5 Costly Small Business Phone System Mistakes

“The average small business misses 40% of sales related phone calls.”   It may sound crazy but your current phone system (or lack thereof) may be costing your small business a lot of money. As a business owner, you may have the latest technology when it comes to payment processing, managing your inventory, and handling the books. So why do small business owners choose to neglect their phone systems?   It’s simple. Traditional phone systems are difficult to setup and costly to maintain. The bottom line is that you don’t need a phone system that is overly complex to be successful.   The truth is that you only need a small business phone system that is capable of helping you solve these 5 common mistakes:   1. Letting Business Calls Go to Voicemail You single biggest phone system expense is not the monthly bill or even the phones themselves. It is the act of …

competition is good

Why Competition is Good News for Your Business

“First mover isn’t what’s important—it’s the last mover. Microsoft was the last operating system, and Google was the last search engine.” Contrary to the belief of the vast majority of those who seek to be successful in business, competition is actually a great benefit to any company. Average entrepreneurs value their competition about as much as they value their in-laws, while experienced entrepreneurs understand that the competition is not the enemy. If you have a viable business, then you can assume that you have one, if not multiple competitors. If you have a promising idea for a business, then someone else has probably already thought of it. When you find another company doing the same thing you are doing, don’t panic. This does not seal the fate of your ambitious venture—in fact, exactly the opposite is true. Competition is Market Validation The first thing to recognize is this: The fact …

customer service

3 Principles That Will Win Customers for Life

“70% of buying decisions are based on how a customer feels they were treated.”   It may sound obvious but if you treat a customer well, you will have a customer for life. So why do so many businesses fail at basic customer service? Sure, there are some truly terrible businesses out there that really don’t care about their customers. But I choose to believe that the majority of businesses that failed, did so unintentionally.    It’s easy as business owners to get wrapped up in the importance of your product or service. Don’t get me wrong, your product is extremely important. However, it is still not as important as how you take care of your customers. In fact, a recent study shows that 70% of buying decisions are based on how a customer feels they were treated. That is a staggering number and one that must not be ignored. …

How to Create an Explainer Video for Less than $500

We increased our conversions by 48% with this simple explainer video.   You have probably seen an explainer video on nearly every company landing page. They are everywhere. Now you are thinking about creating your own but you don’t know where to start and more importantly, you don’t have much money to spend. We get it. Talkroute is 100% bootstrapped and we know how important every last dollar can be.   The bottom line is that you need an explainer video. There are very few rules that I believe apply to every business but the use of video for marketing is one of them. You would never expect to visit a company site without seeing text that explains a product or service. So why do we feel the absence of video is acceptable? Videos are 6x more effective than print and have a 41% higher conversion rate.   So we decided …

We Got Accepted Into Techstars & Turned Them Down

Yes, we were accepted into one of the nation’s most prestigious accelerator programs and turned them down. So are we crazy?   I’m sure there are those of you out there that think we are nuts for turning this opportunity down. That’s fine and you may be right. My goal is not to convince anyone that we were right or wrong or if given the chance, what you should do. Instead, I want to bring you an alternative perspective and hopefully give you some points to consider.   I am emailed about this topic regularly and asked questions such as; “Should I apply to Techstars?” I cringe when I receive these emails, as I’m not qualified to provide an opinion since I don’t know anything about you or your startup. Techstars has a lot of merit and I respect the people behind the program. I don’t want to create the …

Want to Make Your Startup Look Bigger? Get a Virtual Phone System

While huge valuations and giant rounds of venture funding are flooding the imagination of daydreaming “wantrepreneurs”, you are boostrapping your way to success and spending every dollar as it may be your last. You know what needs to be done and how to get there but running a bootstrapped startup is a far cry from the sexy portrayal that seems to proceed what many believe to be the entrepreneur lifestyle. But who cares! Let the others run wild with their imagination while you kick ass and chase the real dream.   “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.”   “I’m lean, I’m scrappy, why should I want to appear bigger? Won’t my customers accept me and respect me for my ability to run and grow a successful startup on a bootstrap budget?” Unfortunately, the answer is “No”. You …

How to Run a Business from Your Cell Phone

Once looked upon as a measure of a business’ reputation and size, utilizing cellular phones to conduct direct business with clients is no longer a practice that draws negative criticism. In fact, direct customer contact with cellular devices has increased to unprecedented levels in the past five years. It is no longer regarded as the shady business practice of fly-by-night companies, but is now respected as a legitimate means to communicate with clients in an efficient and effective manner. However, it is easy to get carried away and forget that a level of decorum is expected and sometimes forgotten with business cell phone usage. Running your business from a cellular phone does not have to be obvious. Many small business owners and entrepreneurs are choosing to take their cellular phones to the next level by adding Talkroute to their service.

Braintree Payments Review – A Passion for Startups & Businesses that accept Online and Mobile Payments

You have a great new business and you are ready to start selling your product. However, you haven’t discovered the perfect method for receiving, managing, and storing online and/or mobile payments. Sure, you can setup a PayPal account and start accepting PayPal payments fairly quickly. But if you are selling a complex product or a service that is more than a simple purchase and ship/download, you will find services like PayPal, to be very limited.

VoIP Alternative – Talkroute is an Affordable & Reliable Solution

In our previous article Google Voice Alternative – Focusing on Small Business with Talkroute we talked about how Talkroute is becoming the preferred Google Voice alternative for small business owners and entrepreneurs. More recently, Talkroute is now becoming the preferred alternative to VoIP users nationwide! What is VoIP? VoIP is an acronym for Voice Over Internet Protocol, or in more common terms phone service over the Internet. If you have a reasonable quality Internet connection you can get phone service delivered through your Internet connection instead of from your local phone company. Over the years this has become an increasingly popular option for small business owners and entrepreneurs who desire a phone system with the functionality of enterprise level solution. There are 100’s, if not 1000’s, of VoIP providers to choose from and all provide similar offerings. VoIP Providers boast low prices and reliable service. For many, a hosted VoIP solution seems to …

Port Your Google Voice Number To Talkroute

We get asked about transferring numbers to Talkroute fairly regularly. However, the majority of these requests come from Google Voice users. I wanted to take sometime to address the most common questions and concerns that we receive:   Can I port my Google Voice Number to Talkroute? Yes, as long as you have a paid Talkroute account (no trial accounts) you can initiate a port request by following the steps here.   How long does it take? Google Voice Numbers are generally transferred in 1-7 business days. In the meantime, you can forward your Google Voice Number to your new Talkroute Number. This way the calls you receive from Google Voice will be routed to your Talkroute account while you wait for the transfer to be completed. Once the transfer is complete, the Google Voice Number will be added to your Talkroute account and no further action will be needed …