When will UK businesses start taking the SME business world seriously?
Note to large corporates - you're missing a massive opportunity
In exciting recent news, UK Government experts announced the re-discovery of SME’s, long thought to be extinct by lenders and service providers alike. Delighted by this ground breaking insight, Vince Cable has proclaimed that the Government will never forget about SME’s again and fight the good fight to support them; and rightly so.
Traditionally, businesses, lenders and service providers have been exemplary at licking the boots of big corporations and catering to their every whim. However, whilst SME’s continue to amble towards the dangling carrots offered by lenders and service providers the reality is they still get poor antiquated service and the moment a big Corporation rocks up with blank cheque, SME’s are shown the door faster than Ken Clarke at a Women’s Rights convention.
So why are the services provided for SME’s still so shockingly poor when there’s such an obvious gap in the market? The SME market stands at an estimated 4.5 million organisations in the UK, producing half of the total UK private sector turnover. Surely, providers are missing a trick? The reality is the SME Market has been poorly served because it is notoriously diverse and demanding - having the tastes of a big corporate and the financial flexibility of a high street shopper.
However, in order to grow, service providers must start to realise that trying to force feed the same services suitable for big Corporations to the SME’s is like trying to squeeze a pig into a spandex jumpsuit. One size does not fit all. Instead, they should capitalise on this gaping void in the market and gain competitive advantage by catering for the needs of SME’s and providing services that complement them.
The way to do this is simple and is facilitated by the capabilities of the new digital technologies. Provide quality, provide flexibility and provide services that work for the customer, on mobile and online, 24:7.
That’s it.
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