Idea Exchange - November 2010

Earn Customer Loyalty with Appreciation
Sometimes it's the simple things that provide the best return on investment. According to a recent article in Irrigator Tech eNews, in today's electronic age when businesses look for new ways to improve profit, they sometimes forget two important words: Thank You!

Surprisingly, few companies write thank you notes, the article stated, which is precisely why it can set you apart from the competition. By sending notes to customers between orders, it reminds people that you still are out there and shows them your appreciation of their support and patronage, the article stated.

Here are a few tips from the article:

• Don't overdo it. One or two times a year is plenty. More than that and they lose their meaning.
• Target your customers. You don't have to send a hand-written thank you to everyone. Choose carefully, either large customers or those with growth potential.
• Use paper. In this electronic age, old-fashioned notepaper sent by snail mail will have more impact than an e-mail that might seem impersonal and can get lost in the slew of most people's e-mail inboxes.
• Send a bonus. Along with the note, you can include a discount coupon or special offer as an extra way of thanking customers.
• Get it read. Make sure the envelope does not look like an advertisement. You want the letter to be opened and read -- not tossed away.

5 Ways to Grow Your Small Business Through Trade Shows
Eventually you might need to take your small business to a trade show, according to an OPEN Forum article by Haily Zaki, a contributing editor on Inhabitat.com. She said the benefits of going to a major trade show include reaching a huge new audience in the span of a few days, meeting new partners, connecting with a new client base and generating new ideas.

The disadvantages, according to Zaki? If you’re not strategic about it, trade shows can be financially crippling, physically exhausting and potentially a huge waste of time. Zaki provided these tips specifically for small business owners who are thinking about hitting the trade show circuit:

1. Do your research. Before committing to a trade show, do your research. Attend the show to make sure it is all it’s cracked up to be and it is reaching the right audience for your business.
2. Plan ahead. Know exactly what you want to show, what products you want to showcase and which initiatives you want to push. Decide on this early, lay out your game plan and start telling people about it.
3. Partner up. Because prime booth space can be costly, consider partnerships with like-minded brands. Two brands can be better than one if both are getting something out of the experience.
4. Be creative. Designing a compelling booth space is a fine art. Besides showcasing your product or service, a booth space should be visually attractive and completely understandable. You don’t have to spend a fortune, but you need to think of your booth space as a blank canvas: Don’t scribble on it, paint a masterpiece.
5. Enlist volunteers. You can’t be in five places at once, so enlist friends, family, employees and volunteers to help you cover all the bases.
6. Avoid the schwag trap. Don’t bother printing collateral for journalists who probably do not want to schlep a bag of press kits around the show floor with them. Go electronic. Think up creative ways to collect e-mail addresses, business cards and other information so you walk away with a way to keep in contact with the people you’ve met at the show. If you’re going to give anything away, make it something substantial and meaningful.

Reboot Business by Reinventing Yourself
In her column for abc News/Money’s Small Business Center, Susan Wilson Solvic said many small businesses are sturggling to hold on during these difficult economic times, and some are wondering about their staying power. Should they stay the course or throw in the towel?

Solvic suggests that perhaps neither is the right answer, but it might be time for some owners to reinvent their businesses. To know which is the right course of action, Solvic said to start by analyzing where you are today:

• Compare your business with others in your industry and geographic location. If other similar types of business are seeing some rebound and you are still barely keeping your head above water, then it is time to make changes.
• You can't save yourself into prosperity, but if you constant throw money into your business and sink further into the hole, then step back and analyze what's happening. There comes a time when sinking more money into the business isn't going to fix the problems; it's time to call it a day or make dramatic changes.
• Step back and look at how you are doing business with a fresh set of eyes so you can discover ways to do things differently. Sometimes shaking things up a bit can ramp up revenue opportunities. Has the market changed? Has your business changed accordingly? Don't dig your heels in the ground. If you keep doing the same thing over and over again, and you keep getting the same dismal results, then it's time to do something differently.

How do you reinvent your business? Solvic said there is no set formula because reinvention is a process. She offered these ideas to help small businesses move forward.

1. Give Yourself Permission and Time: Schedule time away from the day-to-day turmoil of running your business to review and analyze what is and is not working.
2. Start with the Obvious: Review your current operations. Are there ways to operate more efficiently? For example, can you collaborate with another company to share office or warehouse space? Even joint advertising campaigns or marketing efforts might increase your reach and bottom line.
3. Ditch Sacred Cows: Challenge all assumptions about your business. Why are you doing what you are doing? Should you be doing it that way? Is there a better way?
4. Review Your Customer Interface: Are you making it easy for your customers to do business with you?
5. Create New Revenue Streams: Look at howyou make money. Are there other revenue streams you could create that might be more appealing to your customer base?
6. Price Differently: Sometimes people will spend less money more often than make a large one-time commitment. For example, gyms give patrons the option of paying for a year or more for membership or pay as they go.

Don't be afraid to try something seemingly unorthodox, Solvic said. Collaborate with a competitor. Target a new industry. Go virtual. Reinventing your business might be the boost you need to rebound from the recession.

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Idea Exchange - November 2010

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