• Take the Survey of Rural Challenges
  • Small Town Speaker Becky McCray
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

If you help your customers to create a plan, don’t leave out this essential item

By Becky McCray

Once your customers have the master plan, what happens next? Photo CC by brandbook.de

 

If part of the services you provide includes helping people make a plan, be sure you don’t stop there. If you don’t address this pitfall, it’s going to hurt your sales and hold potential customers back.

The problem

Everyday people, like your customers, want to have a plan, but they have an important doubt. They fear they’ll never actually get it done. They already have too much to do!

They think they’ll fail to follow through, or they’ll get distracted, or things will change before they can get around to doing the things you so carefully planned for them.

That means they hesitate about buying. They hold back from signing up. 

How you help

You probably don’t just help people design a plan, then say, “You’re on your own!” Of course not. You provide some kind of support in taking action.

Maybe you offer coaching or weekly check-ins to support their progress.

Maybe you can actually start carrying out the plan for them, with a “done for you” service. For example, you might help a customer create a marketing plan that includes advertising on Facebook, then you can actually start creating the ads for them.

How do you support your customers once you’ve helped them make the plan? Think through all the ways you do that so we can let them know.

The solution

In order to remove the fear for your customers, you need to let them know early on that you’ll be there for them after the plan is done. 

Everyplace you discuss or describe your planning service, be sure to include how you can help them after the plan. If there’s an added cost, say so.

Your customers will be relieved that they won’t be alone with the plan. You’ll make more sales for the planning service and make more customers aware of the support services.

New to SmallBizSurvival? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
  • Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors - January 15, 2023
  • 2023 trends for rural and small town businesses - December 26, 2022
  • Local reviews on Google Maps drive enduring value - December 17, 2022
  • Extra agritourism revenue from camping, cabins and RVs with HipCamp - December 12, 2022
  • Harvest Hosts attract vanlifers and RV tourists, Boondockers Welcome - December 2, 2022
  • Holiday 2022 marketing: Tell your founding story - December 1, 2022
  • Holiday 2022 Marketing: Tell your customers’ stories - November 30, 2022
  • Holiday 2022 Marketing: Introduce your people - November 29, 2022
  • Holiday 2022 Marketing: Share your holiday traditions - November 28, 2022
  • Holiday Marketing 2022: Support your service businesses - November 22, 2022

April 2, 2018 Filed Under: customer service, entrepreneurship, marketing, Small Biz 100 Tagged With: service businesses

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Shop Local

Buy local buttonReady to set up a shop local campaign in your small town? You'll need a guide who understands how we're different and what really works: Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns.

Best of Small Biz Survival

What is holding us back? Why does every project take so long in small towns?

How any business can be part of downtown events by going mobile

Concert-goers talking and enjoying the evening in downtown Webster City, Iowa.

Why do people say there’s nothing to do here then not come to our concerts?

Retailers: Fill all empty space, floor to ceiling

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2023 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in