Secrets of Gold in Online Business: Against All Odds with Passion
By Marylen Ramos-Velasco
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Excellent Customer Service
Luz does not worry about having a sense of urgency because she consistently is in that state. Her motivation is that there are buyers who are interested to buy her products. She is always on her feet to ensure that buyers do not wait long until their orders land in front of their doorsteps. Luz believes that she must always be mindful of this simple but valuable principle. Maybe it is because she has to maintain good reviews online. This she acknowledges. But she is convinced that there is no other choice than delivering excellent customer service that will sustain her business.
High ratings of her performance in customer service delivery also inspire her. Luz does not mind going the extra mile to maintain her great reputation for client satisfaction.
Trade Secrets
Over the course of her more than 20 years career, Luz has been doing sales. Almost half of that time, she operates her own business venture. Having to sell different products and be employed by different companies at the initial stage of her sales job, her wealth of knowledge and experience in this field gave her the confidence to set up her business venture. She accumulated so much knowledge in selling and developed the skills to make things happen. Eventually, she realized that the logical next step was to establish her own company and sales enterprise. Though she had that thought quite early in her career yet still employed, she waited for the right time to fulfill her ambition. She believed that the right timing was crucial.
This self-made business owner shared how she first started and sustained her business in a nutshell:
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Initially, she sold a few items.
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She sold the items very cheaply. Her profit margin was only about 10% to 20%, and people were attracted to this anything cheap.
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Then, she established a reputation in social media as one that sells cheap products compared to others. This spread like wildfire both online and through word-of-mouth.
Her business strategy is to sell branded goods at fair and inexpensive pricing. However, she needs to sell a lot to enjoy a comfortable profit. And that is what is taking place. Better with fast-moving products with low margins than otherwise.
It was really hard work. There was a time when her arm was numb on the computer, answering many inquiries online. She felt frustrated, thinking of growing her business with less effort. She admitted that there was a point when she thought of giving up, but she asked herself: “If I do that, what else would I be doing?”
It was also wise when she started her online business while still employed. In case she failed in her venture while taking a salary from the company she was working in, the financial and psychological impact would not be that bad. She strongly advises this for those still employed and, at the same time, determined to go into this line of business.
Service Delight: A Very Important Ingredient
Luz’s business continues to grow in leaps and bounds, especially a few years after she started a business. She asserts with confidence that this was and is currently a result of her ability to maintain high levels of client satisfaction. The advantage of her business model, coupled with sterling after-sales service, results in buyers buying in bulk, repeat buyers. Many of them become resellers themselves because of her low-profit margins.
As a result, one might imagine that the sheer volume alone creates a perfect financial equation for Luz's business. She acts as a wholesaler for the goods she sells. In the supply chain she is a member of, she is at the starting node. This competitive advantage is highly distinctive. She also takes pleasure in receiving full payment from her customers and in the millions.
Perfect Combination
Great Name and Service Excellence. These are two golden elements that Luz continues to protect. Furthermore, she sprinkles this with Honesty. She says she is very open and sincere with her clients, products, and herself. Luz would frankly and with great confidence tell her customers to buy a particular product because it is extremely cheap, good quality, or trending. She would tell them the whole truth without mental reservation. “That is why,” she says, “my customers trust me.”I had the privilege to be popular for my transparency.”
What It Would It Take To Be Truly Successful
Many would come to Luz to tell her that she is very successful. She tells them that she is not yet at that stage, from what she envisions, how success in this business is about. What she considers success is when she can hand over the management of her enterprise to an ideal successor, somebody whom she can manage it the way she does or better. Hers is an unpredictable business, and developing the skills required to sustain its profitability takes time.
So far, among her present staff, though most of them are magnificent colleagues here, she has not yet identified the right person. He or she should be able to do the entire process: purchase supplies, do live to sell each day and deliver them with excellent customer satisfaction.
The person should be creative, innovative, and resourceful, able to spot alternative products to match seasonal trends. For instance, during Civud-19, the US, where she sourced her products almost entirely, was closed. So, Luz went to Dubai, which provided her with an alternate source. It worked.
According to her, this business requires owners to know about opportunities that regular people might not immediately recognize. This is true for identifying opportunities in the chaos of a crisis and then seizing those possibilities in ways that few other individuals can.
Moreover, the business owner should be hands-on and willing to roll up her sleeves, especially when there is a shortage of resources like manpower. Overall, the processes, the bundling of the high quality of service to customers, and the whole business model cannot easily be relegated to a staff who is still learning.
Luz shared many more valuable insights about her business mindset and passion. She is regarded as an authority in online commerce, an honest-to-goodness, genuine, no non-sense self-made entrepreneur with a strong brick-and-mortar foundation. More of Luz Basagre in the next issue of Dahilsayo.
Contact Details:
Luz Basagre
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/luz-basagre-aa5828125