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If you have a small company, you won't want your customers to think of your business as 'small time'. It may seem hard to believe but even your business cards and letterheads can give the impression that your business is small and somehow unreliable. Market research has shown that small business with impressive marketing collateral consistently win new customers and clients as, along with an excellent service, customers benefit from the illusion that the company is a thriving business and that they were lucky to be chosen as a client.
Make a Good First Impression
The first tip, to ensure that your company’s reputation remains intact is to invest in stationary and ensure that you make a good first impression. Choosing something as seemingly mundane as a business card can have a dramatic effect on the business you attract. Try to ensure that your business card looks professional, doesn’t use any garish colours (unless they is your Unique selling Point) and, above all, ensure that your business card and letterheads are printed on quality paper.
Be Unique
Another tip when designing your business card is to make it unique. You may think that there isn’t much you can do on such a small piece of card but you’d be wrong. A search for interesting and unique business cards online returns a raft of results. The thinking behind this idea is simple. If you have a quality business card then you will not fail to impress a prospective client. If you have a remarkable business card then not only will you impress that one prospective client, but she, in turn, will show your card to her colleagues, her suppliers, her marketing team. By creating an interesting business card you can help spread the word about your business very cost effectively.
Follow Up
The next tip for spreading your company’s reputation is to invest in your "follow-up pack". This is the information about your company and product that prospects will phone to request having seen or received your business card. Lavishing time and money on this promotional material may seem unnecessary but many find that this pack is the deal clincher. Not only can you paint a picture of your thriving business but you can also highlight the benefits of your product to a targeted market. But don’t forget, speed of response is another crucial reputation factor. If a prospect phones for further information try to dispatch the item there and then. If that is not possible, try to post the information that same day; many business transactions are lost because of slow mailing response times.
Keep Customers Happy
The final stage of reputation management is to ensure that your existing customers are happy. Consider sending them a brief feedback questionnaire or visiting/phoning them in person. If your customers are happy then this unexpected contact might help them to tell a few friends or colleagues about your excellent customer service. If the customers are unhappy then you can take the opportunity to make things better and turn the situation around. Most customers are reasonable people and appreciate that not everything goes to plan all of the time. If you can rectify the situation quickly the customer can still benefit from excellent customer service and you can continue to enjoy an untarnished reputation.
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