by Angela Taffs | Jun 6, 2022 | Business Success, Customer service, Growing a business
A top tip to creating a successful business from a 42-year-old millionaire.
Whilst on holiday, I got chatting to a chap who having retired at the ripe old age of just 42 appeared to have the key to creating a successful business. From what I could gather he was a very wealthy individual and I had to dig deeper into what he did to become so successful at such a young age.
The very short story is that he took over a failing company, built it up, sold it for millions and retired.
When I asked how he built the business up so quickly, he told me he focused purely on customer service. Yes, the product had to be up to scratch but he concentrated on giving the best customer service he could, and then some. And the interesting thing is that after a year of him selling the business, it had started to fail and has since fallen bankrupt.
I can totally relate to this, as those of you who know me, will know I bang on about how the customer is the person who will make or break your business and if you are serious about creating a successful business, you need to give exceptional customer service at all times.
Aeons ago, I built up a failing estate agency practice to become one of the most successful in the chain of offices by focusing on customer service. As many of you may have discovered for yourself, customer service is severely lacking in the majority of estate agencies. I made sure every single vendor and buyer was contacted each week to let them know what was going on with the sale and purchase. I made sure every single person looking for a property was contacted at least once a month to update their details and discuss what was happening in the marketplace.
All our clients and contacts knew we were working behind the scenes to do the best for them and that our staff cared. This resulted in a HUGE turnaround for the agency and we won many awards.
Focus on customer complaints
When I started as Operations Director for another company, it had no less than six full-time workers dealing with customer complaints. I was asked to help sort out the sales staff so more customers could be brought on board. Rather than doing this, I focused on the complaints, what was causing them and ways to stop them from happening again. This resulted in eventually having just one person answering the phone to complaints on an ad hoc basis with a huge increase in turnover due to cancellations being reduced dramatically.
Too many businesses don’t focus on existing customers and are always looking to find new ones. Take care of your existing customers and clients who will appreciate your efforts, keep coming back to buy from you and bring new people with them.
Remember, it can take months to find a new customer but just seconds to lose one.
Create an exceptional customer experience
If you would like to find out how to create a customer experience that is the key to creating a successful business and gets you remembered for all the right reasons, check out the module in my member’s area which includes:
- Customer service review sheet to score your business in different areas
- A client touch point sheet with examples of how to ‘wow’ your customers
- A sample follow-up plan to stay in contact with your customers
- A client contact sheet template
Access the module now.
by Angela Taffs | May 10, 2022 | Angie's ramblings - The reality of working from home, Personal and Lifestyle
Self care when working from home is often overlooked.
Women who work from home are increasingly oblivious to their own health and safety. We work for long hours, usually seated, whether at a computer or making things. We forget to eat regularly and healthily and forget to get up and move around.
Well, I do anyway.
We end up hunched over our desks for hours upon hours each day and soon find ourselves struggling with backache, shoulder, arm, hand and even finger pain!
I have regularly been a victim of this myself so recently I decided to undertake a health and safety audit. No, not of my business, but of myself.
After deciding to review my self care when working from home and undertaking my health and safety audit, I decided to invest in a few items to help me take care of my own health and safety in a more proactive manner.
Items to help with self care when working from home
Activity tracker
Firstly, I set up my Garmin activity tracker. As most people know, activity trackers do what they say on the tin. They record your activity during the day. After you have been online and put in a few details about yourself, it sets you a daily goal to ensure you undertake some physical activity during the day.
This can vary from jogging for an hour, walking for a couple of hours or up and on your feet doing light housework for 7 hours (really!!). It also counts the steps taken in a day and calories used.
The key bonus for the one I have is it sends an alert when I have been sitting inactive for too long. The fatal flaw with some activity trackers that I had in the past was that whilst the alert flashes on the wristband if I was wholly engrossed in a piece of research or sat on the phone, I didn’t see the flashing. Therefore, I made sure my most recent purchase vibrates to make me aware of the alert.
When wearing my activity tracker, I am so much more aware of my daily activity levels and keep checking to see how much more movement I have to do to reach my goal and to get the ‘fireworks’ going off on the display when I have reached my target (small things please little minds).
Computer alert
If you don’t have an activity tracker to wear on your wrist there is a fab little program you can install on your computer called Workrave. As their site states, Workrave is a program that assists in the recovery and prevention of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). The program frequently alerts you to take micro-pauses, rest breaks and restricts you to your daily limit.
When I installed this program a while ago, I was amazed at how quickly the time goes by when working on my laptop and how lapse I was in taking breaks previously. The fun, but very useful, part of the app is that on the longer breaks, it gives you a set of exercises to do. (check out my article on some fun office exercises)The break lengths are pre-loaded but these can be customised to personal preferences. I can certainly recommend this one. And even better, it is free.
Ergonomic office chair
My third purchase has been a decent ergonomic office chair. When in employed work, I had always managed to find a chair that suited my back but when I started working from home, I have made do with an old chair that I had, as so many of us do.
As the days and weeks went by, so my lower back pain increased. And therefore I decided to invest in a decent chair. And what a difference it made. After the initial fight of having to put it together myself, once constructed, I took a seat and wow! What a difference. My back was firmly hugged and supported. Could this be the start to pain-free work?
Ergonomic keyboard and mouse
If you spend a lot of time typing, an ergonomic keyboard and mouse can be super helpful in avoiding RSI and carpal tunnel syndrome. They can help relieve arm and wrist pain and help support your posture.
Yes, they can take a bit of getting used to but persevere and see what a difference they can make for you. They are designed to support your hands and wrists and take off the pressure when you are working for long periods of time.
I swear by my Microsoft ergonomic keyboard.
It’s slightly bulky if you have a tiny desk but in my opinion, it’s the best I’ve found. If you’re looking for an ergonomic mouse there is a huge range to choose from. Prices vary hugely and there are a variety of colours. I personally use a low-cost wireless Tecknet mouse that does the trick for me.
How about you take a few minutes out of your day to assess your self care when working from home. Take a close look at how you work and become aware of what action you may need to take to protect yourself from aches and pains and the detrimental impact to your health when sitting for long periods and not moving.
If you were the MD in a large corporation you would want your staff to be comfortable and protected in order to do their job to their best ability wouldn’t you? So do the same for yourself.
by Angela Taffs | Apr 28, 2022 | Business Success, Personal and Lifestyle
What to do when you wake up and realise you are going in the wrong direction and need to get your business back on track
Just recently, on my coaching calls, more than one person has had the same feelings. They were feeling uneasy because their businesses weren’t fulfilling them as much as they had expected.
They weren’t full of excitement when they thought of doing what they are doing now in 10 years’ time.
They had come to the realisation that rather than following their absolute true passion, they had taken the easy option of doing something they were good at and brought the money in quickly.
Whilst this could be viewed as a sensible option to start with, it’s just not sustainable.
Two particular ladies were going through difficult times and had lost all excitement and enthusiasm for their business. They just felt as though they had fallen off track.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin
What you need to learn in building a successful business, is to be adaptable.
You need to be prepared to amend your success plan and goals subject to mitigating circumstances. We never know what is around the corner and how our plans may have to change.
Take circumstances over the past two years as an example.
Covid hit, business tightened their belts when they couldn’t trade, and many business owners say their customers dwindle, myself included.
I had to diversify as business coaching clients dropped off and members of The Small Business Kit started to cancel. I joined forces with another businesswoman I knew and we set up a new marketing company to do the hands-on work to get businesses seen online so these could still attract customers through the lockdown.
I had no idea this new marketing business would become all-consuming. We were run off our feet and turning work away, even after taking on additional help.
Lockdown finished during which many people had decided they didn’t want to return to their 9 – 5-day job. They valued the time freedom they benefited from during the lockdown. But as I had been so busy with the marketing company, I had taken my eye off The Small Business Kit. I had been taken down a different route and found myself running from one thing to the other and getting more and more frustrated as something didn’t feel right. I was in a complete muddle – can anyone else relate?
Go back to the drawing board to get your business back on track
I had to go back to the drawing board.
I looked at what my original plans were and knew I wanted to go back to focusing on The Small Business Kit. I had to limit the number of online coaching clients I had and stop taking on any more marketing clients. I started passing any new client to my fabulous and more than able colleague so I could put my full focus into updating The Small Business Kit and getting it relaunched once again.
This was where my passion lay and I loved it and missed it. I knew it helped so many women starting and growing their businesses, many of whom tell me they wouldn’t be where they are today if they hadn’t used it. I have members who have gone from home baking to opening retail premises. I have members who were struggling to make ends meet and who now have six-figure incomes. And I wanted to return to help more do the same.
If you wake up one day and realise you aren’t where you want to be, you need to find a way to get your business back on track.
If you aren’t feeling the love for your business anymore, dig deep to find out what your passion truly is and look for what changes you can make to keep your passion, and business, alive long term.
by Angela Taffs | Apr 14, 2022 | Sales and Marketing
We all love free marketing for our businesses and here are a couple of ways that you may not be utilising.
You probably already know that Google is the top search engine in the world, but did you know that Bing is second?
And more importantly, did you know that both Google and Bing allow you to promote your business on their platforms for FREE?
But MOST importantly, ARE you promoting your business through both these search engines?
If not, you’re missing a trick. You’re missing the opportunity to promote your business in front of endless more people without having to pay a penny. Why would you not want to take advantage of that?
Google Business
When you type a search term into Google you will see local business listings appear at the top of the page with a map showing their location. This is where you can place your business.
Google Business allows you to list your business and add information such as your website, opening hours, list your products and services and post updates. And it’s absolutely free!
The other thing with Google Business is that it allows your customers and clients to leave reviews which can help build your credibility.
Once your listing is set up it’s super easy to go in and amend any information whenever you want. You may want to post updates about your business, add a new product or service, or amend your opening hours such as at Christmas time.
You can find out more about Google Business and get questions answered on the Google Business FAQ page. And to get your business set up visit their How To Claim or Add Your Business page
Bing Places
Bing Places basically works in the same way as Google Business by allowing you to list your business and add your website, photos and opening hours. It’s currently not possible to create new posts as you can on Google Business but you can add deals and discounts.
You can find out more and how to add your business on the Bing website
Take advantage of free marketing
It really is worth getting your business listed on both these platforms, particularly if you trade locally. As search results tend to show businesses local to you, having your business pinpointed on a map in the local search results is essential. It’s great for directing visitors to your website so is a great tool for SEO (search engine optimisation).
Anything that helps increase your online visibility can only be a good thing and with free marketing for your business, it’s a win-win. Block some time out in your diary right now and go get set up.
If you find the whole thing quite daunting and don’t know where to start, do get in touch. As part of The Small Business Kit Hands-On Service, we can do it for you.
by Angela Taffs | Apr 4, 2022 | Sales and Marketing
A question I was asked today in my Facebook group was:
For someone starting out what advice would you give to build your online audience?
Here is my short and sweet answer:
How to build an online audience
- Identify your ideal audience
- you can’t talk on the same level as someone if you don’t know who they are
- Identify what their biggest challenges are
- you need to be talking about what they want help with, not just posting pics of your dinner and walks with your dog.
- Be clear on what your page/group/list is going to be about and include and what your chosen audience will get out of it.
- A little planning goes a long way in saving a lot of time with meaningless ad-hoc posts
- Ask yourself why they would want to join.
- If you can’t find a reason, keep thinking! Get creative and find a compelling reason for others to join and stay.
- Create a mix of posts to include tips on how to solve their pain point and posts to encourage interaction and engagement. Run competitions.
- Constantly posting the same old thing gets boring. Your audience will turn off.
- Answer all comments. You want to work on building relationships and trust.
- Ignoring people who have taken the time to interact with you is plain rude. They won’t bother again.
- Give loads of support to your audience. Again, this builds trust and helps position as the expert to go to.
- By giving good quality advice and support you will start to create an environment where people will want to buy from you when they need the products or services you offer.
- Post valuable content consistently and persistently. It will take time.
- Don’t give up or let your posts become sporadic if you don’t get a good response from the beginning. People will be watching you behind the scenes.
- Interact in other groups and invite people to join your page/group/list
- (if in groups check what the rules allow – pay close attention to this!)
- Add the link to your online channel everywhere – on your website, bottom of email signature etc
- Don’t waste any opportunities for people to join your online tribe.
And if you need more help coming up with ideas and planning to build your online audience, come on over and join my member’s club. Everything you need is right there.
