It’s no secret that running a business comes with huge amounts of work. No matter the field you work in or the items you sell, you will have little choice but to deal with the admin work which comes with it, and this is just the start of the tasks you have before you. With all of this work going on, a lot of people forget about one of the most crucial elements in the success of their company; popularity. People have to like you if you’re going to make money, but how exactly can you achieve something like this?
The way that you approach your likeability will depend on the type of customers you tend to deal with. Businesses will require different treatment to members of the public, and this is something you have to consider before you get started. To make this a little easier, this post will be exploring your different types of customer to give you an idea of how you can make them like you.
Approaching Businesses
Working with other businesses can be notoriously tricky, with these types of customers often being the hardest to please. In return, they can also be some of the more lucrative people to work with, and this makes it worth going through the pain of getting them to like you. There are a number of steps which can be taken to ensure that you appeal to the majority of business owners.
Presentation: Having heard plenty of pitches and possibly having given some of their own, business owners will know what to look for when they have someone tell them about a product. This makes it crucial that you have a strong idea of what you’re going to say, along with cultivating an appearance which makes businesses happy.
Freebies: While it will be important that you come across as strong while working with other business owners, it makes sense to offer them a taster of your work before you start charging them. This is something which should only be done when you’re first starting out, but can prove to be an excellent way to draw people in.
Timeliness: You have to be patient to be able to run a business, but this will always have its limits. When someone has paid you to do something within a specific timeframe, it’s crucial that you meet their requirements, or you could find yourself without any work to do. Keeping up can be hard, but will be made much easier if you have a schedule to follow.
Approaching Customers
The general public are a little easier to deal with than businesses, and there is usually a little less pressure when your business is facing in this direction. Of course, though, customers like this will always have the potential to damage your business through their words, with reviews and other word of mouth proving to be incredibly vital to a small company, but normal people finding it easy to be harsh with this sort of feedback.
Conciseness: When most people are shopping online, they don’t want to have to go through a learning experience in the process. All of the information you present should be relevant and easy to understand, with products having their full specifications, and descriptions including everything a customer will need to make a decision.
Reliability: It only takes one late order with a member of the public to tarnish the way they see you for the rest of time. You need to make sure that each customer order goes out on time, along with replying to messages as quickly as possible, and always having your website up for them to pay a visit.
Ethics & Responsibility: Over the last few years, it’s become increasingly popular for businesses to take advantage of ethics and morals in their work. Even something as simple as using spray foam insulation to make your warehouse or office more efficient can be a great route to take. As long as the action you take can be advertised, doing anything which will make people view you as an ethical business is a good idea.
Freebies: Like businesses, normal customers will also happily respond to the offer of a freebie. This doesn’t have to be something as large as you’d give a business, with options like giving out stickers or discounts to new customers being a great way to make them happier about shopping with you.
Why Be Liked?
There are a lot of companies throughout the world which ignore this sort of issue. Time Warner, EA Games, and many others are guilty of approaching their customers as if they don’t matter, and this can be seen in the way that they are viewed by the public. This only works for them because they are already established, though. In a lot of cases, customers have little choice but to use them, as no one else will sell quite the same products or services. For example, if you wanted to play the latest Battlefield video game, you’d have to buy it from EA.
As a small business, you simply don’t have this sort of power. Instead, you have to convince people to work with you, and there will almost always be another option for them to try. Getting around this will be impossible without some serious investment, and this makes it worth thinking about ways to make people like you. Of course, though, business isn’t just about popularity, and this means that you have to balance the way that you treat people in a way which will make you money while keeping them happy at the same time.
With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to take on the challenge of getting people to like you when you’re running a business. This sort of challenge is much harder to overcome than making friends with normal people. Your business will be there to take money and provide a product or service, rather than to make your customers feel good.
