Most small businesses are in the business of doing the thing they do, but also marketing and branding their business, making sales, and building relationships (to name just a few). We don’t just have one job; we have many. Every small business owner knows this.
Do most people know how much word of mouth, online reviews, and credibility mean to us? Doing a good job or an adequate job isn’t enough. We must do a great job so that our customers feel compelled to share their positive experiences with others. Which is why losing credibility with even just one person will keep us up at night.
We know we will get some bad reviews. We know we won’t please everyone. But what about when a customer is no longer happy because somewhere along the way, somehow, we lost credibility in their eyes?
I believe there are times when we rightfully lose credibility and the only thing to do is to own it and make it right to the best of our ability.
And a third way: all the little things.One thing we can control is the ability to let our customers know we care.
It’s often the little things over and over again that make the biggest impact. We get busy, we get tired and run-down from all the jobs, and we forget to view our business and performance through the lens of the customer. They aren’t tired and rundown and it’s not their job to care if we are. A lot of grace is given when trust is in place. But once trust is questioned, every little slight (real or perceived) will seem like a red flag.
Some little things:
- Returning messages quickly
- Helping even when the request isn’t exactly what you do
- Checking in just because
- Listening to a story when time doing so feels so precious
- Being on time
- Respecting their time
- Following up with the thing you promised to follow up on
- Leaving out all the details of the personal story (they don’t care about) on why something didn’t go as planned
- Knowing what you’re talking about and admitting when you don’t know something
- Admitting when you’re wrong
- Righting the wrong
- Saying thank you
And even with all of this, we will lose customers, we will lose sleep, and we will forget how much the little things matter.
And, we’ll get up and do it all over again, but this time a little bit better.
