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Be Amazing, Serve the Customers You Have #EveryoneStartsAtZero
Guided Learning by Mark on Fullback and Friends | Day 3: Be Amazing, Serve the Customers You Have.
So you’ve found a product you want to sell and that your customers need. Now you need a place to sell it. Every business is unique. Everyone has their own recipe for success. You might decide on a physical shop. You might decide on an online store. You might decide on a mixture of the two. Anyway you do it you need a STORE. A place your customers can buy your product or services from.
For me that place is an online store. Over the past 13 years I’ve seen so many changes. It’s never been easier to open a store. Before you needed a developer to set up your store. And that was expensive. Now you can do it yourself as easy as typing a letter in word. In the old days getting stock was a nightmare. You would have to purchase hundreds of the same item from a supplier; have a “warehouse” to store the items and have lengthy 12 month minimum order contracts with them. It’s funny when I write it now how ridiculous that sounds. An example for me was books. We used to buy books for our training events. I only wanted say 50 of the same book but I was expected to be a Waterstones or Borders (remember them. I loved Borders). You had to purchase a minimum amount every month. I did it but remember thinking “this is stupid”. Now it’s never been so easy to start selling online. Some suppliers will even ship it for you. You never have to store the items. I’m not pitching having an online store over a real store I just want you to know how easy it is to do now. You’ve no reason not to try. I just want to answer the question(s):
Why is an online store important for my small business? Surely I’ve got enough to do running the shop?
Remember THE LIST? Having an online store gives you a bigger list. Say you are running a happy little coffee shop. Your customers love you. It’s a home from home for them. A place to relax for them. But your not relaxed. You’re tired. You’re working every hour of everyday, 7 days a week. You’ve reached a limit on your income because of the number of tables you can have in your shop. All you can do is open more or charge more. You can’t employ someone else. It won’t increase your income doing that. This is where an online store can help. It gives you another income stream. You could sell your famous home made cakes online. You could do online cookery courses. You’re no longer tied to your opening hours or how many tables you can fit in the shop.
The same thing goes for a hairdresser. You could offer mini courses in hair styling or hair and make up products online.
Trainers – mini courses online? You not tied to how many people you can get in a venue.
But this really brings me back to ‘What’s unique about your business?’. How do you make it amazing for customers?
That’s the secret.
Why is your happy little coffee shop a “home from home”?
Customer Experience.
So what is customer experience and how do you get it?
Ask yourself “what is the experience your customers have with your business from start to finish?” I say ‘Start to Finish’ because we use that in our events – ‘Stress Free From Start to Finish’. I think about the customer from the moment they step out of the door and get in their car to the moment they unlock their front door at the end of a great day. I want them to have the very best experience they can. I’ve even driven the routes to venues to find out if there’s any road works or the maps are difficult to follow. Same goes for online events. I’m thinking about the experience from the moment you press the on button. i’m trying to make it consistent.
It’s about thinking about the details.
Customer Experience should be natural. If you notice it or force it you’re doing it wrong.
The other thing to note is it’s not about the interactions. That’s customer service.
I’d love to go into Customer Experience in more detail another time. But for now give some thought to “what makes your business unique?”. That’s your Customer Experience.
Check out Caine’s Arcade again. What customer experience did he create?
To help you more and give you inspiration I’ve curated a set of Guided Learning Links that explore this topic further. Check out the links and add your answers to The Journal. If you’re new and not sure how to use the Guided Learning then please read our FAQS at: http://fullbackandfriends.com/guided-learning/status-and-faqs/#FAQ3
Guided Learning Links
http://tech.co/5-strong-ecommerce-trends-set-drive-profits-retailers-2015-2015-01
http://www.which.co.uk/news/2015/05/which-reveals-the-best-and-worst-uk-shops-402796/
http://www.shopify.com/blog/11415817-50-ways-to-make-your-first-sale
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/236890
http://www.retaildoc.com/blog/how-to-attract-more-customers-to-your-store-in-8-easy-steps
Questions
Why is it important to make sure your online store is optimised for mobile?
If you have a small shop why could an online store really help you?
Why do you think independent shops can rank highly in customer satisfaction surveys?
What do you think makes an amazing customer experience?
Guided Learning Journal
Submit your answers and any questions you have using the following link:
Look out for ‘Turning On Your Sales Machine’ at 5pm tomorrow.
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