Hi, Richard Seppala, “The ROI Guy,” here.

As I wrote in my latest article, “Get the Real Picture of Your Patient Procedure,” a Mystery Video Patient can open up your eyes to what really goes on at your practice like nothing else. It can also create the foundation for real change at your office, so you can:

• Improve patient retention
• Improve staff “up sell” of other products and services
• Correct staff and doctor mistakes in patient treatment
• Identify areas for systems improvement

A Mystery Video Patient service is the equivalent of a sports “Instant Replay.” In football and, more recently, in baseball, game officials are allowed to look at video of controversial plays that they may have made the wrong call on. And often, those calls are reversed – because they just didn’t see it right when it happened.

Many of us don’t see things right when they happen. We often minimize things we don’t want to see – and blow out of proportion things we’re secretly steaming about. Unlike televised sports, however, we can’t “go to the tape” to see what really happened. Instead, we have to depend on our individual memories, which are frequently faulty to begin with.

When you filter those memories through our own perceptions and prejudices…well, you end up with a game of “Whisper Down the Alley” (which, if you haven’t played it, is where someone whispers something into the next person’s ear…who whispers it into someone else’s ear, until they reach the end of the line - where the original thought has been transformed into something completely different).

With a Video Mystery Patient, the camera doesn’t lie – and you can indeed “go to the tape” – to ascertain just how exactly what the patient experience is at your office. If you’re having problems with patient retention – or have questions about how your staff is interacting with people or how your systems are working – this is the way to get the real answer.

You can’t make the right call if you can’t see the play. And you can’t perfect your practice unless you can see exactly what happens there through the eyes of a patient.

Find out more about my Video Mystery Patient service at http://www.yourroiguy.com/video-mystery-patient. The only mystery, to be honest, is why more doctors don’t use it!

Hi, Richard Seppala, “The ROI Guy,” here.

If you haven’t checked out my Video Mystery Shop service, I’d like to talk about another reason why you should.

“The Mystery Motivator.”

We all get into ruts with our businesses. We all hit days when we want to be comfortable, not be challenged and not have to try too hard. Our problems start when we string a whole bunch of those days in a row…in some cases until we retire!

When you’ve got your company established, when you know what to expect from customers, when your revenues are consistent and you think you’ve got the whole thing licked…that’s sometimes when you just end up (if you’ll excuse the expression) licking yourself.

Because you stop trying.

The Video Mystery Shopper or Patient makes you try again. When you hire my service, you and your staff don’t know when the Mystery Shopper is going to show up, take a secret video of the entire experience and put you all in the spotlight.

Just the other day, my friend took his son to the orthodontist for his regular monthly check-up. He stayed and waited for his boy because it was supposed to be a short appointment. And the kid was told right away to go back to the examination room. All good, right?

Not so right, as my friend told me. As his son sat in the examination chair, and as he sat out in the waiting room paging through six month old magazines (the kind that he would never read even if they were brand new!), the orthodontist stood around gossiping with one of the other staff for fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes.

Now, imagine if that office was expecting a Video Mystery Patient – and the thought went through that orthodontist’s head that maybe all this yakkety-yak was going down on tape for the rest of his staff to see? You know, everyone else trying to keep the patients moving through the pipeline during the after-school rush? Maybe he would have thought twice and got back to what he should have been doing.

When you don’t know when someone’s coming in to secretly bust you – but you do know that at some point that person is coming in – it puts everyone a little more on their toes. The “Mystery Motivator” keeps everyone, including you, from being too comfortable.

If you’re interested in finding out how to put “the Mystery Motivator” to work for your business or practice, contact me at info@totalcensus.com about my Video Mystery Shop service. To me, it’s no mystery – it’s just what every business needs!

Hi, Richard Seppala, “The ROI Guy,” here.

Hope you all have had a chance to check out my new article, “Measure Marketing ROI to Answer the 5 ‘W’s”. If you haven’t, I can sum it up by telling you that tracking your marketing and utilizing an automatic lead-capture system helps you answer the “Who” “What” “When” “Where” and “Why” of your marketing on an ongoing basis.

Without tracking your marketing, those questions usually remain mysteries. Expensive mysteries, to be more exact, because you’re spending marketing money without knowing what you’re getting back from it.

Now, there’s only one more question to answer after those “W’s” and that’s an “H” – How does ROI marketing tracking work?

Basically, I provide my clients with different toll-free numbers to use on different campaigns or marketing placements (I can even make this work with online campaigns with my Dynamic Tracking technology). When the prospect responds to a particular ad, they call the designated phone number – so instantly, my client knows what marketing caused them to respond and when they responded, through an online page I set up for them.

Those phone lines can either be forwarded to the actual phone line of the business or to a pre-recorded message that gives the prospect a “Call to Action” – generally either a free offer or discount – that’s linked to the particular ad the person is calling about. In other words, if the person is responding to a cosmetic dentistry ad, the message might offer a free consultation appointment – on the other hand, if they’re responding to a teeth whitening process from the same dental practice, they might be offered free information on how the process works.

For those clients that also use my “ROI Bridge” software, the prospects’ phone numbers are automatically captured for follow-up marketing, even if they decide not to leave any of their contact information. But if they do, that contact information is automatically transcribed and uploaded to the client’s CRM software and added to their database.

That’s “How” it works. And it’s also “How” a small or medium-sized business can affordably create a seamless automatic start-to-finish marketing system that brings dramatically better marketing responses, more conversions and more cash sales.

Now…”How” can I help you improve your marketing ROI and your business revenues? Just contact me at info@totalcensus.com –

Hi, Richard Seppala, “The ROI Guy,” here.

Partnerships can be an incredibly powerful thing. If you read my latest article, “Bridging the Conversion Gap,” I talk about my ROI marketing improvement tool, “The ROI Bridge,” which works directly with Infusionsoft’s CRM software to give small businesses and entrepreneurs an effective automated process to capture and upload the contact info of generated leads for follow-up marketing.

The fact is that my call tracking system, teamed up with Infusionsoft’s amazing marketing software, makes a killer combo and delivers an awesome service to our customers. Obviously, this is a partnership that benefits everyone.

That’s why it’s so exciting to currently be at their annual InfusionCon event in Scottsdale, Arizona. Since they do provide the leading marketing software for small businesses and entrepreneurs, this is where the action really is. And also where I get to hobnob with such business stars as John Assaraf, one of the experts behind “The Secret” blockbuster book and video.

“The ROI Guy” Meets “The Secret!”

Partnerships grow businesses. Cooperation yields more results than competition. And, at an incredible event like InfusionCon, it’s a real “meeting of the minds,” where we all can find out the latest and greatest marketing techniques and technology.

This is all valuable information that I can then share with my most important partners – my clients. They want to continually increase and improve their marketing and advertising ROI, and I enjoy helping them do it. Their success goes hand-in-hand with my success – and that makes it a true partnership.

I hope all of you make it a point to connect with leaders in your business to “mastermind” ways to grow your companies. It’s one of the time-tested proven ways to take your business to the next level.

Here’s hoping your ROI hits new heights in 2010.

Hi, Richard Seppala, your ROI Guy here. In my new article, “Proper Pricing is Paramount,” I write about two new studies about discounting and how to make it have more impact.

The first study made it clear that offering a new product or service for free when another existing product or service is purchased doesn’t work for most people. They tend to see the new product as being worthless – they don’t really know what it is and if you’re giving it away, then, hey, can’t be worth much, can it?

One suggestion I gave was making the existing product free – and charging for the new product. That way, consumers see the value in getting something they already know and like for nothing.

But another point in the study was that if you bundle the package together at the same price – but don’t tag one of the products or services as “free” – that can also be effective in improving your marketing campaign ROI. Consumers, in this case, just see an overall great value and aren’t forced to look at the new product as possibly being worthless. Which is always a good thing!

The second study I wrote about had to do with “Opportunity Costs.” Simply put, it’s confronting the customer, client or patient with the fact that if they spend too much on one thing, they won’t have enough to spend on another thing they might want more.

The awesome example I cited was an IKEA ad showing just how many more shoes a woman could buy if she bought an affordable IKEA cabinet instead of an expensive one.

Again, there’s another – and just as effective – way to approach “Opportunity Costs” in your marketing. An experiment the researchers did was to offer people a choice between a 16GB iPod Touch and a 32GB iPod Touch. The number of people who chose the 16 gig model doubled when the researchers said that choosing the cheaper model would “leave you $100 in cash.”

Just saying 10 or 20% off – at a time when huge discounts are commonplace, thanks to the economy – may not be enough. You can increase your ROI with marketing by bringing home what that discount really means to their everyday lives – either by having more cash on hand or by being able to buy something they really want.

The sure way to improve marketing ROI is by communicating as effectively as possible in your advertising. By presenting discounts and freebies properly, you make the most of them. You’re only offering these kinds of deals to get more business – so do the little special tweaks to how you offer them to ensure they have the biggest impact with the people you’re marketing to.

Until next time, I’m Richard Seppala, The ROI Guy – hoping your ROI is all good! Don’t forget to stop by www.yourROIguy.com for the latest on how to measure and increase your ROI!

Hi, Richard Seppala, your ROI Guy here. In my new article, “Don’t Be Too Busy for New Business,” I write about “the Busy Bartender” syndrome. That’s when a new customer walks in the door, and the bartender is way too crazed pitching pina coladas to everybody else to even give you the time of day. Eventually, you get tired of waiting around and you leave to find a friendlier place to drink. And odds are, you avoid going back to that place again for a while.

Now imagine your business is that bar – and someone calls, wanting to know about your service or product. You’re too busy to really talk and you blow them off like they’re trying to sell you something. Think that customer is going to come back your way? Only if no one else is selling what you have - and there aren’t many lucky people in that position.

Over half of all incoming sales calls from prospective customers are mishandled, did you know that? One of my services is recording those calls and analyzing how they’re dealt with. And business owners are shocked to hear how bad a job their staff – and sometimes, even themselves – do in handling those calls.

Over half the calls mishandled. Let that roll around in your head awhile – you could be losing over half of your new business. What kind of difference would that make to your bottom line?

That’s why I developed “The ROI Bridge” – to help you bridge that new business gap and handle those incoming calls automatically. The calls are answered by a customized message, and messages are automatically recorded and transcribed – so you can return the call when you do have the time to deal with it properly. Plus you’ll know in advance what the specific question or request is – so you can have an answer ready.

There’s a lot more “The ROI Bridge” does to improve your marketing ROI – you can find out more about it at http://www.yourroiguy.com/infusionsoft-bridge . But this aspect is really important in this so-called “New Economy.” Now, more than ever, getting and keeping new clients and customers is crucial. My clients know that my services more than pay for themselves – by improving their ROI and raising revenues by making that new business stick.

So if you’re a “busy bartender,” maybe it’s time you found some affordable help. Like me, the ROI Guy. Hey, I don’t even take tips!

Hi, Richard Seppala, your ROI Guy here.  In my new article, “Incoming Sales Calls:  How’s Your ROI?,” I talk about how a lot of businesses completely drop the ball – and the sale – when already-interested prospects call for information. 

Many business people sweat over their marketing content, worry about where to put their advertising dollars and work to improve their sales message – and completely forget to have an effective system in place to handle phone calls from their marketing efforts.   Not only that, they’re not even measuring the ROI from their different marketing campaigns – so they have no idea what’s working and what’s not.

Unfortunately, all businesses lose a whole lot more from not taking those extra steps than it would cost to take them.  I’ve developed many affordable systems designed specifically for medium and small businesses to help them significantly increase their revenues – just by catching these “dropped sales” and measuring marketing ROI simultaneously.

My latest service is an incredible all-in-one solution.  “The Bridge” automatically responds to and records sales calls, collects contact data, uploads it into marketing software and also measures the ROI of your various advertising campaigns, by tracking the specific phone number from the specific marketing piece they’ve seen.  

We also offer the service of recording phone calls personally answered by your staff and working with them to improve the effectiveness of their response to generated leads.  An incoming prospect call needs a person trained in sales techniques to properly handle it – not the nightmare receptionist scenario I outlined in the article mentioned at the top of the blog.

Basically, I look at something like “The Bridge” as finishing the job when it comes to your marketing and advertising.  You have to think of your campaigns as like inviting someone to a party.  The invitation might be incredible – but if people show up and there’s not much of a party, they’re not going to be happy.  It’s not enough to get people to call through your marketing – you have to make sure you connect effectively when they do!

Check out everything we can do to improve your bottom line at www.yourROIguy.com .  Oh, and before I forget, did you know I was now one of “America’s Premier Experts?”  Yep, I’m coming up in the world – you can hear my interview on “The Next Big Thing” national radio show at http://www.americaspremierexperts.com/the-next-big-thing. 

Until next time, I’m Richard Seppala, The ROI Guy – hoping your ROI is all good!

Hi, Richard Seppala, your ROI Guy here.  In my new article, “Word of Mouth Brings the Best ROI of All,” I wrote about how what could have been just another fast food burger joint turned themselves into a Southern California icon – mostly by building buzz created by their satisfied customers.  “In-N-Out Burger” ended up becoming a cult that was spread by its devoted patrons and spontaneously endorsed by celebrities who enjoyed the food.  It was WOM at its best – because most of it wasn’t even engineered by the franchise itself!  

So what makes WOM marketing so powerful – to the point where it delivers almost a foolproof ROI?  Well, take a look at the graph below: 

Just by taking a quick glance at it, it’s easy to see that the best way to improve your marketing ROI is by a credible recommendation by either someone your prospect respects or actually has a personal relationship with. 

That’s why I am now offering the “I Refer” service – an inexpensive way to use your already-satisfied customers to get you new ones.  Your existing customers get rewarded – and so do new ones who decide to try your product or service.  It’s powerful and it works.

Why?  A real recommendation from a real person means more to the average consumer than anything else.  We’re bombarded with commercials every day from companies claiming they have the best this or the greatest that.  And we’re almost immune to that kind of market-speak.  To quote a former “In-N-Out Burger” executive, “If you have to tell somebody you’re something, you’re probably not.” 

It’s much better if someone else delivers the message – someone who’s not a part of your business.  That’s why testimonials are so important.  “I Refer” takes the power of a testimonial several steps further, however – because it’s someone the person talking up your business actually knows.

Remember one important thing about WOM marketing, though – you have to deliver a quality product and great customer service for it to work at its best.  That’s how you get credible references and increase your overall profile – and that’s what really drives WOM and your ROI.

Please check out my “I Refer” service at www.yourROIguy.com to see how WOM can do the job for you.  Until next time, I’m Richard Seppala, The ROI Guy – hoping your Word of Mouth is all good!

Hi, Richard Seppala, your ROI Guy here. 

I constantly work at helping businesses market more effectively.  That’s my focus and that’s what I concentrate on.  And sometimes I get frustrated when I see people missing easy opportunities to improve their marketing ROI with just basic steps that could make a big difference.

Then I remember increasing ROI is my primary business – it’s not theirs.

In other words, if you’re a dentist, a chiropractor, real estate agent or involved in any kind of small or medium-sized business, your focus is going to be on doing what you do most effectively.  You don’t have a lot of time or energy to put into marketing and advertising.  You’re too busy with your main occupation or business.

That’s why I try to create and provide automatic turn-key ROI marketing services to make it easier for you to market yourself more effectively.  The kind of systems you can put in place and will run without much maintenance from you and your staff.

Two of them that I’ve added recently are “The ROI Bridge” and “irefer”. 

“The ROI Bridge” automatically measures the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, answers calls from generated leads, and collects and uploads their contact data into software that can then be used to launch new marketing and advertising campaigns down the line.

“irefer” is a great new word-of-mouth online system that can generate quality referrals from your satisfied customers with just a special discount offer from your business – it’s my featured product this month. http://www.yourroiguy.com/uncategorized/featured-product-irefer.php

In both cases, a minimal one-time setup allows you a streamlined marketing mechanism that offers up-to-the-minute measurement of numbers as well as collection of specific and invaluable contact information.

Measuring ROI and effectively following up with generated leads are incredibly important to your business.  But they aren’t your real business – so I like to provide you with the most cutting edge, automatic and affordable solutions I can to make it as easy as possible for you.  That boosts your bottom line – and that’s my business.

Until next time, I’m Richard Seppala, The ROI Guy – contact me at info@yourroiguy.com for more about what I can do for you!

IMPROVED ROI REQUIRES MORE THAN “JUST THE FACTS”

Hi, Richard Seppala, your ROI Guy™ here.  I just wrote about a new study in my article, “Increase Your ROI with The Magic ‘Touch”, that proved people were more likely to pay more for a product if they touched it. 

It’s one of those mental tricks people play on themselves.  In this case, the products used for the testing were a coffee mug and a toy Slinky.  Let’s be honest – who doesn’t know what either of those two things feel like?  But somehow, when you put your fingers on it, your mind suddenly thinks it’s worth more. 

We all know there are various marketing tricks that defy logic – and that an effective emotional approach always makes for the strongest sale and ROI.  That’s why someone handling your sales calls who just gives out information in a nonchalant I’m-filing-my-nails-as-I-say-this tone doesn’t make the necessary connection.  That takes some charm, some genuine interest in the caller and their situation, and some enthusiasm for the product or service that’s been sold. 

In other words, emotion.

Yes, I’m big on objective measurement systems and hard data when it comes to ROI, but I’m also big on doing what’s necessary with marketing content to improve ROI.  And that involves tapping into your potential customers’ feelings to make them feel good about your product or service – to make them mentally “touch” it.

If you still think most people have too many smarts to let their emotions rule their common sense, let me tell you about another study recently done by the same journal that did the “touch” study.

In that study, college students were given one of two menus.   One menu gave a choice of chicken nuggets, a baked potato or french fries – the second menu had all three of those items, plus a salad.

In both cases, all the students flagged the fries as the least healthy food item of the group.  But when the salad was offered as an alternative – three times as many students picked the fries than when the salad wasn’t offered.

In other words, when they were given a more healthy choice, they went three times as much for the unhealthiest item!

Even the researchers can’t explain that one, so I won’t try – except to say it’s probably good news for McDonalds and Burger King!

Until next time, I’m Richard Seppala, The ROI Guy – and another guy who should probably pick the salad option more often!