5 Helpful Keys to Set Your Small Business Apart from the Others

According to a recent Washington Post article, about half of all businesses only survive for five years or more. There are many complex reasons why this happens, such as increased competition and market saturation. However, there are specific things that small businesses can do to remain unique and financially successful. Below explains five ways to set your business apart from the competition.

Top Notch Quality
Quality control is a buzzword that business owners should never get tired of hearing. The key to setting your business apart from the competition is to offer an affordable, quality product. Every industry’s services and products have their own specific quality expectations. The best ways to increase your product’s quality is through learning from your successful competitors. Understand what makes their product or service superior and make your own adjustments accordingly.

Superior Service
Quality customer service is often discussed more than it’s actually implemented. Every industry has its own unique customer service benchmarks. For example, quality e-commerce customer service focuses on security, timeliness and ease of customer returns. Food industry customer service focuses on friendliness, cleanliness and an individualized experience. A smart business owner will target and improve select customer service values based on their industry.

Smooth Process
It is an unfortunate fact that many businesses offer excellent products or service, but their customer interaction processes are troublesome. The most successful businesses, such as retail or fast food chains, have perfected the customer interaction experience. Avoid ignoring customer complaints or employee feedback. Instead, take advantage of this useful information to continually improve your policies and procedures.

Innovation
Innovation isn’t just limited to visionary industry pioneers. Some of the most innovative industry changes often have a humble beginning. Embrace consumer complaints and continually elicit customer feedback through surveys. Identify customer needs, product weaknesses and industry problems. Adjust your product or service through limited consumer trial and error sessions.

Excellent PR
Public relations isn’t just for large corporations or the government. In fact, having an experienced PR professional on your team is an excellent way to improve your marketing effectiveness. This is because the modern business environment is now growing dependent on social media and online consumers. Companies now must quickly react to major problems and properly handle crisis communication. A master’s in public relations is an excellent way to fine tune your PR skills.

There are proven ways for businesses to set themselves apart from the competition and achieve commercial success. Learn more about why businesses fail from the Washington Post here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2014/01/27/do-9-out-of-10-new-businesses-fail-as-rand-paul-claims.