Tag Archives: staff

3 Small Business Technology Resolutions for 2013 or How to Do Better Next Year! (pt.2)

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In my previous post, I tried to drive home the notion that if you didn’t collaborate in your business in 2012, then you didn’t see growth. And 2013 isn’t going to be any better if you don’t change something.

Labor of Sisyphus

Labor of Sisyphus

I also promised a list of tools to help you make real world productive changes that are also HUGE time savers…

So without further ado…

1.USE a Shared Calendar:

Having an item posted on a calendar makes it REAL for all involved. It also eliminates the need to send out notices, reminders, make calls, etc.

Google calendar, Microsoft Outlook, and others can create a separate or existing calendar for shared use. You can also configure them to send a notice and reminders to all invitees.

It’s a one time task of entering meetings/events with all accessory tasks automated – notes, additional information, agenda, etc. can be included in details and everyone has all the information instantly accessible in one location without having to print or search the inbox. Even telecommuters, out-of-state hires, … anyone can have access without a separate function to be performed.

2. Save Everyone’s Time via Teleconferencing:

You don’t have to have an on-site meeting every time to be productive (although I would suggest an occasional face to face helps with bonding). Giving your people the freedom to call in to the meeting from the comfort of their home or office is a huge win-win. And this may sound crazy but, record, but do not share the option for your attendees to listen later. If people know they can listen to a recorded version, they will have an excuse not to attend and therefore won’t be participating or providing valuable input. Furthermore, they may never get the time to listen to it later or they will get time sensitive material too late. Have well-planned mandatory monthly meetings with an agenda that include anyone who “touches” a customer.

Options: These are just a few that have both free and priced options:

freeconferencecall.com/

join.me

skype.com

webex.com

3. VIDEO onsite meetings:

Yes, make a video of your meetings. Give a friend or family member a perk to do the job – or hire a college intern or fix a mount or tripod.  If attendees desire, you can conveniently post the video to a DropBox or SugarSync shared account for all who attend these meetings (too large a file to email). All can use it to self-critique performance, review feedback, and monitor success.

Keep your meetings short – 30-45 minutes max – and stick to that time frame for every meeting. You’ll have better attendance and better attention. (Videos will help you see why meetings run amuck!)

Options:

For file sharing – yes, Virginia, this is the cloud…:

dropbox.com

sugarsync.com

For Video:

Your SmartPhone

Countless new inexpensive palm-size video devices (that can be placed on a tripod).

YouTube Capture

Vimeo

YouTube Channel

OBVIOUSLY, there are many other options out there and many more to come. But those above and many like them have the benefit of being accessible with most any device you (and anyone else) may already own – and often free!

Now go hit some of these links and make 2013 better!

 

Imho – What is the #1 reason for business failure among small business owners?

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I ran across this question by www.linkedin.com/in/davetteharvey in LinkedIn Answers

English: Findlay, Ohio, September 20, 2007 -- ...

English: Findlay, Ohio, September 20, 2007 — Gilbert Yingling, a representative with Small Business Administration (SBA) makes calls to local business owners from a local chamber of commerce business directory as part of an SBA outreach program. He then follows up with person to person meetings with the business owners. John Ficara/FEMA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Although there has been an increase in support services for entrepreneurs and small business owners, the percentage of business failures in America is still pretty high. Across industries it is averaged that 56% of businesses will fail within the first four years. In some industries, it is estimated to be as high as 86%. All of these businesses may not have had outdated products or underperforming services. Again, what do you think is the number reason for entrepreneur and small business failure?”

As I work exclusively with small businesses, I chipped in with my own answer because I see how many of these failures could have been stories of success. 9 to 5 has done a lot of harm to those of us with entrepreneurial potential. Being an employee for someone else can push you to forgo your own ideas for someone else’s in many cases. You may get used to letting go of responsibility in many ways, as in some companies, you are actually penalized for thinking outside the box, and are asked to settle into the status quo of the management mentality.

What does that mean in regard to these failure rates? In my opinion (I have a lot of those!), many a creative, entrepreneurial minds have been dumbed down by the “Peter Principle” experience of corporate work. So even when those same minds finally break loose and go on their own, they have ingrained habits that keep them in an employee mentality. That is why I wrote this answer to Davette Harvey’s question in LinkedIn Answers and hope that by sharing it with you, it will help one less SMB from failing.

Here is my response to Davette’s question. I’d love to hear what you think as well.

“If you own a small business, and don’t think beyond today, then you are nothing but an employee of your own business.

I used to train new retail franchisees as part of my corporate job with a franchisor and so many of them stunned me in regard to the lack of due diligence they executed before purchasing the franchise. In addition, very few of them had retail experience. Coming from a desk job, no matter how high the level, is not immediate qualification for running your own business.

Now I consult for them – and often they call me in far too late.

Yes, passion can take you far, but if you are like many small business owners, the inability to delegate the details is where you begin to lose the passion that drove you there to begin with.

Start out of the gate with lining up the right people for the various jobs and it will be the best ROI you can imaging. If a business owner tries to do it all, they lose the momentum of the opening due to being sucked into the daily operations that should be handled by those best suited. You need to have continued vision, oversee those who work for you, and market your business through networking and planning. If you are working in your store full time, you cannot do any of that.

The perceived lack of funding to delegate to employees is a result of waiting until business slows to recognize the errors. Customer service suffers, control over inventory suffers, marketing suffers… it all suffers including the owner who, by that time, is burned out.

Think of your well chosen staff as an investment in your business just the same as the brick and mortar building and the inventory or tools you placed in it. Then you will be free to oversee and grow it, you will prosper.

All too often I see the staff is the first to go when things slow down. They should be the last tier of the business to be let go. Check your operations, customer service, inventory, scheduling, etc.

And most of all, ask the staff, they know more than you oftentimes. Most common observation I hear from staff? “if the boss would just get out of the way and let us do our jobs…”

Please feel free to share your opinions….

Non-Profit Organizations – Take your social media seriously and potential donors will, too!

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A lovely graduate student attending school in the UK (but from NY)  interviewed me over Skype for her dissertation. She is researching why Non-Profit Organizations do so poorly in raising funds with Social Media. (This lends itself to some of the same troubles SMBs have over developing loyal fans.)

We were supposed to talk for only half an hour, but we ran over an hour because so much of our discussion became more about human behavior rather than social media itself.

As a board member of a non-profit organization, and having helped NPOs with their social media and email marketing, here are some observations I shared with her regarding the difficulties non-profit boards appear to have using Facebook and Twitter to grow awareness and raise funds.

“You know how to do social media? Great! It’s all yours!”

This happens a lot. The majority of the board is either not using social media, or if they are, it is just Facebook for family and close friends. Therefore, they don’t understand the difference between posting on a personal profile vs managing a business or group page. Nor do they understand Twitter or LinkedIn or any other platforms for business purposes. And remember, a non-profit organization IS a business.

They are thrilled that someone is willing to take it over because they know they are supposed to have a social media presence. End of story.

You hope the person who takes it over does understand how to manage a business or group page account, but in many cases, they don’t. They just know social media tools better than most so they got elected for the job, but often fall short on knowing strategies for how to engage followers on a business page or group.

“Everyone on the board will help you with content - it’ll be easy.”

This rarely comes to be. If your members of the board are not active on social media now, how will you get them to develop the habit of passing along information tidbits and photos for posting? Unfortunately, posting usually falls totally on the shoulders of the social media/marketing board member. Why is that unfortunate?

Because the NPO social media manager typically only gets information at meetings. By then it’s not timely or maybe even relevant to the followers anymore.  And getting pictures from events? Another tough one. Even with digital cameras and camera SmartPhones, it sometimes takes people weeks to upload their photos and send them on. They often take a lot of pictures at these events, so it isn’t practical to try to share them on the spot. So the thought is that it’s more practical to wait until they can be uploaded and organized, but…

“How come we aren’t getting donations on Social Media?”

Well, actually you are getting some you aren’t aware of. If you are using PayPal for your donation link, then you aren’t sure where the click originated. And, if someone donates from your website, it could be they arrived on your website from your link on your social media. People aren’t likely to post about donating, so don’t look to that as a tracking source.

But to be realistic, unless at least several board members or volunteers are engaging, what message are you subconsciously sending the followers you DO have? If those running the organization can’t be bothered with their own social media page, why should the public?

So what can you do about it?

We arrived at several  initial conclusions:

  • TAKE SOCIAL MEDIA SERIOUSLY. And it has to come from the top down. If the upper echelon isn’t “into” social media – especially on a business level – then s/he won’t treat it as a priority and the whole board soon treats it like the red-headed stepchild.
  • Education is key. It is important to learn social media business account strategies. It has to be treated like a business to perform like one. Then you must spread that knowledge to the rest of the board and volunteers.
  • It is important to keep your donors informed of what you are doing with their money. If you need to go into detail on some information, there is nothing better than a monthly or quarterly e-newsletter to keep your donors and followers informed.

Take your social media seriously and your donors and followers will take you seriously, too.

Expected better results from your new Facebook and Twitter business pages? Get serious!

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grand opening by draganm

grand opening by draganm   toonpool.com

New users of Facebook and Twitter for small business lead generation are often disappointed in the lack of immediacy in big results. Frankly, that’s a bit like expecting total weight loss on the first day of a diet – especially when you don’t follow the plan.

Rethink traditional marketing vs. social media marketing for your small business.

Say you just started your new storefront small business (and these principles still apply for a non-brick and mortar business, so keep reading if that’s you).

Your grand opening.

You spend a small fortune on media to publicize the event to all of your desired local territory and demographics. Press releases, a PR person,  extra staff to handle the grand opening crowds, food, balloons, prizes, … oh, and  don’t forget that expensive 1-time use “Grand Opening” banner.

Let’s agree that the budget for this one weekend event is typically a small fortune. CDB and in a big way! (Cost of Doing Business)

But you have to let them know you’re here, right?!

But, what’s the reality? The event is over in a flash, and typically the sales aren’t what you expected and you didn’t draw as many people from the ads as ad sales said you would.

There is good news. The people who DID come are now aware of your business. You connected with them and got them excited about your product or concept, and they now know where you are. And you got those grand opening jitters behind you…

So, what comes next if you are only using Traditional Marketing?

After the grand opening, you set forth to make the most of every contact made, and every future customer. You train your people to engage and  connect with your customers so you’ll be remembered for excellent customer service. You observe the responses of your customers to different products and sales techniques and adjust accordingly for better success next time.

You recognize that it is a build… that success does not typically come overnight (unless you are selling the latest version of the iPhone!), and that building of relationships with your customers – each and every one of them – is crucial. Why? Because you know that repeat business is key to survival and that your customers are your best advertisement.

You continue to spend for periodic media messaging via newspaper and radio. Again, you are willing to invest in many ways to keep the momentum going to draw new customers…

Ok, now Social Media marketing.

You create or hire someone to create your Facebook and Twitter business pages. Maybe even hire a graphic designer and social media consultant to make sure you present the best first impression and have all the necessary bells and whistles for the ideal visitor experience.

Then you think you are done.

You didn’t opt for the coaching and training in usage that was offered. Since it’s JUST social media, you think – how hard could it be? You begin to post updates all about your business and your product and you wonder where the response is… Where are the likes, the fans, the leads that are supposed to be generated?

Hmmm…. maybe it’s because you don’t apply all the hard work principles and investment of time, money, and effort into social media marketing that you did for traditional marketing?

Social Media is supposed to be FREE, right?

Wrong. The online tools are free, but just like opening your physical location, you have to spend time and money for you and your designated staff to learn how to use it properly or hire the right people to do it for you for the best results.

Think about the major time and money investment you have made in traditional marketing: training, staff, scripts, signage, fancy shopping totes, business cards, brochures, flyers…  You may say to yourself, it’s time-tested over generations, so of course traditional marketing is part of the budget. But it’s not working like it used to…

So why are you treating social media marketing like the red-headed stepchild of your business?

Because you don’t know what you don’t know. Traditional marketing has been around for so long that it you accept it as a worthy investment and a  CDB.

But the small business’ best advertising vehicles – print media and radio – are dying. The few options left are so outrageously expensive that a small business can’t afford them.

But many of you are realizing this only now.

Many of you have seen your business dwindle down, the economy is making it worse, and you are now seeing the light in the usage of Social Media. The 60+ boomer business owner is the latest group to recently come to this realization…

But your frustration and the bills mounting are causing you to lose sight of the necessary investment for social media. Yes, you can do it all yourself, but that learning curve is long… And can you really afford to take time away from running your business to devote enough time to social media?

The cost for effective Social Media and Email Marketing is still incredibly low compared to the cost of traditional marketing.  Yes, it’s harder to measure social media ROI, but the numbers on traditional marketing ROI have never been the most accurate either. Sure it’s tough to change marketing strategies, but when it’s for the better, it’s worth it.

Reality check: Traditional marketing doesn’t work anymore for small business. Social Media does.

Are you ready to take Social Media seriously now?

Can a dress code enhance sales?

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Best Pants

Image by Steve Sparshott via Flickr

Who cares what they wear if they can sell?

If you don’t think having a dress code for your store matters, think again.

You might think it really doesn’t matter what your staff wears as long as they can sell, but dress code can really have the potential to make or break a sale.

No, I’m not a prude, I’m a realist.

  • If Mrs. Jones is sitting with Mr. Jones at the shoe store and Ms. Deep Cleavage is on a shoe stool bent over arms squeezed together to put shoes on Mr. Jones, Mrs. Jones is not going to be happy when hubby starts getting positively giddy with the service! My bet is Mrs. Jones will think of an excuse to leave really quickly!
  • If “Ms. Whale Tail” or “Ms. Muffin Top” is reaching up to put stock on a higher shelf, that ain’t pretty or professional!
  • If “Mr. My Pants Crotch Has To Be All The Way To My Knees” is working today, his customers will have to slow down as they follow his waddle all the way down the aisle and they’ll get to read the designer name on his underwear band from behind.
  • If a customer’s favorite restaurant owner decides it’s cool to go grunge look with his servers, might they wonder how many times a server can get away with wearing those jeans without washing them and still serve food?
  • If the doctor’s office decides to permit fake colored fingernails on the nurses and lab techs, how can they tell the procedure is sterile if they can’t tell if the fingernails are clean?

What did I come here for?

What tone do you want set in your business?

What impression do you want the customers to have?

Customers don’t want to be distracted by navel piercings, nose rings, tattoos, and all the rest.  This is a business and they are here to do business. All those dressing quirks  are ways for the individual to say “look at me and see who I am.” The focus must be on the customer, not the salesperson.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that…

They can do whatever they want with those individualized fashions OUTSIDE the store or business.

Don’t you want your customer focusing on product instead of trying to figure out that tattoo?

Don’t you want your staff to be focused on their work instead of their individuality?

Do you want customers Tweeting about tattoos or worse yet, taking pictures and posting on Facebook? (Think People of Walmart.com or Freak Jet)

This is your business and when you are paying staff to work on your floor, they need to follow your guidelines. Don’t be afraid to detail what is and isn’t acceptable on your sales or business floor – especially during the interview process.

I know I’ll get some flack for this post, but …

It isn’t personal, IT’S BUSINESS.

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