New Customers for a Small Business

Recently I went with my family to try a new restaurant in our town. It was a dreary Saturday afternoon and the gang was hungry for dinner and since we were already out running errands we decided to try this new restaurant while we were out.

The place was neatly decorated and had plenty of space and the aroma was wonderful. There were only a couple of other customers in there. We ordered and sat down. Soon we were treated to several delicious dishes. We ate and everyone was pleased with their meal.

Successful New Customer Engagement

After we were finished eating, we sat around talking and sipping our drinks. The assistant manager came over to our table and asked us how we were doing and we began talking. I asked him how business was. He said that it was ok but not as good as they had hoped for. They had just been open a few months. I asked him what they were doing to get their name out there and he told me some of their plans to improve and grow their small business. After a few minutes of conversation, he asked if we had been given any coupons when we ordered. I said no we had not. He left briefly and then returned with some very generous coupons. By this time the rest of the family was ready to leave. We said our goodbye’s and left. As I was looking at the coupons I realized that they had expired the day before.

What about the details?

Now, keep in mind, because of the quality and wonderful flavor of the food we had already decided we would be back well before any coupon had been offered. However as I was thinking about this I realized that if we had been not sure about a return trip, a coupon might have helped bring us back. But it would have had to been one that was not expired.

Lessons Learned

As a small business owner, successful customer engagements engender loyalty, which is repeat business and recurring revenue. And the successful customer engagements are ones where the details are taken care of. Details as small as the fine print on a coupon. Small business owners need to keep an eye toward the details. As busy as it gets, customers notice small things.

Lessons Applied

• Periodically, engage with your business as a customer or have a close friend or relative do this.
• Record your feedback or pick someone who will give you honest feedback so that you can improve.
• Then assess and improve on any feedback you get.
• Look for things that happen repeatedly and try to put in to place systems that help alleviate the problems that are reported or observed.

Oh, and one more thing, always check the expiration dates of your coupons.