Author: anwaryusef

Anwar Y. Dunbar is a Regulatory Scientist. Being a naturally curious person, he is also a student of all things. He earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor’s Degree in General Biology from Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU). Prior to starting the Big Words Blog Site, Anwar published and contributed to numerous research articles in competitive scientific journals reporting on his research from graduate school and postdoctoral years. After falling in love with writing, he contributed to the now defunct Examiner.com, and the Edvocate where he regularly wrote about: Education-related stories/topics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Financial Literacy; as well as conducted interviews with notable individuals such as actor and author Hill Harper. Having many influences, one of his most notable heroes is author, intellectual and speaker, Malcolm Gladwell, author of books including Outliers and David and Goliath. Anwar has his hands in many, many activities. In addition to writing, Anwar actively mentors youth, works to spread awareness of STEM careers, serves on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium, serves as Treasurer for the JCSU Washington, DC Alumni Chapter, and is active in the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Ministry at the Alfred Street Baptist Church. He also tutors in the subjects of biology, chemistry and physics. Along with his multi-talented older brother Amahl Dunbar (designer of the Big Words logos, inventor and a plethora of other things), Anwar is a “Fanboy” and really enjoys Science-Fiction and Superhero movies including but not restricted to Captain America Civil War, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Prometheus. He is a proud native of Buffalo, NY.

Why You Need To Take Care Of Your Commercial Property

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. If you’re conducting business on a commercial property, it’s imperative that you take care of it. The following contributed post entitled, Why You Need To Take Care Of Your Commercial Property.

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If you own a commercial property for your business, you might not think too much about the maintenance of that building. After all, if you’re going to maintain any building, it will be the one you live in, not the one you work in. Yet there are some enormous benefits to taking care of your commercial property in the same way you would your own home. Whether it’s painting, remodeling, refurbishing, or even tearing everything down and starting all over again, there is always something to be done.

Read on to find out what they are; you might decide to implement a proper property maintenance plan once you know why it’s so important.

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Save Money

There is an old saying that goes, ‘a stitch in time saves nine’. In other words, mending something when the problem is only tiny will prevent you from having to deal with a much larger problem later on (one stitch is quicker than nine). The bigger the issue, the more you’ll have to pay to have it put right, either because it takes more time or because you need to call in experts.

No matter what the issue is, dealing with it immediately and taking care of your property by ensuring you carry out regular checks means that you will save money in the long term, and that is important for any business.

Good For Your Staff

When you have employees, you will have to follow many different rules and regulations to ensure they have a comfortable, safe working environment. Not only are these rules the law and could result in a hefty fine or even imprisonment if you disregard them, but having happy workers means a much more productive and successful business overall. It makes sense to take care of your employees.

One way to do this is to give them a safe and comfortable place to work in. By carrying out maintenance that could include calling in commercial pest control experts or fixing the roof so that it doesn’t leak, or upgrading the heating system so that it’s not too cold, you can have a much more effective workforce.

A Good Reputation

It’s important for all businesses to have a good reputation. A poor reputation will result in fewer sales, and it might even be difficult to attract talented employees. First impressions count for a lot when it comes to your business’s reputation, and an attractive-looking premises, whether it’s a shop, office space, warehouse, or other facility, will always offer a much better impression than something that is dirty and in need of repair.

Even if you don’t have many visitors to your workplace, that is no reason to assume you never will, and no reason to neglect this critical maintenance. It might be that the one visitor you have is an important one, and the condition of your place of work, the place from which you are running your business, could make a big difference in the outcome of crucial talks.

What Wil Help You Push Your Career Forward

A key focus of my blog is Career Discussions. In your working life, one step will be starting your career and then you’ll need to understand how to advance it. The following contributed post is entitled, What Wil Help You Push Your Career Forward.

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Have you been thinking about your career lately? It might be the case that you have been wondering how you can push your career forward as you are no longer happy where you are. This could be because you are bored, it could be because there is no challenge or it could just be time for a change. Whatever the reason, there are some things that you can do in order to move your career in the right direction. We are going to be taking a look at some of them down below, so keep reading if you would like to find out more.

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The People You Know

The first thing that you should be thinking about is the people that you know. The people that you know are essential in the world of business because they are the ones who can help you get into those higher places where you want to be. Making friends who are above where you are is an excellent way to try and get ahead. We’re not saying that you are going to get favoritism for this, but they might be able to give you some advice as to how you can improve your work, and potentially get a promotion.

This isn’t always going to be the case, but if you can get in front of the right people then you can blow them away. You want them to want you because you are good at what you do, which means that you need to prove this to them.

More Education

Another thing that you should think about is the level of education that you have. If it is lower than most other people your age, it might not matter, but it couldn’t hurt to go ahead and become more qualified. This is only going to aid you when it comes to finding a new position, never hinder you otherwise it wouldn’t be worth it. You can look up mba programs or whatever it is that you want to do and become qualified for. Take your time looking and find the right course for you so that you end up with the right qualification for the next step in your career.

Confidence

Finally, the last thing that will help you to push your career forward is your confidence in your ability to do well. If you know that you can do well, and you know that you are good enough to move your career forward, then there is going to be nothing that can hold you back. The confidence in your ability will shine through, just make sure that it doesn’t come across as arrogance instead of confidence.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that will help you to push your career forward. There are more things that will help you do this, but these are just a few of the ones we have thought of right now. If you really want to make your career work and see it push forward, the most important thing is that you are dedicated to doing that. We wish you the very best of luck, and hope your career lands where you want it to be soon.

How To Provide The Best Service For Your Customers Everytime

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. No matter what business you’re in, you want your customer service to be exemplary. Doing so will ensure that your customers comeback and they may even tell others. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Provide The Best Service For Your Customers Everytime.

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Delivering the best customer service is something that all businesses strive to achieve, but it is often a struggle to make this a reality. Running a business is a complicated task, and there is always something that needs to be done. The pressure of having too much to do and not enough time to do it can often mean that customer service suffers. Trying to find a balance between completing everything you need to keep your business operating each day and delivering an exceptional customer experience is a challenging balancing act. Finding tools that help make it easier for you to provide excellent customer service is the best way to solve this issue. If you are struggling to offer high levels of customer service, why not give some of these ideas a try?

Outsource Your Call Center

Monitoring customer phone calls and dealing with every customer query yourself may feel impossible. However, taking on an extra team to handle these calls on your behalf can be cost-prohibitive. To overcome this issue and get the customer support you need without recruiting a customer service team, you could look for Inbound Call Center Solutions that will handle this time-consuming task on your behalf. This will allow you to benefit from a trained and skilled team of representatives taking your phone calls while you concentrate on growing your business.

Make Your Website Easy to Use

If you want to increase sales and provide high levels of customer satisfaction, your website can help. Improving your website to give a flawless customer experience is the best way to improve your conversion rate and make shopping a seamless process for your customers. This will enable customers to find everything they need immediately and will ensure the checkout transaction is smooth and fast. Adding a frequently asked questions page will make it even simpler for your customers to find the answers they need and improve their experience using your site and dealing with your business.

Deliver High-Quality Products

Even excellent customer service will not be enough if your products are not high-quality. Producing the best quality products will ensure your customers are satisfied with their experience of using your business. Making every effort to create your products to the highest standards is the first step toward delivering the best customer service. The next step is to ensure the products reach your customers on time and in the best possible condition. Taking care of how your products are packaged and using a reliable delivery firm so they get to your customers fast will help impress your customers. The combination of high-quality products and fast delivery will leave customers delighted with your service.

Integrate Customer Management Software

For those businesses that deal with a high volume of orders, it can be hard to keep track of them all. Investing in customer management software is the best way to reduce this burden and make your business more efficient.

Having a comprehensive overview of every order and ensuring customers receive updates when their products have been shipped are essential features of any customer relationship management system. These tools will also provide you with useful analytics about how customers interact with your website and will allow you to tailor their experience for maximum satisfaction.

For example, suppose your business sells solar panels. In that case, you could use this solar sales software that tracks how your customers use your website, where they come from, and how many sales you make, as well as managing relationships with the customers. This data will help you identify areas of improvement and tweak your service to deliver the best customer experience possible.

Final Thoughts on Customer Service

Providing the best customer experience relies on a combination of factors. You will need a call center to professionally handle your customer queries and make the shopping process a hassle-free experience. Finally, excellent quality products delivered on time will ensure your customers receive the best service every step of the way.

Broaden Your Political Knowledge With These Vital Steps

Two focuses of my blog is Current Events and Political Discussions. Politics can be a very, very divisive topic and some would argue that it’s not safe to talk openly about it today. The more you know, the easier it may be to understand and discuss ideas with others. The following contributed post is entitled, Broaden Your Political Knowledge With These Vital Steps.

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You have a lot to think about when it comes to improving and broadening your political knowledge, and this is something that plays a massive part in this. Try to focus on doing as much as possible to enhance and improve your political knowledge so you are more aware of what is going on in the world and how global events are going to affect you.

Make sure you focus on doing as much as possible to improve your knowledge and keep yourself informed as much as you can. Try to focus on being able to come up with the best ways of achieving this, and you need to come up with the best ways of doing this. Here are some of the best ways of being able to broaden your political knowledge this year.

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Read up on Global News

Reading up on global news is vital because you need to know what is going on in the world, and not just where you live. Global events impact the entire planet in some way, so you should educate yourself as to what is happening in the world. There are also important global publications covering news and current affairs in particular countries, such as The Times Kuwait, which covers Kuwait news and events. This is particularly useful for Kuwaitis living abroad and wanting to stay in touch with developments back home.

Study Manifestos

Another great way of broadening your political knowledge is to read the manifesto and policies of the parties or candidates in your country. Familiarise yourself with what these policies are, and try to do your best to make sure you understand them and what they are about. Having knowledge of the political stance these people or parties are taking is important for helping you to make informed decisions when it comes to voting. Most party or candidate manifestos are going to be available online to read at your leisure, and this is something that you have to try to do as best you can.

Listen to the Other Side

One of the biggest problems with modern politics is how tribal it can be, and this can so often create a toxic environment. So it is imperative that you take the time to listen to other opinions and motivations that people have for their political viewpoints. There are a lot of benefits to this, and it is really important to make sure you listen to other people and debate with them. Ignoring or shutting down conflicting opinions only causes them to fester, and this can often make the whole situation worse. Debating people and showing them the merits of your beliefs is the best way to encourage them to come around to your way of thinking, and this is something you should be looking to do.

Try to do the best you can to improve your political knowledge, and these are a few of the best ways of being able to achieve this. Politics affects our lives in almost every way, and due to the growth of social media, politics has become a wider issue than ever before. So you need to brush up and know your stuff so that you are able to improve upon the best ways of being able to approach political topics, as well as chatting about this with other people.

Habits Of Successful Investors

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Many people hear about investing and want to get involved, but don’t know where to begin and or to stay on track if they start. The following contributed post is entitled, Habits Of Successful Investors.

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Becoming an investor requires a lot of constant research and planning to ensure that you are successful.

Planning is key

Ensuring that you have a plan in order to reach success is key. When it comes to making a plan, you do not need to invest in a fancy plan or hire someone to create you one. First of all you need to set your main outcome or goal of investing for a certain time period. This way you have something to work towards that you can aim for. You can use things like Platinum Data to help you to move forward with your goals in a way which is easy so setting the right goal to push yourself to success is important.

You want to be using this time to be saving any extra money to allow you to use it for a later date to help you to have the chance to double it. The basic knowledge to hold is to put away at least 20% of your earnings which includes anything that your employer matched.With this in mind you need to be saving money by thinking before making every purchase to ensure it will be worth your time.

Investing

So that you make the most out of every penny you own, it is a good idea to keep an eye on the market constantly. Rather than using a lot of money on each investment, try to concentrate on the low-fee investment products as these will have a higher turn over due to its expense ratios. Research on the best investment products that will offer a good value in doing so, to avoid you losing out on money. It is normal to feel uneasy when the market drops but sticking with your instincts can continue to have a long term impact which will allow you to reach your goals that you set.

Focusing on the right things

After-tax returns could really benefit you to become big. Some accounts will have positive annuities which is a great way of getting you a better after tax return. This is often a great way of using your money to generate more on smaller amounts. These smaller amounts can add up fast. A good method is to put a varying amount of money into multiple types of accounts that are based on the tax efficiency of the tax treatment of the type of account.

Take care when looking at taxes as this shouldn’t benefit you alone as this method is just to top you up and be an added bonus.

Although investing can be a complex method, it requires smart thinking and constant watching to complete successfully yet it can help you reach your goals. The planning process can be such a big impact that it can help you to stay within your plan so you don’t go off astray that you make unnecessary investments that do not help you in the future. It is best to be confident in your plan to ensure that you make reasonable investment to be successful.

3 Ways to Fund Business Growth

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Even after you’ve started a business, you have to think about it’s growth. There are multiple ways to do so. The following guest post is entitled, 3 Ways to Fund Business Growth.

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Growing your business can give you the opportunity to generate higher revenues and increase your profits, but you’ll incur more costs too. If you’re expanding your operations or increasing brand awareness, for example, you’ll need to ensure you’ve got the funds required to finance your plans.

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Fortunately, there are plenty of options when it comes to securing funding, particularly if you’ve got a good track record as a successful startup. To learn more, take a look at these three ways to fund your business growth:

1.Reinvest Your Profits

If your startup is performing well, you could reinvest your profits to fund your expansion. With no need to access external funding, this minimizes the level of risk associated with your company growth and means you won’t have to obtain approval from anyone in order to proceed with your plans.

Although reinvesting your profits can certainly be a viable option, it isn’t always sufficient. If your startup’s profits aren’t going to be enough to fund your growth plans, you can always supplement your reserves with additional financing.

2. Secure a Business Loan

For most startups, securing a business loan is, perhaps, the easiest and most efficient way to scale upwards. With a variety of repayment terms available, you can customize your business loan to match your growth strategy and objectives.

Although you’ll need to gain approval from a lender in order to obtain a business loan, this can be easier than you think. If you’ve been operating successfully as a startup, this can be used to impress potential lenders, for example. To learn how to increase your chances of successfully obtaining a business loan, take a look at this blog post from advancepointcap.com and find out how to build up business credit now.

3. Sell Shares in Your Startup

If you need an injection of cash to fund your growth plans, selling shares in your business can be a viable option. Of course, you won’t be ready to float your company on the stock market just yet, which means private investors are a more realistic option.

Before you can do this, however, you’ll need to have your startup valued or calculate how much your business is worth yourself. Bear in mind – this is a tricky thing to do, so hiring a professional to value your startup can be a worthwhile investment.

Once you know what the commercial value of your business is, you can pitch your growth strategies to potential investors and offer them a share of your business. Although this can be an effective way of securing funding, it does mean that you’ll need to relinquish ownership of at least part of your business, so think carefully about whether this is something you’re prepared to do.

Are You Ready to Grow Your Business?

Securing funding is a critical element of scaling your business, but it isn’t the only thing to consider. From researching the market to hiring more staff, there are numerous aspects of company growth that you’ll need to address. With a comprehensive and strategic approach, however, you can ensure that scaling your business leads to long-term success.

What It Takes to Create A Strong Online Presence

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. In today’s digital age, the majority of business is conducted online. As such, you want to create as a strong a presence online as possible. The following contributed post is entitled, What It Takes to Create A Strong Online Presence.

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How solid is your digital presence? Ever since the digital era took hold worldwide, people have seen the need to have an online presence to support business growth. However, not many give much thought to going beyond having a website. The idea of creating a solid online presence is to capitalize on the several advantages the internet offers. Today, it’s not good enough to just have an online footprint. Besides, with 4,208,571,287 internet users worldwide, you have no choice but to employ tools that set you apart from the rest. Here are a few strategies worth considering:

1. Build a captivating website

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Your website is the face of your online footprint. It’s the first impression you get to create on people who chance upon your digital address. No matter how well known your brand is, without a solidly captivating website to draw more people, your product or service will be impacted negatively. Apart from being visually appealing, an excellent website must have the following features:

● User-friendly
● Quick loading time
● Suited to drive conversions from web traffic

Nonetheless, the most critical feature of any good website is security. How secure are visitors or guests to your page? Was your website built with a focus to protect visitors’ digital details from virtual attacks? These are essential questions you’ll need to answer if you intend to create a solid presence in the virtual space.

Fortunately, as technology advances, new software is developed to cater to these growing demands. For example, the JAMstack website builder is one such application changing the face of websites worldwide. It’s faster, secure, and designed to beat the competition. It would help if you tried it for lasting positive results.

2. SEO

Search Engine Optimization is a tool you can’t overlook in today’s competitive online world. This digital tool is designed to singularly influence how well your online presence ranks among a sea of others within the same space. According to Statista, over 64% of Americans prefer to conduct an online search on products or services before making an actual purchase. Therefore, companies with excellent SEOs tend to benefit more from such online searches.

Today’s consumer is more discerning, a lot more internet-savvy, and exhibits changing behavioral purchasing patterns. As a result, you should leverage the benefits of search engine optimizations and factor that into the kind of quality content you produce for the end-user.

Moreover, SEO has a direct influence on website performance and traffic conversions. Furthermore, it’s advisable to make a deliberate effort to stay updated on the latest SEO trends not to lose your online influence. Without it, you’ll be no different from those without digital footprints.

3. Be geared toward mobile influence

According to Pew Research, the mobile phone penetration rate in the United States stands at 97%. With the advancements made in the smartphone industry, more Americans own mobile devices that allow them to gain instant access to the internet. Therefore, laptop and desktop computers are gradually coming second to the smartphone, regarding internet access.

Have you optimized your online pages for tablets and smartphones? Because many Americans find their smartphones and tablets convenient for web browsing, you should think along those lines. Suppose your digital pages make it impossible or difficult for mobile users. In that case, you should be ready to record a drastic drop in your followers, customers, or general internet users.

The same Pew Research study reveals that by 2025, business owners stand to lose almost 90% of income generation channels if they fail to make their content mobile-friendly. There’s hope, however; if you’re unsure about your digital status, take a mobile-friendly test by using Google analytical tools. On this platform, you get to resolve relevant usability issues.

4. Register in business directories

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Do you remember those bulky yellow pages? Well, they have also gone online, and so should you. Online business directories are designed to simplify the search for credible businesses in varied locations. How quickly do you intend to be found by consumers? Customers tend to trust directories a lot more than online reviews because these listings undergo thorough verification processes. As a result, there is a significantly reduced chance of seeking an inefficient service provider’s assistance.

In conclusion, your commitment to creating a robust online presence should be driven by the desire to meet growing needs. Besides, as a business owner, you’ll be doing your establishment a lot of good by taking the necessary steps to carve a niche in this competitive space.

Achieving Success Day-One Success With Your Ecommerce Business

Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. Many people have successfully launched ecommerce businesses. If you start one, you want to “hit the ground running” as they say. The following contributed post is entitled, Achieving Success Day-One Success With Your Ecommerce Business.

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The last year or so has seen a dramatic shift in the way that many people do their shopping. While e-commerce websites have long been popular, they have never seen as much attention as they have over the last couple of years. For small businesses, this presents an excellent opportunity to get their products into the hands of customers across the world. But how exactly are you supposed to make this sort of website successful from day one?

Social Media

Social media has long been a popular tool for online businesses, offering a way to advertise yourself for free while reaching huge audiences. Building a social media presence before you open your store will help you to develop a customer base that will be eager to shop with you from day one. It can be worth getting help with social media if you haven’t used it much in the past, but you can find a marketing agency that will be able to guide you through this process.

Search Engines

Google, Bing, and the other search engines used on the web today have provided an excellent way for people to find small businesses for a long time. Much like social media, you can build your presence on search engines before you open your website, and this will require a process known as SEO. This can be quite complicated when you first start out, making it well worth taking the time to research it before you dive right in.

Hype Building

Building hype can enable you to develop a customer base for your product without having to sell anything. Many companies do this through social media, using teaser trailers, celebrity endorsements, and other tricks that will appeal to their customers. Building hype can be a great way to make your product take off, but you need to make sure that you approach this carefully. Companies that fumble when they try to build hype can end up having the opposite effect, drawing people away from their products.

Your Website

The website that you will be using to sell your products will be instrumental in your success in the beginning. You will have to work on things like SEO, but you will also need to build a website that looks great and functions smoothly if your customers are going to be drawn in. Platforms like Shopify can be ideal for this, providing you with a secure and easy to use system that will enable you to get up and running in no time at all.

Ecommerce can be a tricky game, and it often takes quite some time for a site to develop into a major success. Of course, though, you can speed this process along, enabling your website to get customers from day one. It’s never worth being disappointed if you don’t get the results you want; you just need to do some learning and spend more time perfecting your online business.

What Customers Want: 8 Great Ways To Give Consumers More

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. If you’re in business, one of your prime directives and aims is to give your customers what they want. The following contributed post is entitled, What Customers Want: 8 Great Ways To Give Consumers More.

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Keeping customers (including leads) happy is one of the fundamentals of running a successful business. Ultimately, then, you should always be looking to give them more of what they want.

Here are just eight ways to do just that. In turn, you should see a noticeable upgrade in their responses.

#1. Establish Trust

Nobody will buy from your business if it can’t be trusted. Likewise, search engines won’t rank the company well. A good design with fast loading speeds is essential. Securing lots of verified reviews will also help.

A fair returns policy and a good following on social media are just two additional steps that can further support your strategy.

#2. Show Brand Values

Modern consumers want to align themselves with brands that care about the same things they do. Therefore, your business may see telling benefits from supporting local causes or going green.

Aside from being a good marketing tool, many of those steps will save you money and motivate employees. Perfect.

#3. Tailor Your Interactions

Customers want to feel a quick connection with brands. Website visitor tracking is a very good tool. Not only will it allow you to deploy the right marketing strategy, but you can use the right tone for future interactions.

Many businesses let themselves down by being overly generic. Combat this issue and you will see big results.

#4. Be Responsive

Clients also demand speed like never before. When they have questions about a product or service, a quick response will enhance your hopes of a sale. Social media, live chat, and call redirection services are all great options.

In addition to boosting conversions, transparency in this area can reduce the number of returns you experience.

#5. Provide Flexible Payments

Value for money is naturally something that all customers crave. For many, though, your ability to offer repayment plans could be the difference-maker. Accepting credit cards, PayPal, and digital payments is vital too.

There’s nothing worse than losing a sale simply because a client can’t complete the transaction.

#6. Offer Quick Deliveries

The pandemic has forced online retailers to up their game in the field of order fulfillment. If you can implement a same-day or next-day service, you should. It will increase your sense of professionalism.

Many industries won’t be able to do this due to the nature of their products. Even so, you should aim to outperform the competition.

#7. Give Loyalty Rewards

The immediate sale is a significant breakthrough. However, remarketing to existing clients is usually easier and more affordable than trying to reach new ones. Brand loyalty schemes that work should be on the agenda. Always.

It boosts the frequency of purchases as well as the transaction values. It also gets people talking about the brand.

#8. Keep Their Data Safe

Finally, you need to be responsible in ways that look beyond the sale. Implementing data protection and cybersecurity measures will aid the trust levels. Crucially, it prevents the financial and reputational damage of a breach.

While good security alone cannot secure sales, getting it wrong will be enough to cost you dearly. In short, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

What Do Customers Expect From Your Retail Business?

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. As with any business, customers have expectations. If you’re running a retail business, it’s critical to understand what your customers expect. The following contributed post is entitled, What Do Customers Expect From Your Retail Business?

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Running a retail store is harder than ever because you are competing with so many online companies. But there are still plenty of people that like to shop in a physical store and you can build a very successful business if you know what you are doing. Unfortunately, a lot of business owners don’t know what their customers want from their store and so they focus on the wrong areas. It’s easy to blame your lack of customers on the competition from e-commerce but you have to entertain the idea that it might be because you are not giving your customers what they want. So, what are the main things that customers want from a retail store?

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A Well Presented Store

If you want to draw foot traffic to your store, you need to make sure that it’s modern and well presented. A store that hasn’t been decorated for ten years isn’t going to catch the attention of people as they walk past, it will fade into the background and people will see it as a relic of the past. If you want to get customers through the door, you need to invest some money in decorating the store and making it look good. Keeping the store clean and tidy at all times is also very important because a messy store doesn’t make for a very positive shopping experience.

An Efficient Shopping Experience

Efficiency is vital if you want to compete with online retail. Online shopping is quick and easy, which is why people love it, and if your store doesn’t offer an equally stress-free experience, you will struggle to get customers.

Start by looking at your store layout and thinking about how easy it is to navigate. You want your best deals and most popular items near the front so people can easily find what they need. You also need to arrange things in a logical way so similar items are grouped together. Finally, make sure there are plenty of signs so people can find the right section.

You also need to streamline your checkout process to make things run smoothly. If you don’t already accept credit cards in your retail store, you need to update your POS systems to incorporate more payment options. People expect multiple payment options and it is very frustrating for them if you only take cash. Make sure that you have a well designed queue area and you schedule staff effectively so people are not waiting a long time to be served.

Knowledgeable Employees

People like shopping in retail stores instead of online because they can speak to somebody and get some advice on their purchases. This personal service is the main thing that sets you apart from online competitors, so you need to make sure you get it right. When you are hiring retail staff, make sure that you test to see how knowledgeable they are about the products and provide plenty of training so they can answer any questions that your customers may have.

These are the 3 main things that customers expect when they visit your retail store. If you can’t get these aspects right, you will struggle to compete.