Cater to People Who Are in a Hurry
04/
02/
2002
Think about it. What is the single most pressing problem people have today? Simply, that they don't have enough time. Everyone is in a rush, trying to balance work and family, trying to cram 14 hours of work into 10, trying to taxi the kids to and from soccer, buy groceries, finish a report for the boss (which is due for a 7 a.m. meeting in the morning),and fix dinner by five-thirty. Your business can profit from helping people find that extra hour in the day. In today's Workshop, Jeffrey Moses suggests ways in which your business can cater to people on the basis of their hurried lives.
Traditionally, there have been three central aspects of creating product value: price, quality, and sales service. Today, a fourth aspect has been added: speed of delivery. Amazon.com established its uniqueness by providing discount pricing along with outstanding product availability and service. Usually shipment is made within 24 hours from the order. Now, however, newer online book sellers in large cities are providing delivery WITHIN THE HOUR. They use courier services. They deliver on roller skates or motorbikes: they do whatever they need to in order to get product to the customers in a hurry. There is a small extra charge for this, of course, but people understand that speed in delivery costs more.
Other industries are also turning to rapid delivery straight to the home or office. Groceries, gifts and novelty items, photo development. These and other types of businesses are providing rapid home delivery.
To take advantage of this concept, approach every aspect of your business-- from sales to production to distribution-- with the idea that you want to save your customers time. Do you provide a service? Setup your operations so you can start work for a customer TODAY and tell them about that in your marketing? Do you sell a product? Make sure that you can get it to customers as quickly as possible and tell them about it in your advertising.
Mail order companies and e-commerce companies have a choice of delivery methods. Regular ground shipment can take anywhere from three to eight days. It costs less than air shipment, but there's a place today for companies that provide overnight delivery or two-day delivery as standard. Try not to let the added expense fall totally in the customer's lap. Absorb some of it by taking a lesser total margin on sales. You'll make up for it in increased volume, but only if you use your advertising to tell people exactly what you're doing.
A few real-life examples: If you have a restaurant, you could consider delivery, or at least provide a lunch buffet to save customers time. If you have a retail shop (which also could provide delivery), you should make sure that you set up lines of inventory so that you can get products within days, not weeks. If you offer a service, get quotes or estimates to people within hours of gathering the information. If you're a wholesaler or manufacturer, you have an immense opportunity to increase business by streamlining every aspect of your operation to save customers time. If you're an e-tailer, provide rapid delivery-- same hour, same day, one day, or two day.
This is the age of breathlessness. Everyone is huffing and puffing, trying to accomplish their work and still find a little time for relaxation and enjoyment. Tailor your business to solve this problem, and you'll notice immediate results in your bottom line.
workshops.mircrobusiness.fri
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