Focus on Customer Excellence, Sustainability, and Quality and mean it!
Over the last decade retailers like Wal-Mart have evaporated margins, chased away U.S. manufacturing and brainwashed the consumer to believe that cheap is good regardless of quality or service.
The good news is the tide is changing. As we enter 2010 consumers will start backing away from volume and focus more on quality and overall shopping experience. Smaller companies that pick up on this trend early are bound to benefit.
As a small business owner or entrepreneur what can you do in 2010 to take advantage of the changing tide? Here are five areas to focus on for your small business customer service:
1) Focus on customer service and overall shopping experience. If you have not read “Hug Your Customers”
2) Create a rewards program that customers actually see value in. Not all rewards programs are equal. Just look at airlines to see how bad a program can get. If done with care, rewards programs can be mutually beneficial for the store and consumer. If you have a coffee shop it makes sense to create a program that offers a free coffee for every 10 purchased. If you have a hair salon 10 does not work. Find the correct incentive that meets your goals and the customers needs.
3) Review your entire inventory and focus in on your best sellers and more importantly weed out the low quality “made in China” items where possible. Wal-Mart, Christmas Tree Shop and Dollar store already sell them for less. Focus on what you do best and find US or even better local manufacturers.
4) Sustainability is a growing concern among consumers. Are the items you sell harmful to the environment or are they sustainable? Are they sourced from countries that have unfair wages? Are the products safe for children and can the item ultimately be recycled? Depending on where your store falls, this could be a great story to promote. A wonderful example of a small company using this to their advantage is New Belgium Brewing Company in Colorado.
5) Finally, use marketing dollars wisely by pointing out the qualities above. Also, take advantage of being smaller and knowing your marketplace better than the big guys. Focus your marketing budget on programs that support local charities. These are usually far less expensive than traditional media and give you and your company wonderful exposure.
I see real opportunities for small retailers and manufacturers in 2010. The question is will you take advantage of this opportunity?
Editor’s Note: John Boccuzzi Jr. is a sales and marketing expert and a managing partner of Boccuzzi, LLC.
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The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed. Henry Ford
The one sure path to success in any area of business is to ensure you always give more in service than you expect to receive in compensation. This may seem counterintuitive as most people in today’s economy are striving to give the minimum amount of effort and service for what they are receiving in compensation.
When you focus on how little you can give for a dollar’s worth of effort you will find yourself, your career and your business on the path to mediocrity. When you start providing just the minimum requirements – it will be the beginning of the end for your job or your business.
On the other hand – when you are constantly searching for ways to make a difference, add value and exceed expectations your are on the path to high demand for you and your services and you will also be perfectly positioned to be better compensated for what you do.
Remember – if you want to be in demand and if you want to be able to easily charge the highest price – spend your time focused on ways to provide even more value.
All great tips, couple these with the fact that small business can always adjust to market conditions faster,take less time to make decisions, and generally provide better focused service than larger corporations. The biggest contributor to economic growth has always been small business.