A small business action plan for 2015

Small businesses are undergoing a revolution on how they attract and retain their customers. Here are the top 7 trends for 2015 and the actions your company needs to take right now to take advantage of them.
 

1. It’s not about the product or service. Most customers can get what your company sells almost anywhere. They are now focused not on the product or service, but the actual customer experience. This is the new marketing and your company’s only sustainable competitive advantage.

ACTION TO TAKE: As a small business owner, focus on how “what you sell” is actually delivered and what the customer’s experience is. Hire a mystery shopper to get real feedback and pay attention to all comments from customers.
 

2. It’s all mobile. More than half of all internet searches are now done on mobile devices. How easily is your company found? Unfortunately, 95 percent of small businesses do not have a mobile optimized website. As a result, customers have a tendency to not search through these when they find them and move on to a competitor’s site that is easier to navigate.

ACTION TO TAKE: Make sure that your site is optimized for mobile or better yet, that your site is designed to be “responsive” to whatever device it is accessed from.

Read more: http://bit.ly/1gW50Lk

3. It’s not about the distributor. Their role is fading in an increasingly transparent world of commerce. There are now fewer geographic competitive advantages.

ACTION TO TAKE: If your company distributes a product, make sure that you add value for the customer, or eventually they will cut you out of the buying process. This is why so many retail locations are losing out to online vendors in a trend called “showrooming.” Determine “what else” the customer gets when buying with you.
 

4. It’s about earned media. Customers believe more about what other customers say about your company than any of your advertising. This is evident by the marketing value of reviews on consumer sites like Amazon, eBay and Yelp.

ACTION TO TAKE: Sign up for Google Alerts, www.google.com/alerts or TalkWalker, www.talkwalker.com to find out what people are saying about your company on the Internet. Set up alerts when your company is mentioned on Facebook and Twitter.

Read more: http://bit.ly/1pjUraI

5. It’s not about competition. The old business model was about beating your competitors. Today, collaboration with all types of companies will take your business to the next level.

ACTION TO TAKE: Find companies that sell complementary products to yours and discuss how you can target similar customers together. Start by finding opportunities locally.

Read more: http://bit.ly/Uo5wOf

6. It’s not about selling. Customers no longer want to be sold because they can do all the research they want on the web. Instead, they now want to be educated.

ACTION TO TAKE: Practice techniques like content marketing where your company consistently emails or relays valuable information to the customer on a monthly basis. This should not be product specific. Educate them on the best time to plant, for example.
 

7. The money is not always at the bank. In years past, the only sources of capital were your own bank account, friends, family and banks. Now crowd-funding can help you launch a new product or service line.

ACTION TO TAKE: Through crowd-funding sites, $10,000 is the most common amount raised. Check out Kickstarter, www.kickstarter.com and Indiegogo, www.indiegogo.com to start.

Barry Moltz helps small business owners get unstuck. His latest book is “How to Get Unstuck: 25 Ways to Get Your Business Growing Again.” www.barrymoltz.com