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What Makes Customers Walk Away in Frustration

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Frustration is a feeling we can all relate to. It’s a sense of anger that feels hopeless because you can’t solve the issue. We’ve all been stuck in a traffic queue, nervously looking at the time while knowing that there is no other way to escape the traffic jam.

Frustration makes us feel powerless. There is nothing we can do but wait until the problem has resolved itself. Yet when a customer feels frustrated, it’s a strong indication that there’s room for improvement within your organization. A frustrated customer experiences a mixture of anger and hopelessness. They are in a heightened emotional state, which makes it tricky to win them over. You are more likely to lose customers who walk away in frustration. Here are 4 avoidable situations that could lead to negative emotions.

StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article | What Makes Customers Walk Away in Frustration

No transparent communication

Transparency is a business buzzword when it comes to communication. But what does it mean? Business experts recommend thinking of transparency in relation to what your customers want to hear. Ideally, your customers want to know what to expect. They do not want nasty surprises, such as a vague pricing system or inaccurate promises. Maintaining a transport approach to your communication will significantly boost your brand reputation. In an open and honest communication, customers are more likely to forgive unavoidable errors and mishaps.

They bounce off the site

Your customers live in the 21st century. They are experienced users of digital technologies. Therefore, they expect your website to meet their expectations. An old-fashion design could slow down the experience and distract from the messaging. Additionally, unresponsive web design that isn’t mobile-friendly can affect navigation. It can be a good idea to reach out to a professional website design company to consider improving your online presence. The company can help identify some of the core issues, such as lack of accessibility or excessive popups and distractions on the page. Ultimately, your customers are digitally savvy. So they are not wasting time on websites that don’t deliver the performance they need.

StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article | What Makes Customers Walk Away in Frustration

They don’t find your added value

Your added value is the differentiation your business delivers to customers. Buyers are willing to pay more if they feel the added value is worth the expense. For instance, Apple users argue that devices are expensive, but they are high-end designs that establish a sense of community within the audience group. What do you give to your customers that is unique to your brand, and more importantly, how can you make it more desirable? Failure to understand your audience group can backfire dramatically, as customers feel cheated by services or items whose price seems unjustifiable.

They find the VIP treatment unfair

What is your policy toward VIPs? Traditional organizations tend to be selective about their VIP customers, while others will treat every customer with the same respect and attention. Moving forward, the traditional model is less effective, especially in an environment where any user can damage a brand online. It can be helpful to transform your customer relationship strategy accordingly.

Are customers left frustrated by their interactions with your company? Whether they feel your communication lacks transparency or your website isn’t user-friendly, annoyed customers are quick to switch brands for a competitor. Therefore, every business needs to put their customers’ happiness first!

3 Tips to Avoid Wasting Money As a New Entrepreneur

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article | 3 Tips to Avoid Wasting Money As a New Entrepreneur

Most new entrepreneurs are at several particular and distinct disadvantages to the established players in their fields.

Perhaps first and foremost, giant established companies will have vast financial resources at their disposal, which can be used to pursue all manner of different innovations and campaigns, while also allowing them to more easily and effectively absorb losses.

For a new entrepreneur, there are all sorts of different things that should be taken into account when it comes to following the most productive path forward. Figuring out how best to avoid wasting money is a key priority.

Here are some tips on how to avoid wasting money as a new entrepreneur

Don’t invest in countless training materials, but learn “on-the-job”

There is a very large industry out there focused on selling books, instructional DVDs, motivational speeches, and more technically-focused “training materials” and “mentorship programs,” for entrepreneurs in general.

While some of these may certainly be helpful in particular contexts, the truth is that, in the majority of cases, these training courses, books, and so on, are unlikely to make much of a difference to your professional life. What they likely will do, though, is to drain your bank balance.

For the most part, the best way to learn how to do things as an entrepreneur is through “on-the-job experience.” Both your successes and your missteps and mistakes will give you a lot of insight about where you need to make adjustments versus staying on the current path.

Invest extra where it counts, but don’t fall for the idea that higher prices always reflect superior outcomes

In a professional context, there are always going to be areas where investing extra money results in a higher overall quality of service, and superior outcomes overall, that can significantly enhance the experience of your customers and improve the prospects of your business.

At the same time, however, there are also going to be many areas where spending a lot of money will not make much difference in outcome compared to spending a more moderate amount of money.

An important art to master is figuring out where that extra investment of money will really count, and where it won’t. The cheapest UPS domestic shipping rates are likely to get the job done well, in many cases.

Work on a focused number of things at a time, instead of trying to cover all the bases

The more you try to “do it all” as an entrepreneur, and to “cover all bases,” the less progress you are likely to make on any one thing at a time, and the less efficient you are likely to be with your money, as well.

By focusing on a limited number of things at a time, you can make more impact with your money, and can also keep your business moving in a more coherent direction.

While you can certainly branch out and add new features to your business over time, trying to do too much at once is often a road to self sabotage.

How to Create a Healthy Workplace for Your Employees

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Healthy Workplace|How to Create a Healthy Workplace for Your EmployeesWith Coronavirus dominating news headlines across the world and people everywhere impacted by the global pandemic, it is little wonder that health is a subject at the forefront of many people’s minds right now.

If you manage a workforce, it is imperative to focus on protecting your employees from the threat of the virus and other health risks. Protecting the health of your employees is essential for many reasons. Firstly, from an ethical standpoint, you should be concerned about the health and safety of staff in your workplace. Secondly, having employees off sick can cost your business heavily, especially if you provide sick pay. Lastly, productivity will be severely affected by staff absenteeism; this puts additional pressure on your remaining employees to cover the workload. With this in mind, here is how you can ensure that your workplace is a healthy environment for your employees:

Keep it Clean

Having a clean workplace is essential to keep it looking good and protect your staff’s health. In a busy workspace, germs can travel fast. It does not take long for viruses to spread between employees, especially if they touch the same surfaces or are unable to socially distance. To minimize the risk of infection, you will need to keep your work environment as clean and hygienic as possible. This can be achieved using industrial cleaning services with the skills and experience necessary to clean industrial workspaces such as yours thoroughly. Stringent cleaning should help to mitigate the risk of viruses traveling between staff and allow everyone to stay healthy at work.

Improve Air Quality

Air quality plays a vital role in creating a healthy workplace. The impact of low air quality at work can be surprising, as it can affect your employees in more ways than you might think. Low indoor air quality can cause a range of problems for the occupants of the building. Depending on the cause of the low indoor air quality, symptoms could include allergic responses such as a sore, irritated throat, through to fatigue, headaches, and even cancer.

Monitoring the air quality in your building is essential to ensure that it is a healthy place for your employees to work. Regular cleaning can help to prevent allergies caused by dust mites. Scheduling regular maintenance of your building’s ventilation will play a significant role in keeping the air quality high. You should frequently maintain your air conditioning filters along with the air ducts, as this can significantly improve air quality.

Increase Safety Awareness

Workplace health and safety are serious issues. Safety is a subject that all business owners need to take seriously. Without appropriate health and safety precautions, employees’ risk of becoming injured at work is high. To prevent safety issues at work it is crucial that you provide your team with health and safety training regularly, and supply the equipment that they need to perform their job in the safest way possible.

Addressing each of these areas should help to create a healthy workplace for your employees.

Key Office Trends in the New Normal

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StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective Article |New Normal|Key Office Trends in the New NormalBefore the COVID-19 pandemic, companies were used to having employees commute to work every day and spending all day long within office premises. The coming of the pandemic toppled many age-old workplace institutions and norms as companies shifted to remote working. Businesses and employees had to adapt to new ways of working as the old norms vanished, ushering in a new age of novel technologies like Zoom.

Before the pandemic, only 12 percent of American workers were working remotely full-time. This figure is even higher than the six percent in the UK. Even with the vaccines’ distribution spurring some optimism of returning to normal business, experts have indicated that traditional office life and the pre-pandemic working station may no longer be attainable.

Flexible Working Solution

The working environment and culture, how we know it is changing every day, and many people are still figuring out the perfect set up. Remote working has seen workers set up serviced offices in their homes, while others share space with the rest of the family. Employees at major tech companies like Google and Twitter are already working from home as long as they wish, with an option of switching to remote working permanently.

In addition to protecting their employees, companies will have to rethink the office space and arrangement to maintain comfort and flexibility. Companies will also have to contend with some employees juggling between remote working and commuting to the office.

Wellbeing and Human-Centric Design

Another significant shift in the new normal will be creating office designs emphasizing employee safety and empowerment. The pandemic has shown the value of minding others’ health and wellbeing, and companies will be paying attention to this as they reset the office.

The post-pandemic office design will consider things like handwashing facilities, built-in social distancing, flow management, readily available PPEs, and hand sanitizer points. This will not only protect employees but will also boost employees’ confidence and alleviate anxieties.

The use of Technology

Office design will prioritize smart buildings that collect and share information on when and how to use different spaces. This is very important in the context of social distancing, contact tracing, and space rationalization.

Companies are installing touchless technologies and thermal imaging systems to safeguard employees from the transmission and allow easy movements around within the office premises. There are also desk booking apps that ensure only one person touches an individual desk each day.

Connectivity and Community

The new normal will see an upraise of design models that emphasize hospitality and leisure. There is a focus on amenities and communal experience to attract and retain the best talents. The pandemic highlighted the importance of interpersonal relationships and how interactions are essential both at work and in personal life.

Reassessing Company Values

The pandemic has forced companies to rethink and reassess their values and principles. The lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic will cause companies to execute necessary internal shifts to adapt to the new normal.

How to Start an Online Business?

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Start an Online Business|How to Start an Online Business?Are you thinking of starting an online business? But you are not sure how to get started? Then no need to worry about yourself anymore. Starting a new business is not an easy task it takes a lot of commitment and persistence. You have to think about everything from tiny details like the niche of your business to the market analysis. Creating an online presence is an overwhelming task considering the high competition in the market.

First and foremost, thing is to not let all these things get you demotivated. You won’t win if you will not fight for it. Right? Moreover, we are here to help you to guide you on your new journey. This article talks about the steps you will have to take to build a successful business.

The five steps toward launching your new business:

1. Research and Find an Idea:

Most entrepreneurs skip this part and start working on the plan without having a clear vision for their business. Missing this part will often lead to complications in coming times. You should consider answering the following questions while deciding on your new business idea:

  • The first query you should answer is why are you doing it? This common question can speak volumes whether your business will fall or rise to the heights. It is necessary because, for a successful business, you need to have a mission and a purpose behind it.
  • Another important question you should have a clearance about is whether you have all the equipment for starting a particular business idea. If you don’t have it, how will you arrange it? If you are serious about your start-up, then you will find yourself seeing the answer to this question.
  • One of the crucial aspects to look for, about a particular idea is the problem it will be solving. Now, what will be the point of a start-up if it wouldn’t be affecting a large number of people for good?
  • The last question you should answer is Will your business be able to run solely online? Businesses like e-learning do not need any infrastructure and operate only on an online mode. While an eCommerce business works on both online and offline. So, which one is yours?

2. Uphold Your Business Idea:

After the first step, we can assume that you are determined to start your business and have a clear view of your idea. The next step to do is to validate your business idea. You can start simple like talking to potential customers, asking them about their needs, and if they like your idea or not. Although you have different methods to test the market based on your online business idea:

  • The most effective and simple method is to gauge customer interest by looking into competitive reviews. Check their responses for every detail like what they are liking and what not. This step will help you get an idea of the current market.
  • The next step to validate your business idea is to set up a preview landing page to give an idea about your business, products, and services. Mention in brief about the features, price details, etc, and don’t forget to add an email subscription. It will help you in bringing relevant customers.
  • There’s another feature available for you to uphold your business idea that is through surveys. You can conduct online surveys to drive traffic to your preview website. While promoting your survey, you can run a handful of digital ads.

3. Start A Thorough Planning:

Once you start seeing the positive results from the survey and receive enough traffic, the next thing is to start planning. Business planning should be deep and thorough. One loophole in it can drown your whole business before starting it. You have already laid your marks in the market about the initial parts of your business planning. Therefore, this is the right time to pursue funds and raise your financial status. Keep in mind the following points while planning:

  • Start small and make it big. The best approach to build a stable business is to start small. Therefore, have a lean business plan, something you will be able to do in the next 30 minutes rather than six weeks.
  • Always keep an eye on the market and do a thorough market analysis regularly. It is crucial to understand your product and services value in the market. This step also helps you in determining the pricing models and distribution methods.

Tip: You can listen to business audiobooks to get the edge on running a business. 10audioz covered top audiobooks targeting new business and start up founders.

4. Start A Website Based on Your Business Idea:

Once you finish the above steps, your next move is to set up your website completely on running mode. Completely setting and launching a website is not so easy as compared to the preview page. You have to sort out all the details like platform, design, hosting services, etc. You have to select accordingly because your website will be representing your business. Understand the following points that will tell you in brief what you have to consider:

  • First, decide you will be selling your own products or you will be using a third-party platform. Both of the options are good, so select anyone that will help you in building your website.
  • Building your own website gives you a high level of control over your store. You decide what products should be there and not, but you must remember the user experience. No matter what the design your website will have, as long as it can appease your customers. Always consider your user experience before doing anything.
  • It’s not necessary to build your website from scratch. Especially in your initial stages, you don’t have to employ another person for building your website. You can use the different platforms like Squarespace that gives you already built templates to get your started.
  • Name your website and the domain name carefully. You wouldn’t like that a website already exists with the same name, so, use platforms that will help you in deciding one for you.
  • The website needs continuous efforts and maintenance. It will need your full attention if you wish to bring your website on the top pages of Google search engines. So, don’t forget about it once are done making it.

5. Make Your Business Legal and Launch it:

The process of making your business legal is important and necessary. You have to follow a few steps to get it done. Once it is done you will be all set to start your business officially. The steps to make your business legal are:

  • Read about the regulation of online business. The business laws for doing online and offline business are different. These laws are regarding the use of the customer’s personal information. Therefore, understand them carefully.
  • Once you know the laws of online business, register it. For registering, decide the legal structure of your business set up. Specify the requirements completely without missing any details. So, that you don’t encounter difficulties in your future.
  • The last point is that you should learn about the tax on your online business. It is possible that you have to pay the income tax therefore you should consult your lawyer on this topic.

Conclusion:

Business is not a short path that can be covered in a few steps. It’s a long process where you will find yourself repeating the above steps after every few intervals. Be your own master and raise your business to have a stand in the market.