Mayur Gudka

I help small businesses become more profitable.

Maya Angelou imparts words of wisdom

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On August 5, 2017

In Words of Wisdom

I was inspired today by an email I received from a friend about an interview Oprah had done with Maya Angelou on her 70th birthday. In there, she imparted some words of wisdom. It is my humble attempt to share them here with you.

Quotes by Maya Angelou

“I have learned a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.”

 

“I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life.”

“I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.”

“I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to throw some things back…”

“I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.”

“I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.”

“I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone.”

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

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Customer complaints are gifts. Treasure them.

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On August 4, 2017

In Entrepreneurship

If you have a business, chances are you will have some customer complaints. No business can escape that. The difference between a great business and okay business is what do you once a customer complains?

Survey shows only a very small percentage of unhappy customers complaint.

The rest make a silent vow of never to spend their money on your business.

Isn’t that terrible? Don’t you wish more of your customers complained? It obviously gives you an opportunity to improve and win back their trust.

The worst is a silent unhappy customers. The one who won’t complain, just go about their way. In their mind, they’re not being rude to you by complaining. But, if they don’t complain, how can you win them back?

But, there just might be a way to get your customers to complain.

How to Get More Customer Complaints?

Follow-up after the transaction asking for feedback.

One way to get feedback is to ask them to score you on different areas of transaction.

Some ideas for businesses with physical locations.

  • Wait time before a salesperson approached them
  • Knowledgeability and usefulness of the salesperson
  • Product Selection
  • Checkout line
  • Checkout process

Some ideas for online businesses

  • Product selection
  • Ease of finding the product
  • Online Assistance Tool
  • Checkout process

Avoid asking questions such as “How did you find our website?” You can find this out for yourself by installing an analytic software on your website.

Focus on questions a software cannot answer on behalf of a customer.

Simply the scoring system too. When companies ask to score them on scale of one to 10, no one will ever give you a 6.75. It aggravates me when companies do that. Instead make the scoring system simple – just 1, 2 or 3.

  • One stands for “Just plain bad. Can’t go anymore downhill”
  • Two stands for “Could’ve been better”
  • Three stands for “Oh, dear god. I love it”

Some final things to consider and remember when asking for feedback.

  • Ask no more than one open ended question. Preferably, “what is one biggest change you would like to see implemented before your next visit?”
  • The customer is a busy person and be considerate of it. Keep the number of questions under 5. A lengthy survey automatically triggers a “No, thank you.” response in me.
  • Keep your scoring system simple.

Next time a customer complaints, be happy. Thank them. Ask them how you can improve. Make the change and notify them. Invite them again.

You will almost always turn a unhappy customer into a raving fan.

Now, don’t you just wish ALL of your unhappy customers complained?

I do.

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Create Job Fair Excitement through Social Media: 10-Step Process

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On August 3, 2017

In Human Resources, Social Media Marketing

According to the recruiter at my company, having a booth at a Job Fair costs anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000. If I were to spend this kind of money, I would do anything to make sure it was well worth my investment. Wouldn’t you?

I’m a inherently a problem solver. And it bothers me when people squander valuable and easy opportunities to make a difference. I see so many HR professionals spending valuable company resources on attending job fairs only to come back with a bunch of resumes and no real relationships with the candidates. That’s depressing, at least to me.

That can change. Using my 10-step process, you can not only double the amount of resumes, but the candidates you meet will be looking forward to apply at your company and build a genuine working relationship with you.

It’s all about value.
Want to attract great candidates?
Provide great value.

The 10-step process generates interest and gains a following before, during and after a job fair. Steps 1-6 should happen before a job fair. Steps 7-9 should happen during the job fair. And, step 10 should happen after the job fair.

Before the Job Fair

Generate Curiosity

You can send a tweet to your current Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn followers saying something like this, “We are planning something large in the near future. Wish I could tell you more about it. Have to wait until all is finalized.” You definitely want to send this first tweet once you are finalized about the job fair. Why? Your followers are now eagerly waiting to find out what the big surprise is. If the job fair doesn’t pan out, then you will not only be disappointing them but probably also lose some following.

Build Excitement

The tweet should say something like this, “FINALLY! So excite to let you know that we are going to have a JOB FAIR. Will follow-up soon with more details.” The job seekers following you will now start gearing up.

Subscribe for First Dibs

Send an email to your entire contact list stating, “Follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn to be the first one to know when and where the job fair is.” This way, some of the people who are on your contact list but are not following you on Social Media could start following your on Social Media channels.

Venue & Time Information

Send a Tweet stating the Job Fair’s location, date and time information.

How to get the most out of it?

You want to let your job seekers know that you care about them. You don’t want to waste their time finding your booth. So, in this tweet, let them know where exactly your booth will be located and when they come there expect to meet Mr. or Ms. XYZ. An awesome idea here would be to include a link to “How to make the most out of any Job Fair?” document. It can be anywhere from 1-few pages. This also makes you stand out from other companies that will be at the job fair.

Reminder Information

Send out a Tweet one day before the fair reminding your followers that the Job Fair is right around the corner and you cannot wait to see and meet them.

During the Job Fair

Job Fair Begins!

Send out a tweet announcing the start of the Job Fair. Ask people to stop by.

Share your Excitement

Have your company reps send out tweets from the job fair about the excitement and important happenings. This  builds positive energy among your followers and also reminds anyone about your existence at the job fair, in case they missed out on your booth.

After the Job Fair

Thank You!

At the end of the Job Fair day, send out a tweet thanking the participants for making it successful and stating that the job fair was incredible.

Where to get follow-up information

On the following day, send out messages on your social media accounts telling job fair candidates about where to find follow-up information on the resume they handed out at the job fair.

It is also helpful to send information about your company reps that will be present at the fair. This information can either include their bio if it is on your website or names and titles at the minimum. This helps personalize your company. When the candidate comes to your booth, they know to expect Mr. / Ms. XYZ as opposed to some Random Rep at other booths.

Bonus Step

Extract the e-mails of candidates who provided you with a resume and build a list.

Upload the list to your email marketing database and send out an email to them specifically with the follow-up information.

A personalized service like that can go a long way. It shows the candidates that the company truly cares about them.

One last idea – Stand out from competitors

Give a one-page document to everyone that stops. The document should contain:

  • Information about the company
  • A link on how to submit a job application
  • Who to follow-up with after the application is submitted
  • Links to company’s social media handles

It’d be a good idea to have this document be on a bright-colored paper. It separates from all the white-colored paper they will have.

Make sure the social media handles are spelled out.

Consider adding QR codes if you like.

While most companies will be handing out mugs and mouse pads, your paper will actually provide follow-up information.

It will make you stand out among the crowd.

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Is your website mobile-friendly?

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On August 2, 2017

In Business Infrastructure, Entrepreneurship

In April of 2015, Google released a new update where they would give preference to mobile-friendly websites in their search engine results.

So, if your website is not mobile-friendly, you must have noticed a drop in traffic and customers in the last two years.

Not sure whether your website is mobile-friendly? Take Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. All you do is enter your website URL and it tells you whether your website is mobile-friendly or not.

In addition to Google favoring them, there are many other benefits to a mobile-friendly websites.

Majority of your website traffic comes from mobile devices. Hence, if your website is not optimized to be properly displayed on mobile devices, you will lose traffic quickly.

Mobile friendly websites load very fast. This is clearly important in our growing impatient world. If a website does not load within 3 seconds (which most non-mobile-friendly website do not), people move on to something else.

Social media shares are huge on mobile. Since people are already logged into their social media accounts on their mobile devices, sharing becomes much more easier.

Lastly, having a good mobile website makes you memorable. In today’s world, where many websites are still old-school, a mobile-friendly website will help you stand among your competition.

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Decision Funnel

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On August 1, 2017

In Time Management

Don’t you wish there was decision funnel through which you could run every task on your to-do-list and throw away the unimportant? Well, now there is.

Several months ago, I heard a fellow named Rory Vaden on a podcast. He was promoting his book Procrastinate on Purpose: 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time. The title piqued my interest because until that day, all I had ever heard was how procrastination was bad and evil.

Rory’s point was, there are certain things that have a domino effect in life. It’s true with money, habits and time.

If one wants to truly multiply their time, they need to procrastinate on all things that don’t create more time tomorrow. Instead, one should focus all of their energies on activities that will produce more time in the future.

In the same podcast, he laid out a funnel to identify these tasks and procrastinate the rest. Today, I want to share that funnel with you.

Decision Funnel

Every single time you come across a task, run it through the following questions.

  1. Can this task be eliminated?
    1. If yes, do not waste time on the task
    2. If no, move to question no. 2
  2. Can this task be automated?
    1. If yes, mark it as “To Be Automated” and proceed to question no. 3
    2. If no, move to question no. 3
  3. Can this be delegated?
    1. If yes, give it to someone who can get it done
    2. If not, move to question no. 4
  4. How significant is this task in larger scheme of things?
    1. If very significant, then ask … does it have to be done urgently?
      1. If yes, do it now
      2. If not, make it part of your to-do-list
    2. If the task is not very significant in larger scheme of things … put it back in line to be processed into the funnel (Maybe things will change and this task might get eliminated)

I found this decision funnel to be immensely valuable.

I hope you feel the same.

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Sales: The only thing new entrepreneurs should focus on

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On July 31, 2017

In Entrepreneurship, Sales

Starting your first business? It’s so exciting.

You probably have a large to-d0 list.

May I make a suggestion? Rip that list and throw it down the drain.

There are only two things you need right now.

  1. A starter website that provides information about what your company does
  2. A sales process

You take care of the website. I’ve drafted a basic sales process for you here:

It’s a simple four step process.

  1. Identify and build a list of potential prospects
  2. Call or e mail and setup meetings with them
  3. Present your product or service
  4. Follow up for a yes or no decision

So, what is the best approach to execute each of these steps? I don’t know the answer for you.

There are myriad of ways you can accomplish each of these steps. Use the “trial and error” method to figure out what works best for you. There are books available on each of these steps with countless methods within.

The bottom line is – As a new entrepreneur, you should be focusing all your energies on selling your products or services. Nothing else.

This does one simple thing. It generates cash.

A very important thing to have when you are starting a new business.

One final tip.

Make your list of prospects as large as possible. It breeds confidence and it will show through in your sales presentations.

Good luck!

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