by Angela Taffs | Oct 11, 2016 | Business Success, Customer service
Do you know that one of the best ways to delight and surprise your clients and build raving fans for your business is to do something unexpected to thank them for their business and make them feel appreciated?
However, very few businesses think about thanking their customers for their business. Even fewer actually find original ways to do so.
One of the simplest and best ways to do this is to send them a surprise in the post. In this world of online technology, receiving something as simple as a handwritten note will make you stand out from the crowd and get you noticed.
Your clients will appreciate that you have taken a few minutes out of your busy day to think just about them.
And you don’t just have to restrict this sentiment to clients. Why not send something to a prospect that you would like to work with?
How to delight and surprise your clients
It doesn’t have to be expensive to send something personal in the post. After all, remember the adage that ‘it’s the thought that counts’.
Take a look through the following list to get some ideas flowing:
- You could simply buy a pack of plain note cards and write a personal message to them.
- Or buy packs of postcards with motivational quotes on the front and pop a handwritten note on the back.
- If you see an article in a magazine that is relevant, how about cutting it out and sending it to them – so much more effective than sending a link to an online article via email?
- Consider getting some personalised bookmarks printed up with your branding and sending those out as gifts.
- Think about sending a voucher to spend with your business. If you are a masseur, hairdresser or provide products, a voucher is easy. If you are a coach or consultant, create a voucher to redeem for a free 30-minute session with you.
- Do you have a client that you suspect is feeling tired or overwhelmed? Why not pin a tea bag to a short note telling them to take 5 mins out on you and sit down with a cuppa? Guaranteed to make them laugh, feel loved and remember you!
- Or how about sending a small (or large) chocolate bar to give them a treat?
- For long-standing and valued clients, send a beautiful notebook
- Or an inspirational book of your choosing
- Or a gift card ……
These things are inexpensive yet will help build relationships that will generate you much more money in the future through clients who feel nurtured and valued and who will stay loyal to you. Your gift doesn’t have to be expensive to be memorable. It has to be special and feel personal.
What ideas do you have to delight and surprise your clients in unexpected ways? Let me know in the comments below.
by Angela Taffs | Sep 12, 2016 | Business Success
Why it is important to keep your knowledge up to date
There is one sure-fire way to lose credibility with prospects and clients and that is when you fail to keep your knowledge up to date with industry trends and give outdated advice. And if you are posting outdated advice on social media, there is the knock-on effect of so many others seeing what we have written and their loss of interest in listening to anything we have to say in the future.
If you are an employee you need to keep your knowledge up to date along with relevant skills and will be regularly assessed (or at least should be) by your employer. Training is provided when any gaps in knowledge are identified and it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure you continually keep learning and improve your knowledge.
But as a self-employed business person, it is up to you to ensure you keep your knowledge up to date on a continual basis. You need to put a plan in place for your own continuous professional development (CPD) and be aware of the ever-changing industry trends that are bound to happen.
‘Experts’ who give outdated advice
Just recently I have seen a few occasions where ‘experts’ in their field have given outdated advice which has instantly affected their credibility in my opinion, and undoubtedly by others who spotted their mistakes.
The first case was someone who was advising another on a social media forum to use Blab as part of their marketing campaign. What this expert had failed to realise was that Blab no longer exists. This would have caused frustration for the person being advised whilst searching for something no longer available and then a complete lack of trust and respect in the advisor.
Secondly, I saw someone ask an expert for their advice on the use of Snapchat for business. The expert responded that Snapchat was purely for social use but something similar may come to the market for businesses in the future. What the expert failed to realise was that Snapchat is growing daily for business use and their knowledge is very much out of date. Again, a loss of credibility and respect with the person asking the question and anyone else who saw the post and knew the information given was wrong.
Finally, I saw someone advise another to create a number of web pages all with the same content. This is in direct contradiction to Google’s best practice which penalises sites with duplicate content.
Invest the time to keep up to date with industry trends
The most successful business people are those who invest the time to keep up to date with industry trends. Ways to keep your knowledge up to date include:
- Networking with others in your industry
- Reading current books and articles
- Subscribing to online forums and being proactive in asking questions
- Investing in relevant training or signing up for a new course
- Following experts in your field on social media
Try and get creative and think of new ways to keep your knowledge up to date and continue to build credibility with your prospects and clients. If you have any creative ways of keeping your knowledge updated, share them in the comments below.
by Angela Taffs | Sep 6, 2016 | Business Success, Personal and Lifestyle
Why it’s important to share feelings
Sometimes when we are feeling stressed, worried or overwhelmed it can help to write our feelings down. But it can also help if you share feelings with someone else. As the adage says, a problem shared is a problem halved.
It can also give you a boost to share your successes and steps forward no matter how large or small with someone else. Sometimes you may just want to vent your feelings with someone in complete confidence and privacy without being judged.
Did you ever use to do this as a child with a pen pal? Or do you still have a pen pal now?
I chat via email with a lady that I met and connected with through an online group. I have never met her in person or spoken to her via phone or Skype. I have no idea what her voice sounds like but somehow we seemed to click online. We now share our stories which have moved from just being about business to personal lives also. She is my safe person to turn to and talk to about just about anything.
Being able to share feelings is invaluable
Having this support is invaluable to me. There are times that I don’t want to speak to anyone face to face but I just want someone to know how I am feeling. There are times when I find the going tough and just want to share my anguish with someone who isn’t going to immediately come over for a cuppa and a chat or pick up the phone and call me. All I want is to get my feelings down on paper (or keypad) so that I can release them from my head.
Once your feelings are written down, it can feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. Just the act of writing down how you are feeling can help you clarify your thoughts and it can be surprising how solutions suddenly appear to you that you hadn’t thought of before whilst going through this process.
When you are writing down these feelings and thoughts to share with someone else, it can also help you put things in perspective. You can start to see the situation more objectively, and as mentioned previously, start to see solutions that were hidden from view before.
Finding someone to share feelings with
If you don’t have anyone that you feel you can do this with already, how about finding that one person that you feel an affinity with? Who do you chat to in groups? Do you have a past colleague or associate that you could reconnect with? Do you know someone who has a business similar to yours that would be happy to share stories with you and listen to yours?
You need to feel comfortable with whoever you choose to share feelings with. You need to trust that they will retain confidentiality on whatever you tell them. It can sometimes be easier to use someone outside of your inner circle of friends or family as they won’t have a personal interest or judgement on how you should live your life.
If you are stuck and don’t know how to turn, take a look at The Small Business Kit member’s club. Enhanced members all get unlimited email access to me and many of them have signed up purely to be able to use me as a sounding board without judgement. Sometimes they want a response with advice and sometimes they say they just want to get things off their chest.
Whatever you choose to do, the important thing is not to try and go through your journey alone. Make sure you have someone to turn to in times of need. And you can always post in my private Facebook group and share your feelings if you wish
Much love
Angie x
by Angela Taffs | Aug 16, 2016 | Business Success, Starting a Business
Recently in my Facebook group, I asked the fabulous ladies what piece of advice they would you give to someone starting their business today. There were some great answers so I thought I would share them with you here today.
- Be consistent and positive at all times
- Failure is natural and part of the process. Learn from it and do things better next time! 🙂
- Enjoy it. Be patient, it won’t happen overnight
- Be sure that there is a niche in the market for your product or service and be different!
- Research, research, research.
- Join groups like this one as going it alone never works.
- Cultivate the art of patience, have an open mind, learn new things and remain flexible
- Make sure you have a solid foundation first before you to try to run & lots of patience
- Ensure you absolutely love the product or service you are offering, otherwise it will never reach it’s potential!
- Trust your gut, even when ‘experts,’ can’t see what you can see!
- Find your tribe – we all need people to support and believe in us. Appreciate them hard!
- Be the person that you want to be, act as if you’ve already achieved everything you want
- Accept every offer of help that you are given, it’s tough going solo.
- Don’t buy crap you don’t need.
- Get one package done really well before branching out.
- Focus on one social media platform.
- Surround yourself with brilliant people.
- Spend time on your business from the start. Get great systems and take note of everything you do. It’s amazing how fast we forget how we started.
Feel free to add your own piece of advice that you would give to someone starting out in the comments box below.
by Angela Taffs | Jun 28, 2016 | Business Success, Personal and Lifestyle
What do you really want when you ask for advice or feedback?
As is the nature of my business, I am constantly asked for my feedback and opinions. But sometimes I wonder as to the motives of those asking.
Just this week, I was asked to review someone’s website. I gave them my critique which they promptly chose to ignore. Now of course, that is their prerogative but what pains me is when I give up my valuable time to someone who has no intention of listening to any advice or taking any feedback.
So what really are your intentions when asking for feedback or advice? Do you really want to hear the truth or are you fishing for compliments? If you ask for feedback are you really thick-skinned enough to take it? In business, we need to have a skin as thick as a rhinoceros at times!
It can be tough to accept critique on something that we have sweat blood and tears over. It hurts when we have put endless hours into creating something that another person suggests would be better if done in a different way.
It is so hard to accept honest criticism about our business, but is matters and it is vital to not put our fingers in our ears and not block it out. If all you are looking for is approval. It won’t work out well for anyone.
I know it is hard. I have been there. I spent months putting together a new website myself and when I asked for critique, the response I got wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I thought it was wonderful because I knew the effort that had gone into creating it. I knew what I wanted it to say and what I wanted it to achieve. And I thought everyone else would love it as much as I did. So when someone told me it was less than perfect, I put my head in my hands and cried. Yes, I am not ashamed to admit that.
Once I had got over my upset, and then the inevitable ‘how dare they criticise me!!!’ moment of anger, I realised that this was their perception and I had to take note. If I didn’t, I was only fooling myself.
I could have ignored them and remained with my delusion that my site was wonderful, but I knew that I wouldn’t have lasted long without opening my ears and being prepared to listen to the feedback and take the comments on board.
Feedback, particularly from our ideal clients and from the experts who have been there and done it before us, is essential.
So please, if you really want to know the truth what people think, and to get valuable advice on how to improve your success, take a deep breath, pull up your big girl knickers and open your ears my darlings.
by Angela Taffs | Jun 21, 2016 | Business Success
What to do when you feel like giving up in your business
Recently, I asked a question in a Facebook group. The question was ‘Have you ever felt so very close to giving up in your business, and if yes, what stopped you?’
I had some fabulous answers and so many people commented on how useful it was to read these as they were feeling low and it helped them.
Here are the main answers below. Have a read yourself if you are going through a tough time and take some inspiration. And if you have an answer you would like to add, please leave it in the comments at the bottom of the page.
I was still in business groups and saw there was a need for someone with my background to help others so that became my reason for not stopping.
I remembered my clients and why I started in the first place, gave myself a kick up the bum to keep going
Making sure I surrounded myself with like-minded people… I lost a lot of friends… but made new more aligned friends when I realised my support network would help keep me going
If you love what you do and have a big WHY you are less likely to give up.
When I get close to that feeling, I immediately take a break. Pushing through at this point just brings more of what you don’t want. I always have in mind the Law of attraction and work with it, not against it. By taking a break, I create space for my inspiration and intuition to come back and guide me.
Take myself back to why I started in the first place. And if you have changed, then just adjust your business. There is nothing wrong with that. Nothing is cast in stone. Life is about change and growth. Change the things that cost you energy and add more things that give you pleasure!
Break the negative momentum. Take a break, take a nap, watch a funny movie, recharge and create space.
Remembering that EVERY successful person had stood where I was -ready to give up- and found the strength to take another step!!!
Most people can go through this feeling, if you are having a not so good period, but it passes. Just write down the for’s and against – or take a break, do something exciting
What stopped me from giving up was to remind myself why I started and what is my purpose.
I went out and found all the resources, support and help I needed and just kept on going, moving slowly forwards. I stayed focused on my vision for myself and my life
Knowing I am creating a better life for my family keeps me going, although some days I think I should just go and get a 9-5 job but then it fills me with dread!:)
Knowing that resistance kicks in most when you’re really onto a good thing… Just keep going!!!
I have felt like giving up. I discovered my own strength to carry on when times are hard. Small steps every day have helped me get where I am. I have recently started meditation, and through this practice i start to create a bigger wave of self-belief.
Yep, all the time, and then I realise that a) I don’t want to work for someone else and b) it’s just fear talking
When you really love what you do, love your products, love your customers, love your distributor team etc., when you make an impact on other’s peoples’ lives and it’s all really in your heart… – how could you give up and leave those “people standing in the rain”?
The thought of going back into employment ?
I think you need to ask yourself why first of all? Is it because you are not enjoying it or is it because it is no longer making money. I believe in remaining positive but if it’ not working then something needs to change.
Yes. What stopped me was the fear of staying the same and hiring the right support to help me figure out why my business wasn’t working.
Hundreds of times, after I screwed my first (successful) business and worked endless hours to make my second business work, but struggled to pay the bills. What kept me going? I just couldn’t give up my dream. That’s all.
