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Building A Small Business Also Means Not Talking To People

admin August 7, 2015

We have all heard the saying, “the customer is always right,” and there is certainly a lot of truth to that. But as you might have gathered from the title of this post, it’s not completely true. There are plenty of times when, what the customer thinks is right is not actually right for your business. Sometimes it is best to keep those comments from customers out of your ears and out of your business. What’s more, the customers are not the only ones that bring in unwanted and unneeded contributions. Sometimes, the best way to build your small business is to keep on your own track and not talk to people that are not worth talking to. This post is going to talk about those times.

First, and probably most obviously, are the unsolicited calls. If your business is succeeding, other people will notice. This can be a great thing, but it can also mean some unwanted attention too. Other companies looking to sell you unneeded products or services will likely call your business to cash in on your successes. Most of the time, these calls are just a nuisance and prevent you from doing work that actually needs doing.

This is true of customers too. They probably won’t be calling you to sell you their wares, but they are full of questions. Customers call for store hours, stock questions, to inquire about other services offered, and a plethora of other reasons that they could easily find the answer to online or elsewhere. While these questions deserve answers, they can be tedious too. It can be rage inducing to be interrupted during a meeting or important phone call to answer, for the thousandth time, when you close. This is one of the reasons why major companies and retailers have automated answering machines that provide this information. If you are hoping to grow your small business, then part of that growth will be recognizing what is beneath you as a business owner or operator, and handing that task over to someone else. That way you can focus on what you really need to get done.

Answering machines and automated responses can be so impersonal though – especially for a small business that relies on person-to-person interactions. One great way to keep these calls from reaching you while not being impersonal is to hire a receptionist. A receptionist can answer all of those inane questions and responds to those common concerns and still maintain that cheerful, polite conduct. In this way, the receptionist serves as a kind of gatekeeper between you and anyone that might call you. If the question or concern is beneath you, then the receptionist can handle it on their own. If the question or concern is worth you investigating or responding to further, then they will direct the call to your attention so that you can address it further. Furthermore, a receptionist can keep out the calls that are beneath all parts of your business entirely. A receptionist can screen calls for pestering numbers or people, and make sure that those calls are not answered. This will increase your business’s efficiency and make you seem more professional too.

A receptionist is often costly. With all of the benefits mentioned here, it is definitely worth it, but a small business might not be able to afford another employee. That’s part of the reason why virtual receptionist services, like Gabbyville, are so popular these days. A virtual receptionist serves all of the functions of a normal receptionist, and more, at a significantly lower cost to you than hiring another employee. They will be able to screen calls, answer questions as you instruct them to, and forward calls to you when your attention is needed. Plus, you won’t have to worry about your receptionist calling in sick or going on vacation. A virtual receptionist is always there to help you out. The personal touch isn’t lost either. A virtual receptionist isn’t some preprogrammed robot, but a team of people that are dedicated to you and your company, and they want you to succeed. Because of this, they always make sure their smiles are seen (even through the telephone), and that every customer and client feels welcomed. They do all of this, so you don’t have to.

Use Your Phone to Make Small Businesses Seem Big

admin July 31, 2015

So you have a small business, but you want to appear professional. You no longer want to be seen as the corner store or mom and pop enterprise. Instead, you want to be taken seriously and viewed as a professional organization with goals and aspirations. If this describes your situation, your best tool for making your small business appear big could be your telephone.

This might sound crazy, but there is a lot of logical truth to it. Think about the last time you called a large corporate business or company. Chances are you did not think about the owner personally answering the phone, and there’s certainly no chance that the phone was not answered or went to a machine. That’s because large businesses use receptionists to handle their phone calls. This one small trick can really make a huge difference in whether or not your business is perceived as a small shop or a serious enterprise. It’s not just the perception either. A receptionist really is a good move to making your business more professional. Along with answering calls, a receptionist helps to organize your business and make it more efficient. Furthermore, a receptionist allows you to work on more important matters and not worry about trivial matters like answering the telephone for routine calls and questions.

This probably all sounds great, but you may be shaking your head because you can already think of one reason this will not work for your business – cost. It’s true, a receptionist can be expensive, and it can be especially taxing on a small business that could spend its money in other ways to appear more professional. Fortunately, however, there is a way to cash in on the benefits of a receptionist without having to worry about the cost. Virtual receptionist services, such as Gabbyville, offer all of the benefits of an in house receptionist at a significantly reduced price. These services mean your phone will always be answered by a responsible, knowledgeable, and cheerful person that is dedicated to serving your customers and improving your business. Furthermore, the virtual receptionists can even do things like call forwarding, email you voicemails and faxes, and much more. This kind of service might even afford you the time to take that vacation you have always wanted because you couldn’t afford to leave the business alone. With a virtual receptionist service, you can have all important calls and matters forwarded to you and ignore any unnecessary ones.

This probably causes some alarm for a small business owner too. After all, you probably built your small business up from the ground through personal connections and valuing your customers and clients. Those customers and clients are likely members of your community and expect a personal experience from your business. Luckily, this is all still handled by the virtual receptionist services. The virtual receptionists go to great lengths to learn about you, your business, and your clients. It is their goal that your clients feel just as welcomed by them as they were when you answered the phone. They may not even know that the receptionist is not in house. That’s how good these services can be!

So if you are thinking about ways to make your small business seem bigger and act bigger, look at how many ways a virtual receptionist could help this. You will give the perception of being more professional. You will also be more professional thanks to the organization and efficiency provided by a receptionist. You will be able to focus on other tasks besides answering the phone and responding to routine questions and concerns. You will be able to take vacations and be more connected through digital services. Plus, you will be able to do all of this at a significantly lower cost than if you were to hire an in house receptionist to do all of this work. That means you might even have extra money to make your business seem bigger in other ways too.

All of these benefits from something as small as your telephone!

Your Best Customer Service Is Your Telephone

admin July 27, 2015

You could describe customer service as anything that a business or company does to take care of the needs of the customers or clients. This is a very broad definition, but it helps us better situate the role the telephone, and telephone conversations, plays in customer service. In fact, with this definition, the telephone is practically your best customer service tool period, and the ways that you and your company uses the telephone can determine whether or not you have good customer service.

Let’s look at a specific field as an example. When I go to a coffee shop, I am just as interested in having kind, courteous baristas helping me out, as I am interested in getting a great cup of coffee. Say this big coffee shop chain that I go to has a really nice manager that, whenever I talk to him or her, is very nice and makes sure that I feel welcome. That’s great! Unfortunately, the majority of the time, I am not speaking with the nice manager. Most of the time I am speaking to the baristas that serve so many customers in the day that they don’t have time to be kind to everyone and fix all of the great drinks. In this example, the baristas are your phone calls, and it should be very clear just how important of a customer service tool those phone calls are from this example.

Your phone calls are your front lines. Chances are, if a customer has a question, complaint, or comment, they are going to try and call the place first. As is suggested in the previous example, if they were to come in and talk to the manager, they would be pleased with the outcome. If they just call, though, they might reach an employee that is busy with other tasks required by their job and may not be able to fully dedicate their attention to the customer in need of service. This is not necessarily the employee’s fault. Just like the barista in the previous example, their job is just as focused on fixing the drink as it is on being kind to the customer and providing great service. They are unable to fully dedicate their attention to one or the other because both aspects are equally important.

This leads into an important way you can make sure your telephone is used to its full extent to provide quality customer service. In the coffee example, I would have been just as pleased if their was someone kind and courteous who was fully dedicated to providing customer service in addition to the employee that made sure I had an excellent drink. For every other company and business, this translates to hiring an employee solely dedicated to providing excellent customer service over the phone – that kind of person is also known as a receptionist. Receptionists are really essential for a company worried about its customer service presence. Receptionists are solely dedicated to providing customer service over the phone, so they won’t be distracted by other job demands. What’s more, they are trained to have answers ready for any customer question, and they should keep a positive cheerful attitude to let customers know they are welcome and valued. Receptionists often do have other parts to their job though, too. Receptionists are an excellent way to organize an office better as they can maintain a schedule, focus on keeping the workplace on task and in order, manage secretarial affairs that could bog down other employees, along with their primary task of responding to customer calls.

These descriptions of a receptionist really highlight the ways in which having one is so valuable, but it can also be costly. An in-house receptionist means another employee on the payroll that deserves benefits, time off, and so forth. Furthermore, an in-house receptionist works at the office, and they are at the mercy of the same stresses of everyone else in the company. That means they are just as likely to have a bad day and not make the customers feel welcome, like they are supposed to, as anyone else in the company. Fortunately, there are virtual receptionist services that can fix a lot of these problems. Virtual receptionist services, like Gabbyville, are cheaper, more sustainable, and a great option if you are worried about the previously mentioned concerns of hiring an in-house receptionist. Furthermore, a virtual receptionist never has a sick day, never has a stressful day, and does not involve those extra expenses that an in-house receptionist does. That’s because a virtual receptionist usually consists of a team of a few people fully dedicated to your business or company and providing all the benefits of an in-house receptionist without the negatives.

Whatever option you take, make sure to look at your phone differently. If you are not looking at your phone as the great customer service tool that it is, you are likely to see your customers going to another business.

Just Because You Work From Home, Doesn’t Mean Your Home Is Work

admin July 17, 2015

Working from home can be a huge benefit. You largely get to set your own hours, enjoy the comfort of your own workspace with your own rules, you don’t have to worry about the frustrations that might accompany a typical office space, and you might even be your own boss. These are all major positives but there are negative aspects too. For many people working from home, it can prove difficult to separate your work and home life. The fact that there are not two separate physical spaces can cause this divide to become muddled and complicated. Furthermore, many people working from home cannot afford to lose business in any way, so if a work call or business opportunity arises, then they have to jump on it regardless of the time or the situation they might be in. Fortunately, there are ways to ensure that your work and home are separated, even if you work from home and this post hopes to address some of those.

First and foremost, you should get a receptionist. Whether this is a physical person to take your calls, a virtual receptionist through a service, or even just a well-equipped voicemail system, you need to have a receptionist. This will keep you from having to take calls during dinner or worry about losing business while you are on vacation. The receptionist will be able to answer your calls, take messages, provide clients with relevant information so that you are not bothered with the same frequently asked questions over and over, and so much more. Receptionists can seem pricey, and in-house receptionists certainly can be, but virtual receptionist services can be well within your means if you are worried about potential expenses. This kind of step will help you to provide yourself with some distance between your work and home life.

Another important step is to give yourself a work space. If you work from home, you might just use space already in your house for working such as a dining room table or your bed. However, this is a major mistake if you are trying to separate your work and home life as doing your work in these typically home settings can have a major negative affect on how you subconsciously view these spaces. Studies show that doing work in your bed, as opposed to just sleeping there, can adversely affect your sleeping patterns. What’s more, if you are working in places that you typically go for rest and relaxation, then you will no longer be able to go to those places when your work is done without drawing that mental connection. Consider setting up a small office space. It doesn’t have to be much, and it can just be a table and chair, but the act of designating a space in your home specifically for work can have a big impact.

Last but not least, you need to make sure you give yourself hours. It can be strange to think about clocking in and clocking out when you are working in your home but this kind of self-regulation can be very helpful when conditioning yourself into separating your work and home life. When you begin working set a certain number of hours during which time you will primarily focus on your work. When that time is up, stop and walk away from your work and try not to come back to it until the next day. This could be the most difficult piece of advice from this post to follow through because you may find yourself wanting to finish up work or do a little extra during a day. You can certainly make exceptions for yourself and plan according to your own schedule, but demarcating your working time and off time is sometimes even more important than getting that little extra bit of work done. This will also help you avoid procrastinating as you will have a clear time of when you should be working and set times when you should be resting.

These rules will not work for everyone. Some people who work from home may find these rules constricting or maybe not strict enough. Others will find that they only need one or two of the rules to help them. Regardless of your situation, the most important part is to make sure you know where your work ends and your home begins because mixing the two can cause you much mental and emotional stress.

Use Your Phone As A Marketing Tool

admin July 15, 2015

When someone hears about phones and marketing in the same breath, they immediately think of telemarketing. They picture annoying phone calls that are about some service or product they aren’t interested in and they imagine a person trying to convince them to spend money on that service or product. Because of this preexisting notion, it is difficult for many businesses to imagine their telephone as any positive form of marketing, but that’s a very limited and narrow perspective. If you own or manage a small business, your telephone is likely your biggest marketing tool and you don’t even know it. This post hopes to show just how important the telephone is as a marketing tool for businesses and to show how you can use your phone for this purpose even more.

Simply put, marketing is any form of communication between a company and clients, potential or otherwise, where the company is trying to sell its goods or services. With this definition in mind, it seems obvious that your telephone is your number one marketing tool. After all, other than face to face conversations, most businesses communicate with clients most, and in the most depth, on the device made solely to ease communication – the telephone. But how can a company get more out of their telephone as a marketing tool than they already are?

Firstly, just like in physical interactions with clients, it is imperative that clients have a positive experience and feel welcomed by the company. No one wants to buy anything from a person that seems uninterested in what they are selling. That being said, it’s important to always put forward a smile and welcoming demeanor towards clients even when they cannot see you. A receptionist, for example, offers a great first impression to a client calling a business, as the receptionist will, likely, make sure to greet the client warmly and professionally. A receptionist also presents a professional face to the client that can promptly answer any questions or direct them to appropriate parties at ease.

This professionalism is also an important element of marketing on other levels. Simply having a telephone, and answering it promptly, gives clients another avenue of reaching your business. It is vitally important for clients to be able to easily reach a company or business if they are trying to reach out. Whether it is to speak with a representative, inquire about a product, or just call to get information about the business, if a client is reaching out of his or her own accord to a business, then it is imperative that the business can be reached. Nothing is worse than wanting to contact a business and realizing they cannot be reached or that it is difficult to reach them. This immediately gives that potential client a bad impression, and could likely send them in the direction of another competitor. Imagine a store selling goods, but the store is invisible. Obviously, the store would not be able to operate because none of the clients would even know where the store is. In this day and age where customers are finding it easier to contact a business through many different means, it is important that all of those options are available. Furthermore, it is especially important that the number one mode of communication – the telephone – is easy, receptive, and accessible.

You can even take your marketing with the telephone a step further. It’s true, not many people enjoy being called out of nowhere to buy a product they are interested in. It’s important that, if you are calling clients, you aren’t disrupting them. People, however, also enjoy being apart of something and helping to create things. If you have phone numbers for clients and customers, consider giving them a call and following up with them after their recent experience with your business or company. Ask them how you can better serve them and what they would like to see changed or added. You should also consider compensating them for giving their time to help you and your business. Unlike stereotypical telemarketing, this kind of extremely personal calling can provide you with useful insight into what your clients want, and it can help you build a dedicated client base that feels like they have an input into the goods and services that they are buying.

There are many more ways to use your telephone as a marketing device but the most important thing is to start thinking about your telephone differently. It is not just a device for making and receiving calls but it is a great tool for expanding your business and taking it to the next level.

How A Receptionist Could Set Your Law Firm Apart

admin July 9, 2015

If you have seen any comedic television shows or movies in the past couple of decades, you can probably remember or envision a scene with a low level, financially strapped lawyer answering his or her phone and pretending to be a receptionist. Generally they answer in some goofy voice, hold their hand over the phone, and then they start talking to the phone again after a few seconds have passed.

The situation is, of course, laughable, but it’s a common trope because we can all recognize why a lawyer would do this. A receptionist gives a lawyer more clout and makes the practice seem more established and professional. What this trope fails to highlight, though, are the many other benefits a receptionist can have for a lawyer or his or her firm. Furthermore, it suggests that a receptionist would be much too expensive. Better to just pretend with some squeaky falsetto, right? Well, not really, but more on that later.

First, let’s discuss the benefits of a receptionist for a lawyer. Like the joke suggests, a receptionist does increase a lawyer’s prestige. It makes a statement to a potential client that the lawyer they might hire is established, responsible, and organized. These are all qualities a potential client would like out of their potential lawyer. And it turns out, those qualities that a receptionist makes a client believe are actually valid. A receptionist certainly implies responsibility and organization. A good receptionist means an attorney need not worry about missing calls from clients. A receptionist means that there’s no chance of missing a court appearance or a conference with court officials. A receptionist also means that a single lawyer running his or her practice alone can take a break from time to time without having to worry about missing a week’s worth of potential work. These are all benefits a receptionist provides for the lawyer, but a good receptionist also provides real benefits to the clients too. Having a comforting, assuring voice on the line to send a pleasant, comforting smile across the phone can put a person calling about litigation or a nerve wrecking, impending case at ease. A knowledgeable receptionist can also answer simple, common questions that clients might have so as to take those small tasks off of the attorney’s desk.

But a receptionist costs too much money, right? They require a wage or salary and probably benefits too. Receptionists might call in sick or take vacation and leave their attorney vulnerable after coming to rely on the receptionist. These are certainly valid concerns. For a lawyer just starting off their practice, the idea of hiring a receptionist can seem costly and daunting. Today, though, these worries are no longer a concern. Virtual receptionist services exist to offer all of the previously mentioned benefits without any of the concerns. A virtual receptionist will never call in sick or take a vacation because there is always more than one receptionist working for you at any given time. Also, you don’t have to worry about the possibly expensive task of having a full time employee. Instead, you simply have to pay for the service, which can provide you thousands of dollars in savings over a single year.

This might seem like it presents its own set of problems though too. A virtual receptionist cannot possibly know the inner workings of your specific law office, and there is no way they could have any knowledge of your clients or how to interact with them. Actually, these aren’t really concerns either. Reputable virtual receptionist services, such as Gabbyville, make sure that the small team of receptionists are fully dedicated to your practice, and they genuinely want to see their clients succeed. At Gabbyville, for example, they make sure that their receptionists know the ins and outs of your office so that they can cater specifically to your clients and provide the same level of service that an in-house receptionist would. Furthermore, their digital connectedness allows them to stay up to date on you and your practice to provide you with scheduling, messages from missed calls, and even setting up conference calls and sending you alerts through text or email when something important is coming up. Now that’s something that even an in-house receptionist wouldn’t be able to do.

So if you’re that struggling attorney covering your phone after faking a sweet old woman’s voice into the phone, or if you are simply an attorney looking to take your practice to the next professional level, consider a virtual receptionist service. You’re guaranteed to see an increase in professionalism and efficiency.

The Top 4 Ways Your Telephone Can Be Your # 1 Business Resource

admin July 3, 2015

Amidst these busy technological times when it seems that everything is being programmed or operated by some robotic voice or algorithm, it is easy to overlook the telephone as one the most important Business Resource. Yet, it’s hard to imagine any business, especially a small business, operating without it. In fact, for many businesses, the telephone is their top resource, and they aren’t even aware of it. This post, then, hopes to illustrate the four biggest ways that a small business can use a simple resource, like the telephone, to increase their business.

1. Personal Connection with Clients and Others

When you’re trying to run a business and you are worried about all the various aspects of a company, it can be easy to forget about the clients that really make the whole thing work. Making a personal connection with those clients that is built on mutual understanding, service, and dedication is important, and it is the primary way any business will continue operating. The telephone, then, should be greatly valued in any workplace. Every phone call to a client is a chance to sell your goods or pitch your service. By putting a good foot forward and establishing a positive rapport with the client, you are increasing the likelihood that they will return and want to do business with you. On the reverse side of this, a bad phone interaction can leave a sour taste in a client’s mouth and cause them to go elsewhere. Do not underestimate the value of the telephone in providing customer service.

2. The Low Cost of the Resource

Imagine having a customer service representative for your business that does excellent work at little to no expense to your business. Turns out, you already have one of those if you have a telephone. Along with being a great customer service tool, it can also be used for scheduling, organizing your company and its assets, and so much more. If you invest in a receptionist or a virtual receptionist service, the potential benefits of your telephone only increase, and the cost remains at a very low level considering all it provides. Furthermore, chances are your business is already paying for telephone services, so make sure that your business is getting everything out of it that you can.

3. Your Business Can Always Be Open (And You’ll Never Miss An Opportunity)

Getting business is, of course, very important, but it is almost equally as important to not lose potential business. If, for whatever reason, a potential client cannot reach you or get in contact with you, you are practically guaranteeing that they will not look into you further. Luckily, having a telephone means that you are just a few digits away from anyone’s specific desire to speak with you or inquire about your services. It was mentioned in the previous point too, but if you employ a receptionist (especially a virtual receptionist), you can even further ensuring that potential clients can get in touch with you at any time. This is true, too, of suppliers, employees, or business associates. The telephone means that you never have to worry about missing out on someone’s emergency or a change of plans – especially with the help of a receptionist or virtual receptionist service.

4. It Can Save You Time And Money

We have already discussed how the telephone does not cost very much, especially considering the benefits it supplies, so it is already clear how it can save you money. This fact is true, however, in other situations too. With a receptionist, for example, you are allowing yourself the freedom to move away from the phone or direct your attention to another matter that might be more pressing than an impending phone call. Voicemail or a receptionist means that you can go on to your next project, speak with someone else, or even take a break while still resting within the comfort that you can get back to the call when it is convenient to you. It’s great to be busy, but if you can’t be busy on your own schedule, then you will never get everything done that you need to do. A telephone lets you do all of it and more.

The Comeback of the Telephone!

admin July 1, 2015

In this digital age, it may seem like you can take care of everything online. Basic communication, scheduling, and so many other tasks that previously fell to the telephone are now within the internet’s reach. The telephone, though, cannot be replaced.

The importance of a telephone, especially for a small business, cannot be overstated. It’s probably fair, in fact, to say that the telephone is the backbone of any small business. Telephones allow for communication with clients, suppliers, employees, and anyone who could possibly want to contact the business. Sure, email provides similar services, but despite the digital surge, most people still prefer to make a call than to send an email that could be easily ignored or deleted.

A phone call, then, means a personal connection. For a small business, every phone call is an opportunity to show a client just what makes your business so special. Every call becomes a sales pitch for new or repeated customer. This simply isn’t possible with an email. An email can come off as informal and impersonal. When you send an email, you a giving all of the power to the receiver to interpret the meaning and intention of the message. A phone call, though, means you are in control, and you can always make sure your message is understood the way you want it.

This brings up the second important reason phones are so relevant. Besides a direct, physical conversation, nothing gets more your message across more accurately than a telephone conversation. This is why companies have conference calls when members of the group are absent or elsewhere. If your client or customer has a question, nothing will answer that question with more speed or accuracy than a phone call.

Finally, a telephone comes with a guarantee. While an email from a customer might get overlooked, while an email to a supplier might have a misspelled email address, or while an email might not arrive because of a computer virus, a telephone always works. Barring major disasters, if your client, supplier, or employee needs to get in contact with you, or if you need to get in contact with them, then you can count on a telephone call to make sure it happens and that it happens right when you need it to.

So while it may seem that this is the age of the computer or the era of the internet, know that the telephone still reigns.

Tricks to Get Investors for Your Small Business

admin May 27, 2015

Starting a business on your own can be hard considering the factors that you need to take note of like office rent, telephone system, Internet connection, and employee costs.

Covering the last one is quite easy since you can always turn to a live virtual receptionist. But to cover the other prerequisites, you need one important commodity: money. It makes business flow and move forward; in fact, money is considered as the blood and oxygen of every business.

The problem is: earning an amount that can be utilized to start a business can be quite difficult. There are instances that it would take many years for aspiring entrepreneurs to fund themselves that’s why some seek help in the form of “investor money.” But hey, investors won’t just immediately give you the funding that you need, you have to ease them into it and here’s how you’re going to do it.

Trick Number 1: Simple and Relatable Business Idea

We’re gonna make an assumption here and guess that this is your first time. For first-timers, it’s good to propose a simple and plausible business idea. For example, you want to open a hamburger joint. A vast majority of people like hamburgers; as such, your investors can see that your idea will work.

Trick Number 2: Under-promise but over-deliver

When presenting your business to potential investors, it’s advisable to project “conservative” figures. As much as possible, keep it to a minimum so when their R.O.I (return of investment) comes, it will likely surpass expectations. And if in the chance that it did not, at least they already know that there will be good days and bad days.

Trick Number 3: Have a Solid Business Plan

Starting a business is not like in the movies where a couple of bucks and a healthy dose of optimism can give you success. There’s just no short cut to this and it all comes down to planning well.

Do a lot of research and list down potential factors that may go wrong. Also, analyse how much your investors are going to make and how much you’re going to spend. With a solid plan, your investors will have confidence that you know what you’re doing.

Trick Number 4: Choose More People with Small Money

It’s easier and better to ask plenty of people to invest in your business with just small amounts rather than asking a few to invest HUGE figures. With this plan, you’ll create more opportunities for more people to earn rather than just for one person.

Trick Number 5: Prepare a Contingency Plan

We’re not saying that you are anticipating your failure, but it’s just wise to ready a plan. With this, you give some sense of comfort to your investors when it all goes down. Make them feel at ease by taking care of potential disasters.

Asking money from investors is really a hard task. But if you present a solid business plan that is transparent, they’ll be handing you the keys in no time.

4 Moves to Make Customers Come Back For More

admin May 25, 2015

Congratulations, you’ve succeeded in getting those “preciousssss” (Smeagol, from the Lord of the Rings tone) customers. But the thing is: you’re not exactly sure if they’ll come back. Here’s the thing: luring customers is just the first step and keeping them is another challenge.

You see, we want you to succeed, so we’re giving you the secret “juice” on how to make them coming back like a junkie.

1. Be Interesting – Is that too vague for you? Well allow us to enlighten you. Keeping your business interesting for customers is one of the sure-fire ways to make them come back.

Be it with funny and engaging copies (content) for your products, friendly live answering service or with constant new products/services, projecting an interesting image never fails to satisfy.

2. Freemium – It’s not just applicable to annoying “apps” for your smartphones anymore, it’s a lifestyle. Basically, a freemium service is a strategy that offers a product, service, or an application FOR FREE, but offers premium service or add-ons for a fee.

By using this strategy, you already create the potential for clients to get hooked on your “free product” therefore, make them come back and pay for some extra service. Some known examples include Spotify and many other online applications.

3. Offer Some Customization – In business, it’s best not to apply a one-size-fits-all strategy. Clientele needs are different so it’s logical to handle transactions in a custom-fit manner.

Look at Nike, Converse, and Adidas, they let their consumers design their own shoe. Or Toshiba for example. They help customers determine their needs and let them customize their very own laptop, specs-wise.

4. Reward Them Accordingly – Everyone just wants to feel special, wanted, and important. Oh no, you’re not reading some chick-lit book, we are talking about your customers. Make them come back for more by rewarding those who are most loyal. Be it giving them additional service or adding a fancy title on their name. By doing so, they’ll feel their value and become more loyal for many years to come.
Having loyal customers is the main reason why your business is running; that’s why it is important to make them an integral part of your company. So keep them engaged as well as entertained and they’ll certainly come back for more.