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Your New Year's Resolutions for 2011

Forget the gym!

Skip the diet!

This year, concentrate on your business. Because who cares if you're slightly overweight when you drive your Rolls Royce down Hollywood Boulevard. And it doesn't take much muscle tone to lift the dice at Monte Carlo. So here are ten resolutions to make 2011 the year you can achieve your dreams of business success…

1. Sell more to your current customers. We helped a businessman write a business book. Then we worked on his website. Then we did a brochure for him, set up a website for his customers, did another book with him, and now he's referring other customers to us. A satisfied customer can lead to many more sales.

2. Send out four emails a day. Four is not a magic number. But four emails a day will lead to 1,000 contacts a year. Here, for example is an email we're sending out in 2011:

"Remember Raphel Marketing for your internet and video needs for 2011. Go here to check out our website services. Go here to see our video production capabilities. And we offer free initial consulting to discuss your business. Call 802-751-8802 to set up a time for our free initial consulting."

As a newsletter reader, you are welcome advantage of our free consulting offer!

3. Send 13 items when your customer buys a dozen. Give away something for free. It should be unadvertised and unasked for. A bonus for your customers. There's no better way to build good will.

4. Have a human answer the telephone! If it's at all possible, have humans answer your phone. Waiting to here long messages and press gobs of numbers is a way to lose, not gain customers. And if you absolutely have no choice but to have voice mail, make sure you return all calls within 24 hours.

5. Keep in touch with your customers. If you're an optometrist, send recall notices. If you're a marketing consultant, how about a monthly newsletter? If you're a bank, send them some money. (Just kidding, but wouldn't that be nice!) Find a way to get in touch with the top 30% of your customers at least once a month. The top 30% of your customers represent 90% of the profit in your business.

6. Use focus groups. If you're rolling out a new product or service, convene a group of current customers and try the idea out on them. For best results, use a professional marketing group to run your focus group. Try to get the idea right the first time. It's so hard to play catch up when you have a misguided launch of a new product or service.

7. Run fewer sales. But have bigger discounts. If you run a sale every week with 10% discounts, your customers will know you're not serious about your prices. But if you run one or two sales a year with 30% discounts, your customers will know they are really getting a bargain.

8. Empower your employees.We ran a focus group for bank employees. The number one complaint was that they weren't given enough authority. Try to give your front line employees as much power as possible. If you run a drug store, you shouldn't need a manager to okay a refund on a $2 item. Make sure your employees know you trust them.

9. Steal from other businesses. If you see another business (and it doesn't have to be your competition) that is doing something special, steal their idea. But put a little twist on it to make it uniquely yours. Some supermarket chains have baked goods and popcorn at the front of their stores. It creates a great feeling when you walk in. You can use this concept of putting your best foot forward no matter what kind of store you have. If you sell shoes, for example, put your best merchandise near the entrance. By capturing your customers' attention, they'll now explore your whole store. What can you do to make the front of your store more attractive?

10. Solicit ideas from your employees. Your employees will be much more loyal if they feel like they are in on things. Have weekly meetings where you discuss what's happening with your business and the competition. Solicit ideas from your employees and you'll be surprised how much sense they make.

So let's get started. Another year is here. The economy is improving (fingers crossed) and it's time to make some money.

Have a great 2011!