Courtesy is a better form of advertising for small businesses

Making it in the murky world of business has never been easy. To stay abreast of the rat race competition that comes with eyeing an extra dollar calls for lots of wits. Companies all over the world have people hired to spend hot afternoons trying to think of how to grow the profits of their employers.In some places, the simple route is the bitter cost cutting that leaves few people doing the work of many for the same wages as before. This may indeed result in more profits but it also means the employees are often on the verge of throwing in the towel due to the heavy burden of work before them.The bigger companies often resort to advertising to attract new customers, retain old ones and generally create a lasting psychological feel about their brand of products or services. This is why for example; you hardly ever doubt the quality of a Coca-cola soft drink whether you find it in a Serena hotel or a remote village in Democratic Republic of Congo. That is the power of advertising. The need for big business firms to advertise their services and products has led to the advertising industry growing into a huge multi-billion dollar business. In fact marketing personnel in many companies are actually paid more than other workers who do the core work of a firm. However many small companies may not afford to put aside huge sums of money to ensure decent advertising for their products. For example many small retail businesses exist without the possibility of ever advertising in any major media platforms. But survive they do. How I think they do this, by being courteous to their customers. One of the roles of advertising is to attract and retain customers. Small business holdings can also attract and retain customers by being courteous. For example, I personally find myself buying newspapers from the same vendor in the city centre simply because I can leave with the paper and pay later. And when a magazine that I love reading comes out, my newspaper guy has the courtesy to call me and let me know. It is such small bits of courtesy that see me heading to town to pick up my newspapers or magazines yet I could have even picked them from a supermarket as well. Local retail shops also tend to offer credit to those they trust and that way keep them as loyal customers. The shop near my place has this nice fellow who always offers me a paper bag when I need one and would not hesitate to take back something if I had my doubts about the quality. He often allows me to pay later instead of keeping me waiting as he searches for change. And because of this relationship, I no longer have to worry about where and when to get airtime for my phone, I simply call him just before it is used up and ask him to send me some airtime direct to my phone. With such small actions of courtesy, my local shop does not need to advertise, I am indirectly doing it for them each time I talk to a friend about them. And of course offering credit is a risk but so is advertising that sometimes backfires yet it may have cost a fortune.