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Bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes it seems like big enterprises — with their expansive budgets, flood of specialized employees, and seamless technology — have it made. But small businesses are often in an enviable spot, and it’s their size that gives them a major advantage.
Speaking generally, enterprises are strong, stable, and proven, while small businesses are innovative, lean, and agile. So as a small business, the way to get ahead is to combine the best aspects of both business types: You’ve got to think like an enterprise, but move like an SMB. Here are four ways you can use your size to your advantage.
Growing a business takes a consistent, coordinated effort across a trusted team. You need experienced employees — but not necessarily in their number of working years. Sure, it’s nice to hire people who’ve had long, dedicated careers, but be sure you hire a few folks with enterprise experience. After all, if you want to think like an enterprise, you’ve got to find people who’ve been-there-done-that before. They’ll bring with them ideas and best practices that work — and be impressed by the agility that comes with a smaller business.
Your product is only as good as the service you back it with — and enterprises have massive customer service teams that can cater to every need. To keep up with the Goliaths out there, you’ve got to keep customers not just satisfied, but happy. And it doesn’t take a budget the size of Jupiter to accomplish this; a good customer service solution gives you self-service features, automatic case routing, reports, and dashboards to help you keep up. The customer experience has become a game-changer, so a relentless focus on customers needs to be part of your SMB’s DNA.
Recent data shows 61% of small business owners believe their businesses are not ready for artificial intelligence (AI), and we get it: the idea of robots replacing people is not appealing. But AI is really just a simple way to offload trivial tasks, extract information from data, and stay on top of customers, prospects, and events. And good news: If those other SMBs are too intimidated to try it, that leaves a massive opportunity for your business. Check out these ways AI can help your business grow.
You thought CRM was only for large enterprises, didn’t you? Nope. While CRM certainly helps big companies stay aligned, it’s arguably more important for the smaller ones. Small business CEO’s often try to save money by handling things the time-consuming manual way — not realizing time is the one thing they can’t afford to give up. CRM gives you those man hours back; the automation features effectively multiply your workforce, which means no more admin tasks, revenue lost on non-sales activity, or time wasted digging for data. It’s exactly what can help your SMB think like an enterprise, yet maintain the enviable agility of a small business. Want to learn how a CRM can help your business? Check out our latest ebook, Fast Path to Growth: Customer Relationships Management 101.
Salesforce helps you find more customers, win their business, and keep them happy so you can grow your business faster than ever. Learn more about our small business solutions or join the conversation with #SalesforceGROW.
