Small to medium businesses (SMBs) that wish to succeed past their first five years are increasingly looking towards personalization and connecting with their customers to drive repeat sales. According to consulting firms BIA/Kelsey and Manta, SMBs receive 61% of their revenue from repeat customers, who spend up to 67% more than new customers. The best way for SMBs to connect with their customers is to learn what data is best to focus on, and how to use it.
Engaging Customers
The easiest way to find out what matters to customers is to engage with them. This data should always be entered into a customer relationship management program — such as Excel or Method — so that it’s easy to access and can’t be forgotten. Businesses should think about their products or services from the customer’s perspective — just be careful not to go overboard and get too invasive.
Sales and Costs
Running a small businesses is about balancing time spent with money brought in. Businesses that spend more time on less profitable products or services will struggle to bring in enough money to keep the business afloat. This can be adjusted by tracking not only sales, but also exact costs, from material costs to labor. The resultant data will help the business decide what products or services to concentrate on in order to increase revenue while still keeping customers happy.
Stock Levels
SMBs that offer products rather than services can use data to adjust their stock levels depending on what sells and what doesn’t. This keeps customers happy — because what they want is more likely to be in stock when they want it — while reducing the chance of wasting money on a product that won’t sell. A good inventory tracking system will enable to businesses to see what’s currently on hand, when they have to re-order, and even fluctuations like the best times to start and end stocking of seasonal items.
Learning from Big Businesses
Studying the competition is never a bad thing, and there’s a lot that SMBs can learn from the big players within their industries. By learning what big businesses are doing to attract and keep customers, small businesses can adapt the same methods for their own sales. The biggest thing to avoid is building a system that costs too much but doesn’t bring in a decent return.
Today, it’s easier to access data than most people think — especially with the many different types of software on the market that SMBs can use. By engaging with customers, tracking stock and costs, and learning the methods big players use, small businesses can discover and augment their own strengths.