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When getting a group of people together for the
first time for a training course, it is common for no one to want to
talk at first. Also, there is often paperwork, taking attendance,
or other activities that need to be managed by the instructor.
Some people will show up quite early as well and get bored just sitting
there, waiting for the course to get started.
A great way to avoid the awkward silence is to provide participants with
a list of questions to stimulate conversation, and encourage those
people who are not busy to network with each other. Some of these
questions can include:
1. What got you into your work?
2. What do you like best about what you do?
3. How do I know if someone I am talking to is a good referral for
you?
4. What exciting news have you had recently about your business or
work?
5. What motivates you most in your work?
6. What would you like to change about your business or work?
7. Describe your ideal customer.
8. What are your goals with your business or work for the next 12
months?
9. What is the greatest challenge you face in the next 12 months
in your business or work?
10. What is something we have in common?
You probably won't need to provide any more questions than this, and
many participants will have difficulty getting to all 10 of these
questions as their conversations will develop and flourish after just a
few prompting questions.
Working with
Entrepreneurs
You're worth it!
A common mistake first time entrepreneurs make is
to charge too low of a price. This can be a very damaging, and
sometimes even fatal mistake to make.
Customers associate value with price! Charging too low of a price
can lead customers to question what is wrong with it. For example,
if you found ground beef in a grocery store for $.59 per pound, you
would question if it is even beef, how much fat is in it, or how old it
is. Chances are you probably wouldn't buy it, even if there wasn't
anything wrong with it. The same principle holds true for a small
business owner also.
Customers expect they will have to pay a minimum amount for an item or
service when they buy it. Having a new business doesn't mean you
should severely undercut the competition's price to get customers, and
this can actually turn your competition against you very quickly.
It is okay is some cases to charge a little less when you are a new
business, but you wouldn't want to charge a lot less. It's very
difficult to do large price increases, and if you start out with
severely low prices and then raise them, chances are you will lose a lot
of customers and also credibility along the way.
A better strategy is to determine the ballpark of what a customer is
willing to pay for a product or service and then make sure your prices
are in this ballpark. You can successfully enter a marketplace by
focusing on your competitive advantages, preferably in areas your
competition is weak in. For example , if you are a tax preparer
and you find that all of your competition is open 8-5 Monday - Friday,
one of your competitive advantages could be that you have evening and
weekend hours. You will get customers because of this and don't
need to have a lower price to do so. In fact, you may be able to
charge more for this competitive advantage, even if you are a new
business!
CORE FOUR®
Tip of the Month:
Be credible
Brought to you this month by:
Brenda
Shoberg
CORE FOUR®
National Sales Director
When starting any training course, it is important
to establish an environment where the participants can relate to you and
view you in a credible manner.
When working with entrepreneurs, any stories you can tell of your own
entrepreneurial experiences will go a long way in making the
participants feel like you are able to relate to where they are at.
They will enjoy laughing with you, and will also enjoy sharing their own
entrepreneurial stories. Participants will quickly realize that we
all make mistakes when we start out as entrepreneurs, and this will help
highlight how important it is to do business planning which will
minimize the mistakes.
"The Master Plan" Business Plan Blueprint
Order your poster today!
For a chance to receive a FREE poster, email any entrepreneurial information to corefour@entrepreneurfund.org. If your information is chosen to be published in one of our e-newsletters, you will receive a FREE poster! Ideas for submissions include how you promote CORE FOUR®, what you like so much about CORE FOUR®, a short article on a business owner who has been helped by CORE FOUR®, a great web site to help entrepreneurs, visual aids or exercises you use in your CORE FOUR® training, or any other entrepreneurial information that is interesting.
This poster is a great visual aid for presenting the CORE FOUR® course or describing what business planning involves and how the pieces fit together! The Master Plan poster actual size is 27" x 34" (flip chart).
Featured Web Site
What are your customers saying about you?
www.womenbusinessowner.com
In her book, The Woman's
Advantage, Mary Cantando, President of womenbusinessowner.com,
suggests that business owners don't ask valuable questions because
they are afraid of the answer. What are these magic questions? It's
not about the questions. Ask the people who have all the
answers...your customers.
