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The Customer Is King: How To Ensure Your Clients Feel Like VIPs

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. The lifeblood of any business is its customer base. Keeping them happy is in most cases, ensuring success. The following contributed post is thus entitled, The Customer Is King: How To Ensure Your Clients Feel Like VIPs.

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If you run a business, there’s every chance you’re familiar with the old adage, ‘the customer is king.’ Sadly, while many companies strive to provide a VIP experience, not all succeed in the mission to put the customer first. If you’re eager to improve your review scores, you’d like to put more emphasis on customer service, or you’re looking to raise your game to leave the competition in your wake, here are some suggestions to ensure your clients feel like royalty.

Analyze what you’re offering
If you’re running marketing campaigns, you’re offering promotions, you’re sending out emails on a daily basis, and you’re providing new customers with incentives, it can be difficult to keep track of what you’re actually offering. Take a moment to analyze exactly what you’re providing for new and existing customers, read through your offers and adverts carefully, and make sure you can deliver on your promises. Check the small print, and ensure that clients have access to information about the terms and conditions attached to promotions and discounts. It’s also essential to realize your legal responsibilities as a business owner. If you sell products, for example, the last thing you want is to be challenged by a customer seeking legal advice about consumer claims. Your products should meet the relevant safety and quality standards, you should provide accurate descriptions, and you should have a refund policy in place. To avoid complaints and negative reviews, it’s crucial to ensure that you can fulfil promises, so take a good look at the promotions, products, and services you’re offering, verify that the information you’re providing is correct, and make sure you tick every legal box.

Image by https://pixabay.com/en/bargain-action-up-to-date-offer-453492/

Act on feedback
More and more businesses ask for feedback. Research shows that over 90% of people now read reviews before making a decision about which product to buy or which brand to choose. With reviews playing an increasingly important role in the decision-making process, it’s crucial to make use of feedback. If you’ve asked clients to provide and share comments, take the time to read and digest them, and act on them. It can be tempting to focus on positive feedback, which provides a feel-good factor, but negative comments can be even more valuable. If you know you’ve got something wrong, or you’re doing something that your customers don’t like, you can take steps to address the issue before you get any more comments. Feedback can also give you an insight into how consumers view your brand and provide you with ideas and inspiration to push your business forward.

Picture source: https://pixabay.com/en/information-feedback-3011747/

Don’t overlook loyal customers
Sometimes, businesses are guilty of chasing new customers so ferociously that they overlook their existing clients. As a company owner, there is nothing more valuable than a repeat customer. You’ve got a ready-made client ready and waiting to buy from you again, and that customer is also likely to recommend you to friends and family. If you’re building your client base, it’s natural to want to attract new customers, but don’t underestimate the importance of loyalty. Offer incentives for new clients, but don’t forget to reward those who have already contributed to your profits. There are lots of ways you can celebrate loyalty, from rewards cards to access to special offers or exclusive events. Remember that there’s nothing to stop your customers being lured in by introductory offers advertised by the competition.

Offer a personalized service
Even if you’re one of a million customers, it’s nice to feel special. When you run a business, and you’re focused on providing exceptional standards of customer service, it’s incredibly beneficial to add a personal touch. This could mean anything from offering a bespoke shopping service to sending out personalized emails or offers on a customer’s birthday. Instead of addressing all your customers with a generic subject line and welcome, add that customer’s name. Research shows that personalized emails have a higher conversion rate. Use your own experiences as a customer. What has impressed you, and what has put you off choosing a specific company or brand?

Image from https://pixabay.com/en/photos/mail/

Create a positive user experience
When you go shopping, you browse your inbox, or you take a look at a website, what do you look for? Many buyers are now looking for more than a simple transaction, which involves swapping cash for a product or a service. Modern consumers want to enjoy an experience, which feels new, fresh, and engaging. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes for a moment. Take a walk through your salon, store, or restaurant, spend half an hour navigating your way around your website and take a look at the emails you send out to subscribers. Make notes. Are there changes you could make to enhance the experience? Could you offer new features on your site? Is it possible to improve the aesthetic of your shop or add ambiance with music or lighting? Could you provide a more luxurious experience by offering clients at your hair or beauty salon a coffee with fancy latte art or a glass of bubbly? Try and be original, and match the changes you make to your brand and the target market.

Picture courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/poyang/23118050

Provide staff training
If customer service is an essential part of your business, or this is an area in which you’re keen to make improvements, make sure your staff has the relevant training, knowledge and skills to achieve the desired outcomes. If you own a restaurant, it doesn’t matter how brilliant the food is or how spectacular the interior looks. If the waiting staff is rude, this is what the diner will remember. Training can help employees to develop confidence and to understand what exceptional customer service entails.

To make it to the top in business, you have to be able to impress both new and existing customers. Consumers aren’t happy to settle for sub-standard products or poor customer service, and as a business owner, it’s your job to make sure that your customers feel like VIPs. If you can prioritize customer service, deliver on promises, add a personal touch and provide your clients with a positive, memorable experience, this will stand you in good stead to expand your business, attract rave reviews, and hopefully reap financial rewards.

It’s Time to Focus On Your Small Business’ Shipping Options

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. If your business generates products that need to be shipped, you must understand the logistics of your operations and make sure they run seamlessly. The following contributed post is entitled, It’s Time to Focus On Your Small Business’ Shipping Options.

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As a small business owners, chances are that your thought process focuses mostly on developing products, manufacturing them, advertising them, and encouraging consumers to buy them. But processing a sale isn’t the end of your work. You need to make sure that your products can make their way to them too! Shipping is an extremely important business process, especially if you are based online. So, let’s take a moment to focus on shipping and how your business should deal with it!

National Shipping

The first type of shipping that you should focus on is national shipping. It’s highly likely that the majority of your customers are going to be from the country that your business is based in – especially when you are first starting out. But it’s still good to offer them a few different options when it comes to shipping. Different customers have different preferences and needs, and you want to cater to as many people as possible!

Economy

Every business should offer economy delivery. This is the most basic of the basics. Depending on the courier you use, items should generally be with their recipients within three to five business days. It tends to be a good option for customers who aren’t all too fussed about getting their items straight away and who have patience. The benefit of economy postage is that it tends to be the lowest cost option. It can save customers money and this is likely to boost sales, as it brings the overall price of purchasing and receiving the product down.

Next Day

Next day delivery is a great option. Customers will have to pay more for it, but it does mean that they can have their goods the very next day, as long as they order before the deadline. Make sure that the deadline is set at a reasonable time that will allow you to source and package the product that they have requested and get it on its way to them. Increasing numbers of customers are leaving their shopping until last minute. This means that the option of next day delivery can make or break a sale – if they’re not going to get their item in time for when they need it, they’re not going to purchase it.

Same Day

Same day delivery tends to remain in the territory of major corporations who have huge numbers of staff to fulfill orders extremely quickly. But it may be an option for locals who are interested in having products delivered nearby – you could take their purchase to them yourself!

International Shipping

While you don’t have to offer international shipping, it really is a good idea. At the end of the day, you never know where your next biggest market will be. If you are selling online, chances are that anyone with an internet connection can access your online store and browse your goods. Make sure that all of these people can make purchases if they want to! Sure, international postage can be expensive. But at the end of the day, you can just charge the customer the true cost of posting and if they really want the product, they’ll pay the full amount.

Shipping Hazardous Goods

When you send items via the national postal service or by courier, you will generally have to declare whether you are sending any hazardous goods. But it’s important that you familiarise yourself with what constitutes hazardous goods – there may be items included on the list that surprise you. Batteries are a good example of this. The majority of us wouldn’t consider batteries to be dangerous, but if they leaked or came into contact with heat, they could actually prove to be. Remember to ensure that any hazardous goods are packaged appropriately and declared. This will help postal staff to deal with the package safely and correctly. Battery packaging can be found at C.L. Smith. Other potentially hazardous items include:

• Aerosols
• Alcohol
• Ammunition
• Asbestos
• Balloons
• Biological Substances
• Clinical or medical waste
• Controlled drugs and narcotics
• Corrosives
• Dry Ice
• More – you can find a list here.

Tracking

It would be great if we could send anything that we sell as a standard parcel and know that it will definitely make its way to the customer and that the customer will be acknowledge its arrival. But, unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. There are cases where items go missing in the post and don’t actually make their way to their recipient. There are also cases where dishonest people will claim that a parcel never arrived in a bid to keep its contents but receive a refund too – essentially getting the goods for free at our expense. So, if you are sending an item that is of particular value, chances are that you don’t want to risk this. You can combat these potential issues by sending your packages with tracking. This means that you will be able to see updates on the parcel’s progressing, seeing where it made it to and determining when and where it went missing if this were to happen. It also means that in order to take the package, someone will have to sign for it. People cannot then falsely claim that it hasn’t arrived. Sure, tracked postage costs more. But if the item you’re sending is of value, then the extra postage costs are more than worth it.

Returns and Exchanges

There’s always a chance that customers will want to return or exchange their products. So, to make this process as simple as possible for all involved, you might want to include a returns label in their package. If they don’t like what they’ve got, they can simply package it back up and stick the returns label on. This means that they won’t get the wrong address and the item will make its way back to you.

Shipping might not be the most exciting business topic, but it is essential. So, make sure that you’re doing it properly and offering your customers sufficient choice. This could help you to make a whole lot more profit in the long run!

How To Scale Your Craft Biz

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. When you start your own business from scratch, it’s important to know when and how to scale up your business. This is particularly important when you have a unique product and there is an increased demand. The following contributed post is therefore entitled, How To Scale Your Craft Biz.

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It sounds like the biggest oxymoron in the business world, because the idea that you can scale a handmade sounds ridiculous. After all, a handmade business is just you, doing your thing and making cash from it, so how can you scale a business that you create with your hands? Some people paint, some write and others make jewelry. The good news is that even if you are a small business with a labor-intensive production, you can still achieve scale – you just have to be willing to work for it.

Most people start out their crafty biz on sites like Etsy and Amazon, and as they’re involved in the production of the items, it’s a good place to start small. The issue comes along when the product takes off, and if you are in the position where you know your product is going to be a hit, you need a plan in place to take on the additional volume without trying to stay awake 24/7 to manage the workload. You need to learn that you have had an idea for a side hustle, and while you’re doing everything right now from the comfort of the spare room, you may well be inclined to start watching the reviews of Boss laser for equipment to invest in later – particularly if what you create requires cutting on a large scale! You should put as much effort in as you can – of course – but always have a back up plan for when your business booms. Below, you’ll read all the ways that you can scale your handmade business and stay balanced while you make it a success:

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Don’t Try To Be Perfect. You are going to get a lot of interest and orders, and you can’t always have total perfection with a handmade product. The thing is, perfection doesn’t exist with handmade products, and that’s why people love them so much: they’re unique. So, you need to ensure that you have put the customer experience first so that your business thrives for the right reasons.
Streamline Your Process. You cannot take on more volume if you haven’t itemized your production process and identify the glitches. You need to know what’s taking up your time, what the biggest causes of waste are and how you can get your process from setup and creation to fulfillment and shipping. Timing your process to perfection is important before you try to grow and potentially stretch yourself out in the wrong way.
Find A Partner. In manufacturing, not life! Diversify your product offering before you scale up from the spare bedroom, then partner up with a manufacturing business to speed up your processing times. Not only can you up the amount of product that you have in one go, you can help the customers to have the best possible experience.

You can scale your crafty business with some forward planning and careful arrangements. Take your time; there’s no rush to make yourself bigger than you can and all it will do will bite you if you grow too quickly.

Forget Issues And Start Focusing On Solutions

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Success in business as with most things in life is often impacted by how your personal approach. Is it more beneficial to focus on the issues or the solutions? The following contributed post is entitled, Forget Issues And Start Focusing On Solutions.

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Many successful business owners and entrepreneurs will tell you that one of the best things you can do for any business is stop focusing on issues and start focusing on solutions if you want your business to thrive and grow.

As humans, it’s natural for us to focus on the problem when suddenly faced with adversity. However, you should never lose sight of the fact that these problems can be used to make us better people, better business owners, and teach us lessons that we would have otherwise ignored.

Know that focusing on problems is absolutely normal – which is why you need to train yourself to do the abnormal thing, and focus on solutions to those problems instead. Failure, or an issue, is never the end of something unless you make it that way. There’s always going to be a solution.

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Take The Time To Analyze
If you’re struggling, it can be a good idea to spend some time alone, fully analyzing the problem. You need to make sure you’re objective about the issue. Don’t dramatize it. Don’t blow it all out of proportion. Remain grounded. You want to then direct all of your energy towards solutions to the problem, keeping a positive, open mind. The fact is, when we’re stressed out it can be difficult to see solutions, even if they are right in front of us. The more we focus on the things that have gone wrong, the more we see more things going wrong, further issues, and it can feel like it’s never ending. By making sure you don’t let yourself fall down the rabbit hole, you’ll come up with a solution easily and far more quickly.

It’s important to note that where your solution comes from matters, too. If it comes from a place of optimism and trust, it’s likely a good solution. However, if you come up with this solution with an air of desperation and hopelessness, it’s unlikely to be the best solution for the problem.

Put Your Solutions On Paper
Grab a piece of paper and a pen. Putting your solutions on paper, whatever they may be, helps to get your head into the right space to come up with more solutions. Make sure you have some quiet time, and that nothing is distracting you. You might realize that the solution all along was to purchase PFA tubing and replace obsolete tubing. Or perhaps you know you need to incorporate software to automate a task that just isn’t being done well by your employees. Brainstorming has a domino effect, and you’ll quickly come up with more and more ideas as you sit there and write things down.

Your next step is to decide which solution is best for your situation, and which one you are going to trust to help you overcome the problem. This type of optimism and thinking can have a profound effect on your business. You can overcome anything if you believe you can – just look at the greats, like Henry Ford!

Capacity Building Activities For All Businesses

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and two of its key focuses are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Capacity building helps increase the efficiency of businesses and organizations. This contributed post is thus entitled, Capacity Building Activities For All Businesses.

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Capacity building helps people and organizations to overcome the obstacles that inhibit them from realizing their business development goals. It is an extremely effective way of developing new managerial skills and supporting employees over the long term. In this post, we will take a look at some of the best capacity building activities that your business needs to try.

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Improving access to information and training resources: Leadership and management are not innate skills; they are skills that need to be learned and perfected over time. Providing individuals, who are either in management positions or aiming for roles within management, with access to resources will aid them to improve their leadership skills. Effective leaders empower the rest of the workplace and in doing so increase productivity. Provide access to libraries, textbooks, manuals, online material, training courses and such like. Relevant publications can improve leadership qualities and provide you with greater insight into your niche.

Encouraging open communication: One of the reasons that businesses fail to grow is because there is no communication between departments, employees, management or any combination of these sectors. Communication needs to be more than one person talking and expecting others to listen. It is by its very nature a two-way process.

Collaborative working with HR: Working closely with HR will strengthen your business processes. Working together to create an effective business development strategy is extremely beneficial, especially in relation to training. Successful companies are those that have the right people in the right roles, and that source and provide the right training to support individuals within their roles. The process starts with knowing your employees, their strengths and the areas in which they need support. HR development is one of the most crucial forms of capacity building, and thus reassessing employee roles, training, and support, is a great place to start.

Seek outside assistance: Business coaching such as that offered by James Ray and leadership consultancy firms can provide you with the assistance you require to build capacity effectively. From changing processes, to coaching personnel, to implementing new organizational structures, there are many ways to achieve this, and they will determine the most effective approach for your business.

Coordinating alliances: Finally, becoming a market leader, and staying ahead of others in your market sector, does not mean you have to do it alone. Reaching out to other businesses of a similar size or set-up can benefit both parties. An open discussion of working practices, training programs, and even marketing campaigns, can help you to see areas for improvement that were not obvious before.

This merely scratches the surface of the different types of activities that can increase capacity at your business, with more examples including staffing selection and development, strategic planning, team building, harvesting networking opportunities and much more. However, if you want to start building capacity today, the five points that have been mentioned provide a great place to begin.

4 Technologies Changing Manufacturing

Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. If you’re running a manufacturing business, it’s critical to understanding the current technologies and how they can help you operations. The following contributed post is thus entitled, 4 Technologies Changing Manufacturing.

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Quality manufacturing is at the core of many businesses. While some companies simply purchase pre-manufactured products, others rely on either outsourced manufacturing or their own manufacturing setup to create custom products. Like any other area of business, the world of manufacturing is evolving, and technology is moving at a fast pace. Any businesses that rely on manufacturing should be aware of the technology available, whether they’re looking for the right outsourcer or want to update their own manufacturing setup. Here are some of the technologies that are changing manufacturing and the relationship that many businesses have with it.

Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) involves how devices connect to each other, including computers, manufacturing equipment, vehicles and much more. It facilitates the transfer of data more easily and makes essential information more accessible and easier to analyze. Many manufacturers have already begun to use connected products. It’s not even necessary to invest in all new equipment. Many older items can be updated by adding sensors or other connected products that help to collect and share important data. The IoT makes everything more efficient, keeping everyone in the know. For example, a sensor could pick up on a problem with a piece of equipment and immediately let an engineer know about it.

Sourced from The Blue Diamond Gallery

Automation

Automation in the manufacturing process is another technology that is playing an increasingly large role. Automation from your outsourcing partners such as an injection moulding company means they will use the tech to monitor manufacturing, ensure consistent quality and transfer parts. Automation means less work for humans, so they can concentrate on doing other things. It can help to improve accuracy and quality during manufacturing, and speed things up too. There has been an increase in automation solutions in the last few years, so there are plenty of ways for manufacturers to benefit from automatic.

Augmented Reality

While it might not be in common use yet, augmented reality has been pitched as the next big thing in manufacturing and other business areas for a while. The use of AR could help to improve efficiency and it’s also popularly used for training purposes. Augmented reality could be used to help people with complex assembly or can make it easier to carry out maintenance, providing clear and visual instructions. Expert support can be provided through AR, and it can even be used to carry out quality assurance.

Mobile Technology

Within manufacturing companies, mobile technology can also prove to be useful. Mobile tech allows people to access the information they need whenever and wherever. Workers need to have access to data that helps them do their jobs properly, and employers shouldn’t ignore the growing need for mobile apps in the workplace. An app can be used to log working hours, check schedules or receive notifications about tasks that need to be completed. When employees benefit from being connected to what’s happening, the rest if the company benefits too.

Technology will continue to change the manufacturing industry. It will pay for businesses to keep up with what’s happening.

Easy Ways to Improve the Aesthetic Look of your Business

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“Your business is your investment, and for that reason, you have to do everything you can to make sure that it is successful.”

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Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Having a pretty website is one thing, and it has never been easier with affordable website build pricing and plug-and-play options, but if you have an actual base of operations with employees and customers walking in, making sure your establishment looks good is critical. The following contributed post discusses some ways you can do this and is entitled, Easy Ways to Improve the Aesthetic Look of your Business.

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Your business is your investment, and for that reason, you have to do everything you can to make sure that it is successful. In order to do this, you have to make sure that you provide an extraordinary service. You also need to make sure that your business looks the part as well, but if you aren’t quite ready to buy a new workspace, then there are a few things you can do, that will not cost you the earth, and which even the best commercial real estate development companies employ in their designs.

Open Everything Up

The first thing that you really need to do is get rid of any cubicles you have. There is no room for these in a modern office, and employees don’t often like them anyway. If you want to really step things up to that next level, then you need to switch to open desks. Co-workers will be able to collaborate with each other much more easily and they can also converse about the task at hand. Slow your staff into the idea of this so it doesn’t disrupt their working day too much, and also try and answer any questions that they have.

If you’re having difficulty with this aspect of business development, it is often worth speaking to people who’ve done it all before, like Nick Kambitsis, or reading their work. They often have insights into how you can move things along faster and get your staff used to the idea that you need to make changes.

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Be Bold

One thing that can really spruce up an office space is colour. The theme of your office should always contain the same colours as your logo. It is also important that you make your space stand out. Strong colours such as blues, reds and greens are great if you want to make your space pop, and this can work wonders for your employee motivation as well.

Your office’s aesthetic goes beyond the walls and windows, however. Extend the look into your brand and packaging with strategic intention. Coordinate packaging tape with ribbons, tissue paper, bags, and boxes so they align with the colours of your logo. Use high-quality materials and tape from EliteTape.com, for example. When you focus on the materials as much as your office space, your customers will notice.

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Glass

If you have room dividers then you may not want to get rid of them just for the sake of it. After all, you may feel as though they add some structure to the space and you may even feel as though they help your team. This is completely understandable, but you do need to make some changes if you want to improve the overall aesthetic of your office. You need to replace the dividers with glass and you may also want to consider adding some artwork as well. When you do this, you can go for the frosted look and you can also give yourself a fresh and non-intrusive design. Want to take things to the next level? Look up “what is cast glass”.

Additionally, there are several ways you can level up your office style with glass. For instance, you can revamp your space by transforming your windows, partitions, or doors with custom designs, logos, or even motivational quotes. If you want iron-on designs, consider using heat press vinyl, which lets you get creative with tons of colors and styles. Whether for branding purposes, privacy enhancements, or decorative accents, it sticks firmly and lasts a long time, all on a budget. You can also add a touch of privacy with frosted vinyl for meetings. Now, your office won’t look like everyone else’s because it stands out.

Curb Appeal

When your clients walk into your business, you want them to feel as though they are walking into somewhere that is clean and professional. If you do not take the time to really maintain your business premises then they won’t feel this way at all, and this can cause major problems for you. If you want to get around this then you need to make sure that you invest in commercial paving and that you also put the work in to try and prune any greenery that you have. Bannisters and bollards can go a long way too, and they are great at making your business feel separate from any other offices on the street.

There really are many things that you can do to try and make your business feel more professional. Some of them are more work than others, but they are all going to help your business to get to where it needs to be. They can also help you to boost your level of customer trust as well.

Utilizing Technology In Your Business

Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. In today’s digital age it’s important to properly utilize technology in your operations. Not everyone is savvy in how to go about this. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Utilizing Technology In Your Business.

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Photo by Free-Photos from Pixabay

The world around us is becoming more and more technology-based, from the telematics in our cars to the hardware in our phones. No matter where you are it seems that you can’t escape some sort of technology. So, with that in mind let’s look at how your company might try to then make the most of tech and the digital age.

Marketing

For starters, one of the ways that many companies are utilizing technology around the world is by investing their time and money in digital marketing campaigns. As referenced above, our phones have become almost like miniature computers in our pockets and therefore are perfect places for companies to target their advertising. The way they will do that will quite often be via social media, so where you start with this form of marketing?

Social Media – From Facebook to Twitter and every Instagram or Snapchat in between there is a social network out there these days for all of us to use. Rarely before in history have you as a business has such eahsy access to so many captive eyes and making the most of that is vital to your success.

It is important to remember with social media that each one has a specialty and users who are active for that reason. That means you need to target your marketing campaign carefully, don’t start a YouTube plan if you have no need for video based promotion, for example. So, the first thing any social media marketing campaign must do is identify its audience and find where they are online. Facebook has the highest number of users so if you cast a net you’re likely to catch some fish, but are they the right ones for you. A mistake made by many companies is thinking that because a social media account is free they should dive head first, far from it. Your time is currency to the company and wasting it by spreading yourself thinly over several social media websites rather than targeting a few is not a good use of it.

Photo by Pexels from Pixabay

Productivity

In addition to improving your ability to promote your business, the tech industry has delivered a vast range of applications that will help your workforce being more efficient and productive with their time. The classics of the genre include Evernote and Dropbox, both of which are regular features of many offices with the latter offering cloud-based storage and the former a type or organization tool.

However, keep your eye out for startups that are looking to revolutionize the productivity market. As we learn more about the digital era we are seeing more and more applications come to the fore that can help your business with communications, meetings and sharing information. Some of these companies that you might want to keep an eye on include: Mindmeister, Todoist, and RescueTime.

What Advantages Do Plastic Pipes Have Over Metal For Your Business?

Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). In many instances, business and science intersect – particularly those businesses where some knowledge of Chemistry and Materials Science is critical for planning projects, and budgeting for costs and savings. The following contributed post is entitled, What Advantages Do Plastic Pipes Have Over Metal For Your Business?

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Regardless of what pipe system you are looking to install one important decision you need to think about is the material of the pipes. This is imperative because it directly impacts the level of quality of your system, how long it will last you for and ultimately whether it will be cost effective or not. The two main materials you have at your disposal are plastic and metal. This article will reveal why the former option wins this battle each and every time. Why should you choose plastic pipework systems over metal?

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Durability
First and foremost, one of the main advantages associated with plastic is the fact that it is much more durable than metal is. This is because it is not susceptible to the impact of corrosion, rust and other types of degradation. However, metal is, and because of this, you can end up with extremely costly repairs on your hands as leaks are assured to arise after a certain period of time. Furthermore, if you select plastic pipework systems you don’t have to worry about experiencing that horrible metallic taste in your drinking water which frequently occurs with metal pipes.

Environmental Benefits
There is undoubtedly increased attention placed on looking after the planet in the current day and age. By using plastic pipes instead of metal you will be playing your role. This is because plastic has walls that are a lot thicker than metal and as a consequence, you will benefit from a better insulator against heat loss. Moreover, in relation to metal, it does not conduct heat anywhere as easily because it has low thermal conductivity. When you take all of this into account it means that hot water is going to stay hot longer and therefore the need for energy diminishes. This ensures that you are operating a lot more environmentally friendly than you would be if you went for metal.

Long Life Span
As mentioned earlier; conductive plastic is not susceptible to damage anywhere near as much as metal is. This is because it is immune to the effects of pitting, rust, corrosion and any other types of degradation. In essence, this means that you can expect your plastic pipework system to be like new for a minimum of 25 years.

Cheaper
Plastic pipes are undoubtedly a lot cheaper than metal pipes are, and price savings are welcomed by all businesses. There are several different reasons why this is the case. First and foremost, plastic is a lot cheaper to produce. Nevertheless, there are other cost savings that people do not initially recognise. For example, you will also save money when it comes to transportation as plastic is a lot lighter. In addition to this, because plastic tends to have a longer lifespan you will also reap cost efficiency because you will not need to spend as much on repairs and replacements. You will also reduce your energy expenses.

When you take these four key benefits into account it is really not hard to see why plastic pipes prove to be the clear winner when compared with metal systems.

How Can You Tell If Your Customers Like You

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. No matter what you business is, your customers are you lifeblood. Sales are the ultimate indicator of whether or they like your products and services, but today there other ways to gauge this. The following contributed is thus entitled, How Can You Tell If Your Customers Like You.

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Businesses need to know whether what they’re doing is the right thing. But what actually constitutes “the right thing” can be difficult to ascertain. Customers are often mysterious creatures and won’t willingly write a report on company performance.

How your company performs in the eyes of customers, though, is paramount. It’s customers who ultimately decide whether the company lives or dies and whether you end up making money in the end. If they don’t like what you’re selling, your bottom line will suffer, and you could ultimately go out of business.

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Companies need to do marketing research to find out whether customers actually like their product, but that process itself is fraught with difficulties. For starters, people are getting tired of filling out endless surveys and reviews online for products that they buy. It’s hard enough finding the products you want and ordering them, let alone writing an in-depth article about their features and how they measured up (although some people do this).

Customers want easier options when it comes to writing reviews, and often just want to give a star-rating out of five. But that doesn’t tend to help companies all that much who need specific feedback about the features of their products. Yes, it gives an overall impression that customers are happy, but not much more than that.

Working out whether customers like something that you do can, therefore, be a challenge. But, as a business owner or manager, there are still plenty of pieces of information that you can use to tell you whether what you’ve created is remarkable or not. Take a look at the following.

Your Customers Keep Coming Back

Okay sure, your customers don’t give you direct, detailed feedback. But if they keep on coming back for more, then it’s sure sign that you’re doing the right thing.

You can see this “coming back for more” effect playing out in some of the world’s most successful companies. Apple, for instance, has seen customers returning year after year each time it releases a new iPhone. For many years after the release of the original iPhone back in 2007, news outlets reported on how Apple was attracting queues of people at midnight for the launch of its new product. Although this has come down from the fever-pitch levels of a few years back, Apple is still riding the same wave. People just love its products and keep coming back for more.

What’s so surprising about companies like Apple is that customers don’t keep coming back because of low prices – the logic of many business leaders today. Instead, they come back because they know that they’re going to get a service that they can’t get anywhere else. Only Apple can do Apple.

In some ways, it’s almost like people can’t live without their Apple products. Life without an iPhone or Mac seems so far removed from how life should be that customers don’t even entertain the possibility of not having one of the company’s products. Regular businesses can take advantage of this idea too: they can harp on about how critical their products are to their customers’ worlds, and how living without them would be a nightmare.

The final thing that keeps customers coming back is usually the uniqueness of the product or customer experience. Obviously, if you’re an online retailer, it’s not as easy to differentiate your product as it would be if you were a product manufacturer, like Apple, but you can still focus on the customer experience elements that keep people coming back. One of the reasons Walmart has been so successful over the years has been its strategy of always welcoming customers in its stores and trying to serve them on an individual basis, even though it is going for the mass market. People will come back if they enjoy the overall experience and will weigh this against the prices on offer.

Your Customers Talk About What You Do

How can you tell that customers like Tesla Motors? Because they talk about the company of their own volition. People love the products and the ethos of the company, and they’re more than willing to spread the word about the firm’s products on Tesla’s behalf with no direction from the company itself.

Tesla is an unusual business in so many ways. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about it is that it has hardly spent any money on marketing at all. All its spare cash has gone into expanding its production and paying off debts, and it relies almost exclusively on the work of the community to promote its products.

Companies who can delight customers so much that they go out and start spreading the word themselves always win. People are far more likely to believe the claims of their peers than they are the company, and so customer marketing is usually a lot more effective. If you can get your customers to form a community around your business and get them to spread the word about your products, then you’re likely to win big.

Keep an eye on social media sites like YouTube which have high engagement. See whether there are any opportunities for you to reach out to influencers who would be willing to make videos extolling the virtues of your products.

Happy Customers Will Tell You They Like You

It’s hard to know what silent customers are thinking. Sure, they might love your business, or they might hate it, but it’s more likely to be that they are indifferent to it. Although that’s not a disaster, it’s also not the best possible situation.

Customers who are enthralled by your products will tell you about it. Unsolicited positive feedback is a sure sign that you’re doing something right and that you’ve adopted an approach customers like. People aren’t used to receiving impeccable service from companies most of the time, and so if you can deliver, you’re likely to find out about it. Keep track of individual customer stories and see whether a pattern emerges. Ask yourself what they like and what they don’t.