Category: Operations

Having a super-duper follow-up system in place is a critical, if not the critical, system you need to grow and build your business.

Let me ask you…

When you have a client consultation and you ask the client to work with you, and they say something like:

I need to think about it;

Not yet;

Can I get back to you?

What system do you have in place to follow-up with them and turn them into a paying client?

This is where you need a super-duper follow-up system in place so that you can continue to connect with them and, when they’re ready to purchase, you’re top of mind. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a consultation with a potential client for them not to say yes right away. But when I’ve stayed in touch with them and regularly followed up with them, when they were ready to purchase they became a client. Sometimes this process takes a week or two, sometimes several weeks, and sometimes several months.

So it’s really important that you have a system in place so that you can stay in touch with both potential clients and past clients. Here are my top 5 strategies for creating your follow-up system.

1. System that you use. There are many CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems available, from using Outlook to using a dedicated CRM system such as Salesforce or AddressTwo. Choose the one that’s right for you. I’ve tried several over the years and have finally settled on Salesforce. I like it because I can customize it to my exact needs, making it easy for me to use. And, most importantly, because it’s easy for me to use, it’s easy for me to keep up-to-date. So find a system that is right for YOU and YOUR business.

2. Categorize each contact. Every contact you add to your contact management database needs to have a category so that you can easily find particular groups of clients. I categorize my contacts by where they are in the sales cycle process, and as they move through the sales cycle I will re-assign them a category accordingly.

3. Create simple templates. As I’ve discovered over the years, templates are a huge timesaver! So it’s important that the contact management system you use has a template feature. I’ve used a couple where it wasn’t possible to do this and, for that reason, I’ve looked for another system. Templates can be used for quick check-ins, missed calls/appointments, informing of new programs, or providing updates in your business. It’s great to have a library of templates created and ready to go, which makes doing your follow-up really quick and simple.

4. Utilize the tasks feature. This is a HUGE one for me! I need a system that allows me to add a particular activity or task for a client, let me assign a date it needs to be done by, and then pop up and alert me when that task is due. If I didn’t have this feature, then quite simply I’d forget to connect with the client.

5. Update it regularly. So now you’ve got this super-duper contact management system in place, it won’t be worth a hill of beans unless you keep it updated regularly. You may choose to update your system at the end of each day or on set days of the week. For me, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings are my follow-up focus time. This is when I connect with clients, and update my system.

Now that you’ve got some simple strategies for creating your follow-up system, and you know how critical this system is to your bottom line, what tweaks are you going to do to improve your follow-up system? Follow these five steps above, and you’ll soon see an increase in getting more clients, and therefore increasing your profits.

Article Contributed by Jessica Sanders

While there are a number of important aspects you’ll need to get in order as a new or current small business owner, one of the most important, though seemingly trivial, is credit card processing. You’ll need to choose the right merchant, work with the right vendors and make the process customer friendly.

There are 6 key components to keep in mind when considering how you’ll handle your credit card processing; from vendor to customer satisfaction.

1. Merchant Fees

Most companies will charge a fee per transaction – it’s a standard process that every business will have to budget into their overall finances. However, some charge a lower fee than others, and that will give you flexibility in credit payments. Look for a merchant that charges 2 – 2.5% or less. This will be ideal for you as it gives you more freedom to accept a variety of payments.

2. Funds Submission

If your customer makes a payment on Monday, they don’t want to wait a week to see the funds taken from their account. Often times, customers don’t are oblivious of this step, leading to over spending on their part. When that happens, your customers may blame you, at which time you turn to your merchant. Be sure to find a provider that has a fast fund submission process – you’ll want to read reviews and get references.

3.       Debit versus Credit

Some vendors will charge more for one or the other – usually giving precedence to debit, as funds need to be in the account for the original authorization to process. Many businesses combat this problem by offering convenience fees for customers who choose to use the least expensive method of payment.

4.       Customer Experience

This is your main source of interaction with the customer, thus you want the process to be quick, easy and seamless. While the process itself should be user friendly and non-labor intensive, security is a main aspect of the process, especially online. Be sure every transaction has verification steps to allow your customers the comfort of knowing they can purchase safely with you.

5.       Authorization Time

While most merchants will boast fast authorization times, 5 seconds or under, this isn’t always the case. It’s safe to assume your customers are busy, and want to get in and out. Long authorization times mean lower customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

6.       Variety

Finally, your customers are diverse – while you may have a specific audience you target to, they won’t all be paying with Visa cards, and so it’s important that you cater to their specific needs. Whether you know the main vendor used by your customers or you choose to accept all cards, convenience is critical.

Credit card processing seems like a simple task in the grand scheme of things. However, it’s a main source of interaction between your business and your customer, thus it’s important that you place a priority on getting it right. Finding the right merchant and accepting the preferred vendors of your customers will go a long way for customer satisfaction and sales.

About the Author

Jessica Sanders is an avid small business writer touching on topics that range from social media to POS systems and accounting software. She is a professional blogger and web content writer for ResourceNation.com.

Regardless of the size of a company in this day and age, everyone seems to be rightly concerned with their carbon footprint and making themselves more environmentally friendly. As well as having a clearer conscience, many companies are also trying to cut their emissions to keep a good reputation. Here are a few tips to help cut down your carbon footprint as well as maintaining a positive image.

Energy Efficiency

Perhaps the most obvious piece of advice is to simply ensure that your energy goes as far as possible. Simple changes can be made to absolutely any business to ensure that this is the case. For example if you have an office or a depot; replace those old light bulbs with new, energy-saving ones and make sure that equipment is only switched on when in use. It’s amazing how simple these things are, and how often they are forgotten about. For those who have a little more time and money, it may be worth investing in some timers to ensure that electrical equipment and lights are switched off when the property is vacant.

Another thing that many people don’t consider is to upgrade their technology. Almost everything technology-wise is built with the environment in mind these days, and the newest developments are always likely to be more energy efficient than a ten year-old piece of kit.

Transportation

Obviously, depending on the type of business in question, transport can play a huge part in a company’s carbon footprint. Even if your day to day work doesn’t involve driving as such, the large majority of employees are likely to drive, catch a bus or train to work, whilst deliveries more often than not arrive in a van or wagon.

It wouldn’t be logical to suggest that vehicle use is swapped for an alternative method of transportation as many firms rely on cars and vans to carry out a daily job. However this isn’t to say that cutbacks can’t be made in areas relating to transport. The efficiency of transport can be increased simply through the use of a vehicle tracking device which can help reduce fuel usage by ensuring fleet drivers take the quickest, most direct route and get more miles per gallon of petrol. All this has a knock-on effect in ensuring the company has a smaller carbon footprint.

Carbon Offsetting

A novel idea that doesn’t quite reduce emissions, but allows companies to try and make up for their carbon footprint by contributing to environmentally friendly schemes. The scheme works like this: companies buy so-called ‘carbon credits’ that are measured in comparison to the emissions they have created. Once they are paid for, the money used to purchase the credits goes towards projects such as hydro-electric power stations which, in turn, help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Although a business isn’t quite reducing its own emissions by using this scheme, they are helping reduce them from elsewhere. Whilst this is a nice idea and obviously very beneficial; it shouldn’t be used as a company’s first choice for cutting carbon emissions. The work should probably start from within and, if emissions are impossible to cut, then carbon credits should be considered as the way forward.

 

Virtual offices are becoming more and more popular as technology grows and allows them to become functional. Having employees and co-workers who live on completely different sides of the world is a common occurrence these days. This type of collaborative virtual office not only saves you from having to rent office space and equipment for your team, it also cuts commuting costs and provides a level of comfort for everyone involved by allowing employees to work from home or wherever they feel most inspired to work.

Here are five free tools that are essential to allowing virtual office’s to function and prosper by providing your employees or co-workers with the ability to communicate, collaborate and support each other even when they are thousands of miles away.

Google Apps

If there is one tool that is most important for running a virtual office, then it would have to be Google Apps. Google has set the standard for quality free services being offered to businesses. Gmail is one of the best and most trusted email clients, Google Calendar works as a great planner for all of your workers, and Google Docs gives your employees a full Office suite along with tons of storage space. All in all, Google Apps makes collaboration and coordination a breeze and is a must for any virtual office.

Skype

If you are looking for an instant messaging program to use when talking with your employees, Skype is probably the best option. You can chat via text with your co-workers and employees, but you can also talk to them and even do video conferencing. Skype also enables group chats for including everyone that can also be handled via text, audio or video. Skype is free and takes care of all your live communication needs.

CrossLoop

CrossLoop is a great tool that can help you fix problems without having to outsource even further. For example, if one of your copywriters has a problem  with their computer that one of your web developers might be able to solve, this remote desktop sharing solution enables you to let the expert in your team take control of whatever machine is having problems and fix the issue remotely.

Dropbox

Online file storage is very important for virtual collaboration and Dropbox has a proven track record as being one of the best free services in the business. Having a central location for storing files that several people within the virtual office might need at various times is very important. Dropbox gives you 2 GB of free storage per user and is very reliable.

TeamViewer

This is one of the best free screen sharing applications available. It allows you to connect up to 25 team members at once and have them all share their screens. They can also work together on the same file, track all changes that have been made and transfer files between each other. It is an essential tool for virtual collaboration, and it is especially good to use for tutorial or training sessions.

With these five free tools, you will be well on your way to establishing a well-oiled and productive virtual office that will be able your workers to function efficiently and effectively despite never being in the same place at the same time.

About the Author:

Janice Blythe is a longtime contributor at Cometdocs. Her interests as a blogger include new media, technology and education, among other things.

 

You should never wait to reduce your overheads, if the global economic down turn hasn’t motivated you into investing into eco-friendly money saving devices what will? As energy prices continue to grow and with rises expected in the near future, gas and electric is an area any entrepreneur can nick back some precious pounds, euros or dollars.

The G8 summits should act as a constant reminder of how important eco factors are in business, as global agendas go environmental issues are definitely at the forefront of government’s manifestos. Many countries around the world are investing heavily into new technological developments that could help to slash businesses and consumers energy bills and reduce the size of your carbon footprint. Take a look at some of the best gadgets on the market, you might be surprised and go and buy one:

A-rated energy appliances

It’s not always possible to go out and purchase new appliances, but when the moment comes it’s important to look out for energy efficiency rated appliances. Energy efficiency ratings go from A to G and buying a fridge freezer, washing machine, dryer, dishwasher or other appliance that bears the highest rating will ensure that energy is used sparingly. Research has shown that if premise in the UK upgraded their washing machines and dishwashers to energy efficient ones, it would be estimated to save nearly £250 million a year and 1.3 million tonnes of CO2.

Radiator foil

If you have radiators around the office you can ensure energy doesn’t escape through the back of it by introducing foil into the back of your radiators. These nifty sheets are expected to save at least £8 a years per radiator, this is money that could be better spent on marketing or adverting or even a premium Linkedin membership. The foil is simply placed down the back and is very cheap to purchase!

Enviroplugs & Thermostats

Enviroplugs can be used to charge your mobile or laptops for free using the power of the sun’s rays. It is simple to use as you simply plug in your device into your charger and it will automatically let you know when your battery is full. If your energy provider hasn’t provided you with a programmable room thermostat you need to get on to them, this will enable you to control the temperature in your office, this will allow you to keep energy down to minimum.

PVC Solar panels

Most commercial buildings are ideal for solar PV: with large roofs, 3 phase electricity supplies and daytime usage of electricity, commercial buildings give their owners and occupiers an unbeatable opportunity to benefit from solar PV. For owner occupiers the benefits are compelling, but even on leased buildings it is easy to install systems that will benefit both landlord and occupier. Ardenham Energy can give advice on how this is best achieved.

Thermal leak detector

Research has found that the average premise can attribute 20% of its energy loss to draughts. This can be combated simply by introducing a temperature tolerances detector. The thermal device will show red spots for warmer areas and blue spots for colder areas, it’s advised to do this every three months as the seasons change, this will enable you with the information you need to look at blocking or insulating high areas of draughts.

Energy saving light bulbs

When it comes down to it, energy saving light bulbs can save your business at least £45 pound a year on electricity bills. The bulbs can be bought in local stores and replace the standard light bulbs within seconds. These light bulbs can be found for under a pound or even free through promotional offers.

I hope the above devices have given you food for thought, being a business eco warrior doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. A modern approach to energy saving for some businesses have been asking staff to come in later and work later in winter and work earlier and leave earlier in summer. This helps businesses save on energy as it can be warmer and cooler at different times of the day, allowing less energy consumption in your business.