Have you noticed that a lot of businesses are willing to engage through online channels yet fail to provide any phone support these days? All too often, the online chat supports those businesses offer are auto-generated generic answers that are less-than-helpful. Let’s say you’re unable to log into one of your social media networks, either because you’ve been locked out or because the platform is down. Having the option to speak with a live person and resolve the issue over the phone would be helpful, right?
Research shows why people are becoming increasingly frustrated with online support:
55% of customer requests for service on social media are not acknowledged.
72% of Facebook interactions are never completed, in any channel.
Why going back to the basics to develop relationships can humanize your business?
In the long run, the ability to humanize your business through live phone support can certainly help your company stand out from the crowd. Human nature dictates that people prefer to do business with real people rather than logos and bots. And although face-to-face meetings and phone calls were once the norm for business representatives, artificial intelligence (AI), email and social media have contributed to a decline in personal human interactions over the last decade or so.
As well, too many companies are overlooking a key aspect when prioritizing the digital experience: talking on the phone with a real person is faster, easier, and more effective than typing messages back and forth. It may seem old-fashioned, but in reality, most people still want to talk to a knowledgeable human being – especially when they have customer service issues or are making major purchasing decisions.
Businesses may be losing potential revenue by hiding their phone numbers and making it nearly impossible to reach a live person. Customers who are irritated have little patience for automated support, and even those who aren’t irritated will notice when your company interacts with a human touch. However, savvy business owners understand that relationships are the true currency of business. And, amongst the rise of AI, humans now have the advantage of offering something unique and compelling to customers.
Ready to provide a “Talk to Human” option? Proper phone etiquette will go a long way
If you are ready for your business to be more “human” again but haven’t picked up the phone in a while, then you may need to brush up on your phone skills. Having a repertoire of good customer service terms on hand will help you communicate with your current and potential customers more effectively.
Here are a few impactful customer service phrases to consider:
#1. “Thank you for bringing this to our attention.”
In fact, the customer who reports the flaw is actually assisting your company with quality control. In these cases, the very least your company can do is express gratitude through this simple phrase. Being courteous does not cost you anything. It is important to be genuine with this as people are smart and can detect if you’re being insincere.
#2. “I will look into this for you.”
Even when you are unsure of the outcome, it is essential that you express a willingness to find the answer. Because one of your goals is to boost your customers’ trust in your brand, this helps demonstrate to them that you’re a professional who gets things done.
#3. “I apologize for the inconvenience.”
If a customer is dissatisfied, it is critical to demonstrate empathy, validate their complaint and let them know that you understand their concerns. Apologizing to a dissatisfied customer and admitting the error is preferable to making excuses.
At the end of the day, it is important to provide your customers with as many contact channels as you can effectively manage. Consider having a “talk to human” as one of those options; it will likely result in a positive experience for both sides!
When it comes to running a successful business, a little knowledge goes a long way. The effective use of available resources is one way to gain that knowledge. Additionally, businesses can achieve new heights of success by utilizing their resources efficiently.
For many small business owners, however, managing their resources can be challenging. For one thing, there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution for managing all your company’s resources. Here are some recommendations to get you started.
Resources for social media
When it comes to using social media for business, you will want to keep in mind that there are significant differences between professional and personal use. Fortunately, there are many resources available both online and off to help you plan and create the best social media content for your business.
You’ll learn quickly that fact checking should be a top priority when sharing social media content on your company’s social media sites. We all want people to read, enjoy, and share our pages’ posts. However, before you share an enticing, hot-off-the-press piece in the hopes of gaining engagement, make sure it is accurate. As we have mentioned in previous posts, false information abounds on the internet, so verifying your sources when creating and/or sharing content is critically important for building trust and social proof with your audience. For example, if you are checking the validity of a story online (such as a political story, news story or celebrity based story), www.snopes.com can help you verify. When looking to verify statistics, try www.statista.com for accurate information.
The appropriate use of hashtags is another resource that helps businesses manage their social media. In fact, hashtag usage has skyrocketed on social media over the past few years. And, with the right hashtags, potential customers can find your company on social media platforms more easily, and your posts will reach a larger audience. Hashtag tracking tools, such as the one provided by BrandMentions (https://brandmentions.com/hashtag-tracker/#) aid in the discovery of popular and relevant hashtags on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms.
And lastly, there are the resources that provide you with analytics for your business’ social media platforms. In a nutshell, analytics are important since they uncover insights in social media that can be used to benefit your business. They will assist you in determining where to focus your social efforts, which networks are active, and what type of content has the greatest impact on your audience. Each of the main social platforms provides ways to access and view your pages’ analytics such as the number of followers, reach, impressions, and engagement.
Resources for bookkeeping
Proper bookkeeping for your business is essential for its overall financial health. Having your books neat and in order aids in tax preparation, among other things. Many business owners choose to keep up with their own books, but it’s time-consuming and labor intensive. One resource that is readily accessible to help you learn the ins and outs of small-business bookkeeping along with managing your books is online accounting software. A quick online search will produce several results from which to choose.
Creating and regularly reviewing a Profit and Loss Report (P&L) for your company is another valuable resource. The P&L is a financial report that summarizes a company’s revenues, expenses, and profits/losses over a specified period of time.
The main categories that can be found on the P&L include:
As your company grows, however, you may discover that you have less time to devote to precise bookkeeping. Hiring an accountant and experienced bookkeeper can assist you in staying organized and current with government filings while saving you from headaches in the long run.
An invaluable resource for any business website is Google Analytics (https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/). Installing Google Analytics is a smart option because it is a free website analysis tool that collects data and then produces reports with thorough statistics on who visits your site. As well, Google Analytics assists you in better understanding your site and app users to better evaluate the performance of your marketing, content, products, and other initiatives.
Some of the statistics you may find helpful include users, sessions, pageviews, and bounce rate. The bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who left your site from the home (landing) page (they left the site from the same page they entered it on). A high bounce rate typically indicates that your site’s landing pages are not relevant to your visitors and/or the content isn’t what the user was looking for.
There are numerous advantages to implementing Google Analytics. It is a useful tool for all types of businesses because it provides information on who your website visitors are, if they’re engaging with your content, and how long they stay on your site.
Over to you
Small business owners are fortunate to have access to a wealth of resources to assist them in starting, running, and growing their companies. A good business owner is always learning; acquiring knowledge through various resources enables you to recognize and capitalize on opportunities around you, allowing your business to thrive in the face of competition and ensuring its relevance in your industry.
“If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail” — Benjamin Franklin
Some business owners draft plans, then file them away to gather dust. Make sure you’re not one of them. Keep in mind that planning ahead will save you time and money down the road. It also provides you with a lot more control over the day-to-day operations of your business.
Remember these three things:
Wishing and hoping is not a plan.
The attitude that you deserve a break eventually if you keep trying different things is not a plan.
Working long hours and working hard while focusing solely on what is on your desk and in front of you is not a plan.
Consider the following benefits of planning:
Having a plan assists you in prioritizing your tasks
It helps you anticipate changes and how to effectively respond to them
A plan will help you manage your time and resources more efficiently
Prevents your business from experiencing an avoidable crisis
Helps put you ahead of the game as well as ahead of your competition
In a nutshell, creating and embracing a plan allows you to work smarter by focusing on the things that truly matter as opposed to just being busy. A solid business plan establishes boundaries and standards for organizing and running your company. As well, planning brings your team together, resulting in improved performance and efficiency.
Are you ready to start planning? Here’s what works for us.
Adhering to timelines for important Revenue Canada filings and remembering when they are due is an essential component of planning with our bookkeeping clients. It is essential to have the work completed on time and reports in hand to meet those deadlines consistently.
We recently installed new project management software so that our clients can receive notifications about these critical deadlines. This, in turn, enables MYOB to provide better customer service by being proactive.
For our non-profit bookkeeping clients, there are board meetings and organizations that call for financial reports regularly. Most non-profits require a plan for tracking grants and donations, including not only the income but also all expenses associated with each grant or designated donations. Since this is part of the setup, we like to determine what plan to track is best in the initial and ongoing customer meetings. We will then establish check-in points along the way to ensure the plan continues to be helpful.
Planning assists our social media customers in achieving their marketing goals.
For our social media customers, planning includes a strategy and vision for the outcome. We consider the objectives they wish to achieve. For example, is it more important for them to have more traffic to their website or for people to physically visit their location? Are they a new company and looking to build brand awareness?
Once a client has established some broad goals, it’s time to dig deeper and become more specific about them. And finally, for best results, we assist by developing timelines and tracking statistics to determine when to revise the plan.
Planning for our website customers allows them to update and refresh their company’s image on the web.
Determining the purpose of the website is an important first step in creating a solid plan. When developing a website, it is critical to consider the user experience, content, and message in advance.
Is this a brochure site, for information? Is this a member site with a login and chat feature? Is this a site where you intend to send a lead to land a sale? Either way, the plan comes first.
Over to you.
As you can see, planning for your business does require a lot of time and effort on your part. It entails mapping out timeframes and accounting for unexpected events. For successful planning, you will find it advantageous to set aside specific times throughout the year to plan. Plan timelines, goals, and budgets, as well as contingencies and obstacles. Break it down into manageable chunks, weekly goals, daily actions, or whatever helps you stay on track.
A good plan is also a flexible plan. You will want to plan to spend time reviewing your progress often and revising your plan as needed. New opportunities arise all the time, and you must consider them carefully. Remember that to achieve your goals, you must be adaptable and responsive to change. The pandemic has taught us that companies who were able to pivot and adjust quickly faired better than those who didn’t.
And finally, we all get excited about great ideas, but few of us want to get down to the business of actually implementing them. Make sure to put your hard work and new strategy into action and start executing your plan sooner rather than later!
Everyone who creates and manages a social media account dreams of having a post (or posts!) go viral. But what does that even mean?
Here’s how Urban Dictionary defines “Go Viral”: As used in reference to Internet content which can be passed through electronic mail and social networking sites (Facebook, etc.): an image, video, or link that spreads rapidly through a population by being frequently shared with a number of individuals has ‘gone viral’. They note that strong political content, celebrity news, news of disasters, among others, are popular topics that have the potential to go viral.
While the concept of “going viral” is straightforward, determining when a post has truly gone viral is more complex. The amounts of views/shares/links, the number of unique people the material has reached, the rate at which the content is consumed, and the content’s longevity are all elements to consider.
What makes a post go viral?
We live in a time where anything may become extremely popular thanks to social media. Even if it’s only for a brief period. Think of a viral post as being like a music hit. You’ll never know what will work unless you try it! However, you will need to spend some time thinking about what type of content will grab people’s attention and appeal to the masses.
Here are a few suggestions to get the ball rolling:
Browse other people’s content to discover what is working for them.
Stay up to date. Keep your eyes open for the latest breaking news online. Every day, you’ll hear folks discussing something in common.
Twitter’s Trending Topics is a wonderful place to discover current hot topics and to find out what people are talking about. Whether you want to focus on local or worldwide trends, Twitter makes it easy for you to personalize your search. (https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/twitter-trending-faqs)
Focus on creating compelling content that solves problems or otherwise provides educational value to others. Think quality over quantity.
Source or create your own attractive, high-quality images and graphics. Stock photos are great in a pinch, but there is a good chance they have already been seen by others. Keep your camera ready for one-of-a-kind photo opportunities!
Ideas for creating a viral post:
Target your audience by location. If your product or service is location-based, being able to target by location can have a significant impact on how your post is shared.
Give your post a boost. If you have a post that is gaining traction on Facebook, consider boosting it or setting up an ads campaign to further increase its reach and engagement.
Leave them laughing! Humour, especially in today’s world, is a valuable commodity. A creative meme is a fantastic way to make people laugh. Memes also have a strong potential to go viral, especially when they are relatable to large groups of people. When the content includes a joke or a topic that everyone can relate to, more people find it amusing and choose to share it with their friends, who then share it with their friends, and so on. You can easily create your own memes for free through sites such as Meme-Generator.com and imgflip.
Tap into the power of hashtags. Adding relevant and popular hashtags to your social media posts is an effective way to categorize your content so it’s easy to find. It also provides people or other brands, regardless of whether they’re following you, with a direct way to talk about it. Two good sites to help you find popular hashtags are best-hashtags.com and Hashtag Picker.
It’s okay to ask! Regardless of the platform or content, feel free to ask your followers to help share, react, or respond to your post. You can also ask them to tag their friends, increasing the number of people who will see and share your post.
Your post went viral! Now what?
That feeling of having a post go viral, or even semi-viral, is truly addictive! Your hard work has paid off! So go ahead and pat yourself on the back – you deserve it!
Although you may be tempted to ride the wave of that one viral post, it is inevitable the high levels of engagement will eventually drop off. Viral posts also provide the perfect opportunity to grow your audience.
Here are two ways to convert views into new followers:
Respond, respond, respond. Increase your level of engagement and respond to every new person who comments and/or shares your post. People love to be acknowledged and made to feel welcome.
If your viral post is on Facebook, you will be able to directly invite post likes to follow your page:
On the post, click where it shows you the number of post likes
This should automatically bring up a list of people who reacted to your post
You will see a button that allows you to Invite them to like your page, if they haven’t already been invited or like your page
Click on ‘invite’ to send them a notification
At the end of the day, you can rest easier by remembering that it is impossible to predict which posts will go viral. Engagement and interaction levels influence whether a post will go viral or not, so focusing on gaining interaction is essential. Remember that your loyal audience is out there, patiently waiting for your next post, and another after that one, and so on. Continue to keep them in mind rather than worrying about whether you’ll impress everyone each and every time.
We have talked about a healthy work-life balance, but what about staying healthy at work? Mental and physical health at work are important factors to staying motivated and engaged with your business, peers and clients. Keeping your employees motivated and engaged with their work is a leader’s responsibility. Here are 8 tips to help you stay healthy at work.
1. Keep the Metaphorical Door Open
When it comes to health, employees may feel uncomfortable sharing their woes at work. By allowing an open-door policy and listening to concerns with empathy and without judgment, you will encourage more honest dialogue.
2. Make a To-Do List
Having a list set out for your day will help you stay focused, reduce stress, and offer a little dopamine boost when you check off that completed task. Smaller, manageable goals will keep you from getting overwhelmed too quickly. Our team uses Trello for our daily to-dos, and we have found it to be a valuable tool. https://bit.ly/30ZrbVk
3. Keep Your Workspace Clean and Organized
Whether you’re in an office or at home, less clutter will result in less stress. Having something small (like a family photo, or favourite mug) that makes you smile will also contribute to keeping your spirits up. Keeping your workspace dust-free and sanitized regularly will reduce your risk of catching viruses – even if you’re not sharing your space.
4. Take Stretch Breaks
Physically, your body is not meant to sit for 7 straight hours. Taking regular breaks to stand up, walk around, and stretch will benefit your heart health, and overall muscle health! Taking a break from your computer will decrease eye strain as well.
5. Set Yourself Up for Success – Ergonomically
Having the proper chair and desk set up will decrease potential for repetitive strains and poor posture resulting in back and neck pain. Occupational Therapists can help you determine which chair is best for your situation, or you can opt for a sit/stand desk which will allow you to adjust the height of your desk.
6. Drink Water
This is a life hack that is always good advice. Drinking water throughout the day will keep you hydrated and productive. According to WebMD, that mid-afternoon slump many feel may be due to dehydration! If you struggle with remembering to drink water at work, keep a water bottle on your desk and set an alarm to remind yourself it’s time to hydrate!
7. Leave Work at Work
We talk a lot about a healthy work-life balance in our previous blog “Tips for a Healthy Work-Life Balance”. As a business owner, leaving work at work may seem impossible. Our work tends to be 24/7. Allow your employees to leave work at work by not contacting them outside of working hours. For yourself, be sure to set out some time that you can just sit and relax. Build in some unplugged time!
8. Consider Adding a Benefits Plan
Finally, if it is feasible for you to do so, consider adding a benefits plan or health fund for your employees. If they’re able to access affordable care (like dental, prescriptions and vision care), this will help them take care of themselves. There are many great plans out there that are available to small businesses.
We all know that money cannot buy good health and wellness!
Running a business can be difficult, time-consuming, tiring, and a never-ending balancing act. On the other hand, it should also be rewarding, enjoyable, challenging and fun. Finding the proper balance is essential as a business owner. Since every business is unique, what works for you may not work for others. However, there are basic ways to help create a healthy balance for yourself and your staff.
My vision for my company was to help my employees achieve work-life balance through flexibility with the workflow schedule and a focus on the importance of personal lives, whether they involve children, pets, hobbies, caring for elderly parents or other personal commitments that are important. That doesn’t mean the service suffers, it means that we’re not all stressed out and worrying about job security when our pet is ill, our family members need help, or a child becomes ill and daycare falls through.
Here are three of the ways we strive to create a healthy work-life balance at MYOB:
#1 Incorporating Flex Schedules
For some individuals, balancing work and personal life might be especially challenging. To assist, we provide flexible work schedules, which boosts productivity, efficiency, and overall employee satisfaction. In most cases, flexible work schedules benefit both the business and the staff.
Flex schedules include split shifts throughout the day or sliding shifts which may start at different times or days. Employees and/or contractors with flexible work schedules have the choice of completing tasks when they are most productive, which may be outside of conventional working hours. Since COVID-19, all staff are now working remotely, which means they can work from home or may use flex space at Innovation Works – as long as they keep in touch. This works through effective communication. For example, we communicate via our Trello workboards online, email, and one-to-one conversations via phone or zoom. Communication within our team has always been important, but remote working has made it critically important.
#2 Cross-training our Staff
I have long believed that cross-training should be viewed as a disaster recovery strategy for a business owner. As I mentioned above, things happen – a contractor goes on vacation, an employee goes on maternity leave, someone has a family emergency, etc. Rather than panic, we have at least one other person trained in at least one area within each facet of our business. With back-up staff for each function on hand at all times, it’s easy to ask someone else to jump in to handle the work when another person is unavailable and not have to worry about spur-of-the-moment training. This is a definite win-win for all involved – the business owner, the staff members, and most importantly, the clients.
#3 Creating and Respecting Boundaries
When employees need to book time off for any reason – mental health, physical health, vacation or otherwise – I believe it is important to respect their time off by not contacting them when they are not working. Respecting this boundary allows employees to fully focus on themselves or loved ones so that when they return, they are ready to be fully invested in their work.
Another way to support staff is by offering an open-door policy for employees to come to you with concerns – especially surrounding health – without judgement. When employees feel comfortable and supported speaking up about any appointments they need to book time off for, or mental and physical health needs, they will experience less stress. Less stress is both important for an employee’s work-life balance and it also contributes to talent retention for your business.
Finally, celebrate and check in with your staff. At MYOB we celebrate our staff’s milestones. For example, a maternity leave is a time for joy for a new parent and is not treated as an inconvenience to the business. When staff are ill, we show we care by checking in with them. We do not do this to find out when they’ll be returning, but because we care about how they are doing. Be genuine in your care for your employees and they will return that care for you and your business.
What does work-life balance mean to you?
We believe that developing a work-life balance has helped us focus on and improve our own health and well-being, in addition to increasing our overall productivity. All staff are encouraged to be mindful of their own health to avoid becoming overly stressed and to prevent burnout. For example, I understand that scheduling a day off for self-care might be needed from time to time.
As a small business owner, you may be so focused on your business that you’re not aware of the stress around you with your staff or how your own stress is affecting your family relationships and personal life. If this sounds like you and you’re seeking more balance in your life by delegating and outsourcing, then we have a suggestion for you. Outsourcing will lighten your load. We bring our team with skill and experience in the areas of bookkeeping, social media management and website design to your business so we can help you mind your own business better! Call or visit us online – we’re here to help!
