by Mark W Allen

Created on: March 26, 2009   Last Updated: April 08, 2009

As a former Award Winning Small Businessman I have learnt that to succeed in Business, you need to give outstanding Customer Service and plan ahead, because on average 4 out of 5 new businesses fail.

If you fall short on giving outstanding customer service there is always a competitor waiting in the wings eager to replace you.

This involves staying in tune with your customer's needs and desires.

It is so easy to fall into the trap of not planning ahead and sticking with; often-outmoded traditional means of doing business.

Marketing is a key area where a lot of businesses fail. Yellow Pages Australia ran a very amusing TV add a few years ago with a type of slogan that became a national catch-cry, 'Not happy Jan'! In this commercial, the unfortunate employee/partner 'Jan', is being chased and shouted after by the Business Owner for neglecting to place their add in the latest Yellow Pages.

At the time, everyone who was dissatisfied in any way, from poor customer service to even missing out on their favourite parking space, was quoting this phrase amongst social circles and many still do.

This was very clever marketing on behalf of Yellow Pages Australia and it sure worked as they were inundated with calls from new and established Business Owners, anxious to ensure their add was not left out of the latest edition. Now, almost every Business chooses to advertise in this directory, but maybe not for much longer?!

A while back I came across a report from the USA titled 'How To Unsubscribe From The Yellow Pages', instructing its citizens on the process of de-listing from phone book publications.

If you are involved in Small Business your traditional means of advertising may be under threat! It would seem that a number of U.S. Cities are now taking the view that such publications are not only, 'Unsolicited Mail' and an Environmental Nightmare, but also an indication of property vacancy, prompting serious security concerns!

As a result, in what could soon become a 'World Wide Trend', numerous Councils including Boston, Cambridge and Minnesota are considering proposing legislation requiring every USA Telephone Directory Publisher to set up a "Do not receive Registry."

Think about it, when was the last time your customers called their phone company and requested a directory be delivered and dropped on their doorstep?

According to the Star Tribune:

"...85 % of telephone directories are dumped into the regular trash, even though it has been illegal to do so since 1992. State pollution officials call it one of Minnesota's biggest solid-waste problems."

The Solution...

The Internet !

Phone numbers, addresses and business directories can all be found on the Internet. It's much faster than flipping pages and if you have 'Skype', you can click on the number for instant connection, plus it might result in saving some trees from unnecessary destruction.

'4 out of 5 new businesses fail', so If you want to succeed in Small Business, it is imperative you plan ahead and stay in tune with your customer's needs and desires, so they will have no cause to say to their friends,'Not happy Jan'!

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