Make Your Business R.U.R.

Most businesses fail in the first 5 years.

Significantly more fail in the next 5 years.

However, there is an opportunity that is regularly missed by so many businesses.

I was speaking with some clients about this and we created the acronym R.U.R.

These 3 things can bring brand new life into a business when most people think they are running out of options.

So, how do you make your business R.U.R.?

Resell

Often in business, people are great at getting a first sale.

However, that is where the interaction often ends.

Only ONE sale.

However, once you've done the work of getting that first sale, most of the time customers are more likely to buy from you again (unless of course, the first experience was bad).

There is a coffee shop that is down the road from me that I frequently buy from.

I could go looking for another coffee shop, there's no shortage of them in my area.

Yet, many mornings I find myself at the same shop.

Why?

I have a good experience there - I like the coffee, and I like the staff.

I know what I'm getting.

If I were to buy elsewhere, I wouldn't know what the coffee is going to be like, what the people will be like, or anything else about the experience.

This coffee place finds it very easy to Resell to me because they already have my Trust.

This is true for MOST businesses, yet few actually take hold of it!

Who could you resell services/products to?

If you could resell 5 more times to all of those people, where would that put you?

Sometimes, people are desperate for services as well, they just haven't reached out because of everything else going on in their lives.

If you sought them out first though, they may become extremely grateful.

Upsell

This works very closely with the previous point.

Many businesses get hired for a job, and they do an amazing job servicing their clients.

However, the offers sometimes end there.

If you're lucky, or you do really well, you might not need to convince people to come back for the same service/product.

But do you only do one service/product?

There are some businesses out there that only have one, so this may not apply (or perhaps it could be motivation to "get" another service/product).

However, for the vast majority of organizations, there is more than one service/product that they have.

However, most of the time clients simply don't "know" that there are more options that exist.

Most people get so caught up in everything going on in their lives that they forget details like ALL of the different things you CAN do for them.

They may perfectly remember the amazing service you provided before, but completely forget anything else you can do.

So, all you need to do in this situation is remind them.

"Hey, we did X service for you, and we hope you enjoyed it. Now, we also do Y and Z which actually can enhance your experience because..."

The wording will change of course, but you can get the point.

Simply by informing (or reinforcing) people of all the ways you can help, you may open up their eyes to something they've missed.

Plus, once you've already successfully done business, there is already Trust which helps tremendously in gaining future Upsells.

Who loves what you do/make, and you know they could get even MORE benefit if they just had another thing you provide?

Some organizations can literally double (or more) their business simply by doing this!

Referrals

Everyone knows somebody else.

What do we do when we get together with others we know?

We tell them about everything happening!

What has been going well, and what hasn't been well.

The new products/services we've used that we really liked.

Plus, all of the problems we are currently having in our lives (sometimes to vent, but sometimes hoping someone has an answer).

Why not become a part of these conversations?

Sometimes, just by asking clients if they know anyone else who may benefit from your services/products, you may get new clients!

When you do good work, people WANT to tell others about it.

Part of it is that we like to talk about the things we like.

The other part is that we like to be the REASON someone else got the help they needed.

So, allow your clients to be the REASON others get helped by referring their friends and acquaintances to you!

Every once in a while, people will go to EXCEPTIONAL lengths to Refer others to you.

All you have to do is ask!

Making It Work

There are a couple of keys to making all of this work.

First, you need to create and deliver a good product/service.

The better the experience is, the more likely you can get more R.U.R.

If your product/service is lacking, these won't happen.

Next, you need to keep a record of your clients!

If someone walks into your organization, buys something, and leaves without you gaining some form of contact info then you won't be able to accomplish these.

To work, you need to know how to get a hold of the contact information.

You also need to know what they have purchased in the past.

It allows you to, first, Resell easier because you know what they bought.

It also allows you to figure out the best way to Upsell based on their previous activities.

The final thing that helps with this is Consistency.

Sometimes, you may find that the timing is off for one reason or another.

It could be due to budgeting concerns.

It might simply be the wrong time.

Perhaps it is a personnel issue.

Or maybe there are just bigger distractions at the time.

The more Consistent you are with doing these things, the more likely it will be that you will get a response to a R.U.R.