Learn More From Your Client in 15 Minutes A Day

One of the consistent issues I hear from clients is that they don't like to do research. They have bad visions of being in high school and having to write that book report. "Yuck," they say.

So I've been thinking about this problem for awhile. With good market research, I've seen how it is so much easier for my clients to:

• decide what product or service to sell (!)
• describe their product/service;
• price their product/service;
• design a marketing plan that doesn't waste time or money by being in the wrong place at the wrong time; and
• SELL their product/service

So, what can you accomplish in 15 minutes?

• read your Google alerts
• visit your trade association website
• view a video on survey design fundamentals (this is really only 10 minutes!)
• create a mini survey for your best customers
• call one ongoing customer and check in with them
• call one ongoing customer and ask them the questions from your survey
• create a free survey on survey monkey or zoomerang and send it out to your email list

Got some more ideas?

Pay What You Think It's Worth

I've been hearing about a few restaurants here and there that are fighting dangerously slow sales by letting their customers pay what they think their meal is worth. It turns out that for some this works. One success case is the gastropub at the Hilton in San Francisco.

They ran the promotion for a week, and discovered that diners, 600 of them, actually paid $1 more than the cost of the tab if prices were set. And yes, they still tipped.

Only two walked out without paying a penny.

Of course, this idea is not new. If you're working on a business plan or new product offering, this might be a great way to discover what your customers want to pay.

Revenue, Anyone?

In the marketing classes I teach, I always emphasize that an undeniable goal of an entrepreneur - no matter what - is about making revenue, 'cause without revenue, they'll be out of business.

That doesn't mean they can't have other goals. My company, for example, supports a social venture in Kenya called Uplift Business Alliance. In fact, we're looking for business-minded volunteers who would like to go to Nairobi, Kenya for a week in January 2010 to work with Kenyan entrepreneurs. Leave a comment if you're interested and we'll get in touch.

So I found a recent email invite from Guy Kawasaki to attend Revenue Bootcamp, "a conference for entrepreneurs to energize their strategies for generating revenue," intriguing.

Here's who's speaking:

• Chris Anderson, the author of "The Long Tail" and editor of Wired Magazine, talk about "The Future of Pricing"

• Mike Moritz, general partner at Sequoia Capital and Google board member, talk about the outlook for high tech startups

• Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, talk about helping entrepreneurs start their companies

• Eighteen other authors, experts, and entrepreneurs talk about what it takes to win new customers, increase sales to your current customers, and expand your revenues in today's economy

Guy, the founder of Garage Technology Ventures, will also speak, of course. Check it out ... maybe I'll see you there.

Recession Strategies for Small Businesses

Brad Sugars wrote an article over on entrepreneur.com a year ago. But his 6 ideas are still very relevant. I particularly like giving your customers something to talk about (idea #2) and using sites like elance.com and guru.com to find smart folks to help you grow (idea #4). If you've been in my classes at Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, then you've heard all of this already.

CompUSA: The Smell Lingers ...

If every there was a reason to provide great customer service, the lingering anger customers feel toward the now defunct CompUSA should give you pause. In the last week - I cannot tell you why -- two different people have talked disparagingly about their terrible experience shopping a the stores. Russell Shaw's post, "CompUSA is Closing for Good. Good" says it all.

Lululemon: Learning thru Downward Dog

I like to use stories that illustrate the techniques I teach at the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center. Fast Company published an article about Lululemon. One particular bit was great for highlighting the importance of getting out from behind your computer when you're doing research for a business start-up:

As much as a year before it opens in a new market, it sends missionaries to attend every yoga and exercise class they can find, sniffing out and befriending the most influential instructors.

That kind of research allows Lululemon to really understand its partners - yoga instructors - who then help them understand what the company's core local customers - yoga students - want in yoga gear.

Yelp: Tools for Business Owners

Yelp is helping business owners provide better customer service. A new suite of tools allows you to to: send a message customers who have reviewed their business; see how many have viewed the page of their businesses; update information like when they are open; and get instant alerts when their business is reviewed - key to instantly joining the conversation about your business.

There's also a business owner's guide that is very useful.

Although the rants on Yelp get almost all of the press, according to Yelp, 85% of the posts are neutral to great (3 stars and up, as of Sept. 2008).

Scream and Shout

The voice of the consumer rings loud on Yelp, and it strikes fear in many consumer-facing businesses. Many beginning entrepreneurs ask what they can do to control what customers say on Yelp.

But you can't.

If you make a mistake, own up to it. If you didn't (but someone thinks you did), explain your side respectfully and show you're always open to making your customer's experience better. Whatever you say, no matter how loud the screams directed at your business, don't shout back.

Vote!

I know I've been quiet for several months, but it's only because I've been crazy-busy. However, I will NO WAY be too busy to vote, as I've done even when I was living abroad.

Go vote!

Microsoft Xbox 360: Open Sesame

Reading Patricia Seybold's Outside Innovation post on Microsoft opening the Xbox to the world's coders, I had a thought that maybe this will be Microsoft's path to the living rooms of America.

How? Women dominate casual gaming. Yet Xbox games created by Microsoft cater to a different crowd. It may only take a few totally sick casual games (Diner Dash on steroids?) to get the CHEO (Chief Household Executive Officer, AKA Mom/Wife) to move the Xbox front and center.

Anyone for a little gaming before dinner?