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Explain the 8 steps for planning an effective carrer

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Explain the 8 steps for planning an effective carrer

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A career plan lists short- and long-term career goals and the actions you can take to achieve them. Career plans can help you make decisions about what classes to take, and identify the extracurricular activities, research, and internships that will make you a strong job candidate.

Below are some helpful steps to guide you in creating a career plan customized to your interests and ambitions. Still have questions? We are here to help -- set up an appointment with a Career Advisor to get started or review your plan.

8 Steps to an Effective Career Plan

1. Identify Your Career Options. Develop a refined list of career options by examining your interests, skills, and values through self-assessment. Narrow your career options by reviewing career information, researching companies, and talking to professionals in the field. You can further narrow your list when you take part in experiences such as shadowing, volunteering, and internships. MIT students can log in to access MyPlan, an online self-assessment tool offered through our office, can be a useful starting point.

2. Prioritize. It's not enough to list options. You have to prioritize. What are your top skills? What interests you the most? What's most important to you? Whether it's intellectually challenging work, family-friendly benefits, the right location or a big paycheck, it helps to know what matters to you -- and what's a deal-breaker. We provide skills and values assessments -- set up an appointment with a Career Advisor to take advantage of this service.

3. Make Comparisons. Compare your most promising career options against your list of prioritized skills, interests and values.

4. Consider Other Factors. You should consider factors beyond personal preferences. What is the current demand for this field? If the demand is low or entry is difficult, are you comfortable with risk? What qualifications are required to enter the field? Will it require additional education or training? How will selecting this option affect you and others in your life? Gather advice from friends, colleagues, and family members. Consider potential outcomes and barriers for each of your final options.

5. Make a Choice. Choose the career paths that are best for you. How many paths you choose depends upon your situation and comfort level. If you're early in your planning, then identifying multiple options may be best. You may want several paths to increase the number of potential opportunities. Conversely, narrowing to one or two options may better focus your job search or graduate school applications.

6. Set "SMART" Goals. Now that you've identified your career options, develop an action plan to implement this decision. Identify specific, time-bound goals and steps to accomplish your plan. Set short-term goals (to be achieved in one year or less) and long-term goals (to be achieved in one to five years).

Specific -- Identify your goal clearly and specifically.

Measureable -- Include clear criteria to determine progress and accomplishment.

Attainable -- The goal should have a 50 percent or greater chance of success.

Relevant -- The goal is important and relevant to you.

Time bound -- Commit to a specific timeframe.

1. Create Your Career Action Plan. It's important to be realistic about expectations and timelines. Write down specific action steps to take to achieve your goals and help yourself stay organized. Check them off as you complete them, but feel free to amend your career action plan as needed. Your goals and priorities may change, and that's perfectly okay.

2. Meet with a Career Advisor. Our advisors are here to help you make effective career decisions. Make an appointment on Handshake to talk about your career options and concerns.

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MIT Career Advising & Professional Development

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A career plan lists short- and long-term career goals and the actions you can take to achieve them. Career plans can help you make decisions about what classes to take, and identify the extracurricular activities, research, and internships that will make you a strong job candidate.

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Explain what is a unique selling point according to the article and give a real example of a unique selling proposition

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Explain what is a unique selling point according to the article and give a real example of a unique selling proposition

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Unless you're fortunate enough to be the only player in your industry (say, the only dedicated supplier of lion-taming equipment in North America), you'll need to differentiate yourself from your competition through your unique selling proposition, or USP.

A strong, instantly recognizable USP can make or break businesses operating in competitive markets and niche marketing industries, so it's essential that you leverage your USP and make it the cornerstone of your overall marketing strategy. Until you know what your USP is, and how to capitalize on it, your business will be just another voice clamoring to be heard.

In this guide to developing a unique selling proposition, you'll learn how to write a truly compelling unique selling proposition, with help in these five areas:

What Is a Unique Selling Proposition?

Simply put, your unique selling proposition is what makes your business different from everyone else in your market. A strong unique selling proposition can help you attract and retain customers and reduce client churn.

For some businesses, identifying a USP will be easier than others. For example, if your business really is the only dedicated supplier of lion-taming equipment in North America, this will be your USP. Sure, there are plenty of companies that sell general circus equipment, but your business focuses solely on high-end accessories for the discerning big cat behavioral performance artist - this is what sets you apart from the rest of the clowns.

However, for most businesses, identifying a unique selling prop is not this easy. In fact, for more conventional companies, it can be very difficult. Fortunately, there are a number of ways you can make a name for yourself, even if you make or sell a common product or service. Let's look at some unique selling proposition examples.

Unique Selling Proposition Examples: What Makes a Strong USP?

The best USPs directly address a specific need experienced by a company's ideal customer. A great unique selling prop, sometimes known as a value proposition, should also emphasize what individual quality separates a business from its competition. Here are some examples of unique selling propositions that work.

Saddleback Leather's Unique Selling Proposition

Credit where credit is due - if it hadn't been for the guys over at Fizzle, I might have gone the rest of my life without discovering Saddleback Leather. This company's USP (and website in general) perfectly exemplifies how it addresses customers' specific needs and highlights a truly unique quality of its products.

Now, you might think that finding a unique - and memorable - USP for a leather satchel company would be difficult. However, take a look at Saddleback's "About Us" page.

Amateur bullfighting. Escaping from a corrupt Mexican Federal Police officer. Trading puppies for 100 tacos in Juarez - Saddleback's "About Us" page reads like a pilot for a new AMC show. This ties in perfectly with the rugged, adventurous aesthetic of the company's products.

As if that weren't enough, Saddleback also offers a 100-year(!) warranty, which the firm half-jokingly refers to as its "They'll Fight Over It When You're Dead" warranty. How many companies remind you to mention a product warranty in your will? Not only does this make a bold statement about the company's confidence in the craftsmanship of its products, it also appeals to its ideal customer - daring, thrill-seeking travelers who need bags that can survive their globe-trotting adventures.

Seriously, just writing about these bags makes me want to buy one. Genius.

Voodoo Doughnut's Unique Selling Proposition

Donut shops are ten a penny - especially here in Boston, where you can trip on a curb and practically fall into a Dunkin' Donuts - but Voodoo Doughnut in Portland, Oregon, manages to make traditional baked goods sexy in a highly distinctive way.

Although virtually everything about Voodoo is unique, its extensive range of donuts (and the obvious relish with which the owners devise their sugary creations) set it apart from any other donut shop. In their quest to create a truly unique menu, Voodoo's owners even fell afoul of the FDA after experimenting with two particular recipes that included Pepto-Bismol and NyQuil - stunts that could have threatened their business, but ultimately helped word of the small donut shop go viral.

A diverse menu isn't the only thing that makes Voodoo unique. Its hot pink rockabilly décor, cash-only policy and late-night opening hours have made Voodoo far more than just a donut shop - it's a tourist attraction. Sure, you can get a donut almost anywhere, but Voodoo's USP is the diversity of its menu and the experience of waiting in line for a decadent taste of what lies within.

The popularity (and notoriety) of the store has even allowed the owners to open a second branch in Denver, and additional stores are planned for other locations across the country. Voodoo's USP gets people talking in a way that few social media marketing campaigns could ever hope to accomplish.

Osmium's Unique Selling Proposition

The clothing and fashion industries are savagely competitive, and finding a unique selling proposition in this market is far from easy - but that doesn't mean it has to be complicated, either. This is exemplified excellently by Osmium.

The phenomenal rise in popularity of handmade goods in recent years has transformed traditional arts and crafts from a casual pastime into big business, thanks in large part to the success of online handmade marketplace Etsy. However, clothing remains one area in which mass-produced goods are still very much the norm, due to the substantially cheaper materials and overseas labor utilized by most chain retailers. This is how the simplicity of Osmium's USP helps the small company shine.

Every single garment sold by Osmium is made by hand, with the majority of the company's inventory being made right here in Boston. The company places emphasis on its ethical production processes and the durability of its products, both of which differ starkly from most conventional clothing manufacturers.

Unique Selling Proposition Best Practices

So, now we've seen some strong unique selling proposition examples, what should you bear in mind when trying to create your own USP?

Get Inside Your Ideal Customer's Head

Before you start thinking about which qualities set your business apart from similar companies, you need to know almost everything about your perfect customer.

When you're identifying your ideal prospect, consider the following:

What does your perfect customer really want?

How can your product or service solve their problem(s)?

What factors motivate their buying decisions?

Why do your existing customers choose your business over your competitors?

Remember - it's not enough to merely target a rough demographic. You need to know exactly who you want to sell to and why. Once you know this, you can get to work on the next unique selling proposition best practice, which is...

Explain How Your Business Solves Your Ideal Customers' Problems

Consumers don't want to buy products - they want to solve their problems. This could be as simple as purchasing a reliable set of tools that will last for years, but it can (and frequently is) much more complex.

Take the cosmetics industry, for example. Companies in this space don't just sell make-up - they sell lifestyle ideals; glamour, confidence, and style. Think about this in a problem-solving context; people who may not feel glamorous, confident or stylish will if they use a particular product. This lies at the heart of most cosmetics advertising, and this concept applies to many other industries, too.

To create a strong USP, you have to examine the profile of your perfect customer and then market your products in a way that shows them you can meet their needs and solve their problems. You can't hope to write persuasive, compelling copy in the voice of the customer unless you know who they are. If your prospective customers choose your products, how will their lives be improved? What makes your business so different that prospective customers should choose your products or services? The answers to these questions should form the bedrock of your USP.

Make Your Business Irresistible to Your Customers

Now that you know who your ideal customer is and the problems they face, it's time to tell them precisely why they should choose your business over your competitors.

FedEx is the perfect example of this principle. Sure, there are dozens of package carriers people can choose from (including the USPS), but FedEx's slogan of "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight" transformed the company from just another logistics company to a market-leading global brand. Even though the company dropped the slogan years ago, FedEx's USP and branding helped it become a proprietary eponym - a trademarked name often used as a generic term, like Kleenex, Band-Aid and Coke.

Another USP best practice you should think about in this stage is making your customers a promise. FedEx, for example, guarantees it can get any package (from anywhere) to its destination overnight. This not only addresses customers' specific need (reliable package delivery), but also makes them a promise - to deliver their packages with care, on time, every time.

Create an Elevator Pitch

So, you've figured out who your perfect customer is, explained how your business can solve their problems, and told them why they should choose you instead of the competition. However, you'll rarely have the opportunity to wax lyrical about any of this at length. Just as advertisements have mere seconds to capture consumers' attention, your USP should be almost immediately obvious.

Thinking of your USP in terms of an elevator pitch is a great way to condense what makes your business different, and how you can use it as the foundation of your marketing efforts.

A Unique Selling Proposition Template

Let's see how this works, using our lion-taming equipment supply business as an example. Note that everything in brackets can be changed to suit the specifics of your company, and that this framework can apply to both companies and individual products.

For [lion tamers]

Who [need high-quality lion-taming equipment]

[Lucky Leo's Lion-Taming Emporium]

Is [the world's only dedicated online lion-taming equipment distributor]

That [provides the very best lion-taming equipment, delivered straight to your door].

Unlike [other circus equipment supply companies],

[Lucky Leo's Lion-Taming Emporium] is [the only e-commerce business in North America that caters specifically to these performers].

See how easy it is once you have all the pieces of the puzzle? If someone asks about your business, you can use this as a snappy, concise way to explain what your company does. Thinking of your business or products in this way allows you to focus on what really matters - your ideal customer - and identify any glaring problems with your USP.

How to Use Your Unique Selling Proposition in Advertising

Now you've nailed down your USP and condensed it into an elevator pitch-style summary, how can you use it in your PPC advertisements? By applying everything above to the principles of writing killer ads.

It's essential that your USP is highlighted in your ad copy. Preferably, it should be in the headline or first line of your ad. If you choose to feature your USP in the headline, make sure it's keyword-rich. Alternatively, if you include elsewhere in your ad copy, make sure it emphasizes the benefits of using your product or service. Many advertisers can't resist the temptation to rave about product features before moving onto the benefits to their customers, but this is a rookie mistake. By emphasizing the benefits of your service, you're placing greater value on the emotional payoff and appealing to your prospects' desire to solve their problems.

Safety was the primary benefit in this ad, but what about choice or specialized knowledge? You could create other ads that emphasize the diversity of your inventory or the specialized knowledge of your staff across both lines of copy in your ad:

However you choose to incorporate your USP into your PPC ads, be sure to target one highly specific need per ad. Trying to solve all your prospects' problems in a single ad will dilute its strength and result in lower conversions.

How to Use Your Unique Selling Proposition on Your Landing Pages

Now that you've written a series of compelling PPC ads highlighting your USP and its benefit to your ideal customer, it's time to turn your attention to your highly optimized landing pages.

Let's use the first ad above as an example. Creating a dedicated landing page for this ad could focus on the USP in several ways and reinforce the benefits of ordering from Lucky Leo's. How?

Your landing page copy could begin by reinforcing the inherent dangers faced by lion tamers, and how these risks are increased by using poor-quality equipment.

You could then highlight the quality and craftsmanship of your products - and the fact that Lucky Leo's is the only specialized lion-taming equipment distributor in North America - before...

Including a strong call to action and providing more information about your home delivery services.

It almost goes without saying, but you should make landing pages for each of your ads. This means that each landing page should highlight a different benefit of your USP, and include relevant calls to action.

Be Unique

What's your company's USP? Did you know what it was right away, or did you figure it out as you went? Tell us in the comments!

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How to Write a Ferociously Unique Selling Proposition

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Unless you're fortunate enough to be the only player in your industry (say, the only dedicated supplier of lion-taming equipment in North America), you'll need to differentiate yourself from your competition through your unique selling proposition, or USP.

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Explain the seven reasons why collaboration is important

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Explain the seven reasons why collaboration is important

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As people's skill sets get increasingly specialized, collaboration as a practice becomes more important than ever. But what does that mean exactly? What is collaboration?

Although "collaboration" has become a bit of a corporate buzzword, that doesn't mean that it's an empty cliche. On the contrary, collaboration in the workplace is what makes teamwork successful. It's really that simple.

However your organization collaborates, it does so all the time, constantly (even now). In fact, collaboration is so ingrained in the way people work nowadays that we rarely even notice when we're doing it.

That said, it's worth taking a step back to evaluate how you and your people collaborate. Why? Because organizations that collaborate well are likely to be more financially successful, more culturally aligned, and have higher engagement rates.

What is collaboration?

Collaboration is when a group of people come together and contribute their expertise for the benefit of a shared objective, project, or mission. It's a photographer working with a designer to create a cover image, or a technology department regularly convening with the marketing team to plug away at quarterly goals. In other words, collaboration is the process of group work.

But collaboration isn't just a means to work together towards a common goal. It's also an excellent way to encourage innovation and creativity. When individuals with a diverse range of skills and backgrounds come together, it leads to the exchange of unique perspectives and ideas. This can result in more innovative solutions and creative problem-solving that may not have been possible with just one person working on the task.

By leveraging the collective knowledge, experience, and expertise of team members, new and exciting ideas can be generated that an individual could not have thought of alone. Emphasizing collaboration can lead to a culture of innovation where everyone is encouraged to think outside the box and share their ideas and perspectives.

Innovation and creativity are crucial for organizations that want to remain competitive and stay ahead of the curve. By prioritizing collaboration, companies can foster an environment that encourages innovation and creativity, which can ultimately lead to greater success in the long run.

Why collaboration is important

1. It helps us problem-solve

What do you do when you're stumped? Say you've made a lot of progress on your project, but you've encountered a roadblock which seems to withstand everything you throw at it. You're out of ideas, progress has screeched to a grinding halt, and your deadline is rapidly approaching. Do you give up?

No, of course not; you ask for help or find another perspective. You might schedule a brain-storm/whiteboarding session with your team or ask a colleague for their take. In short, you collaborate with your team to solve the problem at hand. When a group of people pool their knowledge, skills, and expertise, then talk problems out and debate potential solutions, projects that were stalled will begin to move forward once again.

But collaboration doesn't have to be a last resort. Collaboration ought to inform the way your team works-it should be baked in. The more eyes on a given project from the get-go, the easier it becomes to spot problems (and solve them).

2. Collaboration brings people (and organizations) closer together

If you're finding that certain teams in your organization rarely interact with each other, that teams and departments are operating in isolated silos, you might want to try putting together a mixed-skills team. These are generally ad hoc teams that tackle projects which require people with diverse skill sets and areas of expertise.

For instance, a mixed-skills team might include a product designer, a user experience designer, a developer, and a content writer. It's essentially a new team set up to collaborate for a period on a shared project. In doing so, you've brought together members from three (or four) different teams, created a common purpose between them, and set up connections which will serve all of you in the future.

In short, you've used collaboration to break down some walls in your organization, and tighten up connections between departments.

3. Collaboration helps people learn from each other

One of the best things about working collaboratively with people who bring different skill sets and backgrounds to the table is learning from their experience. Collaborating with team members or even different teams should be thought of as a learning experience, and you should try to make the most of it.

This means asking for feedback and opinions, sharing knowledge, finding out how your collaborators approach their side of the project, and gaining a better sense of how they work. Learning from colleagues is not just a benefit of collaboration, it's the first step towards building a workplace culture centered around learning and development.

Teams that collaborate not only have an opportunity to learn from each other-their mistakes, successes, failures, workflow, etc.-they'll also gain an understanding of the other team's perspective. You get a chance to hear their side of things: their pain points, priorities, even the way they think. Which can be extremely valuable as you work together going forward.

4. It opens up new channels for communication

Working with new people from different areas of your business also opens up channels that would otherwise remain closed. Finding new ways to communicate and share information is hugely important to the success of any business, which is why collaboration should be utilized whenever possible to form bonds between departments.

Creating a more cohesive, open workplace benefits everyone because, according to David Hassel, "maintaining regular, direct communication with team members, helps you gain valuable insights into the operations of each department and be able to resolve issues quickly." On top of that, it brings everyone a little closer to each other and hones the overall mission of your organization.

A lot of collaboration tools, like an intranet for example, do just that. They're designed to essentially open up your business so that all areas of the organization can communicate with each other and keep tabs on what other teams are working on through news updates, announcements, events, discussions channels, you name it.

5. Collaboration boosts morale across your organization

As connections are made between teams and departments, people will naturally trust each other more, which can gradually boost the morale of your entire organization. After all, organizations aren't going to be successful if there's a lack of trust and low morale. Regularly working together with people outside of your own team or department is one of the most effective ways to build trust.

This also works in reverse: the higher your company's morale, the higher the likelihood that your people will feel comfortable working alongside team members from other departments. This is also attractive to top performing candidates who are increasingly looking for more open, engaged workplaces.

6. It leads to higher retention rates

Because collaboration lays the foundation for a more open, connected, and engaged workplace, it's appealing to future and current employees-perhaps more-so than organizations that're siloed and disconnected. An atmosphere where collaboration is front and center is important to your people, and it'll go a long way toward preventing them from looking for work elsewhere.

Connection matters to people, especially in the workplace. We want to work with people we trust, who understand and respect our points of view, and who work well with others, especially those who come from different backgrounds and areas of expertise. Simply put, working collaboratively makes this possible.

7. Collaboration makes us more efficient workers

Working independently has its advantages. We can focus entirely on one project without having to factor in how much time we'll lose if we get distracted, or how to wrangle a team together in time to meet a short deadline. If the task at hand requires independence, then by all means, go for it.

But for many types of projects, collaboration is just more efficient. When the project is complex and demanding, we have to be able to admit to ourselves that we'll need help. It'll have to be a group effort. And that's where collaboration comes in. It helps us divide up a heavy workload, find creative solutions to tough problems, and wrap our heads around the big picture.

An organization that makes collaboration a big part of its culture is bound to normalize this style of working, thereby creating a more efficient (and more appealing) workplace.

How to promote collaboration at work

Here are some ways to promote collaboration at work:

Use collaboration tools and software, such as instant messaging, video conferencing, and cloud-based document sharing systems. These can help to facilitate communication and information sharing between team members, regardless of their location or time zone.

Create cross-functional teams by bringing together employees from different departments or areas of expertise to work on a common project or goal. This can encourage knowledge sharing, creative problem-solving, and a more holistic approach to decision-making.

Set clear goals and expectations for collaboration by defining the scope of the project, the roles and responsibilities of each team member, and the timeline for completion. This can help to ensure that everyone is working towards the same end goal, and prevent misunderstandings or conflicts from arising.

Celebrate and recognize collaboration efforts and successes by acknowledging the contributions of individual team members, highlighting the impact of their work on the organization, and providing opportunities for team members to share their experiences and insights with others.

By promoting collaboration at work, you can create a more connected, engaged, and efficient workplace, where employees feel valued and supported. It can lead to better problem-solving, increased innovation, and higher morale and retention rates, contributing to the overall success of your organization. So don't hesitate to prioritize collaboration in your organization, and reap the benefits of a more collaborative and productive workplace!

Conclusion

If this doesn't describe your organization, don't fret! Creating a collaborative workplace takes time and effort, but the payoff is well worth it. To kick-off the process at your workplace, start with new hires. Find ways to get them out of their team, their comfort zone, and give them a chance to connect with others. Give them projects that demand collaborative solutions. Gradually, your organization will begin to see firsthand why collaboration is important.

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Why the best companies have mastered collaboration

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Ever wonder why collaboration is important? This article looks at 7 reasons why collaboration is the key to creating an extraordinary workplace.

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Explain the 10 ways to make a customer fall in love with your product

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Explain the 10 ways to make a customer fall in love with your product

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I hope you enjoy reading this blog post. If you want my team to just do your marketing for you, click here.

If you want a successful online business these days, it's not enough to simply close the sale. You've got to help your customers fall in love with your business.

One thing I've noticed lately is that everyone is talking about making a business and its marketing "customer-centered ." But when you get right down to it, not all that many brands are actually doing it.

Smart business owners know that every customer relationship lost, either to a competitor or otherwise, costs them an average of $289 each year.

If you're ready to help your customers fall in love with your business, then read on for ten ways to do just that.

1. Recognize the Value of Word of Mouth Marketing.

You know how the things you pay a lot of attention to and value most of all tend to increase in value? I've found that principle applies just as much to business as to the rest of life.

In my experience, when I really focus on and value the things that positive word of mouth does for my brand - either this blog or any of the successful businesses I've co-founded - that word-of-mouth buzz tends to increase.

So what exactly is word of mouth? How does it increase customer loyalty? And what does it have to do with making your customers fall in love with you?

, WOMM pioneer and author of the book Fizz: Harness the Power of Word of Mouth Marketing to Drive Brand Growth , defines word of mouth marketing this way:

Identifying your influencers and coming up with a story that is interesting, relevant and authentic that ladders back to qualities of your brand and then sharing that story as much as possible.

And when you add solid WOM to proven techniques to increase the value of your sales and carefully analyze what your competitors are doing right (and wrong), you've hit on a winning combination that the competition won't be able to beat.

How do you do that? Simple: make your customers fall in love with you. Happy and satisfied customers are much more likely to sing your brand's praises to their family and friends, and will have a stronger brand loyalty.

Building a loyalty program designed to create raving fans is like drafting your best customers into a miniature marketing army - an army made up of devoted brand ambassadors who happily work around-the clock to get you more customers.

2. Start Before They're Even Customers.

Helping your customers fall in love with you is a bit like a romantic seduction. The art of seduction requires careful planning.
This is why you need to embrace WOM right now, place it in the center of your overall marketing strategy, and work hard to increase it.
There are three steps in particular that'll help make your relationship with your customers as strong as possible before you're even introduced.

Know who your ideal customers are - If you want to give your customers and prospects what they want most, you have to first find out what that is.

That's why it's important to start with a set of crystal clear profiles of your ideal prospects and customers . Ideal customer profiles help you get to know the basic demographics, fears, desires and needs of each segment of your market. This is essential to building a loyal customer base.

Profiles will also help you filter out those who will become "problem clients." This reduces the number of complaints you'll ultimately have to deal with, and increase customer satisfaction.

Creating and attracting a loyal audience is much easier when you start by defining your ideal customers.
By creating detailed profiles for each of your ideal customer "types," you're laying the groundwork to more effectively target those who are a better natural fit for your brand.
Qualify your leads - After you create profiles, you'll want to put a system in place to qualify your leads.

What do I mean by that? Well, a qualified lead is one who's really serious about their need for what you do or provide, and is ready to buy - perhaps not right this second, but soon.

Qualified leads are those that match your profile and have both the means and the motive to work with you or one of your competitors.

If you're B2C, on the other hand, you want people who are ready and intensely willing to solve the problem you address with your product and service.

In both cases, their successes will become yours and they're much more likely to fall in love with your brand along the way, increasing customer retention and brand loyalty.

Design your customer's experience - Once your qualified leads become customers, you want to make sure their experience is nothing short of delightful, to immediately start building customer loyalty. The only way to ensure this is to take steps now to design your customer's journey strategically.

It's an illustration that shows all the different steps that your customers go through as they do business with you over time.

A customer journey map isn't solely useful for website design or customer service, though. It should also guide your overall content marketing strategy as well as SEO. It's one of the most useful exercises you can spend time on if you want to grow your business and your customer base and improve customer satisfaction.

In this context, it's all about identifying the customers who might present potential problems and those that will deliver the best value for your business.

According to author Perry Marshall, who wrote 80/20 Sales & Marketing , the well-known 80/20 rule also applies to customers and revenues. In other words, 20% of your customers are responsible for 80% of your sales. This applies equally to large and small business.

It stands to reason that your customer relationship management should be focusing more on the customers in that 20% group is a wiser investment than putting the bulk of your energies and attention into wooing the other 80% who bring in a fraction of that in revenue.

Further, Marshall notes, another small segment - possibly 20% - is actually costing you, in terms of the time and energy you have to spend on mollifying and caring for them, more revenue than they provide. You should fire, or at least stop attempting to romance that 20%.

Don't cling to those poor performing customers or clients who keep dragging you down and costing you more than you're earning from them.

3. Manage Customer Expectations.

The customer expected something, but you didn't deliver - perhaps the expectation never even occurred to you, or maybe outside factors you couldn't control got in your way.

It happens to us all.

The good news is that you can fairly easily solve this problem to a large extent simply by managing expectations from the beginning.

Here's how to do that:

First step: Find out what the customer expects as soon as possible. Talk to them, but most importantly, ask open-ended questions during your earliest conversations and listen to understand customer perception.

Open-ended questions are those that require something more than just a simple "yes" or "no" in response. Some examples of questions you could use for customer feedback in managing expectations are:

Where does what I do/sell fit into your overall goals?

What kinds of results do you expect?

What else has to happen in your life or business in order to meet your goals?

What's your ideal timeframe?

And then? Listen to what they tell you, as this customer feedback will help improve customer life.

If speaking directly with your customers isn't feasible, consider conducting a survey with the same kind of open-ended questions and ask your prospects and customers to respond. You might want to offer some kind of incentive - a discount or loyalty card for instance - to get more responses.

Think "full disclosure," keeping in mind that what's important to them may not be important to you. So you want to approach this from your customer's perspective to ensure customer satisfaction.

It's really tempting - especially for new small business owners/consultants - to expect too much of yourself and be highly motivated to "do whatever it takes" to close the sale.

But if you do that, you very well may end up not being able to finish on time or as promised and the customer will be disappointed.
Second step: The key to managing expectations with a new customer or client is to be thorough and honest before purchase regarding all even moderately important terms.
So, instead, do the opposite . In other words, if you think you can deliver a finished product or service in two days, promise they'll have it in four days.
Another crucial technique is to under-promise and over-deliver.
Then if you do manage two days, they're impressed! This can go a long way towards improving customer retention rates. But if something unexpected pops up - which it often does when you're the boss, trust me - you've got a built-in safety net.

Third step: Communicate well and often with the client or customer.

Often a situation goes bad only because the customer doesn't know what's going on.

Remember, they can't see behind the curtain. They don't see you working for hours. They don't understand what goes into delivering the product and service.

And they get more nervous as days tick by with no word from you.

From your end, things may be going perfectly - but the customer is growing more anxious every day. Then, when you finally deliver as promised, they're not delighted. They can even be a little grumpy.

That means you'll have to work extra-hard to keep their business and persuade them to come back again and again and the journey to help them fall in love with your brand and build customer loyalty will be much more difficult.

4. Be Authentic in Customer Interactions.

You know, people are pretty sharp these days. They've been around the block a few times and they're naturally skeptical.

This means that your customers are more sensitive to affectations and pretense than you might think. They can sense when they're being "played," and if they feel that way, and they'll take their money and purchases elsewhere.

Have you heard of the "know/like/trust principle"? It's the key to building a successful business, no matter what your niche or business model might be.

All things being equal people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like, and trust.

It's as true for B2B businesses as it is for B2C, because any business makes decisions through its employees or managers and they'll naturally favor brands and businesses they're familiar with and have brand loyalty towards.

First, your prospects become aware of you. Then, by communicating honestly, you help them understand you, which leads to their belief in your value, and, ultimately, they take action.

Being real and authentic is crucial to finding your voice as a blogger and content marketer, as well as improving customer engagement.

The blogosphere is growing by leaps and bounds and has been since the very beginning in 1997 . Each day, hundreds of thousands - if not millions - of new blog posts are added .

Don't be afraid to include the bad with the good. It's tempting, when you're creating content for marketing, to spin things positively so you look better to your prospects. That's just human nature.

But the reality is that a well-crafted story of failure can actually connect you more deeply to your prospects and improve customer loyalty.

If you think about it, that just makes sense. After all, wouldn't you feel better about your own chances for success if you knew that someone was once where you are now and managed to turn it around?

Remember that truth will win out , as they say, and it's to your own business's benefit to commit to authenticity from the start.

5. Treat the Customer Like Royalty.

Your business depends on how well and how consistently you put your customers' needs at the forefront of everything you do.

If you doubt that, remember that bad customer experiences cost US businesses $41 billion a year.

82% of consumers report that they've left a company entirely due solely to a bad customer experience, which shows the importance of customer relationship management.

What's scarier is that when they have a bad experience with a brand, 58% of consumers tell their friends about it - many of those on social media, where bad news does indeed travel at the speed of light.

And that's how WOM can damage your brand's reputation to the point of failure.

The best defense to a loud and angry customer is a speedy response time to complaints and questions. Almost half of all consumers around the world say that the time it takes a company to respond to an inquiry or complaint is a crucial part of the ideal customer experience .

It's the same with your customers. Don't ever fail to respond, because it'll only get worse.

As much as really excellent customer service experiences go viral on occasion, accounts of bad customer service can do a lot of damage, even if they don't go viral. This erodes the brand loyalty program, and damages customer retention rates.

If you do need to charge more for a planned upgrade, then do some due diligence first. Before you add features or services, make sure that they're wanted and priced appropriately - and give plenty of warning to existing loyal customers before prices go up .

6. Practice Active Listening and Follow Through.

It's easier than ever to communicate with your customers, for example through social media or customer surveys, but it's also never been more important to actively listen to them. Customer engagement will improve customer loyalty.

Customers are the lifeblood of any business. If you want your business to grow and stay healthy, you need to listen to whatever input your customers give you in their customer feedback. This will help improve your customer loyalty program.

Gathering feedback from your customers and leads has never been easier.

You can use any one of the following methods. Even better, use a combination of a few methods to make it as easy as possible for them to speak up and share their opinions with you:

First of all, ignoring customer feedback does you no good. You might as well save your time and energy. The whole point of seeking input from customers and prospects is to figure out how you can better deliver what they most desire, ultimately to improve customer satisfaction and service quality, and to increase customer retention rates.

That's no way to make your customers fall in love with your brand.

Second, don't be afraid to dig deep - it'll help you understand what they're telling you more clearly and it it shows them you really do want to know what they think and value their opinions.

So ask questions to clarify their statements. Paraphrase their comments to them and ask them to agree or correct you - e.g.,

So if I'm understanding what you're saying correctly, you value Feature A more than Feature B and you'd like to see more of that - is that right?

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, follow through on what you learn about your customer's perception. You don't have to change every single thing about your business, nor do you have to adopt every single recommendation from a customer.

After all, who doesn't like being valued and appreciated?

7. Create a Scalable Support System.

Are you still handling all your customer service tasks by yourself with random calls and emails?

This kind of ad hoc customer service plan simply doesn't scale. It might serve you well in the beginning when you're not too busy. But your goal is bigger than that.

What you want is a business that'll bring in so many customers that you do it all yourself.

Whatever you can do to provide excellent support and service on a consistent and ongoing basis is a worthwhile investment. A high quality support service will help improve customer satisfaction and increase customer retention rates.

But you have to be smart about support. What works for your competition might not be the best choice for you.

Ideally, you want to adopt a system for support that you can scale - one that grows with you.

But older customers may find a chat-based system frustrating. They tend to rely less on web-based technologies and prefer phone support.

Either way, make sure your customer service reps (or you, if you're shouldering it all) can communicate effectively with your customers, always taking into consideration generational differences in order to retain customers.

So speak (or write) clearly and not too quickly. Don't overpower your customer with all the potentially relevant information. Answer the question as clearly as possible, and make sure you eliminate all jargon from your responses.

8. Treat a Customer Like a Valued Partner with Two-Way Communication.

What do you customers really want?

Like most people, they want a lot of different things - some of them may even be contradictory.

But you'll never know if you don't ask.

In everything you do that's related to your business, you want to make sure your customers feel like valued partners.
The ideal solution for your customer service needs is one that fits your budget, is easy for customers to use and fits into your overall business systems with a minimum of headache. Whatever choice you make should rest on the customer's preferences.
At its most basic level, this means that you make it a habit to ask for customer feedback and input and that you take the feedback you receive seriously.

It also means that you make changes where warranted and give credit where it's due. This proves to your customers you truly value their input and opinions and will help in building customer loyalty.

Alert customers to any significant changes, good or bad. Be clear and concise when explaining changes. This will ensure customer retention and maintain customer satisfaction.

It takes 12 positive service experiences to make up for 1 negative experience. Tread lightly when making changes to your products and services because your customers are used to what they're already receiving and you do not want to damage customer loyalty.

If Instagram didn't respond quickly, it would grow to outrage - not just about the original issue but over the failure to respond to serious concerns promptly.

Fortunately, Instagram had already figured that out. The company quickly responded to the outrage and reversed its decision, in order to retain customer loyalty.

That's a good cleanup effort, but they had to postpone or scrap the update as a result.
The way to do this is to embrace a philosophy of two-way communication.
Had the situation been better handled from the start, perhaps through customer engagement or customer feedback, Instagram could've had a much better outcome without losing customer/user trust.

I mentioned some of this above in the section about customer feedback and active listening. Here are some more tips that'll help you improve two-way communication with your customers:

Thoroughly research how your customers and the public will respond to planned changes.

Be crystal clear when you communicate those changes.

Tell your customers immediately when you've screwed up, as well as when you did something good.

Find value in the customer feedback you do receive. Act on it. Acknowledge it.

9. Be Transparent.

Being transparent might sound a little like being authentic, which we covered before, but this is different.

Being authentic is about being yourself and being genuine.

Honesty is crucial in today's overcrowded marketplace. Believe it or not, customers actually reward transparent large and small businesses - even when what that transparency reveals is less than positive.
And once you lose a customer's trust, it's very hard to get it back.
But look at the comments, and you'll see post after post praising Kevan and Buffer App for their transparency.

Sure, some of the comments have some honest criticism and suggestions - all of which is valuable and I'll bet Kevan and the Buffer team are taking it all seriously.
If you want your customers to fall in love with your business, you have to commit to a certain degree of transparency.
But mostly, the users are impressed! This has clearly increased customer engagement and improved brand loyalty.

So what does it mean to be transparent in your business these days?

1. You're not afraid of customer feedback.

2. You have nothing to hide.

3. Your personal and work personas blur.

4. You like to have conversations with your customers.

Being transparent is about being forthcoming, ethical, and trustworthy.
Note that transparency doesn't mean you have to open your books to your customers and the curious eyes of the world (although you could).

Nor does it mean you disclose every single misstep and mistake - that would be boring, too.

Instead, you want to strike the right balance. Every business has some form of confidential information and it's appropriate to maintain that confidentiality.

But, every once in awhile, consider opening the door and letting the light shine in the corners.

Your customers will love you for it.

10. Learn How to "Manage" Distraught People.

One of the least pleasant things you'll have to deal with as a smart business owner is a very unhappy client or customer.

Don't shirk responsibility for this part of the job and don't let your fear of confrontation color the way you respond.

To help solve the problems future distraught customers can cause, create a customer service policy and loyalty program based on your brand's core values.

Your plan should include action steps to be followed. If you're consistent and fair in this process, you can turn even the most unhappy customers into your strongest advocates and loyal customers.

Specify what you'll do to make things right for your customers in various situations. You probably already have some idea where things can go wrong in your business model.

Don't be afraid to go the extra mile. For instance, you can send a loyalty card or small discount after the problem is resolved.

Above all, listen well and offer empathy and compassion - not the fake "oh I'm so sorry you're having a problem with that" kind of compassion, but an honest attempt to see things from the customer's perspective.

Then you'll be in a much better position to turn the situation around, both for the complaining customer and for your business.

If you can do that, you can make even the most hard-to-impress customers fall in love with your brand.

Conclusion

You'll notice that nowhere in this article did I say "the customer is always right."

There's a reason for that. Sometimes, the customer is not only wrong, but has crossed a line. There's no excuse for abusive behavior, for example.

Set clear boundaries for customer support. There's no requirement that you have to accept being abused or harassed, and it goes without saying that you should never let employees be abused or harassed.

So, no, the customer is not always right.

The customer is, however, always human. Keeping that in mind can help you develop and communicate empathy, which can quickly pacify unhappy customers.

Be open, be honest and actively seek customer feedback. Be prepared to take action on customer feedback while jumping on customer issues as soon as you are aware that they exist.

Do this and your customers will fall in love with you.
Plan ahead to ensure service quality, so that when a customer complains about those things, you'll be ready with the appropriate fix. How do you make customers fall in love with you?

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10 Ways to Make Customers Fall in Love with Your Business

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If you want a successful online business these days, it's not enough to simply close the sale. You've got to help your customers fall in love with your business. One thing I've noticed lately is that everyone is talking about making a business and its marketing "customer-centered."