From the NMMS eNewsletter November 2011
Emails, texts, flyers, mixers, workshops, and phone calls are all great ways for the MainStreet organization to stay connected with the district’s business owners. But nothing beats old-fashioned, face-to-face, personal visits in owners’ shops. The problem is, we don’t do enough of them. Perhaps the new manager pounds the pavement meeting nearly all of the business owners in her first few weeks on the job. Or the board president devotes impressive quality time to personal visits to enroll a maximum number of business owners in a new MainStreet program during its initial launch. After these concentrated pushes for face time, how many programs can claim that they’ve accomplished meaningful business visits in months, or even years?
The need for such visits is endless. During visits, MainStreet: sells and resells its mission, goals and accomplishments; engages owners in program activities; cultivates on-the-street leadership; gets owners fired-up for the calendar of events and promotions; encourages better business appearances and stronger operating practices; and discovers strategies for developing existing businesses and recruiting new ones. Most importantly, business visits provide the best forum for listening and learning about the needs of MainStreet’s primary client!
Shoot for quality before you achieve quantity. Set a solid goal of one or two visits per month, conducted by a team of the MainStreet manager, an EP Committee member, and a representative of the board. You might mix the visit team up a bit with representatives of important partners like the City, a bank, or the SBDC.
Bring along a reference sheet of good questions to help keep the conversation flowing. More important than any checklist, though, is giving the owner the chance to say what’s on his or her mind. Typical questions include:
1. Business Owner, Business Name and Contact Information.
2. Please describe your experience with the local MainStreet program. What questions do you have for us?
3. Please describe your business. What are some of your top challenges as a business owner?
4. What are your plans and dreams for your business?
5. Who are your customer groups and how do you target them?
6. Discuss business market opportunities and business development strategies.
7. Discuss business’ needs and ideas of how the MainStreet program can help this business.