TappIn Releases App That Lets Businesses Access Data Anywhere

TappIn Releases App That Lets Businesses Access Data Anywhere
Reverse Customer Service Strategy
Sanjeev Aggarwal of SMB Group: Strategic Social Media
Come Hell Or High Water
Oyster Raises $3 Million, Becomes Spotify for Books

Posted: 12 Oct 2012 01:00 PM PDT

Every day, business professionals learn about new and different ways to store and share their data. Cloud storage and SaaS programs offer features and usability that users can't get from traditional methods. But some people still keep some of their data on a computer or hard drive for security or convenience. Keeping all this data secure but easily accessible can prove to be challenging.

But now file sharing and storage app TappIn has released a new product specifically for business users that allows access to data stored in all different types of places.

Said TappIn President Chris Hopen:

"The reality is that people have content stored everywhere, and moving all of that data to one place isn't realistic or cost-effective. Why pay for more storage in order to gain access? TappIn is different from other personal cloud vendors in that it offers “Content Mobility and Control” for the end customer, without requiring them to move content from the original storage repository."

For small businesses, different types of data might fit better in different types of storage solutions. So this type of program allows users to keep their data organized and accessible without actually having to move everything to one cloud based program or startup. TappIn can access data from computer hard drives, NAS, and cloud storage, and also connects to SaaS systems like Salesforce.

Hopen said:

"TappIn leverages your business’s existing investment in storage, and it embraces the BYOD trend that employees find attractive and keeps them productive without requiring businesses to compromise the security and integrity of their data. If we have learned anything from BYOD, it's that people are going to adopt the technologies that help make their lives as convenient and streamlined as possible."

TappIn is a subsidiary of GlobalScape, Inc., a developer of secure information exchange solutions, and is based in Seattle. It was known as HomePipe before joining GlobalScape in 2011.

The professional edition of TappIn is priced at $39.99 per year. There is also a standard edition available for $19.99 per year, which offers features like music streaming and photo sharing.

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Reverse Customer Service Strategy

Posted: 12 Oct 2012 11:00 AM PDT

I recently had a fascinating experience with my cellphone service provider that was a great example of reverse customer service. And it went a little something like this. . .

upset customer cell

My children and I started experiencing call and text interruptions over a couple of days. These breaks in service were happening in my house. We've had this service for many years and have never had a problem like this.

Over a two day period I texted, visited and called the provider about this situation. Apparently they were working on a tower in my area and this was causing the problem. I mentioned to several people what I thought was a common sense customer service tactic that would have helped:

“Since you have all of our cell numbers, why not text us when you are going to be working on a tower? Then we'd know what was going on in the event we had reception issues.”

No one I spoke with thought it was a good idea. Frankly, I don't think they understood what I was trying to tell them.

Guess what happened a day later?

I received a text message telling me I'd be receiving a text survey about the customer service I received.

Seriously?

They could use the text messaging feature to find out how my experience was with their customer service department but they couldn't use it to keep me informed about the use of the product I was paying them for?

We Can Learn A Lot From This Experience

It shows that companies often spend more time thinking about what THEY need instead of what their CLIENTS need. That's backwards. I know it may seem like they care when they want to be sure the customer service experience was good.

However, if they would focus on how their clients are experiencing the product or service they'd have fewer problems to handle.

Put Yourself In The Client’s Shoes

At the beginning, not at the problem stage:

What might they want to know?
What might they need to know?
What information do you have that if shared with them, would make their experience better or not bad?

I think we are trained to offer our product or service in its most basic form. Then we establish a system for dealing with issues when and if they arise. We consider ourselves stellar if we then add in a follow up to that customer service experience. See, we really care!

Hold the phone! If you really cared you'd make sure my experience with the product or service was stellar; not the follow up to the complaint.

You can work on this backwards and implement a strategy that will prevent the reverse customer service experience described above. Think about your own business. Think about any and all situations when clients called or emailed your customer service department:

What was their issue?
Was it something you were aware of?
Could you have avoided the call by sharing information?

If so, implement a communication strategy for reaching out to your clients. Don't be afraid to tell them something if that knowledge will help them understand their experience. In all honesty, they'll love you for thinking about them instead of yourself.

That is true customer service.

Upset Customer Photo via Shutterstock

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Sanjeev Aggarwal of SMB Group: Strategic Social Media

Posted: 12 Oct 2012 08:00 AM PDT

When it comes to social media and small business, having a strategy can produce greater benefits. Benefits such as increased traffic, reduced marketing costs and increased branding. Tune in as Sanjeev Aggarwal, Founder and Partner of SMB Group, joins Brent Leary to discuss the results of the 2012 SMB Social Business Study and why a strategic approach is better than an ad hoc approach.

* * * * *

Small Business Trends: Can you tell us a little bit about your background?

Sanjeev Aggarwal: I founded the SMB Group roughly three years ago, and the driving force was lack of specific focus on the SMB segment. Prior to that, I worked on the market research side. Focusing again on the SMB area at Hurwitz, and at AMI.

I started doing this at the Yankee Group about 10 years ago.

Small Business Trends: Maybe you can fill people in on the 2012 SMB Social Business Study?

Sanjeev Aggarwal: We took a slightly different tack compared to what most of the studies looked at. We took a top down approach to the problem. We looked at the business challenges small businesses face, and the business functions they use to address these challenges.

Then we drilled down further to look at how they accomplished the business function using both traditional tools and social media tools. Then we drilled down even further to look at the specific social media tools they used to accomplish each of these business functions. Hence the focus of the study on social business instead of social media by itself.

For example, how are small businesses reshaping their sales and marketing, customer service, product development, HR efforts and other strategies in an increasingly social landscape? What obstacles stand in their way as they transition from the traditional world to the social media world?

Small Business Trends: When looking at the results of the study, how would you categorize the way small businesses are using social media today?

Sanjeev Aggarwal: In the study, we categorize social media users into two buckets. Those that are taking the planned strategic approach to social media and those that are taking an informal ad hoc approach to social media.

Overall, while we saw social media use among small businesses grew from 44% in 2011 to roughly 53% in 2012, the strategic users remained locked for both years at around 24%. And 29% of the small businesses we surveyed were using social media in an ad hoc manner.

In essence, a large number of businesses are experimenting with Facebook, Twitter and the like, and guessing what sticks without any planning behind it.

A large number of businesses, roughly 25%, do not use social media today but are planning to use social media in the next 12 months. Then there are a significant number of diehards, or antisocial small business companies, which don't have social media use in their plans for the next several years.

Small Business Trends: Is there a positive impact from being a strategically social business as opposed to using social media from an ad hoc approach?

Sanjeev Aggarwal: What we found in the study was small businesses that use social media in a strategic way are the ones that are more bullish about their growth. They are using social media in a plan where they are enjoying business boosting benefits, like traffic to the website. They are seeing increased branding, and a lot of them are seeing things like reduced marketing costs as they reduce the use of traditional marketing tools and replace them with social media.

Small Business Trends: How are some of the ways that strategic small businesses are using social media to address those particular areas?

Sanjeev Aggarwal: Some of the key areas that strategic small businesses are using social media is to improve market awareness and to connect with people who aren't customers today. They’re using it to increase traffic to their website; to generate new leads and opportunities, also to create more and better interaction with their customers and prospects.

Also, marketing types of functions which address the top business goals small businesses have like increasing revenues, increasing customer satisfaction and improving customer experiences.

Small Business Trends: Are they using social tools as replacements for some of the more traditional things that they do? Or are they using it as an extension or an enhancement of some of the traditional things?

Sanjeev Aggarwal: In the study, 37% of the small businesses reported reduction and replacement of some traditional marketing tools. In some cases, they are replacing the traditional tools and applications. Others are reducing the use of traditional tools.

The area I have seen the greatest reduction in marketing is using business journals and magazines – and especially the print portions like the yellow pages.

Small Business Trends: We talked about the categorization of strategic users of social media. We called them strategic social businesses, at this point, versus the folks who are just more informal. What are some of the main differences, or maybe some of the things they seem to be doing a little differently, that helps us to understand strategic businesses?

Sanjeev Aggarwal: Businesses that use social media in a strategic way not only feel positive about their future, but their current prospects also look brighter too. In general, the strategic users supported higher satisfaction rates in areas like improving procuring services and generating more web traffic. Also, coming back to ad hoc users, I think overall strategic users definitely expected higher revenue and also higher growth expectations for next year.

The dramatic increases in satisfaction from strategic users in some of the functional areas also explains the value that they are getting from the social media tools compared to the informal users. Some of these statistics we got from the report are that strategic businesses are three and a half times more likely to be very satisfied with tools like Twitter. Two and a half times more likely to be very satisfied with tools like Linkedin, and about two times or more likely to be very satisfied with engagements on Facebook.

In addition to that, 20% of the respondents that use social media as part of their strategy are also using it for customer service, compared to only 13% of the users from ad hoc approach. The value that these strategic users are getting becomes very apparent when you compare these numbers, year-over-year.

There is definitely a very strong case to be made for small businesses that are using social media in a strategic way.

This interview is part of our One on One series of conversations with some of the most thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This interview has been edited for publication. To hear audio of the full interview, click the right arrow on the gray player below. You can also see more interviews in our interview series.

Whether you’re growing your business or starting a new venture, BlackBerry solutions provide you with the freedom you want and the control you need. [Series sponsor]

Sanjeev Aggarwal by smallbiztrends

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Come Hell Or High Water

Posted: 12 Oct 2012 05:00 AM PDT

management business cartoon

“Come hell or high water!”

That was one of my former manager’s favorite phrases:

“We’re going to get sales up come hell or high water!” ”You’re gonna get that account come hell or high water!” ”Our team is going to be #1 come hell or high water!”

Oh sure, he’d pepper meetings with other phrases and axioms, but this one was the clear favorite.

So one day the idea popped into my head – what if both things happened? I mean, it’s bound to happen eventually, right? How bad would that be?

I almost raised my hand and asked about the possibility in a meeting once, but instead I just tucked it away in my brain for later use in this cartoon.

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Oyster Raises $3 Million, Becomes Spotify for Books

Posted: 12 Oct 2012 02:30 AM PDT

Offering a distinct service or value is the key to success in any business. Sometimes, even when going up against a well established rival, creating a unique business can be an effective strategy. For example, the founders and backers of Oyster, a New York based startup some are referring to as Spotify for books, expect success with a service allowing subscribers to read just about anything for a low monthly fee. They feel being known for this service will set them apart even against Amazon’s recently launched lending library. For many businesses, the challenge is to create a product or service that is distinct and then to get the word out.

The World Is Your Oyster

Fitting into your customers’ lives. For the founders of Oyster, the idea behind the company is very simple. It’s about creating a service useful to customers. “We want to create a product that fits into people's lives and lets them find books and read all the books they wished they had read," says co-founder Eric Stromberg. Gigaom

The cost of doing business. But sometimes even simple ideas get complicated when cost of delivering a service becomes a huge drain on profitability. Oyster, for example, has chosen to deal with publishers, not with writers directly. A similar arrangement may be killing Spotify, with one report suggesting the company is paying out most of its revenue in royalties to the music industry. The New York Times

When A Plan Comes Together

Keep it simple, silly. In businesses the size of Oyster or as small as your own modest company, you’ll always be tempted to be all things to all people. Resist the temptation, says blogger and marketing expert Susan Oakes. Simplifying your objectives in your own business reduces stress and increases clarity while making critical decisions about your business. M4B Marketing

The plan’s the thing. Your business plan is very important in charting your course. It can also help you focus your objectives when creating a business model. Consider whether you are using your plan correctly, however. Your business plan should be a road map for the development of your business not a historical document of the business that might have been, says blogger Gary Shouldis. The Small Business Playbook

Finishing Touches

If the price isn’t right. When seeking to create a business or Website that stands apart, don’t let price be your only consideration. It’s true that products or services sometimes cost too much to make your business profitable, don’t short change your business by chasing bargains that could cost your business more in the long run. Pixel Blog

Attracting their attention. Once you’ve created a great product or service, whether online or at a physical location, you must focus on helping other people find you and more particularly, focus on how to connect with the people who will appreciate the product or service you offer. When it comes to a Web based business, this requires getting ranked by Google. SEO blogger Emma-Julie Fox suggests how to get started. The Frugal Entrepreneur

Alerting the media. No, not the social media! Remember, in whatever field your business happens to be, there’s still likely some industry media that covers it. Distinguishing your product or service may depend not just on the content you create and share through social media channels, but on convincing these news sources to write about or interview you too. Diane Seltzer has these suggestions. Small Business Marketing Tools

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