hochmann-y goodness

This post is way off-center for my usual posts, which tend to be political rants, quotes, or photos of my dog. This time I'm going to talk about marketing -- but not in a really academic way, but in a practical way that is a part of my job and should be part of anybody's job when they step out of their office to do business of any sort. If you work for a small business, or for yourself, what I'm going to highlight here is doubly applicable to you.

 

Today while I was helping a customer, I noticed that she works for a local business which offers a service I happen to need right now -- vision care. It's time for me to look into getting a current eye exam and some new glasses. We were chatting a bit while we worked through the things she came in for, and I said something like the following: "So you work over at the XYZ Vision Clinic -- we usually see your colleague Jane in here, and I've been meaning to ask if you folks have any specials going on right now. I'm due for an eye exam and new glasses."

 

Her answer? "Nope." That was basically it.

 

Now I'm not really trying to criticize this lady, but she did miss out on an opportunity. It's always important, but in this tight economy it's doubly so, to raise awareness of your business and what it offers. Especially for a local business that doesn't have the benefit of national brand recognition being burned into everybody's retinas via TV. Whether you work on commission or not (and I don't), getting more business and getting more customers are never bad things!

 

Some alternatives to her one-word answer of "nope" could be...

(If you'll notice, 3 of those 4 options include an "action item" -- something, like a coupon, that your potential customer gets which invites them to take action and patronize your business.)

 

You get the idea. Of course, a big part of this also requires the business leadership to equip its employees with options to offer to people. I'm lucky that my boss has given us basically complete autonomy in what we offer to customers. Essentially, whatever we need to offer to get business in the door, even steep discounts we don't advertise publicly, is possible. As long as we don't lose money on the deal, I can go as far as I need to to make it happen.

 

I don't think everything should be about marketing, not at all. We might as well live inside our TVs, then. But clearly, if you are out on business (and wearing your logo tee & name tag, no less!) for your company and you encounter somebody actively inquiring about your business, you should be ready and willing to give them some extras to get them in the door.

 

I don't turn every single conversation into "Well, at my place we can do that for only $2.95." But when I see a legitimate need (and especially a person looking around for options I know we can provide), I'm equipped to give whatever incentives are necessary to get that person's business. Even if we just break even on the initial offer, word of mouth and a positive experience are never wasted efforts.