Is Your Business ‘Moving’ or ‘Pivoting’ to Meet Customer Needs?
Remember when UPS was going with the slogan, “Moving at the speed of business”? It wasn’t a bad slogan. However, marketing experts say that when UPS dropped “Moving at the speed of business” and adopted “What can brown do for you?” as a slogan and center of its marketing campaigns, the company hit a homerun. I think there are important points every business can learn from the evolution of those slogans and the results of the recent [24]7 Customer Engagement Survey point to some of the ways this is true. First, the idea of business “moving” along a linear path is off point today. This especially applies to how your customers interact with your business. Picture your customers who have questions they need answered or problems that must be solved. They do not want to “move” through a linear help system; they want to “pivot” to the place where they can get their answers. They want to be able to turn immediately and find the resource that will solve their problem. Here’s what the [24]7 Customer Engagement Survey found: Nearly two thirds of all customer service inquiries start at a website, 64 percent, in fact. The first thing most people do is find a self-service system through which they can resolve their issues. If that doesn’t deliver the desired results, they want to immediately pivot to a higher-level system that is convenient, such as an online-chat system. Consumers don’t want to start plodding along a trail that might eventually lead them to the answer they need; they want “customer service system number two” to be instantly available – at their fingertips. “Companies need to provide robust self-service in the first channel and make it easy to get assistance and task completion in a second channel,” the survey concluded. “For companies this means that escalation from self-service channels (website or mobile app) to assisted-service channel (chat or phone), requires new capabilities in a world of effortless customer engagement (my emphasis). Chat and voice agents must be equipped with knowledge and context to understand what the customer did in prior channels,” according to [24]7. Don’t make your customers retell their tales of woe at every stop along their customer service journey! Consumers want to seamlessly pivot to the channel that will solve their problems. Companies that force them to march through routines that require them to start sending emails or navigate through a legacy interactive voice response (IVR) phone system are in trouble. Consumers switch brands. For example, among the survey’s 3,500 respondents, two out of five said they had ended a relationship with a company because they were frustrated with its self-service phone system. Ouch. This trend will only intensify in coming years. Millennials are officially the biggest group of consumers today and they have been raised on efficient omni-channel customer service solution delivery systems. If two out of five consumers are dumping brands today because of an antiquated IVR system, it will be four out of five very soon. The future belongs to companies who can raise their game to meet sharply rising consumer expectations and implement online customer service systems that pivot in sync with customer...
read moreHow Does Your Small Business Growth Compare To This New National Index?
You might argue that we already have enough firms measuring the “health” of US small businesses and that sometimes the pictures they paint are at odds with one another. Most of them take snapshots on a monthly or quarterly basis. While these are useful and interesting, sometimes we make too much of their results. Frankly, month-over-month or quarter-over-quarter results always vary and we can misinterpret minor changes. The newest player in this crowded field is the Bank of the West Small Business Growth Index and I think it has some good things going for it. First, it’s yearly, so the ups and downs that it reflects are tied to a significant passage of time. Second, it’s looking at some very solid measures of growth rather than attempting to measure something rather elusive, such as “confidence.” Finally, I like it because it gives you some real bench marks against which you can judge the performance of your own small business. Its first small business growth index – recently released here – gives us a rating of 54. Anything less than 50 would be a contraction within the small business sector. Anything over 50 reflects small business growth. Since this is the first year of the index, we can’t put this in historical perspective. However, it’s safe to say that 54 represents cautious growth. But when we look at the components of the index, it becomes somewhat more revealing. Index components The index is a combination of these figures for the last 12 months (current statistics in parenthesis): The percentage of businesses that made investments in themselves (78 percent), The percentage of businesses that posted higher profits (41 percent), The percentage of businesses that saw increased revenues (39 percent), The percentage of businesses that experienced increased sales (39 percent), and The percentage of businesses that made cutbacks (37 percent). How do you rank compared to those benchmarks? Are you among the US small businesses that have invested in themselves? This is one of the most encouraging numbers here because it tells us that small business owners are confident enough to lay down bets on their companies. Making smart investments It’s a fact that to enjoy the kind of success that we all aspire to, it requires investment. No business ever became great by cutting back. Sure, there are seasons when small business owners must be prudent, but they also need to look for strategic opportunities, like a running back who sees that little crease in the defense and takes advantage of it. (A little nod to the first days of the football season!) For example, if physical expansion makes sense for your small business – either a larger facility or additional locations – taking advantage of a depressed real estate market would make a lot of sense. Your business would be poised to come roaring back when the negativity has been wrung out of the daily news. Here’s how those new investments break down: Developing new products or services, 35 percent; Boosting marketing spend, 28 percent; and Hiring new staff, 24 percent. In the “profit and loss column,” as I reported above, 41 percent of small businesses were more profitable in this year than the previous year, and on average their profits went up 25 percent. Not bad. On the other...
read moreThis Week in Small Business: How to market in a small community, the power of stories, Shark Tank lessons and more
Small may be beautiful, but it’s also challenging, especially when marketing a small business in a small community. But this week’s collection of curated content has some answers for that dilemma. You’ll also find the questions you should be asking as the leader of your small business, great ecommerce tips, and a generous helping of much more… Marketing and sales Steve Sheinkopf turned around the company his grandfather founded with nearly a zero ad budget. He followed five rules to create a stand-out marketing campaign for his small business. Ian Cleary recaps a talk by Matt Lerner of 500 Startups, revealing the top tools used by his team of marketing growth hackers. There are challenges marketing a small business in a small community. This Mad Mimi article takes on those challenges. A great landing page can be the difference between success and failure. Use the creative advice here to boost your copywriting skills. Make your holiday season outrageously successful by using the power of Pinterest in your marketing. Two articles on the power of “story” proved to be popular this week. One on Entrepreneur and one on my site. If you’re still talking about 30-second TV commercials and think that there’s much marketing outside of digital marketing, you haven’t noticed the disruption and need to reframe your thinking. And if you need help evaluating your digital marketing campaign, you’ll find it here. Leadership, management and productivity Some small business loans require daily automated clearing house (ACH) payments. Here’s why some owners like the system, while others hate it. If you want to be a leader in your small business, not merely a boss, here are five questions you need to be asking. Apps aren’t just for social media marketing. You can even find great apps to help your HR efforts. Do you want to add eCommerce to your online presence? If you leverage Instagram, check out Springbot. Entrepreneurship, startups and innovation Women, do you want to find the best places across the fruited plain to put down your roots as an entrepreneur? This NerdWallet article and infographic will give you the answer. You may never get featured on “Shark Tank.” But you can still learn the lessons Rich Winley learned when he pitched his biz. (Why did Mark Cuban drop out less than two minutes into the pitch?) Politics, government and the economy Do you have an attorney in your area that likes to sue over issues involving the Americans with Disabilities Act? Here’s a cautionary tale from the Twin Cities. Philip Salter explains why and how high growth small businesses are key to real economic growth. He writes from Great Britain, but the lessons apply everywhere. Jeanne Shaheen, U.S. senator from New Hampshire, discusses how women in small business are cracking the glass...
read moreIs the Survival of Your Small Business Killing You? How To Tell and What To Do
Hey small business owner: Would you like to know an easy way to tell if you’re at a higher risk for depression, alcoholism, type-2 diabetes, heart attack, stroke and just about every other modern health and wellness nightmare? You can find out by answering one question: Do you work more than 55 hours a week in your small business? If you answer yes to that question, there’s a good chance that you’re on a road to some severe health problems, if you haven’t arrived there already. The British medical journal, “The Lancet,” recently published a study that uncovered many of these health issues related to being a workaholic. However, there have been many studies over the last decade or so that have found similar associations between overwork and bad health. It’s important to make one thing very clear: These health issues are associated with long hours of work. In other words, where overwork is found, there is a good chance that overconsumption of alcohol (and other health problems) will be found as well. I make this point because there is a difference between association and causation. In my drinking example, both might be caused by a bad marriage, a failing business or any number of reasons. However, since so many bad outcomes are associated with working too many hours, we can consider “hours worked” as sort of a “canary in the coal mine.” Miners used to take canaries down into the mines with them because the birds were more sensitive to hazardous gases. If the canary died, the miners knew they had to take action. In the same way, if you’re logging upwards of 55 hours a week in your small business, your canary is starting to stagger around its cage. You need to take a step back and figure out what’s wrong in your approach to managing your small business. Start asking yourself questions like these: Is my business model bound to fail? Am I too reluctant to delegate? Am I avoiding other aspects of my life by filling the hours with work? Is fear my primary motivator? Perhaps I haven’t listed the exact question that applies to your situation. If so, the point is to find out why you are working so many hours and then do something about it. Further, if you’re logging this many hours, not only are your harming your health, you aren’t doing your small business any favor either. A Stanford University study showed that productivity starts to fall off after 50 hours of work. Once you get that that point, you’ll be working more and more and achieving less and less. That’s not the best way to get the edge you need to be successful in your small business. By the way, cognitive skills decrease as well, so when you’re overworked you’re more likely to make bad decisions. Have I scared you, or at least warned you sufficiently? You should take the concept of work-life balance seriously, for the good of both your work and your life. Check out the series of guest posts work-life balance expert Jeff Davidson has written for us. While you build your small business up, don’t let your small business run you down. ...
read moreHow To Get the Benefits of a Flexible Schedule in Your Small Business
As a small business owner sometimes it’s easy to feel that big companies enjoy some advantages that will never be available to you. You’ll probably never bring in Emeril Legasse to do a cooking demonstration in your company cantina, right? But what would you think if I told you that you can give employees the perk that ranks highest on their list of desired job benefits? In fact, many of you can probably do this more easily than some large companies. The single most desirable job benefit is flexible work hours. Several surveys put this benefit at or near the top of the list when fulltime employees are asked what they want at work. If you aren’t yet on the bandwagon you need to consider flexible work schedules in your small business. Clearing the hurdles The questions owners typically ask are, “What is flexible scheduling?” and “How can my small business offer flexible working hours?” Of course, there’s no single answer that covers every situation, but with some creativity you can probably find a way to begin offering flexible hours to your small business team. Let me give you two starting points. My first point starts with another popular benefit employees are looking for: working fewer hours. I saw one figure recently that said most fulltime employees work, on average, 47 hours a week. Do you have employees who would like to reduce their hours? If you do, that could make it easier to offer more flexible work schedules in your small business. Frankly, when people are putting in 47 hours, there’s often little room for flexibility! If there are members of your team who would appreciate rolling back their hours a bit, that gives you the opportunity to bring this group together and work out the parameters of a more flexible work schedule in your small business. In some cases, two employees could coordinate, with one person working from home, while the other handles the office. They could switch home and office duties in a way that works for both of them. Your critical supervision In the scenarios I suggested above, one thing is important: You, as the owner of your small business, are involved in making the decisions and communicating your expectations. This is the second important point when you decide to experiment with flexible scheduling in your small business. You can’t afford to leave this to chance. That would be unfair to you and to your employees. (I should mention that often productivity increases with flexible scheduling, but if you don’t provide the proper guidance, you could experience exactly the opposite.) Communication is key when allowing employees to work with less direct supervision, which is the case when you move your small business to flexible hours. If your version of flex scheduling makes use of home or “off-campus” telecommuting, consider going with a specialized chat service like Slack. At a minimum, be sure your employees who are involved in flex hours understand what they need to do to meet your communication expectations. If this is new to you, you can expect a learning curve where you’ll have to iron out bugs and grow more comfortable with the arrangements. However, as a small business owner you should also take heart in the fact that by offering flex...
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