In life, we often do things by habit. Whether taking a certain route to work, buying certain items from the grocery store, going to certain vacation spots or even dining at certain restaurants. If you think about it, we are sort of programmed to do things that are convenient for us and make us happy and fulfilled. Small businesses are the backbone of this country. Many folks, like the author of this blog, take a tremendous amount of pride in and chance in stepping out and creating something of value.
We often get comfortable and don’t really like change but change is inevitable. There are over 32 million small businesses operating in the United States. Many of these small businesses only have 5 employees or less. We often hear about the large chains and big box stores because they have massive marketing budgets to get the word out about their business. How do small businesses get new customers. You guessed it, often times its by receiving referrals.
When it comes to habits, we often do things that are convenient for us or might save us a little more money. That could be shopping the larger businesses because they often buy in tremendous quantities and can offer more of a discount. You also hear more about their products and services through their various advertising channels. Think about the lives of small business owners and the tremendous amount of stress in keeping their establishment(s) open and profitable. Getting the attention of the general public can sometimes be difficult if you are not located in the right space or area (location, location, location). Many small businesses simply don’t have advertising or marketing budgets to regularly promote their products or services in high expense channels. What they often have to rely on is current customers telling others about their business and having those current customers return over and over. Offering an exceptional customer experience is the key to keeping customers coming back again and again.
Habit, just like what was mentioned at the beginning, is key to consistently supporting small businesses in your community. Many businesses have seasonal offerings and get more attention during certain times of the year. We have to be cognizant and mindful of when things are typically slow for a small business and dig deep into your brain and come up with referrals to help that small business that relies on your referrals. A habit is something that you do without consciously thinking about it. Supporting small businesses in your community should be in the same vein. It could be a pizza place, a groomer, a dry cleaner or even a lawn care company. These businesses often live or die by the number of regular referrals they receive from their existing customers. At the end of the day, there has to be an “Aha” moment and there has to be action taken (submitting a referral). A mantra that I have is that “Good intentions, sometimes aren’t good enough”. If you intended to referral a business to a family member or friend but forgot, that is potentially a new customer for a small business in your community.
Since the average consumer has over 80 apps on their phone, there should be an easy way to share a referral with a local small business. The cherry on top is receiving a referral reward discount and also the referral receiving a discount as well. People are often more likely to act when they have a savings opportunity that is easily redeemable. The mission of Dealsby is connecting small businesses to the communities that they serve. Our goal is to provide a web and app-based solution that gets small businesses brand awareness and exposure in order to help them grow and flourish while also helping consumers save money. The customer lifetime value is often higher when a consumer has been referred to a business. I can personally attest that businesses that were referred to me I’m much more likely to continue patronizing because I trust the referrer.
So, when it comes to small business, make it a habit to tell others in your community to patronize that business. Commerce helps communities grow and prosper and we all love to see our communities grow and prosper. Think again about the pain and sacrifice that small business goes through to open their doors to their community. If Dealsby can be a bridge in quickly and efficiently introducing new customers to a small business, then our mission will be successful.
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