10-11-12 10-11-12 Tourism is great for many businesses, but most businesses need a steady stream of local customers

There are many store front businesses on Whidbey that put a lot of energy into catering to tourists.  And, this is a good thing.  But let’s not forget that most businesses need lots of local support year round to have a profitable enterprise.

I’ve mentioned in a previous Blog the value of keeping track of where your customers live (·  4-19-12 The simplest marketing research tool) as a guide to how much you focus your energies on people living near your business vs. tourists traveling to the Island.

 My guess is, if you keep track year round, you’ll find that the majority of your customers live within a short range of your business.  It’s also my guess that what you do to satisfy your local customer base will also work for tourist business as well.  Here are a few of my ideas (feel free to add some of your own):          ·       

•  Nothing builds customers like customer service: greeting every person with a smile and a “hello” as soon as they come through the door; being helpful, even if the person is asking about information that may not be your business; striving to give the person the best possible service in all aspects.
• Provide special incentives for regulars to come back to your store (special offers; regular customer discounts, etc.).
• Encourage customers to send others to you (again, with incentives and special offers, or simply making the request).
• Do follow-up whenever you can to find out how satisfied the customer was with every aspect of doing business with you and shopping in your store.
• Promote your business through local publications and connections with local non-profits.

Of course, the simplest way to determine how to provide good customer service is to ask yourself what you appreciate when you go into someone else’s business.