By Tim Guercio
Business owners are always striving to stay afloat and keep their businesses running.
Stability is the key to success in any business, but there are certain strategies that business owners can employ in order to maintain business continuity.
Maintaining stability involves focusing on customer relationships, creating innovative marketing strategies and staying ahead of the competition. By understanding how business stability works, business owners can make sure they are doing everything possible to keep their business running smoothly.
Prioritize customer relationships.
It is important for business owners to focus on customer relationships, as this helps foster loyalty and trust between the business and its customers. Building strong customer relationships can lead to increased sales, repeat business and referrals.
Strive to provide excellent customer service in order to build these relationships. Make sure your customers feel important. At my company, the most important strategy we use to do this is prioritizing communication—which means constant communication via phone call, email and text. When we receive a call, text or email, typically, we answer promptly. If we are not able to, our standard is to respond back within two hours.
People just want to be informed on what is going on and what to expect. We hold our company to high standards, so our phone calls are all recorded, and random ones are reviewed at the end of the week. This lets us know our employees are responding respectfully and in a timely manner. Being consistent regarding the quality of your product, communication and service builds integrity and trust with your customers.
Get creative with your marketing strategies.
Businesses must also create innovative marketing strategies that generate sales and help differentiate their offerings from competitors’ products or services.
A marketing strategy I’ve found to be effective has been utilizing social media. If your business social media looks clean, polished and professional, and you consistently post, then people interact with you, and you become a credible source. If your socials look disorganized and neglected and you don’t post regularly, you can lose credibility and make potential customers feel you are hard to reach or maybe aren’t doing much service nowadays. Social media is a huge factor in effective marketing.
Another effective strategy is asking for referrals. According to a recent study, 59% of customers say they’d give a recommendation if they like a company. This has been a proven fact for us, as the majority of our customers come from friends and neighbours of customers we’ve had for years.
Train your employees to ask for referrals. Typically, our happy customers will refer us voluntarily, but I’ve found that asking the customer brings it to their attention, and they begin to think of ways they can help. Many people feel fulfilled when they help others, so if they feel they can help you by just referring you to friends, family or neighbours, they will likely want to help you. It also helps to offer the customer some kind of compensation for the referral so both parties can mutually benefit from the exchange.
Another marketing strategy involves creating a unique value proposition (UVP) that resonates with customers. This addresses the specific needs, desires or pain points of the target market, creating a compelling reason for customers to engage with a business.
Creating a compelling UVP requires a deep understanding of the target audience, competitive landscape and the unique strengths of the product or service. It should serve as a foundational element in marketing and communication strategies, resonating with customers and influencing their decision-making process. I think an example of a great UVP is “Where work happens.” This comes from Slack, and it emphasizes collaboration and communication in the workplace.
Pay attention to your competitors.
Business owners must also find ways to stay ahead of their competitors. This involves staying up-to-date on industry trends, understanding the competitive landscape and taking advantage of new technologies that can help them remain competitive.
One strategy that has helped me with this is comprehensive marketing research. Do thorough market research to gather data on competitors, industry trends and customer preferences. This means monitoring competitors’ marketing strategies, product launches, pricing models and customer feedback. The customer feedback is particularly important because you can see where improvements need to be made, and that is how you can improve or avoid those issues in your own company.
Another great strategy is to look inward regarding your business and organization. Evaluate internal factors such as your resources, capabilities and market positioning. Check your assets, equipment, facilities, financial capital, etc., as well as the skill level of your team and your brand reputation.
Identify areas where your organization can capitalize on strengths and opportunities while mitigating weaknesses and threats. Strive to create a business model that allows for scalability and flexibility in order to accommodate changing market demands.
Dedicate time to your financial health and risk management.
To ensure business stability, business owners must also focus on their financial health. This includes creating a budget and sticking to it, monitoring business expenses closely and making sure that income is greater than expenses.
Additionally, consider diversifying revenue streams by looking for opportunities to generate passive income or find new sources of funding. Also, make sure you are aware of potential risks in the industry you are operating in and take steps to mitigate them.
Stability is essential for business owners who want to be successful.
By focusing on customer relationships, creating innovative marketing strategies and staying ahead of the competition, business owners can ensure their business will remain competitive in today’s market.
It is important to keep in mind that improvements happen only if you do the work. Know that if your business is struggling, you can turn it around. However, it takes time. It requires dedication and consistent work from you, as well as your team.
Feature Image Credit: GETTY
By Tim Guercio
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Tim Guercio, Founder of The Christmas Team. Read Tim Guercio’s full executive profile here.
