Posts Tagged ‘Communication’

photo credit: StephenMitchell

Some business owners, as well as their employees, see customer calls as a hassle, a potential for disaster. However, Small Biz Technology had an interesting point of view on customer calls. It was stated that there is a way for you to turn these calls into more sales for your company.

FonGenie provides an “interactive response” system for incoming callers. What’s neat about it is that it’s all web based and you can program the system by typing. No need to record the voice prompts. FonGenie reads what you type, so you don’t have to record it with your voice.

By avoiding customer calls this creates a potential for loss of sales within your company. Just imagine if you had an automated system such as FonGenie, you could better direct your callers and in the end, not only to keep their business but possibly sell them an upgrade or a whole other product to make their life easier. And this can be done just by having this automated system to better service them and direct them in the first place.

FonGenie also keeps track of what prompts are the most popular by your customers, this means that you can plan ahead and put those more popular prompts first in line. You can also add prompts such as your monthly specials and sales towards the front of the list. This feature in the long run could prove to be very effective in ensuring your customers future business as well as new business by word of mouth from your happy clients.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

 
photo credit: ArtemFinland

Many businesses today have quite a few great employees that they want to keep on their staff, but they can not necessarily offer them more money. Many think that if they can’t offer more money, those employees will walk. Some might if more money is a need of theirs, but some will still stay on your staff if you follow the tips that were posted on Nytimes.com.

• The general rule of thumb is that if you have proved your loyalty to your employees over time, they will in turn do the same for you by providing their loyalty to you as well.
• While you may not be able to give them a raise right now, you may know that you can give them a raise in 6 months or a year. If you explain the financial situation and let them know that there is a raise in their near future, then that often times is incentive enough for them to stay.

“Let workers follow their interests, and help them to develop their skills,” said Julie Stich, senior information and research specialist for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans in an interview with The San Francisco Business Times. “Also, consider allowing employees to work in different areas of the organization. This will help to keep them challenged.”

• When all else fails, always be honest with your employees. Explain every situation that is related to them and their job, and explain why raises are not being offered at this particular moment. Most likely they will understand the situation and appreciate your honesty.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

 
photo credit: hellfroze

We always talk about all of the right moves you should make in your business, but I feel it is equally important to talk about what to stay away from and what not to do in your business. If you have a Twitter account for your company or you are thinking about getting one, look below for the most common mistakes you may want to avoid on Twitter as found on Open Forum:

• Don’t forget you are always on. Meaning, that the tone of what you post is one of the biggest keys in your success with Twitter. Always re-read your posts out loud to yourself before the final post is created.
• Don’t Tweet as a shock value asset. Yes, you may get higher traffic for a short period of time and more business due to your shocking posts, but it will die off eventually. Your better off Tweeting for those who are faithful members of Twitter.
• Don’t just partially fill out your profile. Many make the mistake of choosing what to fill out and what not to fill out, expecting that people won’t read certain parts anyways. What about those who particularly look for the parts that you don’t fill out? You will most likely loose their business if they can’t find the information they want.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.