Skip to main content

How to Partner With Your Small Business Customer

A small business can have anywhere from 1 to 500 employees, but collectively, they’re a mighty force, accounting for 99.7% of all business in the United States.  Unfortunately, according to the Small Business Administration, 50% fail within the first five years.

Given the limited resources of small business, your expertise makes you a valuable partner.  And while they’re probably more focused on budget than enterprise customers are, they're also more likely to be loyal.  Offer them personalized, reliable, trustworthy service, and they’ll consider you part of their team.

Here are a few of the ways you can maximize your partnership and success with small businesses:

Assist with a social media strategy – do you have content they can re-post, connections they can link up with, a tip to getting more followers, co-branding opportunities?  Smallbiztrends.com identifies mobile as the #1 technology that a small business should utilize, with 56% of all consumer traffic currently coming from mobile devices.  With all this mobile activity, using social media as a marketing platform can represent a huge cost savings over traditional channels, but it’s a waste of time without a coherent plan.  Ask if they have a strategy, and if they don’t, share your own experiences. 

Encourage them to ditch their landlines – they’re pricey, they make no contribution to collaboration efforts, and the technology is static.  Unified communication and collaboration tools (Microsoft Skype, Google Meet, Fuze) allow all employees to work together no matter what their physical location happens to be.  Whether you’re in the office, hanging out in a coffee shop, waiting at an airport, or hunkered down at your dining room table, you can be a part of the conversation. UC&C platforms, paired with high quality headsets, are a wise investment for all businesses, including SMBs.

Suggest cloud services - I addressed the contribution cloud usage can make to business in a previous post.  Subscription services provide IT support, payroll, software, data storage, and customer service, just to name a few.  And because usage is metered, a business only pays for what they use.  Offer bundled UC&C, cloud services and headsets as a practical, measured response to budget constraints.

Make recommendations based on your experience – how have your other customers addressed similar issues?  You have a wealth of information that your customer can only access through you.  In a small business, most employees wear more than one hat, and you have the ability to give them workable multi-tasking tools. 

No matter how big your customer’s business is, the strongest contribution you can make is as a consultant.  Get to know their business, their needs, and their obstacles.  Offer them solutions that will maximize their investments and their profits.  Remember, your success depends on their success.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The complexity of communication

com·mu·ni·ca·tion ( kə ˌ myo ͞ on ə ˈ k ā SH( ə )n/) noun - the imparting or exchanging of information or news Sounds simple, right?  And at its heart, sure, the concept of communication is simple.  You let me know something, I respond, repeat as necessary, and the expected result is that an idea has been shared to the satisfaction of both parties. But we’ve all had a misunderstanding or even an argument that illustrates darned well the complexity of communication.  Ever struggled to figure out why a fussy baby is crying? While you read this, do you know which words I’m emphasizing, if I’m trying to be funny, what I might be exaggerating, or when I’m completely sincere?    The words we say are just a small part of what we communicate.  Intent, mannerisms, and personal experience all influence purpose and perception.  We can communicate without saying a word (let me add that I am mightily jealous of anyone who can raise one eyebrow at a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Great headphones, amazing price

I’m a working mom.  If you’re unfamiliar with the species, I won’t bore you with a detailed list of how busy that makes me, but I’ll bet you can imagine it just the same.  Peacefully immersing myself in music is a luxury.  So when I do have the chance, I want it to count.  But being a working mom also means I’m on a budget, and so have to be careful what that indulgence costs. Enter the upstart BackBeat 500 .  In a word, “wow.” The 500 is a lower-priced Bluetooth headset that rivals the quality of high-end models.  At $79.99, you won’t find wireless headphones at a better price with better sound (note:  there is an included wire to give you the option of connecting via a 3.5mm jack). According to NPD Group, in the first half of 2016 the overall headphone category saw a 7% growth rate in year-over-year sales, while cordless headset sales grew by 42% in the same time period.  With Apple leading the way for the cell phone industry to elimina...
Post a Comment
Read more

Making the most of an open office

The open office: love it or hate it, you probably don’t get to choose the layout of your workspace.  You can decide, though, to make the most of it.  Here are a few tips for getting along and maximizing productivity in a big, busy, loud space. Noise canceling headphones are invaluable in a shared workspace.  On a phone call, keep your attention where it belongs.  Use Plantronics’ Voyager Focus for maximum passive and active noise cancelling, both so you can concentrate on what’s being said and so that background noise doesn’t annoy your caller.  When you’re not on a call, use the Focus to listen to music, block out the surrounding noise and allow you to, well, focus.  Inevitably, headphone fatigue will set in, no matter what device you use.  Consider that fatigue a reminder to take a walk, stretch your legs, and refresh your mind. All offices should have available spaces where employees can shut the door and get a little quiet or have a priva...
Post a Comment
Read more