How Startups Can Ruin Their Customer Relationships

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• How Startups Can Ruin Their Customer Relationships
• Study: Facebook Hashtags Aren’t Driving Engagement…Yet
• Intuit Wants Your Biz to be Featured in the Big Game on Feb. 2
• President Obama Angers Small Booksellers With Amazon Speech
• How Do Your Employee Benefits Stack Up?
• 12 Tips for Merchants to Fight Credit Card Fraud at the Point of Sale

How Startups Can Ruin Their Customer Relationships Posted: 31 Jul 2013 04:00 PM PDT Many startups go through growing pains, but customer relationships shouldn’t suffer from a company’s internal stress and adjustments. Establishing a loyal client base and solid brand reputation should be the highest priority for a startup, since those customers will sustain it as it moves into various levels of growth. A firm can avoid a number of common pitfalls by taking precautions, watching analytics, and improving its operational systems. Startups Mistakes That Can Ruin Customer Relationships 1. Miscommunication Both internal and front-of-house miscommunications can break customer relationships. Leadership should be transparent with their teams, and impart accurate product and service information so employees can represent the brand effectively. Inaccurate retail information can lead to a negative purchasing experience. In order to combat issues like these, make sure all website and social media communications are clear and candid. Include a Frequently Asked Questions page to provide answers for clients who need additional assistance. Your company may also wish to hire trainers and HR professionals to craft training programs, guidelines, and workflows for employees. 2. Inaccurate Records There’s nothing more embarrassing than calling an important client and learning that your company has the wrong phone number on file. This can lead to unacceptable business delays in communication, which will have a negative impact your company’s pipeline. Customer records should include precise information and relevant notes, such as purchasing trends, product preferences, and marketing campaigns. Even if you believe a customer’s records are accurate, take the time to update them. You may learn that a customer has recently changed his or her address, which is crucial information if you are shipping a product to that person or firm. You can take a few moments during each phone call, email interaction, and in-person meeting to verify records and customer information. 3. Lack of Planning A startup cannot adjust to its opportunities and success if the company is not measuring efforts and results. Analytics can provide invaluable metrics with regard to web, staff, and product performance. Marketing professionals, project managers, and leadership teams can get ready for upcoming product launches, industry conventions, and other substantive events by using business analytic software. 4. Delayed Responses Startups can lose revenue if they do not dedicate enough staff to customer service needs. Clients who encounter a busy dial signal on the phone, automated email response, or closed door may decide to take their business elsewhere. If your company is struggling to respond promptly to inbound queries, consider hiring an IT helpdesk and customer service specialists. If clients email, call, or drops in with a question, do your best to connect them with the best resource to fit their needs. 5. Disorganization Once a startup gains enough of a following, it will need to purchase CRM software to manage contacts, develop pipeline, and close sales. Companies that neglect to invest in these solutions will soon run into organizational problems as data needs overwhelm them. Excel spreadsheets can do only so much before they become bogged down with convoluted and unnecessary information. A CRM solution empowers teams to collaborate on client accounts, build invoices, and establish sales. Another way for companies to avoid disorder is to go paperless. Explore servers, cloud solutions, and offsite backups to keep documents safe and secure. Protect CRM databases and other sensitive information by backing data up regularly. IT departments may add another level of security by performing routine technology maintenance, rotating passwords, and repairing technology. Startups rely on word-of-mouth, online reviews, and client perception to grow their business. These relationships may be placed in jeopardy if your organization suffers from miscommunication, disorganization, or poor planning. Avoid these stressful situations by investing in staff resources and technologies that fulfill startup needs. Frustrated Photo via Shutterstock The post How Startups Can Ruin Their Customer Relationships appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Study: Facebook Hashtags Aren’t Driving Engagement…Yet Posted: 31 Jul 2013 01:30 PM PDT Since rumors first emerged of possible Facebook hashtags in March, there has been considerable excitement. Brands, marketers and business owners have known for some time how effective hashtags can be at driving engagement on platforms like Twitter. So it might surprise you to learn that an initial measure of their effectiveness on the social networking site has been disappointing. In fact, a recent study of activity on the Facebook pages of the world’s top 100 brands shows there is no sign of increased engagement from hashtags on Facebook at all. At least not yet, that is. Hashtags on Facebook: Use is Up The Facebook study by analytics firm Simply Measured looked at the Interbrand Top 100 Brands on Facebook between May 1 and June 30, 2013. It examined a range of methods these companies are using to drive engagement with their fans, and at which industries were most successful at driving that engagement. Still marketers have understandably focused on how the new hashtags on Facebook are faring after their official launch June 12. The study shows brands have increased their use of Facebook hashtags by about 20 percent since they were introduced, observes Amy Gesenhues of Marketing Land. But the study also shows no evidence they have been effective so far in driving engagement among fans. Conclusion It may be too early to come to an absolute conclusion about the effectiveness of hashtags on Facebook. The study suggests a better measure may need to wait until more brands are using hashtags and more Facebook users and fans get accustomed to finding content in this way. The post Study: Facebook Hashtags Aren’t Driving Engagement…Yet appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Intuit Wants Your Biz to be Featured in the Big Game on Feb. 2 Posted: 31 Jul 2013 11:00 AM PDT Sponsored Post Start putting on your game face. After supporting small businesses for more than 22 years, Intuit wants your small business to compete in the Small Business Big Game competition for a chance to win your very own 30-second television advertisement that will air during the Big Game on February 2. First, check out this video for a pep talk from football legend Jimmy Johnson and then enter your small business in the Small Business Big Game here. To kick things off, your small biz will receive the Intuit Small Business Playbook, a guide on hot topics for small businesses, and an exclusive 30-day free offer for QuickBooks Online. On top of that, your business will also be eligible for several giveaways including $1,000 business grants. To win the Big Game spot, your business must face off against other businesses and be selected by the public (with some help from Intuit’s employees) in a series of playoffs. Join the Small Business Big Game conversation on Facebook and Twitter with #TeamSmallBiz. The post Intuit Wants Your Biz to be Featured in the Big Game on Feb. 2 appeared first on Small Business Trends.

President Obama Angers Small Booksellers With Amazon Speech Posted: 31 Jul 2013 08:00 AM PDT President Obama gave a speech at an Amazon.com fulfillment warehouse in Chattanooga, Tennessee yesterday pointing to Amazon as an example of a job creator. Independent booksellers and small publishers don’t see it that way.  They were angry.  They see the President’s action as supporting a large corporation that they claim has a monopoly, at the expense of small businesses. In his remarks at the behemoth Amazon warehouse, President Obama said, “I’m calling on our businesses to do more for their workers.  Amazon is a great example of what’s possible.  What you’re doing here at Amazon with your Career Choice Program pays 95 percent of the tuition for employees who want to earn skills in fields with high demand — not just, by the way, jobs here at Amazon, but jobs anywhere –  computer-aided design or nursing.  I talked to Jeff Bezos yesterday, and he was so proud of the fact that he wants to see every employee at Amazon continually upgrade their skills and improve.” But the independent players in the book publishing industry weren’t buying it. Dennis Johnson, co-founder of Melville House, an independent publisher located in Brooklyn, New York, wrote with obvious resentment about what he considers Amazon’s near monopoly status, its ability to undercut competitors, lose money and yet on top of that, still get lauded by the President as a champion of jobs.  In a separate piece yesterday on his company’s blog he called the President’s move an “insult added to injury to those of us in the book business.” The American Booksellers Association, along with the New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA) and the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA), wrote letters to the White House expressing outrage. A Publishers Weekly article quotes excerpts: NEIBA demanded to know, "What is the thinking behind this decision? . . . [Amazon's] business model is based on fighting those states that have required them to collect and remit sales tax while driving Main Street brick and mortar stores out of business through predatory pricing." "We cannot believe this is your vision of job creation and the future of American middle class," wrote NAIBA. "We would hope your administration would be standing with Main Street, and investigating the monopolistic practices of Amazon, rather than explicitly or tacitly endorsing those practices." Just prior to the President’s speech, Amazon announced it is creating 5,000 new jobs at its fulfillment warehouses.  The jobs will pay wages 30% higher than traditional retail jobs, says the Amazon announcement.  According to Geekwire, Amazon’s most recent financials indicate it now has nearly 97,000 employees.  That number is triple what it reported just three years ago. Amazon plans to release an interview it does with President Obama, as a free Kindle Single today. Image credit: Whitehouse.gov video still. The post President Obama Angers Small Booksellers With Amazon Speech appeared first on Small Business Trends.

How Do Your Employee Benefits Stack Up? Posted: 31 Jul 2013 05:00 AM PDT Are you worried about retaining your key employees as the economy heats up? Or do you need to attract new workers to help with growing demand for your product or service, or to expand your business? In either case, employee benefits are an important factor in whether employees choose to join your company, stay with your business for the long haul or jump ship. How do you know if your employee benefits measure up? SHRM's 2013 Employee Benefits research report can offer some insights. While the majority of companies responding to the survey had over 100 employees, some 22 percent were small businesses. Below is a look at the basic benefits most companies were offering, plus some "extras" that could give you an edge. So How Do Your Employee Benefits Compare? Health and wellness The basics: Health insurance is an important benefit for employees, and it's offered by almost every business. The most common health benefit was prescription drug coverage, offered by 98 percent of companies. Ninety-six percent provide dental insurance, and 86 percent offer PPO healthcare coverage, while 33 percent provide an HMO plan. Pump it up: Preventive or wellness programs have been on the rise over the last five years, SHRM notes. These offerings, which can help cut health-care costs, can range from bonuses or incentives for reaching health goals (such as quitting smoking) to wellness coaching or subsidized gym membership. About two-thirds of companies offer some type of wellness program. Retirement savings and planning The basics: Retirement is another big issue on employees' minds as they struggle to recover from the recession. Employer-sponsored retirement plans are shifting toward defined contribution retirement savings plans and 401(k) savings plans. Nearly all (92 percent) of employers offer a defined-contribution retirement savings plan, and 73 percent provide an employer match to employees' contributions. Pump it up: More companies are offering investment assistance, from online advice (59 percent) to one-on-one investment advice (53 percent) and specific retirement-preparation advice. Financial and compensation benefits The basics: Incentive bonus plans are offered by 55 percent of companies Pump it up: Employee referral bonuses, for referring a job candidate who is hired and passes the probationary period, have gained in popularity over the last year and are now offered by 47 percent of companies. Flexible work The basics: The majority (53 percent) of companies offer some form of flextime. Fifty-one percent allow flextime during core business hours, while 26 percent offer it outside of core business hours. Even more popular is telecommuting, which 58 percent of companies offer in some form, whether ad-hoc (45 percent), part-time (36 percent) or full-time (20 percent) Pump it up:  Over one-third (35 percent) of companies offer compressed workweeks, where full-time employees can work longer days for part of a week or pay period in exchange for shorter days or a day off during that week or pay period. Career development The basics: Nearly all (90 percent) companies provide professional memberships, 85 percent provide off-site professional development opportunities and 78 percent pay for certification fees. Pump it up: Just 44 percent of companies offer cross-training in skills not directly related to the job, and a mere 20 percent offer mentorship. Three Steps to Get the Most From Them Whatever employee benefits you offer, SHRM's report recommends three steps to getting the most from them as a recruitment and retention tool: Develop a Workplace Flexibility Policy Past SHRM research shows flexibility is a very low-cost way to drive increased employee job satisfaction, lower turnover and lower insurance costs. Communicate SHRM studies show employees consistently rank benefits among the top contributors to their job satisfaction, but many employees don't fully understand all of their benefits, their value and their options. Make sure you communicate, through meetings, workshops and other means, about the worth of what you're giving employees and how they can maximize their benefits' value. Toot your own horn. Get Feedback Review your benefits at least once a year to make sure they're still competitive with other businesses, that their costs are in line, and—most of all—that they're serving employees' needs. Getting employee feedback is an important part of this assessment. Stack Photo via Shutterstock The post How Do Your Employee Benefits Stack Up? appeared first on Small Business Trends.

12 Tips for Merchants to Fight Credit Card Fraud at the Point of Sale Posted: 31 Jul 2013 02:30 AM PDT Sponsored Post It's well documented that accepting credit cards is good for business, but there is one snag to accepting credit cards that every retailer knows and fears: fraud. Credit card fraud can come in different forms, but they are avoidable if you know what to look for. These 12 tips will help you fight credit card fraud. 1) Educate Your Employees About Fraud You need to be aware of fraud to avoid it, but so do your employees. You both make up the first line of defense. Train your employees well to know the signs of potential fraud and remind them periodically to always stay alert. 2) Compare Signatures and Ask for Identification Very few retailers take the time to glance at the signatures anymore, but it's simple and quick. Check for misspellings and make sure the name on the card matches the signature. Address the customer using the name on the credit card. If he or she doesn't respond, ask for a photo ID and compare those signatures. 3) Ask to See the Card Look for the card's security features, such as a clear hologram with a moving picture and the Bank Identification Number above or below the first four digits of the account number. Check the numbers themselves for signs of alteration and look for signs of tampering on the signature strip. 4) Be Wary of Customers Who Keep the Credit Card Separate From Their Wallet Most legitimate customers will keep their credit cards in their wallet along with some form of ID. Fraudsters are more likely to keep the fraudulent credit card separate from their wallet, so they do not have any means of ID with them. 5) Watch Out for Customers Who Are Distracting They may either be very talkative or very angry. Or they may wait until the last second before closing time to make a big purchase. Either way, they could be a potential fraudster trying to rush the clerk and keep their attention off the card authorization process. 6) Think Twice Before Manually Entering Damaged or Worn Cards Fraudulent cards are often damaged on purpose so the magnetic strip cannot be swiped. Instead, the customer may insist the clerk manually key in the card number, which bypasses the antifraud features of the magnetic strip. Always swipe the card, no matter how damaged. If the card can't be read, ask for another form of payment. 7) Do Not Accept "Letters of Authorization" Some fraudsters will present a letter from the cardholder that authorizes the use of their credit card. This should never be accepted as a form of verification. No one is allowed to "borrow" another person's card, regardless of relationship. Only the cardholder is authorized to use their credit card. 8) Take Note of What the Customer is Purchasing Have they purchased more than one of the same expensive item? Did they make their selections quickly, without thought to size or color or price? Or maybe they want a costly rush delivery to a different address, or they want to carry their purchase out of the store when it's something normally delivered (such as large appliances or furniture). All these could be signs of a potential fraudster looking to leave your store quickly with their "hot" card and goods. 9) Use the Address Verification System (AVS) Address Verification is most common with card-not-present situations (like online purchases), but it can also be used when the card is present at the POS. In addition to the usual checkout process, the terminal asks for the customer's billing ZIP code. The transaction will reject if the ZIP code entered doesn't match the one on file. 10) Know Your POS System and Equipment Sophisticated criminals can access information on the magnetic strip of a credit card when it is swiped at checkout. This process is called "skimming," and it requires an actual attachment to the terminal that reads the card. To combat this, make sure you know what your payment processing equipment looks like and how it should work. If you see an extra device or notice malfunctioning software, you know to investigate further before continuing to accept credit cards from customers. 11) Keep Accurate Records of Credit Card Transactions Some fraud situations result from legitimate cardholders who make authorized purchases, only to fraudulently dispute the charges later. You can fight this kind of fraud if you are armed with the right information. Your acquiring bank can assist you with the process, but at minimum you will need the customer signature and evidence that you swiped the card and received an authorized approval. 12) When in Doubt, Call If you feel something is not quite right, do not hesitate to call the card issuer for authorization. Keep the card with you and move away from the customer to make the call. You may feel you're risking a sale by making the customer wait, but even if they are legitimate cardholders, it's for their protection as much as yours. Avoiding fraud is critical in ensuring safe transactions at your business. For more information, you can check out Community Merchants USA's resources on fighting fraud. Credit card image via Shutterstock The post 12 Tips for Merchants to Fight Credit Card Fraud at the Point of Sale appeared first on Small Business Trends.

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