Anybody any where can make it cheap, my challenge to you is can you make it better?

My previous post discussed the importance of word of moth advertising. In this post I would like to expand the concept to discuss the importance of the quality of products your business offers.

I have talked about the importance of customer service may times, so I won't get into it again here, but I would like to talk about quality. I firmly believe that there is an over emphasis currently placed on price. The race to get cheaper and cheaper only leads to its inevitable conclusion of the cheapest possible P.O.S. that can be passed off to consumers. And even though it may be cheap, it's no bargain since it may not work properly or at all! I always say buy quality and feel the sting once, buy cheap and feel the sting every time you use it.

As a business owner, why should you care if the product you sell is a piece of junk, it was cheap wasn't it? Well the frustration a customer feels over a poor product is not isolated to the manufacturer alone, it also spills over to you. "Every thing you get at So and So's is junk!" will be the common quote passed down the tribal grapevine. Is that the kind of word of mouth you want!

And if you are a small business that manufactures your products, do you really want to get into a race to be the cheapest? This race will rarely be won by a small business and is better left to the big box chains that can dictate and control pricing through enormous volume buying and even control of the manufacturing processes themselves.

Anybody any where can make it cheap, my challenge to you is can you make it better? I believe that there is a growing discontent with the almost bottomless pit of low quality. There are a growing number of people who seek out quality and are will to pay more for it. For some items it is all but impossible to find and they have been driven out of the market place altogether. So you can see the value of being high quality in spite of the "price driven" trend. You will foster a great amount of positive word of mouth, and like a virus it will spread. Everyone may not appreciate the quality and buy your products, but everyone who does will always appreciate you!

Copyright 2006 Miller Enterprises. All right reserved.
Miller Enterprises - Web Site & Print Design

What's the BEST form of advertising?

What's the BEST form of advertising? I get this question almost daily from small business owners and the answer is always a bit of a surprise, since it has nothing to do with the marketing services I provide. I tell them it is WORD OF MOUTH! It definitely the most cost effective, being FREE, and it always carries the most weight with potential customers.

Humans are programmed to listen to one another. It goes back to the primal instincts of tribal preservation. We need to protect the other members of our tribe from trouble by warning them of danger, like a wild boar attack, while also insuring their prosperity by sharing with them a great place to pick berries or a great way to kill a wild boar. You get my point.

Information about your business will be passed down the grapevine and can have tremendous benefits or devastating result depending upon what the word is. The vast majority of my new business comes from word of mouth. Other forms of advertising can't even come close, but when I do get a new customer I always consider what they might have to say about me as a business, as a person, about my products, my staff, my location, etc.

Word of mouth is not an instantaneous advertising method, but rather yields results slowly over time. Very much like a snowball, it grows slowly at first, but then it becomes a large an powerful force.

Think about this every time you have an interaction with a customer or potential client. I guarantee it will make a difference.

Copyright 2006 Miller Enterprises. All right reserved.
Miller Enterprises - Web Site & Print Design