Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. No matter what business type your in you have to learn how to drive traffic towards your operations. The following contributed post is entitled, It’s Time To Learn The Secrets For More Foot Traffic.
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Are you interested in increasing sales in your business model? If you are running a brick and mortar company then this means that you need to focus on elevating the levels of foot traffic. There are a few ways that you can achieve this with your company.
First, you should think about how to increase the curb appeal of your business. If you make the outside more appealing, then customers are far more likely to want to see what things are like inside. There are lots of ways to boost the curb appeal. For instance, you might want to hire a professional window cleaning service. The best window cleaning company will mean that you can ensure that your windows sparkle and shine. This can even help guarantee that your company feels more modern overall.
Awesome Signage
Next, you should think about adding the right signage to your business. The best signage will ensure that your company feels far more welcoming and enticing overall. When you are choosing signage, make sure that it does match your brand identity and the message that you want to send to new customers. More extravagant and elaborate signage options are sure to catch the right levels of attention from people passing your business by.
Omnichannel Marketing
If you are serious about bringing higher levels of foot traffic to your business, then you should explore a more connected marketing strategy. Essentially, you need to think about using an omnichannel marketing solution in your business. Omnichannel marketing will mean that you can ensure that customers arrive at your business from a wide range of sources. One of the ways that you can use this type of strategy to boost foot traffic would be by taking advantage of a nearby digital billboard. You can then post your social media feed on the billboard, advertising an offer that is currently available at your store or business. You will need the help of a skilled marketing solution to set something like this up for your brand.
Location, Location, Location
Finally, if you’re not seeing the levels of foot traffic that you hoped for with your brick and mortar business, then it could be worth thinking about changing location. Choosing a new location could have the right effect and ensure that you do bring more customers into the fold. In the short term switching locations will cost you money. However, in the long term, it could lead to a huge impact in increased sales. If you are thinking about switching locations, it’s important to complete the right amount of research. You need to find a place that does see huge crowds pass by down the street every day.
We hope this helps you understand some of the key steps that you should take to gain more foot traffic to your business. If you explore the best options here, then you can make sure that your company has a far greater presence on the market as a whole and gains a competitive edge.
Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. One of the keys to making your business successful making sure that it’s distinct from your competitors. The following contributed post is entitled, It’s Time For Your Business To Stand Out From The Crowd.
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Are you keen to achieve growth with your business brand? If so, then you need to make sure that you are focusing on ways to guarantee that customers choose your company over the competition. Here are some of the steps that you can take to ensure that this does happen.
First, you should think about your USP. Your USP or unique selling proposition is something that you can bring to the market that customers can’t find from other companies. Even those selling similar products to you or offering the same services for a lower price. Your USP can be anything. For instance, you might want to think about offering a rapid turn around. Customers these days are likely to reward a business if they can guarantee that they can deliver their products without any delays or issues. Particularly, if you give them the power to keep track of the products that they are buying from you.
Discover The Voice Of Your Brand
It’s important to make sure that you are saying something with your brand. This means that you need to find your voice to help guarantee that you stand out from the crowd. Finding your voice isn’t always easy and you may want to explore the main different brand archetypes to find the one that matches your business and makes sense for you. Once you understand your archetype, you can ensure that each piece of marketing and promotional content that you release makes sense for this specific archetype. Ultimately, you need to guarantee that customers can connect with your business on a level that feels personal.
Deliver Value
Next, you should think about delivering value with your business. Delivering the right level of value will mean more than just selling products and services at the right prices. You need to go further than this and ensure that you always work to go the extra mile for your clients. Don’t forget, you can deliver value to clients in more ways than just a fair price for products and services. For instance, you might want to think about providing more content. Valuable content that is targeted and provides real benefits will always be appreciated by your customer base.
Provide Fantastic Levels Of Service
Businesses these days will live and die based on the reviews that they receive from customers online. Research shows that 80% of customers will check online reviews before they commit to the purchase of a product or a service. If you think this is better for brick and mortar companies, then you’re mistaken. Customers these days know how to access reviews and are often unwilling to put their faith in a business that is untrusted.
We hope this helps you understand some of the key options that you can explore to guarantee that your business does stand out from the crowd. If you take the right steps here, then you’ll have no trouble ensuring that you do expand the reach of your business and grow your company in great directions.
Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Once you’ve started a business, you have to think about protecting it. This could take multiple forms. The following contributed post is entitled, Protecting Your Growing Business Without Breaking The Bank.
Your business should be one of your top priorities, and one of the things that you care the most about. If this is the case, then you are going to want to do whatever you can in order to protect it, right? But sometimes we get sidetracked and we don’t always put in the amount of effort that we would like to. Instead of allowing this to happen, you need to focus on the things that matter, and one of these is protecting your business. However, you need to do this without breaking the bank. In this article, we’re going to be looking at how you can do this, so keep reading down below if you would like to find out more.
NDA’s
First, you’re going to need to look at non disclosure agreements when people join your business. This is the best way to ensure that the information is going to be kept inside the confines of those who are supposed to have access to it. If anyone breaks their NDA, they will be answering to the legal system and that’s not something that anyone really wants. As such, you should make sure that everyone signs one before they are allowed to work with your business.
Security
Another thing that you have got to be thinking about is the security of your business online. Now, the problem with this is that to build a security team and build the necessary systems to protect your business is going to cost you a lot of money. It’s for this reason that you should look at a service like https://www.sapphire.net/mss/soc/ instead. A service like this is able to handle all of your needs in this department, ensuring that you are getting the very best protection online without having to empty your business bank account to do so. You get the service that you need at a price you love, and you don’t have to go through the tedious hiring process to hire new people for the job!
Insurance Policies
You’re also going to need all of the correct insurance policies. We recommend that you speak to an insurance broker and see what they have to say about what policies you need. You don’t want to get too many that you’re never going to need, but it’s also better to have something and not need it than the other way around. Speak to the broker though, and see what they think. They will be able to give you advice on the best policies that you are going to need, and you can find out more about business insurance on a site like https://www.hiscox.com/blog.
We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that you need to do in order to protect your business without breaking the bank. There are so many threats out there that you need to ensure you are covering all of your bases as much as you can. We wish you the very best of luck, and hope that this advice helps you to achieve your goal.
Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Being an entrepreneur is not easy and there are several pitfalls. A couple of keys can ensure that you’ll be among the successful few. The following contributed post is entitled, 3 Things Every Entrepreneur Needs To Be Successful.
Being an entrepreneur is a demanding task. Having to juggle an array of responsibilities and managing a heavy workload is not something everyone can achieve. While many people aspire to become entrepreneurs and run a string of businesses, not everyone has what it takes to do this successfully.
Becoming a successful entrepreneur requires a wide range of skills. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need tenacity, the ability to problem solve, and the desire to work hard. But, as well as dedicating your time to your business and being incredibly productive, there are several other factors you need to make your business a success. Here are the things every entrepreneur needs to be successful:
1. Reliable Technology
Almost every modern business is dependent on technology. Without technology, many business functions would likely be impossible to complete. Technology helps companies work quickly and accurately to maintain high standards and keep everything running efficiently. Without the right technology to support everyday business functions, running your company at full capacity is almost impossible. So, ensuring your technology is reliable and up to the task of supporting your business is essential.
Using a company such as computer repair by casey will ensure you have help on hand when problems strike with your business computers. Having a reliable company that can fix your computers quickly is a must to ensure your business does not get hit by extended downtime when a problem strikes.
2. Robust Accounting System
A robust accounting system is essential for every entrepreneur. Failing to keep up with accounts and not managing cash flow effectively can cause serious problems. When accounting systems are not updated regularly, keeping track of the business’s finances can quickly become a significant issue. Not knowing how much money you are owed, and becoming confused about which payments you have received and which you have not can be a recipe for disaster.
Cash flow issues, especially those caused by poor accounts receivables management, are often the reason behind businesses closing. When you are constantly waiting for outstanding payments to be received, it becomes impossible to pay your debts, which can cause your business to make late payments. So, understanding your company’s financial position at every stage is essential to prevent it from running into cash flow issues.
3. High-Quality Products
Whatever industry you operate in, it is always essential to deliver the highest quality products possible. Producing low-quality products that take little time and expense to manufacture may provide you with increased profits in the short term. However, if you plan to take a long-term approach to your business, you need to ensure your products deliver on quality. While low-quality products may be fast to produce and provide a high-profit margin, they will damage your reputation in the long term, and the profits they deliver are likely to be short-lived. Consumers can quickly spot a badly-made product, so it won’t be long before you get demands for refunds and lots of complaints. So, producing quality products should always be your priority.
Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. If you’re thinking about starting a business or have already started one, one of your key considerations will be being your most productive self. The following contributed post is entitled, How to Become Your Most Productive Self to Better Your Business.
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Being self-employed can be a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, you are your own boss and can therefore come and go as you please. However, on the other hand, there is no one but yourself to motivate you, and consequently, it can be easy to fall into procrastination. Procrastination is dangerous, as it can lead to a vicious circle of stress and cause you problems further down the line. Procrastination can also come in many forms. This could be scrolling on your phone when you’re meant to be working or even doing household chores to avoid doing what you should be doing. In this post, you’ll hopefully find some tips that will aid you in becoming more productive.
This technique is also known as time-blocking and is designed for focus. It works by your work expanding to the timeslot, instead of the individual squeezing in the task to fit somewhere in the day. The slot also guards against distraction, as 100% of your focus is directed towards a singular job. This technique tends to work the best if you are super-specific in what you are doing within each slot. Start each day by writing out the day’s hours and precisely putting down what you will be doing in each one. For example, you can be as specific as “meeting with Baumgartner Law Office” at 4.25 and at 4:45, you are replying to emails until 5:15. The secret to this is to make sure you block out your time at the start of the day, as you are more likely to stick to the plan and are more clear about what needs to get done. This is especially useful for starting up a business, as it can often feel like you are juggling 100 things simultaneously but not getting enough done. By focusing entirely on a single task at a time, you can eliminate procrastination effectively as you don’t feel too overwhelmed. There are lots of different ways to time block, and you can find exactly what works best for you.
2. Block out any distractions.
There are so many things demanding your attention in this day and age. From phones and constant notifications to emails and more, it can be hard to block out a properly focus on anything. It can be worth maybe outsourcing some processes your business shouldn’t have to deal with so you can focus on the core parts of building your business. To block out anything else distracting you, you can download apps that stop you from checking your phone constantly whilst you are trying to work. If you are really struggling with procrastination, it can help to step away from your work for five minutes for some fresh air. This way, when you return, you are less likely to procrastinate after you have had a break. Make your time work for you!
Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A key component of your business is its insurance. Your business insurance can help you stay open and generating profit for a long time. The following contributed post is entitled, Is Your Business Insurance Fit For Purpose.
There is a lot that needs to be considered when looking for insurance for your business. Depending on the nature of your company, there are going to be various policies that you may require. In this blog post, we are going to focus on some of the main ones, helping you to find a policy that is fit for purpose.
Insurance for your office Office property insurance, also known as business owners insurance, is something that is widely considered a necessity for all businesses. It is vital to have all areas covered to ensure that you do not experience a massive loss in the case of an unpredictable event or circumstance at your office. If you don’t have one of these policies already then you certainly need to look into getting one.
Office insurance will cover you, your employees, the building, the equipment and more. Therefore, it is certainly worth its weight in gold. Moreover, policies such as this one are pivotal to giving you peace of mind. You know what if something happens which is out of your control – you won’t lose everything.
Nevertheless, finding the right policy for your business can be a very difficult, complex and frustrating process. After all, there are so many different policies available. Obviously, in one sense, this is great because it means that there is a lot of choice. However, for most people, it simply confuses them as they don’t know what to go for. The best thing to do is to make a list of the aspects that you need to be covered by your policy. These are your requirements and you will not go for an insurance policy if these are not covered.
Protecting yourself if something happens to a key person This is one area of insurance that a lot of businesses have a tendency to overlook. However, have you ever wondered what would happen if one of your key owners or employees fell ill? It would have a serious impact on your company, right? Well, there is insurance in place to assist with this, and it is something that we certainly recommend considering carefully.
When looking for this type of insurance, you need to carefully consider the key person disability risk to determine what level of cover is going to be the most suitable for you. The policy will protect you from the monetary loss that you would experience if a key employee, business owner, or executive was to experience a disabling illness, injury, or accident. You will receive a cash benefit that is designed to help you through this difficult period. This can cover the likes of keeping your business viable, any overtime pay you need to cover staff working longer hours, and the cost of training and hiring a replacement.
Advice for all business policies It is crucial that you read everything in the policy. This sounds like an obvious point but it is something that a lot of people overlook. It’s understandable; after reading through five different policies you may want to skip a couple of lines. But don’t do it – you may end up regretting it.
When searching for a policy it is important to look around on different websites and compare different deals. You can even use a price comparison website if you find it easier. This is good because it will give you a basic understanding of the price options available, and it will also help you narrow down your search in order to find the best deals and make the best savings. You should also look at ways to secure your premises, as this can then result in your premiums being lowered as well.
In addition to finding the best-priced policy that covers all the aspects you require, it is also highly important that the company you buy the policy from is credible and has a good reputation. In order to decipher whether this is the case, you should type the name of the company in a Google search box and then go to the relevant comment forums. If people have been dissatisfied with the service that they have received then they will be more than happy to express them and to warn people from using the insurance company in question. Nevertheless, remember to use the comments as a whole – you want a general overview. If there are 60 good comments and one bad one, don’t acknowledge the negative review as it is likely to be a one-off.
Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Businesses have different stages. There different considerations during the “start-up” phase versus when your business is further along. The following contributed post is entitled, Making The Right Decisions For Your Business Start-up.
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If you’re like most people and dreaming of starting up your own business, it’s important that you get things right from the very start. Of course, they’ll never be perfect, as that requires experience, but you can’t afford to make huge mistakes right out of the gate.
If your business is going to see a smooth start, you need to properly evaluate what’s right for you, and what would put your business in the best position. What could improve your chances of success, and what might hinder you?
The location of your business will play a huge role in your ability to bring in customers. If you set up in an area where it’s difficult to find people who are interested in what you’re selling, you can only rely on your reputation. If you don’t yet have a reputation, then it’s going to hinder your ability to make the sales necessary. You want to be in plain view of your customers, not hidden away somewhere out of sight.
The kind of building you pick is also important. A lot of businesses at the moment are opting in to set up industrial steel buildings. There are a lot of benefits to the different materials used for a building, and it would depend on what your business specializes in. if you’re not in need of a huge amount of space, you could choose something smaller and cheaper.
Start-up capital
The amount of money that your business has to start with is going to determine what you’re capable of from the point of opening. The supply you can stock, the marketing you can afford, and the equipment and location you can pick for your building. If you haven’t got the money but you’re confident that your idea for the business is promising, you might be interested in approaching an investor. Sure, they would like to see a return on their investment, but if the investment is going to mean the difference between failure and success, it’s a benefit to your business.
Establishing online presence
Something you should be doing as soon as possible is taking advantage of all of the free resources that are available to you. Luckily, businesses have been able to use social media for years to promote their business and gain a following. Businesses with an online presence have an easier time finding customers, as it’s a great way for them to advertise themselves. Even small businesses that don’t distribute their businesses through online sales can use it to make themselves more known to the public.
Product evaluation
Your product matters the most out of everything, and even if you’re confident in it yourself, you should still get some more opinions. There are a lot of businesses that start on the idea that their product is going to be the next trend, only to fail because they misjudged the popularity of what they were selling. Getting second opinions on your product can help to further develop a more promising item to sell instead.
Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. No matter what business you’re running, it’s import understand what processes you need to take care of in house versus those which can be done by some other entity. The following contributed post is entitled, 4 Processes Your Business Does Not Need To Handle.
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Running a small business can have your hands full at all times, and you don’t always need to take care of everything yourself. Just because your team isn’t big enough to handle all that needs to be done, doesn’t mean you need to take that responsibility on yourself. You can entrust a lot of your work to other companies for a fee, and find that it’s cheaper than having your employees doing it and that you have a lot more time to focus on things that are more important.
Outsourcing is something that many businesses take advantage of, and it’s the logical solution when it comes to growth. If you were to start delivering your products over a broader area, would you invest in your own fleet of delivery vehicles? It’s impractical and much cheaper to entrust that to another business entirely.
Looking for new employees can take a long time, and that’s time you could be spending working on something else. The whole process can be stressful, especially if you’re going to approve applications and be present for the interview process. You don’t have to do that, and there are plenty of recruitment companies out there that can work with you. They can find applicants that are a good fit for your job, all you need to do is communicate with them on your own needs.
Distribution
If your business is small and struggling to gain an audience in your local area, a logical answer would be to try and broaden your consumer base. To do this, you would have to be able to deliver your products, and when your store is online; finding those customers is no problem at all. The only issue is, a new fleet to deliver your products would be incredibly expensive. Looking into a freight forwarding company to help you take care of that can save you a lot of money, and it’s a load off of your mind.
Manufacture
Most retail businesses don’t manufacture all of the supplies that they sell, and they’re usually taken care of by the supplier. It’s impractical to manufacture everything yourself when a business that’s well-equipped could mass-produce what you’re aiming to sell. To be equipped enough to meet demands would take years of preparation and a lot of investment. Your business doesn’t need to be in charge of this, and there are many manufacturers you could work with.
Marketing
Marketing is something that requires a lot of experience if you want to get it right. Connecting with your audience is challenging, and getting the message right is going to take some experimenting. It’s expensive, and you could save yourself a lot of money and resources if you were to leave it to a marketing firm. They have the experience, the tools, and the people to help your business gain the recognition it needs, and not only is it good for your own time; but you’re more likely to see a positive ROI if you’re no marketing expert.
Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Many forms of business require travel. Likewise traveling for business isn’t a vacation and must be treated accordingly. The following contributed post is entitled, Tips For Heading Away On Business Travel.
If you are frequently on the road travelling for business, then making the journey as easy and comfortable as possible will make the whole process more enjoyable. Unfortunately, travelling for work can be a necessity for a job and you might need to travel in a truck if you are a delivery driver, or head to meetings if you work in sales. You might have to regularly fly around the world, or you could just have to travel to different places in the country where you live. No matter where you have to travel, it is important that you are as organised as you can. Here we have put together some top tips for heading away on business travel.
Condense Your Packing
Whether you are flying, travelling in a car/truck or using public transport, the last thing you want to be doing is lugging around a large suitcase. Before heading off make a list of the key things you need for your business trip. Try to be strict with what you are picking and if there is any doubt, the chances are that you don’t need it. The lighter you travel the smaller your case can be making the journey a lot easier. If you are able to reduce your suitcase size to a carry-on when flying, you then won’t need to wait in the ques when checking in. Plus, always remember, if you have forgotten something you can always purchase it whilst you are away.
Ensure you have all the relevant insurance
As well as being prepared for the actual meetings and things when you are travelling for business, you will also need to have other insurances in place. If you are travelling abroad you will need travel insurance that will cover you in the instance that your flight or ferry gets delayed, if your luggage is lost and if you fall ill for any reason while you are out there. You will also need to know what to do if you are driving and get into an accident. In this case, it would be a good idea to look into getting a truck accident attorney who will help you.
Think carefully when book accommodation
When you are heading away on business, you will probably need to book accommodation to stay in if it is a long journey from home. When choosing your hotel there are many things you will want to consider. Price will probably be a factor as if your company is substituting they will likely give you a budget. For this, you can consider using a hotel booking engine to help you. You will also need to think about where your hotel is based. It is a good idea to be near the place where you will be having meetings or attending conferences to make it convenient for getting there and back during the day.
These are just a few top tips that can help you be more prepared the next time you are heading away on business. Business travel is necessary but these tips can help to make it more bearable.
This blog post is going to involve the areas of Blogging/Writing, Business/Entrepreneurship, and Technology. As many of you know, I was able to monetize my blogging platform a couple of years ago. With multiple projects, I only have a little bit of time throughout the year to generate pieces here for myself now. Much of the content is generated by customers/collaborators. By the way, my new blog entitled, ‘Big Words Authors’ is now up and running and has a more literary/storytelling focus. Take look if you want to read creative writing narratives, stories, poetry, and my new book project entitled, “The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story”, and the many supporting promotional pieces that are on the way.
This piece, while it will discuss how I monetized my blogging platform, will also talk about two important aspects of starting your own enterprise: monitoring your business receipts and customer service. Over the years I’ve heard that systems are an important part of any successful business, and I’ve found that to be true. I will thus also discuss what happens if some of your critical systems breakdown, compromising important aspects of your business like your customer service.
There are currently numerous documents on the Big Words Blog Site involving blogging. Some were written by me, and some were written by a customer. A year or two after starting the Big Words Blog Site, I unexpectedly entered the business of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). I plan to discuss SEO in greater detail in a separate post. For now, however, I’ll just say that I started collaborating with other entities to publish content, for which I’ve been compensated. I’ve worked with several collaborators, and each involved the generation of business receipts and customer service.
Checking Your Business Receipts
In one of my Fathers’ Day posts (2017), I shared a memorable experience where my father reprimanded me for not taking my receipt and counting my change – a life changing experience for me. It turns out there’s a business context for checking your receipts. As I’ll describe in the business context, checking your receipts not only ensures a given transaction was executed properly, but it can ultimately save your business.
In short, I was able to monetize my blogging activities through the area of SEO. I’m no expert in SEO, by any means, but essentially it involves increasing your rank in the Google search engine by being linked to other websites. This is a big thing in our modern digital age and there are companies that specialize in this. The client/company/partner I started working with created short informational pieces of all kinds, linking companies in them.
Our partnership involved my publishing the content they sent to me perfectly, meaning that the final published version needed to match the draft they sent me in terms of content, structure and the weblinks inserted in the original piece. Once I sent them the published link and it was satisfactory, they would send me a receipt letting me know that the piece was perfect. I have partnered with other customers performing the same service, and still others who simply want their links added to specific contents. When the partnership with my main customer started a couple of years ago, I couldn’t believe it. It involved me publishing large amounts of content and it became profitable.
Interestingly, in some instances with large numbers of pieces being generated and passed back and forth, inevitable mistakes occurred. These were either on my end or on theirs. This was understandable as they were generating thousands of pieces (from me and others), and I was publishing as many as they could send me. Occasionally, I would unintentionally leave a link out, to which I’d receive a polite message saying, “Can you please put the X link back into the piece?”. In some instances, they’d send me an apology and would ask me to change something to update it from the draft they sent me – an error on their part.
In some cases, a link that was anchored to text would need to be changed to a naked link (the actual ‘https’ web address), or sometimes the other way around. Either way, the receipts were communications that we were good to go, and that I would be paid, or that a change needed to be made, and typically, quickly. These communications also occurred when I was offered a piece, when I accepted it, and in some instances, when they needed me to delete a narrative for whatever reason. They were very important communications for our partnership.
The Importance of Customer Service in Any Business
Up to this point I’ve discussed an important element for any business/organization without explicitly stating it, Customer Service. Depending on the office in which you work, many federal employees are rated for their level of customer service every year. Simply put, customer service is the proficiency, quality, and speed with which you see to the needs of your customers.
An example from a McDonald’s restaurant comes to mind. Years ago in a McDonald’s Restaurant I ordered an extra value meal. I could taste the food as I ordered it and was set to scarf it down as I picked the tray up from the register. Somehow, I tipped my tray in such a way that my fries all fell on the floor, spilling out everywhere in front of me. Embarrassed and sure that I’d have to pay some more, I turned back to the register.
“Can I have another medium french fry, please?” Within seconds the girl working at the register got me my new fries fresh out of the fryer, and she didn’t charge me for it. This was an example of stellar customer service.
In terms of bad customer service, how many of us have had to call technical support for your cable/internet provider? Maybe you’ve had to call for your new technology device you just purchased. How long did you have to wait on the line and did the person even speak English? Was your problem resolved or did it linger for hours, days and weeks? Depending on your answers, you may have experienced poor customer service and have either complained about that particular business, or you may have never returned to do business with them.
In a nutshell, they say that the reputation of your business spreads by word of mouth. Thus, if your customer service is poor, the word could spread quickly. The same is true if your customer service is stellar. You want to stay in the latter group as it can affect your profits. That goes for whether you’re in the food service industry or SEO.
Business Receipts, Your Business Systems, and Your Customer Service
It is said that the most important part of your business is its systems. When I started the Big Words Blog Site, I set up a Microsoft Outlook account to handle the email correspondence for the site. I eventually downloaded the Outlook app onto my smartphone and upon using it, I could quickly see the notifications my customers sent to me once we started working together. From the palm of my hand, I could see if the published pieces were satisfactory or if something needed to be changed. Outlook and its app allowed me lots of agility, so to speak.
Unfortunately, there is generally at least one technical glitch per year for my business. Earlier this year something disappointing happened. My Outlook account was hacked and I could receive emails, but I couldn’t send them. This threw a major wrench in my operation. If I couldn’t send emails, how was I going to accept and confirm the documents from my customers? Immediately, I had a light-bulb moment and decided to set up a G-mail account to conduct my business while the host attempted to fix my Outlook account.
In short, it worked, but it wasn’t the same. Fortunately, my customers started sending their content to my new G-mail account so that aspect of our partnership continued. One problem I encountered though was the functionality of the G-mail account wasn’t the same as the functionality of the Outlook account. With the G-mail account, I could see when new emails were coming in, but I couldn’t quickly differentiate when an action was needed. Also, when I opened the account on both my PC and my phone, it was difficult to differentiate between the new posts that were sent, when they were sent, and if they were satisfactory.
Because I was multitasking and was a little lax in terms of checking my business receipts, I was slow to accept documents and slow to react to errors in the pieces I published. My response time had become embarrassingly slow, and frustration built for both me and my customers. One issue went unresolved for a week and half, which was unfortunate because my customer worked according to deadlines. This was confounded by the fact that my blogging software didn’t always update in the most expedient way. A customer wrote me back once saying that they would slow down sending content and I came to the sobering realization that I may have permanently destroyed our collaboration.
Restoration Of My Outlook Account, Moving Forward and Lessons Learned
It took my webhost about three months to fix my Outlook account. In the meantime, my troubles using the G-mail account with my business taught me a valuable lesson. I paid much closer attention to every piece my customers sent to me, as they had not abandoned me. I refocused and attacked problems with a renewed intensity. I closely watched my business receipts and responded to customer emails expeditiously. Once my Outlook account was restored, things were pretty much back to normal and hopefully they will stay that way.
Closing Thoughts and Conclusions
I learned several lessons from the entire turn of events. They are as follows:
• Check your business receipts and ratings regularly. • Make sure your customer service ratings are as high as possible. • Have a backup plan should one or many of your business systems go down. • In the business arena, you must remain ever vigilant.
Thank you for reading this piece. For the next phase of my writing journey, I’m starting a monthly newsletter for my writing and video content creation company, the Big Words LLC. In it, I plan to share inspirational words, pieces from this blog and my first blog, and select videos from my four YouTube channels. Finally, I will share updates for my book project The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story. Your personal information and privacy will be protected. Click this link and register using the sign up button at the bottom of the announcement. Regards.
