Using 'Funny' and 'Free' to Save your Customers

On the way into work, I debated whether I should stop and get gas. There was a long line and I only had a quarter of a tank and a 30 mile commute to get home. Despite the price gouging $4.19/gallon, I pulled over into the ditch to wait my turn. Since it took me an hour to get to a pump, I had plenty of time to study the desperate driver's faces in the other cars: some probably late for work, others with children in the backseat (who I'm sure were late for school), and many contractors who would be out of work for the day without gas in the tank. Each face was different but on most, I saw extreme impatience and frustration. This magnified when a car would doddle at the gas pump or a patron would go inside looking for snacks as if there were not 50 cars lined up in the rain.

It seemed to me that the gas crisis mixed with a falling stock market and billion dollar bailouts on wall street undoubtedly have the average american a little ticked off.

This experience gave me an idea about small business marketing. Wouldn't it be nice if our businesses could be the bright spot in the day of the average american? Now is a unique time in history where a small act of kindness could really go a long way in the business realm. Consumers are getting busted from every angle and YOU could be the one business transaction that actually leaves them feeling happy.

Here are some ideas that I came up with:
1. Offer a "gas relief" hot dog lunch. Invest about $50, set up a grill in your parking lot and a few balloons with yummy condiments and give away free hot dogs to whoever stops by.
2. Launch "Customer Loyalty" programs that reward customers with fun prizes and discounts.
3. Add a dose of humor to your customer service department. Encourage your employees on the phones to be light, funny, overly courteous and helpful.
4. Offer walk-ins a free snack while they wait to be serviced. Make a couple batches of chocolate chip cookies and a pot of coffee. Put up a sign that says "Take a Sweet since the Economy is Sour."
5. Go the extra mile to be more patient with customers. You never know what someone is facing, especially during these uncertain times. Try to listen before you speak and go out of your way to make someone's day. They'll remember your kindness and remember your business.

Small businesses are the heart of our nation. If we take a stand to be the bright spot in the lives of our customers, we may just be able to make a difference.

Cohesive Literature that Makes the Sale

Check out this link Click here This article is from Entrepreneur.com, a premiere marketing website. It discusses:

1. Why you should have corporate literature that supports your business
2. The BENEFIT of hiring someone to design your pieces
3. The importance of high quality marketing pieces
4. Why all literature pieces should work together, reflecting one another in style and design.

Terms of Use - Do you have an agreement?

You have all seen and checked the little white box before every service or product that you buy over the internet: "Terms of Use: Agree or Disagree." Admittedly, I hardly ever, ok never, take the time to read the small print that's in those boxes but instead breeze right through to the check out page. In reality, this is a bit insane that I don't take the time to read the when's, where's, and how's of the money I'm about to send into cyberspace, but let's face it, who has the time?

I was working today on revamping our company's Terms of Use policies and I began thinking about how important this cluster of phrases is to a small company's long-term survival. I decided to pull up a website of a company that does similar business as ours, but on a much larger scale. I dug around their site until I found the Terms of Use policy and read it thoroughly. Obviously they had legal advice, because not everyone can put together a phrase with that many prepositions, run-ons, and triple-syllable words. It was a learning experience however, because the more I read, the more I realized how much needs to be covered in explaining a simple business agreement.

Here is a simple guideline of what needs to be included in your Terms of Use:

Introduction: Establishes the definitions of all parties and main subjects being discussed.
For example: This agreement (”Agreement“) between You and Jane Doe (”the Author“) consists of these Jane Doe's Blog ( “the Blog“) Terms of Use (”Terms“), etc.

Eligibility: Who is eligible to use your services? Are there age limitations? Specific company limitations, etc?

Fees: What fees apply? How will payment be collected? Are there required up-front deposits?

Receiving/Shipping: In what way will you collect materials (such as photos, files, etc) from your customer? What are the terms of product delivery upon completion? Are there any guarantees associated with delivery times?

Cancellations/Refunds: What are the terms and costs associated with pulling a project from production? How late is too late to cancel? At what point is a refund unacceptable?

Release: A statement that clears you from being responsible for a client's business going wrong due to your service.

Dispute Resolution: How disputes or conflicts will be handled and the terms of that process.

This is not an exhaustive list, because so many "terms of use" subjects are industry specific. However, this outline should get you thinking about your terms of use agreement. Include this agreement with all job orders so that you and the customer both know the expectations before the job begins. This increases effective communication and is a safety net for your company as you conduct business.