3 Steps To Small Business Success
Whether you're struggling to keep your business's head above water, or simply looking to expand your horizons. We have 3 Steps To Small Business Success.
1. Focusing On Customer Service
We all probably have our own definitions of customer service: "the customer is always right", "don't say no to a customer", "treat the customer like family". There may be truth to all of these but we can simplify it even more. You need to treat the customer like you're going to see them again. No more apologizing, and sweeping it under the rug to get them out of your door.
When there is a mistake, apologize, make it right, and give them a reason to come back. At the end of the day customer service is giving extreme value at a fair price for the both of you. It's not all about handouts, free samples, and discount prices. Treat everyone as if they are a loyal returning client and you'll be surprised how many become that way.
2. Understanding Word of Mouth
Nothing is more effective that good old fashioned people talking to people. The biggest key to remember with word of mouth is that it goes both way. If you followed the first step and your customer service is on point, people will talk. However, say you've neglected it or even just had a single slip up, people will talk. Take a major lesson from Seth Godin's The Purple Cow and “Give ’em somethin’ to talk about”.
3. Growing Your Online Presence
This step is what helps tie everything back together. You have a business that focuses on customer service as a top priority, which has led to people talking. Now that the conversation has been started, it's time to make sure that conversation can move online. Adding an online presence to a business that excels in customer service and word of mouth marketing, is like throwing gasoline on a flame. In this scenario it is advised that you find fire to be awesome.
Just as customer service takes going the extra mile over time to pay off, and word of mouth isn't something that you can make happen, but you can eliminate the things that keep it from happening, growing your online presence can be daunting if you are just starting out. Truth is, it will take hard work + time to pay off.
There is an exception to this rule. It may not be for everyone, but outsourcing your social media strategy may be the perfect fit for your business. By delegating just one of these steps, you can focus even more effort on the first two. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, hit the link below and we can get a conversation going.