Photo (CC) by Quinn Dombrowske, on Flickr

Success for a small business means watching your pennies. Margins are usually small, sales are often weak, and there is little or no cushion available to absorb a mistake.

It is also true that small business owners must not get so caught up in watching pennies that they miss the holes that are leaking dollars. Harry Barnes, in 1942, referenced this as “penny wise and pound foolish.” And I have discussed this idea in two previous columns, Follow the Money and Chasing Bright Shiny New Things.

Yet a recent experience suggest that you also need to consider customer perception of your efforts to minimize costs. This may sound funny but here is my story. Consider this picture.

Our refrigerator has a mechanical issue. When the service rep came out, he diagnosed the problem (we hope but that’s another story). The parts weren’t available locally s0 he ordered them to be shipped to us. He will be coming later this week to install them. What we received are the three envelopes shown along with the items you see. As near as my wife and I can tell, all three mailings came from the same location. Two came one day and the third a day later. Each envelope had postage for a pound but all the items weighed only about 7 ounces.

This may have been an effective and efficient way for the company to handle this. But to me, the customer, I’m asking “REALLY?”

Effectiveness and efficiency form part of your business image. We applaud companies that portray, through words and actions, a mission of customer service. Think of the places where you do business. This concept is probably part of why you go where you do.

I might even go further and suggest  we may pay a slightly higher price for a company that demonstrates efficiency than one where we get the cheapest price but its operation is somewhat helter skelter. My rationale would be that the well organized company can probably find a way to bring their costs down while the second company may offer a bargain today but we can’t see how they will be there tomorrow when we need service or want more.

I don’t know where the balance point is between being efficient and your company’s rating on customer service.  My purpose is to remind you that these concepts, efficient, effective and perception, are intertwined.

Developing an on-going sustainable business means finding that balance for your business.

Photo (CC) by BruceBer, on Flickr

Why should I read this article? My hope is that it will help your bottom line.

A marketing message, just like a news story, must answer several questions, including who, what, when, where, how and why.

While all the parts are needed, only one element connects with the consumer and gets a person to take action. That part is the “why.”

Although the why question can have many forms, two of the ways it often is expressed are crucial if you, the business owner, are to get a person to buy what you have for sell. The first form is: “Why should I spend my money on product X?”

To answer that question, you need to make a convincing argument of how your item solves a problem the customer has. If the customer has not recognized he or she has a problem, then your marketing job got much harder. In that case, generating action may take several messages.

If customers have recognized the need, you still are faced with helping them understand what they will gain in terms of their individual motivators. This differs for every person, but think quality of life, safety, time with family, time saved or dollars saved. The list is not exhaustive, but these give you a sense of our basic motivators.

The second form of the why question just adds a couple of words: “Why should I spend my money on buying product X from you?” The customer thinks, “You may convince me I need the product, but now you must convince me that your business is the best source.”

A typical response to this question is to offer the best price. But price only works for a short time because someone always will come along with a better price. Instead, here is where the tools of relationship building, trust and service come into play.

Research continually finds that most consumers are not as price-driven as you might imagine. While price cannot be ignored, the total package – the brand, the service and the price – is what gives the customer the greatest satisfaction.

The why question can take other forms, and you cannot ignore the who, what, when, where and how. But focusing on these two forms of why will create a great base to your marketing message.

So does your marketing message answer the why?