How Important Is Your Business Reputation?

by Don Kyle

Just how important is the reputation of your business?  If you own a small business and you rely on the support of your local market place, it is of extreme important.

How often have you heard a friend or neighbor talk about a bad experience they encountered at a particular business?  Then again, how often have you heard someone raving about a particular business?

It is much more common to hear bad things than good.  Based on a 2011 American Express Global Customer Service Barometer Survey, consumers will tell others about their customer service experiences, both good and bad, with the bad news reaching more ears.  Americans say they tell an average of nine people about good experiences, and nearly twice as many (16 people) about poor ones – making every individual service interaction important for businesses.

Therefore, it is critical that business owners be ever vigilant in providing the best service or product to their customers in order to maintain a good reputation.

If your business has created a bad reputation, what can do about it?  Here are some suggestions.

1.  Take a deep look at your business, putting yourself in the shoes of a consumer, and then assess your business.  Would you use your own services or products?  If you are too close to your business, ask a trusted friend or another business owner to do this for you.  This step should allow you to identify and make necessary changes to your operations, personnel, products or services offered, etc.

2.  Google your business and see what comes up.  Numerous websites also allow consumers to rate and make comments about your business.  If you encounter negative comments that you believe are erroneous, many sites will allow you to input your own comments.  It is also a good idea to try to contact those who made negative comments and see if you can do anything to resolve their complaints.

3.  Ask your current customers what they like and dislike about your business.  Ask them what you can do to improve.  Be humble and thank them for their input.

4.  If you have raving customers, ask them to spread the good word to others in your market place and online.

If you would like assistance promoting and growing your business, feel free to contact me.  Additionally, feel free to submit questions about growing your business and I will address them in future articles.

Don Kyle is the CEO and Founder of Small Bizz MBA, a company which assists businesses with their marketing, branding and advertising needs.  (404) 580-6331, dkyle@smallbizzmba.com

How Can I Make My Ads More Effective?

by Don Kyle

Over the 13 plus years that I owned and operated a direct mail community magazine, one of the most frequent questions I heard from advertisers was, “Why am I not getting responses to my ad.”  As I pondered this question over the years, I have reached a conclusion which has become very clear to me.

Put simply, most ads do not have the three key ingredients necessary for an ad to be effective and generate desired results.  Assuming that your ads are targeted at the proper audience, these keys are:

1.  Is there a headline (or other attention-getter) that will cause prospects (your audience — readers, viewers, listeners, web visitors, etc.) to look at (or listen to) your ad?

2.  Is there a compelling message for your prospects?

3.  Is there a call to action or an offer in your ad?

If you do not have an attention grabbing headline or image, your prospects will not bother to look at your ad, regardless of how great your product or service may be.  This is probably the most important factor as you want your prospects to look at what you are offering.  Keep in mind that people are most attracted to people and animals (animate objects) rather than “things.”  This can definitely help attract prospects to your ads.

If your message is not compelling, why would prospects look any further to your offer or call to action?

Finally, if you do not ask prospects to take action, they will not.  Be sure to emphasize how prospects can contact you (and of course, where you’re located).

Business owners are very good at what they do within their business; however, this talent normally does not carry over to ad design.  Therefore, it makes sense to take advantage of those who do, in designing your ads, i.e., the resources at the advertising medium you choose.

Ads utilized by competitors in your field, preferably in markets other than your own, are another great resource in designing your ads.  I have seen many clever and effective ads over the years in other publications in other locales.

However you decide to design your ad, make sure you address these three key factors.  Remember, the goal of your ad is cause your prospects to take action and contact you.

Please feel free to submit questions about your business and I will address them in future columns.

Don Kyle is the CEO and Founder of Small Bizz MBA, a company which assists businesses with their marketing, branding and advertising needs.  (404) 580-6331, dkyle@smallbizzmba.com