Successful Startup 101 Magazine - Women's Issue 2014

by Tabitha Naylor

  How can your company surprise and delight customers? It could be something simple like a hand-written thank you note, free shipping, free rush delivery, or a special gift they weren’t expecting. The key with surprise and delight is that is must be a surprise. Customers can’t start to expect it; they need to feel like it was something special just for them. We need to figure out how to surprise and delight customers EVERY time. This requires companies to allow their front-line staff to have the power to decide what the right surprise and delight gift is for each customer. And it’s even better if they can personalize a note with the gift so the customer knows the person they dealt with was the reason they got the gift and that they were thinking of them when they included it.

  THEY ARE ALWAYS READY TO SERVE

  The great experience at Royal Taj, doesn’t start and end with Bindha. It’s clear customer experience is something they engrain in their employees. When you dine at Royal Taj you will see the entire staff standing in a line right in the dining room waiting for an opportunity to serve. They scan the dining room constantly and all you have to do is look at them and they rush to your table to serve you. We’ve all been at restaurants where the staff casually stands chatting each other up, getting distracted and even doing unprofessional things. As a customer you feel like your needs are less important because they don’t convey an interest in being ready to serve you.

  How can your company always be at the ready looking for an opportunity to serve? Are you monitoring social channels for mentions of your company? Do you have live chat on your website? If so, do you proactively reach out to website visitors and let them know you are there to help? How are you making it ridiculously easy for customers to get your attention?

  The challenges with putting customer experience at the core of your business comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. But seriously, it comes down to one thing; how committed are you to ensuring customers have a great experience? If you are truly committed then you won’t let any obstacle get in your way. You will find creative solutions to challenges instead of using them as excuses for under-serving your customers. Isn’t it time for every company to put their customers at the center of their business model?

  How important is customer experience in your company? Are you making great strides or using a lot of lip service? What are your biggest frustrations that company’s need to address? Leave a comment and join the discussion for helping company’s put customer experience at the core of their business model.

  About the Author

  Nichole Kelly is the CEO of Social Media Explorer|SME Digital. She is also the author of How to Measure Social Media. Her team helps companies figure out where social media fits and then helps execute the recommended strategy across the “right” mix of social media channels. Do you want to rock the awesome with your digital marketing strategy? Contact Nichole

  Women Connect: Do Childhood Dreams Really Come True?

  The Today's Professional Woman Report was inspired by the conversations in Connect: Professional Women’s Network, an online community with more than 370,000 members. You can read the full report here: https://bit.ly/1pUgVii. 

  Connect is a free LinkedIn group powered by Citi that features videos interviews with influential businesswomen, live Q&As with experts, and slideshows with career advice. To join the conversations in the largest women's group on LinkedIn, visit https://www.linkedin.com/womenconnect.

  A Business Guide for Protecting Personal Information

  By Sandy Glover

  Many businesses find it necessary to keep personal information about their clients which can include name, Social Security number, credit card or bank card numbers, address,etc. Keeping client's personal information is necessary for the business to fill orders, send invoices or any number reasons however,  if this information is compromised or stolen, it can lead to your client's falling victim of identity theft or fraud and your losing your creditability thus business.  How can you protect this information that you have been trusted with, and your own?  The answer is a sound security plan:

  * Keep the information you need for your business. If you don't need the clients date of birth, black it out.

  * Secure the information. Keep files in a locked safe or secure your hard drive when the business is closed.

  * Don't leave files in the view of the public.

  * Install a alarm system and, if possible, closed circuit cameras. Know what goes on in your business when you are not there.

  * Have a very thorough background screening program in place, the best is with a consumer reporting agency or a private investigation agency who specialize in background screening.

  * Have a document management program, this includes a shredder-once you no longer need the document, destroy it in a shredder.

  * Consider having employees signing a confidentially clause agreeing to keep any and all information strictly confidential. This includes sharing or posting pass words.

  * Use strong pass words and change frequently.

  Personal data security begins with knowing what information you have and who has access to it.  Reviewing how the information flows through your business, who has, or could have access to it is very good place to start.   This can be accomplished by an inventory of computer, laptops, mobile devices, flash drives, disk and any other equipment  you have that stores sensitive data.  Once the inventory is complete, you may have an idea how you can effectually scale down who knows what; the fewer people who have access to client's personal information, the better. 

  If your business does not have a legitimate need for storing sensitive personal information, don't keep or collect it.  

  The laws says Social Security numbers can only be used for lawful purposes, and you may be required by law to truncate the electronically printed credit or debit card receipts you give your customers.   It is a good idea to check the default settings on your software that reads customers credit card numbers or processes the transaction.  If it is preset to keep the information permanently change the settings to make sure your are not keeping the information longer than you need.  It is your responsibility to understand the vulnerabilities of your computer system. If you are not an IT expert, thoroughly screen IT companies and hire the best fit for your company. 

  If your employees use laptops computer, restrict the use of laptops to only those employees who need them to perform their jobs; required laptops be stored in a secure place-under lock and key when not in use. Determine which employee really needs personal or sensitive information stored in their laptop.  If they don't, delete it with a "wiping" program.

  Information can all so be protected by requiring the use of a smart card: thumb print or other biometric, as well as a password to access your computer system.

  While we are on the subject, you might what to check on the companies that have YOUR information or that of your company to protect yourself. 

  When a customer or client trusts their personal information to you, obviously you have a responsibility to take every step necessary to protect it.  Additional resources in this subject are:

  * Federal Trace Commission (FTC) at https://www.ftc.gov.

  * National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at www.csrc.nist.gov

  * SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security) Institute at www.sans.org/top-cyber-security-risks

  * National Small Business Ombudsman www.sba.gov/ombudsman.

  About the Author

  Sandy Glover founded The Gold Shield Agency, Inc.  (A consumer reporting agency) in 2008. She brings 20 years of exemplary law enforcement experience to provide clients with results they can depend on and trust. Sandy is located in Florida but has nationwide screening services. She believes staying current with laws and trends as they apply to screening is important.  When she is not working, Sandy is active in sea mammal rescue and fosters feral kittens to get them ready for "forever" homes. Please visit https://www.goldshieldli.com to learn more.

  5 Fre
e Online Tools Too Valuable to Ignore that Will Help You Grow Your Business

  By Didi Zheleva

  Setting up a business is a big enough investment but did you know that when it comes to managing your business and marketing it, you don’t need to spend a fortune. Here are 5 free tools that would transform your business at no cost!

  #1 WordPress

  Having an online presence for your business is increasingly important. Whether you are planning to use your website as a branding tool, to sell or to generate enquiries about your product, it is imperative that you have one.

  It is often misunderstood that creating a website is a complicated tasks, that you need a specialist or a graphic designer to do it, it takes a ton of time and it’s expensive. Once upon item, that was the case but not anymore. Now there is WordPress.

  WordPress is a free content management system. It comes with thousands of templates you can chose from and you can easily and effortlessly setup a website for your business. Simply follow the instructions and you will have a website within minutes! Try WordPress.

  #2 InTouch CRM

  Customer Relationship Management is a must for any business wishing to stay ahead in the game. The focus of each and every business is to thrive through building long-lasting relationships with customers and a well implemented CRM system will help you do exactly that. Being so popular however, CRM is quite often a luxury. With some providers charging as much as $2000 just to set up your account, InTouch comes as a breath of well-needed fresh air.

  InTouch gives you much functionality at a comparatively lower price than other providers and it even has a free package! Some of the features include a contact history database, email marketing, web forms, custom fields, leads and sales management and much more. InTouch truly is an integral part of the smart business person’s strategy. Try InTouch.

  #3 Skype

  Keeping in touch with people, be it customers, suppliers, investors and employees will in time prove to be rather costly.

  Skype allows you to stay connected, grow your business and work smarter. You will benefit from the opportunity to make conference calls and generally keeping in touch with people and clients. You can even interview people using Skype!

  Skype allows for instant messaging and calls on pretty much any mobile device, wherever you are. In addition, you will be able to work from anywhere, save on travel and share your screen. Try Skype.

  #4 HootSuite

  Social media is a huge part of the business marketing strategy but sometimes juggling between the different platforms could be overwhelming.

  To make their business and social media life a lot easier, here is HootSuite. It is a free social media management tool that allows you to manage all your social networking accounts (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) at once. HootSuite helps you drive more leads, measure the impact of your campaigns and schedule messages to be post automatically. Try HootSuite.

  #5 Dropbox

  Smart businessmen know that it’s paramount to store important files and data in different places to ensure that they’ll always have a copy, no matter what disaster they encounter. Right now, it is not enough to have files stored on your website and USB. You need other backup storage, and that is where Dropbox comes in.

  Dropbox offers a secure way to store your. If any other members of your team have a Dropbox account, you can actually share access to the files.

  With a basic Dropbox account you get up to 2GB of free cloud storage. It offers native support for Linux and Blackberry, as well as Windows, Mac OS, iOS, and Android. Try Dropbox.

  Whether you are just starting your business, or you would like to budget, these 5 online tools will help you stay more organized, productive and professional at no cost. So go ahead and give them a try!

  About the Author

  Didi Zheleva is a Content and Digital Marketing Executive at InTouch CRM - a web based sales and marketing software provider. She’s committed to helping small businesses grow and passionate about all things digital. Good marketing doesn't need to be too costly or too complicated! 

   

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/intouchcrm

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/intouchcrm

  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intouchcrm

  Google+ : https://plus.google.com/+Intouchcrmplus/posts

  The Quest for the “Easy” Startup

  Tabitha Jean Naylor

  If you’ve ever played video games, you have heard the word quest on a regular basis. You are often completing quests in order to save the princess or find the missing dragon. If you haven’t noticed, these adventures are not real.

  The ‘easy’ startup is also a fantasy.

  For some reason, there are many myths that are involved with running a startup. Who thinks these fantasies up and spreads them around like wildfire? Nobody knows. Often these rumors are started by those who have never experienced running their own business. These myths are also created by those who assume they know the answers to running a startup.

  The truth is, many people have dreams of beginning a startup but are too afraid to move on it. Moving past your fear is the first step to beginning a startup.

  Before you truly begin, you must learn the truth behind many of the myths that follow an ‘easy’ startup.

  If your startup fails, you’ve failed.

  For some reason, people associate failure with two ideas: that your product must not be worth purchasing or that you should quit altogether. This is absolutely incorrect.

  Many successful startups have failed numerous times. If you need proof, look at one of the cofounders of Paypal – he launched 4 startups; 3 failed and one did “okay”.

  Failure is more of a state of mind than anything else. Yes, it means that something needs to be changed because you did not reach success, but success is also not a journey. Many people need to fail to learn and grow, because failure teaches lessons.

  If you’re facing a failure with your startup, find out why – what needs to be changed? What areas of your startup were successful? There are many questions you can ask yourself to turn these negative issues into positive opportunities.

  Expectations: Expect to fail. Failure will allow you to alter your business in ways that will eventually benefit your company in the future and open the doors for success when you come out for round 2. If your startup is successful from the get go, work hard to ensure that it continues to thrive.

  A new product will obviously mean immediate customers.

  Unless you’re lucky enough to have a TV infomercial that advertises your product line, immediate customers is definitely a fantasy.

  Just because you have created something great does not mean customers are going to flock to your business. In fact, many people may not even know – or care – about your business.

  Whatever services or products you are trying to sell are irrelevant; even if it’s something that has never hit the market before. Unless it is an absolutely breakthrough in science, it needs to be properly marketed and given a purpose.

  Customers need to be given a reason to care about your product and know that it serves a purpose for them that no other product can serve.

  Expectations: You’re going to spend a lot of time marketing and advertising through social media and be reliant on word of mouth, including your own, to spread the news about your business. Even after you’ve spent hours and hours marketing, customers are still going to be far and few. It may be months before you begin to see a rise in customers, so don’t get discouraged.

  Passion will keep your business alive.

  Did you know that passion doesn’t actually run your business? It is extremely important to be passionate about your company and brand. You must care about your products and what you’re going to be giving back to the public, yes, but it is not what is going to keep your business thriving.

  Passion is not going to sell or market your product. It isn’t going to spread the word through frie
nds and family. Once your products have been sampled or used, the excitement in customers may sell your product to others, but it is not passion that will get it there.

  Many startup founders get distracted with their passion because they believe that their product is good enough to sell itself. While it is vital to having faith in your own products, you must be able to see your products from the customer’s point of view.

  Expectations: You have to allow yourself to see things from an outside perspective. Being able to accept criticism and make changes is what is going to help keep your business going. If you’re too passionate about your services or products, it may be detrimental to your company. The dreams you have of succeeding and selling an unbelievable product should not trump your intelligence or attention to details. Every product has flaws – don’t let your vision blind you from seeing them.

  If you don’t know, get a cofounder who does.

  It’s obvious you cannot do it all. While being the jack of all trades is ideal, it’s often unrealistic.

  Getting a cofounder can help reduce some of your workload, but if you’re getting one for the wrong reasons, your startup may still fail. Because you aren’t familiar with the technical details of running a startup is not reason enough to find a cofounder to help your business.