Where do Plugs come from? pt 2

Continuing from the last post, we add to our ‘Ask for Plugs’ strategy;

  1. From now on, every time you finish with a customer, ask them for a Plug
  2. Get hold of some P.O.S material from iplug and put it strategically around your workplace, or wherever customers can see it – counter, vehicle etc.
  3. Next time you get your business cards printed, put a request for Plugs on the cards themselves
  4. Put a link on your website to your iplug page, and ask your visitors to check out your Plug Rating. Customers who then do business with you are more likely to Plug you afterward
  5. Encourage your staff to earn Plugs and ask for them with the same enthusiasm as yourself. Perhaps run a competition, or offer a reward to staff members who are mentioned individually in a Plug
  6. Put a Please Plug Me logo on all your marketing and advertising. The very fact that you’re on iplug and are promoting your quest for Plugs signifies that you have huge faith in your own customer service.

And that last one says it all. Would a dodgy business or rip-off artist so heartily promote their request for feedback? (Or even be on iplug in the first place?)

Hardly.

Just by advertising that you’re in the market for Plugs could be enough to draw in new customers – before they even get to check out your Plug Rating.

And a spin-off to the campaign…

One business we know followed our advice and sent out a swag of emails to past customers asking for Plugs. They got a pretty good response and picked up several Plugs in a few days. But more importantly, the very act of contacting former clients and customers with whom they hadn’t spoken for months actually brought in new business.

So… where do Plugs come from? They come from your customers, of course. But you have to ask for them. And keep asking. And keep asking.

And one more thing… if a past customer hasn’t responded, try asking them why they haven’t Plugged you. They may actually have a slight problem and here is your chance to remedy it for them.

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Where do Plugs come from?

Can you recall back in school there was always some little kiss a*** in class who had a happy knack of being found sitting on the mat when teacher came in? This while the rest of you were cavorting or throwing stuff or generally doing what kids do. Never mind that two minutes earlier he/she was cavorting with the best of them, the teacher found him/her behaving well and praised him/her.

In later life, this same person can be hopeless at work, but will still be ‘caught’ sweating hard when the boss makes an appearance. They will also make a point of telling the boss every time they do something right, and ensuring that they get more credit that they are due.

These people are annoying and frustrating, and we all hate them. But on the plus side, this sort of person would never go into business – too easy to be exposed. So they remain employees for life.

The difference between the business person and the kiss a*** is that we in business know we have to do the work regardless of who sees us, and we tend to get on with the job at hand. But as a rule we as a species (business people that is) are also lacking in the skills learned by our kiss a*** counterparts. In short, we don’t seek enough praise from the people who matter – our customers.

It’s very difficult to ask a customer at the completion of a job to give us a letter of praise, or an email of thanks. In fact very few are adept at this, and simply expect these testimonials to arrive unsolicited. And sometimes they do. But not often, and not nearly enough. For testimonials from satisfied customers are more valuable than gold. This is the solid proof that you do your job well – far better than you saying so yourself.

iplug has simplified the whole process of getting testimonials – or Plugs – because it’s so much more natural to ask a customer “Give me a Plug?” than “please send me a letter of recommendation?” for example.

And ask them you must, Luke. For even the simplicity of iplug is not enough to get those hordes of satisfied customers Plugging you with abandon. Yet if you ask them, they will come… er, Plug.

Which answers the question posed above; where do Plugs come from? They come from you, the business owner/manager ASKING for them.

Here’s a simple strategy;

  1. Take a moment to sit down and go through your records of past customers (if you have them) and make a list of those who were pleased with your service (hopefully all of them).
  2. Email or ring the customers on your list and ask for a Plug. This is a simple two-step process; say “we’re now on iplug” and follow it up with “you seemed happy with what we did for you, so please could you give us a Plug?” (Use your own words.)

…continued in Part 2

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Is your business the best in its class?

People like dealing with the best. The only barriers to everyone having the very best of everything are price and ignorance.

Price

Not all motorists drive Beemers, Jags and Bentleys. Why? Because they cost more than Fords, Mazdas and Kias, that’s why. If the price tags of the former were lowered to match the latter – while keeping the same levels of quality, comfort and performance – the latter manufacturers would either have to raise their game or shut down.

This probably sounds a little far-fetched, and of course it is. When it comes to products and goods, the better quality examples almost exclusively cost more to produce, and use materials and processes that are much more expensive. That consigns the vision of a car buyer having a genuine choice between a $400,000 Bentley and a $25,000 Kia to the realms of the ridiculous.

But what about mortgage brokers? Or real estate agents? Or motor repair garages? Is the best option in these service categories 16 times more expensive that the worst? (Apologies to Kia – it’s not the worst, just the least expensive!)

Obviously not. Imagine a real estate agent telling you that their fees are ten times their competitors’ because they’re the best in the business. You’d laugh in their latte. Which brings us to the second barrier;

Ignorance

When businesses compete with each other for your custom, they can never be completely truthful. For the very best plumber in your region to successfully advertise this fact, it would take the second best to follow suit and the third, and so on. ‘Bloggs the Plumber’ would have to head up their advertisements “The ninth best plumber in Auckchurch”.

Clearly that doesn’t happen, and instead we’re bombarded with a multitude of advertisements and listings and billboards and banner ads and radio chatter, all proclaiming ‘pick me!’ Which renders choosing the best business in any category pretty much impossible.

Which brings us to the question; How do you determine who is the best? And the answer can only be that the customer or client is the only judge.

If only there were a fair and equitable way in which businesses could be ranked by their customers regardless of how much the business paid and what they put in their ads?

Well gee… now there is. www.iplug.co.nz

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I don’t want to be Slapped!

It seems the biggest barrier to businesses joining the iplug community and collecting feedback from their customers is the fear of being Slapped.

“I don’t want to ask a customer what they thought of my service in case they tell me they didn’t like it.”

Forward-thinking businesspeople know this is a crock. It’s a bit like saying “I don’t want to drive into the city to accept the award in case we have an accident on the way, or the car breaks down.”

Back at the turn of the century the thought of purchasing something online from a complete stranger, and paying for it first, was unthinkable. “What if they don’t send the goods?” or “What if the goods arrive and are damaged?” TradeMe got off to a slow and grinding start. But things soon hotted up when the early users dipped their toes in the water of online auction shopping and didn’t get burnt (please excuse the mixed metaphor). Now half the population think nothing of paying for goods from a stranger and trusting in the site and the system to protect them.

And that’s the key; trusting in the site and the system.

People are scared to list their businesses on a site that allows customers to say things about them – because they haven’t actually done it yet! And remember, you have protection! Look at it logically;

  • In the beginning the only customers who go to iplug to Plug you will be the ones YOU direct there yourself. (And if you have a disgruntled customer in your past, you’re hardly likely to ring or email them and say ‘give us a Plug’ are you?)
  • In the beginning the only members of the general public who will see your Plugs are those YOU direct there and say ‘check out our Plugs!’
  • We used the term ‘Slap’ for negative feedback because it’s harsh. A customer or client is hardly likely to Slap you because you sold out of papers, or because the root canal job cost them a small fortune. If they’re NOT happy with you, they just won’t Plug you.
  • And finally, all Slaps are moderated by iplug. A Slap can only come from a genuine customer or client of yours, and must be detailed and accurate. “These pr**ks are hopeless!” will not get through the moderation process. “He promised I would get a tax refund of $10,000 but it was only $8,780!” is a real Slap – but only if it is accurate and from a genuine client. Don’t forget you also have the right to reply to Slaps too. “If this client had disclosed all of their income in the first place, they would have gotten more than 10k.”

Before we go, check out the big players on TradeMe or eBay. It’s almost impossible to have a 100% feedback and have more than a hundred comments. Even the best of the traders attract complainers, and what’s the best way to take them out of the equation? Pile up the Plugs! 99.9% positive is common, rendering the tiny minority who complain insignificant.

All of which means, before you worry about getting Slapped, worry instead about your opposition getting Plugs, and taking the lead in the fight for the consumer.

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Where do you keep your testimonials?

And no, that’s not a rude question.

When you receive an email of thanks, or a physical letter from a pleased client, what do you do with it? Is it filed in a cabinet in your office? I suspect that it is. (If you can even be bothered printing the email, that is.)

So the real question is… what good are these documents to you?

Your testimonials are extremely valuable. These are your PROOF POSITIVE that you’re capable of doing a good job, that you have happy clients or customers. Your testimonials, more than your logo or your company motto, are more likely to convince a new customer to do business with you.

And yet they’re stuffed in a drawer (probably locked) where nobody can see them!

iplug is a feedback site. You can think of it as a ‘feedback management tool’ or a ‘testimonial display case’. Imagine that you receive an email thanking you for your service, and you reply “Thanks for that, do you want to give me a Plug?” The email author logs into www.iplug.co.nz and Plugs you. That now gives you 25 Plugs on your page. The next time someone asks for a quote or shows some interest in doing business with you, you can say “go to our iplug page and ‘check out our Plugs’”. Now everyone can read what your happy customers say about you.

More to the point, it’s a lot easier for you to initiate the feedback in the first place, to actually ask every client or customer “do you want to give me a Plug?” rather than wait for the one-in-thirty who can actually be bothered, to write a testimonial.

Just a note; you don’t have to wait until a new customer shows interest to show off your Plugs either. Imagine a notation or a button on your current advertising that tells the world to check out your Plug Rating.

If your testimonials are quietly rotting in a cold drawer somewhere (or if you don’t have any!), use iplug to initiate, collect, manage and display your feedback now!

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Business cancers

At the risk of sounding a little controversial, let me make a statement here; there are a lot of parallels between running a business and preventing cancer.

Cancer is a debilitating disease that can begin in any part of the body, spread to healthy flesh and organs under its own steam, and if left untreated can destroy the host completely. But the treatments for cancer can be as damaging as the disease itself, a fact which results in numerous compromises between management, treatment and prevention.

But by far the worst aspect of cancer is its furtive approach. When you fall from a tree and break your arm, you’re aware instantly that there’s a problem, and consequently you’re able to take measures to remedy it. But cancers begin slowly and out of sight, often growing to an unstoppable level before you’re even aware that something is wrong. That, more than anything else, is the biggest issue with cancer.

Cancer starts with a single cell going out of whack (excuse the technical terminology). But imagine, if you will, that there was a machine that could detect a single cancerous cell and alert the body that something was awry. A single cell can be excised with a lot less damage to the host than if it were allowed to grow to many tens of thousands of cells. Therefore, if this machine existed, cancer would not.

All of which means that – as I’m sure you’ve heard before – early detection is the key to cancer prevention.

Like the human body, there are many furtive maladies that can affect businesses, and the similarities to cancer are undeniable. These business cancers can begin anywhere, and if left untreated can build to the point at which the prognosis is poor. But like human cancers, business cancers can be far more easily controlled or treated if detected early.

However, unlike human disease control there actually is a machine that can detect early onset of business cancer. It’s called feedback.

Whether a business supplies a service or sells a product, the customer is always king. More customers spending more money almost always means more profit, and happy customers will keep coming back again and again. Conversely anything that upsets a customer is ultimately going to upset the business. Yet many business owners or managers are unaware that their customers are getting frustrated, or not coming back, or spending less, until it’s too late.

Here’s a scenario; a business manufactures baby buggies. They’re state-of-the-art, they’re shiny and they look good. The business spends a fortune on marketing their baby buggies and initially sales are good. But their buggy has a major flaw; the collapse catches are fiddly and pinch fingers, and many mums are injured trying to fold down their buggies. Now as it happens, mums gather in herds (in places like daycare centres and play groups) and talk to each other. Soon the word gets around that these baby buggies are too difficult to collapse and sales slow down. The business then spends more on marketing – and sells more buggies. But the cost of the campaign offsets the profits from the new sales.

Ultimately the business fails due to lack of word-of-mouth sales.

Now imagine what would have happened if the management team of the buggy business had received several Slaps* from the early purchasers;

“It caught my fingers!”

“I can’t collapse it!”

“I’ve had to buy another buggy!”

*You’ll find out more about Slaps at www.iplug.go.nz

The problematic catch could have been changed at design level and the buggy improved before ‘word’ got around about it’s drawbacks. Then, when the mums gathered in their herds, the ‘word’ would have been good, and buggy sales would climb without recourse to expensive marketing campaigns.

The moral of the story is that negative feedback need not be detrimental to a business. In fact, when launching a brand new business or service or product, a whole swag of ‘nice one’s is not nearly as beneficial as a few decent, well considered criticisms.

Prepare for Slaps and welcome them.

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What if my competitors Slap me? Part 2

If you recall, there were two answers;

  1. It’s unlikely they will, and
  2. They very well might (you hope).

Let’s expand on them. First of all, it’s unlikely that they will.

  1. The iplug Terms and Conditions expressly forbid malicious use of the iplug feedback system for personal gain, and we like to think that most business owners and managers are honest.
  2. Only a genuine customer of yours can Plug or Slap you, and it’s unlikely that a direct competitor is utilising your services.
  3. Should a direct competitor actually use your business and genuinely feel the need to render a Slap, then you must have done something wrong or failed to achieve a minimum standard (so you probably deserve a Slap).
  4. Any business owner who goes out of their way to Slap their competitors is risking a reciprocal response, and as the Mafia learned, infighting is bad for the bottom line.
  5. Finally, it’s an oxymoron that a competing business owner is savvy enough to attempt to slight your business in this way, yet be unable to see the dangers in doing so (risking being kicked off iplug, risking a reciprocal attack, and taking their eyes off their own road ahead in the process).

And don’t forget, you are able to respond to Slaps. If you suspect that the comment is bogus, and that a competitor is behind it (and you think you have proof), you can defend yourself in the same forum – if you feel it’s worth the bother.

Now… they very well might.

You should hope that they do! That would be a sign that they see you as a threat. The dominant player in a market won’t stoop to that sort of strategy against lesser players, so being Slapped by a competitor is confirmation that whatever you’re doing, it’s working!

There’s nothing worse than being ignored. I once took on one of the biggest newspapers in the country in a lucrative market – and received a three page, carefully worded letter from their lawyers. Wow! I must have stung them big time! (And the legal cost to them…!)

To summarise, being Slapped by a competitor is probably a good thing. It means you’re hurting them. It’s when your competitors ignore you that you should be worried.

And remember, the very best defence for a Slap is ten more Plugs!

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What if my competitors Slap me?

This, more than any other, is the question being asked by potential iplug Listers. And it’s a good one too. In fact, it’s right up there with;

  1. What if I get no customers to my new business?
  2. What if my business fails and I have to lay off all the staff? and
  3. Will I regret leaving my cosy, salaried position in order to go into business for myself and be my own boss?

In other words, it’s a valid question, but only one of the many that plague all business owners throughout their business lives.

What if my competitors Slap me?

There are two instant answers to that question;

  1. It’s unlikely they will, and
  2. They very well might (you hope).

So there you have it; quick and concise answers to the most perplexing of questions, delivered honestly and succinctly.

You want more? Okay, we’ll expand on the answers in Part 2.

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iplug launches again with version 2.0

iplug 2.0, son of iplug, is here!

We launched iplug a month ago to a select few, and listened to their feedback. We wanted to know how intuitive the site was, how easy to access and understand its principles, and what people thought of the sign-up process.

We then listened to all the comments, suggestions and raves (mostly raves!) and decided on the spot to revise the site. Not that there was much wrong with Version 1.0, just that we wanted it to be Goldilocks Perfect before we spread it to the rest of the country.

And we think we’ve achieved that. iplug 2.0 is lighter, faster and has 67% less fat.

Well that’s it. This is the final version for people to use, and it’s available now. For new users, it’s a simplified process;

1. register with the site, and this allows you to Plug (or Slap) businesses,

2. registered users can then list a business (or more than one), and

3. registered users can become an Affiliate and earn money by promoting the site to others.

That’s all there is to it. New Zealand will be a better place if all consumers spoke up, praising the businesses and services who do well, and informing them when and where they might stray from the path of perfection.

iplug really is Word of Mouth on Steroids!

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iplug launches!

It’s here. The business tool that New Zealand has waited 20 years for has arrived, and launches officially on May 16th, 2009. Mark this date kiwis!

But what exactly is iplug?

The iplug phenomenon is in fact several products and services, encapsulated in a single website. Okay sure, it’s just a website. But then so are eBay, Amazon, TradeMe and Google – and how have our lives been changed by them?

If you think of eBay as a modernisation of the town marketplace of 1000 years ago, then iplug is a similar update on the way in which the tradesmen and merchants of that time found customers.

In the days before advertising, if you needed someone to thatch your roof, you asked around. The man (yes, always a man back then) most highly recommended was the man you approached. Simple.

With iplug it’s the businesses that are the most recommended that rise to the top of the pile. It worked 1000 years ago, and it works today. Because let’s face it, here in 2009, if YOU need someone to thatch your roof, are you going to call the man (only a man would still be thatching in 2009) with the biggest ad in the local paper, or the one recommended by the most people?

Word-of-mouth is still king in 2009, and iplug is word-of-mouth in writing!

 

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