1. Know your pitch
If you cannot accurately explain what your business does in two or three sentences then chances are that no-one else can either. Rehearsing your pitch makes you sound and feel more focused and driven, both of which are vital in business, but you need to be careful that it doesn’t feel flat or robotic at the same time.
2. Listen to others
People are remarkably good at telling you how well or badly you are doing when given half the chance. A complaint is every bit as valuable to you as a compliment though and should be received in exactly the same spirit.
Engage with your customers and ask them how well the service meets their needs. They may tell you why it is they come to you and not a competitor or they might tell you why they are thinking of going elsewhere. The point remains the same – any feedback is essential.
It’s not just your customers who can help you though – investors, partners and even employees can have important things to say. Remember to listen to all comments and suggestions with an open and receptive mind to ensure you don’t miss any opportunities.
3. Watch your competitors
The economy is not in great shape right now so everyone has to work that bit harder to win customers. If a similar shop down the road starts winning all the customers with a 10% discount over a bank holiday weekend then you need to know about it.
You don’t need to necessarily get into a price war by offering a 15% or 20% discount for the same weekend but reminding people that they get something better when they come to you might be enough to swing the pendulum back in your favour.
4. Focus on sales
Sales are the bread and butter of every business. Figure out where you want to be in terms of turnover/profit one year or eighteen months from now and calculate what you need to sell every month to get there.
Employ the use of social media and email campaigns to get your message out to the public and remember to invest plenty of time into your marketing strategies. By breaking down your long term goals into achievable monthly tasks you are giving yourself the best chance of success.
5. Use the internet
If you don’t already have a smart, uncluttered and informative company website then that’s the first thing you need to do. Assuming that you have an effective website you need to make sure that people can find it.
SEO Agency Itineris provide a service that can increase the volume of traffic to your site and ultimately further drive your sales and public relations. This is definitely something worth looking into and for any business using the internet it is vital that at least a basic understanding of SEO and social media branding is employed.