Have you ever grabbed a coffee in an unfamiliar town from Starbucks rather than from an independent café? What influenced your decision? Probably the fact that you knew exactly what you were going to get. It’s the same as buying clothes from your favourite fashion chain. You know which size you need and what you’ll get for your money.
There’s a reason that high street chain stores and international franchises are so successful. Because we know what to expect from them – they cut our decision time and our risk of being disappointed or wasting money. You might not be modelling your business on these big brands but there’s a lot that we can learn from them about providing a consistent experience for our clients.
What does consistency mean for us in business?
Being consistent in business means:
- Living up to the promises we set to our clients, and to ourselves.
- Doing things when we said we would, in a way that our customers expect.
Get it right and we build trust and loyalty in our customers. Get it wrong and we risk disappointing them and driving them away.
The tiniest things can make all the difference
Imagine the coffee shop that always brings you a glass of water and biscotti with your espresso. How do you feel the day they forget the extras and put just the coffee cup down in front of you? You feel cheated, however good the coffee is. Disappointed like something’s missing. As if you’re not valued. It’s a small thing but to a customer it can be make or break in their relationship with you. It can be the difference between them coming in for that espresso every single day and bringing their friends with them, or not really giving a damn if they set foot in your shop again.
I know from experience that achieving real consistency is hard. It’s something that I’m still aiming to improve in my business every day. So I thought I’d share my top tips with you.
Four simple steps to providing a more consistent experience for your clients
- Keep things simple – Decide what’s most essential in your business and what your customers really value. Do those things really well and don’t introduce complications. For example, don’t offer a client a special gift for her birthday if you can’t guarantee to remember it next year.
- Manage expectations – Be clear from the very beginning what customers can expect from you. Set out on your website how quickly you’ll respond to enquiries and send welcome emails to new clients explaining how you’ll work together.
- Set schedules and processes – You might be a one-person business but that doesn’t mean you will always remember every step of how you work with your clients. Write yourself a one-page guide to your core services. It might sound over the top for your business but it will save you time in the long run and make sure all your clients get a consistent experience.
- Don’t over-commit – Don’t say you’ll send a weekly newsletter if you know you’ll never stick to it. Under-promise and over-deliver and you’ll surprise your clients in a good way.
Let’s get more consistent together
Getting truly consistent in a small business is a constant journey. Baby steps make all the difference and it’s easier if you have some support. If you want to start being more consistent in your communications with customers, head over to my Facebook page for regular tips, accountability and connections with a lovely bunch of people.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear your biggest challenge to being consistent or your top tips. Just pop them in the comments below.
Photo credit: Sunset Girl via Unsplash