Business Coaching

Tide created a genius ad that clearly demonstrated the power of its detergent.

Advertising a business can be done in several different ways: networking, direct mail, e-mail, cold calling, magazine/newspaper ads and billboard ads. But you can’t just put up a business’ name, an image and list what they do. They need to put something up there that provides necessary info like that, but also will stay in potential customers’ heads.

In business coaching, and in general, when someone looks at an ad, not only do you want them to think your ad is cool, clever and different, you’ll want them to think that your company is better than the rest – because it came up with that ad.

These ads do a great job of being eye-catching, proving a point in some cases, and advertising their product well:

-When it comes to billboards, some agencies think they should do something big, loud and eye-catching to make a statement. But Tide took a different approach and proved its point much better. On the side of a busy road, Tide put what appeared to be all white boards up, but there were cut-outs of clothing made of cotton with self-cleaner on there, too; after a few weeks, the boards got dirtier, but the clothing cut-outs stayed white, demonstrating the long-lasting whiteness of Tide detergent. This sent a powerful message to everyone driving by that Tide keeps whites white.

-Clear Wireless recently launched a campaign that saw them climb inside the box to think outside the box. As a mobile internet service provider, Clear wanted to demonstrate their wireless network will work absolutely anywhere. So they got a truck with clear sides and set up an office complete with desk, computer and lounging area with a television. Then they hired someone to sit at that desk and “work” while the driver travels the streets of major metropolitan areas. It’s a novel approach that definitely attracts attention as people wonder just what the heck that is that just pulled up next to them at the stoplight.

-Visual metaphors also project powerful messages. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter knew this, and created a print ad that demonstrated what they did as a company through a metaphorical ad: a photo of a guy bungee jumping over a vast cliff over a stream. It also had two arrows; one that read “you,” pointing to the guy, and one that read “us,” pointing to the bungee cord. The message was, loud and clear, that the company will save you during times of risk – just like the bungee cord tied to the guy’s ankles…the only thing keeping him from plunging into the water below.

These ads go to show that in marketing, if you step outside the box and think about how these techniques may be used to deliver your message, you’ll ultimately improve your bottom line.

TechCrunch.com recently published an article about instilling ethics in small businesses. It sounds like it should be an easy thing – people should, after all, be moral and ethical in their everyday life, for the most part. But, as Enron and Lehman Brothers have demonstrated, it’s actually harder than it looks. What does that say for American businesses?

Harvard Business School professor Michael Beer researched the difference between companies that perform at high levels for extended periods and those that implode when they reach a certain size. When analyzing the spectacular failures in the recent financial meltdown, he found that:

• Of the original Forbes 100 (named in 1917), 61 had ceased to exist by 1987. Of the remaining 39, only 18 stayed in the top 100, and their return during the period 1917 to 1987 was 20% less
than that of the overall market.

• Of companies in the original Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index of 1957, only 74 remained in 1997; of these, only 12 outperformed the S&P 500 in the period 1957 to 1998.

• The average CEO tenure in the U.S. is 4.2 years, less than half the 10.5-year average in 1990.

Beer’s research left him with three core reasons for the failure of so many Wall Street firms in the fall of the economy in 2008: the firms lacked a higher purpose, and instead were focused on short-term gains, profits, and bonuses; they lacked a clear strategy; and they mismanaged their risk. Companies like Charles Schwab and US Bancorp were able to avoid the fallout by having a strong focus on customer service, honesty and transparency.
In business coaching, ethics can be a tough issue if the client’s ethics don’t match up with the coach’s – and it can matter so much, that some coach/client relationships have dissolved over it.

TechCrunch had some pointers on how to not get caught up in letting ethics slide. Do you agree?

Even though business coaching is the second fastest growing industry in the world, there are still lots of people out there who are unsure of what a business coach actually does.

A great way to find out what benefits a business coach can bring is to listen to a business coach’s client testimonial. Like the one above!

If you want to find out more about what business coaching could do for your business, click here.

Knowing your business' numbers is very important.

Any Business Coach knows that knowing your numbers is a necessity to survive when running a business.

Do you know your numbers in your business?

If you don’t think knowing this information makes a difference in business, it does. It can mean the difference of making more profit. Knowing your conversion rates is essential. Think about doing it in various steps:

You need to know your numbers for every step of the sales process.  For example, in a retail fashion store, getting customers in the store is one thing, starting a conversation is another, getting clothes tried on, and so on …

Do you know it for each and every sales person at every stage of the process ?  Dale might beat Sally, but Helen beats Dale, and all at different stages of the sales process, so they can learn each stage from each other.

Do you know your conversion rates for each marketing medium.  As in, do you know what the rates are for Yellow Pages V Referrals, not just think you know, but actually know.

How much do customers spend on the initial transaction? How much are they worth over their lifetime of buying from you?

How many referrals do you get from each marketing medium and from each salesperson, and so on?

Is this a lot of work?   Yes…but it’s worth it.

Imagine you knew that every $1,000 advertisement bought you 100 leads and 20 sales of $500 each.  How often would you invest $1,000 to make $10,000? What if they came back for three years on average and spent another $2,000 on average?

So, it’s work, and it might be hard work, but it’s much better to do the work than struggling to pay the bills because you don’t know your numbers.

If you’re struggling with keeping track of your numbers like this, perhaps a business coach could help. See what a free business coaching session can do for your business.

Business owners already go through an unbelievable amount of hard work to get their businesses up and running, much less grow it to a successful business.

Imagine if in addition to all the “normal” challenges to being a business owner, you had another challenge thrown at you from left field? A challenge that could not only affect your business, but also your life?

That’s exactly what happened to Michele Alexander, a top business coach, when one morning, she woke up completely deaf. Alexander isn’t a business owner herself, but a certified business coach. Not being able to hear her clients, business owners, who needed to work through business issues, could have proved detrimental, but she managed to get through the day. She didn’t let any of her clients down, despite the fact that she couldn’t hear them!

Michele’s experience going through what seems like an impossible challenge — business coaching clients while deaf — just goes to show the lengths certified business coaches go to to make sure their clients succeed and reach their utmost potential. Find out more about what a business coach and business coaching session can do for any business here.

To read more about Michele’s amazing story here.

Becky Stockbridge is the founder and president of iBec Creative.

It’s a tough year for young people looking for jobs.

This is making some of those people skip the job market altogether and start their own businesses.

Statistics show most start-up businesses fail within a few years. Combine that with little to no job experience and most college grads or young people are against the odds when starting their own businesses.

But despite the odds, some do end up pulling through.

BusinessWeek.com recently came out with their fifth annual Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25 list. Among the recipients, iBec Creative founder and Creative Director Becky Stockbridge was on the list.

Stockbridge first formed her company, a website and traditional design services company, in May 2006, right after she graduated the University of Southern Maine. There were a lot of elements involved, and she soon hired a Business Coach, Jim Lyon, to help her sort everything out.

She never expected to get recognized by BusinessWeek by hiring a Business Coach – she just wanted to run a successful business efficiently.

“My top expectation with getting a coach was having someone that I could talk to about all of the questions that I regularly had about the business,” Stockbridge said. “It is nice to have another person that knows your business really well.”

The number one thing that coaching has taught her, she said, is the importance of measuring.

“One of the first things Jim helped me out with was measuring my leads, referrals, proposals and closes per week,” she said. “As soon as I started doing that, my numbers immediately started improving because I was able to track where I was.”

Stockbridge is convinced that business coaching helped iBec Creative get to where it is.

“I will always have a Business Coach for my company – it has been a huge help in getting me where I am today and in helping me stay focused on my vision for the future.“

Why do people who want to lose weight lose the weight faster if they have a personal trainer or nutritionist?

Besides the fact that they’re paying the trainer or nutritionist to do a job (help them get healthy), those people are also there to push their client, you, into getting the best results possible. If you tell them you want to lose 10 pounds, they’ll help you lose 10 pounds – and along the way, they’ll teach you better eating habits and strategies to avoid overeating and ways to feel fuller longer. This enables their client to keep up all they’ve learned on their own.

This exact same situation, which many people may go through, is directly comparable to a business getting a business coach.

For a long time, having a business coach was looked at as a bad thing. Something that you only needed if you were making detrimental business decisions, or something you needed to have to help you out of a rut.

But now, we’re seeing a trend – it’s more acceptable to have a coach because people and businesses are realizing that even if nothing is wrong per se, with the business, and results are decent. People are finally realizing that with a business coach, someone can push them to achieve their absolute best results.

Think you and your business can achieve those kind of results yourself? Well, maybe you can. But having someone to push you for your absolute best, whether you hit your goal or not, is useful.

If you’ve ever had a personal trainer, you know that they might say 5 more, but after those 5, they’ll probably push you to give them one more good rep.

A business coach does the same thing. Even if you don’t want to or you think you don’t have it in you, you do – and a business coach, like a sports coach or personal trainer, will get it out of you, even if they have to force it.

Doesn’t necessarily sound fun, but hey, it gets great results: look at how many peoples’ fitness and eating habits improved with a personal trainer.

And look at how many peoples’ businesses improved with the help of a business coach.