Tips and Tricks for Small Business Owners

“Part of my passion is to create a business environment where the future, tech, and creativity meet!” – JANINE DO CABO –  JDC EXEC

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

Staying on coarse and in the front-end of your business is always a challenge,

BUT it can be fun too.

Creating new ideas and concepts is what keeps you in the forefront. Showing your customers that you are ever-evolving, creating in them the feeling of trust. Trust goes a long way and is the kind of credibility that money can’t buy. But how do you get that back once you have lost out?

The last couple of years have been tough for business owners. They work long strenuous hours trying to keep up with the latest tech and trends and some never see the light or the financial gain at the end of the financial year.

In order to get ahead, we need to solve the problems customers did not know they had.

Let’s start here:

What new products and services can we sell or resell to existing customers?

This might not even be creating a new product but improving your current products and service offerings. It is good to re-look at what you offer on a regular basis with ever-changing markets and economies. Another exercise worth doing is to backtracking to previous years and see what used to work, we sometimes get so used to changing we forget about the things that did work.

Which new customers should we target, what should we sell them?

Answer the WHO, WHAT and WHY questions. Change is happening all around us and thus the buying behavior of customers has also changed. The entire buyer’s pattern certainly has changed. There is always a new pool of customers that is evolving and creating new opportunities to be reached.

Working on a buyer’s persona for your clients will help you to know how their behavior has changed and what products they are more likely to buy now. Why are they more likely to buy your old vs, new product.

The focus is no longer on the company who is selling the products, but the customer and where he wants to buy from. Customers are also becoming more knowledgeable, and tech-savvy, they are also making use of all the new programs and software available.

Based on three factors, word of mouth, influencers and product educators. This is the biggest marketing shift that has taken place in the last 5 years. Shifting from traditional marketing over to inbound marketing. Traditional marketing as most people know marketing; is Print, PR and the focus being on the seller. With inbound marketing, we turn this model upside down and we focus on the person, searching for a product, making the purchasing decision, and at the end buying the product. All focus is on the purchaser and how the seller can educate him and help him in his decision-making process.

Is your brand up to date or does it need a revamp?

When last did you look at your company’s look and feel, the way you brand? The way you market? Your Corporate Identity.
The Corporate Identity for your company is a strategic and operative management tool used for optimizing the external perception of your company. What is the external perception of your company? What do customers see when they look at you? Do you represent your products well enough?

Simple Questions to ask:

• Is my logo still relevant? Do I need a new one or an updated one?
• Do I have a responsive website up to date with my latest products and services?
• Do I need to sell from my website?
• Does my company visually represent my products and services with brochures, pamphlets, clothing, and other marketing material?

Are you set up on social media and do you have a strategy in place?

1. Are you trustworthy?

Become the trusted source in your industry!

One of the first places that “leads” go-to for more information about your company is your company website. If they can’t find your website, they may question your reliability and trustworthiness.   Are you and your company in for the long run or just a fly by night?

For example, a client is looking for an accounting firm, they get a referral by word of mouth or from another advertising means used. They search for your company online and you don’t have a website, do you think they will trust someone who is not traceable to handle their finances? See that’s the keyword – Traceability.

Build their trust through having an easy to access, easy to read, easy to understand, content-rich website.

2. Are you traceable?

With a website, you are giving your business the opportunity to tell consumers why they should trust you and the testimonials and facts to back up those opportunities. A website will not only give you credibility, but it will leave the impression that your company is in fact established and know what they are doing. Even a new business and small enterprise will find value in this.
Have at least 3 testimonials from your customers on your website, as well as some of your client’s logos. This shows anyone looking at your site that you have done successful work in the past and they can trust you to do the same for them in the future. Doing business with big brand names also builds your reputation and adds credibility.

3. Are you building your trust in the process?

Become or remain the expert by demonstrating knowledge and expertise in your area of work.  Post completed projects, write blog posts and articles on the site that educate visitors and help them understand your business and offerings.

4. Are you accessible?

Lastly, websites are available and accessible 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Because of this, your customers and potential customers can visit your site for support or information about new and upcoming products and services whenever it is convenient for them. Your website will act as an invaluable and always-available resource for information which would otherwise only be accessible during your company`s business hours. A website with an online shop can provide a dramatic boost in sales. Chatbots and feedback surveys are available to answer the questions when you are not in front of your computer. This way, you are not only collecting leads but giving information through as you start a possible future relationship with a new client.

Here is why you are losing out. Let’s take a quick look at Facebook. Savvy businesses should be able to pivot when Facebook makes a change. Consider your current business goals such as:

–  Customer retention
–  Referrals to the website or other marketing efforts
–  Community Building
–  Customer Service
–  Business leads and conversions
–  Overall business growth

Combine this with your current marketing strategy and KPI’s to track your success.

Here’s a fun fact. Publishing a well thought out post on Facebook, Instagram, and other leading social media channels and not creating an advert or boost is as good as designing an advertisement for the paper or magazine and never publishing it.

Where are all your marketing efforts going to?

Immerse yourselves into your business and get a better understanding of your products and services, align marketing objectives to marketing goals. In turn, this will provide you with peace of mind, added value and real return on investment (ROI).