I say “Bless You” to my dogs when they sneeze, Do You?
Where am I going with this?
I say “Bless You” to the dogs because they are loyal to me and I am loyal to them. We all strive to be Loyal to our loved ones in our personal lives, but Loyalty is also good business practice and a two-way street. In my opinion, Loyalty is a cornerstone of small business. As small or start-up businesses, our budgets are limited and we rely heavily on word of mouth, the passing on of good experiences, referrals, and return customers. What generates all of this? – Loyalty.
Here are a few ways that we can be Loyal to those that are Loyal to us….
Sometimes all it takes is actually telling someone you will be true to them in order to display Loyalty. A few months ago, I connected with an amazing biz-to-biz resource for me. Also, another small biz, I was excited to connect. However, at the moment I could not afford their services. After a few months of building rapport and the other biz hearing from me that I would continue to be loyal to them, we were able to work out an “improvised” payment schedule.
Another awesome way to show Loyalty is to give a recommendation on behalf of that particular biz or person. I take my boys to a small locally owned franchise to get their haircuts. I know that this biz has the support of the larger franchiser, but they still want to stay ahead of the curve and provide excellent service. One day following a haircut, I wrote a recommendation for the shop and sent it to the headquarters. I assume that the feedback trickled down to the individual owner because the next time that I went in, the employees could not be more thankful. When I missed a sale by one day on hair products, guess what? They extended the sale for me by a day!
The greatest form of Loyalty is the referral. Nothing says that you connected with a small biz better than sending them MORE business. Recently, I approached a fellow mompreneur about some referrals that I had for her business, and she was so excited! In return, she provided me with a free service to show her appreciation.
In all of the examples of “how to be Loyal,” you can see the 2-way nature of the relationship. The fundamentals of Loyalty rely on partnership and collaboration in small business. AS women entrepreneurs and small business people, we benefit from collaboration and Loyalty … we cannot isolate ourselves. AS a community of small biz people that is Loyal to one another, we are much stronger!
So, just like I am Loyal in my daily life to the people & pets that surround me, I try to be Loyal in my biz pursuits. It has been a great community building tool for me in my adventure. To read more about my adventure and how I discovered my entrepreneurial groove, check out http://backngroovemom.com
How have you been Loyal today?
