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Women ARE Bad Drivers And Robots ARE Evil

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Traitor…that is likely the nicest thing my female colleagues, team members, friends and family are thinking right now. Shame on me really, because I’m here to tell you why we should throw those antiquated ideas out the (car) window.

 

Women, on average, are are looking after more than one person at any given time, requiring more patience and thought in getting from here to there.  So if we take a bit more time or allow more than one car to merge remember the literal and metaphorical band-aid at the back of our mind.

 

The Light Bulb Moment

 

As a managing director I think a lot about our customers and the service experience we deliver. The best win we get is the light bulb moment on a client’s face telling us we nailed it and frankly I got into this business because of those damn light bulb moments. Helping people can be addictive and (spoiler alert) the IT industry is actually full of people like me.

 

So we love these “nailed it” moments but in reality we now have to nail it each time customers need our help, not just when we are face to face.

 

As our client base grows we have to be more strategic about that “nailed it” service delivery. How do we keep the service personal and effective, but expand it in a smart way?

 

The statistics around our customer service expectations are that at least 50% of us expect it to be 24/7. We also don’t want our time to be in vain, spending precious time on the phone, only to not get the answer or solve the problem.

 

Over time technology has rushed to fill the gap, sometimes quite effectively. Live Chat, as an example, is a personal and convenient conversation that can help us get the answer we seek or progress it to a point where we know what we need to do next.

 

What live chat does not fully solve, and it is a big gap for companies, is true scalability. As you grow your client base you need more team members to staff the chat. You train them on the same content, the same procedures and sit them in the same desk solving the same problems. Formulaic but not cost-effective in the long run.

 

Our own light bulb moment came last year when we saw how far artificial intelligence had come. Google, Apple and Facebook have been at this for years, but for the rest of us the technology has evolved from esoteric movie fodder to something far more practical and democratic.

 

Artificial Intelligence For Business

 

Companies of all sizes and industries can now have their own personalised service agent using artificial intelligence. Think of it as a harmonic merge of Siri and live chat, tailored for your business objectives.

 

Front line chat agents are expediters to the end game, allowing companies to be “on” all the time cost-effectively. They free up people on your team to excel at solving the complex issues, allowing you to hire for unique skills rather than repetitive tasks that scream low ROI.

 

While this opportunity may sound scary to some make no mistake, your competitors, your board, the CEO is already thinking about this. It is time for all of us to join the conversation and make technology work for us, improving the service experience while still preserving our fundamental humanity and those beautiful light bulb moments.

What is a USP?

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USP, is an acronym for, Unique Selling Proposition (or unique selling point). It’s a marketing tool that differentiates a product or company from its competitors. USP’s use value propositions like, the lowest cost, the best quality, or a product that is the only of its kind.

Your USP should clearly state, to potential customers, a benefit that only your company can offer that your competitors don’t. This should be very compelling in order to attract new customers.

Here are some great examples of USPs from well-known companies:

  • Southwest’s claim to be the lowest-priced airline.
  • Denny’s serving breakfast 24 hours a day
  • Little Ceasars hot and ready pizza (you know you can walk in and get a pizza without calling to order or waiting long for one)
  • FedEx – When it has to be there tomorrow

 

How do you develop a unique selling proposition?

 

You have to know not only your audience but your own personality and how your business reflects that personality. What’s the corporate culture of your business?  With a company like FedEx, it’s all about speed. The hidden arrow in their logo, expressing forward motion, was no accident. They’re saying, we can get your packages where they need to go faster than the competition. That’s their USP.

What is your unique quality and what is the personality of your business? Are you charity driven like Bombas?  They realized that the number one request at homeless shelters was for sox. Their unique selling proposition became, for every pair of sox they sold, they gave a pair to the homeless. That’s a, pretty, powerful, USP. You have to look at what’s different about your company or product and how you can turn that into a strong marketing statement that makes customers want to use you instead of your competitors for their unique needs.

 

Why is this so important?

 

What separates successful businesses from ones that scrape by is knowing why they are better at something. Little Ceasars may not make the best pizza you’ve ever had, but if you’re late getting home from work and on a limited budget, a quick stop and a five dollar bill and you can feed your kids.  That’s important to the customer.  Your USP should be your flag that you fly that says what you can do for the customer to make life better for them in some way. Cheaper, faster, one of a kind, best ever, best quality, best for them and their lifestyle; these are the reasons people choose who they buy from.

 

 

Should you have more than one if you sell multiple products?

 

Only if those products are very different in nature or scope.  If you’re Colgate, you sell things for teeth; toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouth wash.

If you sell cars and also shoes, you may have to create more than one USP. That’s not common for most businesses but deciding on your Unique Selling Proposition takes time and careful consideration.

 

Think it through and make it your own.

SEO, so what?

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Why does this work matter and what happens if you don’t do it?

SEO means: Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), if you pause to think for a second it very quickly sinks in that SEO is a very sensible thing to do. Why wouldn’t you want your site to appear at the top of a search engine’s list of returned sites?

So, before we get into how SEO works it is going to be helpful to know how a search engine finds results. Search engines are answer machines: ask a question and it searches its index to find the most relevant answers. The search engine has compiled this index using a “web crawler”, a program that visits each page on the web and all of its links, which stores a copy of the page and its URL in the search engine’s index. If you can find the page listed on a search engine then a crawler has visited it. Now, the part where SEO comes in: a search engine uses an algorithm to rank results in order of relevance to your search. These algorithms look at different elements to decide which sites come at the top of the returned list. SEO ensures that your site contains all the elements that a search engine algorithm is looking for and gets ranked highly. For example:

Title Tags (or Title Elements): are the highlighted titles that a search engine result page (SERP) displays (on Google they are highlighted blue). These tags tell Google, other search engine the main description of your site or document. They are very important and optimizing them is often one of the first SEO tasks.
Meta Descriptions: appearing under the highlighted Title Tag on a SERP. Although Google’s algorithms do not take Meta descriptions into account, since 2009, to determine a sites relevance they are essential to encourage users to click on your link, rather than a competitors.
H1 Tags: stands for Heading One and is the first thing a search engine like Google will look at to establish the relevance of your site after the title tag. With an H1 tag you are essentially telling search engines that this text, or heading is the most crucial.
Image Alt Tags: labels for any images on your site or document and Google, and others, use Image Alt tags to determine what the image is but also if the surrounding information is relevant an useful. Clear tags are very important for SEO.
Internal Linking: when a Google crawler finds your site it will also have a look at any links to see their relevance. If the link structure is unclear then it is possible the crawler may not even know the links exist. Many experts believe internal linking has a strong impact on Google’s algorithm and a clear pyramid shaped internal linking structure is key.

By using SEO your site will immediately have gained an advantage over any non-optimised sites on the web; people are inherently lazy and are most likely to click on one of the top five results, rather than any others. More people than ever are using search engines and SEO is becoming more and more common and is essential if you want to generate traffic on your site. Without SEO you run the risk of your site being buried deep in the search engine’s index and rarely read.

Why Your Business Needs to Focus on Google Reviews

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While Google+ has decided to say adios to their inbuilt review system, the standard ‘Google Reviews’ are here to stay. Most business owners can identify the importance of this review system but often fail in their attempts to get customers to leave reviews. In this post we will discuss what Google Reviews are for those of you who haven’t been acquainted yet, why they are so vital for your business and most importantly how you can get your customers to give you the glowing review you deserve.

What are Google Reviews?

Google Reviews is the app Google implemented into the popular search engine for customers to review a business or place. When someone Google searches your business name, the first thing they may notice is how many stars you have. They are eye-catching and give a pretty good indication whether your business is one they want to deal with. The reviews present the reader the only information they need before committing to continue to your website. See for yourself with this local example:

montville mountain inn Google Search

Why They Are Important

It doesn’t matter if you have hundreds of reviews on Facebook or other review sites in your industry, if you don’t have Google reviews you have no way to impress your potential customers this visibly. It’s almost like you don’t have any reviews at all if they aren’t on Google, which is arguably the most likely way for these prospects to find you. Your competitors also will have it one up on you in terms of outranking you, regardless of whether their reviews are favourable.

How To Give A Review

You need to understand how to give a review before you start asking customers for them just in case they ask you how. Luckily, it’s really easy to leave a review for a business. You just need to be logged into your Google account (Gmail, Google+ or Youtube). See below some handy screenshots:

1. Search for a business

2. On the card that appears below the search box, click ‘Write a review’.

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3. In the window that appears, click the stars to score the place. If you want, you can also write a review (try and keep the review constructive).

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4. Hit ‘Post’.

5. That’s it!

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How to ask your Customers for a Google Review

So now you understand what they are why they are important, how on earth do you get them? It’s pretty simple and sometimes you can overthink this step. The easiest way to get a Google Review is to simply ask for one. People are busy, so although they may have had an amazing experience with your business they may forget to give you praise. With this being said customers who have had a negative experience are more likely to leave a review, so it is really important you chase the feedback from the good interactions.

How you ask for customer feedback really depends on your industry but here are few straightforward ways to reach out:

  • Ask in person at the conclusion of your service.
  • Send a follow up email to your customer asking for their help. You can make it really easy for them if you include a couple of print screens.
  • Post a social media update requesting help. This is less personal, but you can reach more people this way.
  • Ask family and friends to give you a hand to establish your business reviews.

 

Creative Incentives for Your Customers

You’d be surprised at how many people will just be happy to help you, especially if they’ve had a positive experience with your business. If you are after a little more motivation for your customers though, a little incentive never hurt anyone. Again, it does depend on what your business does, but here a few suggestions to get your brain juices flowing:

  • Your humble gratitude. This is by far the cheapest option, being authentic is powerful.
  • Discount their next purchase (either a % off or a $ off gift voucher).
  • Monthly draws for a prize for one lucky ‘Google Reviewer’.
  • A thank-you gift. It doesn’t have to be physical, think about digital gifts like desktop wallpapers, downloadable guides or e-books and other types of useful downloadables relevant to your business offering.
  • Create a special ‘Club’ that receive access to specials and news before the general public.

 

There are lots of ways to approach your customers and get them to leave you a precious Google Review. Do try to keep it relevant to your business and keep it low key and not come across too ‘salesy’. With all types of reviews it is important to keep your eye on them and try to respond to them. Even the negative reviews can be turned around if you reach out and try to remedy the situation. Google is a powerhouse for your business so you need to utilise their tools if you want your business to have maximum exposure to your prospective customers.

Freshen Up Your Marketing Mix – Go Offline!

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We were recently invited to an American Chamber of Commerce lunch in Brisbane on behalf of our Adelaide Plains customer Dominic Versace Wines and it was a terrific example of how to efficiently bring your brand to a national audience.

Dominic Versace Wines is in growth mode, appealing to the growing Chinese taste for high quality wine with an excellent, award-winning brand reputation.

Amcham (as the Chamber calls itself) is an extremely well connected group, the room was filled with QLD CEOs and major consulting, banking and law firm representation. Queensland is in growth mode too, trying to appeal to the growing Chinese appetite for authentic tourism experiences.

Having their wine on each table and a great plug by Robyn Houghton from AmCham gave Dominic Versace Wines direct access to people who can help them expand their business and drive some offline relationships online.

We have been eagerly supporting the growth of Dominic Versace Wines because they continue to think outside the promotional box.

Consider the opportunity to relaunch your marketing strategy along with a new website, there is so much to the mix.

Its Your Day – Take Time for Yourself!

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And no, we do not mean a sneaky 5 minute (and became 30) session checking out your friends antics on Facebook – that’s just tuning out!  Take time, that is professional development time, for yourself.

This is easier said then done, we are all busy solving operational issues and the phone doesn’t stop. But carve out 30 minutes a day, or 2 hours a week and make sure you work on your business instead of in it.

Taking that time can help you craft lasting solutions to those fires you put out again and again.

It can be an actual training course OR you could just Google it and go deep. Pick a weekly topic, leadership, finances, technology, marketing or any other old thing that’s been on your mind and really put some time into:

• Understanding what it is
• Figuring out if it can help you
• Lining up any questions you still have
• Making a plan for addressing the lingering questions (if any)

In 30 minutes you can definitely get through each of these steps, and if its something that needs further investigation to bring to a conclusion then rank it on the list of other things and come back to it. Or even better – delegate that task to someone else in your business.

Remember – its your day – you didn’t start a business to have someone else set your schedule. So take time to develop yourself – you will feel so much better for doing so.