With years of experience in retail and hospitality, which are customer-facing industries, we are acutely aware of three of the most powerful drivers; customer service, price and quality.

Customer service

Any investment in customer service training will have a direct feedback to your sales. Your staff motivation will have a direct effect on your staff, who will be buoyed up that you appear to be investing in them; this has a direct affect on your sales. Staff feeling good about themselves promotes good relations with colleagues and customers alike.

Price

All businesses are suffering from price sensitivity at this time. The temptation is to reduce prices in a desperate attempt to attract customers. This is not a sustainable option. It also gives a poor impression to your customers who will  believe that in order to do that, your business will have to compromise on quality. Reducing prices may increase your footfall for a short time, but overall will reduce customer loyalty.

Quality

Quality is one of the key differentiators of business against your competitors. The prime example of this is Marks & Spencer’s food. M&S will never compromise on quality, as they realise that this a key factor for their customers’ purchases.

Initiating quality systems into your business will have a direct effect on your balance sheet. Your quality manager needs to be part of the sales force, with direct weekly reporting to the sales manager. Quality within a business is a shared concept and needs to be included in induction training and reiterated all through your employees further training.

At Simple Business Advice our approach is simple:

• We choose to talk in plain English, not “business speak”.
• We will introduce you to other professionals to help you with your unique set of circumstances.
• We talk through the choices and possible outcomes.
• Then we’ll guide you through the advice, leaving you alone to do what you think is right.
• We can return and give you further help, and build on your experiences and feedback.

Ready for some really simple business advice? Pick up the phone or e-mail us now.