Like your competitors, you’re likely doing everything you can to keep costs down while making sure your customers are happy. But you can do more to stand out from the crowd and deliver great service while trimming those unnecessary expenses.
Read on if you’re looking for new opportunities to lower business costs without sacrificing your customers’ satisfaction.
Prioritize your business’s online experience
Great online experiences can help redirect in-store or other customer interactions. They can also free up time for your staff to provide more of their focus and attention to in-store customers who need it.
Instead of hiring a costly social media agency, allow your team to manage your business’s online presence. After all, your employees are the people that know your business best — they interact with customers daily and know your products and services inside out. If any of your employees are social media-savvy, let them take on an additional role of a social media manager.
While your team is taking care of your online presence, you can focus more on improving customer service.
Use a scheduling app
Great scheduling software can help you keep your business perfectly staffed for ups and downs in demand — meaning your customers get a fantastic experience, and you reduce unnecessary wage costs!
A scheduling app can help you fine-tune your staffing, but it also gives you a clear picture of your labor budget and total spending so you can stay on track.
Plus, with the ability to create employee schedules in a few clicks, you’re saving valuable time that you can refocus on your customers.
"Now we have much more time in the business to work on other things instead of scheduling. We're focusing on our goals for the future." - Dirk Swanson, Ace Hardware
Carry brands that stand out
Whether well-known or locally-owned, carrying brands your customers are familiar with can help drive traffic to your doors. And it doesn’t have to cost much. Review your current inventory and consider high-cost products that can be replaced with cheaper, well-known ones.
If you can find a locally-owned alternative, there’s a better chance that you can spread the word about your business at no cost. Partnering with other businesses in your community is a great way to promote your organization, and it shows your investment in supporting your neighbors.
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Utilize internal expertise
You always want to lead your team with a fresh perspective. To keep up with your competitors, locate knowledgable industry resources inside your business — your team. You may be surprised by how much you can learn from them.
Your employees have varied skillsets that extend out of the scope of their roles. And those skills can help your business grow. If you need to brush up on your product photography, you may have a team member who does photography outside of work as a side hustle. If you want to change up the design of your menu, you may have an employee who’s majoring in graphic design.
Utilizing your employee’s other skills will help your business grow, but it can also help your team grow. These new opportunities can help them learn and grow on individual and professional levels.
Listen to customer feedback
You can obtain customer feedback from various sources — and most of them are free! Review sites like Yelp and Google are great ways to get the feedback you need to improve customer satisfaction.
Having a suggestion box at the doors of your business can also be a free opportunity to gather your customers’ wants and needs. Don’t be afraid to ask your audience questions. They’re more likely to engage with you if you pay attention to them. And more engagement can mean more traffic in no time.
Make sure you stay up-to-date with consumer trends and other insights to prepare to address your customers’ needs and provide a more personalized experience. Anticipating your customers’ needs will save you time from making last-minute business decisions that could affect your staff’s morale and customer satisfaction.
Cut costs, not customer service
It will always be one of your main priorities to find ways to reduce business costs. But it doesn’t have to be at the expense of customer satisfaction. Looking for more ways to optimize your business this year? Download The Essential Guide to Growing Your Business in 2022.
