When it comes to being a business owner, you have a lot to handle. Finding customers, keeping customers, paying your staff, budgeting, handling taxes etc. It can all be really overwhelming. Because of this, it can be easy to miss small mistakes that you don't even realize may be costing you potential customers. This can be due to making you look too small, not experienced, or even miscommunicating what you do.
Hi, I'm Justin Franklin, owner of JNF Marketing with over a decades worth of sales and marketing experience. Here are 10 small business mistakes that, while fixable, could be costing you long term sales.
10 Fixable Mistakes That Are Costing You Sales and Customers As A Small Business.
1. Inconsistent Branding
Mistake: Using different logos, colors, or fonts across platforms and materials.
Perception Issue: Inconsistency in branding can make a business look unprofessional and unorganized, which can imply a lack of resources or attention to detail.
Solution: Make sure you have a set logo with adjusted and consistent sizing across all your platforms. This includes your website, socials, invoices, and business cards. Additionally, make sure your fonts, phone number spacing, and way you refer to products and customers all match. It can be hard to bring on a sales person when 1 rep refers to customers as "clients" and the other as "members" and another as "partners." If needed, create an easy to use brand guide as a reference point you can check back on when creating material and training new hires.
2. Unprofessional Email Addresses
Mistake: Using free email domains (like @gmail.com or @yahoo.com) instead of a custom domain. Additionally, using an email address that is first name only.
Perception Issue: Customers might perceive the business as less credible or “fly-by-night,” assuming it’s too small to afford its own email domain.
Solution: You already should have a website with a domain. Spend the extra $5-$15 a month to have an email address with that domain. For the naming conventions of your emails use a form of first and last name at the minimum. If you have a really unique name first name only might work. But if your name is "Bob" or "Ashley" and you're email is "Ashley@company" then it makes you look small as a larger organization is bound to have more than 1 person with that name. This also restricts you if you want to hire someone else with the name Ashley as you will have to go against this naming convention.
3. Outdated Website or No Website
Mistake: Having a poorly designed, outdated, or missing website altogether.
Perception Issue: Customers expect every legitimate business to have an up-to-date website. A lack of one signals a lack of resources or seriousness. A website is also what every potential prospect is going to check for credibility. Which means an unprofessional one, or worse a lack of one, could turn away customers that were going to initially work with you.
Solution: Make sure you have a website that speaks to your brand. It should make it clear what you do, have social proof via reviews or case studies, and be an SEO optimized business website to show your credibility to potential clients. Additionally, having a website with a "created by WordPress using BLANK theme" at the bottom of your website also isn't a good look. Take the time and pay for professional hosting.
4. Lack of Social Media Presence
Mistake: Having few or inactive social media profiles or only personal accounts linked to the business.
Perception Issue: A minimal or poorly managed social presence can make the business seem like a side project or hobby, not a professional operation. While this is not a deal breaker for B2B if you have a strong website and reviews, it can be a hinderance if you are B2C as this will be a primary area for you to get customers.
Solution: Take the time to build up your social media presence on at least 1 platform. This could be Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, etc. This can be done via ads, incentives in store for those who follow, or even reaching out to past customers via email and asking them to follow your page. Having at least one strong channel is not only social proof but is a strong driver of sales, especially if you are B2C or D2C.
5. Poorly Designed Marketing Materials
Mistake: Using low-quality images, DIY flyers, or unprofessional graphics. Having clashing text with background colors that make them difficult to read.
Perception Issue: Customers often equate the quality of marketing materials with the quality of the business. Unpolished materials can lead to doubts about the overall quality of services.
Solution: Low quality images can still be used as long as the sizing doesn't make it obvious. For instance, your favicon logo on your website doesn't need to be 4k since users will only see it in their tab selection when browsing online. If you only have low poly images you want to be strategic where they are placed and may only want to use them for non-front facing material. Additionally, you want the color scheme of your text and graphics to be easy to read. This is because not only will having hard to read text turn away customers, but depending on your industry it could be a violation of compliance such as 508, which is critical for companies that work in healthcare or with government entities.
6. Using Generic Messaging
Mistake: Relying on vague, overly broad language like "We do it all" instead of communicating specific strengths.
Perception Issue: A lack of specificity can make the business appear like it’s trying to capture any revenue rather than being an expert in a niche, which can lessen credibility. It also makes it hard to zone in on your target audience for your marketing strategy.
Solution: Use more specific messaging in your marketing material that mentions what you do and how you do it. Ideally, your target customer should be able to see themselves in your messaging. This also applies to your reviews, which an ideal review will mention the problem the customer was having, the solution you provided to fix this problem, and the outcome they received after working with you. Example of a quality review: "I was having a problem with getting more sales appointments for my utility management company. I reached out to JNF, who ran a cold calling and email marketing campaign. I not only got quality meetings right away, but they are now a core part of my business that I know I can rely on."
7. Slow or Unresponsive Customer Service
Mistake: Taking too long to reply to inquiries or not having a structured customer service process. This can also be related to having errors in your customer service model like invalid phone numbers or expired email addresses.
Perception Issue: Slow response times can indicate insufficient staffing or resources, which can make the business appear understaffed or unprepared.
Solution: Have due diligence when responding to inquiries. Respond to questions via email, phone call, or direct messaging as soon as possible. Additionally, for common questions you can easily set up an auto responder chat bot on your website or have a FAQ section to lighten the manual workload on your business.
8. Limited or Nonexistent Testimonials/Reviews
Mistake: Not showcasing customer testimonials, reviews, or case studies. Only having reviews on your website and not on third party platforms like Google, Facebook, or Yelp. Having reviews that are too vague and don't show a clear problem resolution.
Perception Issue: Lack of social proof makes it harder for customers to trust the business, which can make it seem smaller and less capable than it actually is. According to Zendesk, 88% of customers who read an online review say it influenced their buying decision.
Solution: As mentioned earlier, companies live and die based on their reputation, and reviews are the fuel that drive that reputation. In order to build trust, not only should you have reviews on your website, but you should have reviews on 3rd party websites as well like Google as they are seen as more trustworthy and "real" vs simply living on your website. To build your reviews, reach out to past customers through email, phone, social and ask them to leave feedback based on their experiences. Ideally, have them leave this on a third party platform. You may also want to look at doing quick and easy transactions and ask for a review immediately after delivering as this is the best time since your customer satisfaction is at its highest point.
9. Inconsistent Pricing or Hidden Fees
Mistake: Using ad-hoc pricing or springing hidden fees on customers at the last minute. Quoting one price and then changing it last minute.
Perception Issue: Unpredictable pricing can make the business look amateurish and like it’s still working out its pricing model, which can turn off potential customers.
Solution: While there is nothing wrong with having different rates for different clients (especially in B2B where deliverability can vary widely on several factors), you want to make sure whatever you quote a customer is in writing and easily located for reference. Create a Statement of Work, Invoice, etc. and label them accordingly to the services you provide. When there is a dispute, reference this invoice or SOW so that there is no confusion on pricing. If for any reason you need to change your rates, you must back up your reasoning with hard data for why you are increasing your rates (cost of materials have gone up, original timeliness are not being met, client is asking for more revisions than originally agreed upon etc.). Ideally you want to have clauses for price increases put into your agreement. If not, you will need to either have a really good relationship with your client or be ok with losing them if you can no longer afford to deliver on the agreed upon rate.
10. No Clear Differentiation
Mistake: Failing to communicate what makes the business unique compared to competitors.
Perception Issue: When a business fails to establish a unique value proposition, it can come across as a generic, “small player” that doesn’t stand out from other options. It can look like the business will just take money from anyone instead of only working with customers that they can really help.
Solution: Establishing a differentiator is key for earning business, especially in B2B. Luckily, there are many avenues a company can approach to have a unique offering. Look at industries you work for, pricing models, years of expertise, knowledge of service, industry specific certifications, political and social perspectives, and even quality of your product/service.
Addressing these issues can elevate the business’s appearance and inspire more confidence, helping customers perceive it as a reliable, professional operation—regardless of actual size or age. Review these 10 easy to fix mistakes, and your company will see far more success from your marketing and sales expertise.
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