Wholesale News

Friday, January 12, 2007

The First Rule Of Owning A Successful Business

At one time or another every business owner has wondered why one business will be successful and prosper for years and another one will struggle just to survive. I am about to tell you the ONE secret that all successful business owners know and have kept secret all these years. This secret is so simple, yet so powerful that in the wrong hands… well, you get the picture.

But, before I tell you the secret that, if implemented, will guarantee that you will be a successful entrepreneur and without it, you will be relegated to the pile of “also rans”, I want to tell you a little story.

Recently, I was in an electronics store. This was not a local store, but a national chain. I have only shopped there a few times, and I do not know if I will ever shop there again. For Christmas, my children wanted me to hook up the internet in their room so they could use the internet at the same time that I was using mine. I have never installed a network and was going to go the wireless route because I have thought about buying a laptop.

I stopped an associate to ask him some questions about exactly what I needed to hook up the network. I had some items in my hand and asked him if that was all I needed. Without slowing down, he said about four words, “yea, that looks right.” After he walked away, still not convinced that I had everything I needed, I put the items back on the shelf and walked out of the store to go purchase them somewhere else.

When we got in our car to leave, the sales associate was standing outside the building smoking. That cigarette was more important than making a $150 sale.

This brings me back to “The First Rule Of Owning A Successful Business.”

Give The Customer What He Wants Or Needs.

Product. The customer is there because you have something that he wants or needs. As in the example above, I was ready to purchase the items necessary to network my computers and yet, I did not because I did not get what I needed, which was someone that would take the time to explain what I needed to do.

Great Value For A Great Price. As I have stated in an earlier article, price is not always the determining factor when a customer makes a purchase. However, he wants to believe he received a good value for the price that he paid.

Qualified Sales Staff. Again, as in the example above, I needed help and did not receive it. A customer wants to know that he is dealing with an honest, experienced, and fair sales person that is there to help him.

Items In Stock. Customers like to know that when they go to a store to purchase an item that should be there, the item will be there. There is nothing more frustrating than to go to a store looking for something and it is out of stock. Although items will run out of stock sometimes, if customers believe that this happens a lot, they will go elsewhere the next time.

If you follow these four items when dealing with a customer, even though problems will arise, you will be one of the successful entrepreneurs that people look at in the future and say, “Wow, he’s been here for a long time.” Because, you were willing to “Give The Customer What He Wants Or Needs".