Andrew Sobko, CEO of CDL 1000a supply chain logistics company powered by AI-driven solutions, is an entrepreneur with a passion for technology.
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Starting a business is never easy and there are many barriers to entry regardless of the industry or market you are pursuing. To survive and ultimately succeed, there are many considerations and steps to take, including a well-thought-out business plan, market and financial feasibility studies, and a comprehensive risk assessment.
The most obvious consideration is whether you can offer a unique product or service that solves a specific problem. If you’re one of those rare cases where there’s no competitor, you may already have a winning idea (or haven’t done enough research on the product or service your company will offer). If you have competitors, study what they are doing and make sure you do it better and at a competitive market value.
Once you’ve identified who you’ll be working against to gain market share, now comes the difficult part of distinguishing your company from the rest. What you base your company’s values on and the service you provide makes or breaks your chance of success.
There are three ways to really separate your business in the marketplace:
1. Provide an excellent product or service at a competitive price, supported by a value-added customer experience.
2. Providing technology solutions that meet customer needs.
3. Have an innovative company culture, both in the technology you offer and the way you interact with your business.
Viewing these items is not a one-time process when starting a business. Rather, it’s important to continually monitor these customer-facing touchpoints, among other things, to ensure that your business stays ahead of market trends and not lag behind competitors in the space. There is always more market share to be gained and your competitors are probably thinking of them right now.
The value of excellent customer service
After a product or service is delivered to a customer, it is in their hands to decide if it is what they need and with the quality they expected. If that last piece isn’t quite right, there’s still a chance to salvage the customer relationship depending on the level of quality customer service you provide.
The stats to prove this are telling, and according to Salesforce 89% of consumers are more likely to make a new purchase after a positive customer service experience. The same study found that 78% of consumers “will forgive a company its mistake after receiving excellent service”. Furthermore, HubSpot research showed that “93% [of consumers] were previously repeat customers at companies with excellent customer service.”
You can use this customer loyalty to have them to advise your company to others rather than defecting to another company, such as: Zendesk Revealed 61% of customers would do it after just one bad experience.
So not only does customer service impact one customer after the sale, but providing excellent customer service can actually impact growth. Pulling out all the stops for your customers will set you apart from competitors and possibly even gain market share through word of mouth and build a loyal base, which is a key progress indicator of any business marketing plan.
Top technology
Implementing technology in business processes used to be such a burden. Not only can it be expensive, but it took a lot of time to engage employees and teach them how to use a new system, disrupting normal workflow. But that is no longer the case. Today, a lot of technology can be easily integrated into existing business processes right out of the box and is so easy to use that it doesn’t take that long to adopt. And in many cases you will find it intuitive and complementary to existing processes.
The reason this is so important is that not only can technology drive efficiencies within your own business, but if customers use it to access your product or service, it must be accessible, intuitive and interactive enough to take you further. separate from competitors. Whether used for customer service, accounting, HR, content management, sales or your product, technology can differentiate your business in the marketplace. It can make workers’ jobs easier, making jobs more attractive for hiring and retaining top talent, and meeting customer needs better and more efficiently than ever before.
To build a brand or get consumers to trust a product or service, it must be transparent and accessible. This means using technology, particularly with a focus on customer service, in a way that allows consumers to engage with the brand when it suits them.
Creating an innovative culture
Innovation may seem like a buzzword, but it’s such an important building block for any business. You may have the most unique business model on the market for a year, but resting on your laurels even slightly opens the door for your competitors to gain an edge and regain market share.
Creating a culture that encourages innovation, not only in technology, but also in the way you interact with your business will help a company stay on the cutting edge for longer. While product and service innovation keeps customers around longer, process and cultural innovation help employees stay on the job longer. This continuity can be a huge differentiator within some industries.
Starting and running a business is not an easy task. Differentiating yourself from the competition can be even more difficult, especially in an ever-changing market. That is why it is important to constantly monitor the market and improve it along the way.
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