BizOp Blogs

SEO Igloo Blog:

1. Instant Gratification
Sorry, but with the exception of digital downloads, buying off the web means waiting for something to be shipped to you. It also means paying for shipping. There are plenty of things that people want now. Often, shopping contains an element of excitement and people want to be gratified with choosing their items and taking them home right now. It doesn’t matter if this is something to eat, wear or hang on the wall. Americans love getting something now and your local business doesn’t require them to wait 3-10 business days to get it. You can make the convenience proposition work in your favor instead of against it.

2. Physical Interaction
Speaking as a woman who stands little over 5 feet tall and weighs about as much as a sack of potatoes, I can tell you that I will never buy pants off the Internet. Sorry, but there is just no way for me to know trousers are going to fit me unless I can try them on and I really don’t consider having to go to the post office to return ill-fitting garments a fun use of my time. With the exception of bulky items like sweaters, I shop locally for clothing and shoes. Most people have difficulty finding clothing that fits them – we are all different shapes and sizes. Trying something on is the only way to be sure a garment fits, and you cannot do this online.

You also can’t count on the colors you see on your monitor. This is especially important to me in all of my craft-oriented pursuits. When I buy fabric, I want to see it and touch it first. House paint is something else that falls under this heading; what looks like tea green on my screen may be screaming neon in the can.

In any situation where a physical action is required to meet the customer’s needs for feeling confident about a product, there is an opportunity for a local business.

I’ve debated adding customer service under this heading. While many people express that they like to do business with people they can see, and I’ve seen everything from banks to bookstores using this as a USP, I’m not sure that this offer has any teeth. I have been distinctly unimpressed with face-to-face customer service in too many local businesses to count. For the most part, I lay the blame for this on an economy that hires the youngest, least-skilled workers possible in order to keep operating costs low. A 17 year old boy is really not going to be able to offer me much genuine help choosing upholstery, in most cases, and I don’t actually enjoy listening to rap music while I’m trying to find a new blouse.

I’ve been tempted to ask to speak to the babysitter in local shops I’ve attempted to patronize after having my questions met with, “uh…uhmm… I dunno.” It’s because of this that I think the selling point of customer service is really only going to appeal to certain kinds of customers and only if the store is going to be able to employ an experienced, trained staff. Yet, where the business owner is knowledgeable and plans to be in the shop most of the time, they can certainly offer a voice of experience that you’re not going to get by tangling with the outsourced live-chat offered by many websites as a ‘replacement’ for live customer service.

3. Local Only Offerings
To me, this is the real heart of the matter and the main purpose of this article. If the business landscape has changed so that most of your neighbors are going online for certain kinds of goods and services and you are thinking of changing your business or opening a new one, you’ve got to define needs that can best be met locally. Here’s a quick brainstorm of businesses that either require the customer coming to the business or the business going to the customer:

Housekeeping
Landscape Consulting and Yard Maintenance
Window Washing
Plastering
Assisted Living
Custom Clothing Alterations
Plumbing/Home Repairs
Carpet Cleaning
Drycleaning
Car Repairs
Child Care
Service business involving legal, medical or other professional consultation
Gas Stations
Hair Cutting
Restaurants

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.