Differentiation matters – personally and in business

This past Saturday, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to walk in the 97th Commencement Ceremony at Walsh College in Michigan – receiving my Masters of Business Administration. And it got me thinking… why exactly did I decide to pursue my MBA degree in the first place? As with most things, the answer if a little bit complicated, but I realized an important connection can be made between working towards enhancing one’s own skills and strategic moves in business.

During the ceremony, the recently retired CFO of 3M Corporation and a student both gave riveting speeches on determination and achieving set goals. The 47-year old student MBA speaker did a phenomenal job in his assessment of how Walsh MBA program has made an impact on his life. He discussed how, after having to lay off hundreds of employees (including himself) of a failing corporation, he needed to get “back in touch” with the business world and educational teachings of the 21st century. He saw an MBA as a way to gain greater knowledge of the business world and differentiate himself from the other numerous, out-of-work employees in Southeast Michigan. Through his speech, I realized that his reasoning for undertaking 16 courses (48 credit hrs) was very similar to mine.

With an undergraduate degree in theatre from the University of Notre Dame, my background often became the topic of discussion, and sometimes scrutiny, from my peers and even clients. Unlike the student speaker, I couldn’t “test out” of any classes, and would have to take all 19 courses (57 credit hours) while continuing to work full-time, about 50 hours/week. Before joining Phoneworx, I spent six years in the banking industry. After three years, I became a branch manager and quickly realized that I needed to make a move to differentiate myself from my peers, instill confidence in my clients’ assessment of my abilities, and improve my overall skillset. After a little over a year, I became the manager of one of the most profitable and busiest branches in my region.

So you see, the investment of time and money paid off! Working hard towards my MBA was a way to differentiate myself from the “competition.” It also improved my image in the eyes of my clients and peers, helped me to grow in knowledge and capabilities, and even aided in boosting my salary. It was a way to “upgrade” my experience. Over the past 1.5 years, I’ve had to relocate twice, and I’m confident that pursuing my MBA was integral to finding gainful employment (quickly) in both new locations. In many ways, looking for a job is like trying to sell yourself to a potential company – just as in business, you try to sell a product or service to consumers.

Now, here is where the “aha!” moment comes in. Just like I was able to gain so much from achieving my MBA, small business owners have the power to gain similar benefits by taking a look at the overall impression their businesses are making in the market and assess ways to differentiate themselves from the competition. A simple upgrade – let’s say purchasing a new VoIP business phone system – can enhance your business by providing differentiation, helping to save or make more money, improving your image, and facilitating growth. Of course, there are other ways to achieve this differentiation, but Phoneworx is in the telephone business after all…

In closing, the next time you are wondering why the phone isn’t ringing, take a good hard look at your company’s opportunities for improvement – whether it is an old business phone system, an outdated website, or even the wrong employees, a simple upgrade can make a big difference! Making the investment of time and money 100% worth it.

Until next time –
Megan

Make the right moves in Social Media Marketing

Ok, you’ve decided you are ready and you’ve set up your business Facebook Page, created a Twitter account, started a blog and added a company page to LinkedIn.  Congratulations!!!  Now what?  If you’re like a lot of other small business owners out there, the challenge comes in using these resources effectively to create a social media presence online that adds value to your business.

Post a promotion
But you should only do this occasionally. More importantly, you must have engaging posts, share insights, and build relationships within these social networks – with individuals and other businesses.  Of course, doing so can be confusing and time-consuming for a small business.

Stick with it
All too often, we see companies lose momentum or even abandon their social media efforts if they don’t see immediate sales results. Unfortunately, by walking away from a Facebook Page or Twitter account, they are missing out on benefits far exceeding one or two immediate sales. A recent article on sixrevisions.com reinforces how Social Media can be a huge factor in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and how utilizing these tools can boost a company’s overall search engine ranking. Beyond improving one’s “find-ability” online, creating an online community of friends, fans and followers can lead to improved customer retention and provide an outlet for inexpensive promotional marketing.

What we do
At Main Street Webworx, we are active on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. We also frequently share tips via our Blog. We strive to post things that are fun, educational, and conversational. We interact with companies we follow and our followers, fans, and friends.  Even better, we learn new things and make more connections along the way. We also work closely with clients to help them achieve their Social Media and Online Marketing goals. Click on the widgets below to see how we’re using Social Media at Main Street Webworx.

If you have made the move to Social Media - stick with it! Don’t abandon your efforts after one to two weeks. Social Media is much more than a “gimmick” to get quick sales – it’s a commitment to your customers and you get back what you put into it – maybe even more.

If you’re still not sure how to make that next move or simply cannot find the time needed to do so, give us a call! We’re more than happy to help guide you in setting up, maintaining or simply getting your social media presence up and running.

Your company website is essential in building customer relationships

Since we launched Phoneworx in January of this year, we have been made increasingly aware at how the world is shifting in terms of getting to know local businesses. We’ve run a really dynamic postcard campaign to introduce ourselves to the market. In the past, if someone had received our postcard in the mail and were interested, he might call us to inquire and find out a little bit more. Not today.

As we review our web traffic, we are finding that the World Wide Web is the first place people go to find out more information about a business. Even if they were referred to you, they still want to know your company’s story – where you’re from, who your people are, and how you’re different before ever picking up a telephone. Beyond this, even with our direct mail campaign, approximately 30-40% of our jobs come from someone finding us through Google (or other search engines) on the web – and we wanted to be darn sure once they found us, we didn’t lose them.

Based on this, we took a hard look at our original company website.  It was functional, but not as customer-focused and user-friendly as we knew it needed to be.  Customers need to get to know you, like you and even begin to trust you through your website – we knew we needed to “refresh” our message, content and look in order to get over that hump.

Check out the before and after here: http://mainstreetwebworx.com/phoneworx-portfolio/

Overall, we’ve learned that 70% of Americans use the internet to find and research products and this number is growing every day. Having a website, and even better a quality-built website, can really be a driving factor in why someone chooses your business over the competition. If your small business still doesn’t have a website, or it isn’t delivering how it should, maybe it’s time to do something new.

Just as your business phone system can impact your image, ability to grow, and bottom line – so can your website.  Both are platforms to stay connected to and build relationships with your clients, and both are integral to success in today’s information age.

Can your prospective customers find you online?

If the answer is yes – will what they find entice them to call you? Would it entice you as a customer?

How VoIP will grow your business

In some of our early blog posts, we explored the inner workings of VoIP and SIP – both of which are functions of IP or “Internet Protocol.” Of course, it is great to learn something new and understand how these technical things work, but when it comes down to it, what we all want to know is: What can it do for me? How can it help my business?

 Today, I’m going to do my best to answer this for you. There are many benefits to VoIP and SIP and when their capabilities are combined with certain hardware and software, they become powerful cost-saving, money-making tools! How do you ask? 

1. IP Phones have built-in features, meaning no additional charge for things like voicemail, call-forwarding, caller-id, etc. These items are things that the phone company can, and does charge you for when using traditional analog phones. 
2. IP Phones have auto-attendant built in – meaning your customers are always greeted in a consistent, friendly manner and are able to get to the right person without having to be transferred repeatedly. Happy customers have higher lifetime value.  
3. IP Phones can easily integrate features like Music-on-hold or On-hold messaging. Since 60% of customers put on silent hold NEVER call back – avoid losing customers who are calling you!  
4. Built-in IP phone call forwarding features like Find-Me, Follow-Me and Remote Office provide 24/7 connectivity to your business. If you cannot make it into the office or are out on another call, you can make sure you never miss another potential sales opportunity again! 
5. Utilizing high-speed Internet is a great way to unify your business communications. Your phone and computer are working on the same network – meaning these devices can “talk to each other” and work together for the benefit of you, your business, and your customers!  
6. Many times, broadband Internet service can be less expensive than traditional analog telephone service from the phone company. By using broadband for telephone service and Internet, you are eliminating a redundant utility cost and saving money.
7.  Overall, these state-of-the art phones save you time and money – giving you MORE OF BOTH which means you can use these extra resources to grow your business and your bottom line!

 What are some other tools you are using to make your business more efficient?

How can you boost sales? Ask your customers!

Recently, I listened to a great webinar by John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing. He conducted this for free during the celebration of Small Business Week and I wanted to pass along one of his particularly good pointers.

As small businesses, we are always looking for ways to improve our processes and procedures in order to grow our business.

The burning question: How?

The answer: Ask your customers.

After each customer experience you have the opportunity to not only ensure client satisfaction, but to also gather high-quality marketing insights. A bonus, you’ll gain stories you can use as testimonials to your prospective clients. The best way to do this is to ask every customer the following questions:

1. What made you decide to hire us?
2. What’s one thing that we do better? What did you like most about the experience?
3. What could we do better? How can we improve?
4. Would you be willing to refer us?
5. If you were looking for our company, what would you “Google”?

Reaching out during a follow-up call or in a final client meeting provides that added-level of client devotion that can lead to engaged customers, i.e. customers that refer others to your business. Customers, just like everyone else, appreciate the extra attention and the value that you place on their opinion. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Even if you’ve been in business for 20 years and have yet to conduct this type of customer survey, it’s never too late! Set a plan in place and start enhancing both your client experience and your business.