It’s that time of year! You’re probably making resolutions – personal and professional. But what types of resolutions should you make for your small business?

In a recent post on the Nextiva blog, “5 New Year’s Resolutions With Your Customers In Mind,” Carol shares some suggestions. She begins:

“A shiny new year is the perfect time to review the past and plan the future. It’s natural to focus on ways to improve your bottom line through better monetary practices and operating efficiencies. But, enhancing the customer experience is a key money-maker, too. Whether you call them New Year’s resolutions or strategic planning, here are 5 goals that can help customers throughout the new year.

Resolution #1. Provide the right choices

Every purchase made by your customers is a choice, and they make those choices based on their unique interests and needs. Can your business offer more options to your current customer base and to the new ones that you want to attract?

How and where they shop is certainly an important choice. If you now cater to older customers while wanting to attract millennials, who look for shopping efficiency, then resolve to beef up the online shopping experience. You will make money while your new customers wear PJs and fuzzy slippers while shopping.

And, if those technology-savvy millennials visit your store in person, they probably want speedier checkout, so resolve to provide enough self-service stations in your store. But, be sure to balance their needs with those of older customers who still prefer human assistance.

The right mix of product choices makes a notable difference, too. Resolving to add good quality, mid-priced offerings to your current product line might provide the choices that remain attractive to your customary high-end shoppers, while enticing a broader range of shoppers through your door.

Resolution #2. Improve communication

You may be asking customers the right questions, but how do you respond to their answers? Communication is a two-way street and the answers are as important as the questions. Common example: asking customers if they found what they were looking for is not enough when the customer’s answer is “no”. Resolve to investigate current practices so that you can fix areas in need of improvement.”

You can read the rest of the post here.