STAYING FOCUSED: Denise Pallesen, owner of Nutter's Bulk & Natural Foods in Cranbrook, has built a reputation for her store based on product knowledge and excellent customer service. —photo by Kirsten Armleder

The same rules for growth apply to every business, no matter where it is located. The trick is finding the right strategies for your business circumstances and applying them properly. Denise Pallesen and the franchise she bought in Cranbrook is an example.

Pallesen is the owner of Nutter's Bulk & Natural Foods, a franchise with 30 stores across Canada. Even though her business is in a highly competitive arena—local customers can buy from a variety of discount chains, drug marts and health stores—Pallesen had a plan to create her niche in the market. She decided early in the game that the store's competitive edge would be its ability to better serve and supply customers than the competition.

“Service, service, service. If we don’t have a specific product, we go out of our way to find it for our customer,” said Pallesen. “My staff and I are constantly learning, either by reading or taking training sessions. We want to learn as much as we can about the health food industry so we can give the best customer service possible.”

As a result of this strategy, Pallesen has built a reputation for her store based on product knowledge and excellent customer service.

“We want our customers to find us easier to use and easier to buy from; that’s our edge,” added Pallesen. “People can buy high-quality products like ours in a number of places; what they can’t find are people educated about health food, who are dedicated to helping them find the best option.”

What were the successful strategy options Pallesen is talking about?

The first was to generate sales by finding an empty or under-served niche. Her well-trained staff and dedication to customer service could not easily be mimicked by competitors because they were already established and occupied providing another service.

Pallesen focuses on convenience as her primary tactic. Nutter’s knows how to keep its customers coming back. Customers are never turned away because staff don’t have an answer or don’t know how to help them. Nutter’s staff are well-trained, knowledgeable and helpful to all their customers.

Generally, you can get growth happening in your business in four ways:

Find more customers. You can grow your business by offering your existing products or services to new customers. Sometimes that means exploring your territory to find new types of customers within the market you already serve. A retail pie company could also sell pastry to restaurants as an example. You can also create a strategic alliance with another business. You could form co-operative agreements with competitors too, and combine your strengths to bid on large jobs neither of you can handle on your own. Small hotels that are trying to attract convention business do this all the time. Or you can acquire new customers by purchasing a competitive business or merging with a competitor to form one stronger business together.

Build more sales. Sometimes growing your business is not a matter of finding new customers but selling more often to the ones you already have.

Encourage existing clients to purchase more frequently or increase the size of each order. Understanding your customers can be easier using a customer relationship management system that tracks and helps you follow up. Remembering that 80 per cent of your business often comes from just 20 per cent of your sales base, you know it is important to keep your best customers satisfied.

Can you perhaps develop a competitive edge by serving customers differently? Would creating a system of referrals made by satisfied customers expand your sales potential? Sometimes offering a modest discount to current customers is all it takes to gain new referral business and it doesn’t require expensive marketing or labour-intensive sales programs.

Give higher sales value. Sometimes you can increase sales by being better focused on meeting the needs of the customers you already have. Are there ways to add value to your products or services? Consider the areas of servicing, maintenance and delivery. By asking your customers what they need, you may discover a niche you hadn’t considered for products or services that complement the ones you have now.

You may find opportunities for whole new lines of business that your satisfied customers will happily embrace.

Improve your systems. A sales-related growth strategy may be more effective if it is partnered with a strategy to better deliver your products or services. Consider your operations and look for ways to streamline time or labor-intensive activities. Evaluate your staff for deficiencies in their training. Perhaps there are tasks that might be outsourced more efficiently. Look at your systems and processes for ways they might be completed more efficiently with technology. Are there ways you can marry your customer relationship management system with marketing to improve regular customer contact?

By listening to your customers and providing them with excellent customer service –and the products they ask for–any sales growth strategy you employ will be more likely to succeed.

Laurel Douglas is the CEO of the Women’s Enterprise Centre—B.C.’s leading resource for women entrepreneurs, headquartered in Kelowna, B.C. For information go to www.womensenterprise.ca.

More tips:
Lead article | Think big | Finding the heart of your business | Zero in on growth strategies that fit your business | Expand business capacity without breaking the bank | How to manage cash flow