How to Sell Your Business and Retire Happy: 3 Tips

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Selling your business is typically a one-time opportunity. Get it right and you’re set for life. Get it wrong and it can cost you the retirement lifestyle you deserve. Here’s three tips to make sure you can retire happy!

In my small business coaching practice, I typically help established business owners up-level their existing business by working through my systematic Chain Reactions Marketing™ process of developing and implementing optimized sales and marketing strategies tailored to their specific industry and markets.

Working with these established business owners, who are often in their mid-fifties to early-sixties, I’ve discovered virtually none of them have given any real thought to how they'll exit their business when it comes time for them to sell it and retire - which for some owners is often just around the corner.

In fact, according to a recent survey of small business owners aged 60 and over, done by the Economist Intelligence Unit, just four out of ten (40%) said they have a clear succession plan for transferring ownership and control of their business - or said that they are currently dealing with their retirement or expect to have to do so in the within the next five years!

So as a result of hearing this story so many times, I’m now including Executive Retirement Planning (ERP) as part of my overall business coaching process and the outcomes have been quite rewarding for both myself and the clients I've served.

So with that as background, the following are the Top Three Tips I highly recommend every Generation X and Baby Boomer business owner follow when developing their next five-year Strategic Operating Plan.

TIP #1: Begin with the End in Mind.

As Stephen Covey taught us in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” you need to “begin with the end in mind” so you know where you’re going and can plan a course to get there.  You need to plan for your exit and the eventual sale of your business just as you’d plan for a new product introduction or an entry into a new geographic territory.

So the question becomes... what are your goals and objectives for selling your business and what are your dreams for life in retirement?

Is your reason for selling your business to pass it on to your heirs? And if so, will you have enough assets accumulated to live the retirement lifestyle you want?

Have you calculated the retirement cash flow you’ll need and worked backwards to establish the minimum sell price you’d have to receive in order to be able to live the retirement lifestyle you want?

The good news is, preparing to sell a seven or eight-figure business typically takes two years… so there is time for you to begin to answer these questions (and others) as you build out your Executive Retirement Plan.

And any good Executive Business Coach will be glad to help you answer these questions as part of an initial discovery meeting and goals assessment process that establishes exactly what type of exit and retirement dreams you have in mind.

With today’s online communications and collaboration technology you have easy access to some of the world’s best business and life coaches. So take advantage of this easy access and find yourself a local coach, or even someone across country, to help you begin with the end in mind.

TIP #2: Build “Curb Appeal”

 Just like selling a house, up-leveling your business so it’s more attractive to prospective buyers will significantly improve the sale price and also the likelihood of actually achieving a sale.

When I say up-leveling your business, I mean making long-term business improvements that maximize profitability and deliver steady and sustainable year-over-year operating income increases showing that good growth strategies and practices are being implemented.

I’m not talking about making short-term fixes and cost reductions that are not sustainable and could actually hurt the future health of your business.

I’m talking about up-leveling your business using proven and effective sales and marketing strategies that can deliver sustainable Customer Experience Chain Reactions generating more qualified leads resulting in more loyal and profitable customers and clients.

Working with your Executive Business Coach you can up-level your business so when you’re ready to sell in three-to-five years it will have maximum Curb Appeal.

And the best part is, just like preparing a house for sale, you get to live with your improved business results during those years prior to the sale taking full advantage of the improvements to better financially prepare for your eventual retirement!

TIP #3: Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty

My third and final tip is advice I learned from business networking master Harvey Mackay who’s “dig your well before you’re thirsty” philosophy is all about building relationships and a team of business professionals you can count on before you actually need them.

When it comes to preparing for the sale of your business you need to build a team of trusted specialists who can guide you through the marketing, financial and legal aspects of making the sale.  

For example, you may have a great CPA for doing your annual taxes but does your current CPA have any experience preparing a business valuation? And do you have a trusted personal Financial Planner and Estate Planning Attorney who can help you plan for taking care of your family and your money during retirement?

In my experience most business owners don’t have the time or inclination to work out a retirement plan or build a network of these trusted advisors all by themselves. And this leaves you exposed and unprepared for when the day comes to finally sell your business and move on.

So my final tip is… start digging your well today and think of using your Executive Business Coach as a “general contractor” of sorts who can help you build your team of “sub-contractors” to up-level your business’ Curb Appeal as well as putting an Executive Retirement Plan into place that will be ready when you are.

And remember, a good coach can help guide you through the technical and very emotional process of selling your business and moving on to bigger (or smaller) but always better things in retirement. And isn’t that what a living a satisfying and happy retirement life all about?

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Join me for a FREE Sell Your Business and Retire Happy Webinar.

Just click on the link below to register now!

Yes, Reserve My Spot for The Webinar (it’s FREE) - Click Here >>

'TIS THE SEASON FOR CUSTOMER REACTIVATION

“With the right message and approach, 50% of your inactive customer base will re-engage and continue doing business with your company” –Focus USA.

It amazes me how often I speak to groups of business owners who express complete surprise when I mention customer reactivation as part of my Chain Reactions Marketing System™. They somehow never seem to think of including past clients or patients in any of their lead generation or customer retention marketing strategies.

For many it seems that a past customer - one who has become dissatisfied or dormant - is not a viable prospect for future sales… when the fact is, nothing could be farther from reality.

And why wouldn’t you want to at least try to re-engage and reactivate a past customer, client or patient? After all, getting a new customer is five or six times more expensive than reactivating an old one… so re-engaging and rekindling a previous customer relationship is certainly one of the lowest cost marketing strategies you can use to increase revenues and profits.

For example, suppose you’re a personal fitness coach who helped a client lose 30 pounds 18 months ago. Wouldn’t it make sense to contact that past client to see if they’ve regained the weight and could use your help losing it again?

It amazes me the number of businesses (especially coaches and consultants) that seem to think that once they’ve completed an engagement there’s no further opportunity to be found with that client. They seem to believe that they’ve taught the client everything they need to know… or solved the problem the client was looking to solve so there’s no need to stay in further contact. But isn’t there always another problem that could be solved for the same client?

Or what about the B2B client who stopped doing business with you because the decision maker decided your product or customer service wasn’t meeting their needs? Isn’t it possible that over time things have changed? Is it possible the decision maker has moved on to another company or discovered they aren’t satisfied with their new supplier either?

How would you know if you haven’t stayed in contact?

Making the First Move.

Instead of trying to really understand why a prior customer is no longer responding, many businesses assume that the customer is the problem in the relationship. The dynamics are similar to that of a person who refuses to talk to another person unless the other person reaches out first. You need to be looking at your past customers and committing to making the first move in re-establishing a relationship that is valuable to both sides.

So what’s the best way to put life back into a stale or strained customer relationship?

I for one believe reaching out by telephone during the year-end holiday season is one of the best ways to rekindle relationships.

Just calling up to say hello and wishing your past customers well during any special time of year is a great way to stay personally connected… and the year-end holidays with the beginning of a new year is certainly one of the best times to do so.

Even if you only make contact with the client’s voice-mail, making that first move will show them you’re thinking about them and that you cared enough about them to make the personal call.

So pick up the telephone and let your past customers know that you still remember them. A little bit of personal attention and care can go a long way towards bringing past customers back to life.

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If you found this post valuable… leave a comment… like it, tweet it out andshare it with someone you know... and thanks in advance for passing on the referral! _______________________________________________________

 About the Author 

John Weisenberger CCP, is an author, speaker and certified business coach who “walks the talk” when it comes to lead generation. He is the creator of the Chain Reactions Marketing System™ that transforms average, commoditized, businesses into preeminent market leaders that attract and retain more customers so they can make more money!

 To learn how you can grow your business faster using Chain Reactions Marketing, you can find out more at www.ChainReactionsMarketing.com

Small Business Coaching Finds Your Voice

Just like a good producer can maximize the talent hidden in a recording artist... a good small business coach can bring out the best that's often hidden within a small business owner or executive. 

Watch this short video to see how producer Mutt Lange coaches Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott to uncover his true voice. 

3 Tips for Uncovering Your Customer Lifetime Value “Acres of Diamonds”

There’s an old story about an African farmer who heard about other farmers making millions by uncovering new diamond mines. The farmer became so excited about the idea of finding diamonds, he sold his existing farm and spent the rest of his life traveling around Africa prospecting, unsuccessfully, for the new property that would make him rich.

Sadly, after a lifetime of searching, the farmer ended up penniless and threw himself into a river and drowned.

Now in the meantime... the man who purchased the farm one day happened to notice a sparkle in the stream running through the property. He waded out into the water and literally picked up one of the largest diamonds ever discovered!

Turns out the farm was already sitting on what turned out to be one of the largest diamond mines in the world.

So what’s the moral of the story?

The moral is: you can often find a fortune, literally, in your own backyard if you just take the time to look for it!

Unfortunately this "grass is greener" behavior is also much too common among many businesses today.

Businesses who spend so much of their time, money, and energy on the pursuit of new customers, day after day... when their high ROI (Return on Investment) customers are actually right in front of them — with their wallets already open!

Earl Nightingale once wrote, “It's been said that if the other guy’s pasture appears to be greener than yours, it could be because it’s getting better care.” I would argue that this same statement could be made about any businesses’ existing customer base.

So with the Acres of Diamonds story in mind… here’s 3 tips for using the principle of Customer Lifetime Value Maximization (CLVM) to increase your businesses’ revenues, gross margins and total profits… by selling more to your existing customers.

           1) Calculate Your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)  

a.       Customer Lifetime Value is the most important metric you’ll ever calculate

b.      It’s the starting point for everything you do in marketing your business

c.       You can’t make effective marketing plans without knowing this number

Unfortunately, Customer Lifetime Value is one of the most often overlooked and least understood metrics in business even though it’s one of the easiest to figure out… and although many in the academic world make calculating it sound like rocket science, it doesn’t have to be that complicated.

For a quick tutorial on how to easily calculate Customer Lifetime Value, Geoff Fripp at the University of Sydney has some great tools and video tutorials you can see here: http://www.clv-calculator.com/videos-clv

2) Have a Customer Retention Marketing Plan

For most U.S. businesses today, Customer Retention Marketing continues to take a backseat to new customer acquisition and typically has a much smaller budget allocation than new customer acquisition.

   

This is a big mistake because study after study continue to show that 80% of your businesses’ future revenues will come from just 20% of your existing customers.

In fact, in his book The Loyalty Effect, Fred Reichheld states that “a 5% improvement in customer retention rates will yield between a 25% to 100% increase in profits across a wide range of industries.”

So if you really want to move the needle on your businesses’ future growth… take the time to uncover the “diamonds in your own backyard” by giving your existing customers the time and attention they so richly deserve.

Start a customer loyalty program with special offers and discounts…  institute a better customer service or complaint process — and most of all, engage with your existing customers using as many communications channels as possible.

           3)  Create Customer Experience “Chain Reaction” Referrals

Lastly, if you want to maximize the full Customer Lifetime Value of your existing customers, you need to have them actively advocating for, and promoting, your business by referring you to their friends and colleagues. 

Unfortunately, soliciting referrals from existing customers is a huge marketing opportunity not being exploited adequately by most businesses today.

In fact, a study by the Wharton School of Business found 83% of satisfied customers are willing to refer products and services to others, but only 29% actually do so… mostly because no one is asking them to!

Just imagine the impact on your business if 83% of your existing customers sent you just one new referral and then that referred customer sent you one referral… and so on… and so on... starting a Chain Reaction of constant referrals!

So the questions is… how do you get more referrals from existing customers?

The answer is… you need to make sure your customers have positive emotional experiences throughout every aspect of the customer lifecycle “chain of reactions” they have when doing business with your company — Chain Reactions that start at their first visit to your website, office or store, and ends when they no longer want or need your product or service.

If you’d like to learn more about generating more loyal customers and referrals, check out my latest book Chain Reactions.

Alternatively, you can simply start by just asking your existing customers. As the Wharton study shows, 8 out of 10 will probably say yes.

So that’s my three tips:

If you're tired of spending money on new customer acquisition advertising and marketing that just doesn't work anymore... try spending a little more on your existing customer “Acres of Diamonds” in your own backyard. You may just find your fortune.

About John Weisenberger

Author of “What is Global Marketing for Small Business?” and “Chain Reactions: How Create Massive Customer Loyalty and Profits using Customer Experience Management”, John Weisenberger is passionate about sharing his experiences and systems any business can use to immediately improve their results.

With over 30 years of Fortune 500 and small business management experience in a variety of industries and global markets, today John is best known today as the creator of the Chain Reactions Marketing System™ visionary business owners and their managers use to expand their customer base, increase customer loyalty and drive higher profitability in virtually any market or industry. Learn more at http://www.JohnWeisenberger.com

Walgreens employees no longer need to greet each customer with "Welcome to Walgreens"

Walgreens employees no longer need to greet each customer with "Welcome to Walgreens" or end each transaction with "Be well," according to a new company memo they recently released. The retailer's guidelines also now *encourage employees to learn customers' names and use them in greetings.*  What a great Customer Experience Marketing idea!

Walgreens made this policy change after feedback from many of their employees stated that the mandatory greeting and goodbye "sounded like an insincere carbon copy routine."  Many Walgreens employees also believed it was somewhat ridiculous to say “be well” when someone is buying cigarettes or other unhealthy products. 

If you've followed any of my Chain Reactions posts or attended any of the my Webinars at http://www.JohnWeisenberger.com, you know that asking the customer's name and then using it in conversation is only done in a very small percentage of customer/client/patient interactions. By giving their employees more latitude in how they choose to greet customers, Walgreens employees will now be able to greet customers with a much more sincere experience that will help build stronger relationships and increased customer loyalty.  

Oh yeah, and did I mention, it costs absolutely noting to implement this idea. Now where did I hear that before?

Will you ride the Customer Experience Big Data wave in 2015?

A Customer Experience Big Data wave is building so the question is: Are you ready to ride it or will you be crushed by it?

And there really are just two choices: ride the wave or be crushed by it as pointed out by Chris Surdak in his new book Data Crush available at http://surdak.com

Let’s face it, we’re all competing in a world full of commoditized products and services from competitors all competing on price so the question becomes:  how do you plan on differentiating your product or service from all the other suppliers in your market?  

What’s your purple cow (as Seth Godin calls it) that will separate your business from all the others in the herd; because unless you have a differentiated competitive advantage, how do you plan on winning new business and retaining your existing clients?

I believe there are two parts to the answer.

Part #1 of a solution for standing out from the competition is to be able to have a better understanding of your customer’s quickly changing wants and needs. Understanding the powerful insights Big Data analytics can provide about your customers should be a big part of any Customer Experience Marketing Plan you have going forward.

Part #2 of the solution is to be aware of what you competitors are doing in the areas of Customer Experience Marketing and how they are looking at using new technologies, customer Big Data and business performance metrics to gain more insight into Customer expectations as well as how their businesses are performing against those expectations.

It’s with these two areas in mind that I want to pass on the top five Customer Experience Marketing trends for 2015 as compiled by http://Clientheartbeat.com with few of my comments thrown in as commentary.

According to Clientheartbeat.com, the top five Customer Experience Marketing trends for 2015 are:

1. Customers will expect more. Customers feel like they have the power in today’s business world. They aren’t afraid to switch to a competitor and they aren’t scared of voicing their opinions via social media.
2. Companies will increase their investment in customer experience. In 2014 Gartner research revealed that digital marketers were spending almost as much to retain customers (45%) as they do to gain new ones (55%).
3. Tracking and measurement will become [more] important. Research from the Temkin Group reveals that two key customer experience metrics will become more commonly used in 2015 to measure the effectiveness of customer experience marketing efforts: #1) The percentage of customers who plan on repurchasing products, and #2) the Net Promoter Score (NPS) customer loyalty metric that asks the question:  “How likely is it that you would recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?”
4. Customer experience technologies will integrate with existing marketing technology. That’s good news for us small business owners’ as no one wants worry about even more new software tools and IT headaches. However, we need to make sure that the tools and methods we use for measuring the customer experience deliver a good experience so keeping your marketing tools and technologies up to date should be an important part of your Customer Experience Marketing Plan in 2015.
5. Companies will strive to create a one-to-one, cross-channel experience. Companies will strive to create one-to-one relationships with their customers integrated across all their favorite channels – email, social media, telephone, in store and on desktops, mobiles and tablets. The companies that can bring all this data together and treat customers like individuals will be the ones that quickly create customer advocates, see growth in revenue and create sticky, strong competitive advantages.

So are you ready to ride the Customer Experience wave in 2015?

If you’re sick of competing solely based on price, it’s time you consider implementing a Customer Experience Marketing Plan by heading on over to http://www.JohnWeisenberger.com.

By improving the customer experience, you’ll increase customer satisfaction and boost customer loyalty which will lead to the creation of more customer advocates who can spread the word about your business and provide you with more referrals. It will also help you create a point of differentiation that will help you fight off competitors and win new business. And what could be better than that?

Leave a comment and let me know if you agree.

How to Listen Faster for Competitive Advantage

I once had a boss who told me the secret to being more productive was to sleep faster. And while I’m sure he was only joking, I have learned that the secret to staying ahead of the competition is to “listen faster” by monitoring and responding to Voice of the Customer (VoC) feedback in near real time.

So what does listening faster mean and how can solo-preneurs and local business owners implement a real time process for collecting and responding to VoC feedback? The following article provides practical tips you can use to collect, analyze, and take action on the feedback (solicited or unsolicited, positive or negative) your customers are only too happy to provide your business in today’s always on, 24x7, social media connected world.

Practical Tips for Monitoring What’s Being Said Online

Tip #1) Place links to highly visible feedback forms everywhere on your website. New technologies such as Speakpipe.com allow your customers to leave a voice mail directly from their computers without having to pick up their phone - you can see an example on my website at JohnWeisenberger.com. The listening faster competitive advantage here is to make yourself so easily accessible (and responsive) that your customer is never tempted to lash out using other channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Yelp, etc.

Tip #2) Set up Google Alerts (google.com/alerts) to monitor any mention of your company (and your competitors). Monitor your company name, product/service name and the names of any prominent people at your company. Be sure to include any conceivable misspellings, abbreviations and slang names for your product or company name too.

Also be sure to set your Google Alerts frequency to “as-it-happens” to make sure you are getting them in real time. This is your listening faster competitive advantage as many solo-preneurs and local businesses owners set their Google Alerts frequency to once-a-day in order to avoid interruptions during the day.

Tip #3) Set up your TweetDeck (tweetdeck.twitter.com) or Hootsuite (hootsuite.com) accounts to automatically monitor for your @name, hashtags about your company name, product name, conference name, etc. For example, you can monitor for hashtags such as #yourcompanyfail or #yourbigevent.

You can also use Twitter’s manual search engine (twitter.com/search-advanced) to look for past instances of Tweets about your brand or manually search it regularly to see what’s being said about your brand.

 Regardless of the tools you use, you need to be aware of what’s being said/tweeted about your business and be ready to respond to any negative comments as quickly as possible before the retweets escalate what could have been a small issue into a major public relations fiasco. Listening faster can help assure you’re never caught off-guard by an upset customer who could have been communicated with directly, one-on-one, outside of a public forum without thousands of others knowing.

Taking Action

My final tip for beating the competition by listening faster is to use a Virtual Assistant (VA) that has the responsibility of monitoring and analyzing your collected feedback and identifying those issues that require immediate attention from you or your designated Customer Experience Manager (CEM). Using a VA service that provides 24x7, follow the sun, phone and email coverage can be a very cost effective way to implement a faster customer service and VoC feedback monitoring process.

Remember, in today’s business environment, a small mistake combined with a slow response can quickly become a huge public relations problem for even the best run business. Don’t let a delayed response itself become more of a problem than the initial customer complaint. Listening faster can be your competitive advantage.