UpFront - October/November 2009

Have It Your Way

Small companies are finding big profits by offering customizedproducts and services

by Shannon McRae

Two years ago, after growing tired of unsuccessful shopping trips, best friends Laura Street and Michelle DeBrestian started making the jewelry they wanted to wear--but couldn’t find in stores.

"We take things that we love and incorporate them into jewelry," DeBrestian says. When their friends started requesting their own personalized charm bracelets, necklaces and earrings, the two discovered a niche of affordable, custom jewelry. At first they sold their wares only online, but recently their products have been picked up by a few local California boutiques, and were even included in an Oscar party gift bag for celebrities earlier this year.

What makes their handmade jewelry special? "More and more, people don’t want cookie-cutter things," says Street, cofounder of Pleasanton, Calif.-based Ampersand Designs. "With the economy being what it is, there’s not a lot of money floating around to buy jewelry. Our customers know what they get is one-of-a-kind and special. It’s a smart way to spend your money."

As technology helps more Americans get what they want, when they want it, the desire to have it your way is becoming an expectation among consumers. Rather than buy mass-produced products at big-box stores, more shoppers are turning to small (and in some cases, tiny) businesses that offer more personalized products and services.

Sites like Etsy.com, an online marketplace for handmade items, have experienced explosive growth recently because consumers enjoy being able to communicate directly with sellers, often tweaking products to get something custom-made.

Communicating directly with customers is an integral part of the mission at RedStamp.com, an online retailer that sells paper notes, invitations and announcements. Erin Newkirk and Renee Walter started the Minneapolis, Minn.-based business in 2005 with the goal of "blending the power of paper with the ease of electronic communication," Newkirk says.

After customers place orders through the Web site, correspondence between RedStamp.com employees and customers moves to e-mail. "We want customers to know there are real people and real talent behind the computers," she says.

"We made a conscious decision to invest traditional marketing dollars into personal service," says Newkirk, whose employees enclose handwritten thank-you notes with every order. "With every customer who finds us through a search engine, we have another whose friend told them about us."

RedStamp.com takes the power of personalization a step further with its mail-for-me service, which allows customers to create and send handwritten correspondence with just a few clicks.

"One of the more positive aspects of this recent economic uncertainty is a return to focus on the simple things," Newkirk says. "Things don’t have to be expensive to make a big impact; they just have to be personal."

Personal Profits

Interested in offering more personalized products and services but not sure where to start? If you’ve done business the same way for years, changing how you operate might sound overwhelming. But by making a few tweaks, customizing your offerings for customers is easier than you think. Here’s how:

Ask questions. Customers have the best ideas. Find out what goods or services they want you to offer, and then deliver them. When Erin Newkirk started RedStamp.com, she repeatedly heard friends and colleagues talk about how they wished they could find time to send personalized correspondence. Newkirk responded with the mail-for-me service.

Tweak offerings. Adaptability is one of the greatest advantages of small business. You can go beyond the mass-produced, one-size-fits-all standard of larger companies by providing personalized service to clients. Customization--or offering exactly what a customer wants--is really just an extension of excellent customer service.

Engage customers. You can’t customize products and solutions for clients if you don’t talk to them. Get to know those who buy from you by corresponding through e-mail, phone calls or social media.