26th May, 2008
The Magnifying Glass Goes Digital
A recent article in the New York Times reports advances in consumer electronics technology are now being used in products that improve the lives of people with macular degeneration, diabetes, and other low vision problems. A new class of handheld digital magnifier, equipped with high resolution cameras, LCD displays, and weighing less than 9 ounces offers several advantages over traditional optical magnifiers. The new digital magnifiers have the ability to improve contrast, switch black on white text to white on black, and store images for later viewing with pan and zoom features.
The devices typically cost between $700 and $1300 and are not covered by Medicare and most private insurance plans.
Distributors:
Popularity: 35% [?]
Posted at 11:46 am | Comment (0)
21st May, 2008
50 Things You Must Know about Your Customers
…Yourself, and People in General
Sonia Simone is an expert in improving customer relations through effective communication. She writes a blog called Remarkable Communication. Recently, she posted 50 Things Your Customers Wish You Knew. These 50 things capture the essence of human nature and describe our most basic motivations (not easily admitted by most). Not only are they a must-read for you and your customer facing staff, I recommend you post them somewhere, so they can be re-read on a regular basis. They are likely to make you rethink virtualy every customer interaction you have.
Here are Sonia’s 50 things:
1. I don’t need you to be perfect, but I do need to know I can rely on you.
2. Telling me what you don’t know makes me trust you.
3. It means a lot when you take the time to thank me for my business or a referral.
4. You don’t need to do all that much to be a superhero. Just do exactly what you say you will do.
5. A friendly voice on the other side of the phone means more than you can imagine.
6. Your employees treat me about as well as you treat them.
7. I don’t mind spending the money, as long as I feel I’m getting real value.
8. My life is really stressful. If you can reduce that stress, you become immensely valuable to me.
9. I want to tell you what would make this relationship better for me. Why don’t you ever ask me?
10. I don’t understand a lot of the messages you send me. Can you make them clearer?
11. My life is very complicated. If you make it easy for me to just buy a simple all-in-one package that I can use without learning anything, I’ll take it and be grateful. (I’ll even pay a premium for it.)
12. I want to trust you, but it’s hard for me to trust anyone.
13. Once you’ve won my trust and loyalty, the truth is you can screw up once in awhile and I will forgive you. If I don’t think you’re taking me for granted, that is.
14. When I refer my friends and you give them exceptional service, that makes me look and feel smart. I love that.
15. I spend an awful lot of time being scared to death.
16. The wealthier I get, the more I like free stuff.
17. A lot of the time, I secretly feel like a lost little kid. I don’t admit it, but I want to be taken care of.
18. I’m lousy at admitting I was wrong, but I respect you when you do it.
19. I like to get little goodies no one else is getting.
20. I don’t understand how to use your Web site, but I can’t admit that because it would make me feel dumb.
21. There’s no worse feeling than feeling like I was suckered into trusting you. If I’m screaming at you or one of your employees, that feeling is probably behind it somewhere.
22. Our relationship isn’t equal and it never will be.
23. I get crazy jealous if I think you love another customer more than you love me.
24. I don’t have any interest in your excuses. In fact, I usually don’t notice them at all, and if I do, they annoy me.
25. I find myself endlessly fascinating.
26. I hate salespeople, but I really like to buy things.
27. I only like to communicate over the phone/Web/mail and I hate when you try to make me communicate with you over the mail/phone/Web.
28. I want to buy your product, but I need you to help me justify it to myself.
29. There’s something in my life I’m afraid of losing. If you can make me feel like you’ve protected it for me, my gratitude will be intense and eternal.
30. I’ll give you anything you ask if you can help me not feel silly.
31. I want you to do the hard work for me. Even better if I can get all the credit.
32. I’d rather do it the convoluted hard way than learn something new.
33. I’d love to know something about your product that I could use to brag at a dinner party.
34. I have the attention span of a goldfish. Go too long without contacting me and I’ll simply forget you exist.
35. Money is no object when it comes to my obsessions.
36. What you think you’re good at is not what you’re good at. Ask me, and I’ll tell you what you do better than anyone else.
37. I like it when I feel like you’re talking just to me.
38. It infuriates me when you answer the phone while I’m talking with you face-to-face.
39. Embarrassment scares me more than death.
40. I’m lazier than I would ever admit.
41. I’m more selfish than I would ever admit.
42. I’m more vain than I would ever admit.
43. I’m more insecure than I would ever admit.
44. Despite all that, I secretly think I’m a better person than most people. Help me believe that and we’ll be fast friends.
45. I believe I deserve much more than I’m getting.
46. I want to tell you everything you need to know in order to sell to me, but I’m lazy. Make it easy enough and I will. (Especially if you flatter me a little.)
47. I don’t know what I want most of the time. You need to figure it out for me.
48. I mostly daydream about making life better for myself, but I’ll take action to keep from losing what’s mine.
49. I believe that most of what’s wrong in my life is someone else’s fault. Let me keep that cozy illusion and I’ll believe anything you say.
50. It really is all about me.
Popularity: 35% [?]
Posted at 10:48 am | Comment (0)
20th May, 2008
Are You Too Nice to Your Customers?
Recently on optiboard, a poster suggested her optical was treating customers too nicely, postulating that by being nice (or overly so), her customers would come to expect being treated kindly, take advantage of such treatment, and show no appreciation.
As a retail/service business, particularly an optical, looking to grow and thrive in increasingly difficult times, not only should you be trying to meet customers’ expectations, but you also should be looking to exceed them in unexpected ways. This is one of the few ways left to differentiate yourself in a crowded marketplace where more choices and better prices are available to the consumer than ever before.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reports even the notoriously frosty storefronts of Rodeo Drive are undergoing attitude adjustments to meet changing social and economic conditions. With genuine smiles, coloring books for the kids, and espresso bars for adults, many stores are changing their image to appear more welcoming.
I must confess that Coach reached my emotional brain as my rational brain grappled for control. Within minutes, a saleswoman named Lucienne had me in a pair of $485 high-heeled Maxene boots. When I didn’t buy the boots, Lucienne deftly placed her card in my hand. Mr. Hill explained what had happened: “She actually smiled at you the whole time. At the other stores, they smiled once because they knew they had to.”
Update: I just came across this account of an encounter with a company that obviously believes it is possible to be too nice to its customers and goes to great lengths to ensure it is not.
Popularity: 39% [?]
Posted at 9:58 am | Comment (0)
9th May, 2008
Should You Brand Your Optical?
When most people think of branding, they think of corporate logos and high dollar ad campaigns designed to do little other than sear images into your brain, in the hopes of influencing future purchase decisions; a practice largely impractical (and frankly ineffective) for cash and time-starved small businesses.
The truth is, branding is about much more than glossy images and doesn’t have to cost all that much. Non-descript logos and meaningless slogans strewn across all forms of media are usually products of large ad budgets and limited creativity. Real branding, the kind people identify with, describes the intellectual and emotional responses people associate with your business. Whether you know it or not, your business has a brand. Each customer touch point (signage, business cards, greetings, store environment, etc.) forms impressions and associations, and ultimately shapes your brand.
Why should you care about your brand?
Your brand is important for two reasons. First, your brand defines the type of customers you attract and second, your brand helps shape the conversations your customers have about your business and the word-of-mouth you receive.
How do you brand your small business?
Before you can shape your brand, you must determine what your brand should be. This can be more difficult than it sounds. You need to know who you are and what you believe in. You need to know your ideal customer and what he values. You need to know your skills and passions. You need to know whether you are about passion or pop. And you need to know what sets you apart from everyone else. At the intersection of all these, you will find your brand.
Once you have defined your brand, refine it, clarify it, focus it, simplify it, and make sure it resonates with your customers. Then, be your brand in everything you do. Avoid spending money on branding for branding’s sake, however make sure you express it through your logos, business cards, décor, customer interactions, websites, etc. Your brand is your identity. Make all your business decisions with your brand in mind. Be consistent. Stay in tune with your customers - their perception of your brand may be different from yours and may change over time. This can be either good or bad, but it is important to know which.
Popularity: 38% [?]
Posted at 10:40 am | Comment (0)
