It's All In the Small Changes

Companies spend thousands of dollars on marketing campaigns trying to get their internal and/or external customers to make a change. What if there was a simpler way? What if it was as easy as the company making a few small changes.

Yesterday I had the please of reading a short article on how to get kids to eat more veggies. All it took was to move the salad bar closer to the cash register. Veggie consumption went up significantly and the school didn't have to pay for a huge campaign.

The Secret of Getting Kids to Eat Their Veggies

So what would it take to get customers to change undesirable, unprofitable habits to ones that better benefit say a software company? Hmmm

Want to lower the number of incoming support calls, but still provide excellent customer service? What about automatically emailing any software errors to support and include in the error a message letting the customer know that the error has been sent. In addition the error should let the customer know what their next step is - whether it is safe to continue with their current work, or if they need to work on something else. The customer will be happy knowing that someone is working on their problem, the comprehensive error message also sends an assurance that this company knows what they are doing. End result? The customer is happy with the company, and the company has saved money through fewer incoming calls and better customer retention. And it all started with one small change.

What to increase employee retention? What if the company made a change in their policy of allowing employees to flex their hours? Depending upon the position, most employees can do their work anytime during the day, or even do their work from home. So instead of requiring employees to work 8 - 4:30 Monday through Friday, why not allow them to flex the time they need to be out of the office for appointments and sick children? The work is still getting done so the company is not losing out and the employee gets a benefit that helps them to better manage their personal and family life. No cost to the company, but a great way to retain employees and boost company moral.

How could you get potential customers to view the company as being technologically savvy? Social Media of course and it can be started with a small change. Even something like having a Facebook page and a company blog brings more awareness about the company to potential customers. This boosts the company's profile with potential customers and doesn't cost a thing except some time.

So small changes can make a BIG difference. You may be asking yourself why more companies are not following through? That my friend is another topic altogether. Until the next time, think about what small changes your company can make, and remember that it doesn't take a giant leap to reach the top, only several small steps.