A friend told me a story recently that speaks to how to build a business and create customer loyalty.  Her husband and his brother decided to start a home improvement business.  In that region, there were a number of competitors.  Things began slowly and after a few months they struggled to get contracts.

After some time the brothers decided that they needed to find a way to stand out, to differentiate themselves from the other contractors.  They began to ask people “What is the most common complaint you have in dealing with home improvement contractors?”  They were told “They don’t show up.”  Apparently, in that area many of the contractors were known for making appointments that they did not show up for or showed up very late, as in days later.  The brothers decided to be “the guys that show up. “  They made that their slogan and they showed up on time every time they made an appointment.  And their business began to grow.

Many blogs, books and articles have been written recently about marketing.  Many advise that business owners must find a way to “be remarkable” or “be distinctive” to truly differentiate their business in the crowded and competitive market place.  This true story illustrates that finding a way to differentiate your business does not require that you invest time and money in a complex marketing strategy.  You simply must understand what customers want that they are not getting and help them to get it.

There is more to the story.  In working with some customers they learned that some customers, Seniors, have many small projects they need done that they no longer can, or want to do, like changing furnace filters, etc.  So, they adopted another slogan, “No job too small.”  The result of their adding these small free services is that these customers give them numerous referrals to their friends and families.  This effort to build customer loyalty won them free word of mouth advertising and led to their business growing and becoming more profitable.