Why do you shop at one store instead of another?

Given equal price, quality and convenience, what influences your choice? Have you ever thought about it?

And what about shopping on the internet?

There are of course, the large, well known national stores. But there are also hundreds of thousands of smaller, unique specialty online shops and services. Including yours.

So how do you choose?

Most of us simply go with our gut feelings. There are certain vague and sometimes confusing factors that influence the decision making process.

Recommendations from friends, guarantees and lots of contact information are some of the things you may want to see before making a purchase.

So, what does shopping have to do with the way you use your business communications?

It's simple. When you learn how purchasing decisions are made, you will also know what motivates those decisions.

Whether you are educating and shaping opinions or encouraging specific actions, motivating your prospects and customers is the main point of communicating for your business.

Until next time,
Vanessa

Business Spotlight


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Do Your Customers Know If They Can Trust You?

For that matter, do you know why or even if your customers should trust you?

Trust can be a difficult quality to define. It takes time - often a lot of time - to build. And it can be destroyed very easily.

Our last questions were: How well do you know your customers? And how well do they know you?

The answer to the question of your trustworthiness has a lot to do with how many of your visitors and prospects will eventually become buyers.

It's about integrity; being open and believable.

We can't trust what we don't know.

You can't, of course, fake true honesty and integrity if they aren't there. If you don't have them, it will be discovered pretty quickly.

But there are ways to display your credibility and dependability:

• Be open. Most people don't like to deal with nameless faceless entities. Let your customers and visitors know who you are. Share a bit of your story; show your personality.
• Be available. It is extremely frustrating to not be able to reach someone who has (or wants) your money. Make sure you give customers as much info and as many ways to contact you as possible.
• Be responsible. Nothing breeds skepticism and suspicion faster than outrageous or unfounded claims. Be sure to provide enough detail to fully explain your offerings, proposals and policies - including your guarantee.
• Provide verifiable referrals. Let prospects see samples of your work or product. Use only testimonials written by actual customers and get permission to include contact information. People almost never follow up, but like knowing that they can.

For the home-based and micro-business owner, gaining and keeping the trust and confidence of your target market is vital to your success. Make sure yours is on display.

This column focuses on easily confused words and common language mistakes.

Your refers to ownership or possession.  
You're is a contraction meaning you are.

How will you reduce your energy consumption?
In order to save, you're going to learn better choices.

Accept means to receive, agree or believe.
Except means to exclude.

Will you be here to accept the package delivery?
I accept your explanation.
We accept the paper daily except for Sunday.

Your turn readers. What word foul-up drives you to distraction?

Exercise
This month's question: Does your business follow the current trends, or do you use a set plan? Next time we'll discuss how you can put this information to use.