Small business marketing tips

Well, the answer is the same for all small businesses, no matter the turn, the market, the location or its sales volume, everyone needS MARKETING. Everyone somehow does, even if they don’t know for sure what they call what they do every day: write down appointments, call their customers, offer them a drink, place sideboards, do promotions, etc. All this is MARKETING in some way, the important thing is to identify the efforts and join them to a general strategy.

I would recommend many things, depending on your current situation, but no matter where you are and how you are doing it there are five things that you should not miss:

1. Corporate Image.

Most human beings are “visual”, that is, we remember and assimilate better the information when it accompanies “images”, which can be from a logo (Mcdonalds, Liverpool, American Express ), an icon (the popcorn of Nike, the apple of Mac, Facebook F), up to the same typography (Coca-Cola, Disney). The importance of this is that people “remember us”, “differentiate” us and of course “choose us”.

I recommend that you take your time to have a basic corporate image: a trade name, a logo that identifies them; defined colors that in addition to being for your logo can be used for the decoration of your workspace or local, for your uniform or material; it is also important to choose a specific typeface, there are many free fonts, choose one and use it in all your documents and formats.

All this will cause UNIFORMITY and IDENTITY. Sicus customers get used to their “image” soon it will be easier for them to recommend and reference them. In addition, the most important thing, the perception of your client will be that they are in a serious business that takes care of the details. Remember “love is born from the sight” and “the first impression is the one that counts”.

2. Know the Customer.

The better you know the people you treat on a daily basis and who you sell services or products to them and on which your BUSINESS definitely depends, the greater the chances of attending to their needs in advance, knowing what they want, how they want it and each when they want it.

This is the beginning of the “service” string. We can do this through observation and registration, through regular surveys or simply through a registration format that you may be asked to fill out the first time you visit them.

What interests us to hear from our client? Depending on the type of business in question, for example if it were a Beauty Salon with the service of cuts, dyes, nails, facials, massages and hair removal, we would be interested to know which of these services you use and when and where.

3. Customer Service.

This is the KEY of any business, today with so much competition in all turns, the truth is that the little that distinguishes them from each other is THE WAY YOU TREAT THE CUSTOMER.

A customer starts their “brand experience” with you from the first moment they know you. Everything you do will mean something to your client or prospect: if you smile at him, if you don’t say hello, if you talk rude, if you’re punctual, if you’re kind, etc.

The truth is that WE ALL LIKE TO BE TREATED WELL and we love TO FEEL SPECIAL. If you get in your business that your client feels “special”, “important” and “unique, there is no way to fail YOU WILL RETURN and also recommend you.

A basic tip in marketing is that a “very satisfied” customer recommends you 3 to five times with someone, but a “dissatisfied” customer mis recommends you more than 10 times.

Besides it’s cheaper to retain a customer than to attract new ones, as a happy customer with your service will undoubtedly get you more customers. So TO SERVE AND CONSENT TO YOUR CUSTOMERS AND PROSPECTS.

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation,
hard work, and learning from failure.
– Paul Tournier

4. Customer Management.

Well this is extremely important in marketing and the better you carry it, the better your results will be: YOU MUST MANAGE YOUR CUSTOMERS, that is, you must keep a log of each of your customers: what they buy you, when, which products or services they use the most , when it is or should be your next visit, when it is your birthday, to whom you have recommended, what your interests are, your general data (phone, cologne, email), what you work on, what you like to read, drink or eat, etc. (a lot of this information you can get as a indicated in point No. 2)

This helps us to track the customer and not let him visit us for long periods of time, it also serves us to keep him informed of promotions about his favorite products or services; so that when you visit us we can serve you faster and in a more personalized way, etc.

The usefulness of this is INFINITA. You don’t need great systems to accomplish this, although there are and they are called CRM (Customer Relationship Management), but I only recommend them for medium or large companies. In the case of small businesses you can take this “customer management” from your Outlook, to an Excel sheet. There are some free software specialized in certain business sectors (aesthetics, hotels, restaurants, real estate agencies) that can come down from the internet.

If they don’t have a computer DON’T worry, they can do so using “Files”, cards by customers on which they will keep their records.

5. Generate VALUE.

Finally I leave to the best recommendation of all: GIVE the CUSTOMER MORE THAN YOU REQUEST. I gave VALUE to your service, this is that if you know your client well you know what their needs and tastes are, because through this information give them something else, something that does not ask you, but that you know will be useful.

Example: Returning to Aesthetics, email a “Newsletter” of beauty tips by monthly, give her a Discount Card for 5 or more visits, partner with a nearby library so you can leave your kids there while you’re with you, ANYTHING THAT ADDS VALUE and surprise your client.