|
Author: Adrian W. Savage Article source: http://www.kabish.com/. Used with author's permission.
It's The Little Things That Make or Break a Small Business
If you make a poor impression in small things, why should customers trust you with larger ones like buying your product regularly or giving you a big order? In the last two days, I've seen this simple fact proved three times.
I ordered software from Company A. It came with a 30-day trial period, after which I was to be charged for the purchase if I hadn't returned the package. It's now 44 days later and I'm still waiting to be charged for my purchase and receive the code to convert to the full version. I'm having to chase them to take my money.
Company B took an order from me in person, then failed to deliver the goods. When I called them, they remembered the order, but said they had "mislaid" my credit card details, so hadn't shipped my order. No call to me to explain or get my credit card details. Just silence. Until I called to complain.
Now it may be only me, but in both cases I made a mental note not to do business with those companies again. Since they couldn't handle basic administration, I have little confidence in their ability to do anything else well.
The Hallmark of Success
It's nothing fancy. In fact, it's just the opposite.
Successful businesses consistently do all the boring, fundamental, basic, necessary and unexciting little things unsuccessful people put off, ignore or do only when they have to.
It's attention to details. Making sure regular customers are remembered and called by name. Keeping up to date with vital paperwork. Calling people to stay in touch, not just to push a new product. Giving helpful advice and not trying to turn every conversation into a sales pitch.
All the small things that turn a customer into a regular who will choose your business, even if you charge a little extra than the "big box" store down the road.
If you don't sweat these every day, you might as well give up.
Are You Serious?
Small businesses don't have a stranglehold on their market. You never have to buy from them because there's no one else. Typically, they're trying to make their way against flat-out competition from every angle, and you, the consumer, have all the choice in the world. If they screw up the basics, you have many other people to deal with.
Why buy from a small business?
Because they offer things the big stores find really hard: a tight focus on a single product area, with people who truly know their business inside out, not a green college kid trying to make a few bucks.
Because they aren't always trying to sell you whatever the management in Idaho or Vancouver or Hong Kong has decided is the thing to push this month.
Because they remember your name and treat you like a human being, not just a "customer:" a walking credit card to be relieved of as much cash as possible in the shortest possible time.
Sure they don't have a massive stock. Or the lowest prices. Or wall-to-wall TV advertising. But people buy from people, not faceless bureaucracies.
So What's The Problem?
Why do many small businesses fall down on the vital small stuff?
I guess entrepreneurs aren't much drawn to admin. They're originally salespeople or inventors or marketers or dreamers. The admin is an unpleasant chore they do only when they must. But it matters. Lord, how it matters!
They say every disgruntled customer tells around 15 other people about their bad experience. Can your business handle that much negative publicity? If you really hate admin, or you're more disorganized and memory-challenged than your Uncle Chaz who's been hospitalized for twenty years, hire someone efficient to do it for you. Until you do, you're wasting your hard work selling by losing customers as fast as you get them.
Here's how it should be done. I called a small nature tour company recently with a query about one of their upcoming tours. Next morning I got an e-mail from their president. He explained he's presently leading a tour to one of the remoter parts of Mexico, answered my query and apologized for not being able to call me in person.
That's sweating the small stuff!
Guess who I'll be doing business with in future
Your brand isn't just your logo and color scheme. Nor your carefully crafted marketing message. It's what everything you do says to potential customers about who you are and what it will be like to do business with you. And it's usually the small things that speak loudest. Most people get the big things right, because they're paying attention to them. Then they trip themselves up in some small area, giving an impression that's quite different from their public face.
Which do people believe? Okay, you answer that one. I know which I think better shows the real person. Adrian W. Savage writes for people who want help with the daily dilemmas they face at work. He has contributed more than 25 articles to leading British and American publications and has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The Chicago Tribune.
You can find his blog on small business life at http://www.adriansavage.com.
Modifying Your Recipes, More or Less
You've found that perfect recipe, but it makes enough to feed a small army. Now what? Learn how to modify recipes to suit your needs.
Marketing 101: The Power of Marketing
When you hear the word "marketing" what comes to mind? More business or wasted money? If your experience with marketing or advertising has been less than positi...
Tenderizing
Living through the pain of grief can produce a more tender heart and deeper convictions about love and compassion.
A Healthy Diet Means Avoiding Trans-Fat as well as Saturated Fat
We all need fat in our diet on a daily basis. You know about saturated fat and the health risk it poses, but do you also know about trans-fats?
Ensure a Good Relationship Between Your Cat and Your Kids
Many parents know that the best way for children to learn compassion and the importance of keeping commitments is by helping to care for a pet. Children learn f...
Meatballs: Friend, or Foe?
We all have those moments, don't we? We're right in the middle of a project, and it's simply not going well. Like me, you may find yourself becoming irritated,...
The Best and Worst of Motherhood
The pain. The joy. The sacrifices. The love. The fear. The confusion. The anxiety, panic, loss of time, loss of privacy. The internal battle between a person's ...
Team Journaling
The very effective tool of keeping a journal can be used in your workplace as well as at home. It is a powerful tool that can enhance our lives and support our ...
Oscar
We should have known you were a doofus before we bought you, what with two previous owners and two tries at obedience school. But we took you anyway. Now that y...
3 Aspects of Developing Leadership Skills
So how DO you boost your leadership skills? If you want to
improve your ability to lead, where should you focus your
attention? Why are certain leadership talen...
Beware of the Lobby Lizards
Is your church lobby crawling with lobby lizards? You know, those people who spend their time doing everything except studying the Bible or worshipping. Sometim...
Create a Great Webpage to Sell Your Home
More and more people are selling their homes privately, and the majority of people now use the internet to search for a property to buy. So make sure that your ...
How to Buy a Holiday Home Abroad
How to buy a holiday home abroad and avoid all the common traps and pitfalls that people can fall foul of.
Your Rose Garden Planting
Learn how to successfully plant roses in your rose garden. It is easy but there are some important tips.
The Best Information on All Natural Skin Care Products, Natural Skin Care and Dry Skin Care
An online guide to the best all natural skin care products, treatments and dry skin care.
Are You Tired of Tenants, Toilets, and Trash?
Selling your rental property at an appreciated value might
sound like a good idea until you find out how much you owe
Uncle Sam!
3 Strategies to Profit When Click Prices Increase (Part 3 of 3 Series)
In my previous article, I explained how increasing your website's sales conversion (number of visitors who purchase your product) generates more revenue which e...
Synthetic Grass: An Increasingly Popular Alternative for the Yard
As Australia's severe drought has turned many green, lush gardens and yards into brown, lifeless dustbowls, an increasing number of Australian homeowners are tu...
5 Breakthrough Marketing Ideas
It is possible to create a breakthrough in your marketing and your business and all it takes is a few minor adjustments. Learn how to create a breakthrough for ...
Writing with a Sense of Adventure
Beyond the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch is the sense of adventure. Include this in your writing, and watch your words come to life!
Some Feedback and the Busiest Time of the Year
Some feedback about automating the customer service aspect of an online business and why the period between October and December may well be the best time of th...
Your Financial Planning Clients May Hold the Key to Free Publicity
Where can you find the stories that will make you a media star? They might be in your waiting room right now.
Beware: Marketing Sinkholes Ahead!
Life provides your business with enough opportunities for failure. Don't help it along by creating sinkholes to consume your limited financial resources. There ...
How to Genuinely Double Your Sales in 30 Days -- Without Advertising
Success in selling does not require guesswork or risk taking. It means looking at the science behind the entire sales process, from first contact to after sale...
|
Print this page