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

I have a confession to make:  I was never particularly into the quality of sound.  My oldest brother would get into my car and he would almost immediately make a scrunchy face and fiddle with the radio.  Then he would look at me triumphantly.  “There!  Isn’t that better?” He would ask, although it wasn’t a question; it was a declaration of success.  I would agree enthusiastically, although, truth be told, even if I noticed, I didn’t really care. That’s what I mean – it never mattered to me.  It didn’t matter to me to the point that I didn’t even notice.  The melody of music?  Sure.  The poetry?  Heck yeah.  Does it have a good beat and I can dance to it?  Awesome.  But the highs, the bass, the reverb?  Whatever.  A little static?  Who cares?  Quality wasn’t on my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good gadget – laptop, tablet, fitness watch, smart phone – woohoo!  These modern toy...
2 comments
Read more

How I Focus

I recently read about a self-help guru trying to quiet his mind enough to find sleep and it got me thinking about my own train of thought, which goes something like this:  I need to pull yesterday’s numbers so I can update that spreadsheet.  What happened yesterday?  The kids had a snow day.  Did John remember his lunch this morning?  What do I need at the grocery store? What’s going on this weekend?  How many days left until my birthday?  Ugh, so old!  I’m going to check LinkedIn and Twitter to do some research, find inspiration, write an article.  Why am I so tired? Focusing is hard! The open office environment that so encourages collaboration and team-building also creates intrusive ambient noise.  If you’re anything like me, this is disruptively distracting.  The technology we’re surrounded by and actively embrace forces multi-tasking in everything we do, not just at work.  We check email while watching TV, make ph...
1 comment
Read more

Words of Wisdom, From Me to You

I tend to mother people.  I know this about myself, and I’m not going to apologize for it.  This isn’t a habit I developed when I became a mom - I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember.  In the spirit of consistency, here are the motherisms I’m most likely to pass on to my children, or anyone else who might be within hearing distance of my nagging  nurturing.  Choose citrus that feels heavy for its size.  It will be fresher and juicier than the lightweight pieces. Always drive as if everyone else on the road is an imbecile, drunk, and/or texting. Red lipstick is a commitment.  Don’t wear it unless you mean it. Be nice to almost everyone, but don’t waste your time on those that don’t deserve your kindness. Embrace who you are, what you think and feel.  Don’t let anyone belittle you for being yourself, and don’t let anyone tell you who to be, not even the internet.  Let joy in.  It’s everywhere, but you ha...
Post a Comment
Read more