How to Make your Local Business Stand Out from Competitors?

It seems the world is so filled with different brands and competition that it can be difficult to develop a brand identity that sticks and helps you to stand out among them. Building a brand idea can be one of the biggest challenges for any company; but doing so can also help you captivate a large share of the market. This is why we’ve developed a number of different factors to stand out against the countless competitors you’re up against so that you can implement them into your business strategy.

Providing Great Customer Service

One thing your business needs more than anything is to treat your customers like royalty; even if your line of business isn’t in the service industry. Every customer that enters your store or business has the expectation of receiving respectful, competent service. They don’t want to wait for long, nor do they want a poor response from the people who are supposed to represent the front lines of your business. In fact, around 75% of customers state they consider customer service the test of a companies competence. Small communities can be made or broken by the reputation of their service skills, so its critical to master these early on.

Foster Strong Business Accountability with Customers

One of the ways customers value a brand or business is through their own personal experience with the brand. If they have a bad one which remains unresolved, they might write off your company permanently. This is bad enough, but negative feedback about a business can spread like wildfire through both word of mouth and social media. You’ll need to be on top of things, making sure to always learn from and improve mistakes that happen in your customer service experiences. Always accept responsibility for mistakes, even if they aren’t your businesses direct fault. Owning up and take steps to prevent further issues is a great way to improve and build trust with customers, and makes it stronger than it would’ve been before.

Advertise your Products and Services Honestly

Your main policy should be honesty. If you can’t deliver something for your customers, if there’s delays, or if there’s issues preventing you from meeting their needs; you should always be upfront and honest about this. You’ll sometimes need to have tough conversations, but this is vastly preferable to getting caught in the lie by a client which shoots you in the foot and makes them lose faith in you. The quicker you share and take responsibility of bad news, the more your customers will trust and respect your brand.

Strive to be Original

In a market that is arguably over saturated, it can be hard for your company to continuously reinvent both itself and adopting to emerging, new technologies, processes, products, and solutions. Keeping a close eye on new and original twists in your specific niche market is a great way to stand out from the competitors in your crowd. For example, your business should not only be making use of social media, but could consider developing their own mobile app or program to help buyers or customers find you more easily. Try to think outside the box and make a unique, lasting impression with your customers. Attention grabbing marketing makes you stand out, but always make sure the product and services you’re offering are just as up to par.

Embracing Corporate Social Responsibilities

Beyond just taking care of your customers, stakeholders, employees, and owners; your business should also seek to give back to society and its community as well. Consider philanthropic donations of money to charities or equipment to locations such as hospitals or homeless shelters. If you’re in the real estate industry, consider offering housing for lower income individuals who struggle to make ends meet. The purpose of your business shouldn’t be just to make money, it should be a way to make the world a better place.

Consider Starting a Business or Company Blog

Many companies maintain active, informative blogs which help expose you to larger online audiences. Sometimes a website and social media just may not be enough, and if you’re tired of your internet presence being overlooked; you can make your voice heard with a blog. Consider writing content yourself, getting employees to do articles of their own choosing, announce new products, or even have customers do their own guest spots on your blog! Be sure to choose high quality content, and you’ll be pulling in engagements in no time.

Consider Offering a Guarantee

While phrases like “satisfaction guaranteed” might sound corny at best and scam-worthy at worst, its still a solid recommendation for any business to guarantee their goods or services will meet the expectation of the customer. This is another great way for any business to build a loyal, trustworthy customer-business relationship that’ll lead to regulars and repeat business.

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