Is growing your business in 2018 top of your to-do list? Here are our top tips to help you achieve your goal.
Nurture your customers
Nurturing your customers is more than simply offering them great service. Take the time to get to know them and their needs, and figure out ways to meet those wants and needs. Customers respond well to bespoke service that makes them feel well looked after.
Have strategies in place to make them feel valued, such as emails or SMSs to notify them of any promotions ahead of time. Remember, your current customers are an important asset – they’re a walking and talking advertisement for your business – and if they’re happy they’re more likely to recommend your business. Simple ways to nurture your customers include:
- Introduce a loyalty program to reward VIP customers for their loyalty.
- Provide special offers, discounts or promo codes to customers who have been inactive for a while.
- Ask for feedback from customers to help improve your offering. This can be done at point of sale or via email. You might even want to incentivise this by giving customers the chance to go into the draw to win a prize for completing a survey.
Refine your marketing strategy
Knowing the best way to market your business ensures you’re speaking to the right people at the right time. Think about different strategies to build your brand awareness, including:
- Social media: Build an online community around your business by providing your current and potential customers with engaging, helpful content. Advertise the ‘big wins’ of your business, like industry awards. Post photos of staff events to show the human side of your business—this will make customers feel more connected with your business.
- Giving back: Building brand awareness in your local community is a great way to attract new business. There are lots of local community groups and sporting teams that are often on the look out for sponsors, so give back where you can.
- Networking: Networking events can help you build relationships and in turn, build your potential client base. Pages like Meetup are great for finding networking events near you.
Working with the right people
Having the right team of people in your business is important. Especially in a small business where you’re often working closely together, hiring the right people and developing them can be a game changer to helping your business grow.
Before hiring a new team member:
- Screen applicants: Time is valuable, so before meeting with a candidate consider a phone call. If that goes well, then meet with them in person, this will give you a better feel for how they’ll fit into your organisation.
- Consider culture: You want your new hire to fit into the environment you have, but it’s also worth staying open to someone bringing a different dynamic into your team too.
It’s also beneficial to help develop your existing staff so they can help the business grow. Some tips for development include:
- Invest in staff training
- Schedule frequent reviews to determine what staff want to get out of their job.
- Allocate more responsibility based on their strengths and interests
- Bring them into business decisions where appropriate
Work on your business, not necessarily in it
The more you work on your business and not necessarily in it, the more time you’ll have to grow your business. A tool like Deputy allows you to allocate tasks from anywhere, anytime, and track their progress, meaning you can manage your business while you’re working remotely. Deputy can help you:
- Integrate with other software to automate repeatable tasks like invoicing
- Delegate tasks to various members of your team
- Streamline workplace communication tools so everyone knows what they need to do
- Track timesheets and attendance which can be easily exported to payroll
Growing your business can be a challenge, but with the right team and support systems in place you’ll be in a good position to create more success in 2018.
How are you planning to grow your business this year? Do you need help to make it happen? Find out how Deputy can make your life easier so you can get you back to loving your business again. Get in touch with our friendly team today on 1300 DEPUTY.
