Archive for the ‘Growing Your Biz’ Category

Customer Service and the Internet

By Bonnie Sokoloff

No matter how big or small your company is, or what industry you are in, good customer service is essential—both for the recipient and the provider. In today’s social media-centric world, stories of poor customer service can spread like wildfire in a virtual instant. I’m sure each one of us can come up with an entertaining example or two right off the tops of our heads; such stories are that common.

So, using the same logic, it would make sense that good customer service stories would spread just as far, just as quickly, right? Now go ahead and come up with a couple of examples of those. Not quite as easy, is it?

So what can you, as a small business owner, do to make sure your company doesn’t end up the star of a bad customer service story that will live forever in cyberspace?

For starters, whether it is you or a designated employee, ensure that you have someone regularly scouring the Internet for mentions of your company. Even if you rarely (or never) find anything, it is essential to do this often, so in the event that something does come up, you will be in a position to react quickly to mitigate the damage it could cause to your reputation. If you have corporate LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter pages, you need to monitor those frequently. And don’t just check your own accounts for posted items—actively search those sites to capture any reference to your business. There are also many other sites where the public can post comments about your industry or customer service as a whole; a regular Google search should bring those to your attention promptly. And of course, you will also need to keep an eye on your own Website if it accepts comments from visitors or registered users.

It’s also a good idea to come up with a response strategy ahead of time, in case these searches turn up anything that needs to be addressed. Obviously, you can’t know ahead of time what the complaint(s) will be about, but knowing your business as well as you do, you can probably figure out where things could potentially go wrong and create a solid plan that will allow you to respond quickly and effectively if an unhappy customer or client takes their criticism of your company to the Internet. And no matter what you find, your first step should be to respond to the customer at the same place where they have vented their concerns, just to let them know that you got the message and you are taking it seriously. You may even want to invite them to email you directly to provide more details so you can thoroughly research the issue and give them a more satisfactory resolution in the end. People like to know that they are being heard, so this simple act will go a long way in appeasing them. Plus, it will buy you the time you need to look into the problem and figure out the best way to solve it. But don’t take too much time; resolving the situation quickly (and without a lot of back and forth) will help minimize the impact of the complaint. Remember, it’s not just the complainant who is watching and waiting to see how this turns out—it’s all of his or her contacts as well, which could number well into the thousands.

Once you have decided on the resolution, contact the customer directly to convey the information. You should still post a reply on the public forum as well, but taking the time to personally respond to the individual will be appreciated. With any luck, your now-satisfied customer will go back to the Internet to express their appreciation for how you handled their complaint. You might even come out ahead in the end—after all, everyone knows that customer service issues are going to come up from time to time, but it’s how you handle them that’s remembered, even in cyberspace.

BONNIE SOKOLOFF currently works as an Internal Communications Specialist for Staples Canada. She has over 15 years of experience with copywriting, editing and print production.

Posted by Ashley in Growing Your Biz, Technology on February 6th, 2012

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Is “risk management” killing our productivity?

By Elaine Mah

I found myself wondering this week if our conservative Canadian approach to managing risk will have a negative impact on future productivity—and, ultimately, innovation—when I read a recent report from Deloitte Canada http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/canadians-score-lower-on-risk-tolerance/article2060767/ .

The report by Deloitte found that Canadian business leaders are not planning to invest in the types of activities required to improve productivity. “Our study substantiates—for the first time—that it’s true, not a hypothesis, that Canadians are indeed more risk-averse than Americans, despite our current positive economic climate,” said Bill Currie, Deloitte Canada’s vice-chair and America’s managing director of consulting.

Deloitte’s report comes on the heels of Stats Canada’s announcement http://www.bnn.ca/News/2011/6/10/First-quarter-productivity-up-04-below-forecast.aspx that Canadian productivity numbers, while up a little, were half the increase we were expecting. That’s not good news, considering our economy has been doing well.

The report identifies five key issues driving Canada’s productivity woes:
· chronic under-investment in machinery and equipment
· sheltering of the Canadian economy
· increasing competition for human capital
· inefficient and insufficient support for innovation
· lack of risk capital for start-up companies.

Many of these issues not only hamper productivity, but also limit our ability to innovate. And, let’s face it, it’s often SMBs that lead innovation; if there’s no support—financial or otherwise—it’s hard for them to make strides.

Let’s look at a company like PackSmart http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/general/Pack-Smart_CaseStudy.pdf. They use technology to build more effective machines to make packaging for the products we use every day. While the cost of the machines can be high, return is significant for the business. But if those same businesses can’t get financing to purchase new equipment, they lose out on that opportunity not only to innovate, but also to boost productivity gains.

To be competitive, we need to collectively open ourselves up to new ideas, new opportunities and new markets, while finding new ways to increase productivity, whether through technology and better collaboration or sharing of data (more on this in a later post).

As Deloitte’s report says:  We’re at a crossroads. Let’s choose the path to innovation.

What do you think? Do we need to give ourselves more credit? Are we more risk tolerant than we think and will that risk aversion hurt our innovation over the longer term?

ELAINE MAH joined Intel Canada in 2005 as Canadian Business Marketing Manager. She is responsible for Intel’s brand management, product positioning, product launch management and marketing research, as well as sales and integrated marketing communications, advertising and promotional campaigns designed to reach Canadian business customers. Prior to assuming this position, Elaine was Vice President at Sharpe Blackmore Euro RSCG, where she was responsible for planning and strategy on accounts including Direct Energy, Volvo, and Yahoo!, along with new business development. A marketing professional for over 20 years, Elaine received her Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta.

Posted by Ashley in Getting Started, Growing Your Biz on February 3rd, 2012

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5 Reasons Why Hourly Rates Suck

By Steve Slaunwhite

I was at a meeting with my lawyer the other day, hoping he would talk faster. Why? Because he charges $350 per hour. So the sooner he stops jabbering, the less I’ll have to pay.

I realize that hourly rates are the norm in the law business. But in my opinion, they are a lousy way to price professional services. Why? Because hourly rates keep the client’s focus on your fees rather than your value. And when that happens, you effectively become a commodity.

There are many other reasons why hourly rates aren’t a good idea.

1. Clients don’t like it
To them, it’s too much like writing you a blank check. In his book, It Sure Beats Working, author Michael Katz remembers, “When I was billing my clients an hourly rate, I could actually hear them speaking faster when on the phone.”

2. You get paid less the faster and better you get
If your specialty is writing executive speeches, aren’t you going to be able to crank out your fiftieth in half the time it took you to write your first? Isn’t that fiftieth speech going to be better; perhaps even your best yet? And shouldn’t you be paid more for that level of expertise and productivity?

Of course you should.

But if you bill by the hour, you won’t.

3. You have to track your time. (What a hassle!)
If you charge by the hour, it’s not unreasonable for a client to ask to see a detailed report of the time you spent on the project. But how do you account for ideas you get while mowing the lawn? Or work you do in your head as you drive to your kid’s soccer game?Trust me. Keeping timesheets for clients is a big headache.

4. Your income is limited.
When you bill by the hour, your income is determined by the number of hours you work times your hourly rate. If your rate is $45 per hour and you spend 25 hours per week on client projects (remember, you’ll need to spend time on such unbillable tasks as bookkeeping, marketing and refill trips to Starbucks) your income will be about $45,000 per year. Not bad . . . but it will never get much better.

In addition, there’s a weird psychology to pricing a professional service. If you’re a logo designer, for example, it’s much easier to get a client to agree to your $2,000 flat fee than it is your $150 hourly rate — even if the hourly rate works out to be cheaper!

5. You attract competitors.
Hourly rates get stuck in a client’s head. If you’re a $95 per hour publicity consultant then that rate is — at least partly — how a client is going to define you. (When I think of my lawyer, his $350 hourly rate certainly comes to mind.)

Why is this such a bad thing? Well, if a client defines you by your hourly rate, then anybody else in your field who charges less can compete with you.

In other words, you’ll find yourself competing on price (rather than value.) Not a fun place to be.

I could list even more reasons why hourly rates suck. But I think you get the picture.

Sure, coming up with a flat fee for a project (a “project price”) takes a little more effort. But, ultimately, it’s worth it.

To your success,

Steve Slaunwhite is a marketing strategist and business coach. His specialty is helping business owners become successful – really, really successful – at getting clients, building their businesses, and making more money. Steve is the author of nine books, including the bestselling and award-winning The Wealthy Freelancer (2010, Penguin.) His weekly Marketing Memo e-newsletter reaches more than 40,000 business owners each month. For a free subscription, visit www.SteveSlaunwhite.com <http://www.SteveSlaunwhite.com>

Posted by Ashley in Getting Organized, Growing Your Biz on January 30th, 2012

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Grow your business globally

Are you thinking of growing globally? If you’re like thousands of other Canadian entrepreneurs, you may be drawn by the allure of international markets and the promise they hold for your business. If so, consider these top tips for finding global opportunities: 

Look beyond the United States For new exporters, the US can be an attractive market. After all, it’s close and culturally similar. However, it’s important to consider all options. Emerging markets, such as China, Brazil and India, can offer you a competitive advantage if you’re one of the first in your industry to establish a foothold. Similarly, other well-established markets may be just the right fit for your product or service.

Conduct thorough market research Be sure to base your target market decision on in-depth research. Investigate your list of markets and evaluate their potential based on market and import growth. Identify issues that may influence demand for your product or service and investigate any barriers to trade. Then, narrow down your list to one or two key markets.

Register with the Canadian Company Capabilities (CCC) database CCC is a powerful networking tool. The database lists 60,000 Canadian companies. Besides being a valuable marketing tool for your business, it allows you to connect with suppliers with exporting experience, buyers and distributors. You’ll also get access to public and private sector business opportunities. Check out www.ic.gc.ca/cdncc.

Enlist the help of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service Register for the Virtual Trade Commissioner at www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca to get access to market and sector information, upcoming events and business leads. Tap into the network of Trade Commissioners in Canada and abroad for help with finding opportunities and qualified contacts in your target market.

Remember, the opportunities are out there. With a bit of legwork, you’ll find them!

By Nicole d’Entremont, small business owner. More information is available at www.CanadaBusiness.ca or by calling 1-888-576-4444 (TTY 1-800-457-8466).

Posted by Ashley in Growing Your Biz on January 27th, 2012

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Four Steps to a Successful M&A

By Mark Wardell

When it comes down to it, the success of a merger or acquisition is all in the planning. Bringing two distinct companies together means you end up with two of everything: two sets of corporate structures, two sets of company policies and two different and unique ways of doing business. Making the transition seamless requires some detailed planning. In other words, you need to get your aim right before you pull the trigger.

Here’s how.

1. Reevaluate your organizational structure.

Start by taking a careful look at the organizational chart of each company. Does it make sense for the two organizations to be combined as one or will they go on as two separate companies? Whatever you do, it’s best to do it early in the merger with careful consideration of the resources that can now be shared, such as reception, administration and accounting.

2. Develop and articulate new corporate branding.

You’ll want to consider how the existing brands will fit with the long-term marketing goals of the companies. Will both businesses fold into one brand? Which brand? Or will it be a new brand? Is the current brand worth retaining or is it time to develop something new? How you proceed will of course depend upon your unique situation.

For example, a distribution company I’ve been working with recently purchased a similar business in another city. The acquired business, while in a similar industry, has a totally different target market and significant brand value. In this case, it made the most sense for the acquired company to maintain its distinct brand, but to be folded into the organizational chart of the parent company. The parent company took over the finance and administrative responsibilities for both companies, while the acquired company continues to manage its own operations and marketing, with some new supports in place.

3. Consider your people.

We all know a business is only as successful as the people who make up the company. In times of change, it’s more important than ever to consider all of the people affected and to proceed with clear communications. As soon as the news of the M&A is made public, get everyone from both companies together and provide your people with clarity on the news. There is often nervousness around mergers so good communication is crucial at this point.

As you move ahead with restructuring, take the time to investigate how employees at each company feel about the merger and to appropriately mitigate any negative feelings or expectations while doing everything you can to promote the positives  (excitement/opportunities) that exist.

Some companies bring in a specialist for this purpose. One of my clients recently hired a Transition Specialist to help with its corporate merger. The job of this particular specialist was to identify the skill sets of key people at the acquired company in order to offer new career paths in the parent company. It worked brilliantly.

4. Redevelop corporate policies.

Last but not least, policies — otherwise known as the lifeblood of business operations. Sounds dramatic but your corporate documents are what keep your business running as efficiently as possible. What systems or policies currently exist (or don’t exist) in the parent and acquired companies? What policies will you need to develop to account for your future direction? Developing an effective set of corporate policies isn’t necessarily fast or simple, but I guarantee it’ll be well worth your time in the long run.

In fact, each of these four steps requires consideration and time on the part of the business owner. However, if you’ve come this far in your M&A you’ll be wise to go the extra distance to ensure success in these critical areas, and in your future enterprise as a whole.

Mark is President & Founder of Wardell Professional Development (www.wardell.biz), an advisory group that helps business owners plan and execute the growth of their companies. The author of seven business books, Mark also writes regularly for several national business publications, including Profit Magazine, the Globe and Mail, and CGA Magazine. Email him at mark@wardell.biz

Posted by Ashley in Growing Your Biz, New Posts on December 12th, 2011

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Three tips for keeping your business booming during tough economic times

Guest post by Geoffrey Morgan, part of the Small Business team at Intuit.

No one likes an economic downturn. No matter what your business is, if you need customers and want them to spend money, a wallet clenching trend is bad news. Thankfully, there are a number of business principles that’ll help carry you through the trough and onto the next upward trend. Here are three to consider.

1. Keep the money flowing. Easier said than done, but have you looked closely at who your best customers are, and which suppliers offer the best deals and most flexible terms? A customer who pays late likely isn’t a customer to have in these times. Study your records and make the right decisions about who you’ll focus on. Financial management software like QuickBooks will identify your best and worst customers and suppliers.

2. Keep communicating. Your customers need to know you’re open for business. Yes, a birthday email is good, but also think about how you can leverage your data – it’ll tell you why Jane Smith is your customer, where her needs lie and give you the material you need for positive communication. Communicate regularly so you develop a cadence of interaction, rather than random one-offs. Cultivate as many customer relationships as you can and you’ll keep people walking through your door.

3. Cut the administration and focus on your business. Many shine when it comes to the sales aspect of their business, but get stuck when keeping up the books. Accounting duties can be frustrating and time consuming and when dollars are tight, time away from your customers can be a killer. Automate the bookkeeping and use software that gives you a dashboard of the most critical elements (invoices due, overdue customers, P&L, etc) and spend the rest of your precious hours growing the business.

Posted by Ashley in Growing Your Biz on November 30th, 2011

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How many ways can you market your business?

By Neville Pokroy

Whenever I speak to people about marketing their businesses, the first question I always ask is: “How many ways are there to market your business?” Or, “How many marketing tactics are there?” My next question is: “How many have you tried?”

Inevitably, the number mentioned is approximately five to ten different tactics. And the number most people have tried is around four to six. If that is your experience, then you are part of the norm. If your experience is different with larger numbers, then you are part of a very unique, and very small, minority.

I recently spent some time documenting the number of marketing tactics I could identify. Some are traditional tactics, some are interactive tactics, while others are guerilla type tactics, and the last group is “just common sense tactics.” Believe it or not, so far, I have reached a count of over 150 tactics—mind boggling, isn’t it?

So, you may ask, if that is true, how on earth does the average business person decide which tactics to use? And more importantly, how many should be used in a single year of marketing effort?

Let’s deal with the first question: “How do you decide which marketing tactics to use?” If you can only think of a handful of tactics (and they are probably the most common ones used by most people), then you are probably competing with your competitors in almost all spheres of marketing. By doing that, you may find it difficult to stand out from the crowd.

The solution is to identify tactics that are not necessarily commonly used and to bolster your marketing campaign with a range of these tactics. But the challenge still remains—what are my marketing tactic options?

The best way to develop this list is to step back from looking for answers and try, instead, to ask more questions. The answers to those questions will often give rise to new and innovative tactics that you have never considered before. Finding the right questions to ask becomes the key to your success.

As far as the second question is concerned—“How many should be used in a single year of marketing effort?” —the answer to that question revolves around what is appropriate for the business and what is affordable. It is also addressed as part of the questioning and via setting proper goals and objectives for the organization.

This process of questioning can be considered “Strategic Marketing”—it is the key to the long-term health and success of your business, and it is not very complicated if you know how to go about it.

Unfortunately, if you don’t have a marketer with a strategic vision on your payroll, you may need some help. The process requires some handholding, but the benefits are far-reaching.

Think about this—If you feel that you have not maximized the marketing opportunities available to your company, you should start asking more questions. Relevant questions. Questions that will cause opportunities to reveal themselves in some mystical and magical way. Actually, it’s not really mystical or magical. Much of it is, in fact, just common-sense marketing.

Article by Neville Pokroy, Marketing Partner at Mastermind Solutions Inc. Mastermind Solutions Inc. is a company that delivers top line revenue growth, higher profits, satisfied customers, motivated staff and lower operating costs. As a full-service marketing company, our multifaceted and fully integrated marketing services deliver additional sales and sustainable business growth to clients of all sizes. Contact Neville at neville@mastermindsolutions.ca or visit the website at http://www.mastermindsolutions.ca/

Posted by Ashley in Growing Your Biz, Marketing on November 28th, 2011

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Shopping small business for the holidays

By Ashley Jang

As we approach the holidays our televisions sets, favourite websites and radio stations are inundated with advertisements from companies showing off their coolest gift ideas. It can be challenging for a small business to compete and show shoppers why they should be shopping at their local small business instead.

With the craziness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the U.S. it’s easy to forget about the special day that lies in between: Small Business Saturday. It’s a day for consumers to show support for their favourite small business by shopping at their stores. It also happens to fall perfectly in-line with holiday shopping time.

It can be easy to visit your local mall for a one-stop shop for everyone on your Christmas list but it can also be a nightmare trying to get through the crazy crowds and find a parking spot that isn’t a 10-minute walk from the entrance. For those of you interesting in avoiding the hustle and bustle, shopping small businesses might be the route for you.

Is there a small business that you will be supporting on Saturday? Tell us in the comments section!

Ashley Jang currently works as a Social Media Community Specialist for Staples Canada. She has a background in journalism, social media marketing, blogging and strategic communications.

Posted by Ashley in Growing Your Biz, Lifestyle on November 25th, 2011

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BANG! The generation divide is hitting home. Are you prepared?

By Neville Pokroy

Boomers vs Generation Y—the generational divide is making an impact on business and we all need to start dealing with this reality. Whether they are our customers or clients or vendors or referral sources or employees or partners, the differences in these generations need to be taken into consideration whether we like it or not. Generation Y thinks differently. They communicate differently. They have different values. And they have power.

From a marketing perspective, the way they think and the way they communicate carry the most significant impact. Marketing is all about understanding your customer and creating products and services they need. Understanding how they think is critical to this process of creating relevant products and services.

Once created, you need to tell them about your product or service. So understanding how they receive and send communications is critical at this point. Only then can you create relevant marketing communications that will encourage them to buy.

Remember, you cannot sell something to someone who does not want to buy. What you can do is understand what their needs are and make the products and services that they want to buy available. These are opposing forces, and if you get it wrong, you will likely fail.

As always, understanding the psychology of the buyer is crucial before you can design and develop your marketing material. Many businesses are happy to just deliver marketing material (flyers, websites, brochures, advertising, etc.) with a simple listing of product features in front of the buyer. Most often, that is simply not enough and the money spent on that marketing effort becomes a total waste. Really thinking about and understanding the buyer, and what will motivate them to BUY is crucial to the development of those materials and messages. Without that—well, I hope you have deep pockets! Generation Y will make you pay dearly if you adopt this approach—more likely they will simply ignore you and pass your business by.

Digital communication, including Social Media, is the cornerstone of the new generation’s style of communication. They do almost everything digitally, and in many instances, have almost lost the ability to communicate face to face. I chuckled when my daughter told me a story about her and her friends sitting in a circle at school, communicating with each other via text message—for them, it’s become easier to use their thumbs rather than their tongues.

Whether we like it or not, this is the new world reality. And they are our future customers, clients, employees and bosses. If we don’t buy in to understanding this phenomenon, it may just leave us trailing in the dust.

Neville Pokroy is a principal of Mastermind Solutions Inc. He runs the Marketing practice, which includes strategic marketing planning and execution, and now also includes the Digital Umbrella. Neville has over 25 years experience in corporate marketing and consulting in entrepreneurial businesses across an extensive range of industries. Neville’s special skills include the ability to translate his corporate marketing expertise into a disciplined set of marketing skills ideal for entrepreneurial businesses. If you have any questions feel free to contact neville@mastermindsolutions.ca or 905-886-2235

Posted by Ashley in Growing Your Biz on November 16th, 2011

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The Importance of Client Relationships

By Mark Wardell

Remember that old saying, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression?” Well, it’s true. Building a relationship begins the moment you say “Nice to meet you.” Even sooner, if your new potential client has learned anything about you or your business before you first meet (online impressions count, too.)

As a business owner, however, your goal is not just to make a good impression and generate a sale. Your goal is to attract ideal customers that will stay with you for life. I’d go as far as to say that it’s critical to the growth of your business to both make a good first impression and keep that impression throughout the business relationship. That’s why it’s worth your time to put some thought into what exactly you want that impression to be.

I’ll pause here to tell you a brief story.

A client of ours started losing business rather suddenly. He soon realized that the business loss was related to a particular salesperson. He decided to call the customers who had left to find out why, but no specific complaints were forthcoming. The service was fine, the price point was fine and the products were fine. Finally it all came out. The salesperson, in an effort to establish and nurture her business relationships, had taken up the practice of hugging all of her customers. It probably seemed innocent enough to her at the time, but after a while, many of her customers became uncomfortable with this level of affection and started taking their business elsewhere.

There is an important lesson here. It’s not all about the quality of your products and services. The success of your business also depends to a great extent upon your interpersonal skills with customers.

We can all take away something from this story because we’ve all been there: regretting a slightly less than professional encounter. Yet there are several things you can and should do to pointedly improve both “your first business impression” and your capacity to maintain great customer relationships which, when it comes down to it, are the cornerstone of any business.

Build trust: Trust is the foundation upon which all successful relationships are built. So ensure that all of your actions support this goal. Simple things like showing up on time for all your appointments and asking insightful questions to show you are listening can go a long way in this regard.


Take a look at the way you communicate with your customers. To ensure they feel valued, it’s important to schedule regular meetings to keep in touch and learn of any new developments or changes you should know about. Use CRM software to track and confirm that you are connecting with each customer as often as you should be.

If you’re in retail, put a system in place to help your customer service staff check in with customers on a regular basis. This could look like anything from a simple thoughtful question at checkout, to a more elaborate survey or online polling.

Reward loyalty: Offering referral fees, gifts or discounts to thank loyal customers and reward those who bring business your way can be a great strategy. Some firms give corporate gifts at Christmas, especially welcome when they are something the customer actually wants. VIP events are another approach. But if your budget is tight, sometimes a heartfelt “thank you” is all it takes.

Add value: The most important way to build trust is to look for ways to add extra value to the services your clients are already receiving.


At Wardell we recommend putting into place a system that will ensure every client is receiving the attention they deserve. Our fun code name for this system is “Operation Client Lockdown (OCL).” The idea is to find out exactly what your customer values most about your particular services, and then to increase your level of service by integrating directly into your customer’s value-stream.


For example, one of our clients owns a distribution business in the automotive industry. In an OCL meeting, they discovered that their customer was relabeling their packages in accordance with their own inventory tracking system. So our client offered to eliminate this problem by customizing their labeling system to fit with the customer’s inventory system, saving their customer time and money. Of course, the customer was thrilled. But the point is, this might never have happened without the OCL meeting. It’s a simple idea, but the farther you can go down this road of integration, the more challenging it will be for a competitor to lure your customer away with a discounted offer.

Remember, it is far easier and more effective to get more business from an existing client than to go and find a new one, so once you’ve developed a client relationship, make sure you do everything in your power to keep it.

MARK WARDELL is president and founder of Wardell Professional Development, a business consulting firm, focused on the unique needs of private growth companies. You can reach him at info@wardell.biz or http://www.wardell.biz

 

Posted by Ashley in Growing Your Biz on November 7th, 2011

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