Why You Need a Mentor

Why You Need a Mentor
Robert Wollan of Accenture: Consumers Are Switching It Up
I’m Your Boss
Free Shipping Day Coming Dec. 17

Posted: 14 Dec 2012 11:00 AM PST

I know everything. Or at least, I’d like to think I do. But I have to say, running a small business has brought me down a notch or two. I realize there’s so much I don’t know. That’s where having a mentor comes in handy.

I’ve had a retired oceanographer/SCORE leader as a mentor. A business and life coach. A VP of marketing. Another marketing consultant. A leadership management expert. I’ve come across people who know more than me, and I’ve built relationships with them so that I can benefit from their knowledge and experience.

Mentors Make You Smarter

Any entrepreneur should want to be better at what she does. But there’s only so much knowledge you can glean on your own. And experience? Well, that takes time, and if you’re impatient, you want to get smarter faster. There’s something to be said about learning from people rather than books and blogs. A short conversation with a mentor can help you understand the mistakes he has made so that you can avoid them yourself.

Having access to a mentor, you can ask any question you want–an opportunity you likely won’t have with your competitors.

Mentors Have Been There

As I said, you can learn from your mentors’ past mistakes. It’s a huge boon to talk to someone who has worked in your industry and can help carve the straightest path to success for you. Any mentor worth their salt will be enthusiastic about helping you get there faster than they did.

Finding a Mentor

You might not have a clue about where to start in finding a mentor. I say, look around. Look at the people you interact with on a regular basis:

your client
the guy you always talk to at networking events
your neighbor
a woman from your church

Mentors can be found everywhere, and they don’t have to be in your industry. You might benefit from a mentor who has successfully run one or more businesses, or one who has spent decades in corporate America, or one who works in the industry you target.

Your focus here is in finding someone willing to impart wisdom to you, to spend time with you regularly (each week, month or quarter is good) to address areas you want to work on.

Determine Your Path

Before committing to a mentor/mentee relationship, outline what you hope to accomplish rather than go into it willy nilly. What areas do you consider your business weak in? Make a list of concerns and questions you have (this might also help you determine the best person to mentor you). And be ready to commit!

Having a mentor isn’t as simple as meeting in their office every few weeks. You need to be committed to listening and taking action based on their suggestions. Otherwise, you’re wasting your time – and theirs.

Having a mentor can be professionally rewarding, and can help you grow your business in ways you couldn’t otherwise grow it.

Mentor Photo via Shutterstock

The post Why You Need a Mentor appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Robert Wollan of Accenture: Consumers Are Switching It Up

Posted: 14 Dec 2012 08:00 AM PST

Consumers switch the companies they buy from. It happens. But this past year, there’s been a 5% increase in consumer switching and a whopping 85% of consumers feel that the companies could have encouraged them to stay. Tune in as Robert Wollan, Global Managing Director of Accenture CRM Practice, joins Brent Leary to share some eye-opening findings from their most recent annual consumer survey.

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consumer switching Small Business Trends: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Robert Wollan: I have been with Accenture for more than 20 years now, one of the folks who help founded our practice in the early 90's. We've probably invested more time and energy and attention into figuring out what it means to be engaging customers.

Small Business Trends: What were some of the key things you picked out from your annual Accenture Global Consumer Survey?

Robert Wollan: There are a few things that you might have expected. We have seen consumer switching arise steadily over the last number of years we've done the survey. So consumer switching hasn't necessarily been a new thing. But it has reached a new plateau:

One: consumer switching is here to stay.
Two: a thing we have seen steady over the last couple of years is rising expectations. Consumers are telling us that their expectations are rising every single year. This matters a lot to companies because if you are not thinking about making sure you keep pace with consumers – you will quickly fall behind.
Three: we have seen an increasing frustration with obvious execution issues. Having to repeat yourself three or four times, having to start over every time you have to engage a company. Those kinds of service issues have become prevalent.

Small Business Trends: What surprised you?

Robert Wollan: Price isn't the primary reason people are leaving. In today's world, we can rapidly check a price online, go into a store, snap a UPC code with your mobile phone and find out how you can buy it on line. We thought pricing would become the dominant, lingering issue but it's not really the case.

Service experience is really driving reasons why people leave. In fact, the number one reason people leave is that the promise they were given when they chose the provider wasn't being met in the delivery world. That was a really surprise for us.

This year we found that 85% of consumers actually said that companies could have done something to keep them. We are looking at this through a different lens. Customers actually do want to stay with their providers.

These are the things that really stood out.

Small Business Trends: I am looking at broken promises; nearly two thirds said that was their top concern. That speaks to trust issues and how important trust is today.

Robert Wollan: Well, trust is an issue that came up Brent. What we called “broken promises” was actually a way for companies to look thoroughly at how they are setting promises vs. how are they delivering. Surprisingly companies are spending very little time, energy and attention on how they set promises beyond the marketing realm.

Small Business Trends: A tailored experience is critical to a strong customer relationship, 48% of respondents said. Are you seeing companies understand and address this?

Robert Wollan: What we are seeing is companies still clinging to this one size fits all model, trying to improve the base. It is time to move beyond the one size fits all model and start to isolate what matters to different customers segments. Then starting to implement those things.

Small Business Trends: 31% of respondents prefer companies that actually use their information that is available to create a better experience. But only a quarter of them found companies that are actually doing that?

Robert Wollan: More and more today we are seeing the amount of information that is available that companies can act upon increase. Customers will give it to you, but they view it as an exchange. They are going to get some value out of it when they are providing that information.

As we talked about setting expectations, when customers do give it to you – whether it is through social media channels, through traditional voice, maybe face to face in the store – whatever the mechanism is, they are expecting you to treat that as a tool to make sure their lives are easier. And that exchange may be at the heart of some of what this broken promise is all about.

Small Business Trends: It looks like consumers get information from the buyers using a variety of channels. 79% say they get it from word of mouth, 71% from corporate websites, 63% from review sites. Lagging far behind are social networks like Facebook and Twitter at 47%?

Robert Wollan: I think one of the hypotheses that came out of that is companies still haven't quite figured out how to make it easy to draw their products and services into the conversation, where it is more natural. It becomes pretty rare that companies will actually be leveraging social media beyond the generic messages, or specific promotions.

Small Business Trends: If there are one or two take-a-ways that a company should put in play, what would they be?

Robert Wollan: I might make even four that really stood out, Brent:

One: at the heart they can stop assuming that customers are leaving because of something inherently nomadic in them. The customers are saying they would like to stay. So at the core, put that strategy in how you are executing.
Two: do a better job balancing how you set expectations at the front of the relationship. Get those expectations into balance.
Three: evaluate what data you're asking for from customers. And stop looking for all of this data that we don't do anything with.
Four: really reexamine what being digital means today. Focus on what channels you want to offer your services and products through, and then how well those meet different customer segments. Not the masses, but the folks that you most want to add to your customer portfolio, or keep with you as opposed to switching.

Small Business Trends: Robert, where can people learn more?

Robert Wollan: The best place to do go is certainly Accenture.com. You can also follow me on Twitter, @Wollan.

This interview is part of our One on One series of conversations with some of the most thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This interview has been edited for publication. To hear audio of the full interview, click the right arrow on the gray player below. You can also see more interviews in our interview series.

The post Robert Wollan of Accenture: Consumers Are Switching It Up appeared first on Small Business Trends.

I’m Your Boss

Posted: 14 Dec 2012 05:00 AM PST

boss business cartoon

Years ago, I pitched a comic strip idea where a man and a dog lived in an apartment, but the character’s typical roles were reversed. The dog went to work every day and was the breadwinner, while his owner stayed home and caused trouble.

In the end, no one (including me) thought it was ready for the big time, but to this day I still like the basic concept.

Every so often, I revisit those characters in a cartoon like this one. It’s like seeing old friends again.

The post I’m Your Boss appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Free Shipping Day Coming Dec. 17

Posted: 14 Dec 2012 02:30 AM PST

Free Shipping Day is almost upon us. The day was created to entice online shoppers who have waited until the last possible moment to buy gifts and still want them delivered in time for the holidays at no charge. Here’s more on how this remarkable day came about and what it can mean for your business:

If It’s for Free, It’s for Me

Are you ready? First of all, don’t be like those customers, waiting for the last minute and then praying for a Christmas miracle. Business bloggers like Maria Valdez Haubrich have been talking about the event for a while now, so it’s time to get cracking. Actually, as Haubrich points out, free delivery is always a good idea that will make online businesses more competitive, but during the holidays it’s even more important. Grow Smart Biz

The more the merrier. Launched in 2008, the special day is growing rapidly. This year an estimated 2,000 retailers will be involved, offering free shipping and other bonuses. For online retailers, the day is becoming another huge push, like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, according to Daily News journalist Phyllis Furman. The day serves an obvious need on the part of both online merchants and consumers, a win-win for everyone this season. New York Daily News

A Bright Idea

How it began. Like all great ideas, it seems, Free Shipping Day was born of necessity. Co-founder of FreeShipping.org, Luke Knowles, got his inspiration when he realized that while late Christmas shopping was practically a tradition, the new online shopping trend made Dec. 11 the cutoff for buying gifts online since customers knew placing orders any later would likely make it impossible to have them delivered in time to be placed under the tree…at least without paying extra. FreeShippingDay.com

Revenue in review. The effort has been well worth it, at least in terms of overall retail spending. Online sales on last year’s Free Shipping Day were north of $1 billion, making it one of the biggest single shopping days of the season. Check out how the special day stacked up compared to other shopping events like Cyber Monday. comScore

Some Great Suggestions

Don’t be left behind. If you still want to take advantage of Free Shipping Day, be sure to promote your offers through as many channels as possible. At the same time, clearly communicate deadlines and limitations on these orders to avoid holiday disappointment. Here’s a checklist you can use to get your online business ready for a day that is already surpassing Black Friday in overall sales. Data shows customers love free delivery, so make it work for you. Marketlive

Canada gets into the act. And if you think Free Shipping Day is just for U.S. merchants, think again. An estimated 250 online retailers in Canada took advantage of an earlier Free Shipping Day on Dec. 12, this year. Together with Cyber Monday and the growth of online e-commerce in general, online holiday shopping is expected to push the Canada Post to process more than a billion letters and parcels in December. CTV News

Free shipping all year round. The success of Free Shipping Day should give online retailers pause. Imagine the orders you might receive if you offered free shipping all year round! Clearly challenges exist, but experts say there is no reason you cannot offer this wonderful service to customers everyday. See this link for more on how to realize what might be a significant strategic advantage in your online business. Business News Daily

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