Here are some things that come to mind that you might not have considered for your small business.  Take a look and let me know what you think by submitting a comment at the end of this post.

1.  Always, always, always answer the phone. Your business phone during business hours, should always be answered by a live, knowledgeable person.  Customers do not want to leave a message, and most of them won’t.  They are already dialing your competitors.

Small Business Hackr Tip:Answer your business calls late and on weekends if possible.  Have your business phone forwarded to your cell phone and answer the calls.  Your potential customers will love the fact that they are reaching you at odd hours and will show you by giving you their business.

2.  If you absolutely can’t answer the phone. Be sure you have a pleasant voicemail message.  Do not say “This is Jim leave a message”.  Yes Jim, you are cool, but your customers are not impressed.  Let the caller know what business they have called.  Let them know how soon you will call them back.  No, they don’t care that you are with another customer or  whatever.  They want their problem solved.  Give them your website address so they can check that out and then call them back as soon a humanly possible.

Small Business Hackr Tip: Voice mail coupons.  Let’s face it, if someone hits your voice mail you may have lost the sale already.  To increase your chances, you may consider letting your customer know that since they have to leave a message instead of speaking to you personally, you will give them a discount on services.  Even if the customer does contact a competitor they may hold off choosing until they hear from you since they know they will be getting something extra.

3.  Never, Never, Never send bids in the mail or review them over the phone. Always meet with the customer in person if at all possible .  You will get more business if you are able to talk about concerns and make modifications to the bid or proposal.

4. Set appointments for everything. If you are going to get a bid to a customer as we just talked about, set an appointment before you leave about when you are going to go over the bid.  If you need to follow up with your customer, make an appointment.  Don’t just say that you’ll contact them in a couple of weeks.

5.  Keep your appointments. There is nothing worse than a business that does not keep their appointments.  If the customer misses the appointment so be it but you should never miss one, ever.

Small Business Hackr Tip: Always call the customer the day before the appointment to confirm.  Dentists offices do this and it is a good practice for every small business.

6. Touch base often. If you are working on a project for a client that takes time to complete, send the client updates at regular intervals letting them know what you’ve accomplished.  Don’t make them wonder and don’t make them ask.

Small Business Hackr Tip: Make them feel special.  Your customers want to feel special especially ones that are spending lots of money with your.  It’s easy these days to get a phone number you can use for business.  Google Voice is one way.  Give this “special” number to your key customers and let them know they have special contact privileges.  You should also set us a “special” email address as well.

7.  Ask more questions. When working with customers or potential customers be sure you ask lots of questions.  For one thing it shows that you are interested in their problem.  And they do have a problem because they need you to solve it.  Show them that you understand exactly what their needs are.  You will be surprised how this one change will lead to more leads. Read the rest of this entry »