Two Crucial Secrets for Small Business Success

When it comes to standing out with your small business or as a ‘solopreneur’ there are 2 critical components for your success which, if practiced will help you attract clients like never before and keep them for life.

Today, I was reminded of these 2 simple but critical steps by the water delivery company which visited my house for the first time and made my day!

Having just moved to a new city I was looking for a company which did home delivery of bottled water for my water-dispenser. I asked a friend who gave me the telephone number of the person who delivers the water in their office and told me that it’s a small family business run by a father and a son.

On my first call to the ‘son’ I was greeted with a very happy voice and I was informed that I would have my water delivered the soonest possible, which was the next day. As promised the next day I received a phone call that the water delivery van was in my area.

A man with a big smile came out of the van, with his assistant next to me and greeted me ‘Hello, I am Mr X the owner of ‘T’ water company, you talked to my son yesterday, we came for your water, nice to meet you and welcome to our town!’.

Coming into the house, he saw my water-dispenser and said ‘Have you ever serviced your water dispenser? You know they need cleaning once in a while’. I asked how much the service cost and if I had to give the water dispenser to them for a few days to clean (as that was my previous experience with other companies) and he replied ‘Well for our new clients its free, if you can give us 15 minutes we can take it outside and clean it now. It will be better to make sure that your water dispenser is clean and functioning optimally’.

‘Sure!’ I replied with a smile. Fifteen minutes later the water dispenser was super-clean, with 2 replaced parts (again free of charge), after the water delivery man had pointed out the parts he cleaned and why he had suggested the cleaning. While in the cleaning process, he explained with great excitement that his water comes from one of the best natural springs in Cyprus and the next time we would open the water dispenser for cleaning I would notice that there would be no dirt, because their water was treated and bottled with the latest technology equipment and this would guarantee its pureness. He was obviously passionate about his water and only with the way he was describing it, he made me excited as well.

Upon leaving he handed me a business cards and leaflets which explained the benefits of water to health and how the purity the water from their spring, would help to optimize my health. He also explained that they just invested in new equipment to provide bottled water of all sizes all over the island in the next few months. ‘We are very happy you are our new client and we assure you will always receive the highest level of service. If you are happy with our service, we would appreciate you recommending us to your friends and neighbors. The way we work is that you call us whenever you need us to deliver water and we will deliver the water to your house within the next day, except Wednesdays and Saturdays, as it’s the days we bottle the water. Have a great day!’.

I have had water delivered to me for years, but it was the first time I got excited about it. I reached out to try a glass as soon as they were out the door! Do you think I would recommend this company to my friends and neighbors? For sure! Is this small business successful? I believe it definitely is.

So here are the two components of small business success which were clear in this encounter:

1. Being truly Passionate about what you do – this is the only way to guarantee that you will transfer the excitement about your product or service to the client and there is nothing more contagious as excitement to get your client very interested in your product and recommending it to other people.

2. Excellent customer service and building strong relationships with your clients – with small businesses and ‘solopreneurs’, what stays with the client after each business transaction and brings repeat business, is the level of service which was given in the interaction with you and your company. Faster and more personal specialized service was probably one of the reasons the client has chosen you in the first place. Small details and personal attention make the world of a difference!

Practice these two basic steps daily and see how your interactions with prospective clients and present change. If you are a small business owner and you are not passionate about what you do, either find a way to become passionate about it (think of why you chose to do what you do in the first place) or find something to do that you are really passionate about – people will feel your excitement and believe more in your product or service.

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