Whether you are a long-time entrepreneur with many business ventures or an individual with an entrepreneurial spirit that hopes to one day own his own business, there are a number of myths you challenges you will come across at some point in time. Here is a list of five business myths de-bunked this Halloween.
1. Cheaper is always better.
Customers aren’t always looking for the cheapest price; they are typically looking for the best value. Too often, decision-makers will discount their products to try and compete in their industry. The best thing you can do for your company is set and meet your customers’ expectations.
If you have a luxury product that is more expensive than your competitors, choose messaging that lets the customer know they’re getting a better quality product than its cheaper alternatives. By sending out these messages beforehand, they will be more satisfied with your brand because they knew what to expect from the get-go. Discover how you can take your brand into your own hands to properly set and meet customer expectations.
2. Customers will find you.
Competition is fierce. With hundreds and thousands of alternatives customers can choose from, there is no guarantee that your brand will be discovered by your target audience organically. To cut through the noise, you must be proactive in marketing your brand and its products and services through a number of tools, including chatbots, social media ads, email campaigns, paid ads, SEO optimization tools, personalized messaging and more.
When it comes to the number of touchpoints necessary to guarantee prospecting success, there’s plenty of evidence that suggests response rates rise with each outreach attempt. And statistically, across a broad spectrum of data, that number is around eight.Jeff Hoffman, Hubspot
Don’t be afraid to set up a series of contact points to keep your brand top-of-mind. Studies show that it can take anywhere from 6-8 touchpoints for someone to decide to make a purchase. Personalize your messaging and set up an email series to stay in front of your customer base.
3. Under-promise, over-deliver.
While this common phrase might be better than over-promising and under-delivering, this is not how you should conduct business. If customer expectations are set too low so that your team can easily over-deliver, customers will turn away. This is due to the competition having seemingly better products and services in their value statements if they have appropriately marketed their brand.
Similar to what we discussed in myth #1, it is a best practice to set your customers’ expectations based on exactly what you have to offer and then meet on those expectations. Craft messaging that separates your brand from the competition and lets customers know exactly what they will get when they do business with your staff. If your employees happen to exceed customer expectations, great! But customers will be just as happy when your team meets their expectations if they were set up appropriately.
4. Work smart, not hard.
This one is a tricky myth because while working smart can make some processes easier and automated, this does not mean you get to sit back and relax. As an entrepreneur, you need to always be looking for the latest and greatest, implementing cutting-edge technology and offering the best services and products to your customers in order to stay ahead of the competition. This requires diligence, endurance and perseverance. Sorry to say, the hard work doesn’t stop after a few automated tools and efficient processes have been implemented. Stick to having a strong work ethic, and reap the benefits of a successful [and efficient] company.
5. You must be everywhere.
With ever-growing ways to communicate to your customers, it is a common misconception that brands must be present on any and all social media platforms. While having an omni-channel approach can be beneficial for your business, the key factor is to meet your customers where they are. If your target audience isn’t present on Snapchat, Tumblr or Tik-Tok, there is no need for your brand to own an account on those channels. When you try to be everywhere, you stretch your resources very thin, and often become more impersonal.
By effectively choosing which platforms to be active on, your brand can personalize its messaging to each audience and be more responsive. Do your research to see where your customers are, and only utilize those accounts to gain more leads and build relationships with them. Then, you’ll gain a better understanding of what your customers want to see, when they want to see it and how they want your messages delivered.
Conclusion
No matter the industry you are in or how long you have been an entrepreneur, there are many challenges and myths you will have to face. Such myths include the need to be on every social media platform, the notion that customers will organically find your brand and that it is okay to under-promise and over-deliver.
The key takeaway from all these myths? Know who your brand is and what you offer, set your customers’ expectations appropriately and deliver on them. By meeting your customers where they are and letting them know what to expect, you will be able to reap the benefits of a satisfied and loyal customer base.
For help discovering the messaging you should market to your customers and whether you are meeting and/or exceeding customer expectations, contact SeeLevel HX. As one of the best mystery shopping companies in North America, we can provide your brand with actionable insights to improve your customer experience through a strategic mystery shopping program.
Good luck de-mystifying other common business myths this Halloween!
