With the new year approaching, it’s a good time to think about your resolutions – not just personally, but also for your business. Of course, we business owners all want to increase sales next year, but there are other resolutions you can make that will help improve your business and your profits. Here are a few ideas to consider.
- Show your customers you value them. Focus on providing excellent customer service at your business as well as online. Answer customer questions and address concerns as quickly as possible, with a focus on resolving issues to the customer’s satisfaction. Develop and nurture relationships with customers so they feel welcome and want to come back. Hold special promotions such as a customer appreciation event, giveaways, or gift with purchase promotions. Offer special discounts or add-ons.
- Show your employees you value them. Like customers, your relationship with employees needs to be nurtured so they feel valued. Resolve to focus on employee engagement. Encourage employees to ask questions, offer ideas, and come up with ways to improve company operations. In other words, make them part of the process. Communicate with your employees and let them know how the company is doing. Reward employees for good performance financially and acknowledge them publicly.
- Become more involved with your community. Showing your community that you care as a company can go a long way. Sponsor a local event or sports team, donate a prize to a fundraiser event, volunteer your time and encourage your staff to get involved with local charities, hold a donation drive at your business, or donate to a cause or local nonprofit.
- Get involved with the business community - support local businesses. Join the Chamber of Commerce and participate in networking events, business expos, and educational programs. Volunteer your time. Support other small businesses in your community. Many are still trying to recover after the pandemic and can use your support, including on social media (comment, like and share their posts). You will find that by supporting other businesses, they will in turn, support yours.
- Develop better systems to manage your business. Take a hard look at your business operations and determine where you can make improvements. Consider working with a business coach to identify the systems and processes that need improving. And as mentioned above, get your employees involved.
- Provide value to your customers. Resolve to focus on providing value to your customers through quality products, excellent customer service, competitive pricing, value-added features, etc. Is your product or service high-quality? If not, how can you improve? Focus on how your product or service solves your customers’ problems and emphasize this in your marketing.
- Fine-tune your marketing. Review the results of your marketing efforts in 2021, and devise a marketing plan for 2022. What worked and what didn’t? What marketing strategies will provide the best return on your investment of time and money? (For example, your website, email marketing, social media, digital ads, SEO, direct mail, etc.). Set goals and track your progress throughout the year.
- Engage with your customers. Don’t be the “man behind the curtain” …Get out there and engage with your customers and start a conversation. Get their opinions on your products and services and ask for reviews. Offer them solutions to common problems. Have a consistent social media strategy and post regularly. Respond to comments, questions, and direct messages promptly.
- Increase value by presenting your product in the best possible manner. Displays and packaging matter. Are you presenting your product in a way that’s attractive to your customers? Are your online images high-quality? If merchandise displays are a challenge, consider hiring a visual merchandising consultant. For online images, you could contract a graphic designer, professional photographer, or create high-quality images yourself with platforms like Canva.
One way to present your products in an attractive way is to package them in our non-toxic, FDA-compliant plastic boxes. The best part is that they’re reusable, so customers can keep the boxes and reuse them later for something else, adding even more value to your packaging. Additionally, the demand for sustainable plastic packaging is on the upswing among environmentally conscious consumers. For companies looking for eco-friendly resources, Alpha Rho is the direct source for sustainable plastics and green packaging.
Which of these resolutions will you be focusing on in 2022?
All of us at Alpha Rho wish you a very happy and prosperous new year!
Why Choose Alpha Rho?
As the largest manufacturer of high-quality rigid plastic boxes in New England, Alpha Rho has been a leading supplier of injection-molded plastic boxes, with a reputation for providing dependable plastic packaging solutions for over 50 years. Our custom rigid plastic boxes – compartment, hinged, friction fit, custom shapes – are used extensively in multiple industries such as retail and hobby, food and confectionary, medical and industrial.
We offer reliable service to meet your needs. You can check out our list of products here, or request samples today and experience the quality of Alpha Rho’s products first hand.