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Make Customers Loyal to Your Business

When customers can easily comparison shop online with a few mouse clicks, the notion of loyalty seems almost old fashioned. Your best customers are someone else’s most sought-after prospects.

Big companies have adopted a fancy term for addressing the problem, called “customer retention management” or CRM. Massive amounts of time and energy are devoted to it, including countless Web sites, conferences, software products, online applications, magazines and books.

The core of the issue, however, comes down to something small business owners have been good at for centuries: building customer loyalty. A loyal customer is doing business with you, not your competition.

Small businesses that concentrate on keeping customers are more successful in the long run. It only stands to reason. Selling to folks you already know and understand is more efficient, more predictable and more profitable. A loyal customer base gives you an edge.

But building loyalty is not a marketing matter, so don’t look there for help. Spend all you want to attract new cadres of customers, but if they don’t stick around your days could be numbered.

When a customer leaves, you should consider it unacceptable. Find out why it happened and then work to prevent it from happening again.

To foster customer loyalty, a small business needs a strategy that keeps patrons coming back. It starts with basics that are sometimes overlooked. Thanking customers for their business, for example, goes a long way. But try going beyond a few spoken words. Write some thank you notes and letters. Make them personal and sincere. Just let them know you appreciate their business.

Creating value will help boost loyalty. Ask customers if there is anything else you could be doing for them. Then, after they tell you, do it.

Customers are more likely to be loyal if you make it easy for them. Review each customer “touch point” — your phones, your Web site, your store — for ease of use. Offer incentives. You can’t buy loyalty, but you can make it easier to happen. Special perks, discounts or freebies for loyalty work wonders.

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Look for Harmony in Your Family Business

If you are involved in a small business that is also a family business, you’ve probably heard warnings about the pitfalls of working with relatives. Operating a business with a spouse, parents, siblings, children or other family members presents many potential pitfalls over and above the usual problems business owners face.

To help ensure survival of a family-run business, you will need to seek a harmonious balance between the needs of the business and the needs of the family. The characteristics of a healthy business may not always be compatible with family harmony.

When bringing family members into a business for the first time, especially as investors or in a startup situation, you should consider putting the business relationship in writing. Family members sometimes buy into the excitement of a business startup without a clear idea of their role once the business is underway.

In an ongoing family business, it’s important to treat family members fairly. While some experts advise against hiring family members, that sacrifices one of the great benefits of a family business. Countless small companies would never have survived without dedicated family members. But avoid favoritism. Pay scales, promotions, work schedules, criticism and praise should be evenhanded between family and non-family employees.

Don’t become the employer of last resort for every distant relation who calls. Base employment on the skills or knowledge they can bring to the business. If your kids will be joining the business, make them get at least three to five years business experience elsewhere first to help them gain perspective of how the business world works outside of a family setting.

Problems and differences of opinion are common in a family business, so it’s important to keep lines of communication clear. Weekly meetings to assess progress, air differences and resolve disputes work well for many family firms.

Drawing some lines between business and family life will also help. For family business operators, it’s tempting to talk shop day and night. But constantly mixing business, personal and home life can lead to trouble. Limit business discussions outside of the office or at least save them for an appropriate time — not at a family get-together.

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Use Outside Services to Help Fill Orders

For small businesses that sell products online, by phone, fax, e-mail or mail order, success often brings with it a new problem: an order fulfillment backlog. Packing, shipping and tracking orders can quickly become daunting. And if you are constantly lugging packages to the Post Office or UPS Store, you have less time to spend on building other facets of your business.

This may be a good time to consider using an outside order fulfillment service to take the burden off of your shoulders. Handling order fulfillment properly can be critical to your success. Poorly packaged items and slow service will annoy customers.

Outsourcing fulfillment can save you time. Your products, labels and other unique packaging can be stored in the fulfillment company’s facilities. When orders are placed, the fulfillment firm packs and ships the items and perhaps handles customer service and returns as well. Orders can come through you via your usual methods, or can go direct to the service.

There are many different ways to approach shipping and fulfillment solutions based on the type, weight, size and destination of the items you ship, along with your customers’ needs and expectations. Outside fulfillment involves a cost, but you should also consider the costs you are avoiding such as storage space, payroll and your own time. If you charge customers for shipping and handling, you may be able to recover all or a portion of it.

When selecting an order fulfillment firm, be sure to align your needs with the services they offer. Ask about minimum and maximum order quantities, error rates and restrictions on the types of products they will ship. Some, for example, only ship via UPS and the Postal Service and don’t handle oversize items. If you have special packaging, ask if they will use it.

For Web savvy business owners, fulfillment services can work especially well. Orders from your Web site can be routed directly to the center. Plus you can easily track and manage your orders, inventory and other details online. The Mailing and Fulfillment Service Association, a professional organization for mailing and fulfillment companies, offers a search feature on its Web site that can help you locate a fulfillment house that’s right for you. Visit www.mfsanet.org or call 1-800/333-6272.

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Make Your Business More Green

Looking for ways to make your small business more environmentally conscious this year? It could be a smart move. You can feel good about helping the planet and your business also benefits in customer loyalty as buyers recognize and appreciate your efforts. Many marketing-savvy small businesses are projecting a positive image with customers by promoting their environmental efforts.

Now is a good time to “green” your business. The movement is expanding and there is more business-minded information available on the practical, profit-producing aspects of making a business more environmentally friendly. Access to environmentally-preferable products and services is also widening—especially for small business.

Most of what your business does, from buying office supplies to disposing of old electronic gear, can be accomplished with “green” products and services. For timely information, practical tools and sound advice on making a business more environmentally conscious, GreenBiz.com is an excellent resource.

GreenBiz, a service of the Washington, DC-based Green Business Network, offers a full range of hands-on help for small businesses that want to get more green, from how to finance greater manufacturing efficiency to alternative cleaning solvents and processes. The organization’s Web site is packed with helpful information and is geared toward helping businesses take an environmental stance that also helps the bottom line.

The GreenBiz site provides descriptions and links to nearly 100 helpful organizations and Web sites — many of them by state. There are also hundreds of books and reports geared to specific industries. Take time to explore the site for a wealth of news, tools and tips on going green. Select “Small Business” in the “Resource Wizard” pulldown menu for topics geared specifically to small business.

Another useful resource is the Small Business Environmental Home Page, www.smallbiz-enviroweb.org, which helps business owners tap into pollution-prevention assistance programs of all types nationwide. It also offers a list of links to State Environmental Agencies and small business programs.

The Buy Recycled Business Alliance is a group of companies and nonprofit organizations working to promote the market for recycled-content products. The “Buyers” section of the BRBA Web site lists companies that sell products made from recycled materials — everything from floor coverings and doors to paint, bulletin boards and plastic “lumber.” Visit www.brba.com.au/ .

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Make Outsourcing a Success with These Tips

Outsourcing—going outside your business for services you need—is one of the best ways for a small business to get ahead. But using outsourcing to your best advantage does not happen automatically. Some outsourcing relationships can fail, costing your business time and money while a new relationship is established.

The key to outsourcing success for a small business is to go about it professionally. Out of pure necessity, small businesses started outsourcing long before there was even a term for it. Most small firms don’t have the in-house expertise to perform many different functions. So they hire someone else to do it for them. An outside specialist can do everything from payroll to building Web sites, managing computer networks or handling telephone sales and credit card processing.

Developing a successful long-term relationship with an outsourcing partner requires effort on both sides. It’s important to treat it like a partnership, because that’s what it really is. A vendor who supplies a vital service for your business is like part of your staff, so you should go through a similar interviewing and reference checking process before you “hire” them.

Using outside service providers who have experience working with your particular type of business is important. You’ll also want someone with the technology and expertise to deliver cutting edge services.

Be sure to ask detailed questions about the service you will receive, and access to someone who can answer questions and solve problems as they arise. For most small business owners, this kind of accessibility and service are top priorities. If the firm you are considering won’t be available when something goes wrong, look elsewhere. Since they are not likely to sell you this themselves, ask to speak with current and past clients. Most importantly, meet with the key people involved and evaluate for yourself how you think they will perform for your business.

The Outsourcing Institute, www.outsourcing.com, is a professional association for the outsourcing industry and a neutral “go-to” resource for information, connections and solutions to help businesses both large and small become successful outsourcers. The Outsourcing Help Desk lists of regional outsourcing events and solutions for small business buyers.

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Manage and Track Your Time for Success

Time can be a small business owner’s best friend, or worst enemy. It all depends on how you use it. There just never seem to be enough hours in the day to get things done. As a business operator, time is extremely valuable to business owners—especially if you bill for time. Wasting time can be extremely harmful to your bottom line.

To operate efficiently, your business may need systems for managing time and keeping track of who’s working on what and for how long.

Most successful small business owners are also successful time managers. And they tend to share certain traits and strategies. One of the most basic time management devices ever invented is the simple “To-Do” list. Each day, jot down all of the things that need to get done, all on one sheet of paper.

You can also number or check the ones that are highest priority “must-do” items. As tasks are completed, cross them off. This can help you focus on getting them done one at a time, and also gives you a sense of accomplishment.

 Delegating more work can also help ease your time crunch. Many business owners accustomed to “doing it all” find this exceedingly difficult. But even if you are a sole operator, you can pass off tasks to others, via outsourcing, for example, to free up time for yourself.

Periodically analyze how time is spent at your business—and not just your time, but everyone’s. Divide the day into small time blocks and record what you, or others, were doing in each block. Now compare this real use of time to your goals, expectations and mission priorities. If they do not align, you’ll need to take action. One step might be to set clearer time-management goals for yourself and your employees.

Banish procrastination from your place of business. Growing, successful businesses don’t put things off. Even a simple “no” response to something on your to-do list can extinguish that item and let you move on.

A variety of technology solutions are also helping small businesses track and manage time. For example, Workarea.com is an Internet-based time tracking system that can provide billing information to the second. The system includes a time clock, time sheet, expense tracking, address book and the ability to access it all via cell phone or PDA.

The TimeClock PlusSmall Business Edition, www.timeclockplus.com, lets you turn any PC into a time clock. Employees can sign in or out with the keyboard or mouse, and easily allocate hours and costs to specific jobs. And TimeTiger.com is a computer-based to-do list that shows all the items you could be working on.

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