It Doesn’t Cost You Anything

I was visiting my sister in upstate New York just after the Christmas holiday and in between the many snow storms that hit the Syracuse area. She and I decided to go for a walk around town during clear skies though it was definitely chilly and blustery. As we were getting out of the car I was debating whether or not to bring my hat. She told me to just go ahead and bring and said, “it doesn’t cost you anything,” a saying she’d picked up from her mother-in-law and one that I’m sure echoes across generations. Despite her advice, I left the hat in the car and wished 10 minutes later that I had tucked it into my pocket.

This saying has stuck in my head quite a bit recently with regard to things we as an industry can do to better promote our brands, to foster new relationships in the industry, and to help boating as a whole. I’m not necessarily talking about marketing or boat shows so much as having brand awareness, offering remarkable customer service, and keeping an open mind to try new things. Branding and customer service are SOP in business models so my suggestion is to reevaluate your approach to them. If there’s something we‘re surely looking for right now, it’s things we can do that don’t cost anything! So what are they?

Brand Awareness

What is the mission statement of your company? Do all your employees know it and somehow integrate it into their actions and interactions on behalf of your company? Your mission statement should support your brand whether that is your company name, a specific product, or your service, and brand awareness is knowing how the brand is actually being received, recalled, and passed along as a result of your branding efforts. Ideally your branding efforts, communication with consumers, and ad campaigns are educating the industry on your product to enhance their understanding of the value of your brand. Taking the time to understand how people are receiving your brand is one of those things that doesn’t necessarily “cost you anything.” It might cost you time, but in the long run it will allow you to improve your branding. Do you ask people where they heard of you when they call? Knowing where people come from will provide insight on who is spreading the word about your brand and confirm which of your branding efforts are most effective. Do you monitor message boards, Twitter, blogs, and news feeds to see how the public is discussing your brand, if at all? If they are talking about you, feel free to respond. Engage. I used to shy away from responding on message boards to defend my brand because I just didn’t want to deal with the “after-effect” good or bad, and so I would ignore posts that wouldn’t have cost me a thing to reply to. Big mistake. If you see that people love your brand, thank them. If you see that folks are bashing it, misrepresenting it, or are confused, treat it as an opportunity to resolve, educate, and protect your brand. So long as you know your brand, its value, and are confident of its place in your company then you should have no problem responding to how others perceive your brand.

Customer Service

Though I don’t have any hard facts at my fingertips (I’m looking though!) I believe it is widely accepted that good customer service is key to keeping customers which means that outstanding customer service will not just keep customers but grow business. Customer service has to be a two-way street. Simply waiting for people to come to you with compliments or complaints is not enough to make your service stand out. There is no question that responding positively, in a timely manner, with knowledge of the problem and the solution will be to your advantage when called upon to handle customer complaints. Handling things in the best possible way for the customer will usually mend any threatening brand damage and also doubles as effective public relations and marketing for your company. However, if you reach out to your customers before they need or want to come to you, you can create a positive customer experience rather than waiting for one to happen on its own. It sure doesn’t cost you anything to check-in with your customers every now and then. Ask them how they’re doing, what’s working, if they need anything else. Give them an opportunity to share their experience with your product with you, share your own experience with them; it’s all about building a relationship and offering personalized customer service.

Step Outside The Box

It is very, very easy to get into routine, to stick with what works, to trust in the path that has been created and tread upon, and to trust what you know. I am not suggesting that abandoning the familiar is a great strategy to propel you forward during tough times. However, I do not believe in the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Just because something isn’t broken doesn’t mean it can’t be better. So much of business is interrelated that by trying new things with marketing you may improve your sales which may improve the visibility of your brand which may influence your customer service. When it comes to new things that it usually doesn’t cost to try, I lean toward strategic partnerships and building your online presence.

Strategic partnerships can range from sharing ad campaigns to joint sponsorships to cross-promotions to customer referrals to combination events. Identify companies you work with on a regular basis who either support or sell your brand. Put yourself in an “Amazon” state of mind and think “if you like this, you might also like…” and approach companies that complement your product. You might also go the opposite and consider teaming up with companies in an entirely different niche or market but whose customer demographic matches the one you are seeking to connect with. By combining forces with others you can increase your visibility to a much broader audience than you can capture on your own. If nothing else, it can’t hurt to ask.

You might think that having a website equates with having an online presence, however, it only scratches the surface of the digital, viral, and social media available today. The internet is an endless resource of information and therefore provides infinite ways to reach your customers. From adding content to your website to writing a blog to creating and using a Twitter account to joining online social networks and virtually communicating with others in your industry as well as consumers, the list of things it doesn’t cost you anything to try is seemingly endless.

What have you tried that’s new? What worked? What didn’t? And other than time, what did it cost you?

I strongly encourage you to link through to the various articles as they all have something to share, will provide a fresh perspective, and can be applied to any business model.

Tagged as: boat shows, Branding, Marketing, Service, Twitter