Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops

7 Strengths of Small Town Businesses #5: More knowledgeable

By

7 best strengths of small town stores

7 Biggest Strengths of Local Shops

And how you can build on them.

Remember the 7 Weaknesses of Local Shops? They were crazy popular because they touched a nerve. I acknowledged that some of our local businesses really need to step up to earn business today. This series is the flip side of that idea. Small town stores have strengths, too. Our best local shops know a lot about customer service and community, and every business would be wise to learn from our strengths.

  1. Get to know you
  2. Make customers feel loved
  3. Fewer layers
  4. More flexible
  5. More knowledgeable
  6. Innovative
  7. Benefiting the local community

Strength 5: More knowledgeable.

We have the luxury of educating customers, knowing that if they like what they learn, they are likely to make the resulting purchase from us.

In a big city, running a tasting or a sampling or a class means taking the risk that the potential customers will “take advantage” of the free education and then spread out to make their eventual purchases at any one of the many competitors in the metro area.

In a small town, you can offer a tasting or a class or sample your wares knowing that your customers have a lot fewer buying choices. They also have a stronger bond to you because you are part of the same community. You can worry much less about people taking advantage of your generosity. Your customers may delay buying, but they’ll be back one of these days.

For example, my mother used to teach wine appreciation classes through Northwest Technology Center. She couldn’t make any sales during class, and that wasn’t really the point of the class. But of course, her store carried all the wines she sampled in the class. We always knew to order extra of the wines she’d be teaching in class, because the customers would come.

A few years back, we did all the work to organize a wine tasting at the local arts festival. We invited Oklahoma wineries, and we also set up a booth and shared some wines from our stock. The wineries were legally allowed to sell right on site. We were not. But we didn’t mind the delayed sales. We knew a few people would still come make a purchase from us. And they did.

Next up: Strength 6: Innovative

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Shop Local

Buy local buttonReady to set up a shop local campaign in your small town? You'll need a guide who understands how we're different and what really works: Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns.

Best of Small Biz Survival

More of the best of Small Biz Survival