Small to Medium Business (SMB) owners & managers have an incredibly busy, challenging lifestyle. We know. We're a small business ourselves. At times there just seems too much to do. And, let's be honest, some things can fall through the cracks. Yet, as a business & technology consultancy, we often encounter businesses that don't pay attention to those simple things that can (and do) have a potentially huge impact on customer attraction and ultimately satisfaction.
This may be best illustrated by our recent personal experience over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. We were out & about shopping where we live in the North Georgia Mountains on Friday - the day after Thanksgiving - when we thought we might enjoy a lunch out. But knowing that local businesses might close for one or more days during such a weekend, we thought it best to look at the places we were considering first online, and then - just to be sure - call them before venturing out to their location. Please know that we entirely understand why some hardworking business owners decide to take a family oriented respite over a holiday like the Thanksgiving weekend, and we certainly don't pass any judgement for that personal decision.
But, here's where attention to the "Simple Things" can be important. In our scenario (which we think is pretty common for many potential customers) we sought info from both online and real-time phone calls. For most SMBs, there are only 3 significant potential sources of online presence - their Google Business Listing, their Social Media Account (typically a Facebook Page) , and their Website (if they have one). Finally, regardless of what their online presence showed, we called (e.g. Phone) each one to confirm.
Our experience should demonstrate this potential problem area from a customer point-of-view. We checked 5 different places we thought we might want to go. Turns out that 4 of the 5 places we initially considered were closed. One was open, which we confirmed with a phone call.
To illustrate our point, here are the results of our "quest" for the 4 businesses that were closed that day:
From a customer or potential customer's perspective, these are troubling outcomes - no matter how good your business is and no matter how great your regular customers think you are. C'mon folks, these are simple things. Business hours. On holidays. Days you're not going to be open. Simple Stuff.
OK, for some, things like Google Business Listings, and the details of Social Media Accounts aren't quite so simple. But, frankly, you don't have much choice about their impact on your customers (and your business) in our current marketplace. So, if you struggle with managing them, seek help. Doggone Good Technology can help if you need it.
If you choose to manage this yourself, and you still find that sometimes the detailed attention flies "under your radar", we have a free solution for you. It will be the subject of a future blog post. It's incredibly simple, yet effective. And it's the same thing that airline pilots use - whether they be employees of big name commercial airlines, or part-time hobbyist pilots, use every time they get ready to take off. Stay tuned for our next article on just how well this simple tool works, and how you can incorporate it into your successful business.
