5 Reasons Small Businesses Should Use Live Video

August 30, 2016

Video Chat
In the past decade, live video chat has become another part of everyday life. There are multiple video-chat brands enjoying huge success today, and the video communications platform-as-a-service (PaaS) industry’s revenue is expected to reach $1.7bn by 2020,

The concept of speaking with another person face to face using video technology was the stuff of science-fiction for years, appearing in everything from the writings of Philip K. Dick to James Cameron’s classic movie Aliens. Today, though, we can simply hop onto our choice of video-chat platform to enjoy real-time conversations with people from around the world.

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3 Essential Ways You Need to Allow Customers to Contact Your Business

June 10, 2016

Customer Contact
When you provide a service or sell products to the general public, gaining your customers’ trust is incredibly important. This can be even more integral to your business’ brand identity and reputation when you generally sell to your customers online, because they have not had the personal interaction with a representative of your business when ordering from you that they would if you won their business in a physical shop or through face to face marketing. This means that you need to make sure your customers feel like there is always the facility to talk to a real person from your company should they have any issues. It makes them less nervous about buying, and gives a sense that they are dealing with a business comprised of helpful people rather than a faceless website.

Not all of your customers will ever need to contact you, but showing clearly that they can and giving great service if they choose to goes a long way towards giving your company credibility in their minds. There are lots of ways people can contact businesses these days, and as a small company, chances are you won’t want to have to support them all, so here are three methods of communication you should prioritise:

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In Person vs. Online Meeting: Is it really that Different?

April 20, 2016

Businesspeople Looking At Computer Screen
The Wall Street Journal recently published an article that examined why people always seem to have this misconception that online conference calls are inferior to meeting in person. To a certain extent this is true; however, there is also a certain level of falsehood there as well. Yes, one is a personal method of meeting a person and the other is more impersonal; however, one is more convenient and the other far more difficult to achieve. You can guess which one is which (hint: online conversations are easier), but at the end of the day you are till meeting them. You have to ask yourself whether, when it comes to business arrangements, meeting someone online or meeting them in person is just the same since the point is not to just be there but communicate an idea.

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5 Biggest Business Mistakes You Must Avoid

March 9, 2016

Mistake
As many of us know, over half of all businesses fail before their first birthday. I don’t tell you this to scare you off. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. I use this statistic to encourage you to work even harder at your dream. Only a small percentage of companies survive the early years, and it takes an enormous amount of perseverance.

It also means avoiding some of the biggest mistakes and pitfalls. As a new business owner, you can learn from the mistakes of the past here. While you may be relatively inexperienced, the same mistakes are killing businesses time and time again. Learn them, and you can avoid them.

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How to Impress Your Customers in a Virtual World

January 6, 2016

Customer
The growth of digital activities has changed the business world forever. SMEs now have far greater opportunities than ever before. However, running a company in a virtual environment does pose some dilemmas. Keeping the customer happy is one of the most difficult.

Without face-to-face interaction, building those strong relationships can feel daunting. But there are ways to navigate this minefield, and doing so will give your business a far greater chance of success.

A few simple tricks will work wonders for your reputation and general ability to recruit and maintain customers. Here’s everything you need to know.

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5 Unique Ways Restaurants are Embracing Technology

December 10, 2015

Restaurant Tech
Technology has revolutionized everyday lives of businesses and consumers alike. Many of the things we take for granted today would have been impossible to imagine just few years ago. Restaurant industry not immune from these changes either. Technology is helping restaurants in number of ways, including increasing efficiency, providing better customer service, improving food quality and so on. Today, restaurants are able to generate more sales and profit while having more satisfied customers with the help of technology improvements. Those who do not take advantage of them run the risk of becoming obsolete in the next few years. Here are 5 important technologies we think can help restaurant owners.

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Is Your Business Ready to Take Advantage of Mobile Technology?

November 18, 2015

Mobile Technology
It is not an exaggeration to say that we are living in the age of mobile and the next 5 years are going to be shaped by the advances in mobile technology. When you consider that there are almost as many cell phones (6.8 billion) in the world as there are people (7 billion) it would be foolish for any business owner to not have a strategy that focuses on taking advantage of mobile technology. The startups such as Uber are fully taking advantage of all the functionality cell phone has to offer to provide a seamless user experience and in the process has become one of the most valuable startups in the world worth $50 Billion!

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Zen and the Art of Losing a Customer – Lessons from Avis Car Rental

September 20, 2015

Avis
Your front line employees who interface with customers regularly can make or break your business. These are the people in the call center providing help and answers to customers as well as calming them down when they call with complaints. They are also the ones working at front desk who direct customers properly and guide them through paper work, etc. When this employee is a manager with an authority the stakes are multiplied. At least with the employee the customer has hope to take the complaint to the manager, but when the buck stops at the manager and when the customer has lost all hopes of getting problem resolved you can be sure to lose him for life!

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5 Customer Onboarding Mistakes Every Business Must Avoid

August 30, 2015

Customer Service
Attracting, converting, and retaining customers are goals of every onboarding strategy. It may sound simple, but with so much competition for people’s attention, it takes a well-executed strategy to succeed in gaining people’s interest and loyalty. A customer’s first experience with your website can make a lasting impression, and so it’s important that you ensure that two of you get off on the right foot and develop a strong rapport immediately. When it comes to onboarding, the biggest mistake is likely the lack of a solid plan, but in addition to that, here are some of the most common onboarding mistakes and how you can steer clear of them.

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How to Provide Great Customer Service on Telephone

August 13, 2015

Telephone
When it comes to business, telephone calls still take priority as the communication method of choice. Although web enquiries, emails, social media and live web chats all have their place in the modern world of communication, the majority of today’s customers still prefer to speak to a member of staff over the telephone in order to resolve any queries, questions or complaints that they may have. With this in mind, we have put together a list of tips for answering telephone calls professionally. Read on to find out more.

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