When it comes to business, the devil is most certainly in the details. It’s the little things that could change everything for your company, either positively or negatively. The problem is that most business owners won’t notice these little details and so they miss their importance. That’s why a lot of companies make silly mistakes that ultimately bring their company crashing down. Or, at the very least, ensure that it doesn’t reach its full potential on the market which would be a great shame.
But while employers and business owners don’t notice the little details that could bring a business down or take it to the top of the market, someone does. Customers and clients are regularly turned off or on to a company due to little details. The best way to ensure that you grab their attention is to ensure you know what these things could be. So, let’s look at some of the little details about your company that could be more significant to success than you realise.
Here’s My Card
You never know when you’re going to meet a new potential customer or client. You can find them anywhere from the local store on your weekly shop to a passenger sitting next to you on a bus. Perhaps you run a construction company, specialising in home renovations. You might find that you’re sitting next to someone on the bus talking loudly on the phone about how their renovation is an absolute mess. You’d be surprised how often situations like this happen. At that point, you want to make sure you’re ready to impress the potential client and guarantee that you have a card to hand them in hand. That card should be beautifully designed and look like it’s a product of a professional company.
There are various companies online that can design cards like this for you. Now, you might think that you can just scribble your number down on a piece of paper or add it to their phone. That’s a possibility, but the business card sends a clear message that you are a pro. You’re well funded and you can handle any job or project that they might have.
There are plenty of businesses that gain a lot of their profits and new clients due to chance encounters. Or rather planned encounters. One example would be lawyers who are known to frequent bars during the ironically named happy hour because they know this is when people blurt out all their problems.
Mess Produces Creativity
Have you heard a phrase like that before or something along those lines? Is it true? It might be, but you have to remember that your daily office work probably doesn’t revolve around great creative thinking. Most jobs are based around completing projects for clients that you could do in your sleep. So, you don’t need that extra level of mess to generate creativity. The likelihood is that if you are leaving your office looking a mess then you are either trying to save money or cut corners. Both are a mistake because again, customers and clients will notice even a little mess.
The good news is that there are multiple ways you can keep your office clean and tidy without much trouble or effort. The best advice we can offer here would be to hire a local commercial cleaning company. They’ll keep your business neat and tidy for you and make sure that there isn’t even a speck of dust on your floor. However, cleanliness isn’t the only issue that customers and clients can have with the mess.
You need to make sure that you have a great filing system too. If files are strewn over desks, and there are papers on the floor, customers will think this is how you’re going to handle their documents. If you can, you should think about keeping papers and files out of view completely. Instead, you should keep things digital. That way, everything will be stored online, and it will keep your office clean, completely free of clutter.
Of course, a redesign might also help your office look a little less cluttered and cramped. One possibility to consider would be to have a main section for group work in the middle of the office with separate cubicles around the edge. Keeping spaces clear is sure to make your office look more professional, and it will certainly impress new and old clients alike.
We’ve talked about the little details that could make clients turn away from your business. But what about some of the possibilities that will guarantee they do indeed buy from you again and again.
Interactions
Interactions both online and offline are a great way to boost customer interest in your company. It shows that you do care and makes them part of a relationship with your business. For instance, you can respond to a positive review online. A lot of businesses respond to negative reviews online and this, of course, is important. It shows that you are taking note of criticism. However, you should also respond to positive reviews. If you don’t do this, then customers that actually like your product may feel less important. That’s a dangerous situation because it will mean less loyalty and you could lose the ever important repeat sale.
This is just one of the ways you can interact with customers and make sure that they feel connected to your company. Another possibility would be to send out surveys online. With surveys, you can find out what your customers think about your business and get feedback from them. Hopefully, this will lead to clients giving advice on how you can improve your business to best suit them.
Don’t forget, you can also interact and connect with customers and clients in person. You should be encouraging employees to do this and make sure that they are going the extra mile for your business client. An example of this would be a discount on a product that a loyal customer is purchasing. Or, the extra level of customer service that is provided to the client to ensure that there are no issues with their experience.
Speed And Deliveries
There are plenty of businesses that are still not delivering the best delivery service to customers and clients. A common problem on the market these days is that outsourcing services are used. These services are companies outside of the main business that can not provide the same level of quality customers have come to expect. When things go wrong here, you might think that they blame the outsourcing company. Unfortunately, business clients are aware that you hired this company to complete the service. So if they let them down, you’ve let them down. You could lose a customer due to this.
The good news is that customers will reward businesses that make sure they are offering the best delivery service. So, how can you guarantee that’s true for your business? Well, there are a few steps to take here. You should certainly consider thinking about offering tracking. Allowing customers to track their own packages will ensure that they know exactly where their product is at all times. You may also want to think about offering an express delivery possibility. If customers are willing to pay more, they should have the option of speeding up the process. However, if you do this, you must make sure that they do indeed get the product faster in the promised timeframe. Otherwise, it may well have the opposite effect, once again, turning customers away.
Of course, deliveries aren’t the only area of your business that needs to be rapid for your customers. They will expect your website to respond in seconds and if they are connecting with you through customer services, you shouldn’t leave them on hold for hours on end. If that happens, then they might decide not to take another chance on your company.
The answer is here to use call handling software and other automated tech. The benefit of this is that you will need to use less employees and still be able to deliver a fantastic service to your customers.
Curb Appeal
What about if you want to bring customers into your business from off the street? This is all about curb appeal and ensuring that your business looks attractive. It could be the difference between a few customers walking in and a huge crowd. The online equivalent of this, of course, is a well-designed website. But for now, let’s think about the office building. You should do what you can to ensure that it looks contemporary. Metallic plates on the outside of the wall could be the answer here. Or, you might want to think about window decals. This can make your business look far more appealing and is an example of the benefit of marketing materials.
It’s not the only marketing material you can use to add a little more curb appeal of course. You can try adding banners on the outside. A little detail like this might just be the answer you need to attract a lot of new clients.
We hope you see now that it’s the little things that matter most in your business. If you don’t pay attention to them, they will all add up and cause clients to turn away.