6 Questions to Keep Your Business Trending

Businesses require constant upkeep on their products, services, customer relations, and employee benefits to stay current. There are so many similar businesses on the market it may be hard to stand out against competitors, even if you do these things well. To make your business stay with current trends, these are the questions that consumers want you to be transparent about. These are the six questions you should ask yourself to stay connected and relevant to consumers as a business owner.

 1. Will people pay extra for quality?

This is a multifaceted question, as quality and price mean different things for different industries. To answer this question: people will pay for quality products, but they also search for the best prices, even if that means missing out on high quality. Transparency of prices and quality is the key to getting people to pay your prices over a competitor. For example, if you own a custom pool business, you will want to list why it is so expensive to make a pool. If you clearly state that you pay your workers higher wages and use longer-lasting products, most customers will be willing to pay the extra price for the long-term investment.

 2. What social issues do consumers care about?

Social issues range from generation to generation. According to data, starting with Gen Z, this generation cares most about health care, mental health, education, economic security, social change, racial equality, and the environment. Millennials, according to data, care about discrimination, healthcare, climate change, immigration, and employment. Generation X, Y, and Boomers tend to care about all other issues as other generations do, as well as politics and poverty. As a business, it is your responsibility to adjust your attention to specific social problems, mainly depending on your audience.

 3. How do I market my philanthropy efforts?

Marketing your business philanthropy might feel like bragging at first, but customers do care about how your business gives back. Some ways to market charitable donations are by posting an article or blog about them on your business’s website. When donating time, make sure your business takes pictures with participating employees and other organizations. This is a great way to get more exposure by encouraging social media photographs. Displaying that you collaborate with locals and larger philanthropic organizations shows that you care about your community.

 4. How can I enhance the customer experience?

Enhancing the customer experience is a process from start to finish their purchasing and product journey. The customer experience starts first with the ease of finding the product or service. If your business has a sketchy or unprofessional website and communication, chances are, customers will run for the hills. The second is the quality of the product or service itself. Quality can mean different things in different industries but mainly focuses on personalization and customer requests. Lastly is the reflection on the product or service. This is where the customer writes a review or reaches out about any issues with the product. Throughout all of these stages, to enhance the customer experience, you must focus on customer satisfaction.

 5. Can I be more sustainable in my business?

This answer is most likely yes, you can! There are many simple ways to be more sustainable that can be tailored to you as a small or large business. If possible, offering remote work is one way to cut back on car emissions. Another way to be more sustainable is to use recyclable packing. Plastics and packaging make up about 30% of U.S waste annually. One more way to encourage sustainability is to use less energy. Installing motion sensors on your office lights can cut costs and save energy. While no one size fits all for sustainability, every business should strive to do better for the planet every day.

 6. Do I offer my employees the best benefits possible?

Wage increases are a huge focus for 2022, and employees will start to feel the effects of inflation even more because of the ongoing pandemic. With that said, benefits are also at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Consumers care if their prices stay low, so finding the correct balance between high fees and affordable labor costs will be a challenge. Employees will continue to fight for higher wages, insurance coverage, paid time off, and better working conditions like hours and balance. This is one business trend that will require significant focus for years to come.

 To stay modern in this highly competitive business world, you must answer current consumers’ questions. Being transparent, caring, and personal with your business approach will make for some happy customers. If you wish to stay informed as a consumer and business owner, you can count on SCORD to give you the data you deserve.