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Posts Tagged ‘Recession’

A bad economic climate is not something that you should be depressed with. Yes, your business might not be in the best possible circumstances or your job hunting might be producing less than ideal results. Instead of worrying about it though, you should try to feel challenged and motivated. In these times, if you are determined to get back on track to the road to prosperity you have to be creative and even aggressive in your business.

One of the simple ways you can do this is to re-imagine yourself and your business image. You can do this by trying to update your card designs and print business cards anew. Business card printing is still one of the best tools you have to engage clients and employers alike by making you look better and more competent. By updating your business card printing designs regularly, you can increase your competitive edge in your business field or in the job market.

There are several steps that you can take to update your designs for card printing and in turn update your business image. Most of them can add several dollars to your overall business card printing cost, but they are well worth the price to get the success that you need.

Throwing in that professional shine – The true mark of a professional is that “shine” in their personality. This also applies of course to their business cards. One good way to update your color business card and recreate your image is to invest in glossy coatings. Card printing has come a long way throughout the years and most business card printing services offer card printing with glossy finishes on its paper stock. This is the source of that professional shine. This contributes a reflective nature to your business cards making it look better and well more expensive. In terms of your business image, this means that people will think you care enough to promote yourself thoroughly, and you are thorough enough in your business ethic to remember even small details like professional business card printing. This little insight can be invaluable to your image which can give you that extra chance in making a business contract, or even getting that job that you wanted.

Rethink content – Besides adding that professional shine, you should try and rethink of your business card content. Your card’s content is your way in communicating your business image. This may come in the form of your business card tag line, the images that may be printed inside it and sometimes even the font style of your content. If you have been using your standard lines and designs for several years, you have to get rid of them and start with fresh new ideas. The first thing that you can work on is your tag line. Maybe you can use or search for a new and inspirational maxim to use? You may find something new to say, or you may be able to choose a different but still classing quotation.

The only point here is that you need to change it so that people will not find the same old boring thing. You can also try updating your content by rephrasing things like your job title, and you can also change the font style of all of your printed content so that they have a different appearance. By doing this major overhaul of your business card message you also recreate your image. Be sure to aim this recreation to the themes and qualities that you want to include in your business image.

So, by changing your business card looks and content, you also (by default) change your business image. Once you get those new business card designs, distribute them immediately so that your new image can take effect. This might be the new motivating factor that you need to engage your business contacts, or your future employers and convince them that doing business with you will be a successful investment. So update your image now through business card printing. It will be your key to business success, and in the larger picture will be your contribution in the fight against unemployment and recession.

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The recession-like situation prevalent in the global economies has led many businesses to either shut shop or suffer massive losses. Many entrepreneurs have started visiting shrinks and several professionals are rendered jobless. In such a grim scenario, there is hardly any better alternative than seeking solace in some of the quotes by famous personalities.

Though they seem like a couple of sentences but they carry weight worth gold. If understood from the viewpoint of the current economic situation, these quotes can actually uplift your sagging entrepreneurial morale. For instance, consider this famous quote from Arthur C. Nielsen: “Employ every economy consistent with thoroughness, accuracy and reliability”, or another famous one from Walter Wriston: “Judgment comes from experience – and experience comes from bad judgment”.

These are some examples where you can easily get inspired from any kind of tough situation being faced in the business, instead of getting bogged down by adverse market situation. The idea behind such inspirational business quotes is simple – to help you tide over tough times and hasten the process of recovery by instilling a sense of confidence in your own abilities.

There is no point in simply reading these quotes without thinking about their relevance in the current scenario. Understandably, when you are down, it’s tough to even read any thing. But a simple act of reading the famous business quotes can actually be an antidote for all your business problems.

The only aspect that needs to be thoroughly considered before you set out to read these quotes is the source. The source should not only be authentic but also easy to navigate so that you don’t waste your time fishing for the ideal quotes. The best place to look for such a source is the Internet, which is full of useful business quotes’ websites.

I took a phone call at my office the other day from a pleasant sounding young man representing the national office supply store I have a reward card with. He spent a minute of my time reading from a script about the current deals the company had and then asked me if I would place an order and receive an additional 10% discount. I was very impressed at this point with the telemarketing campaign this company was undertaking to boost sales in this difficult financial period. As all small business people do several times a day, I wished I had thought of this marketing strategy and assisted my clients in implementing it.

Unfortunately, I didn’t need 3 cases of copy paper or a new desk chair so I told the young man that I could not take advantage of the program at this time. I expected to hear him say, “Thanks for your time and we look forward to serving you when you need future office supplies.” Unfortunately, the next words out of his mouth were – “I need you to place an order today because I have a quota and will be fired if I don’t meet my quota this week.” Very little in the business world shocks me anymore but this did. I immediately asked him if I could speak to his supervisor and he uttered some expletive as he quickly disconnected our phone call.

I wish I could say this is an anomaly in the business world but it has become more and more common place over the last year. As our sales slow and our profits turn to losses, all companies are reducing personnel and asking our remaining employees to do more until the recession ends. Many small and medium businesses are currently staffed with 50% to 75% of their normal employee level. We all recognize that while sales are down from last year, there is only so long that we can stretch our people until they become as frustrated as the telemarketer from the national office supply company.

Due to my work as a consultant, I am much more tolerant than most customers and will continue to use the national office supply company but how many individuals would simply tear up that rewards card and switch to a different office supply company? I have to believe that young man will run off many customers before he gets fired by the company and the company will have no idea why several of their customers are not returning. I suspect the young man was hired just over the past several months after he was fired from another firm and was hired because he was cheap and had experience. His training definitely was not very good and his supervision is not good at all.

Small and medium sized business must pay very close attention to their customer service attitude at all times since this is the primary element separating you from your competitors. The internet and our new global business environment insure that having a unique product is no longer the only acceptable piece of a company’s sales strategy. Better products are showing up in the marketplace daily so a good business uses great customer service to keep customers from trying different products and companies. It is ironic that your company must pay more attention to customer service when sales drop yet you cannot afford customer service employees. It is, however, a fact of business life.

Great companies make sure all their employees are involved in customer service. Are your employees trained and a part of your customer service strategy? The Accounts Payable clerk, the warehouseman, your delivery personnel, and even your janitor must all be trained and understand the company’s customer strategy and how they fit into it. If this has not been the case in the past, take the time right now to start. This cannot be a onetime all employee meeting. This must be several meetings every month and must continue forever !!

Customer Service must be in your Mission Statement. It must be a part of your interview process with potential employees. It must be in your training for all employees. It must be a part of your incentive package. It must be a chapter in your employee manual. It must be talked about daily in staff meetings, employee gatherings, etc. The bottom line is that it must be the primary attitude in your business and it must be communicated and discussed daily. You, as a business owner or senior manager, must embrace customer service and demonstrate good customer service at all times.

Most employees see customer service only as a way of treating individuals who buy your products or service. As a business owner or manager, you must help everyone understand that Customer Service is an attitude that governs how we deal with everyone including fellow employees and suppliers.

Now that you have established a great customer service attitude in your company, you must make sure the training and follow up with all employees is in place; even in a financial downturn.

There are many great resources on the internet and many good consultants who can get your company up and running quickly and assist you in making sure that training continues in a positive and efficient manner.

There are also numerous hardware and software products on the market that allow you to record and listen in on your employee’s phone conversation. This is a great training and follow up tool for every business. I personally like the various software products that record these conversations directly to your network computer server and can be reviewed directly on your PC in your office. Some of your employees may initially see this as an invasion of their privacy but you must explain this is your way to provide positive feedback and customer service training. Your employee manual should already have a statement outlining that all activity on company assets such as phones and computers can be reviewed by management at any time. Your outside legal advisor should assist you with your state requirements but this is not a major issue in any state.

If that young man from the office supply store was being reviewed with phone recording software, he would already be unemployed and I would have received a personal letter from the company’s president apologizing for that call and offering me an amazing deal to keep me as a customer. Since I have not received that letter, I have to assume his only review comes from a list of the purchase orders his calls have generated.

I have used this software in the past as an initial as well as a continuing training tool to ensure a company knows and controls the exact message it is sending to its customers and potential customers.

Another great and inexpensive customer feedback tool is your own company website. Make sure you have something listed on your home page that makes it easy and simple for a customer to get information to you. You can make this as sophisticated as you wish but do not burden your customer with having to know the serial number, date purchased, color of the cashier’s hair, etc. Start out simple and make it easy for your customer to give you whatever information he or she feels is necessary.

This also gives you the ability to lead your customer back to your website for additional information you want to provide. It’s truly a win-win situation. I would also recommend having your website programmer attach a simple “auto-responder” message for your customer. The message should be sent to their email address within 5 minutes of them hitting the submit button. It should be simple and just state something to the extent of “We appreciate you taking the time to contact us and someone will be back with you within 24 hours. If you do not hear from us, feel free to contact our President personally at 999-999-9999.”

Your problem is to have an employee review this information every few hours and you, as President, must be able to take those phone calls if your company doesn’t respond properly. Putting your phone number on the email will ensure your company listens to the customer feedback and replies timely.

Customer Service is a major responsibility and privilege for every company. Not paying enough attention to customer service will ensure the failure of every small and medium business. Take the time during this financial downturn to review your company’s customer service attitude and insure your customer has no need to buy from your competitors.