How Old & New Entrepreneurs Can Teach Each Other

With a massive, multi-generational assortment of entrepreneurs existing today, who are running everything from the small businesses in your neighborhood, to vast corporations, it means there are all kinds of business owners who each have their own knowledge and experience to teach. To focus on two main categories of entrepreneurs, old-school owners who have been around for a while and owners from the new generation, these can both learn a thing or two from each other. LESSONS FROM THE OLD GUARD Customer service is paramount. Old-school business owners generally took customer service to a degree that is not as familiar to the new generation. There have always been companies that provided terrible service, but in earlier generations, the emphasis was on going the extra mile for a customer. In some cases, that would mean treating customers like family, and otherwise never stopping until they were satisfied, keeping them loyal to …

3 Ways You Are Overcomplicating Your Business

  The idea of this is to encourage you to take a look at your business from the inside, out, and to examine three elements in particular: Your aesthetic, product options, and web presence & design. So many businesses tend to ignore the forest for the trees, in a sense, and end up building a customer experience that turns them off due to it being complicated and therefore, unpalatable. You’ll find here a few simple solutions for business owners who may have alienated customers by making various elements of their business needlessly complicated.   For a Good Aesthetic, Less is More Think of your aesthetic as an advertisement. When a potential customer visits your business, everything they see—and even their other senses are involved—is a commercial for your product or service. The sad truth is that people would probably buy a sub-par product from you if the packaging is good—the …

Shouldn’t Become CEO for Title

Why You Shouldn’t Become a CEO Just for the Title

There’s no doubt that starting a business takes a powerful drive, to build something from scratch and bring a vision to life. Exactly where that drive comes from, though, is significant because it may determine whether the business owner will have the motivation to stick it out for the long haul. Mr. John Q. Important, President & CEO It’s one of the most sought-after titles in American history, and it’s understandable that we clamber to reach that position because let’s face it—it just sounds good. But along with the title comes the responsibility and stress of running a business, among other things. So, if you got into business just for the title and the respect, then more power to you—as long as you can handle the other because if you can’t, your whole company could be in trouble. The Magic Fades Yes, it’s great to be the big boss. Keep …

Why Your Customers Need to Know They’re Valued

  Businesses have a secret. It’s actually glaringly obvious, but they seem to act like it’s a secret because most hardly ever mention it—the big secret is that they can’t exist without their customers. Business owners and consumers alike all know this, so why not publicize it to earn some goodwill with your customers? This is why it works.   The Missed Opportunity Some businesses bring it up from time to time, saying that their customers are their “top priority”, or something to that effect; however, most businesses rarely mention this, if ever. Even if they do, it’s usually just a generic sentiment like, “You are important to us.” Few businesses go so far as to admit that their very existence depends on customers’ continued patronage. If you admit that you’re literally nothing without them, it’s an opportunity to show goodwill and appreciation toward your customers. People value honesty in …

Basic Wisdom for New Business Owners

You can find all kinds of advice through research, mentors, and colleagues about what you should do and how you should be when starting a new business. The wealth of information can be dizzying; so here are a few points that boil it down to manageable tips—a cheat sheet for new business owners. Know What to Worry About Blake Irving brings up an interesting point about worry and stress. Primarily, what he is suggesting is that, when you’re building your business, it’s important to know when you can ignore certain things that happen and some things the people around you are saying to you. Here is the gist of it, in Blake’s own words: “Your parents, siblings, close friends and trusted coworkers will all chime in on your plans. If they’re only radiating fear or negativity, you have no option but to ignore them and move ahead.” Know Yourself Starting …

5 Practical Sales Tips to Make You a Better Closer

    1. Listen & Respond If you happen to be on the phone with a potential lead, then one of the absolute most important points to remember is to be a good listener. This comes naturally to some people; others have to work really hard to stop themselves from constantly trying to “handle” the person with whom they are speaking and control the conversation—especially salespersons. This doesn’t mean that you have to become introverted and never assert what you want to say; it simply means that you have to listen to what someone is saying, and then give a helpful response, based on what they are telling you that they need.   2. Avoid Templates First off, there are definitely circumstances that necessitate the use of templates for things like mass email campaigns. Basically, if you are targeting a large number of people for the same thing, then it’s …

Make More Sales by Avoiding These 5 Mistakes

Entrepreneurs have all types of personalities. Some are brilliantly charismatic, some excel at reading people to know how to approach them, some are hopelessly introverted or antisocial, and some entrepreneurs simply don’t know what can be potentially disheartening to people, making it very difficult for them to interact with clients. That’s where these tips can be helpful—a few of the most common mistakes we make when dealing with new clients. 1. Promising something you’re not sure you can deliver. When you have a potential sale on the line who will probably buy from you if you meet one condition, the temptation to promise to meet that condition is strong, even if you have no confidence that you’ll actually be able to do it. You think, “They’ll probably stay with our business, even when they find out we can’t deliver what they need.” Think again. 2. Making them wait for you …

The 4 Most Used Recordings for Your Phone System

To set up a great phone system means adding brief audio messages in the right places for your callers to provide information, direct them to the correct person, and even hold their attention so the caller doesn’t hang up before they reach you. These messages come in the form of greetings and announcements that make your business sound and function like a professional phone system. Educate yourself on what each kind of message is called and how it is used, with this quick reference guide of phone system audio sections. 1. Welcome Greeting The Welcome Greeting is an optional greeting that you would place as an initial message for callers which they hear as soon as your system picks up. This audio section is where you can include a basic, “Hello. Thank you for calling,” and a quick identification of your company if you like. The Welcome Greeting is not …

New Buzzwords in Phone System Technology

Out of all the trending buzzwords in phone system technology, these are some of the most discussed among businesses. The buzz surrounding professional phone systems is, admittedly, not the most exciting buzz, but if you are a business, the following features and terms are good to be aware of. Virtual Phone Number Phone numbers are prevalent in all of our daily lives, and we have a good understanding of how they work. Virtual phone numbers, though basically no different from normal phone numbers, have only recently become commonly recognized. A virtual phone number is simply a phone number that is not assigned to a specific phone or device but that you can register and own in the same way as a conventional one, as well as dial it to reach someone. Further explanation of virtual phone numbers can be found in this post: https://talkroute.com/is-a-virtual-phone-number-the-same-as-a-standard-number/ On-Premises Phone System This is something …

What to Do When Your Service Provider Won’t Port Your Number

    Phone number ports usually go pretty smoothly, letting your number seamlessly transfer to the new carrier without issue. There can be complications sometimes, though, and one of those complications is when your old carrier just will not release the number to your new carrier. In most cases this can be remedied with a little support from your new service provider, but if the old provider persistently refuses to release your number, this is what you can do.     Contact the porting agent at your new provider. This may or may not apply to you, as it depends on who your new provider is and whether or not they have a porting department to provide direct support throughout the porting process. If you are porting a number into Talkroute, an agent will be there to assist you with any issue that may arise, as well as provide updates …