Hey Square Readers, You voted and chose The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber as our Square Readers Book Club book for May & June 2024! Here’s a quick s...
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Hey Square Readers, You voted and chose Worth Every Penny by Sarah Petty and Erin Verbeck as our Square Readers Book Club book for March & April 2024! Here’...
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Hey Square Readers! Are you looking for a new way to level up your business skills and have some fun while you're at it? Then get excited, and get ready to r...
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Hey Square Readers,
We’re diving fully into the core of Worth Every Penny by Sarah Petty and Erin Verbeck, and so far we’ve talked about the basics of the Boutique framework, and the benefits of branding.
Now, let’s dive into section 2 of the book: Products, Services, and Customer Experience.
Offerings
A key part of being boutique is going above and beyond in what you sell. The authors write, “In order to truly stand apart in your industry, your products must make people go gaga over you. They need to be extra special, unmatched, interesting, or even shocking… to be special enough to make someone want to talk about them. And not just because of their price.”
A great way to do that is to think about how you can be memorable. You can absolutely stand out by going the extra mile, being one of a kind, and coming up with clever ways to anticipate and appeal to the customers’ wants and needs. And most importantly, lean into your passion about it. Put a piece of you and your passion into everything you do, and customers will feel and resonate with it.
They write, “Your offerings reflect your passion for your business. They are a reflection of your brand. And they’re probably the reason you started a boutique business in the first place—you wanted to make something better, more appealing, or more interesting. You wanted to create an experience for your clients that would give them a glimpse into why you find your craft so rewarding. In turn you’ve created a business.”
Customer Experience
The other biggest section is providing an absolutely exceptional experience for your customers. Just like your products and services go above and beyond, you need to do the same in the ways that you act and work with your clients. High-touch service is untouchable. Find ways to add in fun and excitement to leave customers thrilled and delighted, solve problems as they come up, and you’ll create real fans.
Even if you’re in a traditionally low touch style of business, like online only, there are still ways that you can create an incredible customer experience. It just takes some anticipation of needs and getting creative.
They write, “your goal is to move beyond simple satisfaction. You should provide services and experiences that thrill customers. You should spend more time with each client, giving them those high-touch, personalized experiences… Moving beyond satisfaction starts with knowing your customers and their desires. But, beyond just knowing them, you need to be prepared to blow their minds with every little bit of attention.”
Just remember to set some boundaries for yourself, so you can preserve your time and not get taken advantage of. Make these rules align with your personal and business goals, aren’t too restrictive for customers, and set those expectations for your customers so they can understand. They write, “You can’t be open twenty-four hours, but you will give them ten times the service and experience when you are open. Your customers will respect you for having rules that enable you to provide an extreme level of service.”
Employees & Team
Part of creating a great customer experience is creating a great experience for your staff too. Their experience trickles down, so if your employees are not enjoying their work or are not excited to be a part of the team, they probably won’t be able to put in the effort for your customers. Treat them well, invest in them, teach them, pay them better, give them the best perks you can, and help them grow. If you do, they’ll be happier and treat your customers better.
It starts with hiring. Find people who light up and have passion for what you do. Make sure you have high standards and expectations, and don’t settle or get desperate. The authors say that “some of your best customers may also make great team members. Your passionate customers already know what you sell, how you sell it, and how you serve your clients. Plus, they’ve already shown an interest in you, your products, or your services and come to you… You can train people for skills, but you can’t train people to have glowing personalities and a love of people and relationships… Seek the passion first, and deal with all the other stuff later.”
Fixing Bad Customer Experiences
“If you can overcome a negative situation with a customer, you take that customer beyond basic satisfaction. Now they’re not displeased—they’re thrilled.”
Boutique businesses are judged more harshly on negative experiences, even if they’re not your fault. The authors also shared a quote they heard from John DiJulius which says, “It’s not your fault, but it is your problem.” This really resonates since no matter what happens, even if something is completely outside of your control, part of your job is to fix things and make the customer happy. Within reason of course.
But how do you actually go about solving the problem? The authors recommend doing what you can to not disappoint your customers. Focus on maintaining the relationship, and leaving things in good standing. Ask them for ideas and what would solve things in their eyes. Communicate, be transparent, and create and lay out a plan to the solution. When it is your fault, own and apologize, and immediately work to make it right. Eat the costs, and go above and beyond to make it right.
In order to maintain those standards and customer satisfaction, they also recommend actively looking and asking your customers for constructive feedback. Always work on improving so that future customers can have better experiences. When you’re told ways to improve, it’s so important to not get defensive but to listen and truly take their feedback to heart. They’re sharing it because they want things to be better, not to punish you.
In our next discussion thread, we’ll talk about Section 3: Pricing.
We’d love to hear your answer in the comments:
Where in your business can you add value? How can you step up your offerings to make them more unique, memorable, fun, thrilling, and personalized?
What boundaries can you set to make your own life easier, and ensure you can give exceptional service?
What was the last customer issue you had to fix? How did you handle it and how did it go? What would you do differently?
Feel free to share any other thoughts you have about this book. We can’t wait to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Don’t forget to:
View and Subscribe to all threads about this book
RSVP to our Live Discussion
Happy reading,
Pesso
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Hey Square Readers,
You voted and chose The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber as our Square Readers Book Club book for May & June 2024!
Here’s a quick summary:
“Small business consultant and author Michael E. Gerber, with sharp insight gained from years of experience, points out how common assumptions, expectations, and even technical expertise can get in the way of running a successful business. Gerber walks you through the steps in the life of a business—from entrepreneurial infancy through adolescent growing pains to the mature entrepreneurial perspective: the guiding light of all businesses that succeed—and shows how to apply the lessons of franchising to any business, whether or not it is a franchise. Most importantly, Gerber draws the vital, often overlooked distinction between working on your business and working in your business.”
We’ll start reading on Monday, May 6th, so get ready and pick up a copy at a local library, bookstore, Amazon, or anywhere else!
We’ll have discussion threads being posted throughout the next two months, and a Live Discussion Video Chat at the end of June. Head over to this post to help us pick a day and time for this book’s Live Discussion Video Chat!
Don’t forget to:
View and Subscribe to all threads about this book
We can’t wait to read with you!
Pesso
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Hey Square Readers,
We’re getting close to the end of Worth Every Penny by Sarah Petty and Erin Verbeck, and wrapping up the material this week. So far we’ve talked about the basics of the Boutique framework, the benefits of branding, providing incredible offerings and customer experience, and pricing them accordingly.
Now, let’s dive into section 4 of the book: Marketing & Selling.
Marketing
“When you’re boutique, your marketing efforts must be boutique as well. Boutique marketing is focused on reaching customers who aren’t price sensitive, customers who want and appreciate all the extra things you do to make their lives better.”
The authors say that it’s not enough to be a boutique business, you also have to market like one. Old school mass marketing approaches like mailing postcards don’t work for boutique businesses. If you promote yourself like a big chain, you’ll attract price-sensitive big chain customers. Instead, it’s better to go high-touch, developing strategies to build a relationship with the right clients, in a personal and connection-driven way. It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it.
Educate, don’t sell: By positioning yourself as an expert and teaching your customers, you build credibility, make yourself a reputable source that they want to buy from, and justify the value behind your higher prices. You can do this by explaining your methods one-on-one to your customers, writing blog posts and email newsletters, being featured on local media, creating explanation videos on social media, speaking at conventions, and more.
Build a Database: Keeping track of who your current and prospective customers are is essential to relationship building and being able to market to them. Having a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system is extremely valuable, keeping records that can help you better sell to them. This should include their contact information, what and how often they purchase, relevant details about their lives, and more. Build this out by networking in the community, building co-marketing partnerships with other businesses, donating gift cards to local charity events, running your own events and fundraisers, having a signup list on your website, and of course adding and updating customers automatically through your POS system.
Market for you: Think of your own consumption habits, and market to someone like yourself. If you just throw out mailer advertisements, don’t send them out for your business. If you wouldn’t want someone randomly calling you, don’t cold call others. But if you would be impressed by a handwritten letter, or a Surprise and Delight package, then try that. If you would want one of your favorite businesses calling you on your birthday, then try that too. Promote yourself in the places and ways that make sense for your ideal customer. Anything you do should be high-tough, creative and high quality, drive an emotional connection, tap into the senses, and stand out from others. Don’t be afraid of spending a little or even hiring a professional.
Nurturing
Use that customer database you built to categorize your customers based on how much they spend, how often they come, how much they refer new customers to you, and even how much they complain and take up your time. You can then use these categories to treat them accordingly: rewarding the best clients, reconnecting with lapsed ones, and spending less time on the draining ones.
The authors write, “By categorizing all your clients, you’ll quickly be able to decipher who the best ones are… about 80 percent of your business will be driven by 20 percent of your customers… if you focus on treating the top 20 percent of your clients better, you can expend less effort and reap fantastic rewards. You don’t need to sell to everyone… Find your best customers, treat them like gold, and you’ve found a strategy that leads to customer loyalty and mega-success.”
You don’t necessarily need to fire the other 80%, but definitely treat your top 20% better than the rest. The authors provide some great ideas about how to actually do this. You can set up exclusive shopping hours, sales, workshops, and other events just for your top clients, or at least give them first look and early access to these offerings. Treat the very top customers to a better experience without asking for anything in return, just to show your appreciation. Communicate with them personally on social media as friends and humans, not in a selling way. Pay attention to things that are going on in their lives and send random-acts-of-kindness handwritten notes and personal gifts when they do.
Selling
“Your job is to create demand for your offerings by sharing the benefits to your clients and prospects… find out how your offerings fill your clients’ needs and point out the solutions you offer… solve problems in their lives.”
The authors say that selling the right way is done without pressure, manipulation, convincing, badgering, or making people buy things they don’t want. Boutique selling happens organically through education, building rapport and a relationship, helping to solve their problems, and delivering high-touch engaging experiences. Focus on the benefits, ask and answer questions, spend time with each customer, be confident about your value and prices, be okay with losing a sale, be proactive, operate with honesty and integrity, and always remedy and fix when things go wrong.
Growing
Business growth can happen through opening another location or expanding your customer base, or just by evolving to always be the best version of your business possible. The authors have a set of rules for growing while maintaining the Boutique framework.
They recommend growing by improving your offerings, always looking for the next best product or service, and implementing new ways to add value and thrill your customers. They recommend constantly analyzing everything you do, both existing and new ideas, to make sure it serves and fits your business and brand, is appealing to and helps your customers, and improves profitability rather than just adding extra risk and cost. They emphasize educating yourself on best practices and latest trends through reading, attending conventions, and finding a mentor who can steer you in the right direction and avoid wrong turns.
In our next and last discussion thread, we’ll talk about putting all of this together and the impact it has had on your business so far.
We’d love to hear your answers in the comments:
What marketing practices do you currently use that you’ll stop? Which will you start?
How can you position yourself as an expert and educate your customers?
How can you market your business in a way that stands out and creates an emotional connection?
Don’t forget to:
View and Subscribe to all threads about this book
RSVP to our Live Discussion
Happy reading,
Pesso
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I know, I know. LOL. Chip seems to be perpetually stuck on our last book, “Profit First!” But I keep finding reasons that it was a really good pick for us/me. Here’s another. It is reasonably certain that I’m going to be opening a second Piper’s Ice Cream Bar. But, of course, now is the time to run the numbers and projections to be sure that I won’t be biting off more than I can chew, AND to be certain that I’m going to be able to ensure consistent owner draws from the outset. A few days ago, I started that process and am using the same budgeting procedure that I used for my current operation this year. So, first, I set an owner draw “goal” for the first year of the proposed location. That money is now out of sight, out of mind, and I’m analyzing the new location with the only funds available to me for operations after my projected gross sales LESS my desired owner draws. It’s a very interesting way of budgeting. Instead of finding that the numbers don’t work with the desired owner draw, I’m finding that my initial operational budget was entirely unreasonable and needed a lot of tweaking. Honestly, the new budget (and the operations that budget supports) have turned out to be better. There’s no fat, no waste. There IS a built-in emergency fund, though. I feel so much more confident in the numbers I’m seeing so far, especially knowing that I am guaranteeing draws that are satisfactory to us, as partners. Sweet.
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Hey Square Readers,
**VOTING IS CLOSED**
Our Square Readers Book Club is halfway through reading Worth Every Penny by Sarah Petty and Erin Verbeck, so jump into some of our discussion threads and let us know your thoughts.
Now we’ll start voting for our next book for May & June 2024. We have 3 books to choose from, and we’d love for you to vote to help us decide!
This month we're choosing between Personal Growth, Business Foundations, and Business Growth books; all recommended by sellers like you!
1. The Mountain is You by Brianna Wiest
“This book is about self-sabotage. Why we do it, when we do it, and how to stop doing it—for good. Coexisting but conflicting needs create self-sabotaging behaviors. This is why we resist efforts to change, often until they feel completely futile. But by extracting crucial insight from our most damaging habits, building emotional intelligence by better understanding our brains and bodies, releasing past experiences, and learning to act as our highest potential future selves, we can step out of our own way and into our potential. To scale our mountains, we actually have to do the deep internal work of excavating trauma, building resilience, and adjusting how we show up for the climb.”
2. The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber
“Small business consultant and author Michael E. Gerber, with sharp insight gained from years of experience, points out how common assumptions, expectations, and even technical expertise can get in the way of running a successful business. Gerber walks you through the steps in the life of a business—from entrepreneurial infancy through adolescent growing pains to the mature entrepreneurial perspective: the guiding light of all businesses that succeed—and shows how to apply the lessons of franchising to any business, whether or not it is a franchise. Most importantly, Gerber draws the vital, often overlooked distinction between working on your business and working in your business.”
3. Competing Against Luck by Clayton M. Christensen
“How do companies know how to grow? How can they create products that they are sure customers want to buy? Can innovation be more than a game of hit and miss? Customers don’t buy products or services; they "hire" them to do a job. The "Jobs to Be Done" approach can be seen in some of the world’s most respected companies and fast-growing startups, including Amazon, Intuit, Uber, Airbnb, and Chobani yogurt, to name just a few. By understanding what causes customers to "hire" a product or service, any business can improve its innovation track record, creating products that customers not only want to hire, but that they’ll pay premium prices to bring into their lives.”
Which of these do you most want to read next?
We’re voting by survey, but feel free to tell us why you’re excited about a particular book in the comments below. And if you have suggestions for other books you’d want to read, drop them in the comments too and we’ll take a look and consider them for the next round.
We’ll announce the winning book on Monday, April 15th, and start reading it in May.
We can’t wait to read with you!
Pesso
**VOTING IS CLOSED**
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