My local pharmacy delivers every day.. Photo of Holder Drug by Becky McCray.

Your customers are your business. Connecting with them means success or failure.

How well does your business do in terms of connecting? You won’t find many answers in this column, but you will find lots of questions you need to think about.

How do you connect with your customers?

I suspect many of you have a phone at your business. Do you publish the number? I know businesses that don’t.

And when you or one of your employees answers the phone, what do you say? What is your tone of voice? Do you ask what the person is calling about?

How long does the phone ring before someone answers? And how quickly are transfers made? What about phone messages? How quickly are they returned? Think in terms of hours, not days.

Then you have the people who walk into your store. Are they greeted, and if so, how? How long are they in the store before the greeting occurs? And how many employees might they pass before someone asks if they need some help?

How about when people leave: Are they thanked for stopping? Do you encourage them to come back again or ask if they found what they wanted? Do you go as far as suggesting where they might find what they are looking for? (I am reminded of that each Christmas season when watching “Miracle on 34th Street.”)

Today you also have to think about how you are connecting online with your customer.

I won’t even ask if you have a website but instead ask how easily people can find your business contact information on your website. Make it visible and on every page. What about a comment/question box right on the website?

Besides the standard information on your website, offer email addresses, driving directions and maps.

Remember that your online audience probably isn’t who you think it is. You may assume it is the “younger” generation. It is, and that group rapidly is becoming the largest spending segment. But every age group is doing online activities, with those 60 and older the fastest growing segment.

In terms of email, how quickly do you respond? You should be responding in no more than four hours.

Finally, don’t forget the online social media channels. You have two issues here. In the first scenario, your business doesn’t have any social media channels. While I might encourage a business to have a channel, you certainly have reasons – time being a big one – for not having such an online presence.

Even if you don’t have a channel, that doesn’t mean your business isn’t being mentioned in social media. So you want to be there to answer questions, thank those who offer positive remarks and respond to negative criticism.

And while you are reviewing what is being said about your business on social media, don’t forget to monitor online review sites for comments as well.

If you do maintain one or more social media channels, the preferred response time is an hour or less in most cases.

Connecting with your customers is crucial. To do it well, remember all the options, practice and train on the methods, and ask your customers how you are doing.

Photo provided by Kupper Subaru

Last weekend I took our car in for a routine oil change. As expected the staff were friendly, the service quick, and everything was done right. They provided a comfortable lounge area while I waited with a big screen TV, coffee and water. Those were my expectations and they were all met.

However, there is one more part to the story.  As I was doing the initial paperwork, I noticed some bicycles. They had helmets and backpacks so I asked if staff rode their bikes to work. This is where the routine experience became something amazing.

The response to my question was, “no, those are for our customers to borrow. Do you want to take one out?”  The auto dealership is close to downtown and not far from a bike trail leading to one of our state parks. There was apparently no limitation on where you could with them or how long you could take them out. Check out their program here.

I didn’t take them up on the offer but, as someone interested in helping businesses market and stand out from their competitors, I thought this was great marketing.

Here are just some of the reasons why:

• It was relatively low cost. Bikes, backpacks, locks, and helmets is it. Plus some signs.
• Bike riding engages and offers the customer an experience. Even if you don’t take a ride, I didn’t, the idea gets attention and interest.
• It connects with their brand and many of their customers.  Subaru ads often focus on outdoor activities, experiencing nature, etc. The ideas of loaner bikes fits well with the message they sell.
• May is National Bicycle Month. They connected with that by running YouTube contest showing the bikes ridden on various local trails. If you could name the trail, you won a prize.
• They took advantage of social media for marketing and shot their own video, all low-cost marketing.  See: http://bit.ly/1Jv2CtQ
• When speaking to Jerry Coutts, Service Manager and person responsible for the idea, he noted the idea came from seeing it at another dealership. Good marketing often comes from watching what others are doing. You need, though, to modify them for your situation and to set yourself apart.
• They found a catchy name, #KupperKruiser.

The list goes on but I will end with one final thought.  The most effective marketing comes when others tell your story. This idea is a good one for encouraging this to happen, it takes the routine and makes it something to tell your friends.

As far as growing the campaign, they have opportunities with increased signage and posting pictures and/or videos of customers using the bikes and talking about the experience. This would enhance the visibility, expands customer endorsements, grow social media activity and keep costs low. They can also think about what could be done over winter and again next year.

As a disclaimer, this is not a paid endorsement. I saw a clever marketing idea and appreciated how the idea was developed and implemented. Ideas like this are something any small business owner can do. Small business owners should always have their eyes and mind open for such ideas, ways to get people talking and set your business apart. That’s effective marketing.

Good job Jerry and Kupper Subaru.