When things get messy globally, think LOCAL!
Hello All,
The trouble that we are seeing currently in the Middle East punctuates something that I have been observing all week. When things get messy globally, people think local. Many businesses are very nervous about the rise in gas prices, and fear that consumers will have less disposable income, therefore spend less, lowering their bottom line. I too have been concerned about this, but have personally experienced a different side to this issue. I just came off a VERY busy week! I had at least one customer each day come in to my shop last week needing print work done who made it a point to tell me they chose my company because of the convenience of doing it locally, but also because of the substantial savings in gas not having to drive to Springfield to get similar services.
So what's the point? As the cost to drive rises, the cost of buying local goes down, therefore making local goods and services a better bargain. Also this benefits on-line sales, as it is more and more possible to purchase items cheaper on-line (even with shipping charges) then driving to the nearest city to purchase them, not to mention the convenience! So take advantage of this opportunity. Make the public aware of how they can save by buying local, even if the price tag is slightly higher. Also if you are an email marketer, take this time to entice new customers to purchase with the savings of both gas and time.
Now what you do with this opportunity will determine if you will continue to keep these new customers, but high gas prices (caused in part by global fears) have brought me increased business. I hope that even if gas prices go down, I will retain these new customers because of my excellent customer service and the level and quality of my service.
(For example, I had a customer come in for the printing/photocopying of 300 booklets. When the document went through the photocopier, a decorative faint graphic on each page did not come through. So we scanned the entire document and added a similar decorative page graphic to each page using Photoshop. Sure it took an extra hour or two, but it made the final product higher quality and better retained the spirit of the original piece. I hope that the customer appreciated the extra effort we took to satisfy, something that big chains would never take the time to do.)
Thanks,
Terri Miller
Miller Enterprises - Web Site & Print Design
The trouble that we are seeing currently in the Middle East punctuates something that I have been observing all week. When things get messy globally, people think local. Many businesses are very nervous about the rise in gas prices, and fear that consumers will have less disposable income, therefore spend less, lowering their bottom line. I too have been concerned about this, but have personally experienced a different side to this issue. I just came off a VERY busy week! I had at least one customer each day come in to my shop last week needing print work done who made it a point to tell me they chose my company because of the convenience of doing it locally, but also because of the substantial savings in gas not having to drive to Springfield to get similar services.
So what's the point? As the cost to drive rises, the cost of buying local goes down, therefore making local goods and services a better bargain. Also this benefits on-line sales, as it is more and more possible to purchase items cheaper on-line (even with shipping charges) then driving to the nearest city to purchase them, not to mention the convenience! So take advantage of this opportunity. Make the public aware of how they can save by buying local, even if the price tag is slightly higher. Also if you are an email marketer, take this time to entice new customers to purchase with the savings of both gas and time.
Now what you do with this opportunity will determine if you will continue to keep these new customers, but high gas prices (caused in part by global fears) have brought me increased business. I hope that even if gas prices go down, I will retain these new customers because of my excellent customer service and the level and quality of my service.
(For example, I had a customer come in for the printing/photocopying of 300 booklets. When the document went through the photocopier, a decorative faint graphic on each page did not come through. So we scanned the entire document and added a similar decorative page graphic to each page using Photoshop. Sure it took an extra hour or two, but it made the final product higher quality and better retained the spirit of the original piece. I hope that the customer appreciated the extra effort we took to satisfy, something that big chains would never take the time to do.)
Thanks,
Terri Miller
Miller Enterprises - Web Site & Print Design
posted by Terri Miller @ 5:45 PM
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