All posts by Editor

business, development, work, work connexions

What the kids are doing?

It is no secret that younger generations lead the way with new trends. But the question is, how much? I was amazed this week, when my son came home asking to install software for school which would enable him to do his homework,stay in touch with classmates and swap ideas( sounds a bit web 2.0). They use a software called First Class. As the website explains:

 

FirstClass Learning Platform http://www.intl.firstclass.com/

FirstClass is a learning platform for online learning communities, that enables personalised learning activities. It provides ‘Anytime, Anywhere’ access to the learning environment from the classroom, library and home, while it enables parents to become more involved in the educational development of their child.

 

I have no doubt that the current generation of school children are running rings around the a large part of the current workforce. Already my son has produced his own cartoon DVD, something that would have been impossible for anyone 10 years ago. How bright is the future? Well it depends on how we are able to integrate with this generation.

brand, business, development, E-Commerce, sales, Websites, work

E-mail Signatures and stamps

Quite often I get asked where do I come from. It is one of those conversation starters. Especially nowadays, as we can do business with everyone in the world, or least have the potential to.

All too often I wonder where does this person live? We might know that they are based in America, but where? There over 50 states, each one at least 3 times bigger than the UK….. The outcome of such thoughts is that I have taken to adding a signature to the bottom of my email. Stating that we are a Manx company. A bit like James Brown really “say it loud I am black and I am proud”. Seriously I do have a slight nostalgia for post marks. I could always tell from the postmark if it was a letter from a loved one and more importantly where they were. On the other hand I am glad that we do not have to pay postage for each email that we send. I am averaging over 20 emails a day at current rates that would be £5.60 and quite a few trips to the post office. 

Put a Post Mark on your email and say where you are sending it from……

Uncategorized

When your customer is leaving, do you need better customer service?

When a customer decides to leave, what should you do and what are the pitfalls?

A lot of time is spent upon winning customers. But if you cannot keep your customers, what then?

How important is a customer?

It is obvious that not all customers are the same.

Yet again and again, people seem to treat everybody the same, like it is some sort of democracy. The basic service is always the same, being polite, accurate etc.

But is much more than that. Some customers are going to expand your business by up to three or four times. Of course the reverse is true as well. Certain customers can shrink your business by the same amount.

I have recently experienced that, for the sake of £30, a company is willing to allow bad feeling to stand. 

If we break this down into figures, over the next two years, I will tell approximately 30 people about this company. Let’s say that only 20 of these people were potential customers. If they use just the cheapest service available, at £180, that’s £3600 at an absolute minimum the company will have have lost. All for the sake of £30.

People say the best advertisement is word of mouth. If any customer left us not completely satisfied, I would refund them their last months payment, no questions asked.

Uncategorized

Second Guessing Sales

It is very easy, within sales, to second guess what a prospective client is looking for. To ascertain what the facts are requires a more developed relationship. Then begins a two way process; either you start moving towards the sale or have to go back and develop your product so that it meets their requirements. Keeping good sales records and then being able to define what is happening in the field is vital to any organization. This document by the IOD is very interesting on covering aspects related to closing the deal.