Best In Show - Part Two

Hi Janie here again with another guest blog - thanks SIO for letting me revisit you. Business advice from someone who knows. 35 years of helping and running businesses means I've seen most mistakes and learnt so much.

Tips 6-10

They say first impressions count and they do, but also the last memory can be the one that sticks.

How many times have you been served in a shop or at a fair by someone who made you feel you were a burden to them, waited an internity while being ignored or listening to staffs idle gossip, or left feeling as though they were rushing you out?

Simple rules go a long way when serving a customer, be it business to business or business to consumer.


6. Unless a vital emergency never chat to a colleague while leaving a customer waiting.

7. If you use a queue system ensure it is plain and the ticket machine is placed in the most logical situation. Understand that sometime folks will not get the system, encourage them to get in line but do not make them feel embarrassed.

8. What view does your client get when coming into your shop? is it welcoming? is the entrance obvious? the direction they should take and where do they queue? A few polite notices go a very long way to making consumers feel happy.

9. When out in your normal daily life evaluate buying situations which make you feel uncomfortable, unwanted or under valued. What was it that made you feel that way, capture the thought and keep it, ensure your business does not replicate that issue.

10. Always ensure you say thank you and good bye even if you're already on to the next customer, the last impression is as important as the first.

Common sense is all it takes, when did you last look at your business through your clients eyes, it might be worth doing. 

SEEK IT OUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time
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10 Tips for Best Practice on your Facebook page: Part 2

The next 5 tips in Catherine from Red Kite Communications sneak preview of her upcoming e-Book Facebook course, which will be launching in April 2013.  If you haven’t seen the first 5 best practice tips for Facebook, make sure to catch up on them too!

10 Tips for Best Practice on your Facebook page: Part 2

So, in the first 5 tips you learned to post no more than 3 statuses a day, to always respond and stay in the conversation, not to swear, not to do competitions, and to make sure you remove ugly links.  Here are the final 5 best practice tips to have you Facebooking like a pro!

6 Do not link your tweets to your Facebook page

Every message you put out on any social utility should be crafted. In other words, a message crafted for Twitter will not be the same as a message crafted for Facebook.

Twitter uses mechanisms such as @ and # as part of its user repertoire, which are meaningless on Facebook. So your tweet in reply to a potential customer on Twitter might read like this:

'Aw, thanks @Cupcake @ZooTooSocial! Yes, new #eco #fairtrade #sustainable banana yarn fibre avble now! #FF to U 2 and thx for the RT!'

Not pretty!

Also - if you are using Twitter well, you will be tweeting far too often in the day to link to Facebook because of Rule 1 – no more than 3 statuses a day.

7 But do ‘amplify’ your Facebook statuses on Twitter.

Each time you post a status on Facebook, craft a tweet to link to it.  Make sure your abridged version of the status fits into the 180 characters, and include a shortened link (sign up at https://bitly.com/ for a great way to make shortened links which you can also track.). 

Where to find the link?  Under each status you post on Facebook, you will see a date, or a day of the week.  Click on that – your post will be opened in its own web page – now copy the URL at the top of your browser, and use that link in your tweet.

8 Address complaints or negative remarks immediately, and publicly

Address complaints or grumbles right there in the thread – you may find you have turned the customer round by the end of the thread, which is a fantastic visual representation of real-world customer service.

Just dive right in, express horror that they’re unhappy and ask if you can deal with them via their email/messagebox/phone to put the matter right.

If someone posts something offensive that makes you uncomfortable, you may have to delete it. If you think they’re a genuine fan, perhaps Message them with a nicely crafted reply:

“Just wanted to say sorry I had to remove your comment – it had the f-word in and we delete those! But I totally agreed with your point, their cotton thread does snap often – we prefer Guterman, how about you?”

Need help? If you get one of these comments, and you don’t know how to proceed – come Like and then message me at www.facebook.com/redkitecommunications.com or @redkitesocial me in a tweet and I’ll help you frame the perfect response. 

9  Do your (not you’re) best to get spelling right! 

Please don’t wait a year to start your Facebook strategy because you’re worried about their or they’re or there, it’s or its.  We can’t all be good at everything, and your grammar is not what you’re selling. 

But, if you think this is a weakness of yours, you need to address it - come and learn the basics at my blog post on getting spellings and grammar right.

You’d be surprised how common these errors are - and if your fans are like me, they will wince when they spot them in your status just as others might at a swear word! 

If you are dyslexic or you just know it’s never going to be your strength, have a spellcheck person to help you – your husband, sister, best friend, mum. Plan and craft your messages, maybe 10 at a time – and send them to your proof-reading pal. It’s a faff, but you simply cannot look professional if your writing is riddled with errors!

10  Promote your Facebook page!

Go and check all your online ‘rooms’ – have you added your Facebook page link in the following:

a) On your blog? Add as a widget/plugin

b) Your website?

c) Your email signature?  Try www.wisestamp.com for a free signature setup.

And don’t stop there – what about a sticker for your car?  Is it on the footer of your invoices and proposals?  Business cards?  Flyers?  Compliment slips?  Stickers you add to your parcels? On a card you hand out at fairs? 

Promote your Facebook page everywhere you can.

And come and tell me about it!  Red Kite’s Facebook page is www.redkitecommunications.com/facebook.  Come and say hi – I’d love to meet you, take a look at your Facebook page, and help you with any worries you have.

* * *

Next up Catherine will be bringing you some good housekeeping practices to help you get a ‘vanity URL’ for your Facebook page, set up your About page and make a beautiful cover photo, amongst other hints and tips. 

See you then!

Facebook: www.facebook.com/redkitecommunications
Twitter: www.twitter.com/redkitesocial
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/redkitesocial
Website: www.redkitecommunications.com

Just because you're selling .....

Hi Janie here again with another guest blog - thanks SIO for letting me revisit you. 

Understanding business - unlocking the secrets of business

Just because you're selling today does not mean the person you meet or who sees your shop is buying today.  Often I meet small business owners who are confused by networking and building relationships, they assume pitch and do it enough then you will sell.  You cannot sell to someone who does not want to buy at that moment.  Pressure selling is a way to guarantee they will never buy from you. Coax, inform, keep your brand in the limelight, and remind, this way when they are ready to buy they will remember you.

Always put yourself in their shoes, do you buy a loaf of bread every time you walk past the bakers, of course you don't, and nor will your customers.  Too much pushing and you become like those pesky telephone sales folks reading from the script.  Remember less is more on the pitch but remember brand is key keep it in the public eye using multiple media multiple times.  Look at Marks and Spencer, just think how many ways and where you see their brand - from shop front to tags in the knickers, TV ads to sandwich wrappers - that is keeping a brand in the public eye.  Small or large same applies!

SEEK IT OUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time

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Being social is not always so wise

 

Welcome to our guest blogger Janie, who is going to be a regular part of the SIO blog team.  Janie is a specialist in small business support and advice.

 

Firstly, thanks to Seek It Out for inviting me to add to the SIO blogs, quite an honour I can say.  Hello to you all, especially the small business owners amongst you or those longing to escape the hamster wheel of employment for the, tough but worthwhile, world of self-employment.  When invited, I will be adding blog posts on running a business, ideas on how you can avoid pitfalls, ways to market and other similar topics.

Being social is not always so wise! 

 

Strange heading you might think but social networking does not always pay dividends.  Sometimes as small business owners we muddy the waters between personal and business, this can apply in social networking. Doing this we act from the heart not our business head.

The other day I saw some comments by few disgruntled stall holders at an event, cross because the venue was cold and draughty.  This was a two day event and these comments appeared on Twitter at the end of day one.  Fine to let off steam but why do it where potential attendees might see.  Those potential attendees may take one look and decide to spend the next day elsewhere.  That hurts your bottom line, your secondary marketing (raising brand awareness), and makes you publically the cause.  So not only might you annoy the event organiser, fair you may say, but you will possibly annoy other stall holders who also lose out if folks stay away.  Those stall holders could be ambassadors for your business long after the event, but not if they feel you have spoilt their take or reputation.  Tell the event organiser, constructive feedback good or bad is vital in business, but do it directly not from a soap box or your business might be the real loser.

 

Keep your personal views where only those close to you can see them. How would you feel if that was one of your products or services someone was publically decrying from a social media soap box, you would be devastated. Do not kick your business it has done nothing wrong, instead help it to thrive & survive by avoiding pitfalls like these!

Thanks for letting me ramble, hope it was informative and look forward to the next episode. Janie

Seek It Out: changing the world a stitch at a time.

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