The day we moved into our new house last month was a very, very happy day for lots of reasons. For starters, we were moving to a place with twice (literally) the space, located in a beautiful, quiet village. But something else great happened on moving day. Our ancient box spring wouldn’t make it up the stairs. Yay!! We had to get a new bed. We had no choice!

So my husband and I arranged for a sitter and hit the stores (after doing some preliminary research online for prices) starting with Leon’s furniture in Charlottetown. We’ve bought furniture there before and have always been pleased with the service etcetera so we were glad that their prices seemed best. A few minutes after we got to the mattress gallery, a sales person (Karen Boyle) walked through and asked if we knew what type of bed we should be sleeping on. We just knew anything would be better than what we were currently using and had planned on buying the least expensive set there.

She took us over to a cool computerized thing that you and your sleep partner take turns laying down on to figure out what type of mattress will suit. Now, whether this actually works, or whether it helps them to upsell you on a pricier bed, it was pretty cool and we discovered we needed a plush mattress as opposed to a firm one.

We made sure to tell Karen that we needed a split box spring so it would fit upstairs and she kept that issue in mind when showing us mattresses, pointing out certain ones that wouldn’t work for us because the mattresses were too high to fit up our stairs.

In the end we made our selection and set about to order it. When we asked how long it would take to be delivered to us, she told us it could be a couple of weeks. I asked if it could possibly be delivered before the next weekend which was my 30th birthday, so I could sleep on a bed younger than me for my big day. She had a chuckle at that, we filled out the paperwork, paid her and were on our way.

A few days later I got a call from Karen saying that the bed would be arriving on Thursday so I’d have my new bed for my birthday. I thought it was sweet that she remembered that little detail.

But then, the next day there was a standard looking Leon’s Thank you card from Karen in the mail thanking us for our purchase. But at the bottom she drew a little birthday cake and added a “PS, Happy Birthday Jaime”.

I was so impressed!

The day after the bed arrived, I got a call from Leon’s asking how my delivery experience was, too. And guess what? I’ve been telling everyone. AND I remember our sales person’s name because she wow-ed me with that birthday wish at the bottom of the card she sent.

These are the details you remember. In these days when customer loyalty is almost extinct, it’s these small touches that might - just maybe - make you remember a store (and a commission-based sales person which I assume Karen is) when you need to make another purchase.

What are you doing to see to it that your customers remember you? Do you send a birthday card or a gift once in awhile? If you see a book one of your clients would love, do you pick it up and send it to them?

What can you implement easily that will set you apart?

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I have an unhealthy love for my dentist. Not a romantic love, but a “what-in-the-world-will-I-do-when-he-retires” kind of love.

My dentist (Dr. Coady) has been looking after my teeth for as long as I’ve had teeth to take to a dentist. My first cleaning, my first filling, a referral to an orthodontist for braces, 3 wisdom tooth extractions (which I did without being put under because I would rather he take them out with local freezing than have anyone else put sharp instruments in my mouth) and so on and so forth. My daughter has gone to him for her first check up and he’s adopting my husband as a patient now too.

This morning I called Dr. Coady’s office about a pain I have that started yesterday in my jaw and has spread to my ear and throat. I wasn’t sure if it was a dentist issue or a doctor one, but even though he’s booked through to October, I got in to see Dr. Coady this morning to get checked out.

Now, as I mentioned, I have an unhealthy love for my dentist, but the whole operation is dear to my heart. It feels like visiting friends when I go to there and I don’t know about your feelings about dentists, but I’m thinking this is rare.

The woman who manages the office (who always gives reminder calls about appointments) engaged my 3 year old in a lengthy conversation about her beautiful dress and I can tell you that my daughter already looks forward to going to the dentist (again, thinking that’s rare).

Anyway, I got called in after a 20 minute wait (remember that they slotted me in at the last minute) and Dr. Coady took a look, identified the problem and explained everything to me. Then he apologized about the wait (what wait?) and told me there would be no charge.

Seriously.

Since I was a child, I haven’t had any fear of going to the dentist. It’s always been a positive experience for me because Dr. Coady is so kind and gentle (as far as dentists go, I suppose). As I grow older (30 on Saturday, hence the balloons, if you’d like to send gifts) I realize that he’s also kind when it comes to billing for his services and slotting in people quickly who are in any degree of pain.

I am not in a business like dentisty where I offer a service that people actually “need”. I am a copywriter and while I believe most people “need” my services, as long as you can read and write you don’t really have to come to me. I offer an optional service. Good copy isn’t really life or death. But, I am going to make a conscious effort to run my business with as much heart as my dentist does.

I don’t know yet what that means, I’m already pretty flexible with payments and I’m a fairly nice person to deal with. But, I want my clients to know how much I really care about them because I do. Maybe that means sending  more gifts or personal notes, but I want to do what I do with more heart and I hope that you might be inspired to do the same. Wouldn’t the world be an amazing place if everyone were like Dr. Coady?

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Benefits, schmenefits…

How many times have you heard that people buy benefits and not features?

Unfortunately, if the only writing you do is for yourself or your own business, you might have trouble separating features from benefits even if you know doing so will make your copy much stronger.

Basically, a feature is a product spec and a benefit is what improves the end user’s life - what’s in it for them.

I’ll show you what I mean.

Here on my desk I have a Blueline Daytimer.

It’s pink (feature) and not only does its color make me feel happy when scheduling my time (benefit) but it’s a Pink Ribbon Product (feature), so when I bought it, I was helping to support breast cancer research (benefit).

There is a calendar for each month (feature) so I remember birthdays and keep track of important dates at a glance (benefit) and a weekly planner (feature) with lots of space for me to jot down every day’s to-do items. The pages are big (feature) so I don’t have to sacrifice my big loopy handwriting (benefit).

Do you see the difference?

Now to make this an exercise, it’s your turn!

What’s sitting on your desk to the right of your keyboard? Think about what its benefits and features are. I’d love if you’d do this by leaving a comment so we can all exercise our brains together!

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I don’t drink much pop…soda as some of you may call it. But when I want a fix, I really want one. A couple nights ago, I felt I needed a Pepsi or I was going to die. That might sound dramatic, but I felt like nothing else could quench my thirst at that moment. I debated over it, grabbed a couple of dollars and drove to the nearby convenience store that has a pop machine (it was after the store was already closed).

I put my $2.25 in the machine and pressed the big Pepsi button. The bottle that I was dispensed was not Pepsi, though. It was a bottle of water. I was not happy.

Where I live, I’m lucky enough to have great water from my own well, so I don’t buy water unless I really need to. I don’t like paying for my water. I especially don’t like paying more than $2 for a bottle of water that I didn’t want or need.

You see, I have no problem paying that for a bottle of Pepsi because I enjoy it but I don’t have the recipe for good ole Brad’s Drink.

What does this have to do with operating a small business? Well…besides the fact that you people need to make sure your pop machines are dispensing the right things…there’s a lesson on value in here somewhere.

I was talking with my good (virtual) friend Sally the other day about a prospective client she had who told her she shouldn’t charge so much for “simple administrative tasks”. I immediately said, “If it’s so simple let her do it herself then.”

Sally and I chatted about this, and really, when it comes down to it, the services we offer as virtual assistants or writers or house cleaners, are all optional. If people want me to write for them or someone like Sally to take care of the admin needs of their businesses, they have to pay for our expertise and experience. It’s not like we’re doing life saving brain surgery here. You can write your own articles or manage your own social networking plans, but if you think someone can do those things better than you, you do have to pay up.

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that people can’t see the value in what I do as a writer or what I used to do as a virtual assistant, but people seem to have no trouble paying for a bottle of water. Bottled water, people. What would our ancestors say about us buying water?!

If you can read and write, you don’t need me to write your marketing materials for you. But if you think I can do a better job than you, why would you tell me I charge too much? (Yes, I’ve been told this before, just like Sally was told before she wrote this great blog post.)

You buy bottled water because you don’t have to bother to pack your own canteen for a road trip, or because your own water tastes funny. But if there’s drinkable water coming from your taps, you really don’t need it.

I have a feeling though, that most people don’t try to haggle over the price of Evian when they get to the counter.

Why is it, then, that people feel they can haggle with a service provider like they’re at a trading post or a yard sale?

Anyone?

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The phones aren’t ringing.

Registrations are down.

Products aren’t moving.

Customers aren’t re-ordering.

Subscribers are canceling.

Let’s just “shut-er-down” and chalk it all up to the crappy economy, right?

Not so fast…

Sure people are being careful with where they put their dollars, but not everything can be blamed on the economy. I think some small business owners could be using Mr. Economy as an excuse - a good reason to stay right there in the safe and cozy comfort zone.

If your beloved pet was acting strange would you say, “Oh, he’s probably dying of old age. We better put him down”? Probably not. You would first take Fido to the vet to find out what the problem was and if it could be cured with medication or a change in diet I would hope you’d try to fix him instead of go ahead with putting him to sleep.

If that’s the case then why would you cancel an event and chalk low numbers up to the economy without first doing what you could to add more value and broaden its appeal?

Is it just easier to blame the economy? Maybe. I mean, then you wouldn’t have to revisit your marketing plan, have your website copy rewritten or enhance your other marketing materials. You can just stick your head in the sand and wait for it all to be over.

The problem is…will your customers be there when it’s over? Why would they wait for you if you didn’t hang in there with them? If you disappeared at the first sniff of a recession, they’ve forgotten all about you.

Instead of playing the blame game, why not take a good hard look at your business? Why not create some economy-friendly packages or promotions? Why not create new services that cater to people in times of economic recession?

Get in touch with your past prospects and former customers. Follow up on your old leads. Do something. Anything! Let everyone know you’re still there and you’re still interested in helping them with your product or service.

The economy stinks - that’s a given right now. But it doesn’t mean your business has to suffer. Get out there and shake your money maker because people are still spending money. You just have to find those people and cure their pain - whatever that may be. After all, just because we’re in a recession doesn’t mean you stopped being the best at what you do, does it?

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