E-Profit Today

In your quest to become the 'biggest' of small businesses, the way to success is banking on the things you, as a small business can offer that your larger competitors can't touch. Rather than try to come off as a larger company than you are in reality, be honest. Tell customers about the special things you can do for them by virtue of being a small business. This, of course would be the ability to focus on a very narrow sector of the market - because if there's one thing small businesses don't usually do as well as the large players, it's being able to give customers the variety a big business can. You also can provide personalized, friendly customer service; this is what will really make you stand out. Read on for some tips that will help you do just that!

The first thing to think about is how you have set it up so that your customers can talk to you. One frustrating thing that big business will do is make it hard to get in touch with them on a personal level; customers have to go through three or four layers of machines and emails before they get to talk to someone real. Make sure that you yourself are personally accessible on a regular basis. While an email is a great place to start, don't let it end there.

When you are working with email, the response turnaround is expected to be very high, if not instantaneous. People are fairly immune to the positive effects of autoresponders at this point, so think about how often you can check your email. Check it at least twice a day, if not more, and make sure that you respond promptly and enthusiastically to anything that you find in there. Having a good response time for personal email is a good way to make sure that your reputation for customer service is high.

Similarly, put your phone number out there, and then answer it when it rings! Make sure that people are aware that this is a line that runs directly to you, and then prove it to them by responding to it in a prompt manner. Having a phone number out there for your customers is ideal because it allows them to immediately place you in their heads as a real person, something that can be a little difficult to do if all they are getting is email. A phone number helps them associate you and your voice with the work that is being done.

Finally, after your dealings with your customer have been complete, give them a call a little bit further down the line and ask them how the product or service is working out for them. Ask them if there is anything further that you can do, and whether or not the product needs any tweaking. This is a great way to figure out what you are doing right with your product and what needs to be changed. This is also a great way to make sure that your customer remembers you favorably after the transaction has been completed.

Your ability to communicate is very important, especially if you are a small business, so take some time to really make it a part of your standard operating procedure!