by MHolland | Sep 4, 2026 | Business Tips, Cash Flow, Selling Tips, Systems
I send money to Africa most months.
Our projects in Kenya — the school feeding programs, the permaculture gardens — need funds on the ground, and Remitly is how I get them there. I have been using them for years. Same app, same routine, barely a thought.
Then last week an offer popped up on my screen. Join their membership club. Pay a small monthly fee. Get preferred rates on every transfer.
I stopped and stared at it for a good while. Not as a customer. As an accountant.
Then I joined anyway.
Because something clever is going on here…
Loyalty Cards Just Grew Up
You know the loyalty card. Buy nine coffees, get the tenth free. Starbucks built a global empire partly on a rewards app that most of their customers open before they even leave the house.
The idea is old and it works. You are not out hunting strangers. You are getting the customers you already have to come back more often.
Regular readers will recognize this. It is Way #2 of the 4 Ways to Grow a Business — increase your transaction frequency. The number of times each customer buys from you.
Remember, sales are not one thing. Sales are three things:
Number of active customers x how often they buy x what they spend each time.
Transaction frequency sits right in the middle of that formula. And it is far cheaper to move than dragging new customers in from the cold marketplace.
Membership clubs are the next evolution of that old punch card. And they are a serious step up. Here is why…
“Wait. A Discount? Doesn’t That Defeat the Whole Purpose?”
That is the first thing most owners say to me.
You hand out a preferred rate. You make less per transaction. How on earth is that growth?
Fair question. Let us do the math, because the math is where this gets fun.
Say you distribute specialty food products. You have 800 active customers. The average order is $400, the average customer orders six times a year, and your gross margin is 30%.
So a typical customer is worth $2,400 in sales and $720 in gross margin per year.
Now you launch a club. Twenty-five dollars a month — $300 a year — for 8% off every order and free delivery.
Scenario one: nobody changes their behaviour at all.
Your member still orders six times. Still $2,400 of product.
- Sales after the 8% discount: $2,208
- Product cost (unchanged at 70% of $2,400): $1,680
- Gross margin: $528
- Plus the membership fee: $300
- Total: $828
Against $720 before. You are ahead by $108, and not one person changed a single habit.
Read that again. The fee covered the discount before the customer did anything differently.
Scenario two: they behave the way members actually behave.
Now they order nine times instead of six, because they are a member and they have already paid for the privilege.
- Sales after discount on $3,600 of product: $3,312
- Product cost: $2,520
- Gross margin: $792
- Plus the fee: $300
- Total: $1,092
That is $372 more gross margin per member per year. Sign up 150 of your 800 customers and you have just added roughly $55,000 to your bottom line without adding a single new customer.
Run your own numbers, of course. Mine are illustrative. But the shape of it holds up in most businesses I look at.
Three Things a Club Does That a Punch Card Never Could
One — they stop shopping you.
This is the big one and it never shows up on a financial statement.
The moment somebody pays a fee to be your member, they stop comparing you to your competitors. The comparing just quietly ends. They have already decided. Every visit to a competitor’s website now feels like a small betrayal of money they have already spent.
You have moved from being an option to being their supplier.
Two — the fee pool pays for the discounts.
Here is the quiet beauty of it. Not everybody uses their membership hard.
Some members will transact constantly and genuinely extract every dollar of that discount. Plenty of others will pay the fee and use it twice a year. Their fees fund the heavy users’ discounts. Spread across a few hundred or a few thousand members, the pool covers the giveaway.
Gyms have understood this for fifty years.
Three — they become a member.
Do not underestimate this one. People are wired to want to belong to something.
A discount is a transaction. A membership is an identity. One is about price, the other is about being on the inside. That is why the second one earns loyalty and the first one only ever rents it.
It Is Not Just Money Transfers
Another company I know offers a Premium Membership. Very small monthly fee, preferred rates per kilo on shipping. Exactly the same architecture as Remitly.
Their customers come back. They ship more. And the fee income across thousands of members quietly absorbs the discounts.
What This Could Look Like in Your Business
Here is where it gets interesting, because almost nobody in the small and mid-sized world is doing this yet.
A restaurant. A monthly fee gets members first call on reservations, a standing table on Fridays, invitations to tastings and winemaker dinners, and 10% off the bill. You have just converted occasional diners into regulars.
A professional services firm. Guaranteed response times. A quarterly strategy call. First access to new offerings. Priority in busy season. Response time alone is worth a fee to most clients, because waiting is the thing they hate most.
A trades business. An annual fee covers two maintenance visits, priority emergency dispatch, and preferred rates on parts and labour. HVAC companies who do this well never have an empty week in the shoulder seasons.
A retailer. Early access to new stock, a members-only evening twice a year, free alterations, preferred pricing.
A greenhouse grower. Members get first pick of the spring inventory before it hits the public, plus a per-flat rate.
You get the idea. Take your best customers, ask what they would pay to be treated better, and build the package around the answer.
Before You Launch, Do These Five Things
- Cost the perks out fully. Every one of them. If your response-time promise means paying somebody overtime, that is a real cost and it belongs in the model.
- Size the fee against the discount. This is the whole ballgame. Your fee has to cover the discount at your customers’ current frequency. If you offer 20% off for ten dollars a month, you have built a machine for destroying your own margin. Do the arithmetic before you print the brochure.
- Load up on perks that cost little and feel like a lot. Access. Priority. Early notice. Invitations. A named person who answers the phone. These are nearly free to give and enormously valuable to receive. Lean on them heavily and keep the price discount modest.
- Test small. Pick one segment, run it for ninety days, and see what actually happens. Do not roll it out to your whole customer base on a hunch.
- Measure the right thing. Not how many members you signed up. Measure transaction frequency per member, gross margin per member, and retention against your non-members. Vanity metrics will happily lie to you for a year.
One Warning
Be careful with your A clients.
Some of your very best customers buy from you because they trust you, not because of price. Price has never come up. Dangling a discount at them can cheapen a relationship you spent a decade building, and you will have handed away margin nobody was asking you for.
For those clients, build the club around access and service, not price. Let the discount do its work further down the ladder, where it will actually change behaviour.
In Closing
Any business with recurring, loyal, repeat customers is the envy of every business without them.
Membership clubs are one of the few tools I know of that let you buy that loyalty with your own customers’ money. Remitly figured it out. The shipping company figured it out. Almost nobody in the one-to-thirty-million range has even tried.
And me? I have not looked at another transfer service since the day I joined. Not once. I am fairly certain somebody out there beats their rate on any given Tuesday. I no longer care enough to check.
That is exactly what you are buying.
Build a package of goodies. Price it properly. Test it on a corner of your customer base.
Then tell me what happens.
Thanks kindly for reading…
by MHolland | May 8, 2026 | Business Tips, Selling Tips, Systems
I marvel at how little most businesses understand about customer service.
It is the single greatest differentiator available to any business—big or small. It compensates for product failures. It softens the blow when things go sideways. And when it is done right, it transforms a frustrated customer into a raving fan.
The problem? Most businesses treat customer service as a cost centre. A necessary evil. A complaint-handling department staffed by people who are chained to a rulebook written by someone who has never spoken to an actual customer.
Let me tell you about a company that gets it completely right.
The Screen That Died—and the Company That Didn’t
A few months ago, I bought a dual-screen extender from a company called Blackview on Amazon. Clever little device—two extra screens slide over your laptop, giving you a total of three screens. Sounds like a productivity dream, right?
After about three weeks, the left screen went dark. Black screen of death. I tried everything—rebooting, reconnecting, re-signalling. Nothing. And by then, I was past Amazon’s 30-day return window.
Now, here is where most people groan and write it off as a loss. Because we all know what usually happens next: the soul-destroying experience of contacting customer “service” with a big company. I use the word “service” very loosely.
For laughs—and with zero expectations—I reached out to Blackview through the Amazon website.
The First Good Sign: Someone Actually Responded
They heard back right away. Immediately, I sat up a little straighter.
A professional and polite representative named Liz walked me through a few technical troubleshooting steps. No canned responses. No “please allow 5–7 business days.” Just genuine, helpful engagement.
When the fixes did not work, Liz offered to send me a brand-new replacement package—and here is the kicker—she offered to pay for the shipping. Something she said they do not normally do.
First brownie point earned. But the story gets better.
Going Off-Script—and Still Saying Yes
Here is the honest truth: by this point, I had lost interest in the dual-screen setup entirely. Three screens turned out to be too much for me—too much on display, too little focus. So I asked Liz if they could send me a single replacement screen instead of the full double.
She said that was not possible. I understood. Fair enough.
A few days later, I came back with another ask: could they credit me 55% of the purchase price—about $150 USD—and I would keep the unit as-is?
Liz’s response was quick, warm, and extraordinary. She said—and I’m paraphrasing—“Normally we do not do this, but as long as you would be willing to leave us a positive review, we will make an exception.”
I left the review. She credited me the $150 USD.
At no point did I feel like Liz was running upstairs to check with a supervisor. She was empowered to act. And that empowerment is everything.
And Then—A Free Laptop
If the story ended there, I would already be telling everyone I know about Blackview.
But it did not end there.
A few days later, Liz emailed again—out of the blue—to invite me to join a product-testing program. The deal? I purchase one of their brand-new laptop models, write an honest review, and they refund me the full purchase price.
I signed up immediately.
So let’s tally this up: a failed screen became a $150 USD credit plus a free laptop. And a company that could have easily stonewalled me behind a 30-day return policy has earned a customer—and a LinkedIn blog post—for life.
The Real Test of Your Business
Here is what I want every business owner reading this to take away:
The true mettle of your business is revealed not when everything goes right—but when something goes wrong.
Are your front-line people empowered to act on behalf of the customer? Or are they handcuffed by rigid policies, waiting for sign-off from someone three levels up who has never met the customer?
Liz did not need a committee. She had the authority, the confidence, and—clearly—the training to handle a difficult situation with grace and creativity. That is not an accident. That is culture. That is leadership.
And it costs a fraction of what a lost customer—and their network—would have cost Blackview.
Three Questions to Ask Yourself Today
- Are your people empowered—truly empowered—to solve problems on the spot?
- Do your systems and policies exist to serve your customers, or to protect your business from them?
- When was the last time a breakdown in your business became a breakthrough for a customer relationship?
Customer service is not a department. It is not a policy manual. It is a mindset—and it starts at the top.
Get it right, and your customers will do your marketing for you.
Thanks for reading…
by MHolland | Oct 17, 2025 | Business Tips, Cash Flow, Selling Tips, Systems
Why Are Business People So Price Sensitive?
If I walked up to ten business owners right now and told them to raise their prices 5%, what do you think they’d say?
“No way! My customers will leave!”
Then comes the usual backup excuses:
“My competitors already charge less than me!”
All your competitors?
“Well, no… but a lot do.”
That’s where the thinking goes off the rails.
Price only matters when everything else is equal. The only time price is truly the deciding factor is when you’re selling a commodity—or when an entire industry has trained its customers to shop solely on price.
Most business owners act like they’re selling a commodity when they’re not—at least not in the eyes of their customers.
When You’re the Customer
When you shop, do you pick solely based on price? Rarely.
If all else is equal, sure, you might go cheaper. But in most cases, you’re looking for:
And when those things show up, price stops being the main issue.
The Only Viewpoint That Matters
If you’re basing your prices on one of these two perspectives, you’re dead wrong:
-
Your cost structure
-
Your competitors’ prices
The only perspective that matters is your customer’s perception of value.
When you buy something, do you care what it costs the seller to make it? Of course not. You’re focused on the value it gives you.
Imagine someone saying:
“Our prices are higher because our utility bills and staff costs went up.”
Crazy, right?
Customers don’t care about your costs—they care about the outcome, the solution. People don’t buy a drill; they buy the hole the drill creates.
Why Customers Really Leave
Here’s what research shows about why people stop buying from a business:
That totals 32%.
So why do the other 68% leave?
Perceived indifference.
That word perceived matters. Business owners often say, “We love our customers.” But if the customer doesn’t feel it, they leave.
It’s like a husband saying, “Of course I love you. If that ever changed, I’d let you know.”
It doesn’t work in marriage, and it doesn’t work in business.
You can’t assume loyalty just because they’ve been with you for 15 years. If they stop feeling cared for or valued, they’ll move on to someone who shows them they matter.
What the Numbers Reveal
Let’s talk numbers.
Suppose your gross margin is 30%. That means your cost of goods sold is 70%.
If you discount your prices by 10%, you’ll need to increase your sales volume by 50% just to break even.
That’s a dead-end strategy.
Now flip it. If you raise your prices by 10% at the same margin, you could lose 25% of your customers and still make the same profit as before.
In reality, if you’re adding genuine value to loyal clients, you’re unlikely to lose much of anyone.
The Real Game: Value, Not Price
Most accountants push cost-cutting and discounting as the path to profit.
That’s a losing game.
Our approach?
We help clients increase their value package—so they can confidently charge more based on perceived value, not cost.
Because when customers see real value, price stops being the conversation.
Thanks for reading.
If you want to shift your business from price pressure to value power, start by asking yourself:
“What do my customers really value—and how can I show them they’re getting it?”
by MHolland | Sep 5, 2025 | Business Tips, Selling Tips, Systems
We all know service is the key ingredient in running a successful business. But how important is it really?
Recently, my wife and I spent a few days at a hotel that, on the surface, was jaw-dropping. Unique. Special. Remarkable. We’ve stayed in boutique hotels around the world – from Kenya to Europe – and some of them left us with unforgettable memories. Almost always, the reason wasn’t just the architecture or location. It was the service.
A Factory That Never Was
This particular hotel had invested heavily in its design. The theme – an “old factory renovation” from the 1800s. From the moment you arrived, you felt transported. A rail line embedded in the walkway. Black-and-white photos of factory workers. Rusted tools in display cabinets. Cracked windows, faded tiles, furniture that looked vintage but wasn’t. Every detail was carefully manufactured to create the illusion of history.
And I’ll admit – they nailed it. The place was stunning. Except for one fatal flaw.
When Service Kills the Experience
From the first meal, the service fell flat. Staff moved around like they were heading to a funeral. No warmth. No welcome. We had booked for a week but quickly felt unwelcome.
One example stands out – we asked to see a different room type for a future stay. The front desk clerk acted like a prison guard, scolding me for touching the bedspread. “Do not touch the bed! We’ll have to call the cleaners again!” (For the record, my hands were clean. 😂)
Almost every interaction felt upside down. We were the ones making small talk and trying to spark smiles. By the end of the first day, we cut our stay from one week to one night. At checkout, they even tried to charge us a penalty for leaving early.
To their credit, when we asked to see the manager, she was gracious, apologetic, and quick to waive the fee. I truly hope she can help turn things around. The investment in infrastructure and design was a clear labor of love. But without service, none of that matters.
The Lesson
Here’s the point – service is everything. You can have the most beautiful product, the slickest office, or the most advanced systems. But if your service is cold, inconsistent, or dismissive, your business will suffer.
The opposite is also true: with outstanding service, customers will forgive imperfections, delays, and even the occasional mistake. Because they feel cared for. They feel valued.
Want your business to soar? Build service standards that make people say, “I’ve never felt taken care of like this before.”
Bottom line: Infrastructure gets attention. But service wins loyalty.
A Side Note on Productivity
On a another note, I just read a powerful blog post from the Freedom app team on reclaiming time with digital minimalism. They show how you can gain an average of 2.5 hours per day simply by managing your app use. A great reminder that just like service, small changes in behavior can deliver outsized results.
👉 Read it here.
by MHolland | Jul 4, 2025 | Business Tips, Cash Flow, Selling Tips, Systems
Yes, you read that right.
You cannot increase sales.
Not directly, anyway. That is because sales are a result, not an activity. You cannot manage sales, profits, just like you cannot manage even weight loss directly—those are outcomes. What you can manage are the activities that lead to those outcomes.
This might sound simple, but it is one of the most misunderstood ideas in business. Let us fix that.
Stop Managing Outcomes. Start Managing Activities.
Let us use weight loss as an example. You cannot just decide to lose 10 pounds. What you can do is manage your eating habits and increase your physical activity. Those are the drivers. The weight loss is a result.
Sales work the same way.
You cannot just declare, “We’re going to increase sales!” and expect it to happen. Instead, focus on the activities that create sales.
The 3 Building Blocks of Sales
There are only three ways to increase sales:
- Increase the number of customers (of the type you want)
- Increase how often they buy from you.
- Increase how much they spend each time.
That is it. Every sales strategy fits into one (or more) of those categories. Let us break them down.
Get More Customers (The Most Expensive Way)
When people say, “I’m going to grow my business,” they always mean getting new customers. And yes, it is important—but it is also the most expensive strategy.
Marketing, advertising, lead generation—they all cost time and money. Worse, new customers often require the most handholding.
So yes, keep attracting new clients. But do not stop there.
Increase Purchase Frequency (Often Overlooked)
Want a smarter way to boost revenue? Get your existing customers to come back more often.
They already trust you. They have already bought from you. This is low-hanging fruit.
Ideas to increase purchase frequency:
- Send a monthly or quarterly newsletter with promotions or insights.
- Offer loyalty cards or referral bonuses.
- Pick up the phone and check in with past clients.
- Host client appreciation events.
True Story:
An accountant blocked off every Friday morning just to call clients and ask how things were going. Nothing pushy—just open-ended business conversations. The result? His revenue doubled. Clients appreciated the proactive care and naturally brought him more business.
Increase the Average Sale (Mastered by McDonald’s)
You already know the question:
“Would you like fries with that?”
That simple upsell script has added billions to McDonald’s bottom line. What is your version of the fries question?
Ideas to increase average transaction value:
- Bundle products or services into higher value packages.
- Upsell or cross-sell relevant add-ons.
- Implement a small price increase (even 5% can have a major effect)
- Train your team to ask value-focused questions.
Real Example:
One client raised prices 5% after a little convincing. Guess how many customers they lost? Zero. Loyal customers did not blink, and the increase went straight to the bottom line.
Think Compound Impact
Here is where it gets fun: if you improve each of the three areas by just 5%, the result is a compound growth effect that can add 20–30% more profit to your bottom line. Without finding a single new customer.
Want to see it in action? Try this quick exercise:
Profit Improvement Plan (Fill-in-the-Blanks)
| Component |
Current Position |
5% Improvement |
New Position |
| Number of Customers |
___ |
x1.05 |
___ |
| Purchase Frequency |
___ |
x1.05 |
___ |
| Average Sale ($) |
___ |
x1.05 |
___ |
| Sales Revenue |
___ |
= |
___ |
| Gross Margin % |
___ |
(same or better) |
___ |
| Net Profit |
___ |
(should grow!) |
___ |
Now subtract your current net profit from your new projected one.
That is your Profit Improvement Potential—from managing the right activities, not chasing the result.
Final Word
Stop trying to “increase sales.”
Start doing the things that lead there.
- Get more of the right customers.
- Stay in touch and serve them often.
- Raise your average sale with simple strategies.
And most of all—track what matters. Because what gets measured gets managed.
Thanks for reading…
by MHolland | Mar 21, 2025 | Business Tips, Selling Tips, Systems
Micro-habits work…
What are micro-habits, you ask? They are tiny ways to get started on setting new habits versus setting Big Goals that never happen. As in, put on your jogging shoes and run in place for 2 minutes versus 30 minutes of exercise as a goal. Or, in business, call one customer a week for 3 minutes.
I use two apps that help me develop habits and fulfill on my goals.
Habit Loop tracker is a terrific app that you use on your phone (funny that we call it a phone, when it so much more than that, right?).
You simply create a habit you want to track, set notifications, and, then, well, track it! For me, a simple personal example is stretching with bands. I set the habit for daily tracking and for 10 minutes.
I know I can do 10 minutes! Maybe 20. Thirty minutes – maybe. Yet every day, that starts to seem like a grind and no fun. I also do 15 minutes of stretching. I would never do 30. You get the idea.
Start small. Because the habit is King. The habit is the goal. It will either be enough, or stretch out beyond the micro habit.
In business, I am singing a tune more and more with my clients of improving only 1%. In four areas. The effect can be wildly powerful.
Here is what I am saying – 1% price increase, 1% savings in Cost of Goods Sold, 1% volume increase, and 1% savings on fixed costs.
For example, a business with $10 million in sales implementing a 1% price increase adds $100,000 to the bottom line. We have not even started on the other 1% improvements yet! The leverage effect is incredible.
Here is a great article from the Freedom App people talking more about Micro-Habits: Micro-Habits With Freedom.
(PS – that is the 2nd app I use daily – the Freedom app. I block websites to avoid distractions and stay focused on – you guessed it – my habits. Habits are King).
Capital Gains Exemption
Here is a good article on recent changes to the Capital Gains exemption for small businesses in Canada: Capital Gains.
Marketing on LinkedIn
Here is a good article on increasing your profile on LinkedIn, a global network with one billion members – Linkedin-7 Tips To Improve Your Company Profile
Have a great weekend, and thanks for reading…
