Category: Business Tips

In these trying times, small and medium businesses are trying to keep up with the mighty corporations looming over them.  When budgets and profits decrease, businesses need to compensate.  The following are some cost efficient cutbacks.

5. Jump on the “Co-Opetition” Train.

Money Crashers define co-opetition as creating relationships with other small or medium business orders to help cut costs on supplies and other goods. While it is a good way to be thrifty,  having good relations with other business owners may also prove to be advantageous in the future.  But remember, with every partnership you need to give as much as you take.

2. Analyze your expenses and see where you can cut back.

Sometimes the little costs add up, so analyze everything. Can you buy less supply more frequently or go paperless to decrease printing costs? Moreover, analyze the services and supplies that you already use, and see if you can bargain for lower rates.  If not, try to shop around and use competition to spark a desire to negotiate. Also, get rid of unnecessary equipment, especially ones you continuously pay for or lease. You may not absolutely need that extra fork lift or heavy duty printer.

3. Use your real estate.

Whether you realize it or not, you are sitting on a treasure trove.  Again, if you’ve been a steady cash cow for your landlord, try to negotiate for lower rent. Develop a good relationship with him or her, so that a negotiation may not be as awkward or as difficult. If that doesn’t work, then look into subletting any unneeded space.

4. Cut employee costs.

While this may not be the popular choice, it is a good way to cut back costs.  But before you tap into your inner Apprentice, try cutting pay first. Other cutbacks can include unnecessary employee perks or benefits. You can also trim your work week or day, which would drastically decrease costs all around. Have a trial period before you commit to anything. Finally, try employing interns or students. They don’t have to be paid as much and will be grateful for the experience.

5. Increase marketing without increasing costs.

While conventional marketing may be costly, there are other more cost efficient methods. Using social media, for example, can be a great channel to promote offers, products, contests, etc.  You can also use your customers to do your marketing for you with discounts if they bring a friend. Take a look at some other marketing techniques on Nolo.com.

If you own a business, you know the dreaded feeling of a missed call. Was it a customer, a supplier, or a potential lead? If the caller doesn’t leave a message, you may never know. What’s worse, they may never call back.

Unanswered calls can be painful to a business’s bottom line as potential customers continue down the list of businesses that cater to their needs.

In today’s world of easy internet searches straight from our mobile phones, potential customers aren’t limited to one or two businesses in their local phone book. Approximately 61 percent of Google searches result in a phone call. The entire internet is at a customer’s fingertips, so patronage is often a matter of who answers first. And in the world of online reviews, missed calls can translate directly to bad reviews that discourage other potential customers from even bothering to call.

Answering the calls is just the first step to getting a customer’s business.  Customers want to hear a friendly voice and a positive attitude, not a harried business owner trying to juggle too many job titles at once. It can be hard to show the appreciation a customer wants acknowledged when you are stuck in a stockroom, a delivery dock, or even in a meeting or business conference.

What does a business owner to do? Obviously, answer every call possible, and absolutely answer every voicemail or email in a timely fashion. But that can leave little time to actually do business.

The answer? A receptionist, of course. But wait, you’re thinking, that’s expensive! Traditionally yes, but in today’s internet and telecommute-driven world, it doesn’t have to be. A virtual receptionist can be had for a fraction of the cost of in-house employees who come with their own downsides, like sick days and vacations.

A caller who has a positive phone experience is 10-15 times more likely to convert from potential customer to actual customer than someone who has done an internet only search. On the flip side, 79 percent of customers say they won’t call back if calls go unanswered and 69 percent say they won’t bother calling back if they get a busy signal.

Virtual receptionists are the answer to a huge customer service headache. They can answer those calls you can’t, or even every call, leaving you free to run your business more efficiently, and giving your customers a positive phone experience that will lead to more future business.

Email is the most common form of work-related communication. So many people are bombarded with many emails in a day, and it can become overwhelming.

Having all of your emails pile up in your inbox is not a good idea because it quickly becomes too difficult to find anything. But, following these organizational tips can get you on your way to a clean inbox and a more sane life.

Think about your goals

Take a few minutes to consider your goals. Knowing where you want your end point to be will help you get started and stick to your plan.

Where do “done” emails go?

Your first choice needs to be where to put emails after you have read them and taken any necessary actions associated with them. The best way to accomplish this step is by creating a filing system. A good rule of thumb is to keep an email for about a month after you’ve completed the tasks associated with it. If it pertains to a large project, you can keep it a bit longer.

Creating a filing system

Creating a filing system does not need to be daunting; just follow these steps:

• Take a quick scan of your emails and create a list of big categories
• Create subfolders within the big categories
• Start dropping emails into their appropriate file folders

To delete or not to delete

This is the point at which some people become paralyzed with fear. A good rule of thumb to follow is that if you haven’t looked at the email in the past month then it is okay to delete. Exceptions to this rule are important documents such a contracts. Go back over emails that you have filed every few months and do a purge, so you don’t get overwrought with emails.

When to put an email in its file

Keep an email in the inbox until you take an action on it. As soon as the action is completed, then file it where it belongs.

Create rules

Once your filing system is in place, create rules for what to do with incoming emails and always follow them. It will help you stay organized.     Once your email inbox is organized, you will feel like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders. But, realistically, busy people often feel like they do not have the time to begin the inbox organization process.

That’s where Gabbyville can step in. Their virtual receptionists can help you organize your inbox and keep it humming smoothly. Contact Gabbyville today and take control of your inbox before it takes over control of you.

In our technological age, we still rely on our phones to do business. When we are not available to speak with someone on the phone, most people leave a voicemail message in the hope that it will be returned.

Although many voicemail messages often go ignored, that can be a problem. It is simply good business to return every voicemail you receive. If you do not believe that statement, keep reading to learn how answering a voicemail can change your business.

It shows you care

Too often voicemails are not returned. Even though the reasons for it are often legitimate, people feel slighted when their calls to a business are not returned. Potential and current clients can take a non-response to a voicemail to mean that the business is too busy to care about their needs and therefore will not continue to forge a working relationship with your company. However, making the effort to return a phone call can have a positive effect. If the returned phone call wins over a new customer or retains an old one, it was worth the while.

It might be something you need

Often calls come in from someone other than customers. Sometimes the calls are from salespeople who are looking to further their business. Since your business relies on the phone to function, then you know others do as well. If the person on the other end of the line is offering a product or service that can help you run your business more efficiently, it is worth returning the phone call to investigate the situation further.

You can change the entire tenor of your business simply by returning your voicemail messages. Although returning your phone messages takes extra time out of your busy work day, it is well worth the effort. When you return your voicemail messages, it shows that you are a conscientious and professional business owner with whom it is worth doing business.

If you do not have time to return your voicemail messages within 24 hours, you should consider hiring a virtual receptionist (VR) from Gabbyville. Your VR can return every voicemail you receive and take care of all of the associated issues as well. That leaves you with additional time to help build your business. Contact Gabbyville today and have your voicemail messages answered tomorrow.

When you’re in business, you need reliable communication with everyone.  From your clients to your employees, you need to be able to get a reach of them right away.  Virtual PBX systems have allowed business to thrive through superior service.  There is a saturation of PBX systems available, and finding the right one can be a challenge.  If you can wade through all the options, you can find the best one for your business.  There are plenty of various factors to consider when you start shopping for a new PBX system. Here’s how you can find the right one to grow your business.

1. Understanding how they work

The PBX system is a software that allows you to connect multiple lines in your offices.  The analog system required an operator, but the digital age has phased them out.  You can switch lines quickly throughout your office to connect with the right person.  The digital systems automatically connect with the line you need.

2. The Merits of Traditional PBX Systems

Traditional landlines are how the prior PBX systems used to work.  You will need to spend more money for each line you add, but it helps your business grow.  The virtual PBX system uses the internet to connect with anyone in your company.

3. The Integration of Virtual PBX Systems

The integrated systems use your internet connection to call anyone.  You want to use an IP PBX since they are designed to work for business.  You can keep the system in your company, so you don’t pay for subscription feeds.

4. You can Host a Third Party

The virtual PBX is run off-site, and the calls are sent over a network.  It reduces the cost to have it off-site since you are combining the internet and phone lines.  A central server directs the calls to the person you’re trying to reach.

5. It is Excellent for Growing Businesses

The virtual system allows you to separate the company and set up the exchange.  You will work less, and you don’t have to understand the PBX system.  You can only run the virtual system through the internet.

6. You Will Reduce Telecommunication Cost

You won’t have to have multiple phone lines to run the virtual PBX.  It will clear your overhead since you’re not paying for phone lines and transfers.  You won’t have to pay an employee to direct the calls either.  It is an excellent alternative for anyone looking to expand their business.

Dealing with customer service can be tricky at the best of times, whether you are the customer or the service provider. Sometimes you catch a break though as the provider, and get someone who is genuinely interested in whatever you are offering but is unable to talk at that time.

You schedule a callback and wait anxiously at the designated time to call them, for them to pick up. But then, you get their voicemail, or an assistant who says they got caught up in something and will you please call back another time? This can be frustrating; or let’s say the same scenario in reverse. You get caught up in other projects at work and are unable to call back to your lead right away.

This situation can be equally frustrating. And if you wait too long, your lead may just decide to go with another service provider. It’s no secret that in our modern age of instant meals, lightning fast Google Fiber internet, and near instantaneous everything, we expect results and we expect them now.

Not in five days, or five hours, or even five minutes, we expect things to be done right away, particularly if we are looking to become a customer. A recent study suggests that the longest at least 15% of customers will typically wait on hold is about 40 seconds. Now we’re talking about callbacks, but you can see the correlation that people are extremely impatient.

One of the most efficient ways to increase satisfaction in your customers is to always keep your customer informed about what is happening. As someone who has worked in customer service for almost a decade, including crowd control and wait staff positions, I have typically found that if there is a delay, but you inform the customer, they are much more relaxed and won’t get nearly as frustrated.

If you have to delay calling someone back for whatever reason, it’s a good idea to shoot off an email or even have an assistant or co worker to call and inform the customer of the delay.

The best rule of thumb for keeping in contact with your leads is the dating rule: three days after the first date. If you call back right away you seem to eager and overbearing. Day two will be okay for a call back, a nice neutral day. But by day three, that’s the golden day, the make-or-break day.

Day three is usually the day that a person who’s been out on a date will either continue to pine after you (unlikely especially given the myriad options for online dating), or they will say “oh well”, and move on to another potential candidate. So do yourself a favor and try to call back the same day at best, or within two to three days at most.

The phone rings for a while at your small business, and no one gets to it. That’s not a big deal, right? Actually, unanswered calls can be a death sentence for small businesses, and can be a major harm to larger businesses too. This article will give you a sense of what unanswered phone calls say about your business.

For starters, unanswered phone calls mean lost business. That phone call may have been a customer. Now that their call was not answered, they are going to move down the list to one of your competitors, and they will get that customer’s business instead of you.

That phone call also might have been a business associate or supplier. Not answering their phone call could have a range of negative effects – from establishing a negative relationship with a business associate to missing a shipment that could offset your business for weeks.

Unanswered calls also affect your business in other ways; it affects your reputation. When potential customers are looking up your business, they will likely come across a review. One of the first things that people will say in a negative review is whether or not they felt appreciated as a customer. If a potential customer sees an array of reviews saying that your business does not answer the telephone, you can be assured that potential customer will look elsewhere for their needs.

None of these scenarios are ideal. The best advice is to make sure that you are always answering your phone. After all, communication is key. Sometimes, though, it can be hard to always answer the phone. You might be busy with other customers, other business, or any other number of distractions.

A great solution to this problem is a receptionist. But those can be expensive, and they can be even more work than just answering a phone. A virtual receptionist, then, is the modern solution. If you are worried about your business’s reputation and the number of calls that you are leaving unanswered, then you should investigate virtual receptionists, and see for yourself how much your business can benefit from them.

Integrating communication systems mean merging all the communication methods employed by the organization including voice, emails, videos, instant messaging, etc. into one unified system.   The major aspects of an integrated communication system which are beneficial to the small and medium businesses are following:

1. Presence

It allows the employees to stay connected all the time regardless of the distance. Presence feature lets the users update their statuses in turn making it easier for others to access their availability. This feature is especially useful when employees are working from different buildings or different locations.

2. Instant Messaging:

Instant Messaging is a highly useful tool for real-time communications within the organization as well as with the customers. IMs reduce the hassles of emails to a great extent and have improved the response time. It is very convenient and easy to use and implement.

3. Unified Messaging

An integrated communication system transforms email clients like Outlook, Gmail into a common hub which includes voice mail, faxes and even recorded phone calls. This system allows the user to click-to-dial from an important message or an email with the numbers available directly in the emails or the contact list.

4. Mobile Device Integration

The communication system is integrated with the mobiles that enable the user to have connectivity regardless of where they are. It gives easy access to voicemails and company directories for remote employees and various other tools that increase the productivity.

5. Video and Collaboration Integration

The system allows collaboration within the organization using video messages & calls and web & audio conferencing which has reduced the communication barriers to a great extent.

6. Third-party Integration

Advanced integration allows the organization to collaborate their CRM, ERP, and other information system data. This feature is highly useful when dealing with multiple clients or customers as the details of the client/customer will be tracked for the data and appear in front of the screen whenever they call.   Overall benefits of having an integrated communication systems are:

• Fewer systems to manage
• Saved costs
• Efficient time management
• Error free exchange of data
• Less reliance on emails
• Easier management of virtual teams

All in all, an integrated communication system ensures better communication and increase in productivity, which is the core purpose and need of a small sized business organization.

Everyone has things they have to do, and using a calendar can help you organize your life. Using a calendar can help you sort out individual events and projects.  Meeting deadlines is crucial, and it is easy to forget some things you have to do. Thankfully, you can help yourself with your smartphone.

All you need is your schedule and your smartphone to create a calendar that works for you.  Scheduling can be a pain, but if you know how to use your smartphone, you will make everything easier so you can get more done. Various calendar apps can help you sort out the craziness of life.

Whether you own an iPhone or Android, there are calendar apps that will help you out with scheduling.  Some of the apps do have a cost attached to them, but you can find an excellent app for free. Some apps are easy to use, have extra features, and can work across all devices.

Depending on your needs, you can find the right calendar app for you to make sure you stay on top of your schedule.  Here are a few apps you can use. The Tempo Smart Calendar for Apple gives insight into contracts and smart alerts. It will find and organize your appointments, and you can conduct conference calls.

It is a free app, and some drawbacks include the long download wait time, and you can only use up to two email accounts at a time. Apple support doesn’t work with the calendar which is a pain, but it’s only some minor drawbacks.  It is still a very useful app that will help you get organized and provides you updates for your schedules.

Since it doesn’t cost any money, it is perfect for anyone who has a lot of schedules to keep. If you don’t have an iPhone, you can use the EasilyDo Smart Assistant for Android.  It is similar to the Tempo Smart Calendar, but it offers more features.  You can sync your contacts across different platforms and notifies you for upcoming events.

You can see how the traffic looks and any impending inclement weather. You can link Facebook and Twitter as well as every email to the app.  Since it also works for Apple products, you can download apps that are relevant from the iTunes library.  It is a great app for ensuring you stay on top of your calendar and ensures you make all your appointments on time.

Chronically late humans, listen up: you are not alone. Millions of busy people all over the world struggle with busy schedules and time management. Oodles of books and articles have been written on the topic. So many have been written on it in fact, that it may feel a little overwhelming to try and figure out how to manage your life.

If you struggle with figuring out how to manage your time and make sure that you remember important events and appointments, here are two quick strategies to help get you going. They may seem mutually exclusive at first, but used in conjunction, can be quite powerful in aiding you in getting places on time.

First, one of the most simple strategies would be to write down your appointment, the old fashioned way. Recent studies suggest that writing things down, by hand with a pen and paper, will help you to better recall details and concepts more clearly than using a computer or phone to take notes, or set up appointments. The same study concluded that those who type are doing so “mindlessly”, without actually really processing what they were putting into their notes.

This study showed that those who used a computer versus those who used pen-and-paper on a test thirty minutes after a lecture, were less able to recall concepts or ideas, thus demonstrating that using a screen may lower thinking and processing capacities. So, bust out that old day planner you bought on a whim at a discount at the end of last year, and start jotting down your appointments.

Secondly, having just discussed the pros and cons of using an electronic device versus handwriting, there is something to be said for your phone going off to remind you that you need to get things done. Just go into your calendar and add those events.

There are a myriad of settings to be used for reminders: from alerting you ten minutes before an appointment to ten days before, these electronic reminders can be life savers. Most phones come preloaded with a calendar app. But, if for whatever reason you don’t like that calendar, there are many, many more options for your scheduling sanity.

Perhaps a combination of these two quick tips would be ideal. Back in college, I often would jot down my assignments in my notebook for a particular class and then, especially if it was an important project, I would add an alert in my phone. Then every time I glanced at my calendar, there would be a little dot there to remind me that something big was on the near horizon.

All through college, I had an ancient pseudo-blackberry because I was too cheap, and too poor to afford anything else. Even that old school brick phone had a little calendar app that proved invaluable in helping me to keep track of my my life. Head on out, get a day planner and add an alert to your phone and starting scheduling your life.