
Rather than offer “any of these will work,” try to find out more specifics from customers. Ask questions until you can make a more specific recommendation. Photo by Chris Parfitt.
A small business lost their chance because they didn’t get specific.
I was looking for shampoo in bar form. (It’s great for travel.) I did some research on my own, and I talked with friends online to get their recommendations. A friend on Twitter introduced me to a small soap maker.
I asked the soap maker about her shampoo bars. “Any of our soap bars work as shampoo,” she tweeted back to me. That answer failed to capture me. I went on with my research and ultimately bought from a different soap maker that offered a wide range of choices, each with specific advantages.
I want to think I’m special. We all do. I want to find the solution that’s right for me. I don’t want just any soap. I want a shampoo bar specifically for my hair type to use when traveling. Sure, the shampoo I bought will work for lots of people besides me. But the specific details are what sold me.
How could the first soap maker have hooked me? By asking questions.
She could have asked about my hair type, why I wanted a shampoo bar or even whether we have hard or soft water. Then, based on the answers, made a specific recommendation. She might even say, “You’re lucky, almost any of our bars will work for you. I recommend….”
You know more about what you offer than I do. But I know more about me than you do. You have to ask me questions to be able to make a recommendation specific enough to capture me.
New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.
- How small town businesses can market to remote workers and turn them into new customers - May 15, 2023
- Survey of Rural Challenges 2023 results - May 8, 2023
- Rural and small town ideas from the OU Placemaking Conference IQC 2023 - April 5, 2023
- Rural tourism trends say small towns are still cool - March 27, 2023
- Move Your Money and Bank Local - March 22, 2023
- Using a building as a warehouse or storage in a small town? Put up a sign - March 13, 2023
- How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores - February 19, 2023
- Check your small business website for outdated pandemic changes, missing info - January 31, 2023
- Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors - January 15, 2023
- 2023 trends for rural and small town businesses - December 26, 2022