In this four-part blog series, we give our very best advice for creating a successful small business franchise. We always notice what makes a home-based business successful and pass that information on to our franchisees.
Step 4 | Creating the Competitive Edge
The last step for creating a successful commercial franchise business is finding the best way to set you apart from all of your competition.
Providing a good product or service in your home-based business and providing excellent customer service are the basic minimums in a highly competitive economy. At the lowest level, you must provide a high-quality product
What sets you apart is going the extra mile in your small business franchise. Providing over the top customer service and quality should become your standard, not the exception.
Make certain you are in complete communication with your clients, even if that means delivering bad news on occasion. People are much more likely to still give you rave reviews in your home-based business if you simply keep them informed. When clients don’t understand a situation or a delay for some reason they won’t keep it to themselves. And you want to avoid negative referrals.
Another way to set yourself apart from the competition is to keep in contact with your clients, even after a job has been completed. Following up to make certain the product or service you provided is living up to their expectations.
This also gives you an excellent opportunity to fix any problems that may have come up. Again, clients may be upset and complaining, but not necessarily contact you concerning the issue. This happens more frequently than you realize.
And the best way to keep them talking about you in a positive light and separating you from your competitors is to include something extra. Not something that you advertise, just something that surprises them. It can be as simple as sending them a handwritten thank you note or include a free additional product or service.
This, by far, will set you apart and set you up for success.