Hi there.
It's Sue and thanks for joining me for Tips and Talk
Day. These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions
and things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small
business. If you'd like to submit a topic,
DM e over on Instagram at Gift Biz Unwrapped,
gosh, I've rolled out a number of new opportunities for you.
Here. There are the bashes where you have a chance to
showcase your business to this entire listening audience.
There's the new OWL app.
When you have a quick question where you'd like my input
and now I'm excited to bring you gift Biz boosts,
think of these as free strategy sessions,
leaving you with a clear action plan to boost you forward.
Whether you're at the beginning of your business journey and need
concrete steps on how to start,
or you've been doing this for a while and could use
a fresh approach,
these boosts are for you.
You'll know a podcast is a boost.
If you see that word in the title,
want to get your own free boost?
I'm taking these on a first come first serve basis.
Head over to gift biz unwrapped.com/boost
and sign up for your session today.
How will it fail?
I'm sure first glance,
you think I'm referring to the success of your business.
Actually, I'm not.
I'm talking about your product and now you're saying not my
product. I'm make it myself with quality materials,
not to mention my top-notch professional production skills.
Hold tight.
I know that this is true,
but your product can fail because of things that are completely
out of your control.
Your cookies taste horrible because they were eaten a month after
the expiration date.
Your knitted headbands are falling apart because the yarn wasn't meant
for machine washing.
Your jewelry is sterling silver,
and a customer doesn't understand how they need to take care
of it to keep it from tarnishing.
Your ceramic face is leaking water,
but it's meant only for dried flowers.
Your leather goods are made from real raw hide and each
one will look different with unique markings.
They aren't scratched or damaged.
Your product is meant for inside,
not outside use.
Your product requires a certain knowledge or skill level to operate
it properly.
There's a learning curve involved.
Your product is fragile and shouldn't be handled by children,
or it will break.
Your product requires two pieces and it won't work unless you
have both.
Think about what you make from a customer perspective and consider
all the off the wall,
crazy as they may seem,
ways they may be handled.
Also, think about the expectations that may exist about your product
to an unknowing mind and notice that I didn't say uneducated.
They just don't know.
These are ways your product could fail in the eyes of
your customer,
and no matter how much you explain after the fact,
some people will still blame the product or you for the
perceived failure.
It goes without saying you don't want word of mouth about
that to get around even knowing full well that it's not
true. The best approach is to prevent it from happening in
the first place.
Which brings me back to my initial question,
how will your product fail?
List all the ways that this could occur and then circumvent
it from happening.
One way to identify these is to think through past customer
complaint calls or questions that you get when making a sale.
This can actually be a fun thought exercise and lead to
some great social media content too.
You could do a spoof on how not to use your
products and for social reels or even blog articles.
Think about topics that educate and inform your current and potential
customers. Things like how to clean your handmade knitted items,
display suggestions for your hand-blown glass vases,
storage and guidelines for sterling silver.
How to make your candle retain its scent and burn longer,
or a guideline on how long different foods stay fresh.
You get the idea here.
You might even consider including warnings,
care directions,
or other guidelines along with each order.
Yes, it's true.
No matter what you do,
there will be some customers who don't pay attention.
Don't read product enclosures or flat out wanna test the system.
You can't do anything about that,
but you can do a lot,
perhaps more than you're doing already to ensure every customer has
the best experience possible,
and it all starts with asking this question,
how will your product fail?
That's a wrap.
I'm a get to the point kind of girl,
and this is what you can expect from these quick midweek
sessions. Now it's your turn.
Go out and fulfill that dream of yours.
Share your handmade products with us.
We want them and they bring us both.
So much happiness.