Bagaimana Mendongkrak Penjualan Berjumlah Nol Rupiah?

Minggu, 4 November 2012 10:24 wib

Tung Desem Waringin. Foto: tdwclub

Ada beberapa jurus yang memang terbukti dahsyat dan mampu meningkatkan omzet secara signifikan. Namun di antara semua jurus tersebut, ada satu yang paling power fulldan tidak boleh digunakan sembarangan karena saking power full-nya.

Bila digunakan pun haruslah digunakan untuk hal yang bermanfaat. Jurusnya adalah Hukum Psikologis Timbal Balik. Jurus ini dulu dipakai oleh sebuah organisasi keagamaan Hare Khrisna Society di Amerika (1970-an). Dalam waktu 34 tahun, mereka bisa membangun 321 kuil di Amerika & di luar negeri.Apa yang dilakukan? Anggota kelompok mereka menghampiri banyak orang yang turun dari bandara atau di jalanan.

Mereka memberi buku (biasanya Bhagavad Gita), majalah, atau hadiah yang paling cost effective yaitu bunga. Saat itu, orang-orang yang lewat mendadak mendapatkan bunga di tangan mereka atau disematkan di baju. Ketika orang menolak,mereka selalu ngotot. "Tidak, ini hadiah dari kami, gratis".

Kemudian setelah orang itu menerima, orang-orang dari organisasi Khrisna ini mengeluarkan kertas permintaan sumbangan dan menyebutkan mereka sedang membangun tempat peribadatan. Aksi ini sukses besar. Sampai akhirnya dilarang pemerintah Amerika akhir ‘70- an (Cialdini).

Sementara itu, di salah satu hotel di Pekanbaru, angka pendapatan dari divisi laundry adalah hampir nol. Banyak orang tidak mau memanfaatkan jasa laundry di hotel itu, karena biasanya harganya mahal.Ini akan semakin terasa di hotel yang peringkatnya bintang tiga dan ke bawah. Pasalnya, tipikal tamu yang masuk ke hotel ini ingin mencari harga semurah mungkindanmerekaterbiasa berhemat. Lalu, diadakanlah program setiap tamu yang menginap di kamar standar akan mendapatkan "gratis laundry" sebanyak empat potong pakaian.

Setiap kali tamu check-in, voucher laundry diberikan kepada tamu bersamaan dengan voucher untuk sarapan pagi. Namun, cara ini kurang efektif karena voucher ini sering kali tidak terlihat oleh tamu. Terhimpit oleh voucher sarapan pagi. Maka cara penawarannya pun diubah. Setiap kali tamu check-in ke hotel, petugas akan langsung menerangkan bahwa setiap tamu mendapatkan jatah gratis laundry sampai empat potong. Dengan cara ini, tingkat pemakaian laundry gratis meningkat, namun belum optimal. Belum meningkat drastis. Beberapa orang akan langsung putus asa dan mengira bahwa ide ini tidak bagus dan tidak bisa dipakai.

Namun, setelah bertanya langsung kepada tamu, ditemukan bahwa tamu sering lupa bahwa mereka mendapatkan fasilitas gratis laundry begitu masuk kamar. Setelah menghidupkan TV dan beristirahat, tamu lupa. Saat keesokan harinya mau sarapan pagi, baru teringat bahwa mereka punya voucher gratis. Maka cara ini disempurnakan lagi. Program ini juga dibantu oleh petugas yang mengantarkan tamu ke kamar saat check-in. Mereka akan bertanya, "Bapak/Ibu,apakah ada pakaian kotor yang ingin kami cucikan sekalian? Bila ada, saya bisa membantu membawakannya ke laundry sekarang, sehingga besok bajunya sudah kering".

Dengan inisiatif seperti ini, tamu merasa senang dan diperhatikan. Mereka merasa bahwa petugas hotel sungguh peduli. Saat tamu merasa senang, mereka relatif lebih royal dalam pengeluaran. Saat tamu memeriksa kopernya, biasanya baju kotor ada lebih dari empat potong. Mereka merasa tanggung kalau hanya mencuci empat potong dan membawa sisa baju kotor pulang. Biasanya tamu akan langsung memeriksa harga laundry.

Saat memeriksa, biasanya tamu menemukan harga laundry ternyata bisa diterima dan cukup murah. Maka tamu langsung menitipkan beberapa helai lagi baju kotornya. Dari angka laundry tamu yang hampir nol per hari, sekarang meningkat drastis. Lebih dari separuh tamu hotel mencucikan bajunya dan biasanya mereka mencuci lebih dari empat potong. Kadang ada yang mencuci sampai 16 potong. Sebenarnya berapa besar biaya yang dikeluarkan oleh hotel untuk mencucikan baju gratis sebanyak empat potong?

Sangat kecil. Hanya sedikit ekstra deterjen dan beberapa menit untuk menggosok baju tamu tersebut, karena laundry hotel termasuk salah satu unit bisnis yang kecil biayanya dan tinggi profit marginnya. Berapa banyak laundry berbayar yang dilakukan oleh tamu karena terpancing oleh fasilitas gratis tersebut? Lebih dari separuh hotel melakukannya. Hotel hanya mengeluarkan sedikit biaya, namun mendapatkan banyak order berbayar. Apa efeknya bagi tamu? Tamu merasa sangat senang, karena biasanya biaya laundry cukup mahal. Ini juga akan sangat bermanfaat bagi tamu hotel yang menginap dalam jangka waktu lama.

Dengan begitu, mereka tidak perlu mencuci baju sendiri atau bahkan membawanya ke laundrydi luar. Selain menghabiskan tenaga, juga menghabiskan waktu.Tamu perusahaan yang biasanya semua dibayarkan oleh perusahaan pun akan senang, karena perusahaan bisa menghemat begitu banyak biaya laundry dari banyaknya eksekutif yang sering ke luar kota. Tamu senang, perusahaan senang, pihak hotel senang, everybody wins!

TUNG DESEM WARINGIN

03.39 | | No comment yet

Cara Menciptakan Isi Penawaran yang Menarik

Sabtu, 10 November 2012 15:56 wib

Tung Desem Waringin. (Foto: TDW Club)

DALAM upaya Menciptakan Isi Penawaran yang Menarik sangat penting bagi kita untuk memahami bagaimana manusia merespons sebuah penawaran. Sekali kita mengetahui formula ini, menciptakan Penawaran yang begitu menarik akan menjadi sangat mudah.
Ketika orang menerima penawaran, dia akan bertanya kepada diri sendiri:

1. Apa yang Anda tawarkan ?

2. Berapa harganya ?

3. Apa benefit-nya untuk saya? Varian dari pertanyaan ini adalah :
“Apakah kenikmatan yang ditawarkan lebih besar daripada kesengsaraan yang harus diberikan?”
“Apakah Nilai yang didapatkan lebih besar daripada nilai yang harus dibayarkan?”
“Apakah Perceived Value yang ditawarkan lebih besar daripada risiko yang harus dijalani?”
“Apakah Return on Investment ( ROI/Laba yang dihasilkan dari investasi ) lebih besar daripada Uang yang harus dibayarkan?”

4. Kenapa saya harus percaya kepada Anda?

5. Kenapa saya harus beli sekarang?

Orang selalu menimbang antara positif dan negatif. Bila kenikmatan/positifnya lebih besar dibanding negatifnya/risikonya atau bahkan risikonya menjadi nol (0) maka kemungkinan membeli akan lebih tinggi. Dengan bekal ini Penawaran yang sangat menarik dibuat dengan:

1. Meningkatkan kenikmatan/Perceived Value/ROI/hal-hal yang positif.
Cara meningkatkan kenikmatan adalah dengan meningkatkan nilai tambah. Meningkatkan nilai tambah dapat dilakukan dengan:

a.    Berhadiah aksesoris yang masih terkait dengan produk/jasa yang dijual
b.    Berhadiah produksi/jasa sejenis yang terkait dengan produk/jasa yang dijual
c.    Berhadiah produk/jasa yang tidak ada hubungannya dengan produk/jasa yang dijual
d.    Melakukan undian berhadiah

2.    Mengurangi atau meniadakan keberatan/kesengsaraan/risiko/hal-hal yang negatifDalam menciptakan penawaran yang mengurangi atau meniadakan keberatan, kita harus paham apa yang paling sering dikhawatirkan seorang pembeli, antara lain:

a.    Jangan-jangan yang saya bayarkan terlalu mahal
b.    Jangan-jangan nanti repot memakainya
c.    Kalau saya tidak suka nanti saya tidak bisa mengembalikan
d.    Apakah benar-benar bermanfaat
e.    Kalau nanti rusak/ada yang salah ada yang bantu tidak, ya?

Kita harus menciptakan penawaran yang isinya memberikan solusi atas jenis-jenis kekhawatiran tersebut sehingga orang yang melihat penawaran kita kemungkinan besar akan tertarik dan akhirnya mau membeli produk/jasa kita.

05.56 | | No comment yet

Pop the Question. It Will Help Your Business (Opinion)

Valentine's Day is a perfect excuse for anyone to link his area of expertise to love and marriage. So today, I am writing to tell you why getting married will help you become a successful entrepreneur.

I have not developed any new insights about love, relationships or marriage. (My wife will readily attest to that.) I'm still just an entrepreneurship professor writing about how to be successful in running a small business. But in honor of Valentine's Day, I looked at what the entrepreneurship literature says about marriage. The message: Getting married is a good idea if you're an entrepreneur or want to run your own business. While there are certainly psychological reasons why being married can help entrepreneurs, I'm going to stick to the economic ones.

Being married will make it easier for you to start a business because you will have access to a spouse's money. Most new businesses can't raise much capital from external sources and have to rely on the founder's typically insufficient savings account. Research shows that such liquidity constraints block some people from pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams. But being able to tap a spouse's savings helps overcome this obstacle.

If a spouse has a job, people also are more willing to start a business and accept the inherent risks. If the business fails, there's always the spouse's paycheck to fall back on. Similarly, a spouse's health insurance can be very beneficial. Because most people have to give up employer coverage to start their own companies, marriage can fill the insurance gap and thus encourage entrepreneurship, as Rob Fairlie, professor of economics at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and colleagues found in their research.

Beyond encouraging people to start businesses, marriage also helps them succeed. Undercapitalization is a major reason small businesses don't perform well and fail. But married couples can invest more in their companies because they usually have access to more capital than singles. Higher levels of equity capital, in turn, make it easier to satisfy banks' debt-to-equity ratio requirements and get loans.

Being wed also gives an entrepreneur access to labor and advice, usually for much less than the market rate. Who other than a spouse is going to work for free? In addition, spouses are often motivated to work harder than employees because they want to maximize the profits of the business they have a direct stake in.

So today I am taking advantage of my one chance to play "Dear Abby" and offer romantic advice. If you're an entrepreneur or think you might want to become one, go out, buy a ring, get down on one knee and propose to the one you love. It will help you achieve your entrepreneurial dreams.

05.50 | | No comment yet

How to Prevent Your Business From Ruining Your Personal Life

image credit: UK Yahoo Groups

For entrepreneurs and small business owners, long hours can take a toll on personal relationships, leaving your partner feeling taken for granted while you focus on growing your business.
“Partners will often say they knew what they were getting into but it’s really wearing them down,” says Rachel Sussman, a marriage and family therapist in New York City.
Your partner may feel alienated from you, taken advantage of, or overburdened with an unfair share of daily chores. “Those issues often come out in a fight as an explosion,” Sussman says.
To prevent resentment from building up in the first place, you need to communicate clearly and anticipate possible problems before they happen. “Entrepreneurs need to put the same amount of due diligence into their partnerships that they’re putting into their companies,” Sussman says.

These three simple techniques can help your relationship survive tough times without adding stress to your already busy life. Here’s how:

1. Talk through busy times before they happen. When you’re starting a business or running a company, working long hours will sometimes be unavoidable. “Discuss the impact that’s going to have on your partner and your life and try to come up with a solution together,” Sussman says.
During an especially busy time, you may need to hire help, rearrange schedules, or ask relatives for support. In many cases, simply acknowledging and appreciating your partner’s sacrifice may be all they need.

2. Involve your partner in your business. When work is especially time consuming or stressful, involving your partner can help him or her feel more invested in your business. “A mistake that a lot of people make is to shield their partners from their business problems,” Sussman says. “Most partners want to know what’s going on.”
Talk to your partner about the highs and lows of your workday when you come home. The more your partner understands about what you’re dealing with, the better they’ll be able to support you. Just remember to ask about your partner’s day too.

3. Make time for your partner in small ways. Even when you’re swamped at work, you need to find ways to show you appreciate your partner. “Relationships need to be fed,” Sussman says. “You can do that by carving out a little time in a creative way.”
Send a thoughtful text at lunchtime or phone home to say goodnight before your kids go to bed. If you don’t have time for date nights, plan creative quick dates together (like a picnic lunch or a 20 minute walk) and make the most of the time you have.

05.42 | | No comment yet

Serial Entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal on Building an A-List Team

How to Build a Support Network

image credit: Shutterstock

As every business leader quickly finds, it's lonely at the top. With the burden of decisions and risks falling on your plate, you need a strong support network that can offer advice and understanding.
"When I started my first business, it was pretty lonely, like it is for most entrepreneurs," says Kevin Miles, a serial entrepreneur and founder of Avantras Consulting Group. Over time, he built a strong group of friends, peers, and mentors that supported him throughout his career and helped his businesses grow.
Building that network takes effort and energy. "You have to put value on building the network and commit the time," Miles says.
Here are five ideas that can help you strengthen your support network:

1. Be bold about reaching out. Especially when you're just starting out, you want to meet potential mentors one on one. To do that, look for experienced leaders you admire and ask them to join you for coffee or drinks. "I was surprised at first by how many people said yes," Miles says. "All I had to do was ask."
Show that you're serious about growing your business and be direct about how they can help you. "You both want to leave the meeting with a clear understanding of where it's going next," Miles says.

2. Host social events. There are plenty of local gatherings for entrepreneurs, but you can deepen your relationships by hosting one yourself.
Invite people in your network to a dinner or cocktail party and ask each person to bring someone you've never met. Not only will you get to know your peers much better, but your guests will remember that you helped them meet new people too.

3. Organize informal opportunities to talk shop. To build substantive relationships with others in your industry, gather an informal, intimate group to talk about issues in your business. Let them be a source of support and guidance.
For example, a group of tech professionals in New York City gathers monthly to share one lesson that each of them learned from a recent project. Not only can they give each other advice, they learn from each other's mistakes.

4. Give more than you ask to receive. As you build your support network, focus on what you have to offer, not what you have to gain. "You have to give to get," Miles says.
Be generous when others need introductions or advice and offer them your support. Pay for drinks after work and congratulate them for small wins. Your little signs of support will add up and make them much more generous with theirs.

5. Make time for old friends. The friends you've known for years are most likely to support you unconditionally, whether or not they have any expertise in your industry. But they need to see that you value the relationship--even when you're busy.
Carve out time every week to say hi, grab a drink, or watch a football game together. You don't have to commit a lot of time if you're overloaded, but you do have to give some work-free time if you want your friends to be there when you need them.

05.37 | | No comment yet

How to Find Your Money Zen

Decrease Stress and Increase Efficiency In Dealing With Your Finances

image credit: TallyGal

Running your own business will undoubtedly include some stressful moments. And for many entrepreneurs, those anxious times are often associated with managing the business's finances. Here are some recommendations for things you can do to make your life as a business owner less stressful by becoming more efficient managing your finances.

About one in three business owners report that managing their finances causes them the most stress of all their various managerial duties, according to a recent survey of more than 400 business owners from TD Bank. Also, nearly half of business owners think they spend too much time managing their business's finances, according to the survey, which polled businesses with less than $5 million in annual revenue in the New York, Boston, Philadelphia and South Florida regions.

That isn't a surprise, since the biggest concerns of small-business owners right now have to do with finances, says Mary Kelly, an economist and leadership expert whose Dallas-based company Productive Leaders focuses on growing profits.

Business owners are worried about the possibility of having to pay higher taxes at the start of 2013 with the impending "fiscal cliff," they are worried about being in compliance with regulations, and they are worried about financial implications of health-care reform, says Kelly. Here are four recommendations for managing your finances that will help keep stress levels to a minimum:

1. Be sure you have a profit and loss statement. Known as a P&L statement, this document "tracks every penny that goes in and out of the business," says Kelly. If you have never had a P&L before, Kelly recommends starting out with the template she provides for free on her website. Most business owners don't keep their profit and loss statement up to date, if they have one at all, says Kelly.
More common is for entrepreneurs to scramble to get their P&L together at the end of the quarter, says Kelly. Keeping your P&L updated daily not only prevents you from having the last-minute scramble, it also helps you know exactly where you are financially at all times.

2. Know your "sweet spot." Growing your business is generally a good thing, but there comes a point at which if you grow too much, too quickly, you risk surpassing the demand for your product or service. At that point, your profits will begin to decrease. It's important to operate your business at this financial "sweet spot," where your profits are maximized, says Kelly.

Consider a deli that has a small number of tables and consistently has a line of customers out the door. They decide to expand into the newly vacated shop next door and suddenly they can't support the increase in costs of the expanded shop with the amount of business they can attract, says Kelly. "Many times people say, ‘Oh, my business is expanding.' Well, that may or may not be a good thing," she says.

3. Hire a tax strategist. Business owners always need to keep an eye on the horizons of expenses, but that can be hard in an election year, where so much could change depending on the results of the Nov. 6 election. For example, millions of small businesses are currently not in compliance with the forthcoming regulations as a part of the Obamacare health-care overhaul, says Kelly. To decrease your stress about uncertainties and increase your ability to handle these changes efficiently, seek out a tax strategist now, says Kelly. Don't wait until Nov. 7 when every other business owner also realizes they need help deciphering legislative changes.
If you haven't ever worked with a tax strategist before, it can seem daunting to figure out where to go to find a good one. Turn to your local business community, says Kelly. Reach out to your local chamber of commerce, your local Small Business Development Center or your local SCORE chapter.

4. Get your business plan in tip-top shape. "The deli guy wants to be in the deli, he doesn't want to be sitting there writing a business plan," says Kelly. But do it anyway. Make sure that you are clear on where you are going and what you are spending money on. "If you know your plan, then you can strategize for everything else," says Kelly.

What is your best tip for keeping your finances organized and your stress level down? Leave a comment below and let us know.

06.03 | | No comment yet

2 Aliran dalam Dunia Marketing

Dalam artikel ini saya akan buka rahasia tentang buku marketing revolution. Marketing Revolution adalah Street Smart (yang paling terpenting adalah dapat menghasilkan). Anda dapat memakai semua cara, yang paling terpenting adalah dapat menghasilkan dan dapat menguntungkan untuk Anda. Serta di dalam dunia marketing ada dua aliran, yaitu:

1. Aliran mengingatkan "Branding".

Aliran ini hanya mengingat saja. Penjualan tidak bisa diukur langsung. Jika penjualan tidak bisa diukur langsung bagaimana Anda bisa meningkatkan? Mungkin saja Anda meningkatkan dalam satu tahun sekali, dan itu dapat terjadi.

Tetapi proses marketing itu sangat lama sekali. Tidak bisa seperti itu, dalam marketing revolution itu harus cepat, jika mengeluarkan biaya marketing setahun sekali kemungkinan besar perusahaan tidak akan berjalan dengan cepat dan kemungkinan besar perusahaan itu tidak akan berkembang. Kesimpulannya perusahaan itu akan cepat mati.

Selain itu, dengan Anda menambahkan penawaran pada iklan Anda, maksudnya Anda tidak hanya Branding. Dengan begitu, orang yang melihat iklan Anda akan segera Take Action dengan iklan digital maupun secara offline yang dilihatnya.

Namun kebanyakan iklan yang beredar sekarang hanyalah melakukan yang namanya Branding, sehingga membuat orang hanya menilai iklan tersebut saja tanpa melakukan Take Action. Lain halnya dengan aliran Marketing Revolution, semua yang dilakukan harus dan mau tidak mau akan diperiksa, diaudit dan diukur. Jadi intinya adalah penjualan tidak bisa diukur secara langsung.

2. Aliran menawarkan "Direct Respons Marketing"

Menawarkan "Direct Respons Marketing". Problemnya dari advertising agency menurut pakar marketing yaitu mengukur biaya promosi, biaya iklannya, biaya marketingnya jika tidak termonitor, tidak diaudit, tidak diperiksa.

Tapi jika aliran Marketing Revolution, benar-benar cepat, Termonitor dalam keuangan tidak menunggu setahun sekali mengeluarkan biaya marketing. Jika menawarkan, Anda juga bisa memakai branding supaya bisa diukur.

Ada pepatah "Bisnis itu ada bukan karena Mr High Tech, Kantor, dan juga bukan karena produk Anda yang indah. Bukan juga masalah produk atau jasa, bisnis itu ada ketika Anda memberikan penawaran. Parawaran adalah, "Ini Untuk Itu".

Semoga bermanfaat.