It’s frustrating when your business doesn’t perform as well as expected. It’s more frustrating when you can’t tell why it’s happening. How do you fix the problem when you don’t know what it is?
Lucky for you, your business problem is probably simpler than it may seem. While many things can affect a business, there are only three that are essential to it: your customers, your employees, and yourself. If you take care of these three, your business will, for the most part, take care of itself.
Read on to learn more.
1. Put the Customer First
Nothing has more power to impact your business than customer satisfaction level. According to sales studies, satisfied customers are willing to spend 16% more and are more likely to return.
On the other hand, one negative review can drive 22% of other customers away. 93% of customers base their purchasing decisions on online reviews. If your customers aren’t satisfied, the world will know, and your business will suffer.
So how can you satisfy your customers? Care about them.
Competitive pricing and quality goods/services are both good selling points. But nothing satisfies customers more than feeling genuinely cared for.
When you practice a “customer first” attitude in all your business dealings, customers can tell. They’ll feel safe and taken care of. They’ll enjoy doing business with you and feel good about supporting your company.
The end result is increased customer loyalty and spending. And the good reviews they post online will bring in more customers.
Think about how your company currently affects your customers. If you need to, restructure your business to ensure that making your customers feel cared about is your top priority.
2. Take Care of Your Employees
It’s hard for your employees to care about the customer if they feel you don’t care about them. Just like satisfied customers, a satisfied employee will enjoy helping you out. Your second priority must be caring for your employees.
A decent salary is not enough to keep employees motivated or reduce turnover. They need recognition, encouragement, and purpose in their job. They also need to feel connected to their boss, their coworkers, and the company.
One way to achieve all this is with fun team-building activities. Another really easy way is through employee self-reviews.
Self-reviews can provide great insight into what motivates and encourages your employees. For tips on using self-reviews to increase employee satisfaction, read more here.
3. Take Care of Yourself
If you don’t take care of yourself, how can you take care of your business? Business owners often get so busy that they neglect their own physical and mental health. Then, their personal performance suffers.
To keep your body in peak condition, get at least a little exercise throughout your week and take it easy on the junk food. Get at least 8 hours of sleep each night and go to the doctor once a year. Keep healthy snacks within reach of your work area and take breaks throughout the day.
For your mental health, pay attention to work stress. Identify typical work stressors. Then, mentally prepare for them ahead of time and allow yourself to destress afterward.
If it helps, set aside some time after work where you allow yourself to worry. This trains you to keep worry time and work time separate.
Put Care Into Your Business
Your business runs on the health and happiness of those who are most important to it. If you care for the people, your business will be healthy. Use these tips for a healthy, thriving business.
For more business tips, check out how to get your first startup up and running in under three months.
