I was going through another post here and thought this will help all the newbies here who dream of setting up their own online business. The reference thread is : http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=312510 I've already posted this there, but not sure how many will get a chance to read it, so thought would put this up here on the main page with the intention of helping newbies and may be some of them who already are in business. I want to put forward few of my points, which will make you and your service/business way better than your competitors. When you are in business, you can't expect "Unexpected" things not to happen to you. Mostly the 'worst' comes least unexpected. At this point, the only thing you need to do to loose all your customers is not to inform them about your situation and leave them wondering if you scammed them. Lets face it, today the technology is so advanced that you can almost do anything from anywhere!! Personally contacting all your customers to inform them about the "unexpected accident" is quite not doable. In such situations, leaving your customers in the dark without informing them about your current status would be the worst thing you'd be doing. Not only will you loose the current project/s you are working on, but also the chances of getting any further projects/business/JV ops from your customer/partners becomes almost nil. You might be the best in your industry, but if you are not well organized don't expect to build a solid business. The best solution: Set up a blog/status page, where you will keep your customers updated about your status if any thing urgent comes across. Tell them upfront, that if you go unanswered for two / more days then possibly somethings gone wrong, in which case they will have to go to that blog/page and check what the status is and by when and how they can reach you. And most important of all, make sure that if any such thing happens, you post your unavailability on your blog. The beauty of internet is that you just need connection to put a post up and you can do it from any part of the world. Worst scenario, just do a mobile post and it gets up as most of the softwares support this these days. A happy customer/partner means more money, better business and a lot of respect. For your success.
That sounds like a solid idea. Keeping your customers in the loop should always be a priority for any business person.
Absolutely chant. Just imagine, you are waiting for that last piece of graphics to be done, so that you can put your website up this weekend. You've done your homework right, have had perfect promotions and almost the whole world knows your product will be up by the weekend. The only thing thats left is your graphic and you are not one of those who would settle for the second best option. You know your graphic designer is someone whom you can trust and who would deliver work even if it has to be the N'th minute. You wait till the last hour only to know that he's not answering any of your PM's, mails or even calls ! How'd you feel.. terrible right? Thats how exactly customers feel when they are left in the dark. I would say this is a must in any business. Bigger business know about these. Small business men who can't afford office staff, can put up a blog to make such announcements. For your success..
That is such a great point. I've been in that situation where a sponsor would never communicate. I'm in a couple MLMs and it's nice to hear from your upline now and then. Sometimes I don't hear anything for weeks. I try to keep my customers and downlines informed at least once a week or two. Communication is so important and one that is lacking in this "e world" we live in now. Even a short note that all is okay works wonders in morale.
On point... Want to know another simple trick ? We all know that the 'Money Is In The List'. How would you keep your list pro-active? Simple : Communicate with them often and don't let them forget you . It's not necessary that you promote something every other time, if you do they dome might not like it. Offer them something which you think is of great value. If you don't have anything to offer, give them a piece of advice, not always everyone will know what you want to tell them. So, always someone will definitely appreciate that you are sharing something valuable. Regards,
Thanks for the tips Kontent. Bt don't you think throwing in too many adverts t your list annoy them ?