02 Apr How Helpful are You to Others?

One major characteristic of successful people is their desire and willingness to help others. Everyone may be willing to help others to a point, but do you go the extra mile to be helpful to others? Think about this for a second.

In the world of business, how helpful you are to your customers can determine how high your business will rise. Being supportive to your customers is not just about recommending the right item to purchase. Rather, it is about being helpful to prospective clients. This may sound strange, but being supportive may sometimes mean directing clients to a competitor if your product or service is not exactly what they need to solve their problem. Offer support to others, not because of the benefit you may derive, but rather because of the benefit they will derive. Focus on helping people solve their problems, not on how you can benefit from them.  

Keeping in touch with your connections is also a way of being helpful as a business owner. You can keep in touch with your connections by sending out a monthly newsletter to your list of connections. The newsletter may contain local news as well as information on new products/services that may be beneficial to them.

Having a Facebook fan page is also another strategy to be helpful to your customers. This strategy is quite popular, and lots of companies use it. Having a Facebook page allows you to communicate with customers, receive authentic feedback, as well as give advice and recommendations to customers. Keeping in touch with your connections through social media may be time-consuming, but it is a great investment.

Always keep an eye out for opportunities to be helpful to individuals in your local area, and even local businesses. It would be a great idea if you could create a hangout area where you can get together with other business owners to support each other in promoting one another’s business.

Now, take a minute and ask yourself, “Am I really being helpful to people in my life?” Think about it. If you need to improve on how helpful you are to others, then start planning on small action steps to take to start being more helpful to others. One great way to be helpful and supportive to others is by always going to extra mile for your customers. Give them more than they expect, and they will love you for it! It is the little extras that make them see you as a great solution to their problem, and it is the little extras that will make them stay loyal to you.