Your Competitors are Not the Enemy; They are Your Friends

Many business owners fear that a strong competitor will put them out of business, or at least take some of their customers. As long as your market is large enough, however, there are usually plenty of customers to go around. Healthy competition is by no means reason for panic, and in fact, it’s a good thing. If you’re not convinced, check out this article: “Why Competition is Good News for Your Business” Find a Differentiator Your business must have that special something that sets you apart from competitors. Think about large-scale competing companies: Apple & Microsoft; GM & Chrysler; Nike & Adidas. Each of these companies make the same thing that its counterpart makes, and yet they are all hugely successful—how do they do it? Differentiators. The market is already established for each industry, so they don’t even have to worry about that. These companies have created key differences that …

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The PSTN Proves Old School Tech Still Has Its Place

PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network)—The world’s collection of interconnected, voice-oriented public telephone networks, both commercial and government-owned. Whenever you say “landline”, you are referring to a phone line that uses the PSTN. The PSTN is an invaluable infrastructure, and it’s not going to be replaced anytime soon. Even though the telecommunications industry has made a few leaps over the past few decades, the wireless network still can’t provide the kind of coverage provided by the PSTN. In fact, wireless networks depend on it to fill in its gaps in coverage to complete calls. There’s Nothing Like the Original Have you ever wondered how your calls are connected? Well, it’s a little more complicated than it used to be, but the old system is still very much in use. The original PSTN, or POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) is exactly what you think it is: Copper wires, underground and overhead, that …

Voip phone in trash

VoIP Service Providers’ Master Plan, and Why it Didn’t Work

Virtual phone service providers were on to something big. They knew they had a service that was a viable alternative to conventional phone systems, and they knew they could sell it because the cost was low for these pioneer providers and for their customers, as well. Patrons of the conventional phone system were paying a premium, and any service that could provide professional service, at a much lower price, was of course very attractive. VoIP-based systems enabled businesses to use their phones at any location with an internet connection, whereas service from the traditional telephone company is restricted to one location. VoIP and Hosted IP phone service seemed too good to be true; it looked impressive, simple, even elegant. The businesses who decided to make the switch, however, were in for a big surprise. Here’s Why VoIP Users Are Sorry They Switched. Dropped Calls This is a significant problem for …

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What Makes the Best Phone Tree for Business?

  Customizable Call Menus The anchor of any professional phone system is the phone tree, or IVR, or call menu. You’ve probably realized, like hundreds of thousands of other businesses owners have, that utilizing a service which provides a professional phone system with a call menu to direct callers to various departments is an essential element of customer service. The thing is, this call menu should be easily customizable. When you can record your own greetings in whatever format you choose, using whatever person’s voice you like, it gives you the freedom to create a call menu that reflects the nature of your company. It’s certainly something you want to look for in a service.   Variety of Options Many of the companies who provide virtual phone service don’t give you much room to build your own custom phone tree, and this is important. You know your market, your product, …

Going Paperless: Is It Really Worth It?

  So we all know that we have to save the trees and that it’s a good thing to cut down on paper waste, right? But let’s be honest—that’s not why we’re storing and managing all of our information from our hard drives and in the Cloud. What’s the real reason? It makes life easier, personally and at work. Hard documents can be lost, easily damaged, and they take up a ton of physical space. It’s also easier to stay organized, and the benefits don’t end there. What happens when you have stacks upon stacks, files upon files in cabinets all over your office? Someone has to keep it all straight and make sure everything is in the appropriate place, and that can require more time than you can give, executed by your valuable staff who would be far more useful doing more productive things.   Cut the Clutter Cloud-based …

4 Simple Steps to Reducing Your Carbon Footprint

Let’s face it—most of us probably don’t put in as much effort as we should, when it comes to reducing our carbon footprint. You may be surprised how easy it actually is for your business to reduce its impact on the environment, by making a few simple changes. If you get really ambitious about making a difference, here’s an example of one business that almost completely eliminated its negative impact on the environment. If you’re not quite ready to affect change on this scale, we’ll go into some easy things you can do every day to reduce emissions. Diageo North America One company took the initiative to blow away any expectations of those concerned about environmental responsibility and sustainability. The North American division of Diageo, a global producer, manufacturer, and distributor of spirits, beer, and wine, cut their total carbon emissions by 80 percent—that is a figure that would astound …

Build an Ethical Business: Cheating Isn’t Worth the Effort

  You work in the business world; you’ll probably have an important decision to make before you finish your first cup of coffee, but there’s one decision that should be a no-brainer: How important is it to be ethical? When you build an ethical business, you gain the respect of the public, avoid bad press, and establish goodwill with your customers. It’s beneficial for any business to treat people with respect, and isn’t that the definition of Ethics?   Earning Trust Tim Melville-Ross, President of the Institute of Business Ethics, raises an interesting point in his article about the ethical obligation of businesses. He says that “businesses can’t just say they’re ethical; they need to prove they have embedded ethical values.” He claims that if business isn’t conducted honestly, then “trust is eroded and businesses fail.” When he says that businesses fail, it’s hard to tell whether he’s saying that …

121 Small Business Tools to Help Increase Revenue

  As business owners, we are always looking for ways to save time, increase productivity, lower costs, and attract new customers. While your first instinct may be to throw money at the weak parts of your business, simply reevaluating the tools you are using may give you just the jump-start that you need.   Below is a list of 121 great business tools that you can easily start using today. Whether you’re a new small business or large corporation, there’s bound to be something here that will either help increase profits or allow you to spend your time more efficiently.   Browse by Business Tools – Click to Jump to a Category:           Communications & Chat Every business owner knows that communication is paramount to the success & growth of your organization. These business tools will help you stay connected to your customers and your team, …

When Customer Service Fails… It’s Actually Pretty Entertaining

  All of these companies paid the price for terrible customer service, but we have to thank them for the interesting and hilarious stories that resulted from their blunders. This is exactly how NOT to handle your customers, and we can all learn valuable lessons from their mistakes.   1. Verizon Customer Forced to Pay for Her Dead Father’s Phone We all know corporations can be heartless, but this story shows just how cold they can be. One woman asked Verizon to cancel her father’s account because he had just passed. Verizon continued to charge her for the account for 3 months (even after she provided a death certificate) because they said they could not cancel it without his PIN number, which of course no one knew, except for the father. (Business Insider)     2. Kevin Smith is Too Fat to Fly After he was already seated on the …

Customer Care is Essential: Here’s How to Do it Better

There are 2 basic schools of thought, when it comes to customer care: You’re either reactive—responding to customers only when there’s a problem; or, you’re proactive, in which case you provide service that exceeds customers’ expectations through a system that positively engages them. Exceptional customer care is an indispensable element of your business that you can enhance with just a little bit of effort. Put Yourself in Their Shoes What do customers want? When you’re on the flipside, as a patron, you have certain needs and expectations. What are you looking for, as a consumer? You want to be treated like a VIP, right? (Come on, admit it). Ok, maybe you’re the modest, easy-to-please type, but you can bet that most of your customers want the royal treatment. You also want to be served with speed. One of the quickest ways to lose points with your customers is to make …