6 Ways to Grow Your Business with a Personal Touch

Growing your business is an exciting task. After all, it speaks well of your connection with your customers. It is also a challenging task. And one of the most critical challenges is simultaneously growing the business while still holding on to that personal-touch dynamic that was instrumental in getting the business off the ground. It takes a dedicated commitment, but the benefits are indeed worth it. We’ve put together a list of best practices to help you grow while remaining connected to your customer base.

1. Define your mission, your values, your vision –

Reaffirm the basis that made your company successful and ready for growth.

• What defines your brand in the marketplace?
• What defines your employer brand?
• What type of experience do you offer those who come in the front door . . . and those who come in the back door?
• What impact do you want to have on both your employees and your clients?
• What three words sum up the essence of your business? Integrity? Reliability? Expertise?

When employees understand who/what the business is, and experience those attributes in your employer brand, they will create an environment that shares that brand in the marketplace. They will maintain that brand of a warm personal touch even as you grow.

2. Don’t limit decision-making –

When a company revolves around a few c-level staff, where every question, every strategy must be approved, it stifles the business.

• Create systems that anyone can follow for key tasks from hiring and onboarding employees to accounting and finance to research and development, production, and marketing.
• Communicate policies, procedures, goals, visions, and the reason behind them the whole company. Ensure that everyone understands their task and how it fits into the big picture.
• Empower your employees to make those decisions and follow those systems by giving them the authority to match their responsibilities.

Involve your staff.  Share your plans for growth. Ask for input from staff. If they’ve been in the company for a long time, their experience and insight will be invaluable. Creating a sense of respect, pride, and ownership among your employees will result in being surrounded by an army of people who protect and grow your mission, as well as your business. They will ensure a positive connection with customers.

3. Don’t build too fast –

Growth is terrific – a sure sign that you are successful at identifying a niche, meeting demands, and building a loyal customer basis, but slow growth has its advantages.

• Focusing on the fundamentals of building your business with a slow growth philosophy allows you to make wise strategic choices and keep employees loyal, which helps maintain the personal touch.
• Hiring additional employees is vital in the growth process. Slow growth allows room to put more thought into hiring; ensuring you hire employees who will uphold the company values and maintain that personal connection.
• Slow growth is sustainable growth and less likely to put cash flow and finances at risk. It helps you plan for the long-term, which is beneficial for your company, your employees, and your customers.

4. Bring in automation carefully –

Integrating automation into your business is critical to company growth, but don’t allow increased effectiveness and streamlining for you be a frustration to your clients/customers.

• Customer engagement is essential. Build trust, establish loyalty, and while integrating automation, keep your human connection open – including a menu option for speaking with a person.
• Allow Customers to choose how they will engage. If they want short and sweet automation – they have it. If they desire discussion, provide chatbots. If they want “real” people, deliver that too.

5. Connect Through Social Media –

Keep your social media up-to-date and informative. It’s a great way to stay connected and personal with your customers even as you grow.

• Involve your customers in the growing process, such as the company who chose three updated logos and then let their customers vote on which one to use.
• Keep your website in align with growth. Keep it fresh – revamp your fonts, colors, and layouts. Make it interactive.
• Email and/or post on Facebook interesting, relevant information. Don’t’ get spammy. Don’t sell your product/services. Simply share information that will be helpful, interesting, or fun. Offer the occasional contest with desirable prizes – no gimmicks.
• Send out a company newsletter. Include helpful articles, fun stuff, recipes, and a way for customers to interact. For example, if an employee or customer is involved in a local charity, spotlight them on a monthly newsletter. Spotlight a different employee or customer each month.

6. Hire wisely –

With growth comes the need for additional employees. Take the time to hire talent who not only have the skills you need but also fit into the culture and will uphold your business values.  This way, you will maintain a staff that cares about the personal connection. Hiring in a rush increases your chances of a bad hire, interferes with growth, and damages the brand you work so hard to build. It’s a loss/loss in many ways and certainly does not maintain your personal touch. Enough said.

Yes, you can grow your business without giving up the personal touch. Before you jump into the race, take time to prepare. Reiterate your mission, values, and vision; don’t run alone or too fast; bring in both automation and growth slowly; connect with both current and potential customers via social media, and hire carefully. Following these tips will be sure to land your company in the winner’s circle.

Through Award’s Cross-functional Recruiting model will be able to help you grow your business with the best talent through our Scalable Recruiting Approach while maintaining the personal touch you need. If you’re searching for more tips and trick on how to improve your company’s workforce, check out our hiring solutions blog.