The name of the game when it comes to success for small and large businesses alike is treating the customer correctly.
If you treat your customer with care and concern, you stand a good chance of reaping the benefits. If, however, you are not fully connected with your customers, you stand a good chance of seeing them move to the competition.
No matter the size of the company you are working with, any efforts of concern will add layers to the connection you have with your customer. AeroMarine Products’ customer service does a fantastic job at highlighting the fact that they care for their customers, both big and small. They are proud of all the bigger name customers that they have acquired. Yet, they are still equally protective over their smaller customers. This strong concern will keep their customers connected to them.
One of the best ways to stay tied to your customers is, of course, the Internet.
But for too many of even the tiniest small businesses, they are out of touch if you will with their customers. Quite simply, they either have no website presence or an ineffective one at that.
According to a recent survey of micro businesses (small businesses employing between 1-10 people) from Vista print, close to 70 percent of such companies presently have a website for their small business. Of those micro business owners that sport a website, 75 percent claim to be generating revenue either directly or indirectly via a website.
In order to enhance your customer interaction, having a solid and updated website is paramount. In fact, there are many reasons why having a business website is downright critical in today’s technological age.
Among the reasons to have one:
* Free publicity 24/7 – There is nothing like getting your bang for your dollar, but one of the great things about the Internet is your site has the ability to get attention 24/7. While having to put time and effort into your site, you are not paying for all the attention you are getting other than to start up your site with a web hosting provider. Once you are up and running, your site can take advantage of having countless eyes come its way over time;
* The ability to customize – With a business website up and running, you can craft the brand message that you want and so much more. Your website can include a variety of items such as press releases, white papers, advertorials, videos, podcasts, testimonials and more. Once your site gets noticed and people began to come back to it on a regular basis, you can point out the rather obvious that your company is seen as an authoritative figure in your selected niche;
* There is a good chance your competition has one – While you should never do things simply based on what your competition does, there is a strong likelihood that your competitors have sites, so what is your excuse for not having one? If your top competitor/competitors have sites, they are reaping the benefits of being able to electronically connect with consumers. Not only does that mean they engage faster with consumers than you do, but they also provide convenience for such consumers. Whether consumers want to purchase or just browse the goods on a site, you not having one is leaving you not on a level playing field with everyone else;
* A business website allows you to build and further relationships with customers. You can do this in a variety of ways, including email newsletters, social media, special online deals and more. Your advertising via this method is also cheaper than taking out print ads, ads on radio, and advertisements on television; (ADD) Social media is also a great tool to stay connected with your fans. Running a social media contest helps boost engagement. CanvasPeople will often have a free canvas contest across their social channels that also features there fans own photographs!
* Customer engagement – Last but not least, there is no price you can pay for being able to communicate with both current and potential customers 24/7. Your business website and being engaged on social media allows you to do just that. Whether a customer has a question or complaint, they can be addressed online, hopefully solved before the customer has a chance to think about going elsewhere. Never underestimate the power of your online abilities.
So, where do you stand as a small business when it comes to connecting with your customers via the web?
Photo credit: techmaish.com.