1. Build and keep a superstar team
“Your most precious resource is the people in your organization,” says Chris. “The challenge is to build a high-performing team. Beyond hiring smart people with passion and a willingness to work hard and be committed, look for those who share your vision as CEO and business leader. And take care of them.”
“Amp up the check metrics that you have in place to ensure your staff is happy, feeling challenged, getting the feedback that they need to succeed, and the accolades they deserve.”
2. Take care of your customers
Please don’t assume that your customers will stay with you forever because they have been your customer for years. “Everybody’s trying to eat your lunch. You really need to stay on top of caring for and serving that customer,” Chris says.
“It’s easy to get comfortable and complacent, thinking that everything’s going great. But keep looking under the hood, keep checking for problems. If you find a little crack in the armor, dig into it – what you’ll find may be extremely interesting and insightful.”
“Proactively reach out to your customers,” he says. “Ask those hard questions and really find out if you’re doing a good job.”
3. Never compromise on cutting-edge tools, services, and customer experiences
Customers expect you to be 100 percent digitally enabled and on the cutting edge – otherwise, it won’t work out, according to Chris. That’s especially true for traditional small businesses staffed with team members with a customer service background. “They need to be fully staffed, and their technology stacks need to be fully built out. Their customers expect that level of digital acumen,” he says, “And if it’s not there, you’ll lose deals to someone else.”
A strong digital platform featuring rich task management and monitoring capability and the ability to create outstanding digital customer experiences are essential.
Chris says the following: “If you’re coming to a customer discussion with a folder and a printed presentation, and you don’t have one app, one place to log in, an online footprint that works, your listings aren’t perfect, and you don’t have a good online reputation, how the heck do you expect to convince the customer that you’re the best option for them? ”
4. Find a mentor
Find some organization or someone you can bounce ideas off that has been there, done that, and has something you can model, Chris advises.
“There are different ways that you can learn things,” he says. “You can do trial and error, but it is expensive, frustrating, and takes a long time. But if you can find something that’s working, emulate that and learn from top-performing organizations – that’s punching above your weight. Just look a little higher up there and aspire to be like that. Then learn from them.”
5. Extreme ownership over perfection
“I think customers are looking for an organization that may not always be right and may not always deliver at a hundred percent,” Chris says. “But if there ever is a problem, they want to work with a company that won’t run or hides from it or spins it. They want to work with a company that says, ‘There was a problem there. We did not meet your expectations. Let’s work together to figure out a way to move forward.’
“I think that level of authenticity and cutting to the chase of saying, ‘Yes, we did not perform properly,’ is really what customers are looking for today.”
6. Give fence-sitters a gentle nudge
“People that work in customer service and care about local economies need to help and have a solution that could solve what currently challenges consumers, Chris says.
“Revenues are down, transactions are down, complete groups of customers are gone because they’ve now changed their buying habits and are looking to someone that is digitally enabled,” he explains.
“I’m a real big believer in that gentle nudge or ‘challenger sales’ approach, rather than waiting for customers to see the light of day. You can challenge a customer without saying, ‘You’ve got to do this, or you’re going to die.’ Instead, it’s saying, ‘If you do this, here are the benefits that you will find.’ Then back that up with real data.”
7. Be adaptable, be agile
Chris warns that companies shouldn’t be afraid to stop doing things previously done and adapt to the new normal of today’s business environment. He adds that SMBs most likely to succeed can change and adapt at a blistering pace.
“The number one mistake I see companies making today is that they expect what they did three years ago, or even a year ago, will continue to work moving forward in the next two years,” Chris says.
A quick reaction to changing business dynamics is essential. Chris cited the example of Google’s recent release of Google Guarantee.
“You need to be on top of that today, not eight, 10 months from now,” he says. “Being on that cutting edge is one of the key things that small businesses need to embrace. It would be best if you were seen as that innovative organization on the cutting edge. It doesn’t mean you need to adopt every new trend totally. But you should be experimenting and show that you’re not afraid to be agile and look at new opportunities.”
8. Practice what you preach
Chris recalls that 15 years ago, the companies shoppers admired were the ones that painted an amazing picture of their brand. The same thing holds today, he says.
“When I look at any organization, I consider: What does their marketing look like? Is their Social Media profile complete and built out? Are they using e-mail marketing to send out updates? If they’re not deploying those tactics – which are really now just table stakes for digital marketing – then I don’t think their customer base will trust that they can deliver it for them.”
9. Back your pitch with data
Today’s most successful companies are accountable, seen as innovative, and data-driven.
“What we’ve been working on in coaching motions internally over the past couple of months is a challenger sales model that disputes the status quo,” Chris says. “To do that, you have to present data regarding the economic downturn a business may have experienced because it wasn’t digitally enabled. Then show what is possible if they do become a digitally-enabled business.
“So it’s not about just protecting the business that you had pre-COVID,” Chris adds. “It might be about capturing new business that’s out there because other businesses didn’t make the change. So that’s why I really believe in that challenger sale. When you combine it with data and bring insights, it really will resonate with that small business.”
Imagine this sales model with your prospects and customers…what economic downturn may have they experienced and show what is possible if they invest in your products and services.
10. Don’t get lost online
If you’re a business owner or marketer that’s been calling on customers over the years, you may have been aggressively executing tactics to get found online, get digitally fit, and provide an exceptional digital customer experience. Today’s small businesses must be doing all of that or face extinction, Chris says.
“It’s deploying that concept of, ‘Can I find you with the right information online? When I look to social media channels, do I see that you’re a thing as an organization?’” he says.
“And then can that business conduct business online – whether it’s booking an appointment with a hairstylist or barber, scheduling a live real estate tour or providing curbside pickup of the new Trek bicycle, or creating an online shopping experience, where I can pick out an item, and have it delivered. These activities are vitally important. Companies need to have it all.”