Mine Your Own Business

Communication With Your Customers

There was a recent article from USA Today that provides some insight on how any small business might increase their business. The article begins by describing the scenario of a struggling new small business and first suggested that the new owner contact SCORE. If you've never heard of SCORE, the article describes it as a kind of Peace Corps of entrepreneurs that give free counseling and advice to small business owners. If you visit their site you can also sign up for SCORE eNews and SCORE Expert Answers.

So what advice did SCORE give this struggling new business? The advice was simply ask your customers or prospective customers what they want and give it to them (within reason of course). You can read the whole article for the specific ways they suggest to find out what they want and you can probably come up with a few more of your own. One other excellent idea suggested is to find out why you've lost customers. This will not only provide useful information so you don't lose customers in the future but also might entice some of these customers back since you've shown an interest in their thoughts.

 

Customer Service Tips

It has been some time since we did a posting on customer service and since good customer service is so important to any small business we thought it was time to revisit this important topic again. Here's an article that provides four tips for dealing with angry customers. Much of the article is aimed at small businesses who actually have customer service call-centers, but the four tips would work for any small business.

Who knows, if you follow the tips in the article it might save you from losing some customers in the future (there's a pun in there, but you'll only get it if you read the article).

Are you satisfying your customers?

Here's an interesting article making the case that during our current difficult economy it is easier to make sales to existing customers rather than look for new ones. The article provides several tips for finding out what customers think about your business. One thing the article doesn't mention but that might be a useful tool is a followup call or e-mail to the customer to see if they are satisfied with their recent purchase and the buying experience. Has your business come up with anyway to find out what is on your customer's minds?

One other big question is whether your business is seeing any changes in your core customers. If you do repairs are you seeing more repairs and less new purchases? We'd like to know what your experiences have been.

Small Business Report Card

There was a recent interesting article assessing where small business owners are doing very well and where they need to do better. The article doesn't actually give letter grades, but there is a link to a PDF titled the State of the Small Business Report that does give letter grades and provides a lot more detail on the topic. The PDF is definitely worth looking at.

One other thing the article provides is a summary of how many small businesses there are in the United States, how many jobs are in the small business sector, and how much revenue the sector produces. The good news is that small business owners are faring much better in the current recession than larger corporations.  You can read the whole article here.

Comparing Depressions

We ran across an interesting article comparing depressions, not tropical storms or states of mind, but the big economic depression of the 80s and our current economic situation. One point the article makes is that the 80s depression was much worse for small businesses for a variety of reasons. You can read the whole article here.

If you were in business during the previous recession, do you agree with this article? We'd appreciate any comments you might have.

Do We Need More Repair Ads?

I read this article and couldn’t help but see parallels between the shoe repair store and sewing and vacuum retailers.  From the fact that new customers “didn’t even know the store existed” to the problem of “throw away” mass merchant products killing the repair business, there are many common issues facing the independent retailer.

 

That being the case, does it make sense to cross-promote with other repair shops?  Would someone interested in getting their shoes repaired also be interested in getting a vacuum repaired (and vice versa)?  How about lawn mowers, bicycles, and furniture?  Can you take a stack of your business cards to the local shoe repair shop and offer to give out his cards if he/she gives out yours?  Maybe even offer a discount to referred customers?

 

Going one step further, could you run a newspaper ad with other local repair shops?  Maybe a hungry newspaper sales person would even do the leg work for you.    

 

Let me know if you have any success.”

 

Thanks,

 

Bill

The Right Path

                   

“If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.”  Barack Obama

Congratulations to our new President.  May our country prosper under his leadership.

I guess this is a great time to evaluate whether we are on the “right path”.  Heaven knows all the news reports would tell us that it may be difficult to make much progress at all in business this year, but at least if your business is on the right path you have a chance.  What does it mean to be on the right path? 

I would sure like your thoughts on what you think it means to be on the right path.  In exchange, here are my thoughts:

-          Your business is on the right path if

o       It can provide a decent living to you and your employees.

o       It has customers who are happy that they bought from you.

o       You really like coming to work every day.

o       You can pay your bills when they come due. (Losing sleep is a pain.)

o       You have more opportunities than time to take advantage of them.

Your thoughts?

 

Bill Hinderer

Finally, A Bit More Good Economic News

I recently ran across an article in U. S. News and World Report that presents some interesting ideas on the recent retail season. You may not agree with all the six reasons presented in the article and much of the article is aimed at the large chain stores, but the section in the article about how The fittest shops survived  could also apply to the independent retailer. Those independent retailers who provide good service on their quality products can compete with the large chain stores with their steep discounts.

We can all hope that this year's low numbers do indeed point to a bright 2009 holiday season.

Keep an Eye on Your Stuff

One consequence of the weak economy and high unemployment numbers is that we can expect an increase in shoplifting, especially during the upcoming holiday season.  Unemployed people, desperate to give their families a decent Christmas may resort to giving themselves a "five-finger discount" rather than show up empty handed on December 25.

While we certainly can empathize with unemployed or underemployed husbands, wives, moms, and dads, (been there!), we can't condone thievery, either by customers, or worse, by trusted employees.  It's always important to be aware of what's happening in your store, but extra vigilance is always necessary during the holidays, especially this year.

Here are links to some excellent articles on the subject of theft prevention.

SHOPLIFTING

http://www.fumo.com/State_Services/crime%20prevention/Shoplifting.htm

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/49514/ways_to_prevent_shoplifting.html

http://www.expertbusinesssource.com/article/CA6422536.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2190526_prevent-shoplifting.html

EMPLOYEE THEFT

http://www.nfib.com/object/3511306.html

http://www.bankersonline.com/security/internalwatchdog.html

http://www.crimedoctor.com/employee_theft.htm  This one contains some additional links.  

There one more thing and that's customer service.  A customer who's receiving excellent service doesn't have a chance to steal from you.

Find One Little Thing and Do It Better than Anyone Else

Michele Miller at the Wonderbranding blog has an excellent post today on making an impact with no advertising.  She tells the story of Jason, owner of Evolution Pools in Phoenix.  As you might imagine, the care and feeding of swimming pools is a big deal in the Arizona desert and there are hundreds of pool care companies competing for the business.  You think you've got competition?

So, what's so special about Jason?  Let me answer the question with another question.  What's the most aggravating thing about having someone come to your home to service anything?  I'm guessing your answer has something to do with wasting a whole day waiting for someone to show up. 

Jason has put a system in place that allows him to give the customer a time window when he'll be there.  Then the night before the appointment he calls the customer to confirm and gives an even smaller window.  Miller writes, "Having originally found him through our home warranty company, we now call him for all of our pool needs, whether the equipment is covered under warranty or not.  Jason has made hundreds (or is that thousands?) of dollars from our account alone, simply because of his consideration for the customer’s time.  I’ve also referred a number of neighbors, all who are women."

Now, your business may not have to set in-home appointments.  If it does, then Jason and Michelle have given you an idea of how to differentiate yourself from the competition.  If it doesn't then you're going to have to brainstorm a little bit.  What do you and your competitors do that drives your customers crazy?  If you don't know, ask.  Then find a way to eliminate the problem.

If you do repairs, maybe you can come up with a better way of getting the product back to the customer quicker, or giving them a specific date when the repair will be done, and sticking to it.  If you deliver, then something like Jason's system may be what you need.  If you don't deliver or repair, then maybe there's something about your store policies and procedures that could be improved.  Are your store hours convenient?  Do you have the right number of staff at the right times of the day?  Do you make sure that every customer who leaves your store with a purchase knows how to operate their new widget?  Do you have a delivery checklist?  Do you follow up after the sale to make sure everything's ok?  Do you have a post-delivery checklist that your people can use when a customer phones with a problem?  You can save a lot of customer dissatisfaction and returns if you find out that they forgot to put the batteries in before they drive all the way back to your store.

The bottom line is this:  In today's market, you have to differentiate yourself.  Someone once said it's nice to be outstanding, but it's critical to stand out."  If you do, you'll turn satisfied customers into evangelists for your store.  There is no better way to attract business.