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Businesses unwilling to compromise on customer or employee satisfaction in times of instability; survey finds 47% of small business owners would rather reduce profitability than raise prices and lose customers

MARKHAM, ON, Sept. 6, 2011 /CNW/ - In the face of economic uncertainty, Canadian small businesses focus on customer experience and employee satisfaction to drive decision making around managing rising costs. The quarterly American Express Small Business Monitor reveals small business owners find significant value in investing in customer and employee loyalty over short-term financial gain, with almost half (47%) agreeing they would rather reduce profitability than risk losing customers due to price increases.

Alternatively, they'd rather reduce overhead costs in general (52%), become more stringent regarding accounts receivable in order to improve cash flow (48%) or reduce travel and entertainment budgets (36%) in order to control costs. Only 20 per cent were willing to reduce perks for customers, 18 per cent were willing to reduce perks for employees and 12 per cent were willing to reduce staff wages or benefits.

"Small business owners see their employees as critical to the success of their business, and their customers as the lifeblood of their franchise. We can now see even more evidence of this mind set in challenging and unstable economic time," said Eric Nielsen, Vice President & General Manager, Small Business Services Canada, American Express Canada. "What's very interesting is that instead of jeopardizing employee or customer loyalty when it comes to managing rising costs, business owners' initial inclination is to absorb the challenges the economy poses and respond by making changes to mitigate these difficulties and improve their cost efficiency."

Managing price increases is a balancing act

When changes must be made that could impact the customer, including price increases, the Monitor shows that 78 per cent of small business owners have taken steps to make price increases more palatable. This includes explaining the reason for the increase (61%), extending payment terms (18%) and offering discounts for paying early (16%). Of those who did take steps to explain raising costs, over half (57%) said explaining the reason for an increase has been most effective. Further, more than half of the small business owners who did raise prices (54%) say they experienced little or no resistance from customers.

"Many small business owners responded by saying they would prefer to carry the financial burden of rising costs, even if it impacts their own profitability. However, the most uncertain of times can create the opportunity to be innovative and adopt new pricing strategies. Business owners are having success when they support the new price points with tactical customer communications explaining the rationale for change, or strategic enhancements to their service experience," said Nielsen.

The primary reason for not increasing prices in response to rising costs, according to 38 per cent of respondents, is the need to stay competitive. Fifteen per cent say they won't raise prices because they believe customers won't understand or that they would lose sales if they did so.

In terms of the causes for potential price increases, the culprits are not surprising. Over the past year, businesses have experienced above normal price increases in various areas, including gasoline/diesel fuel (78%), heating oil/natural gas/electricity (40%), travel (37%) and insurance (34%). Of these, small business owners indicated that the area of greatest concern is gasoline/diesel fuel (52%).

Additionally, supplier price increases (68%) have had a negative impact on profitability and more than half (51%) of small business owners say they have switched to a competing supplier with a lower price as a way to mitigate the impact.

In turbulent times, SBOs are confident

Still, the risks and challenges that accompany turbulent economic times are greatly outweighed by the rewards and opportunities that come with small business ownership, 83 per cent of Canadian small business owners reported. And nearly three-quarters (74%) believe their companies are financially flexible enough to weather another recession.

Small business owners are growing increasingly confident about the financial state of their business. They feel that their financial position is improving and are hopeful it will continue to progress in the future. In fact, nearly half (47%) of those surveyed report an improvement in their business' current financial position, which is up 14 points from last quarter (33%), the highest percentage of improvement reported by small business owners in the last year.

While the majority of small business owners continue to be risk averse, more are willing to take risks today than they were three months ago (28%, up from 22%). Perhaps more interestingly, small business owners are much more willing to take risks during an economic downturn versus a more stable economic time.

"Getting new customers and keeping existing customers will always be the number one priority for business owners.  It's even more important during times of economic uncertainty that business owners continue to refine and enhance their business practices to remain flexible, stable and open to taking well calculated risks," said Nielsen. "Risk taking is intrinsic to being in business for oneself, and business owners are generally very well calibrated in terms of assessing the risk vs. reward tradeoff."

About the American Express Small Business Monitor
Between July 22 and August 9, 2011, Rogers Connect Market Research and Client Services, (RCMRACS) Rogers Publishing Limited, conducted an online study on behalf of American Express Small Business Services with 720 Canadian small business owners employing between 2 and 100 people. The margin of error for the total sample is +/- 3.5%, 19 times out of 20. In order to ensure a the results are representative of the entire population of small business owners in Canada, the data have been statistically weighted for small business by region according to Statistics Canada.   Respondents were located across Canada and came from a variety of industries, including health, social services, education, tech, sales and skilled trades. Due to rounding, some results may add to over 100%.

About American Express Small Business Services
American Express Small Business Services (SBS) is dedicated exclusively to the success of small business owners and their companies. SBS supports business owners with exceptional service. With tailored products and services, the team delivers purchasing power, flexibility, control and rewards to help customers run their business. Specifically, business owners can leverage an enhanced set of products, tools, services and savings, including charge and credit cards, robust online account management capabilities and savings on business services from an expanded lineup of partners. To obtain more information about SBS, visit www.amexforbusiness.ca.