Customer service: where small is truly mighty
A multinational corporation can produce beautiful things, have a massive marketing budget, win international advertising awards—and put a serious dent in its brand by failing to pay attention to its customers.

This is where the tiniest business can run circles around the big guys.

You make the policies; you are the CEO. You can answer the questions. You can fix things when they don’t go exactly right.

You can also learn from the dent-the-brand mistakes many small businesses make.

Mistake #1 — Was it something I said?
You’re in a locally owned furniture store. You’re nearly ready to buy; there’s just one question about delivery charges. The salesperson asks the owner, who is standing nearby, working on a computer. He doesn’t look at her when he answers her question. He doesn’t turn to acknowledge you, even though you’re only a few feet away, ready to give him your money. If the salesperson had been less fun to deal with, you’d walk out on the spot.

Turn it around — be the eccentric creative
If you have your own gig, the new normal is that you wear most of the hats (with the general exception of tax accounting). But that doesn’t work for everyone.

If you’re really lousy at sales, or truly just can’t deal with people, find someone who’s great at it. And stay out of sight. A little mystique adds to the flavour of your brand. Behaving like an arrogant jackass (or being too shy to talk to people) does not.

Mistake #2 — What’s wrong with this picture?
You’re in a high-end shop that sells fine craft and visual art. You come across a freestanding textile piece with a price tag of nearly $2000. The frame has come apart.

Turn it around — quality first, and always
If you don’t treat your work with respect, your customers will wonder if they’ll suffer the same fate. When you’re building your reputation, nothing gets treated like a throwaway. Not even your seconds, if you work in a medium where seconds happen (like a pottery studio).

Care about everything you sell. When you show your work like it’s top quality, you send a signal to your customers. That signal strengthens your brand.

Mistake #3 — Pardon me, are you in business?
You’re at a trade show. Two exhibitors are sitting in chairs at opposite sides of an 8 x 10-foot booth, chatting. You’d have to cross between them to go in. You suddenly feel like you’re interrupting dinner. You move on.

Turn it around — always act like a pro
I know creatives who sell their work at local farmers’ markets. I used to do it myself. Some think they don’t have to be professional because of the setting. While some venues are more casual than others, one simple fact remains: it’s you at that venue. The location doesn’t shape your brand, you do.

When you bring your best wherever you are, online or off, your customers notice.

Your brand is every experience your customers have with you and your business
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Everything you do, every piece of marketing material, every contact you have with a customer or potential customer, creates an experience. All those experiences either build or undermine your brand.

It’s up to you to make their experiences great.

Observation and critical thinking are powerful tools
Each of the stories above is true. They all happened to me, as a customer.

There’s a beautiful chair in my house because a fantastic salesperson allowed me to forget her obnoxious boss.

I’ve never been back to the shop that didn’t take care of the work it was selling.

Someone once dubbed me The Booth Nazi because I’m so committed to making a good impression. I remain unrepentant.

Paying attention to how you present yourself to your customers is one of the smartest investments you can make in your professional creative practice.

Have your say: What experiences have you had? Share your stories, good or bad, or add a tip to the list.

What happens when you fail?

If you do it right, you learn, sometimes a lot. You learn to suck it up and move on. You learn to trust your gut. You learn what everybody else is doing might not be right for you.

Mostly you learn your roof won’t cave in, the wheels won’t fall off your car, and embarrassment is not a fatal condition.

I’m talking about marketing a microbusiness here, not brain surgery or building bridges, and I’m not talking about putting your entire life savings into a single venture. The former has lives at stake and the latter is nuts.

When I’m about to do something stupid (read: against my nature), I start to panic just a little. I rush. I make a lame comment on a popular blog without reading it carefully because I think it might get me traffic. I lower a price out of fear. There is a physical sensation associated with the choice—something faint, easy to ignore. But when the deed is done, it multiplies by tens and I feel it—stomach around my knees, and an urge to run. I affectionately call this condition Consummate Idiot.

Except nobody really cares but me. Most people won’t even notice, unless I’ve made a colossal blunder. Mostly I’ve been either too smart or too cautious to do something that extreme.

I’m embarrassed, and I do not expire.

When you fail, there are signs in the settling dust, if you pay attention. Drag your eyes away from your navel and consider: what informed the choice? Did you do your homework first? Did you act out of fear? What did you tell yourself before, during and after? How did you feel physically?

How do you feel when you try something that goes well, when you’re acting according to what you believe in?

The cues are consistent. Commit them to memory.

Failure gives you the chance to have your very own time out to think about what you’ve done. Take your box of crayons if you like, and scribble some notes so you can avoid those mistakes in the future. Consider what worked. It’s worth noting things that mostly worked, too. Or even kind of worked. Examine it all. Consult  your gut.

This might come as a surprise, but things are supposed to go wrong. You can’t get it right every time. No one can. Do everything possible to succeed, but with the realization that there will be setbacks. Do your research, trust your instincts, then get on with it.  If you’re not afraid to stumble, you won’t be afraid to try.