I saw an interesting comment on a blog site recently in response to an article about 6 effective marketing tips for small businesses. One poster noted that, among the small businesses she works with, her focus is on providing strong customer service and trusting that the rest will come. (Sort of a Field of Dreams approach I guess…)
There is, of course, absolutely nothing wrong with focusing on customer service–in fact I’m all in favor of it. But thinking that you can start and grow a business by providing exceptional service alone is a bit naive. Why? Because where are those customers going to come from in the first place?
Some level of marketing communication is going to be essential to drive customers to your business–whether you operate a bricks and mortar business or a virtual business. After all, without customers there is no customer service!
Effective marketing requires not just a great product/service, that is readily accessible to your market, at a price that reflects value for that market–it also requires that you have communicated about the existence and value of your product to your target audiences.
Yes, service is absolutely important. But first you need customers to serve!
Attracting and retaining those customers requires understanding their needs and clearly and convincingly conveying to them why what you have to offer will meet those needs. Then, once they’ve made that pivotal decision to engage with you–then you need to delight them with your exceptional service.
But first, you need to identify, connect with and compel some clearly defined audience to choose you.
Tags: Business development, customer satisfaction, Customer Service, customers, effective marketing, retaining customers