If you are a small business owner you know how tough it can be. If you are thinking of starting your own business, of any kind, there is one big rule of business I thought I would share with you!
The biggest rule in owning a small business is KINDNESS. Kindness toward your clients, vendors and to yourself. Creating something and keeping it afloat in a competitive market is really hard. It takes a lot of dedication, time and passion. Once you get your business up and running there is one simple rule that could crumble you. If you are not kind, you cannot succeed. Well, unless you are planning on opening a Dick’s Restaurant….
Now you may be thinking, “Mary, that is SO obvious, why would I ever NOT be kind to my customers?” But trust me, as a consumer I have ran into many business owners who need to reevaluate the way the speak and act towards their customers. A cheerful hello can go a long way in any business & making sure you are wording your emails professionally but sweetly can also go a long way!
I recently worked with a small business who I had to correspond frequently with via email. As you may know I am the queen of exclamation points and smiley faces, which I think spreads my general excitement and joy pretty clearly. This particular individual would reply back to my emails with very direct simple answers such as “No.” “Yes.” With no other signage or indication that they were happy to receive my email. This threw me off so much I almost decided to switch the small businesses that I was using!
I know all to well how crazy life and work can start to get. Especially around the busiest time of the year…but if you don’t have enough time to make sure you a replying kindly & treating your customers/clients with the utmost respect, then I suggest you look at your schedule and find a time where you can dedicate just a single hour a day/every few days to replying to emails and practice writing honest and kind replies. Trust me, it will go a long way!
Don’t ever let the busy stand in the way of being kind. Ever!
Big hugs,
Mary
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