We’ve spent more than a few steps discussing one-way communications from you to your customers; i.e., what you should be saying to your customers via your advertising, marketing, and branding. But how do you go about finding out what your customers have to say to you?  In Step 19 to Building a Better Business, we focused on talking with your employees. In this step, we’ll focus on talking with your customers. Surveys and Such With your employees, it’s easier to find out what...

The practical wisdom and real-life advice offered in the 30 Steps to Build a Better Business blog series is now available in a paperback or instantly downloadable eBook! Here’s what’s inside: The 6 business building blocks every small business must have Strategies and techniques to help you transition from ‘the dayjob’ to being a full-time business owner 20+ innovative marketing and promotion methods for first-time or part-time entrepreneurs Low-cost or free small business productivity...

Have you seen those AT&T commercials with the mom chastising her kids about their lack of appreciation for rollover minutes? I think they’re hilarious. Of course they’re meant to remind us of how, as kids, our moms would get on our cases for not finishing our food, and run the whole ‘there’s starving children in Africa that would appreciate that food’ routine.   Well the same thing can be said for businesses that don’t appreciate their ‘rollover customers’...

There’s a clothing and shoe store near my house that I always go to everytime I want to splurge on something nice for myself. The store is small but well laid out, and I can easily get to everything in the place without assistance. The sales staff are helpful without being intrusive, and they remember me whenever I come in. They’re usually wearing clothes that are available in the store, which makes me relate to them more, because the clothes in the store reflect my personal style. The...

Over the years, I’ve had the chance to see and work with a number of different businesses. What I’ve noticed is that most small businesses often hit a wall within the first 1-3 years of existence. They have a good product, paying customers, but for some reason can’t ever seem to move from being a surviving business, to being a thriving business. But the truth is, most of these businesses could readily move to the next level, just by fine-tuning some key areas of their operations. After...