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3 Ways Small Businesses Can Provide Comfort to Customers During COVID-19 by @DeborahSweeney

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Photo by Gustavo Fring from Pexels

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In April, I was able to catch a Salesforce webinar on stories of resilience that was co-hosted by Mark Cuban. During the webinar, a listener wrote in to ask his advice for marketing and messaging during this time. His response was simple and transparent: at this specific moment, small businesses need to connect more than sell.

Behind every sale a small business makes is a customer. Right now, that customer is scared or at least a bit worried about something during COVID-19. Small businesses can provide comfort to their customers that go beyond making a purchase from their storefront. Here are a few ways you can get begin spreading kindness as quickly as today.

Add a handwritten note to orders.

Small business owners are currently working from home and have adjusted their daily routines accordingly to safety/shelter in place structure. As we take the time to make healthy lunches and add meditation to our schedules, how about setting aside 20 minutes to hand write thank you notes?

Put aside 20 minutes daily (if not more) to write physical thank you notes to customers. Not sure what to write? Keep it simple. Write a few sentences thanking them for shopping with you. Talk about how much you love to use the product they purchased or where the inspiration to create it came from. If you’re artistic, add an illustration to the note.

Encourage shoppers to stay connected by including your contact information, including social media handles, website link, and where they may sign up to receive a company newsletter, at the bottom of the card. Customers will be surprised and delighted to see a thoughtful thank you note included with their order.

Engage on social media.

Most individuals spend roughly 90 minutes on social media apps. Our amount of screen time has likely increased significantly during COVID-19. As customers and potential customers scroll through their Instagram and Twitter dashboards, your business has plenty of opportunities at hand for how it may engage and connect on social.

  • Repost content. Share the love by spreading it on your social accounts. Fill Instagram Stories with image reposts from customers excited to receive their new products. Retweet tweets from customers about positive interactions with your business.
  • Respond to comments. Whether these comments are made as a private message or publicly to your social media page, write back in a timely manner to thank customers for their kind words or address any potential issues or concerns.
  • Follow customers. Depending on the platform, follow your loyal customers back. They’ll be thrilled to see their favorite small business follows them!

Take a phone call together.

Many entrepreneurs, including business consultants, PR executives, and real estate professionals, are accustomed to taking calls and meetings with clients. We may not be able to physically meet with customers during this time, but that doesn’t mean we are unable to connect over the phone. Pick up the phone and call clients with whom you have developed a rapport together.

What’s a good icebreaker to open with for this kind of call? Why not start by asking, “How are you doing?” It’s an ordinary question that has an extraordinary impact. Clients, established and brand new alike, are ready to talk. They want to highlight professional and personal aspects of life that are going well, ask for help where they need it, and update you with news on major changes or trends in and out of the industry.

Use this time to have a heartfelt, open conversation. This is one of the greatest opportunities you have to connect on a transparent level. Your kindness and understanding will pay back incredible dividends into the business. Make the time for a long, candid chat. It will pay off in the long term — and is absolutely worth it.

 

Deborah Sweeney is the CEO of MyCorporation.com which provides online legal filing services for entrepreneurs and businesses, startup bundles that include corporation and LLC formation, registered agent services, DBAs, and trademark and copyright filing services. You can find MyCorporation on Twitter at @MyCorporation.

3 Lessons in Sales “Aftercare” by @SandraDawes

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Mary Kay Ash quoteby Sandra Dawes | Featured Contributor

In the last month I’ve had two encounters with sales people that left me a little disappointed. They were both very enthusiastic at the beginning – calling me regularly for follow-ups, offering their help and support to help me make the best decision for me.  Everything was great until I signed on the dotted line. All of a sudden the calls stopped calling and promises were left unfulfilled. I decided to use this as a learning experience and thought I’d share my thoughts. Here are 3 things to remember after you’ve closed the sale:

  1. It’s better to under-promise and over-deliverIf you make promises to your clients about personalized service or attention that you aren’t confident you can fulfill, it’s probably best you don’t say anything at all. We all know the saying that actions speak louder than words. Wouldn’t you rather have your clients or customers be pleasantly surprised by all that you did rather than be disappointed by the things you didn’t do? Don’t promise the world just because you want to make the sale. Remember, bad news travels fast and you don’t want word to get out that you’re not all you present yourself to be. Be truthful with yourself about what you are willing and able to do. Your clients will think you for it!
  1. Don’t leave your customer feeling it was just about the saleI was actually thinking about making this article a comparison between dating and sales because of this lesson! Even if you’re focus was on making the sale, the customer shouldn’t be left feeling that they were just a means to an end. Even if you’re the sales person and not the person actually providing the product or service, that doesn’t mean that you can’t follow-up to make sure the rest of the process was handled smoothly. I believe that coming from a place of service at all times is important to sustainable success in business. When you leave your customers feeling like you care about how whatever product or service you sold them is impacting their business, they are more likely to provide referrals and repeat business.
  1. Express gratitudeIn today’s competitive market, being the one that your client or customer chose to work with is an honor. Of course what you have is valuable and wonderful and they will get to learn how truly awesome you are as they continue to work with you, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t show appreciation for the start of a new relationship. There are so many way to show customer appreciation. Whether it’s sending flowers, a card or another suitable token of thanks, it goes a long way in providing your client with the feeling that they picked exactly the right person to work with.

While I was briefly annoyed with my not-so-great experiences with sales people in the last few weeks, I am grateful for the experience. They serve as a reminder of the things that I don’t want to do to my own clients. They remind me about the value of cultivating a relationship with clients and potential clients alike.

What lessons would you add to this list? Feel free to share in the comments!

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Sandra Dawes, Founder, Life Coach, Embrace Your DestinySandra Dawes is a recovering control freak and excuse maker, as well as founder of Embrace Your Destiny, her life coaching practice. Her work involves teaching women how to stop making arguing for their limitations so that they can create the life that they want. Sandra’s inspiration to help others in this area comes from her own journey and experiences in dealing with the heartbreak of losing her father. She published her first book Embrace Your Destiny: 12 Steps to Living the Life You Deserve, a story that outlines her personal journey, in November 2013.

In her down time, Sandra loves to read, do yoga and spend time with her partner Satnam and their dog Lulu. For more information on what she does, visit www.embraceyourdestiny.ca.