Sell SMBs By Sharing HR Best Practices

If you have been a regular reader of this blog you will have seen a number of posts on how I believe big companies should share their best practices with their small business customers. The logic is simple: small companies look to big companies for standards, systems, and procedures. If you are a big company, chances are this stuff is second nature to you. By sharing the information with your small business clients you earn their trust and win their business. Develop the relationship first and you will not have to ask for the sale - it will come to you.

One of the biggest problem areas for small business owners is hanging on to their top performers. Entrepreneurs spend an incredible amount of time training and supporting their employees only to have them leave a short while later to pursue other opportunities. According to a survey by Robert Half International, the main reasons why top performers leave small businesses are:

• Limited advancement opportunity: 39 percent.
• Unhappy with management: 23 percent.
• Lack of recognition: 17 percent.
• Inadequate salary/benefits: 11 percent.
• Bored: 6 percent.
• Lifestyle change, such as moving: 2 percent.
• Other/don’t know: 2 percent.

Sharing your HR best practices and giving your small business customers a framework to work within so they can hold on to their top performers can be invaluable information for them. How does your company reward the top salespeople? How do you motivate, inspire, and manage your people? What initiatives has your company put into place to recognize workers and make the workplace a fun and inspiring place to be? How do the top managers in your company keep employees loyal and hard working?

By offering yourself as a resource to your small business clients you become an invaluable trusted adviser instead of a commodity service or product vendor. Understand the challenges your SMB clients are facing and look within to leverage the best practices your company is using to solve those challenges. When you win the hearts of the entrepreneurs you will win their business.

Relationship, relationship, relationship

In the retail and real estate businesses it is all about location, location, location. If you are not in the right location for your product, you will not sell.

If you are targeting small business owners, the focus shifts to relationship, relationship, relationship.

Business owners like to work with people they know and trust. They have enough problems to worry about between taking their companies to the next step and managing a work-life balance that if they can find a supplier they have a good relationship with, they will not have a reason to switch.

While it is important that the product or service can meet the needs of the business owner, what will win you the business - and help you keep the business - is forming a solid relationship with the entrepreneurs.

Do you have client appreciation programs? Do you take the time to learn about their businesses and find other ways to help them? Do you know them by name and their families and hobbies? Do you know what keeps them up at night? Have you really given them a reason to stay with you and refer their colleagues to you or will they be more than happy to switch because your competitor gives them a little bit of attention?

Take the time to focus on building the relationship and the business will follow.

Small Business Thinks Big Tech

I came across a great article from the National Post that discussed small business technology buying and thought I would highlight it for you.

Traditionally small businesses are not as early an adopter of large scale technology as their corporate counterparts. This is usually due to the massive investment needed to prepare for large scale IT projects. This has left enterprise resource management (ERP) and customer-relationship management (CRM) to the big players only - until recently.

With the move the the web of many ERP and CRM vendors and the building of scaled down versions from their enterprise customers, small businesses are beginning to take notice. Here are the keys for the vendors who have made the leap to small business successfully:

1. Understand that SMBs are a different market: Larger organizations typically roll out ERP systems over a five year period. Small businesses need to see a faster return on investment. They need to justify the purchasing decision very quickly and see results coming in.
   
   
2. Tell stores of SMB success: When doing your sales pitch don't compare your SMB prospect to an enterprise customer. Show how you have made it work for a smaller company that is just like them.
   
   
3. Offer software as a service: Instead of costly up front setup fees and licensing agreements, offer monthly plans that allows the small business owner to more effectively manage their cash flow.
   
   
4. Focus on customer relationships: Most small businesses rank customer relationships as the most critical factor in their success and 50% are using technology to help find new prospects
   
   
5. Demonstrate measurable payback: The more you can demonstrate the financial impact to the small business the more likely you will get a yes answer.