Small businesses are competing for customer and client dollars like never before, investors included. Here are a few free and low cost tips to set your business apart in tough economic times.
Thank you cards! I’m a nut for Thank You cards. There’s always a reason to say thank you. People just don’t take the time to send handwritten notes anymore. I do, and it makes a difference.
Here are plenty of reasons to say thank you:
Thank you for contacting our company for an estimate. We look forward to meeting with you in person later this week and we are delighted at the possibility of working with your company in the near future. Thank you for your email attaching the newsletter. It was very informative and I held several tips I can implement in my business! Thank you for your call today. I look forward to hearing more about your company and how we can help each grow! You can reach me directly at YOUR PHONE NUMBER. Thank you for a job well done. You all are the best crew and I enjoy working with you on each and every job.
Thank you for the business. We enjoy working with your company and look forward to servicing your company’s needs for years to come!
Tip: Don’t wait two weeks to send a Thank You card. If you’ve just met with a new client or potential client, the second they are out the door, handwrite a thank you note and plop it in the mail. I have an area at the end of my desk that I place my cards on each day. The post office is right on my way home. I drop them in the blue iron mailbox each evening.
You can’t PAY for the kind of positive image that will be shed on your business as a result of a Thank You card. I buy mine at the dollar store. Usually there are 8 to 10 in a pack for one dollar. I don’t stick with the traditional; I send cards with chubby babies on them, pink pumps, dashiki-clad folk, jazz scenes, etc. Use your judgment depending on your business. Sometimes the traditional is called for, sometimes not.
Another tip to get your business noticed is simply to show up on time. Yup, that’s it, show up ON TIME. One industry that fails miserably in this area is home repair companies. Contractors simply do not show up on time on average.
Before I started my own like business, Foreclosure Cleanup, LLC, in Atlanta, I’d been the customer at home waiting on the carpet guy, or the painter, or the lawn company many-a-times. And, when they would show up, it would almost always be late.
I remember one scenario in particular where I had a 9:00 AM meeting with a lumber company that was coming out to measure and give me an estimate on wood floors for my home on a Saturday morning. I was called 2 minutes before the contractor was scheduled to arrive and was told the contractor was sick and would not make it out. Surely the contractor knew well in advance of two minutes before the meeting time that he was not en route.
You can really set your business apart by simply showing up when you say you’re going to show up. Remember this rule of thumb in business and you will be light years ahead of your competition: 15 minutes early is on time; on time is late; late is unacceptable.
If your appointment, estimate, meeting is somewhere you’ve never been, give yourself an extra 45 minutes or so depending on the distance. If you get there wwwaaaayyy early, it’s okay. Simply drive around the neighborhood and see what the area is like. If you’re a contractor, you may pick up a client or two by scouting the area with your magnetic signs on your vehicle. Worst case scenario, you will have talking points about the area for your meeting -- and you will be ON TIME.
Here’s an often missed opportunity for many small businesses seeking to set themselves apart from the competition, and it won’t cost a cent (well, a postage stamp, maybe): Request feedback from your customers. It’s as simple as creating a feedback form on your computer that can be a half page. When you hand a customer an invoice, also hand them the self-addressed stamped envelope that will come back to your company with the feedback form filled out. Tell the customer to be candid because you want to find out what you can do to assist them better and better over the years.
What does this one little form do? It tells the customer you value their opinion, you care about what they have to say; it shows them you are a professional company with policies in place to help your business stay top notch; it shows you are organized in your company’s procedures.
So, create a simple feedback form on your computer and use it to get candid feedback from your customers so they know you value their opinion.
These are just a few tips to get you thinking about free and low-cost ways to set your business apart from the masses.
Many wishes of great success in your business!
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