyourreferralhasjoineduptooneofourpackagesandpaidtheir irstmonth'sfees.EvenifyourreferraldecidesnottojoinuswewillstillgiveyouagiftvoucherasathankyouforrecommendingDNS.Althoughwethinkthisisaverygenerousamountwehavedecidedthatitisnotenoughsowehaveaddedanadditionaltwisttoourreferralscheme!Notonlydoyoureceive£100asareferralfee,butwealsowanttoofferyousomethingextratomakeitevensweeter.If3ofyourreferralsjoinDNSin2017youget50%discountoffyourfeesforJan18toDec18.If5ofyourreferralsjoinDNSin2017youget100%discountoffyourfeesforJan18toDec18.

What Clients Say About DNS Accountants

7


“AlfredandGaurav.Theyhavebothassistedmetremendouslythroughthelastyear.Theyhaveactedwithutmostprofessionalismanddiligence.Theyhavemademefeelcomfortableandatease.Althoughsometimes,Idon'tliketohearwhattheyhavetosaybutthenagainnoonelikestopayanytax.Iwanttosaythankyoutoyouandtothemforprovidinganexcellentservicethepastyear..”Ms.IriuwaIrisIgbinoviaClairizLimited

“AnkitSharmahasdoneagreatjobwithmyaccount.Hespentaround4hoursonSaturdaytoclarifymyqueries.Hewasverycalmandansweredallquestionsandadvisedmethebestwayforward.“I’mreallypleasedBestaccountanteverIhaveworkedwithsofarThankyouforallthehelpandsupport.”DeepikaVaragantiCapsiItSolutionsLimited

“IamveryhappywiththeservicesextendedtomebyDNS.Theapproachoftheentireteamisveryprofessionalandsupportisverytimely.KindlysharethesecommentswithSumitAgarwal.IwasapprehensivetobeginthecontractbutIhavebeenverypositivelyin luenced.“AspecialmentionforSahil,whohasalwaysbeensupportiveandapatientlistener.IfDNShasmorepeoplelikehim,yourteamwillgoveryfar.”SudeepMathurGSMConsultingLtd

Weareexpertsathelpingourclientsinanciallymanageandgrowtheir

business!

“Utmost Professionalism” “Best Accountant Ever”

“Very Professional and Support is Timely”

Brain Tracker: How Many Words Can You Find?

Using the BrainTracker gridbelow, howmanywords canyou ind? Each word mustcontain the central F and noletter can be used twice,however, the letters do nothavetobeconnected.Propernouns are not allowed,however,pluralsare.Canyouindthenineletterword?

Excellent:28words.Good:22words.Average:19words.

CRYPTIC PUZZLE ANSWER

ANSWER:Thereare20ninestopaint.

9,19,29,39,49,59,69,79,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99.

Don'tforgettocountbothoftheninesin99.

Bet You Didn’t Know

The Eisenhower Interstate Systemrequires that one mile in every ivemust be straight. These straightsections are usable as airstrips intimesofwarorotheremergencies.

The earliest recorded case of a mangiving up smoking was on April 5,1679, when Johan Katsu, Sheriff ofTurku, Finland, wrote in his diary: “Iquit smoking tobacco.” He died onemonthlater.

TheRomansdidnotuse soap.To getrid of sweat and grime, they wouldcover themselves with oil and thenscrape off the oil with a specialscrapermadeofmetal,wood,orbonecalledastrigil.

“Love” in the sense of “no score” intennisdatesback to1792andmeans“playing for love” or, in otherwords,playing for nothing. Other scholarsclaimthat“love”asatennisscoreisacorruptionoftheFrenchwordforegg,“L'oeuf”, because of the egg’sresemblancetoazero.

American Airlines saved $40,000 in1987 by eliminating one olive fromeachsaladin irstclass.

Coughing can cause air to movethroughyourwindpipefasterthanthespeed of sound — over a thousandfeetpersecond!


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