Beverlee Rasmussen CEC PCC How easy is it for customers to find and buy your product?
Place represents the location where a product can be purchased and the distribution channel and logistics it took to get it there.
It is about getting products to your consumer and having the inventory available to fill their demand. This may include any physical store (supermarket, department stores, retail store) as well as virtual stores (e-markets and e-malls, your own website) on the Internet.
How has your place of business changed?
The “PLACE” of business has dramatically changed since I sold my Travel Agency in 1999. WAY back then a small business owner needed a storefront, an office or another physical location where business transactions happened.
Today “place”, in marketing terms, is anywhere your customers shop and anywhere you sell your product.
What’s your customers’ experience?
This week consider the experience consumers have of doing business with you related to your physical and/or virtual location.
If you are a realtor and driving buyers around, is your car clean? Your car in this relationship is your “place”.
Is the sign above your storefront as beautiful as it was the day you hung it?
Is your phone number on every page of your website?
Consumers are guided by their senses and the more pleasant the experience the better chance you have of turning prospects into lifelong customers.
Think about the coffee shop or grocery store you like to frequent. What is it about the physical space that makes you want to go back?
Now consider your own place of business and write down the attributes your customers appreciate about it. What, if anything, can you improve? Improvements can be as simple as the way you answer your phone.
How do you show up online?
Your website as a place of business is as important or MORE important than your physical location.
Does your site need an update? Is the information provided up-to-date and easy to find? Schedule some strategic time to ensure your website is a place where your customers can easily buy from you.
What is your customer service like?
Regardless if you are selling online, at a farmer’s market, from your home office or in a space you share with others, I encourage you to look around to ensure that your place of business is customer friendly.
A simple example of a customer-friendly place is having your phone number easy to find: on every webpage, on your invoices and in your email signature.
Having systems in place for everyone on your team to follow is a great way to ensure your customers are consistently getting an excellent experience when they do business with you.
Your cleaning and organization systems affect your place of business. Your “place” systems can also include inventory systems. You want to ensure you have enough products available to sell at that location.
Place is personal
Small changes can make a huge difference.
Have a look at your own desk, this may be the “place” you do your best selling. Does this space encourage productivity or stress you out? Would you bring a client into your office? Having a well-organized place to work is a gift to yourself and you deserve it.
Until next time, enjoy your Entrepreneurial Journey
The Small Business Field Guide
A workbook for small business success.
Written in clear, simple language with actionable steps, pragmatic tools and proven systems.
