How hard are you making it for people to do business with you? Stop and think about it for a second.
One of my pet peeves in business is, how hard do people really make it for me to buy from them? And that can be as simple as your business hours.
Are you open consistently? Are you open regular hours?
WEIRD HOURS
I live in a small town and it never fails. A lot of times people open a business, and I'm not pointing anyone out or calling anyone out specifically, and I understand that as a small business owner, it is hard. It is hard to manage, especially when it's just you or maybe someone else, but if you have weird hours, for instance, okay, we're open on Tuesday from 3-6, we're closed on Wednesday, but we're going to reopen on Thursday from 8 to noon, then we'll take a two-hour lunch, forget it, you've lost 'em.
So if you're a retail location, or you're a retail business, any kind of business, have regular hours. Even if it's just, “we're open on weekends”. BE THERE. Show up consistently.
PRICING
Another thing is, what about your pricing, is it easy to buy from you? Are your items priced right? Are they even priced at all? Sometimes as business owners, we think that people just know where to find a price. Or where to find our business.
CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE
But what that is, it's the curse of knowledge. Maybe you've been in a business for 20 years. The problem is that you can't un-know what you already know.
It's kind of like buying a car. You get your heart set on a car, and you think no one else has that car until you drive off the car lot in your brand-new car that no one else has. And suddenly, it's everywhere. You didn't see it before, but now you see it. It's a lot like that in business.
FRESH EYES
Sometimes we just need a good fresh-eye approach. Get someone to come in or ask your customers. If you don't have a marketing consultant or somebody that knows about marketing, and you're always welcome to contact me, but ask your customers, what do you think?
And most people, business owners, are afraid to ask their customers because they're afraid of what they're going to hear, but don't be. (I'm also sometimes afraid to ask my customers, so I get that. I hate rejection and I hate knowing that I've done something wrong. But I also would hate more to continue to do something that is costing me money or chasing away customers.)
THINK LIKE A CUSTOMER
Put yourself in the customer's position. How hard am I making it for people to do business with me? Whether it's your business name, your website, the checking out process, for instance.
Yesterday, I was at Bath & Body Works, and all I wanted to do was purchase new hand sanitizer and some hand lotion. And they just made it so difficult. As soon as I put my card in, they wanted me to hit another button. And then they wanted me to confirm my purchase. And then they wanted my phone number. And then they wanted my email address. I was so irritated by the time I walked out of there, it just wasn't worth it.
TODAY'S A NEW DAY
Don’t be that business. And if you already are, it's okay. You just don't know any better, it's alright. We all make mistakes and you can change. If you have any questions, hit me up, send me a message. I'd be happy to assist.
Love,
Dana
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