Here are 9 suggestions for New Year resolutions that will help you keep your customers happy, generate new leads, and continue to expand.

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9
New Year Resolutions
to Help Small Businesses
Grow in 2018

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We’ve all made New Year resolutions. New Year is a time for self-reflection and identifying areas for improvement
that can make us better individuals. Well, the same goes for small businesses. As your small business grows its
customer base and expands its brand presence, it’s smart to consider ways that you can evolve and new tactics
that you can embrace to aid in that growth. Here are nine suggestions for New Year resolutions that will help you
keep your customers happy, generate new leads, and continue to expand.

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1. Focus on customer satisfaction
Often, small businesses focus too heavily on
acquiring new customers, and too little on
satisfying and retaining existing customers.
Many believe that losing customers is no big
deal, as long as they are acquiring new ones.
However, consider these statistics:
● It costs 5 times more to acquire a new
customer than to retain an existing one.
(Source: Invesp)
● Existing customers will spend 67% more
on a given company than new ones.
(Source: Business.com)
● Increasing customer retention rates by
just 5% will increase profits by anywhere
from 25% to 95%. (Source: Bain &
Company)

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2. Measure customer satisfaction
Don’t rely on anecdotal evidence from individual
customer interactions to determine whether
customers are satisfied.
It’s all too easy to let yourself develop a false
sense of security based on a few positive
interactions.
We suggest using at least two of these tried and
true metrics, in tandem, to accurately gauge
satisfaction:
● Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
● Net Promoter Score (NPS)
● Customer Effort Score (CES)

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3. Adopt sales gamification
Human beings are, by nature, competitive creatures.
We love to win, and we particularly love playing the
game itself.
This is why gamification of sales is such an ingenious
idea.
Sales reps compete against each other in categories
like revenue generated, deals in the pipeline,
prospecting calls placed, and more.
Users can also be rewarded for mentoring new
employees and for collaboration with their colleagues.

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4. Start a blog
A blog is a great way to display to your
customers and prospects that you are an
authority in your space.
It is a core element of a robust inbound
marketing presence.
If your blog delivers helpful tips, best practices,
analyzes industry trends, and solves common
problems for your readers, they will begin to look
to your blog for advice.
The goal of an effective small business blog is to
provide insights that make life easier for your
readers.

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5. Give back to the community
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, 64% of CEOs
are increasing their investment in corporate social
responsibility programs.
Consumers today are much more aware of the need
for social justice and environmental.
According to GivingSpring, 89% of Americans are
likely to switch brands to one associated with a
cause, given comparable price and quality.
That’s eye-opening, to be sure. How do you become
active in the community?
● Start an employee volunteer program
● Develop a workplace giving a program
● Share your results

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6. Leverage online appointment scheduling
Online appointment scheduling software automates
the manual aspects of appointment scheduling.
You select the time slots when you are available,
then post your calendar online, and share the link.
Here are a few of the benefits that online scheduling
provides to small businesses:
● Saves you time in the scheduling process
● Deceases no-shows
● Makes you more available
● Helps with lead generation

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7. Introduce live chat functionality on your website
Live chat is an effective way to ease the burden on
your customers.
When they arrive on your website, a chat pop-up
appears, giving them the ability to ask questions or
create a customer support case right in that moment.
Customers get the answers they need immediately.
Millennials often prefer communicating via text
messages and chat, over speaking on the telephone.

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8. Develop an email newsletter
An email newsletter is a highly effective way to communicate.
You can use a newsletter to share valuable content.
It’s important to keep your content in the newsletter itself brief,
and link to blog articles.
Another tip: decide on your email newsletter cadence and stick
to it, so that readers know when to expect your newsletter in their
inboxes.

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9. Subscribe to this blog
If you want to stay up-to-date on emerging industry
trends that affect small businesses, this blog is the
perfect place to do so.
Our objective is to provide analysis, best practices,
tips and tricks that help you work more effectively
and efficiently so that you can grow your small
business in a sustainable way.
We try to help you stay ahead of the curve, so if
you’d like to benefit from the insights shared here,
subscribe to our blog on the right-hand side of this
page.

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The Bottom Line
Regardless of what your New Year’s resolution is, simply making one in the first place is a great step
towards growing your small business. But, why just make one? Dedicate yourself to various New
Year’s resolutions so that you’ll be sure to achieve some of them. After all, we all know how easy it is
to let go of your resolution after a few weeks into the new year. What New Year’s resolution will you
make? Let us know in the comments section below… And, happy New Year!