Good Enough Isn't Good Enough in Business

In today's economic crisis, businesses are working with very limited resources and personnel. Hourly Employees and Executives both are having to push themselves harder and harder to pick up the slack of trying to make a profit in an very financially unstable economy. I have even seen our CEO put down his golf clubs, roll up his sleeves and pitch in a helping hand.

Being that staffs are so stretched and pulled in different directions, we may sometimes feel that some things don't matter or that we can let some things slide. This can be the worst mistake a company can make during hard times. When business after business starts to go bankrupt, you have to stay on your A-game unless you want to be another statistic in the next Presidential Speech.

So many people are out of work that new companies, especially service companies, are springing up at an exponential rate. Keep in mind that whatever thing you are letting slide, your competitors are probably not letting slide. In fact, they are waiting for you to make a mistake so they can take advantage and gain a little more market share. A business owner must stay humble and remember that your business is built one customer at a time. When you don't have the money for a large marketing or advertising budget, you have to be creative and find other ways of advertising. I have always found that the best source of advertising tried and true time after time is "Word of Mouth".

I have never found any form of advertising to give me a greater return on investment. That is why customer service is such an important task of any business of any size. The happier your customer is about the products, the more they are going to talk about them and tell others. Wow, and this is all for free. No television adds, no radio spots, and no pay- per- click campaign to manage.

Take care of your clients, respect your employees and remember to be humble.

These are the ingredients to success in today's economy. An attitude of that presentation isn't quite done but it's good enough just won't cut it. You only get first impressions with most clients today because there are so many different vendors to choose from. If you are having a small complaint from a customer and it is pretty easily taken care of, then solve it as soon as possible before it grows into something big. If you promise your clients something and can not deliver on time or exactly what they want, be transparent with them. Keep your clients updated on what is going on. Don't forget those same Social Media channels that you are using to broadcast the features of your product, your customers are using them to broadcast things about you and it can be good or bad.