Even when you are profitable, there are probably leaks in your business income that you can fix. The two most common areas where small businesses show profit leaks are customer service and marketing. Here are some examples.
Breaking Promises
As a business owner, you must always follow through when you promise your customers something.
Example:
- If you promise a no questions asked return policy, don’t interrogate the customer when they return something.
- If you promise a product will perform a certain way, back it up with a case study or customer review.
Poor Follow Up
When a customer purchases a product from you, excellent follow up will go a long way towards making them a customer for life. So contact the customer and enquire if the product has worked as promised, if the staff was helpful and if there is anything else you can do for them. Standing out from the crowd takes work, and this is one way you can distinguish yourself from your competitors.
Poor Knowledge Base
If your customer does not know that you carry a certain product, they will most certainly buy it elsewhere. It is extremely frustrating to discover that a valued customer bought from someone else simply because they didn’t know you carried what they needed. Make sure that it is easy to access your product list and point it out to customers all the time.
Un-targeted Marketing
You can spend thousands of pounds on marketing, but if your message is not reaching the right people it is all for naught.
For instance:
- If your marketing message sounds like something a teenager or young adult would like, it won’t be effective to small business owners in need of supplies
- Likewise, if the majority of your customers use social media and you are not there with them, they will not hear your message. Know your target and market to them.
Letting Your Marketing Stall
Small bits of marketing effort are better than a huge marketing overhaul and then months of nothing. Remember, the more a potential customer hears your message, the more likely it is to stick.
At least one of these problems probably rings a bell for you. To increase profit, you must plug profit leaks. Start with these and take a critical look at your numbers to get back on track.
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