Why should your organization be community friendly; because being community friendly builds business!\u00a0 Think about it.\u00a0 If your business has a good reputation for community service and being a good neighbor, it stands to reason that more people will be willing to try your product or service and perhaps become loyal customers.\u00a0 Who doesn\u2019t want to do business with a good friend and neighbor rather than the local bully with the worst looking property?<\/p>\n
Make being a good neighbor part of your marketing program and measure the results (The Balanced Scorecard<\/span>, Kaplan and Norton).\u00a0 See if it produces more customers than the program costs.<\/p>\n Being community friendly doesn\u2019t need to be expensive.\u00a0 Join your local chamber of commerce; keep your property looking nice; participate in and sponsor community events; and keep the community informed about what your organization is doing.\u00a0 Meanwhile, continue treating your customers right, providing good value, living out your principles and values, and keeping your promises. \u00a0It isn\u2019t a very complicated formula.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a large organization looking for tax breaks to keep your costs down, look at what you can do to sweeten the pot.\u00a0 Maybe in addition to meeting the requirements for that tax break you can help rebuild the intersection that will bear the increased traffic to your business.\u00a0 Maybe you can sponsor training programs to enable people to apply for the new jobs you\u2019re committing to create.\u00a0 Maybe your new facility can spare some space for a vest-pocket community park.\u00a0 Perhaps the construction budget could include landscaping funds to present an attractive view from the street, or the parking lot can be set back off the street and wider landscaped sidewalks or bike paths provided in the public right of way.\u00a0 Perhaps you can limit visual pollution by designing minimal but attractive and effective signage for your business.\u00a0 Maybe the nature of your organization would allow for a community room to be made available for public use.<\/p>\n Your investment in your community can be small or large.\u00a0 What\u2019s important is that it can build your business as well as your reputation and your integrity.\u00a0 It\u2019s another significant part of \u201chow\u201d you do \u201cwhat\u201d you do, and strengthens your standing as a people centered organization.<\/p>\n Last up on the business philosophy platform, why your organization should be a good steward of the environment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Why should your organization be community friendly; because being community friendly builds business!\u00a0 Think about it.\u00a0 If your business has a good reputation for community service and being a good neighbor, it stands to reason that more people will be willing to try your product or service and perhaps become loyal customers.\u00a0 Who doesn\u2019t want … Continue reading Why Should Your Organization Be Community Friendly?<\/span>