Tips for Combating Buyer’s Remorse
So you closed the deal and you’re thrilled. For many, that’s the time to take a moment to take a breath and enjoy the success. You’ve established a solid foundation of valuable customer relationships.
Or so it seems.
What about how your customer is feeling? Whether it’s their money or the money of the company they work for, they’re prone to the common emotion that is known as “buyers remorse.”They’ve just made a big commitment to you — and now you have to come through. Of course, most customers want to avoid a bad experience — but many don’t relish the thought of having to tell you when your product or service isn’t meeting their expectations.
At this point, your job is to make them feel as comfortable as possible about their decision. This is particularly important for your small business, since much of your ongoing business will—and should—rely on customer referrals and repeat purchases from loyal customers.
This means going above and beyond the specifics of the product or service you just sold them. Your job is to make the experience so enjoyable that they can’t wait to brag to their friends and colleagues about how smart they were for picking you — which isn’t bad for your business either.
Why Do People Have Buyer’s Remorse? While it’s a natural human reaction, buyer’s remorse is an emotional state where a person feels regret after the purchase of an item. It’s usually associated with the purchase of higher value items, such as property or cars. An equally common source of disquiet is a sense than one cannot actually afford the item or that it represents more of a want than a need, despite any protestations to the contrary.
Basically, buyer’s remorse occurs out of a sense of caution. The bottom line: developing a trusted relationship with your customers at the outset will ease any potential worries they may have. However, buyer’s remorse can destroy many seemingly successful sales. Lack of referrals, talking bad about the company, and outright canceling the order are all symptoms of buyer’s remorse. It only takes a few extra steps and a head full of brains to stop its development within your customer.
Here are some ideas for pre-emptying possible customer remorse:
Create a “Thank You” packet:
The goal of the packet is to show your customer that you are grateful for their business. This is a tactic that many auto companies use after customers have purchased a vehicle. It can be as simple or complex as you’d like, but possible items could include gift certificates or inspirational books. If you have a more intimate knowledge of their interests, cater a gift or note to meet that need. It reinforces the relationship with your customers and validates their decision to buy from you.
Communicate with them:
Send a personal e-mail to your customer immediately following the purchase. It’s really that simple. If you have the resources, you can give your customers something to say by regularly communicating with them post-purchase via e-newsletters. Not only will it demonstrate that you are engaged in a dialogue with them, it gives you the chance to demonstrate your expertise with your product or service, which will further assuage their concerns and build confidence. Include other customers’ testimonials or stories about how other customers are using your product or service in unique ways. Ultimately, this helps to reinforce that they are not alone.
Make customers partners:
Actively solicit feedback from your customers, both good and bad. Let them know up front that this is something you regularly do and request that they partner with you. Not only will they provide insight on how you can improve your product or service, they will feel like trusted partners in your business.
And that’s your ultimate goal: to become the trusted agent that your customers come to rely on. For the long-term.
Finding the Elusive Balance
“We do not remember days, we remember moments.”-Cesare Pavese
Long, long ago, employees worked from 9-5, Monday through Friday. Sure, there were occasional exceptions, but most of the time, the boundaries between home and work lives were clear.
Those were the days.
The world certainly has changed, and in many ways has made our lives easier with technological advances making our lives more efficient. But at the same time, the boundaries between work and home are blurrier for many workers, especially if you own your own business and/or work from home. The challenge ahead for many of us is to strike that balance to create the meaningful moments in both our work and home lives that keep us going.
By strict definition, work-life balance is a person’s control over the conditions in their workplace. It is accomplished when an individual feels dually satisfied about their personal life and their paid occupation. It mutually benefits the individual, business and society when a person’s personal life is balanced with his or her own job. The work-life balance strategy offers a variety of means to reduce stress levels and increase job satisfaction in the employee while enhancing business benefits for the employer. In our increasingly hectic world, the work-life strategy seeks to find a balance between work and play.
It isn’t easy to juggle the demands of career and personal life. For most people, it’s an ongoing challenge to reduce stress and maintain harmony in key areas of their life. Here are some ideas to help you find the balance that’s best for you:
- Keep a log. Track everything you do for one week. Include work-related and non-work-related activities. Decide what’s necessary and satisfies you the most. Cut or delegate activities you don’t enjoy, don’t have time for or do only out of guilt. If you don’t have the authority to make certain decisions, talk to your supervisor.
- Manage your time. Organize household tasks efficiently. Doing one or two loads of laundry every day rather than saving it all for your day off, and running errands in batches rather than going back and forth several times are good places to begin. A weekly family calendar of important dates and a daily list of to-dos will help you avoid deadline panic.
- Rethink your cleaning standards. An unmade bed or sink of dirty dishes won’t impact the quality of your life. Do what needs to be done and let the rest go.
- Fight the guilt. Remember, having a family and a job is okay — for both men and women.
- Nurture yourself. Set aside time each day for an activity that you enjoy, such as walking, working out or listening to music. Unwind after a hectic workday by reading, practicing yoga or taking a bath or shower.
- Set aside one night each week for recreation. Discover activities you can do with your partner, family or friends, such as playing golf, fishing or canoeing. Making time for activities you enjoy will rejuvenate you.
- Get enough sleep. There’s nothing as stressful and potentially dangerous as working when you’re sleep-deprived. Not only is your productivity affected, but you can also make costly mistakes. You may then have to work even more hours to make up for these mistakes.
- Read up on it. Some good resources are “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” by Richard Carlson and “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” by Dale Carnegie.
Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan
The Small Business Owners Daily Work Plan
We all have emergencies that enter into our world. But if we let ourselves be driven by the latest & loudest, we never make progress towards our long term goals.
If we’re going to ‘advance the ball’, we need to Plan Our Work & Work Our Plan.
Successful business owners wake up each morning, assess their progress towards our goals, and make darn sure they take one step – as small as it may be — towards that goal.
Each day builds on the success of the previous day.
Unfortunately, most of us start our days just by picking up what’s left over from yesterday. We scan our emails, we pick up the latest emergency, and we let ourselves be victims to all the stuff coming at us.
If our work has no context – no meaning – we end up feeling overwhelmed. Worse, we don’t advance the most critical projects to our success and happiness.
It’s what Stephen Covey called putting the ‘Big Rocks First.’
In a famous example from his book, First Things First, Covey tells the story of a teacher in front of a class with a wide-mouth gallon jar. Next to the jar is a pile of fist-sized rocks.
After filling the jar to the top with the rocks, the teacher asks the class if the milk jug is full. The class answers, ‘Yes.’
The teacher then takes out a box of tiny pebbles underneath his desk and then places them into the container, topping it off.
The teacher asks again if the container is full? Tentatively, they answer ‘Yes’ again.
The teacher then takes out a bag of sand and pours it into the container filling it to the top. Then he takes water and pours it into the container.
He says ‘Ok, NOW it’s full?’
10 Mistake Small Business Owners Make (And How to Avoid Them)
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‘ 10 Mistakes Small Business Owners Make (And How to Avoid Them)‘
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Who This E-Book Is For
This book is for people who started their business wanting one thing: INDEPENDENCE.
For many that may mean financial independence. But, I’m talking independence in truest form.
I’m talking about the freedom to work WHEN you want, WHERE you want, HOW you want, and with WHO you want. I’m talking about the freedom to work on things that EXCITE you.
And YES, I’m talking about making as much money as you dream about making in the process.
This book is for people who got into business to so they can build the lifestyle they’ve always dreamed of having.
What is this book ultimately about? Connecting the dots.
Your greatest challenge as a business owner is taking the vision you have for you, your business, and your family and making them all work together.
Your job is to take that vision and make it ACTIONABLE. Your job is to focus on your long term goal while taking incremental steps towards that vision each and every chance you get.
This E-Book Is NOT For
- People who believe you need to work 70 hours a week to be successful
- People who believe their job is to sit at a desk and ‘get stuff done’
- Anyone who dismisses Vision as ‘hogwash’
- People who define success solely by how much money you have in the bank
About the Author
Kelly Brown, founder of the Office Space Coworking, has 20 years of experience leading entrepreneurial organizations.
Kelly founded Office Space Coworking in 2008 after serving several years as the Chief Operating Officer and Marketing Director for a publishing organization based in Canton, Ohio. Under Kelly’s leadership net operating profits doubled and ROI from marketing activities increased by over 150%.
Kelly is also a CPA. While he no longer practices public accounting and feigns ignorance when asked for tax advice, he does know his debits from his credits and is a whiz when it comes to P&Ls and spread sheet analysis.
Small Business Owner
Kelly started his first business at age 16 then started his second at age 26. After deciding to sell the business and take a leadership position in the purchasing organization. While he enjoyed the comforts of the traditional corporate environment, he felt the itch to start his third business, Small Business Guru, in 2006.
Small Business Advocate
Kelly’s passion is business. He loves teaching others how to grow and manage their business and has spoken at meetings and conventions across the United States and in Canada. His goal? To give entrepreneurs and small business owners affordable access to the same high-level management expertise that only large companies with big budgets can afford.
‘Business is Simple’ Approach
Kelly is ‘old school.’ He ascribes to philosophies of the Carnegies (both Andrew & Dale), Deming, Drucker, Wunderman, Covey, & (most recently) Allen (GTD).
Kelly believes business owners should seek to be their own guru through education and peer interaction. The answers are out there and are as old as time, you just need to know where to look and who to ask.
