Successful Blog

Can You Put a Price on Your Reputation?

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What would you do if your business reputation was suddenly turned upside down?

Many small business owners are lucky that they never have to answer that question, yet others are confronted with that very scenario more often than they would like.

Whether it is dealing with something they manufactured, perhaps an event that was initiated by an unhappy customer or employee, those who own businesses should always have one eye on how they and their business are viewed by others.

With that being said, how can you best position your online reputation and that of your company before problems arise?

Some tricks of the trade include:

* Positive promotion – Use the different tools at your disposal to promote all the good things you and your business can do. This can be done via press releases, blog posts, social media, online forums, and more.

* Community involvement – As a small business owner, you hopefully have already established yourself in your community. If not, get active in your community, this through things like sponsoring local events, attending local events, working with other area businesses to promote them etc.

* Knowing what is being said about you – While your daily business tasks undoubtedly take up much of your time, you can’t turn a blind eye to what folks are saying about you and your company, especially online. Have your ears to the ground as to what the chatter says about you and your business, how you treat customers, what products and/or services work and which don’t etc. If you don’t listen, your customers may deliver a message that ultimately you will hear.

In the end, there is no price you can put on your reputation other than it is priceless.

As a small business owner, have you ever had your reputation called into question?

If so, how did you go about letting current and potential customers know that they should do business with you?

Photo credit: webseoanalytics.com

About the Author: With 23 years writing experience, Dave Thomas covers a variety of small business topics, including looking at how I need online reputation protection.

 

Did You Picture a Successful 2012 for Your Company’s Employees?

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With Christmas in the rear view mirror, many thoughts now turn to New Year’s Eve and the New Year that will be here in less than a week.

For many small business owners, that also means looking back at the past 12 months and determining what worked, what maybe did not work, and what needs to be done over the next 12 months to make 2013 an even better year for one’s company.

As noted last time, how did you treat your customers over these last 12 months?

As some small business owners have discovered, this last year meant gaining some and losing a few customers. The ultimate question many of them will be left asking, what could they have done better to cement these relationships with the very people that keep them in business?

While business owners will agree that customers are a vital part to staying in business, employees prove just as important if not more a key component to keeping the doors open. Without quality workers to keep things running smoothly, a business owner can see their dreams go down in flames rather quickly.

Along with reviewing what you did for your customers this year, take a few minutes at this time and review what you did for your employees.

Among the items to look at:

* Making sure their needs were met – From the little things like benefits to making sure they had all the tools necessary to complete their jobs (see below), did you meet their needs? While many small business owners have had to scale back on benefits due to the economy, others still continue to offer things like health insurance, 401(k)’s and more. If you are not offering these, can you change that in 2013?

* Setting the scene – Whether you operate out of a spacious office or one the size of your home living room, what were the conditions your employees had to work under during the last 12 months? Did you make the office environment as comfortable as possible, making sure simple things like office space, lighting, ventilation, safety etc. were in place? Office workers tend to thrive in environments that are both comfortable and secure. If they are currently working under strenuous conditions, there is a good chance that their work performance suffered at times. What do you need to change in 2013?

* Taking time to reflect – While the goal of any company is to be as productive as possible, did you recognize your workers during the year? Such occasions can be things as simple as office happy hours, a party from time to time, birthday celebrations, awards for a job well done etc. If you offer a year-end party, did you record the last 12 months and show off all the success via things like an office video or blurb photo album? By reminding employees of all the successful things they did over this last year, you not only make them feel better about their efforts, but you also give them reminders of what can be accomplished. Lastly, videos and photos of the office team working together, solving customer issues, and celebrating office milestones (birthdays, anniversaries and more) helps make for a more unified staff;

* Staff improvement – Finally, you always hear coaches and many athletes talking about there is always room for improvement with their teams. The same holds true in the workplace, especially when you run a small business with a small number of employees. As noted a moment ago, everyone there is part of a team, a unit that must function as one for the entire company to succeed. While you run the company and have the final call, get input from your workers on the company’s efforts these last 12 months. From the administrative assistant on up to your top employee, everyone’s feedback counts.

As you get set to run your business into 2013, always remember that without your dedicated employees, you could be hanging a permanently “closed” sign on the front door.

Photo credit: blog.parago.com

About the author: Dave Thomas covers small business topics for a variety of websites, including www.verybestsoftware.net.

 

 

 

Are Your Customers Giving You Anxiety?

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They are the backbone of being a successful small business person.

Yes, you may get irritated with them at times, you may wonder why they are so particular, and you may go home at night shaking your head as to why you deal with them in the first place. Yet, they (other than your employees) are the reason that you have a small business in the first place.

For the man or woman who runs their own small business, their customers can be their greatest joy or their biggest nightmare. And why can they be the latter at times?

Among the reasons:

* The customer who undoubtedly complains about their service or product. No matter what you and your staff do for them, they are never fully satisfied;

* The customer who comes to your store at the last minute. Let’s say your store closes at 9 p.m. and you are tallying up the receipts and other bookkeeping for the day. Then, much to your chagrin, here he or she comes at 8:59 p.m. and wanting to make a purchase. You or your employee put on the fake smile and tell them of course it is okay that they waited all day to come in;

* The customer who takes to online forums and social media sites to chastise you and your business. Unlike the “old days” when customers would call or write a letter to complain, many now take to the web to vent their feelings. Instead of possibly a few people finding out, they literally tell hundreds and thousands of people about your company. The end result is you could lose out on potential customers who find the comments less than flattering;

* The customer who you have to bill over and over again. While many consumers are good about paying off their bills either right away or in a prompt manner, there are always the stragglers that make life miserable for you or your accounting folks. Several invoices and reminders about their payment being late can take up valuable time that can be spent elsewhere. While some customers may truly be in a tight financial situation, others undoubtedly decide to make paying you less of a priority. As a result, your books are never up to speed.

Yes, many customers are the kind of folks you would like for neighbors, work to promote your business by telling their family and friends about it, and make you want to get up each day to go to work.

Others, however, can make your business life downright miserable.

At the end of the day, is there a certain way that you handle your customers? Is there any advice you would offer the new businessman or woman who is just about to launch their own company? Finally, what would be one thing you would change about your customers if you could?

As mentioned earlier, your customers are as important to the survival of your business as anything else.

Without them, you might as well find another line of work.

Photo credit: invistics.com

About the author: With 23 years of experience as a writer, Dave Thomas covers a wide array of items from cleaning your home gutter for winter to starting a home business.

Just How Secure is Your Business?

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For the small business owner that has to deal on a daily basis with making a profit, keeping up with the latest in products and/or services in their industry and taking care of his or her customers, worrying about security should be the last thing on their mind.

That being said, many small business owners do just that, wondering if their business is susceptible to a number of forms of theft.

From a physical break in to stolen data, business owners are finding more and more that security needs to be one of if not their top priority. But can internal threats be just as dangerous if not more than external ones, especially given today’s troubled economy?

Just as you would want the best home security system to protect your family and possessions, having a security system in place on the job is critical too.

So, for the small business owner who is not sure where to start, what should they look for in order to protect all they have worked hard for over time?

The first order of business should be to complete a Threat and Risk Assessment (TARA), allowing you to decide the best security route to travel. Take the time to look at your company’s assets and decide what their value loss impact is. Next, look to see what possible threats are facing your business, be they from the outside or possibly within. Lastly, put in place the needed procedures to make your business as secure as possible.

If you are wondering just who may be a threat to your small business, consider the following:

* Outside threats – The most common threat comes from the outside. Many thieves will scope out a small business first before striking, so look for any unusual activity with people who come to your place of work. Are they there for actual business, or are they there asking questions and trying to get a feel for your operation? If you have customers coming into your business on a regular basis, it makes sense to have security in place such as cameras and detectors at entrance and exit points to curtail shoplifting. Proper office security should also be a priority to protect your employees while they come and go, meaning the proper lighting and locks for the building space you own or rent.;

* Inside threats – Especially given today’s challenging economy, it is not unheard of to find small business owners finding criminals right under their noses. Whether it is someone stealing funds or property from the company, in-house theft can cause major financial repercussions for the small business owner. In some cases, the theft/s may go unnoticed for some period of time, meaning the company’s financial stability can be greatly impacted by the time the crimes are discovered. Make sure employees with access to company funds, computers and other items are properly screened before hiring. Consider using tools such as performance review software from Halogen” to track employee performance and ensure that no suspicious behavior arises. Only give out office keys to those who truly need them to enter and leave the building;

* Threats from competitors – You may think your business is immune from threats from the competition, but guess again. Whether it is spreading untrue rumors about your company or actually doing something physically to tarnish your business like stealing your property, you can be financially impacted from actions by your rivals. Let’s say you run a weekly newspaper and you fill the local vending machines with your product each Friday. After filling up the machines, readers call to report they can’t find your newspaper in the machines. It may not be a case of the product was so desirable, but rather your competition had someone go around and empty the machines minutes after you filled them. As a result, readers can’t get the news they want, the coupons you supplied in the publication, while advertisers are upset people are not seeing their ads. The trickle down effect can harm you before you know it;

* Cyber threats – As more and more business finds it way onto computers, is your small business properly protected? According to a 2011 survey from Symantec and the National Cyber Security Alliance, 85 percent of small business owners thought their company was safe from hackers, viruses or a cyber-security attack. That being said, a whopping 77 percent did not have a formal Internet security policy for their workers, while 49 percent failed to have an informal policy together. Data theft can be a major problem for the small business owner who does not have the proper firewalls in place. Not only can company information be compromised, but customer data can be stolen. When the latter happens, customers are not only upset, but are more apt to take their business elsewhere. Make sure that not only are you protecting in-house business information, but also have security in place when it comes to online customer transactions and more.

Given you would not leave your home susceptible to theft, can you say the same for your small business?

Photo credit: Stealbreaker.com

About the author: With 23 years of experience as a writer, Dave Thomas covers a wide array of items from starting a small business to hiring the right employees.

Are Your Customer Relationship Management Skills Up to Par?

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If you see your sales numbers and return on investment (ROI) taking a significant dip as we near the midway point of 2012, perhaps it is time to give a second look to your company’s customer relationship management (CRM) skills.

Sit down and simply ask yourself as a small business owner what tactics you are employing to make the experience every one of your customers has better each time.

Among the steps that you should be employing:

  • Properly branding your product – While other companies scale back their marketing efforts when dollars get tight, others see the chance to take advantage of the tough times and gain an edge on the competition. When it comes to branding, it is more important than ever to make your product stand out;
  • Determine value to your customers – At times when consumers are concerned about their financial security as many have been in the last few years, they are in need of reassurance. Consumers are not likely to make binge purchases; many want the sense of making sensible purchases, control, security and simplicity, leading them to be more frugal when it comes to their buying habits;
  • Social media presence – Whether it is Twitter, Facebook or another venue, social media offers a great means to engage the customer and find out what they like and what they don’t. You may or may not want to employ someone in your business on a full-time basis to oversee this area, but at the least it should be attended to on a part-time basis;
  • Customer experience – Another main area to focus in on is the customer experience. Customers have a lot of options with which to choose from, so how are you going to set yourself apart from your rivals? The key here is making the customer experience worthwhile enough where they want to keep coming back time and time again. Do your employees put your customers first or are they an after-thought? Do your employees who work the phones treat the customers like they’d want to be treated, or are they short and rude with them? Finally, do your employees provide the necessary answer/s when a customer has a question about a product? Know these things and don’t take them for granted;
  • Customer rewards – Lastly, what are you doing to reward your customers for their loyalty to your business? A customer will continue to come back over and over again if they like the service and feel the prices are reasonable. It is important as a business owner to treat returning customers properly and reward them for their continued patronage, be it through special rewards programs like discounts and the like. There is a reason this particular customer came back to you for purchases, so never forget that.

Make customer relation management skills a top priority at your small business in order to better position you and your employees to reap the rewards.

Dave Thomas, who discusses subjects such as business plans templates and customer service call centers, writes extensively for San Diego-based Business.com.