Local businesses tend to believe that if they build it, their customers will come. Everyone wants to support local businesses, right? That works when the economy is good. The moment the economy goes south, most consumers will throw their social conscience out the window in exchange for lower prices. In the real world, simply being local doesn't always cut it. In the age of the Internet, your competition is not just the local megastore, but can be any online outlet store anywhere in the world. How do you compete?
It's important to not rely on the implied guilt trip of being local. There are lots of good reasons to shop locally, but a majority of people do so only during times of abundance. It's the same thing as buying organic. Unless your customers have a specific moral reason to do so, buying local and buying organic are the first things that people stop doing. So the question becomes how to ensure your customers have more reasons to use your services than the fact that you're their neighbor.
Your overhead and limited buying power will likely not allow you to compete with megastores on price. You have to figure out a way to set your business apart. The simplest and most effective is by offering incredible service. Keep in mind that service extends to every member of your team, every sale you make and every issue that comes up with your products or services. If you lose a sale because your service is not exemplary, understand that you are likely losing the business of every person in that customer's sphere of influence. It will be nearly impossible to win them back.
Another way to remain competitive is to offer a wider selection. Consumers are used to shopping in locations that allow them to multitask when they shop. The days of visiting multiple small retailers for a single item are gone. Listen to your customers. What else do they need from you? If you sell shoes, have all related supplies available. If you sell cookware, also sell gadgets and ingredients your customers will need. Be as complete as you can in your stock.
If you can't compete on price, compete on quality. Sell higher quality merchandise than the megastore. Offer free classes on how to properly use the merchandise. Educate potential customers about the benefits of your higher end products. Offer follow up classes.
Set your business apart by using real differentiators. Don't rely on the fact that your shop is local. It might work when times are good, but the moment there's a hiccup in the economy, your business will be the first to go.
Marketing your business comes down to a single question - what does your customer need you to do? Award winning marketing and design expert Jeff Rosenplot offers practical, in-the-trenches advice for businesses of any size, and budgets to match.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
What Else Does Your Customer Do?
Your customers don't live in a vacuum. People have multiple interests - often disparate interests. Your product or service is one small part of what makes your customers whole. If you sell a consumer product, your customers will have multiple related consumer products they view as a part of a whole. If you sell business products or services, your customers will have and need multiple related things. Your business customers are also people. The decision makers have families. They have pets. They have parents. They have lives outside their business. Consumer customers can also be business people.
Talking to your customers in their language means you have to understand their entire world. Now, you can't customize your marketing plan to a specific individual. There are certain generalities you make based on what your customers are most likely to do. Marketing is about stereotypes - not in a negative way, but as a means of targeting a group of individuals in a broad way. It's about hitting the widest target with the least amount of ammo.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Let's say you run a small cafe in a downtown area. Your cafe isn't isolated. Potential customers are generally not coming downtown to visit your cafe exclusively. They are likely shopping or going to a show at the theater or visiting a museum or visiting an art gallery. Your customers have multiple other interests. You can be part of their experience by tapping into how they're using downtown. They are visiting for specific reasons - you can make your cafe fit into their day. You achieve this by being aware of events that are going on, patterns throughout the day and week and promote your cafe according to how your potential customers are experiencing the entire area. Partner with some of the venues to help customers make the connection between visiting these places and visiting your place. Link yourself to where your customers are and you become part of what they're doing. You become part of their experience.
Another example - your shop sells a specific type of product - let's say a specific line of athletic shoes. You've noticed that sales are way down. Because your athletic shoes are so good, they don't need to be replaced often. Your clients are thrilled, but repeat business is way down. Your existing customers would buy more product from you but don't need it. Expanding your product line to include additional related products such as dress shoes, hiking boots and other high quality footwear allows you to tap into the goodwill of your existing client base and increase multiple sales. People have multiple footwear needs - people buying athletic shoes also need dress shoes. By understanding that your customers have multiple interests and mutiple needs, you can offer product lines that satisfy each of them. You increase your sales by increasing the per-customer sales. You know your customer has multiple needs and you're satisfying them.
Business owners tend to have tunnel vision. They establish their business because they want to sell one certain thing. While that is the impetus for starting a business, don't forget that your customers have many other interests. Figuring out what else your customer needs and providing it for them will increase your bottom line and your customer loyalty.
Talking to your customers in their language means you have to understand their entire world. Now, you can't customize your marketing plan to a specific individual. There are certain generalities you make based on what your customers are most likely to do. Marketing is about stereotypes - not in a negative way, but as a means of targeting a group of individuals in a broad way. It's about hitting the widest target with the least amount of ammo.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Let's say you run a small cafe in a downtown area. Your cafe isn't isolated. Potential customers are generally not coming downtown to visit your cafe exclusively. They are likely shopping or going to a show at the theater or visiting a museum or visiting an art gallery. Your customers have multiple other interests. You can be part of their experience by tapping into how they're using downtown. They are visiting for specific reasons - you can make your cafe fit into their day. You achieve this by being aware of events that are going on, patterns throughout the day and week and promote your cafe according to how your potential customers are experiencing the entire area. Partner with some of the venues to help customers make the connection between visiting these places and visiting your place. Link yourself to where your customers are and you become part of what they're doing. You become part of their experience.
Another example - your shop sells a specific type of product - let's say a specific line of athletic shoes. You've noticed that sales are way down. Because your athletic shoes are so good, they don't need to be replaced often. Your clients are thrilled, but repeat business is way down. Your existing customers would buy more product from you but don't need it. Expanding your product line to include additional related products such as dress shoes, hiking boots and other high quality footwear allows you to tap into the goodwill of your existing client base and increase multiple sales. People have multiple footwear needs - people buying athletic shoes also need dress shoes. By understanding that your customers have multiple interests and mutiple needs, you can offer product lines that satisfy each of them. You increase your sales by increasing the per-customer sales. You know your customer has multiple needs and you're satisfying them.
Business owners tend to have tunnel vision. They establish their business because they want to sell one certain thing. While that is the impetus for starting a business, don't forget that your customers have many other interests. Figuring out what else your customer needs and providing it for them will increase your bottom line and your customer loyalty.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Antisocial Media - A Case Study
Recently a local restaurant owner had customers in her restaurant that brought an infant child into the restaurant. The child obviously didn't want to be there, and cried and screamed the whole time. The incident itself is repeated every day all across the world. What sets this one apart is that the owner posted a lengthy complaint about these guests on her Facebook business page. In the post, the owner stated that other customers were disrupted, and that she overcharged the customers for their meal to compensate for her staff's trouble. Unfortunately, the subject of the post turned out to be a fan of the page.
If you don't think social media matters to your business, try doing something like this. Social media is a phenomenal tool - and can also be a nightmare. For businesses that want to increase word-of-mouth traffic, spreading their message across social media is worth its weight in gold. The benefit of re-posts recommendations and sharing is that your business is being introduced into the lives of your customers' friends. In essence, your customer is working for you. The downside, of course, is that one blunder can spread worldwide in a matter of moments. Social media, like the Internet itself, is perpetual. Everything you've ever done online, every mistake you've ever made, every embarrassment, is forever captured and cataloged and archived.
Let's start with the basics - never, ever, ever post a complaint about a customer anywhere. Don't even send it in an email. If you can help it, don't put it in writing. The customer may not always be right, (and quite often isn't), but they're your boss. Social media gives us the feeling of invulnerability - the same feeling we have when we're in our car. But like driving our cars, accidents happen when we're careless. And for crying out loud, don't post it on your business page. Especially if the person you're posting about is a fan of your page.
The business owner had the ability to salvage the situation at several points. First, as the owner of the business, she had a responsibility to the majority of her clientele who were being disrupted. Much like the captain of a ship, the business owner has absolute authority in a situation like this. Simply explaining privately to the parent that the child's unhappiness was disruptive to the other guests and asking the parent to quiet the child or come back another time without the child would likely have solved everything. At worst, the restauranteur would have lost one customer instead of the dozens she now has lost.
Second, the business owner should never in a million years have posted the customer complaint. Once the customer commented on the post and the comments began to fly, she should have immediately removed the post. She should then have called the customer directly and offered a full apology. Offering a free meal or two wouldn't hurt, either. Although the customer was originally at fault for the disruption by not listening to the needs of her child and having the common courtesy to leave the situation without disrupting everyone else around her, the business owner made cardinal mistakes in handling this situation. (And I know many people will argue that point, that the customer was at fault. But as a business owner, you are responsible for the satisfaction of everyone, not a single person. As a customer, you need to recognize when your behavior or the behavior of those in your party - whether they are capable of stopping the behavior or not - is disruptive. And as a parent, your responsibility is the well being of your child. If your infant child is incapable of handling a high stress social situation, it is your responsibility to remove your child from that situation. Unfortunately, your social life goes on hold in many ways when you are the parent of a small child. It doesn't last forever.)
I didn't hear about this story firsthand. A friend reposted the link. As did many others. A relatively small circle of people suddenly grew into a huge group of people with most now having a strong negative opinion of the restaurant. Social media travels fast. Impossibly fast.
The best way to avoid negative publicity is to not do something that will cause it. Never complain about customers, even on your personal social media pages. If a customer is unhappy, make them happy. No matter what. It is far easier and less expensive to give away a few meals than to have to undo catastrophic damage. If you're at fault, make it right. Make the solution exceed the problem. Make the customer remember the solution.
If you don't think social media matters to your business, try doing something like this. Social media is a phenomenal tool - and can also be a nightmare. For businesses that want to increase word-of-mouth traffic, spreading their message across social media is worth its weight in gold. The benefit of re-posts recommendations and sharing is that your business is being introduced into the lives of your customers' friends. In essence, your customer is working for you. The downside, of course, is that one blunder can spread worldwide in a matter of moments. Social media, like the Internet itself, is perpetual. Everything you've ever done online, every mistake you've ever made, every embarrassment, is forever captured and cataloged and archived.
Let's start with the basics - never, ever, ever post a complaint about a customer anywhere. Don't even send it in an email. If you can help it, don't put it in writing. The customer may not always be right, (and quite often isn't), but they're your boss. Social media gives us the feeling of invulnerability - the same feeling we have when we're in our car. But like driving our cars, accidents happen when we're careless. And for crying out loud, don't post it on your business page. Especially if the person you're posting about is a fan of your page.
The business owner had the ability to salvage the situation at several points. First, as the owner of the business, she had a responsibility to the majority of her clientele who were being disrupted. Much like the captain of a ship, the business owner has absolute authority in a situation like this. Simply explaining privately to the parent that the child's unhappiness was disruptive to the other guests and asking the parent to quiet the child or come back another time without the child would likely have solved everything. At worst, the restauranteur would have lost one customer instead of the dozens she now has lost.
Second, the business owner should never in a million years have posted the customer complaint. Once the customer commented on the post and the comments began to fly, she should have immediately removed the post. She should then have called the customer directly and offered a full apology. Offering a free meal or two wouldn't hurt, either. Although the customer was originally at fault for the disruption by not listening to the needs of her child and having the common courtesy to leave the situation without disrupting everyone else around her, the business owner made cardinal mistakes in handling this situation. (And I know many people will argue that point, that the customer was at fault. But as a business owner, you are responsible for the satisfaction of everyone, not a single person. As a customer, you need to recognize when your behavior or the behavior of those in your party - whether they are capable of stopping the behavior or not - is disruptive. And as a parent, your responsibility is the well being of your child. If your infant child is incapable of handling a high stress social situation, it is your responsibility to remove your child from that situation. Unfortunately, your social life goes on hold in many ways when you are the parent of a small child. It doesn't last forever.)
I didn't hear about this story firsthand. A friend reposted the link. As did many others. A relatively small circle of people suddenly grew into a huge group of people with most now having a strong negative opinion of the restaurant. Social media travels fast. Impossibly fast.
The best way to avoid negative publicity is to not do something that will cause it. Never complain about customers, even on your personal social media pages. If a customer is unhappy, make them happy. No matter what. It is far easier and less expensive to give away a few meals than to have to undo catastrophic damage. If you're at fault, make it right. Make the solution exceed the problem. Make the customer remember the solution.
Branding versus Targeted Advertising
Business owners tend to want an immediate return on their investment. Who can blame them? Most consumer-facing businesses operate on a quid-pro-quo basis. Goods or services are exchanged for compensation, usually within a short time frame. This is the way business is done, after all. Why should marketing be any different?
Marketing works on a more glacial timeline. A majority of your company's marketing budget will never see a clear return on the investment. This portion of your marketing budget is called "branding". This represents the ethereal, intangible "brand identity" that's created by repetition of a single message. Creating a brand identity takes patience. And consistency. The trick is repetition. The same message, across as many venues as you can afford, targeting your audience.
Soft drink companies are good examples of how to create brand identity. By repeating their message over and over again, it burns itself into your mind. When you're ready to purchase a drink, the brand has stuck with you and you make your buying decision based on the brand awareness the soft drink company has implanted in you by repeating their message. Otherwise known as "top-of-mind recognition", establishment of a brand identity means that, when your customer is ready to buy, yours is the first name they think of.
Targeted advertising, on the other hand, can be thought of as a time limited event. For instance, a one-day-only sale moves only items that are on sale. An event around a holiday can drive short-term traffic to your business but is not likely to create loyal customers. Direct, time limited advertising has a strong place in any marketing plan. However, relying too heavily on this immediate traffic with sales and limited time items will cheapen your brand. Companies that are always having sales will be viewed as the discount store - and cause potential customers to only shop the sales.
Establishing a brand identity allows your business to build a reputation all the time, not just when you're trying to move overstocked merchandise.
A brand identity consists of a logo or wordmark, a consistent color scheme, consistent font choices and additional peripheral items - an informational website, store signage (both inside and out), vehicle signage, salesperson apparel, printed materials, giveaway items and anything else that puts your business name in front of the public without directly asking for their business. Clearly state what you do, what sets you apart and why you understand your customer's needs better than your competition.
Consistency. Patience. Repetition. It's how businesses create their identities.
Marketing works on a more glacial timeline. A majority of your company's marketing budget will never see a clear return on the investment. This portion of your marketing budget is called "branding". This represents the ethereal, intangible "brand identity" that's created by repetition of a single message. Creating a brand identity takes patience. And consistency. The trick is repetition. The same message, across as many venues as you can afford, targeting your audience.
Soft drink companies are good examples of how to create brand identity. By repeating their message over and over again, it burns itself into your mind. When you're ready to purchase a drink, the brand has stuck with you and you make your buying decision based on the brand awareness the soft drink company has implanted in you by repeating their message. Otherwise known as "top-of-mind recognition", establishment of a brand identity means that, when your customer is ready to buy, yours is the first name they think of.
Targeted advertising, on the other hand, can be thought of as a time limited event. For instance, a one-day-only sale moves only items that are on sale. An event around a holiday can drive short-term traffic to your business but is not likely to create loyal customers. Direct, time limited advertising has a strong place in any marketing plan. However, relying too heavily on this immediate traffic with sales and limited time items will cheapen your brand. Companies that are always having sales will be viewed as the discount store - and cause potential customers to only shop the sales.
Establishing a brand identity allows your business to build a reputation all the time, not just when you're trying to move overstocked merchandise.
A brand identity consists of a logo or wordmark, a consistent color scheme, consistent font choices and additional peripheral items - an informational website, store signage (both inside and out), vehicle signage, salesperson apparel, printed materials, giveaway items and anything else that puts your business name in front of the public without directly asking for their business. Clearly state what you do, what sets you apart and why you understand your customer's needs better than your competition.
Consistency. Patience. Repetition. It's how businesses create their identities.
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