I recently saw a series of television advertisements for a large business touting their customer service. The commercial starts with a customer relating a story about good customer service they received. Then the employee and the customer, often with tears streaming down their faces, talk about how special their encounter was. This large company has to demonstrate, sell their customer service to us. 

Why? My theories - First, because it is not the norm. Consider the last time you conducted business with a large company. I'm sure the employees were nice, probably thanked you for doing business with them. Chances are it sounded mechanical, the same you've heard every time you visited the business. Second, because big business is not truly customer service focused. Think of how many large companies you see advertising their customer service. In defense of big business, customer service is difficult because their employees don't have an immediate investment in whether or not you are happy.  

In big business, customer service for employees is dictated by rules and regulations. They only need to meet the minimum requirements set by company policies and procedures The employees are a small cog in a large wheel. They don't have skin in the game!

Big business also works on averages. With a large customer base, having 5% unsatisfied customers is a win. What if you are one of those 5% of customers? Keep in mind, that 5% is thousands of unsatisfied customers.

Small businesses thrive on providing great customer service. They know their livelihood depends on repeat business, providing goods and services that meet the needs of the customer. Small business owners can see the immediate, negative impacts of providing bad customer service. Just one bad event can drop their sales. Their reputation IS their business, their livelihood. 

Small businesses are often a member of the community they serve whether it is a small geographical area, or a small niche market that can stretch worldwide. They know they have a greater chance of encountering one of their customers again in the future. 

Next time you are considering a purchase or contracting for services, seek out a small business. Providing great customer service is one area that big business just can not compete with small business. Think about it - Big business spends millions in advertising to demonstrate they have great customer service!!

You may pay a little more for a specific service with a small business because they don't work on big business averages of bulk purchasing economies, but you get so much more when buy goods or services from a small business. Consider that you are directly investing in a community as well. 

Thousands, no millions of social media postings, web advertisements and even the spam form entries you probably get on your web site, if you have a contact form, promise to increase traffic, or visits to your company's website. Beware!

We've seen companies offering to increase visits to your website does increase visits to your website!!! Good news??? Not always. We see that most of these visits are from strange, or suspicious locations on the web. We suspect that many are generated by software rather than a real person. A few of our customers have tried them and seen no increase in sales. 

Also, consider how major search engines, like Bing, Google, Yahoo, etc, work. Search engines use data provided by the user such as past search results, their location, and other information from the terms they enter in the search to find the results best suited for the user. This is great news for us as users so when we are looking for a place to get our car tire repaired our search results will be local to us. Great news for local businesses that provide those services as much of the web traffic they receive will be from people near them. 

So what can you do? You do want to increase the number visits to your website to reach more potential customers or clients.

Ideas that cost money: 

• Google Adsense- You can choose how much you want to spend on a monthly basis. The service allows you customize the advertisement to target the users you feel will be most interested in your products or services. You may want to hire someone to assist you in setting it up as there can be a learning curve. One of our client's set up their own ad with a budget of $300 a month. They spent the entire budget in less than 24 hours and did not see a return on their investment. With a little tweaking to when and how their ads would be displayed they did see an increase in calls and ultimately sales. Using the tools provided by Google you can adjust your ad as needed.
• Advertising on websites that are related to your business - Maybe you sell consulting services. Associations related to your services are often a great place to advertise. People visiting the website looking for information will see your advertisement. So you get to reach customers from another website, as well as your own. 
• Hiring someone to help design your website - Often it is worth the investment to have a professional help you. They can design the site to display properly on mobile devices, monitor search results and trim keywords to help increase your web presence. In working with our clients we have seen that over 80% of visits to their websites are via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet. 
• "Traditional" advertising - If your budget allows, having advertising such as news ads, bulletin boards, flyers, brochures, etc, are still a reliable, proven way to increase sales. You have the costs for printing, advertising, and you can make the most of your advertising dollars by targeting those that you feel will more than likely take advantage of your goods and services. 

Ideas that don't cost money: 

• "Link-backs" - Having a link to your website on other websites is a great way to multiply your web presence. Consider associations you are a member of and include your business web address where possible. The more websites your website is posted on, for free, can help you increase your web presence for people that may be interested in your goods or services. Consider "one-off" opportunities. For example; if you are an interior designer, see if home improvement sites, or contractors will let you post your web address on their sites. Often you can barter, posting their web addresses on your web site. Again, you increase your web presence targeting those that may be interested in your goods or services. 
• Include your web address on printed materials that you print for your business- (Yes this costs money but the focus is on costs you already have:-) Printed materials include; invoices, receipts, brochures, business cards, anything you print for your business, make sure to include your company web address. Not only will you have an opportunity for repeat business from your customers, but others related to the customer may see your web address as well. 
• Word-of-mouth advertising - Still the most reliable way to advertise. Many people want to do business with a company that a friend or colleague is familiar with to reduce their chances of having a bad experience. Of course, providing great customer service, great services or products increase your chances for word-of-mouth advertising.

• Keep your website fresh - Update it on a regular schedule. This not only provides timely, relevant information that signals those visiting your website that you are alive and well, it also helps with search engines too. Make minor tweaks, update helpful information for your potential customers, while staying true to your company branding. 

It is important that we emphasize - Your web site is one part of a greater whole when it comes to advertising your company. Don't rely on having a website only. You need to incorporate additional ideas such as link-backs, printed media, and traditional advertising to create an overall marketing strategy. 

Meetings are an important part of getting work done, sharing information, and ensuring everyone is on their tasks. However, we often see there are too many meetings, and the majority are not productive - actually they are counter productive. 

Things to consider about holding meetings: 

1. It costs money! - Think about a meeting you recently attended. How many people were there? Then estimate how much each person makes an hour and add that up. Also consider time for IT support, admin work scheduling the meeting, and other tasks that must be accomplished to conduct the meeting. It all adds up to a realistic cost. 

2. It takes time away from other work - There are meetings that are important, but consider you are  taking employees away from their daily tasks to attend a critical meeting. 

3. Technology has greatly improved communication - There was a time, before cell phones, online chat, email that meetings were critical to improving communication. 

So when do you hold a meeting? 

• Brainstorming - you have a problem that requires a group of people to help identify a solution. Meetings that are problem-oriented, solution focus are often worth the time and effort. 
• Share information that requires feedback of those attending - Maybe you have a new process and you require feedback from employees to ensure they understand it. Good opportunity to hold a meeting. 
• Training - Time to roll-out new processes, procedures, or policies. Conducting training not only helps employees understand what is expected, it gives them the opportunity to ask questions, and for you to gain feedback. 
• Project kick-off meetings - These are important as it allows you to clearly identify the project and the expectations of each team member. 
• Social Interaction meetings - It is a great idea to periodically get people from the same working group in a meeting to help meet social needs. A group lunch, holiday get-togethers and team building have a great purpose. 

​There are other good reasons to hold a meeting, but ensure they have a specific purpose, a deliverable that you can point to after the meeting is over.

When not to meet?

• Meet to Meet - Monthly or weekly recurring meetings without any of the needs above being met are not a good reason to meet. 
• General Update Meetings - Sounds like a good idea. Holding a meeting so everyone knows what everyone else is working on. But, does this information provide concrete steps for others to take once they learn about others tasks? 
• Staff Meetings - Generally these are not a good idea. They were before the advent of technology to improve communications, but today, you need to consider that most people attending a staff meeting interact daily through email, text, online chat and one-on-one conversation. 

The next time you consider calling a meeting together ask yourself a few questions; "What will I learn from the meeting that I could not learn some other way?", "What is the deliverable to expect from the meeting?" Yes, you should have something to show from your meeting. (See our blog articles on agendas such as "Effective Meeting Agendas." Most importantly, "How much will it cost in money and lost time from work and is it worth it?"