Why is personality a great small business marketing tool? By showing your personality, you give customers something to be loyal to. Loyalty can’t be bestowed on products or services, but people are loyal to other people and organizations. Loyal customers will buy more from you and rave more to their friends. You just need to show them some personality.

What have you done lately to infuse the best parts of your personality into your small business?

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She has owned the business for the last 20 years and recruits mostly in Chicago and the Midwest. Lorena started off our interview by telling me, “I love being a small business owner because of the flexibility it allows in my schedule and because I love what I do. I’m able to control the quality of the work that gets done. I am committed to quality work; I have a commitment to my clients, and they really appreciate and value that.”

(Some recruitment definitions for my readers: Clients are the companies LMB Associates represents, while Candidates are those seeking jobs with LMB Associates’ clients.)

Since LMB Associates is in its twenty-first year, I wanted to know what factors Lorena credits for her success. She was able to give a very forceful answer:

“Determination to succeed is critical and most important. There never was a question that I would succeed. Sometimes other people just give up.  When I first started, someone told me that I would make a lot of money and make it very quickly. In actuality, it took me eight months to make my first dime, and it wasn’t so easy. To people on the outside, they only see the end success. But there is a lot of work that goes into creating something and making it successful.”

Lorena emphasizes that hard work and determination are crucial for any aspiring entrepreneurs:

“It’s a very important thing to know and understand before you start your own business that it is going to be challenging. I’m glad I went through this experience, although I wasn’t glad at the beginning, while I was going through the pains of starting up. The truth is the start-up time gives you an accurate, honest assessment of what you’re in for, and I think that’s very important.”

Lorena’s hard work continues, as the economic downturn has become the biggest challenge for LMB Associates. Lorena says, “It’s been a shrinking job market, and my business is very dependent on economic circumstances.” She adds that the economy has had other, indirect, influences on her business: “There’s been a lot of volatility in the market, such as clients downsizing, consolidating offices or moving technology responsibilities offshore. Understanding these market changes present challenges but can also present opportunity.”

There is another looming challenge for the recruitment industry:  the Internet. Lorena isn’t worried about the challenge from Monster or HotJobs in the long run, because recruitment web sites aren’t necessarily saving companies time or money.  Recruitment web sites offer a high volume of resumes, but they provide no quality control. She says, “Companies need more capable, human resources to put toward screening candidates when they choose that option. I offer more than bodies to fill a room or paper in the form of dozens of resumes. I work with each client organization to find the best match for their needs.”

Many companies find that using recruitment web sites can tarnish their reputations among job seekers, if they do not follow up with candidates. Lorena explains,

“Candidates often don’t get responses from the companies to whom they send their resumes.  Companies should send a letter of thanks to a candidate who has sent his or her resume. It makes the companies look bad when they don’t respond. The way a person or organization treats people is very, very important. If you treat people poorly, they won’t want to work with you and that reputation will get into the marketplace.  And if you treat people with respect, they never forget it.”

Treating people respectfully is key to LMB Associates’ business. Lorena’s marketing strategy is to treat people as individuals, learn about their needs and develop relationships with them. She says,

“Often recruiters are just looking for the next buck. I differentiate myself by treating people as people. I give people the respect they deserve. Candidates might not know how to write a résumé, so I give them my time, sample resumes, suggestions and support. Candidates can become demoralized while searching for a job. I pump people up to feel good about themselves, because they need to know that, even though the market may be tough, they bring value to the marketplace. It’s a big deal to give people a boost so that they can get out there and do what they have to do: find a new job.”

She uses a similar strategy for her client organizations:

“I listen to what my clients say they need, then I ask questions, based on the qualifications they seek, their insight and feedback. My clients have personnel issues that need to be addressed, certainly that they need to hire someone but also often beyond the job description. What my clients need from me is to maintain confidentiality, to understand their needs and to assess what types of candidates will fit into their organizations.”

From listening to Lorena, it is evident that she loves what she does:  working with her clients and candidates. Before concluding the interview Lorena added,

“I like working in technology because it’s always changing and mind-expanding, and I like working with technology people, who are on the cutting edge of that change. I like having clients in a variety of industries; it makes work more interesting. I love working with candidates, who are all different kinds of people from all cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds, religions, and environments.”

To learn more about LMB Associates, view current job openings or contact Lorena, visit LMB Associates.

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Joseph DePinto, CEO of 7-Eleven, wanted to discover the secret of their most successful stores. He said of one location,

“It’s the epicenter of coffee for 7-Eleven. This store sells more than 2,500 cups of coffee every day. I need to figure out what makes their coffee business so great, so I can roll it out to our other stores.”

He finds out that in this store with the highest volume of coffee sales, it’s all about the relationship, not the product.  Watch the clip below:

After working with Delores, who greets most customers by name, Joseph DePinto realizes,

“That’s why we’re selling 2,500 cups of coffee. Not because we have great coffee but because we have Delores there.”

In a more unusual situation, Waste Management president Larry O’Donnell learns the local trash collector is the literal face of his company to customers. After watching trash collector Janice greet and hug customers, he began to see her job as building relationships with their customers, in addition to collecting the trash. He made plans to change Waste Management’s approach to productivity measurement.

The specific segment isn’t available, but the full episode is here: Undercover Boss – Waste Management (The segment starts at 30:00).

These corporate leaders got the opportunity to see what their customers and employees experience first-hand. They witnessed the value of customer relationships. But you don’t have to go undercover to build relationships with your customers- you just have to start doing it.

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At the peril of using negatives, I want to give small businesses advice on how not to treat their customers. In the following examples, imagine how your customers would respond if you tried these bad tactics.

Don’t offer customers a make-believe loyalty program.

Any customer can tell that buying six smoothies in a month in exchange for a free one is not a good deal. If you insult their intelligence, customer disloyalty will skyrocket.

Don’t try to trick customers with sneaky advertising.

A company named Sneaky Advertising tried to post a spam comment on my blog. I visited their site, and took the screenshot shown below.. There’s no such thing as stealthy profits, because no one is fooled by those haphazard advertisements. If you trick customers into viewing your advertisements, two things can happen: they ignore it, or they get angry about it. If your customer gets angry at your advertisement, that means they are really angry at you. Only advertise to your customers in ways they find acceptable.

Don’t act like a large company when you’re not.

Small businesses can offer customers things that large companies cannot. Use your size to your advantage– don’t try to hide it. Large companies have many faults that small businesses must avoid such as unnecessary bureaucracy, unwieldy communication and treating customers like a number.

Don’t talk negatively.

Remember the pink polar bear example earlier in this article? Speaking in negatives is not an effective way to communicate your message. Focus more on your strengths than your competitors’ weaknesses or jabs. Just try to read the following excerpt from DirecTV’s website without focusing on, “NO!” and “ONLY!”

All of these points have something in common and can be summarized in one statement:

Don’t treat your customers like they are stupid.

Your customers are smarter than ever, have access to more information than they did a year ago and grow more discerning with every sales pitch they hear. Most importantly: they can tell if you are trying to trick them.

Use your marketing budget to treat your customers as the intelligent, discerning people they are. If you do, you will have the opportunity to grow loyalty, sales and referrals.

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Advances in marketing technology allow us to learn so much about our customers. With the information customers share with us, it’s never been easier to develop customer relationships and loyalty. But when the technology is used to create paint-by-number experiences, customers will feel a dissonance and know you aren’t actually interacting with them. Customers are very clever and can tell when companies use marketing technology against them instead of for them.

Laura Poland, an Indianapolis wedding photographer and close friend, experienced this technology dissonance first-hand with OvernightPrints.com. She usually orders business cards and brochures using her professional email address. However, one time she placed an order using her personal email address. OvernightPrints.com stored both of these addresses in their marketing database but didn’t record that the addresses belonged to the same person.

OvernightPrints.com’s records showed that Laura was a loyal customer when she used her professional email address. They sent her the following year-end coupon for 25% off any order:

But OvernightPrints.com also had Laura’s personal email address on file. Clearly, the personal email address wasn’t loyal to them. It had only placed one order. In a bid to “activate”  this dormant customer, they sent a sweeter deal to the email address that had only ordered once:

We wanted to give OvernightPrints.com a chance to respond to Laura’s disappointment at finding her loyalty was not rewarded. Here is the email from their customer service department:

Part of our marketing strategy to reactivate “inactive” customers is to send them different offers, which sometimes offer greater discounts.  We also have a Loyalty Program for our top customers, which provide excellent discounts as well. Should your purchases reach the level that qualifies you for the program, we would very much like to invite you to participate.

So it seems that Laura is neither loyal nor disloyal enough. OvernightPrints.com uses their technology to categorize their customers, and it seems some categories are luckier than others.

What lesson should we all learn from this marketing faux pas? (Besides that ordering infrequently from OvernightPrints.com is the best way to score deeper discounts). If a company tries to use technology to “cheat” some customers, the customers will find out. And that will erode their relationship with the company. No one stays loyal to a company (or friend) that doesn’t show loyalty to them. Carefully use your marketing technology to bring you closer to your customers, instead of further away from them.

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The idea for Sugar came late in 2008 when Krista and her family were in Delaware for Thanksgiving. They stopped by a cupcakery in Washington D.C., and she thought, “This would be a really fun business to have.” From there, the plan was set into action. She credits Karla for the creative energy behind Sugar Cupcakery’s design.

Karla, a photo stylist, develops the recipes and designed the trendy, colorful interior of Sugar. She explains that one of the challenges to effective design is creating a good plan and sticking with it, even in the face of contrary opinions. “Don’t listen to naysayers if you know your plan will work,” she advises.

Small business marketing focuses on relationships

Krista knows the importance customer relationships play in small businesses. She says,

“People who have never been here before are surprised by what they get. We deliver an experience with our cupcakes. It’s more than a take out place where you get a cupcake on a napkin. Our menu is very vague because we want to talk to people, and we want people to ask questions. We have a relationship with our clientele.”

Because they get to know their customers, Krista and Karla are able to help people with special dietary needs. They’ve worked with parents to create special recipes for children who’ve never had cupcakes—letting them share in the same birthday fun other children enjoy. They also offer special-order vegan and gluten-free cupcakes. Krista notes, “We only need a day’s notice for special orders. Just call us, and we’ll work with you.”

Social networking is a key marketing strategy

In an environment where many small business marketing departments can’t make heads or tails of social networking, Karla attributes Sugar’s success to two factors: location and social networking. She elaborates,

“Everyday, I post on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. I try to link them all together. We get a lot of feedback. Social networking enables our customers to tell us what they think. It’s so rewarding because customers come in and say, ‘I follow you on Facebook! I know what your specials are!’ We try to get people to share their pictures. You just have to know how to tag everything, so that it links back to who you are. Always make sure to include the city, state and name of the business.”

Developing social networking and local relationships together have allowed Sugar to expand its influence to other opportunities. They have several corporate accounts, including with PNC Bank. Recently, Sidewinder Coffee in Northside starting carrying their cupcakes.

Among their cupcake and tea offerings, they also have a private room for parties or meetings. It holds between 20-40 people, has a patio and a flatscreen television for presentations or slide shows.

As with all small business endeavors, it hasn’t been easy to achieve success. In the beginning, obtaining cost-effective, fresh and organic ingredients was a challenge—sometimes they had to settle for what they could get. But through much research, networking and negotiating, they finally have suppliers that meet their demanding standards and still leave room for profit.

In their final comments, Krista and Karla leave us with advice for entrepreneurs just starting out:

“Save your money and be patient. It’s a lot of work. You have to do all the work yourself at first. You have to make sure you’re really organized, motivated and know what your business plan is. You really have to plan and outline. It’s less overwhelming if you plan.”

Sugar Cupcakery is a great example of a small business that understands marketing, customer relationships and how to use technology to get closer to their customers (instead of further away from them). They realize that having a great product isn’t enough to ensure success– although I can attest that their product is amazing.

Contact Details:

Sugar Cupcakery
32 Main Street
Milford, Oh 45150
sugarcupcakery.com
513-340-4166
sugarcupcakery@gmail.com

Hours:

Tuesday – Thursday 11am – 7pm
Friday and Saturday 11am – 10pm

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Download the relationship marketing MP3 file here. (13.38MB)

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You’ve probably heard about relationship marketing. Maybe you’ve even taken some steps to create more customer loyalty by being more “friendly” with your customers. Indeed, developing customer relationships can be a great way to grow your business and profits. Steve Yastrow wrote a book about the topic, We: The Ideal Customer Relationship.

In Yastrow’s first chapter, he provides compelling evidence for developing customer relationships, stating: “Relationships have become powerful differentiators. Customers can’t tell if your product is better than your competitor’s product, but they can tell if they have a better relationship with you than with your competitor.”

Even better, the profit potential for developing relationships with your customers is high. In Yastrow’s research, he found that 89% of people prefer to buy from a business they have a relationship with; 86% would prefer to buy from a business that they have regular conversations with, and 90% prefer to buy from a business that talks with them about future decisions they might make. Here’s the real revelation, though: 79% of people are more likely to buy from a business they have a relationship with rather than the business with the best prices. Similarly, 86% would be more likely to refer a business they have a relationship with than to refer a business with the best prices.

“Wow!” you say, “Sounds amazing, but what’s the catch?” It turns out developing good relationships with your customers isn’t easy (but it’s still worthwhile).

The reason customer relationships are hard is explained in Dan Ariely’s bookPredictably Irrational. In chapter 4, “The Cost of Social Norms,” he explains that we live in two different worlds: one governed by social norms, and one governed by market norms. Ariely writes:

“Social norms are wrapped up in our social nature and our need for community. They are usually warm and fuzzy. Instant paybacks are not required: you may help move your neighbor’s couch, but this doesn’t mean he has to come right over and move yours.”

There’s nothing “warm and fuzzy” about the world ruled by market norms, however:

“The exchanges are sharp-edged: wages, prices, rents, interest and cost-and-benefits….When you are in the domain of market norms, you get what you pay for—that’s just the way it is.”

What happens when we develop customer relationships, and those worlds collide?

Ariely reports on an experiment in a day care center that tested the interchangeability of social norms and market norms. Parents usually viewed their relationship with the day care center as social, but when there arose a problem of parents picking up their children late, the center imposed a fine on latecomers (thereby introducing a market rule).  The instance of late parents actually increased, because parents now felt they were paying to be late and no longer felt any social obligation to arrive on time.

When the day care center reversed the fine, Ariely saw that something interesting happened. Even more parents started picking up their children late. Because introducing the market norm violated the social norm, parents no longer felt a social connection with the center. When the fine was removed, both motivators—guilt and the fine—vanished, so there was no compelling reason to arrive on time. Ariely sums this up by asserting, “When a social norm collides with a market norm, the social norm goes away for a long time. Social relationships are not easy to reestablish.”

How does this relate to business? Let me tell you a story about a normally reasonable person who got caught in the crosshairs of social norms vs. market norms, resulting in slightly deranged behavior. (Okay, I’ll admit it. I am that person.)

Two years ago, my husband and I were planning a trip to Maine. We chose to vacation there primarily because Maine is full of natural beauty and wildlife, specifically puffins. I had heard you could take a puffin-watching cruise, and I was enamored at once. We sorted through all the puffin-watching websites to choose the best-sounding one: it took you right to the main puffin island, where you would disembark and likely be only four feet away from the puffins. The website even had a charming story about the boat, company and captain. All of the warm, fuzzy feelings and my active imagination had put me solidly into relationship, social-norm territory with this company. And I hadn’t even called them yet.

When I did call them, I had to leave multiple messages on their voicemail. Each message assured me someone would take my reservation, so I wasn’t too upset. I felt like I was already their friend, so what’s a few missed calls between friends?

Finally, someone answered my call. She was rude, abrasive and crushed my hopes of seeing puffins up close and personal: The boat was full. They don’t keep waiting lists. Then, she hung up on me.

After I got over my grief, I became furious. I signed up for a yelp.com account and wrote a scathing review. To give my review clout, I even reviewed animal-related attractions I had been to in other cities. How dare they promise to show me puffins then take it all away? I seethed over this betrayal for weeks (just ask my unfortunate husband).

To me, our relationship was based on social norms. To the puffin-watching company, we didn’t have a relationship. I was just a person they forgot to call back…for months. They thought they made a simple customer service mistake that didn’t affect their business. After all, they filled up the boat, right? Maybe, but my yelp.com review remains immortal.

Referring again to Steve Yastrow’s book, We, he advocates creating special kinds of relationships that he calls We Relationships. It involves learning about your customer and using the information you glean to develop a relationship that feels unique, fresh and equally valuable to both customer and company. To learn more about creating these relationships, I recommend you read his book.

Developing relationships with your customers is the surest route to earning their loyalty, continued business and enthusiastic referrals. However, unless you tend the relationship with care, you risk creating a jilted customer. And we all know the adage: Hell hath no fury like a customer scorned.

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