The Talkroute Blog

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 …

It seems like a no-brainer: Pay all your operating costs, and whatever’s left over is yours, right? Well, that’s true; you’ve earned it. On the other hand, you may want to set your salary a little lower than you planned if there are some elements of your business that are still lacking. Just because you’ve paid all your bills doesn’t mean that you’ve fulfilled all of your obligations to your business because the more revenue you can put back in the business will make it that much more successful and secure. What Does Your Business Need? Before you take your cut, ask yourself the following: Have you done sufficient advertising? Are you prepared, if business unexpectedly takes a temporary nosedive? Do you have an emergency fund for daily mishaps, damages, or acts of God? Does your office need any maintenance or new equipment? Of course, things like office maintenance may …

  People are Buying YOU There was a teacher who once told me, “No matter what you do, someone’s always watching.” This is something that most of us realize, and yet, we don’t actively think about it. That was a wise statement by the teacher, and what we should learn from it is that, aside from our personal life, it’s important to pay close attention to how we carry ourselves professionally, as well. It’s not like you have to be a saint or anything—the point is just to be ethical, and to manage your business relationships like you actually care.. and you should.   Professionals are People, Too Your business relationships, obviously, are not unlike the rest of your relationships, and you should approach them as such. First of all, it requires work on your part; you can’t neglect your business connections and expect them to thrive. Instead, the key …

Even if everyone you talk to says they love your business idea, that doesn’t mean that it’s a good one. First of all, people say a lot of things; what they say they would buy and what they will actually buy are two different things. You also can’t start a business just because you “feel like it’s going to work”. Many entrepreneurs set out on a new venture based on an instinct that their idea is foolproof. There’s no shortcut; you simply have to do your homework. What is the Market? Remember that your “market” is just people. Instead of thinking of it as a summary of figures and statistics, it’s better to think of this in terms of all the different groups of people who are your potential customers. Who are they? How much money do they make? What do they buy? Look at the details, not just broad …

  So, you’ve decided to set up an online store, and you’re presented with a few options for a place to build it. Among the front-runners are Bigcommerce and Shopify. Both of these ecommerce builders will give you a seamless startup experience, but of course each has its strengths and weaknesses. It depends, to some degree, on your business’ goals; however, Shopify tends to come out on top across all bases.   Superior Analytics Here is the one category where you will find that Bigcommerce shines through. You can tell that it was created with the intent of providing an expansive platform to facilitate the growth of an e-business. Shopify gives you everything you need to be up and running fast with the necessary tools to serve every customer, but Bigcommerce has better built-in analytics and SEO tools to help you see not only where you are, but where you’re …

  “Living a Princely life requires that you learn to think and reason like the Prince, talk and behave like him, react like him as well.” —Jaachynma N.E. Agu   Everyone started in business with the vigor and ambition of a teenager at his first job. You had some wild assurance that you would be able to handle everything that came and impress everyone around you, convinced that this was the beginning of a sustained line of success. In the same way, no entrepreneur starts their own business with the hope of being mediocre; you want to change the game, and you want to do what you do better than anybody else. And there’s no reason why you can’t do that.   The following points show the difference between the way an amateur thinks about business, and the way a pro sees it—which one are you?   1. Respect Your …