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Growing Your Company: 5 Reasons to Consider Relocating Your Business

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You are trying to improve the way you do business. This means you are attempting to grow your company, and you would like to have a greater impact on the local marketplace. Yet, in order to achieve your business growth goals, you realize that you must consider relocating your company to a new area. The following are five reasons why this is going to be an excellent move for your business.

An Exercise in Team Work

Sometimes a relocation effort can be great for company morale. The thought of moving to a new location can cause employees to pull it together like never before. They can even get the opportunity to work with an experienced full service moving company to ensure that the big move is executed in a timely fashion without any hitches. This will give you an opportunity to let your employees know how much you appreciate all the hard work they are doing to help your company relocation happen as it should.

Relocation Will Improve Visibility

When you started your business, you had to settle for a location that was a little off the beat and path. You did not have the necessary capital reserves to plant your operation in a highly visible area. This has hurt business to some degree, but these days you have more capital to put down on a better location; so, moving your operations to a more visible location is the right move to make for your business needs.

A Larger Space

A new location will provide more space for your company. With more space, you will be able to accommodate more customers at one time. This means you will be able to carry more items in stock, and your business will also experience an increase in sales volume. This will set your company up on a faster track to future expansion.

Better Logistics

In your old location, it was difficult for trucks to maneuver for dropping off shipments. In fact, the small space you were operating out of made this a nightmare for large trucks and their drivers. Your new location has more area for trucks to pull into, and it will accommodate more off-loading space for merchandise. This is good news, because it means you will be able to finally order goods at a higher capacity without it creating such a mess for your employees.

Community Support

With a bigger location to operate out of, you will also be able to get more deeply involved in the local community. You will have the right location for throwing large events which will be good for the community and your company’s bottom line. In addition, this will translate to a lot more media coverage than you were able to get when operating out of your older location.

Moving to a new location for your business is going to bring positive changes to your company. You will have more space, you will enjoy higher visibility and you will have an ability to do more business than ever before. For the first time, your business will start to feel like it has finally reached that next level beyond the startup phase.

Guest author, Lizzie Weakley is a freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio. She went to college at The Ohio State University where she studied communications. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors and long walks in the park with her 3-year-old husky Snowball.  @LizzieWeakley

A Brief Guide on Evolving From Startup to SME

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Startups are constantly under pressure to keep their head above water and ensure that they can stay relevant. It doesn’t take much for a larger company to bully a startup out of existence, and there’s nothing worse than a slow and painful company death that not only wastes money but also time.

So to keep your business successful, we’re going to help you by offering a brief guide on how to evolve your startup into an SME with minimal stress and maximum efficiency.

Fail Faster?

Failing faster is a mantra that entrepreneurs swear by, but as with any controversial statement that is misunderstood, it’s often over exaggerated. Failing faster doesn’t mean to quite literally fail faster, and it also doesn’t mean that you should give up your business and run it into the ground just for the sake of failing. Some people assume it means pushing boundaries to see how far you can go with an idea, but the reality is that you can’t exactly use that as a method of failing faster.

Failing faster is another way of saying “learn faster”. You learn through failures because you figure out what you did wrong and how to fix it. The idea of failing faster is so that you can understand what mistakes you made so you can correct them the next time around, and this is a key of evolving from a startup to an SME. You need to realize what you’ve done poorly and how you can improve your next project.

In short, you need to fail in order to grow your business, but it takes a lot of time until you’ve built up the necessary knowledge to learn efficiently from your mistakes. Many people consider failing faster to be a ridiculous way to learn and progress, but in reality, it’s one of the fastest ways to improve your company and your practices as long as you’re consistent and mindful.

Recognizing When You Need Help

Another common issue with startups is that they’re typically very stubborn. Many companies refuse to rely on outside help, believing it to be too expensive, or saying that their employees won’t learn much if they rely too much on outside help. However, outsourced IT support, outsourcing repairs and other services can be incredibly important to the productivity and efficiency of any business.

It’s important to realize that you can’t go alone, even as an entrepreneur with a small startup. Services need to be relied on if you want the best from your business and to actually make a profit while also growing your business. Be it community management, social media assistance, computer repairs or technological advice, make sure you outsource any services that you’re unfamiliar with or don’t have much experience with.

Final Words

Growing a business from a mere startup is a challenging task, but with the right mindset, it’s possible to make great strides and surge into the industry. Evolving into an SME is no easy task, and it comes with many unique challenges that are bound to trip you up. However, by recognizing when you need help, it’s entirely possible to overcome those problems.

How Well Do Your Know Your Computers?

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Computers are fantastic inventions that have enabled us to be incredibly productive at work and at home. However, computers are still a mystery to many people and it’s understandable considering how complicated they are and how many parts they involve. However, we believe that it’s important to understand how your computer works, what it’s capable of and how you can make the most of them.

So whether you’re moving into a new office and equipping it with new computers, or if you just want to learn more about the technology that you use in your business, we’ve prepared a thorough article that will teach you everything you need to know.

A rough understanding helps you cut future costs when purchasing hardware

As with many other industries, it’s important to have a rough understanding of something before you make investments in it. If you understand how computers work and the value of the parts, then you can easily cut future costs by purchasing second-hand or refurbished hardware instead of brand-new from manufacturers. With this rough understanding of computers (a simple course) you’ll be able to make some huge savings. 

Equipping your employees with the right tools will help their productivity

How much do you know about your computers and their costs? Do you know how satisfied your employees are with them? If you want to equip your employees with the right hardware and tools, then it pays to have a deeper understanding of the tools they use, the software they require and so on.

Computer slowdowns and errors are a common cause of low productivity

You may have experienced crashes and slowdowns in the past with your computer systems, but had no idea how to deal with them. By learning about computers and their errors, you could easily fix common problems without having to call out an engineer or tech specialist. If your business suffers from computer slowdowns and errors then you’ll likely experience staff lazing around and nothing productive. With just a bit of experience, you can easily fix any common errors before they have a chance to become annoying and ultimately slow down your business.

Software can do more than you might initially think 

If you have a large number of computers in your workplace then you might be considering managed IT support to help you look after your computers. This is to help you keep your software updated, to ensure that your programs are installed properly and to also inform you on how you can use different types of software to help you grow your business.

Conclusion 

Computers are an integral part of any business, but it’s also important to understand how they’re used, how they work and also what they’re capable of.

Is Quality Web Hosting Important For SEO?

/ nancyrubin

Businesses should never underestimate the importance of online presence for their success. But being merely present isn’t enough. Your website has to be noticed by potential customers, and in time, its popularity will surely grow, as well as the business itself. So, what else is important other than the presence? Well, quality, of course. This includes ease of navigation and an organized and visually pleasing site. Is this enough? No. Where you decide to accommodate your blog also plays a big role, especially in a world where search engine optimization is essential for every business, that is, if you want to generate traffic. Let’s see exactly how your web host impacts your SEO.

High uptime percentage

If your website is often inaccessible for a long time due to problems with the server, the search engine spiders can notice that during one of their checkup visits. They will then record it as unavailable and move on to the next site. What does that mean? Well, your web page will probably be recorded as unreliable and your rankings will go down. As a result, your website will not be ranked highly in search results, and you will lose a lot of potential visitors. A good website host should offer at least 99% uptime.

Loading speed

In 2010, Google explicitly specified speed as a ranking factor, and this is something that has been a long time coming. Users love fast websites, and low loading speed will only chase them away to another page. Too busy servers can be blamed for this situation. However, while the loading speed does, in part, depend on the web host, it is not necessarily the provider’s fault. The coding and configuration of your website can play a significant role in the total loading speed.

IP address

What’s so special about the IP address that could impact your search ranking? Well, believe it or not, it’s the physical location of your web host. In order to get higher rankings, you should choose a web host that is located in the same country as your company. IP location can impact another SEO factor – speed. Targeting the users in the same country where the host server is located will enable faster loading times.

SSL as an important SEO factor

More and more websites are using https to protect user data in web traffic. That is why Google has marked SSL as an SEO ranking factor. Although it is still a minor ranking factor and it doesn’t have too strong an influence, it looks like it will become very important in the near future. You can move your site from http to https but it will require some changes to make your website fully operational.

Security

Poor website security can really hurt your SEO. Google will not hesitate to penalize websites which are susceptible to hacker attacks, spam messages, and fake backlinks. If something like this happens, you will probably need a lot of time to identify the fraudulent page and have it removed. This gives Google time to impose the penalty. Websites that are prone to malware are also backlisted by search engines. If you choose a reliable SEO friendly host that has security technology options available, you should be able to avoid all of the mentioned problems.

Tech support

Although tech support isn’t an SEO factor per se it can play an important role in the way you manage your website and handle challenging situations. Let’s suppose your website goes down. You’re trying to get tech support on the phone and no one is answering. By the time someone finally picks up the phone, Google has already figured out your site is down which pushes it lower down the ranking list. That’s why it is imperative to find a web host that offers 24/7 support that actually works. If your website goes down, there will always be someone to react straight away.

Although a critical factor in determining your website’s SEO rankings, web hosting is often overlooked. By making an informed decision and constantly checking your hosting quality, you will help increase your search result rankings, and ensure that users enjoy the experience of your website and always come back for more.

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Guest Author is Alex Williams is a journalism graduate, and a rookie blogger trying to find my luck. Blogs are the perfect opportunity for presenting yourself to wider audience, getting the chance to showcase my expertise and receiving recognition. I am a regular contributor at Bizzmark Blog

How to Build Customer Loyalty

/ nancyrubin

Many businesses focus on attracting new customers, but more often than not, they do not focus on customers they already have. Finding more customers is a key for business growth, while maintaining a good relationship with current customers is a key for business survival. That group of people that are constantly around your business is the group you should be focusing on. Your business will have far less trouble expanding once it has a steady and loyal customer base.

As a matter of fact, building customer loyalty is what drives a business forward and after you have ensured loyalty from your regular customers you can easily grow your business and even attract new customers through good reputation. Here are a few tips on how to build customer loyalty.

Encourage Feedback

Customers that keep coming back do so for a reason and you should encourage them to provide feedback. Moreover, you should try to get feedback from every customer that you interact with, because it is the best way to learn what customers think about your business and how you do things.

That information will be invaluable to you, especially when plan to improve your business and customer experience. After all, your customers will appreciate the fact that their opinion matters to you and that you are willing to put an extra effort in improving their overall experience. Any bit of appreciation from customers inevitably leads to customer loyalty.

Better Communication

Feedback is very important, but your communication with customers should not be based solely for that purpose. Take time to chat with your customers regularly and discuss some topics that are not business related. That way you will show your customers that you enjoy talking to them for reasons outside promoting sales or offering discounts.

If you have a database of regular customers, good chances are that you will also have their personal information. Use that information to wish them a happy birthday via e-mail or by leaving a post on their social network. Furthermore, use e-mail or newsletter to chat on a more personal level or to offer answers to any question they may have concerning your business, product or service. Good communication builds trust and loyalty between a business and its customers.

Improve Customer Support

When talking about customer loyalty, great customer support is one of the most important factors to consider. Customers that deal with great customer service are more likely to be satisfied and to return to do business with you again. Furthermore, great customer support ensures that any issues customers may have regarding product or service, are dealt with in accordance with customer satisfaction. Also, some types of businesses need to have surety bonds that insure customers from fraud and protect them from incontinence, while building trust and loyalty at the same time.

Moreover, every customer complaint is a chance to improve your business and build more loyalty. When your customers see that any issues they may have are properly resolved, they will perceive your business as dependable and responsible. Also, it will show your customers that they matter to you and in return, they will reward your efforts with loyalty.

Ensure Quality of Product and Service

Trying your best to meet the needs of your customers certainly drives customer loyalty. By guaranteeing the quality of product or service, you are enabling your customers to obtain exactly what they purchased. Furthermore, by staying consistent with your services, customers will know exactly what to expect from you, elevating the reliability of your business.

In other words, when it comes to quality of product your customers will be more loyal when you sell them the product you marketed and not something entirely different. Also, be precise with delivery of product and services on agreed date and time. Your customers will appreciate the fact that you make deliveries on time and they will continue to procure services from you because they know you are trustworthy.

Appreciate Your Customers

It is not that hard to build customer loyalty, all that is required is dedication and the will to find the best way to meet your customers’ needs, as well as a way to improve their experience. After all, if you appreciate your customers, they will also appreciate you.

 

Oscar is a writer from Sydney and one of the editors at Bizzmarkblog. He enjoys conducting research in the vast fields of business and marketing and writing about the useful insights he gathers on a daily basis. Follow Oscar on Twitter to stay updated with his latest posts.

How to Improve Your Business’ Customer Service

/ nancyrubin / 2 Comments

Businesses of all sizes are constantly searching for ways to expand and retain their customer base by boosting their performance in customer service. The success of these departments is no longer only about etiquette and stellar communication skills; it is also important to develop a company wide forward-thinking culture to support your beneficial practices. As customer expectations are growing with the advancement of technology, it is time to take your customer feedback into account when thinking of an efficient customer service plan. Here are some suggestions on how to improve your company’s customer service.

Be Accessible and Responsive as Much as You can

Customer support availability is a primary customer demand, as they want quick and efficient answers to their questions at all times, and this is especially important for international and online businesses worldwide. For a desirable customer experience, you need to respond in a timely manner. Instant response to your customers’ concerns will build rapport from the beginning of your relationship and positive experience can be rewarded by recommendations to their family, friends, and colleagues.

Provide Customer Service Through Many Different Channels

The rise of technology has opened many communication channels between companies and customers. Whether it is questions or complaints, you have use as many options available to you in order to create quality customer experience. A customer should have a variety of choices when trying to reach a company. Direct phone contact, email, and social media are the basic options every business should provide. Contact forms, live chats, and other strategies such as traditional and emerging messaging services (SMS, Viber, WhatsApp, etc.) can be an added bonus to your offer. Dissatisfied customers are often just looking for an explanation, product exchange or a refund. Providing a prompt and an adequate response over a customer’s preferred channel can help settle disputes in an efficient and a personalized way, convincing the customer that their concerns are valuable to you.

Use the Benefits of Self-service Support Options

Many customers prefer to find answers to their problems without having to interact with customer representatives. Developing self-service options will help your business optimize each customer representative’s time and potential by relieving them of duties while creating a convenient solution for your customers to get the right information quickly and independently. Having reliable and efficient self-service options is crucial, but keep in mind that leaving customers on their own cannot always substitute appropriate support from an agent. Customers will still prefer addressing human support if their issues are urgent or complicated.

Maintain a Trained and Well-organized Team of Employees

Constant training in new customer service techniques is bound to ensure the efficiency of your team. Your service team must be up to date with company protocol and product details, as well as ways to respond to different situations that may arise when providing customer support. Team managers will need to be able to assess individual employee skills and strengths, as well as areas in which they could improve. While good teamwork is vital to your customer service performance, clear communication between team members will be essential to the successful implementation of good practices. To provide a smooth flow of information, easy communication, and optimal work organization, businesses should consider using some type of a work organization software. A reliable project management software comparison could help you choose an option that works best for your particular needs.

Recognize Customer Feedback

Many customers search for other customer reviews before buying an item or committing to a business. Upon seeing positive reviews, they will be compelled to visit your website or look for more information. It is important to acknowledge both positive and negative customer feedback. Word-of-mouth reaches an incomparably larger number of people with the rise of online review websites and social media. Responding publicly to either compliments or complaints will help your company look engaged and invested when it comes to customers. On the contrary, a poor response or no response at all can hinder your company’s reputation.

Do not Neglect the Power of Support

Successful implementation of new and different strategies into your customer service operation plan can significantly improve the performance of your service teams while generating more genuine customer satisfaction and engagement.

 

Oscar is a writer from Sydney and one of the editors at Bizzmarkblog. He enjoys conducting research in the vast fields of business and marketing and writing about the useful insights he gathers on a daily basis. Follow Oscar on Twitter.to stay updated with his latest posts.