GROWING YOUR BUSINESS: Do your customers know what you do?

by Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

How well do your customers know you? Do they know every service that you offer? If you are a landscaping company, do all your customers know that you offer snow removal and roof clearing in the winter as well?

If you are a contractor, do your customers know that you also build things like sheds and picnic tables and gazebos as a side business using your team to work on these things when they cannot be outdoors due to weather?

If you own a small restaurant, do all your customers know that you do at-home catering as well?

If you own a beauty salon, do your customers realize that you offer in-home hair cutting for people who cannot easily leave their homes?

A friend of mine was disappointed recently to see a competitor’s truck and crew doing tree removal at the home of one of his best customers. When he bravely called that customer later asking him why he was not hired for that job. The customer was surprised and told him, “Of course, I would have called you…if I had any idea, you provided tree removal services as well.” Talk about a lost opportunity! Talk about a wake-up call!

As a business owner you have to always make sure that your customers have a good idea of everything you can do for them.

You have already done the hard work. They are already your customers and you have developed a good bond with them. Now what you have to do is make sure they have a good understanding of all you can do for them.

The frustrating thing about this is that you probably did tell them. And I will give you the benefit of the doubt and agree that you probably told them many times.

But alas, customer forget, or they don’t listen, or they don’t care, until they need that particular service. Then they start looking and they start paying attention.

You can see ten thousand commercials for that Ford F-150 truck, but you are not going to pay attention until you are looking for a new truck, then and only then will you notice those ads.

It’s the same with your customers, which is why you have to find ways to constantly remind them of everything you can do for them. They only notice what they are looking for.

Some ways to do this are to provide them with a brochure listing everything you do. Create a wall hanging calendar that is a constant reminder of everything you do. Send out a monthly newsletter that lists all that you do and more (these are great for offering monthly specials as well).

Your job is to never, ever stop your focused messaging. Your job is to say the same thing in all kinds of different ways, over, and over, and over again, ad nauseum. I don’t care how much you get sick of hearing or reading or saying your message you have to keep doing it and even then, you are still going to drive by your good customer’s house one day and see one of your competitors doing something that you thought your customer knew you did.

That is just the way it works, And that’s why you have to always be finding new and innovative ways to get your messages in front of all your customers. Doing that will help you grow your business.