There is no better way to grow a small scale business in Nigeria than what we are about discussing in this article.

It’s true that the dream of every entrepreneur or any small business owner is to see their business grow from one level to another.

Well, there may be many ways to grow a business but I want us to approach it from the business to customers perspective.

This is because customers are the key players of every business growth.

Hence, business growth is possible anywhere around the world if we care enough to put our customers satisfaction up-front.

Every business venture whether it be a small scale, medium scale or large scale business solemly depends on its customers to experience consistent sales and profits.

This is why one of the 11 daily task for small business owners is focused on building customers relationship.

Every small business owner must be disciplined enough to strive through challenges with patience, persistence and consistency.

If you ask 10 successful entrepreneurs today about their early days, you will be thrilled at the level of hard work it took for them to get up.

Therefore, let us discuss some basic unique ways to grow a small scale business in Nigeria with regards to customers relationship.

1. You must be readily accessible:

Be readily accessible at all times.

Customers should be able to get in contact with you easily.

There should be several avenues for reaching you e.g. Email, phones, social, and chats.

Always ensure to keep these avenues open for customers who might prefer one to the other.

2. To grow a small scale business, you must give quick and prompt response to customers:

Respond to customers as they come, you must be responsive whenever they reach out.

No matter what their enquiries might be, get ready to give replies as they reach out to you.

Put yourself in their shoes, how do you feel when you’re delayed compared to when you get instant replies.

Therefore stay active.

3. Personalize your customers experience:

Personalize the experience for each customer.

Call them by their names, send offers that solve their specific problems and pitch products to them that they actually need.

Don’t assume that all your customers have the same problem, this might be true in some cases but not all.

Take time to know their problems on an individual bases and offer individual solutions.

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4. Win your customers loyalty:

Customers are the main drivers of business success. Hence one of the best way to keep them to yourself is to build up their loyalty.

Be truthful and sincere as far as possible.

Encourage them to take good decisions irrespective of the outcomes even if it might not be in your favour.

Create a strong customer loyalty program that will make customers feel appreciated while securing their future business with you.

Educate them on how best to utilize your products and services to their advantages.

In the real sense, people care more about themselves and look forward to what they stand to benefit in any business transaction.

Hence, putting your customers first will help you win over their loyalty.

5. Every small scale business owner must be solution oriented (Be a problem solver):

It is also pertinent for you to invest in self development.

Invest in acquring new skill and ability to solve immediate problems for your customers.

Be ready to always introduce something new to the market.

Take them unaware with innovative surprises that will serve them better.

Avoid saying no to their problems, instead outsource issues that seems more challenging to your field of experience.

Solve problems by their individual wishes, needs and preferences.

6. To grow a small scale business, you must be ambitious and futuristic:

Not only should you solve immediate problems, you should also think ahead for their future needs.

Be futuristic, this is why we talked about self development earlier on.

Develop the ability to spot future problems and find a good way to profer soluions to them now.

There is a popular saying that “prevention is better than cure”, hence be attentive enough to help your customers avert future troubles.

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7. Take Feedback Serious:

Take feedbacks consistently irrespective of the response that comes with it. Feedbacks can be either positive or negative.

It can be tough to take critical feedbacks, but it can also be the difference between your business growing or failing.

Listen to customers feedback and take prompt actions on them.

Positive feedbacks will help you know areas you have improved so you can guide yourself properly to maintain and keep improving on it.

Negative feedback are more important because it will help you identify areas your business is failing.

It will give you an insight about what to do and how best you can do them.

It is also important for you to develop persistent tenacity as a business owner.

8. Make sure you understand why people are buying your product or services:

Every product or service carries a unique intent with it. Always ensure you understand why people are buying your product.

This will help you know how best to serve their needs and wants in that particular product or service.

To achieve this, create buyers personas or map the customer journey.

You can create a buyers query template to enable people tell you what really makes them want to patronize you.

9. Use the internet if your small scale business must grow quickly:

The internet is a blessing to those who know how best to use it.

You can cheaply market your products and services, reach more potential customers and experience a higher volume of sales.

Utilize platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and many more to create awareness.

You can cheaply win over customers online, however you must also exercise caution.

Take caution because “If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell six friends. If you make customers unhappy on the internet, they can each tell 6,000.” – Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.

10. Let your business make a positive impact in your environment:

According to Henry Ford – founder of Ford Motor Company, a business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.

This simply means even if you’re there to make money, try to add value to the surrounding.

Be ready to organise training to educate your customers on other vital area of value to them

This will give them a sense of belonging and the willingness to work with you on a long term.

Conclusion:

If you must grow your business then ensure to take these few tips earlier discussed seriously.

It’s true that Covid 19 had a drastic hit on small scale businesses in 2020, however business owners today have deviced new strategies to defeat such failures.

Remember to constantly innovate your products, services, processes and the overall customer experience to ensure you’re delighting people as you grow.