WELCOME

Value Your Customer Service Reps

A woman in my office received an impressive letter from a client thanking her for her “exceptional courtesy, excellent service, a wonderful attitude and willingness to be of help.” What a glowing recommendation.

The letter was surprisingly long, covering a full page with compliments. As small business owners, it’s difficult to teach employees how you want your customers to be treated. Those glowing letters can be few and far between.

I wondered what makes this employee special. Perhaps it’s her personality. Maybe it’s a favorable working environment.

Or maybe it’s a result of 1) listening carefully to the customer to determine the problem before trying to solve it. 2) thinking of all the things you hate about customer service reps when you are making a call. (Now there’s a good way to decide if your company is sending appropriate messages to clients.) And 3) training your reps so that they can answer questions accurately and professionally. Having the correct answer can put a smile on the face of any employee who speaks to clients.

Maintain a staff that expects and receives respect. Treat them well and they’ll likely treat your customers the same way.

Libby Beatty, Chair
MBA Board of Directors

INSURANCE

MBA’s endorsed health care administrator, The Administrators, Inc., has supplied the following Independence Blue Cross article:

IBC Sponsors Pop Up Garden

An empty lot, rare in the center of Philadelphia’s business district has suddenly transformed from grass and weeds to 32,000 square feet of produce, flowers and trees.

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Independence Blue Cross and Brandywine Realty Trust introduce “PHS Pops Up” at 20th and Market Streets, a showcase for PHS’s community greening program and for IBC’s commitment to the health of our community. At the pop-up garden, PHS is growing vegetables, herbs, grains, and uniquely manicured topiaries to garner support and awareness for its City Harvest program, which provides fresh produce for underserved residents.

The garden will be open to the public every Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 2 pm throughout the summer and early fall when free, on-site programming will include horticultural workshops. A complete listing of events is available at PHSonline.org.

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MARKETING

Pep Talk

Whether you are selling a product or selling your business, there is one thing you can’t sell without: motivation. Here’s a quick list of ideas to help you and your employees operate with passion and precision:

Your Body: If your body is in shape, your mind can easily follow. Physical exercise helps build your confidence and stamina, two essential aspects of a good salesperson.

Your Mind: Your mind is either the servant or the master; the choice is yours. By taking steady and even breaths at the onset of fear or anxiety you can steady the mind using the body. This allows you to focus and act in the moment and not get fixated on the future, which is always uncertain.

Your Will: Success in business is marked by change and growth, and it is the will or energy that one puts forth that measures how much success they create. When faced with unfavorable change stay open and adapt to the new circumstances. You will find that your success can match your will if you ride the wave instead of oppose it.

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YOUR FINANCES

How Your Business Can Pay You Better

For many entrepreneurs, personal compensation comes second to putting earnings back into the business. Here are some tips to help you make some money to put in your personal savings account:

Health Insurance: Remember that the premiums you pay are tax-deductible and benefits paid out are tax free, so consider enhancing company coverage or adding mental health and alternative therapy options.

Retirement: You can get a tax break when your company matches contributions made towards your retirement, and whatever you put aside lowers your taxable income for the year.

Perks: Benefits like employee discounts, education assistance and travel reimbursements are mostly tax deductible business expenses and also act as tax-free compensation for you.

Refinancing for Simplicity

If you have loan payments that arrive at different times of the month that interfere with how you manage your cash flow, refinancing your loans may be a way to free up some working capital and lower your monthly payments.

Refinancing isn’t right for all businesses though. In some cases a lower interest rate comes with prepayment penalties and various other charges associated with refinancing. For some lenders, the charges for legal and loan documentation alone can greatly reduce the size of your overall savings.

Basically, refinancing saves you money in the long term and gives you the freedom to invest working capital back into your business. Be sure it’s right for your business by asking for a breakdown of all charges before you sign a refinancing agreement.

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FOR THE HOME-BASED BIZ

A Tip

Your home-based business requires the quiet and peaceful environment necessary to make phone calls, to concentrate and to read. If your business is near a highway, construction site, or neighborhood children, then you might need to adjust your working times.

And don’t forget that the sound of a barking dog, family members talking, or a crying baby – all will distract you and possibly alter your professional image.

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HUMAN RESOURCES

Employee Feedback with Tact

Employee feedback is a valuable tool for motivating your staff, because it shows that you are involved in their growth as a valued part of the organization. Offering feedback is a skill that needs to be executed in the right way at the right time. Here’s how:

Well Done: Excessive kudos come off as insincere and ultimately ineffective. Instead, be specific when you compliment, so employees know exactly what it is that was done right, so it can be repeated. Also try to deliver praise in front of other employees as it has a tendency to reinforce the value. And it lets the rest of your staff know what you expect of them.

Room for Improvement: Being too aggressive in a critique may have the adverse effect on an employee, so approach with tact. Private, face-to-face conversations are the best way to address performance issues. Again, try to be specific so the employee understands exactly where they need to improve. Come to an agreement by the end of the talk so you are both clear on how improvements will be made.

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IT

Customer Feedback Made Simple

The opinions of your customers are essential to keeping them, so when it comes to customer feedback, you need a simple solution. One solution is the web tool RatePoint. With RatePoint you can collect and monitor customer feedback, helping to cut down the number of unsatisfied customers and create higher levels of retention.

This service starts at $17.95 a month or $150 for an annual subscription. Integration time is quick, and the system will alert you immediately when you receive a negative review. This immediate warning allows you to respond with damage control almost immediately. To learn more and start your free 30-day trial, click here.

Jog Your Memory from Anywhere

If your business keeps you on the go, you are constantly running the risk of losing saved data from your laptop. To avoid becoming a sitting duck, many road warriors backup their data with online storage companies like MozyPro. A subscription is $3.95 a month per computer and fifty cents per gigabyte.

Other companies like Carbonite Online charge an annual fee of $50 for unlimited data storage. Carbonite also boasts a system that saves your data incrementally so you don’t have to backup manually. The downside to storing data online is that your files aren’t working files, and they need to be accessed by extracting them from your online host.

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NEW MEMBERS

When our member base increases there is more of everything: more creative networking, more benefits and more experienced, enthusiastic business owners. All move our members toward growth, success and the entrepreneurial spirit.

Click here to meet our newest small business partners.

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Unless specifically indicated, MBA does not intend mention of companies, products or services discussed in this publication to be construed to be endorsements. The information in this publication is offered as examples that may be useful to our small business readers. Please consult with an industry professional before implementing any of the tips or subscribing to any of the services described above.