Grow Your Business, 8 Steps

Grow Your Business, 8 Steps

1. Create an Irresistible Client Experience

This is by far the most efficient way to grow your business. Create this experience by examining the way you greet clients when they call, how your service technicians show attentiveness during a service call and how you follow up afterwards. Make sure client satisfaction is your number one priority.

Slipping on ShuBee Shoe Covers before entering your client’s home is a great way to show that you care about their floors. Follow-up after the service call with the Report Card (short survey) to ensure you exceeded their expectations. They will be sure to tell their friends about the experience which puts your business on the fast track for serious growth. This brings us to our next step for growth, inspiration.

2. Get Inspired

Make it a priority to read magazines, online articles and watch the news every day. This will keep you on top of emerging trends that can greatly impact your business in the future. You could even spot some cutting-edge opportunities that could quickly lead you to millions! However, make sure in all the excitement you don’t forget who helped you reach those millions.

3. Keep Your Best Employees

Employee retention (or the lack thereof) can really affect the growth of your business. Some businesses give thousands of dollars every year in gym memberships, exotic trips and bonuses to try to keep their best employees happy. However, there are less expensive ways to encourage your employees to stick around.

Potluck social events are a great way to keep employees. By encouraging them to create relationships with others in the company, they’re much more likely to think twice before leaving their friends to switch to another job.

Another great idea is having the boss take a few employees out to lunch and find out where they think the company is heading. It’s very encouraging to your employees to find out that you value their input. Plus they could have an excellent idea to enrich the company that you’ll never know about unless you ask. Speaking of ideas, another great way to grow quickly is to increase customer loyalty.

4. Encourage and Reward Customer Loyalty

Create promotions that encourage clients to keep calling your company back when they need your services. You could send coupons with the Report Card or offer other incentives if they choose to use your company again. If you have long-time customers, sending a simple thank you card can really go a long way to encourage their loyalty. Now that you have loyal customers, loyal employees and inspiration, it’s time to diversify.

5. Diversify or Sell Your Expertise

Examine what complementary products or services your company could provide in addition to what you offer already. For example, if you own a plumbing company, consider offering the Water Alarm. If moisture or leaks are detected, your contact information can be added to the alarm which insures the customer will call you if the alarm sounds.

You also could consider becoming a paid speaker or columnist in your field. Selling your knowledge is a great way to give your business credibility and cause people to think of you first when they need services like yours. However, when they think of you, they may use a search engine to try to find your business. This is where the next idea comes in.

6. Expand on the Internet

For just a few dollars a month, you can market your services internationally, 24 hours a day. Informational websites are inexpensive and can make it easy for potential clients to find out more about your business, the services you provide and how to contact you. Consider adding testimonials and your hours of operation. More than likely you have a local web company near you that’s more than willing to give you advice and help maintain your website. If you already own a website, find ways to enhance it to keep ahead of the competition. Speaking of competition, they won’t know how to keep up if you take advantage of the next idea.

7. Generate Buzz with Creative, Low-Budget Marketing

Consider holding creative contests at local trade shows or fairs and tie your business into the theme. For example, you could sponsor a water balloon race for a plumbing company. Get creative and have fun with it!

Volunteering or donating to local charities is another way to get excellent publicity and really enhance the image of your business. You can also get free publicity by sending out press releases, commenting in chat rooms, starting a blog or submitting free classifieds. These low-cost and free forms of marketing are an excellent way to grow your business. But wait, before all this growth, we come to the last and most important idea.

8. Write a Detailed Business Plan

Looking for strengths and weaknesses on paper is much easier than reassessing your strategies after you’ve started to grow. Make sure you’ve examined all the angles and are ready to take on the type of growth you want.

Many small business owners and managers get so caught up in day to day activities that they fail to look at the long term. Before you begin the day ask yourself, “what can I do today that will matter two years from now?” Consider forming business alliances, franchising your business, or merging with or acquiring complementary businesses. These ideas can really help your business grow quickly so make sure you’ve done all your research and are ready for this type of commitment. Growing your business takes hard work, but the benefits make it well worth it.