6-7-22 - Stay Close to Your Customers

NEWS ROUNDUP1 Small businesses continued shedding jobs in May, even though the overall job market remained strong.  Businesses with less than 50 employees lost a total of 91,000 jobs, according to the ADP Small Business Report. https://adpemploymentreport.com/2022/May/SBR/Report----------  2Consumers are planning changes to their buying habits to cope with rising costs.  According to a survey released last week by BMO Harris Bank, 42% of respondents are avoiding brand names, opting for cheaper items, and buying only essentials when they shop for groceries.https://newsroom.bmoharris.com/2022-05-31-BMO-Real-Financial-Progress-Index-Inflation-Causing-a-Quarter-of-Americans-to-Delay-Retirement---------- 3Small businesses selling on Amazon could see a boost to their top line soon.  The e-commerce giant is testing a badge identifying items offered by third-party sellers that are small businesses. How to Get Amazon Small Business Badgehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd0BCa6e6ZY---------- FEATURE - Stay Close to Your CustomersIn the bestselling business classic In Search of Excellence, the authors discuss principles that excellent companies practice.  One of them is:  staying close to the customer. Businesses that really put their customers first, by listening to them and taking care of their needs, outperformed those that did not. IBM measured customer satisfaction every month, and a significant portion of incentive pay for senior management was dependent on how happy customers were.Frito-Lay instituted a “99.5% service level” that was remarkable.Johnson & Johnson was the first consumer goods company to widely use an 800 phone number on its packaging.  The move was a rousing success. All of these illustrations may be from big companies, 40 years ago, but their lessons are timeless:  stay close to your customers.  If you don’t, you risk losing them to a competitor who will.---------- This podcast is sponsored by Mai Thai Premium Coffee.  Enter the promo code FLASH at checkout for a 10% discount!  https://maithaicoffee.com/.---------- I would love to hear from you! Please email me at [email protected]. ----------Email me at [email protected] give me feedback on the podcast.Show web site:  www.smallbizflash.com