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.

Xerox Update - Small Business Templates

In early February I was invited as a guest to Xerox's Ignite Small Business Conference. One of my key recommendations was to share their best practices with entrepreneurs. Small businesses are always looking up to the big companies to gain insights as to how to run a growing company and put the proper systems and procedures in place.

As a follow up on February 18th I wrote a post on exactly this strategy:

Small companies are always looking to their bigger counterparts to get best practices and learn how to grow their business. How does Xerox get positive press coverage? How does Microsoft hire the best people? How does Bell prepare its business plan?

Well I am pleased to announce that Xerox is listening and I received an email this morning from VP Paul Gleason. Xerox just released a section on their website that discusses how to get press coverage. They included background information and two downloadable word document templates for small business owners to use.

It is a step in the right direction. I have given Paul a few more suggestions and am looking forward to seeing more detailed resources covering an array of SMB best practice topics in the near future.