Why Being Personal with Customers Will Help Grow Your Business

What makes your business stand out from the crowd? For SMEs, the personal touch can sometimes reap the biggest rewards.

So you spotted a gap in the market and started a business. Serving that gap may have been your point of difference (POD) for a while. But perhaps there are new players piggybacking on your idea or it’s just harder to compete when everyone is discounting their products and bombarding people’s inboxes with promotions. Is it time for a POD refresh?

Dani Holloway, CEO and founder of gumboot makers Merry People, started her business in 2014, when the market stretched from Bunnings’ $20 mud-slingers to traditional Hunter wellies and $1000- plus Jimmy Choos. Country-bred but working in the Melbourne CBD, she couldn’t find footwear that would get her to work with dry feet on a rainy day.

She realised there was a need for ankle-length rubber boots – then almost impossible to find – that came in a range of colours and were both comfortable and stylish. She called her company Merry People because “happy” was too ubiquitous a word, while “merry” reinforced her point of difference.

Despite her business tripling its growth since 2018, Holloway says she has stayed true to her small business ethos. During the COVID pandemic, which has coincided with periods of unrelenting rain in Australia, she wrote a note to every customer, saying, “I just wanted to personally thank you… it’s a very tough time for a lot of people right now so I really do appreciate you choosing to spend your money with our company.”

Although her business is primarily online, Holloway also sells in regional areas through like-minded stores. Merry People has never held sales or discounted its stock. Instead it offers to buy back the goods or exchange colours if her boots aren’t walking out the door. “A lot of brands sell to a retailer and a week later, they discount the product on their website, which means the retailer struggles to sell. I think a lot of retailers appreciate that we never do that.”

Three POD strategies

Make yourself accessible

Digital marketing agency Digilari Media has been selective in where it “hangs its shingle”, says managing director and founder Sean Brown. Headquartered in Sumner Park, on the outskirts of Brisbane, the agency eschews city offices in favour of being visible and accessible to its target business sectors, such as landscapers and mining and agricultural suppliers.

… truly useful

A lot of businesses promise the world and digital agencies are often guilty of guaranteeing they can skyrocket a client’s SEO rankings but Digilari Media distinguishes itself by coaching its clients on how to hone and express their point of difference and follows through with strong, consistent, on-brand messages.

... and noteworthy

Digilari is known for attentiongrabbing communications with potential clients, such as sending a message-tagged tree sapling to landscapers; an inspiring new business publication to accountants, with annotations or sticky notes at relevant passages; or a jar of M&Ms to emphasise “the maths and the magic” of digital performance analytics. “If you don’t have a point of difference,” says Brown, “people’s choices come down to price or convenience.”