Posts Tagged ‘PR’
Public Relations Tips for Small Businesses
Monday, March 17th, 2008
Whatever your business goals are, learning good public relations techniques are a good idea. Public relations are more than giving out free samples or writing snazzy marketing materials. Public relations consultants focus on publicity, such as through articles, public speaking, and relationships with the media. In essence, conveying the right message to the right audience.
How can public relations help a small business owner? First, you need think through who your target audience is. Your target audience is a group that has an interest or stake in the business. Certainly this goes beyond your customers. They will include the community, local media, family/friends, government agencies, vendors/suppliers, and neighbors. Your audience will convey both positive and negative information about you and your business.
Developing a public relations plan is a must. When developing a plan, it is imperative to include the objectives of what you want to accomplish for your business, how you want to be perceived by your audience, and prioritizing the important facts about your business-your key message. Once these three things have been established, then you can develop your strategy of how to accomplish your objectives and the tools to carry out your plan.
Additionally, small businesspersons should develop relationships with and use the local media. The media is always looking for a new story, or a fresh approach to something. Your business could give them just that. When you reach milestones, such as obtaining a significant new customer, you receive a community award, or solve a community problem, make sure to contact the local media. You don’t have anything to lose, except an opportunity to get your name out there.
Starting and growing your own business is hard work, and usually does not leave a lot of time for other things. Therefore, it is important to build into your schedule participation in community activities and events. This is an opportunity to give back to the community as well as develop your network and promote your business.
Get involved - the more involved you are in the community, promoting ideas and significant accomplishments of your business through the local media and other established professional relationships, the more you will increase your business.
Use your website to promote civic and other involvement that will appeal to your target audience. While political positions are not the wisest move for business, being involved in Earth Day to help the environment is a good example of something you can do and advertise on your site. Involvement in charities or other organizations is also something you can do. By encouraging others, you are setting a good example and promoting positive public relations at the same time.
Don’t be afraid to send out an internet press release of the event you are supporting or promoting. It never hurts to have your name associated with an appropriate cause that helps positively serve a community or the world. It is important that you are not joining a cause solely for the purpose of promoting your business, you want to be doing the right thing for the right reasons - and if you are there is no reason to keep that to yourself!
Tags: advice, larry Slusser, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, PR, public relations, small business, tips
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Building Your Business: The Benefits of Customer Service Training
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
A successful and capable business owner, operator or manager perfectly understands that the ultimate key to business success is customer satisfaction. There are two primary factors that play major roles in ensuring customer satisfaction both in the immediate and long term future.
First, a business that is committed to customer satisfaction makes very certain that products or services offered to consumers are top quality. Second, a business that strives to maintain customer satisfaction understands the key role that customer service plays in that process. Therefore, a successful, capable business owner, operator or manager understands the vital role that customer service training plays in the overall scheme of business operations. Indeed, in so many ways, thorough customer service training, including in depth call center customer service training, is the keystone or the glue that actually holds all of the other elements of a thriving business enterprise together.
When it comes to developing a thriving business enterprise, quality customer service has always been the foundation upon which business success is founded. More often than not, customers have the most direct experiences with a business enterprise when seeking customer service or assistance. As a result, establishing a solid customer service training program, complete with call center customer service training, benefits a business by ensuring that a customer’s direct interaction with the business enterprise is positive and professional.
Many businesses spend little time in the development of phone customer service training. This scant attention to phone customer service training is evident in many businesses despite the ultimate reality that most men and women in today’s world access a business’s customer service operation via a telephone call center. Thus, by implementing a call center customer service training program as part of an overall scheme and regimen, a business is able to work to ensure that in every situation a customer’s interaction with customer service staffers is positive, professional, and pleasant.
A phone customer service training scheme cannot downplay the importance of making certain that customer service staffers engage with customers in a pleasant and respectful manner … no matter how upset a calling customer may be in a given situation. One of the benefits of call center customer service training is the development of a call center team that is able to diffuse even the most bombastic of situations.
Achieving long term and broad based customer satisfaction requires work and long term dedication. By embarking on a thorough course of customer service training, which includes call center training in its mix, a business enterprise will be laying a solid foundation upon which business success will be evident today — and well into the future. Satisfied customers draw even more satisfied customers to a business, ensuring future success.
Tags: advice, customer loyalty, customer service, Growing Your Business, PR, tips
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Give and Your Business Shall Receive
Thursday, March 6th, 2008
Much of the secret to making your business successful is finding ways to get your name known. While many people turn to advertising, you may not have a big enough marketing budget to get you very far.
Getting involved in local events and charity organizations may be a way to get a little more name recognition for a low price, while doing a little good work at the same time.
No matter the size of the town your business is located in, there are always a number of charity events going on. From fundraisers for disadvantaged families to raising money for medical research, there are as many causes out there as there are dollars.
Donating Your Time
For the organizers of these charity events, it’s tough to get the help they need to run them, and the prizes that can be given away, or auctioned off, at the end of the day.
This is where you and your business come in. You can offer to donate your time, services and products to these events.
When it comes to donating your time, make sure that when you are volunteering you are wearing your company shirt. It also won’t hurt to wear a nametag letting people know who you are and the name of your company.
This allows people to see you out in the public and see that you are willing to give back to the community. This kind of goodwill makes people want to do business with you.
Donating Your Products
Whether you have a service-oriented business or a retail establishment, there are things that you have that are of value to others. These are the items your local charity organizers could use for their prizes or auctions, in their attempts to raise more money for their cause. When you donate these items, there is usually a tag put next to the item mentioning the name of the donating company (that’s your business).
Additionally, there are often verbal mentions of the company on a loudspeaker during the announcement of the auction or prize awards. This is cheap or free advertising for you!
Selecting a Charity to Work With
Once you know that working with a charity is something you want to do, you will have to select the charity that is right for your company. You cannot help every charity in need; there are far too many for you to be able to support every one. Therefore, you need to select one or a few that are a good fit for your company.
What do you and your employees believe in? If you can find charities that mesh with the kind of work you do, or the thoughts and beliefs that you and your employees share, you are on the right track. With the vast number of charities out there, you should be able to find one that is a natural choice for your business.
For example, if you run a toy store, a children’s charity would be a perfect pick. If you are a physical therapist, you may want to work with a sports-related charity or one that supports medical research. Think of what your company is and does and find a charity that works for you.
Getting your business involved in charity work can be rewarding in a number of ways. Not only can it be a way to get your company’s name out in the market, but it is also a great way to give back to your community and those in need.
Tags: charities, fundraisers, Growing Your Business, Leeia Ladipoh, philanthropy, PR, public outreach, public relations, sponsorships, volunteering
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Four Best Practices for Increasing Customer Loyalty
Monday, January 28th, 2008
The best methods to improve your customer service are practices identified by a national "mystery shopper" company. You can use these tools that were found while performing over 175,000 service, quality, and cleanliness evaluations of businesses all over America.
1.) Solve Small Problems on the Spot: Near my house is a Speedy Stop convenience store, and I stop there a couple times a week for coffee. Last week I was in there, and as I got to the counter and reached for my wallet, I realized that I’d forgotten it! There was a line behind me, I was embarrassed, and all I could think to say was, "I forgot my wallet, I’m here several times a week — can I return with the money?"
The senior-citizen clerk behind the counter picked up my coffee, set it down closer to me, and said, "How about if you just have this one on us?" Instantly I was relieved, thanked her, and went on my way. Two points to make here:
A.) The employee - whose demeanor was that of a kindly aunt - had the presence of mind to see my situation, and help me out of trouble. Business people have become jaded to the word "empowerment", but within sensible limits it is a terrific idea to give employees some authority to solve customers’ problems right on the spot.
B.) It is a smart move to hire seniors for customer contact jobs. While there are always exceptions, seniors who are willing to work in customer service are "people persons" who enjoy customer contact - and the consumer public loves to interact with them. It cost the store pennies to give me that coffee. The results? Well, in addition to solidifying me as a customer, through this tip I’ve just told a lot of people a positive story about the
Everyday convenience store in Oak Hill, Texas. And that "Word-of-Mouth" is the best promotion you can get.
2.) No Robots: When a manager is overly regimented, customer-contact employees can seem "mechanical" in what they say. Give employees two or three options of "scripts" that you want them to use for a given piece of information. This way, they can pick the wording that fits best for them. Also, they can vary what they say, so it’s not so cookie-cutter in delivery.
3.) Suggest Another Helpful Product: The most frequently missed question on the Mystery Shopper reports is whether any suggestive selling was done. Suggesting items helps guests decide on purchases, and is a FREE way to noticeably increase your profits. We believe up-selling should be mandatory, yet - as mentioned above - it is most effective when employees are encouraged to identify their own favorite products, and let them describe them to customers with real enthusiasm.
4.) Smiling: Many front-line employees have trouble with this. Let them know that a smile starts with the eyes. Have them practice raising their eyebrows as a lead-in to a smile. It sounds stupid, but it works. Let them have some goofy fun by watching you do it, and let them tease you (and each other) about it. Laughing about it together will remove any of the "un-cool" negative aspects of smiling.
Implement one of these practices each week for a month. You’ll see the results start to appear before you flip the next page on your calendar.
Tags: best practices, customer loyalty, customer service, Growing Your Business, John Connor, PR
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