Transition

Welcome to my first ever blog. It seems a good time to start a blog because there is so much going on right now that is easy to talk about. Take for instance the recession of last year and how it really made me focus on who our customer is and what is our niche in the market place.

I came to realise that in the past we have maybe had the mindset of a smaller, sole-trader business and we have been competing on the merits of a sole trader. By that I mean we sold what was good about a sole-trader.. For the customer, they always get to talk to the decision maker, they get to know you personally and build an ongoing relationship with a high degree of familiarity. For us, we get to know the customer too and understand the way they work much better.

What happens though when you want to grow your business and make it more professional. How do you start to differentiate yourself from your competitors and deliver a better level of support to your customer. Well, how about looking at the benefits you give as a bigger company while still holding on to the best bits of being a sole-trader.

How about offering a 24-hour support telephone number. How about reassurance that you are not the only driver and will be out working all sorts of silly hours. How about taking more time to listen to your customer and understanding what else you can do to help them. Last year we introduced an on-line booking system that handles our information in a very efficient manner. It gives us the ability to manage our business in a way that a sole-trader could only dream of.

What we haven't done though is find a way of showing new customers just how good the system is and how much extra support it gives a corporate client. Anyway, in order to achieve this, we are currently investigating branding and how to convey our message in a different way. A way that is more reliable and easily understandable by a customer.