Are you turning business away?

Whenever I start to work with provider organisations I always ask this question.

Most people are sure they are not.

I start to relate horror stories, only to be told that I’m behind the times and that FE – all of it – has changed.

Here is a modern horror story. It’s true. It happened to me less than a month ago.

Nobody at home

I tried ringing a provider about an enquiry they had made with me. I called at about 9.45 am on a Thursday morning.

I was greeted by an answerphone message which said every one in that office was on holiday and that I should ring the organisation’s main number.

I did just that at ten to ten in the morning.

I was greeted by an answerphone message telling me that the organisation was open between the hours of 9am and 4 30 pm, Monday to Friday. Outside those times, the recording told me, I could leave a message.

I drew breath to leave a message, and the line disconnected.

I rang again, just in case there had been a problem with the telephone system. The same thing happened. I called again later in the day, when the same thing happened and again the next day when the telephone disconnected once more before allowing me to leave a message.

Had I been an employer would I have persevered?
I think not.

Will the organisation ever know how it is turning employers away?
In this case it will, because I told the senior managers about my experience.

However, is this sort of thing happening in your organisation?

Are employers able to get through to someone?
Are employers able to leave messages?
Are employers’ enquiries followed up?

It’s worth checking out if the systems are working. Don’t assume that my experience is out of the ordinary.

I have another example from this week.

We don't want to know

After dialling into a provider organisation and pressing four when instructed to do so, and then pressing one at the next instruction, listening to some music and waiting, I was told my call would be disconnected because the message box was full.

If it’s happening to me, it’s happening to employers, too.

If you have employers who are interested enough in what you do to ring you up, they have already gone a long way towards doing business with you.

Don’t turn them away. It’s a basic rule of doing business.

This is the second post is a series of ten about client attraction basics.

Can you attract more business now?

It’s a good question to raise, given the economic climate and the funding issues facing the sector.

However, the answer is relatively straightforward.

• If you think you can attract more business, there are things you can do to help to build your success.
• If you convince yourself you can’t bring in more business, then you will struggle to do so, because you won’t be looking for opportunities, and you’ll be less likely to pick them up when they present themselves.

So, let’s assume that you know you can attract more business. The important things to think about are:

How can I do this?
How can I do this most easily?
How can I do this at least cost?

How can I do this?
The easy way forward is to think about the following:

Who’s buying training?
What sort of training are they buying?
What sort of training would they like to buy (if only they could)?

Taking time to find out the answers to these questions will help you to become more market-focused. The answers will tell you more about the current state of the market. They will tell you about demand and unmet demand. This is vital market information.

You always want to know most about unmet demand because this is the easiest place to start selling.

Action:
If your LMI doesn’t tell you about demand and trends in demand, you should change your specification for LMI collection.

How can I do this most easily?
The easiest way of bringing in more business is to get in touch with your existing customers and start to build your relationship with them. It costs a lot more to get a new customer than it costs to get a second or subsequent piece of business with an existing customer. Some statistics say the cost is three times as great. Others say it can cost eight times as much to get that new customer.

Whatever is the right ratio, making sure you stay in touch with your existing client base is good business.

Action:
Work out how often you contact your existing customers. Then work out how often you contact them when you’re not trying to sell them anything.

Make a point of keeping in touch more often without that sales pitch.

How can I do this at least cost?
If you want to keep your costs down, you’d better start building strong relationships with your big customers.

Who are your biggest customers by volume and value?
Who are your most influential partners?

If you’re already working with an organisation, look out for additional opportunities to work with them. Ensure your staff not only keep in touch but look beyond their own specialisms to find those new pieces of work. Remember that engineers can spot opportunities in customer service and administration. All assessors can be on the look out for problems and issues that an employer could address via your training solutions.

Action
Start to build up your understanding of where the opportunities lie in your existing client base. Start this process with the biggest customers.

A Note about Opportunities
Most entrepreneurs will tell you that opportunities abound.

The big problem is finding the time to take them up.

That’s true, but there is sometimes another problem, and that is being alert to the potential in your existing marketplace, and spotting the opportunities in the first place.

However, the answer to the question is:

“Yes, you can attract more business now.”

That’s good news for every one working in employer engagement.

And the next part of the set up process . . .

I've now put an RSS feed on this blog.

This means you can sign up to receive the blog via one of the many news readers available.

It's a way of allowing people to receive each post when it is posted without having to visit the blog.

You can also achieve the same effect by becoming a follower of the blog.

For people who like a simpler approach I've also set up a process whereby the blog can be received by e-mail. This is a very popular way of keeping up to date with blogs.

All of these services are free so they can be added any blog.

They are also iimportant parts of the business-building process.