By Kirk Squiers, owner of Central Michigan Graphics in Lansing. From SBAM’s member-only Focus on Small Business magazine.
With the proliferation of the Internet, the bad economy has made customers more price conscious. As a result, relationships and service have become the most important aspect of client retention. As the owner of a printing and sign company, I see the World Wide Web cutting into my business weekly. Just last week a customer said,” I can buy 500 business cards on the Internet for $10!” That’s great, but how does that help the Michigan economy?
Staying close to customers should be a number one priority in these rough times. Regular visits to your top ten clients and constant contact through e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, etc. is crucial to maintain top of mind awareness. One of the many ways that my small company stays close to our clients is through our Facebook page. Every time we do a new project, we take photos of it and put it on our home page. The comments we get are amazing; not to mention that it’s like the old adage of tell two people and they will tell two people and so on. A great aspect of social media for small businesses is that it allows you to reach a large group of people with minimal time and resources.
Another great vehicle for communicating with customers is through YouTube. My company has a full video presentation of a time lapse installation on a vehicle wrap on YouTube. And the best part is – YouTube is free!
As a small business owner, your day is filled wearing multiple hats. Social media helps you reduce time spent on marketing, sales and client retention. Facebook, Twitter and blogs are great ways to keep in contact throughout the year. Start using all the free services available on the Internet and you will see client retention surge. Customer loyalty cannot be bought, it must be earned!
Here’s some strategies that have worked for us:
- Customer communication – be sure to keep in communication with your client base. Send them small thank you notes, birthday e-mails and company newsletters. Make sure you focus on the customer over your company and foremost, do what you say you will do! The recession presents some unique challenges to customer retention management. But the current climate also provides opportunity for small businesses that know how and when to act.
- Listen for needs and wants. Figure out how can you make the customers life easier. Diversify your product line. We were once just a printer. Now we offer signs, banners and vehicle graphics. Find a niche that you can easily piggyback onto your current offerings.
- As a current board member of SBAM, you will hear us talk about economic gardening in terms of nurturing relationships with successful businesses already here in Michigan. As a small business owner I am constantly cultivating and gardening my current client base. It is like taking care of a garden. Water and feed the customer with things you provide to help their business flourish. Weed out your competition consistently by paying attention to details and following through.
- And here is the kicker. If you can’t do something, admit it! Your customers will respect your honesty.
As we move into the next few years, Michigan-based small businesses will continue to face tough times economically. Continue to seek new business and spend even more time and energy with your top ten accounts. Make it a personal goal to speak in person or on the phone directly with the decision maker of each of those top ten clients at least once a month. You can surely make enough time to call or stop by three places a week. This will lock out your competition and reaffirm your concern for the business relationship. If you do the little things that create the “Wow” factor and your clients know you, like you and trust you – you will be rewarded with loyalty and referrals.
Kirk Squiers owns Central Michigan Graphics and is a member of the SBAM board.