|
Your EnterQuest Bulletin - 18 January 2006
| Thought for the week: "One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes." Benjamin Disraeli |
In this week's issue:
Small business answers
If
you have any questions about your business idea or target market,
or need help tracking down a grant, subsidy or business support
in your local area, then send an e-mail with your query to the EnterQuest
information team and we'll do our best to help.
Send
your question to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.
To
access over 800 factsheets, guides and small business reports, go
to www.scavenger.net.
Weekly stir 
Getting customer referrals and those 'moments of truth'
The quality and standard of your customer service, no matter what type of small business you run, is critical to your success - that goes without saying.
But the standard of that service as experienced or perceived by your customers is also the cornerstone on which you will build a valuable, ongoing stream of new sales as a result of referrals and recommendations from fans of your business.
However, just because you give good customer service does not automatically mean you will get a shed-load of referrals. In fact, receiving referrals and recommendations from satisfied customers on an ongoing basis is as much a function of deliberate planning as it is of providing red-hot customer service.
Many small business owners assume that referrals will happen by themselves purely by giving good customer service. This just isn't the case. If you aren't being deliberate or proactive in generating referrals, the chances of you receiving them are going to be pretty darn slim.
But the fact of the matter is that your best customers are ready and willing to give you referrals. You just need to show them how, and to do that you need a referral system.
A referral system is a methodical process that you have put in place to capture qualified prospects through your association with other people. A 'system' is a process that produces predictable results, is controlled by you and can be turned on and off like a light switch. Your business may well get referrals by word of mouth, but this must not be confused with developing a methodical system for referral prospecting.
A referral system will be driven by you, the small business owner. And over time experienced small business owners recognise that they have to systematically ask their customers for referrals, in order to get more referrals.
Word of mouth is just too sporadic and unpredictable. Systematically generated referrals are not.
This process will be easier once you understand that you will genuinely be helping your customers if you ask them to give you referrals. Your customers want to give you referrals. It makes them feel good that they have found a small business that they've had a great experience with, and they really want to share that experience with friends and business colleagues.
They will be seen as 'someone in the know', and when their friend also receives great service from you, your referring customer will feel as though they have done them a massive favour.
Basically there are two types of people who you can systematically ask for referrals. Your current customers, and other influential people who know about your business.
Your existing customers are likely to be your most enthusiastic referrers, as they've already experienced your product or service. But in practice you may get a greater number of referrals from influential people who have never tried your product or service - for example, a local celebrity, a newspaper editor or another small business owner.
It's important that you develop your referral-building system by asking for referrals from both of these key groups of people.
We've already explained that receiving referrals begins with giving excellent customer service, and there are seven widely recognised 'moments of truth' that provide small business owners with the opportunity to ask for referrals. It's at these moments, when you go that extra mile for your customers, and when they become a fan of your business for life, that they are most willing to give you referrals.
Here are those moments of truth:
- When a customer complains.
- When a customer comes back to place a second order.
- When a customer thanks you.
- When a customer has had a hard time because of a mix up that you (or they) have caused.
- When a customer asks you for a favour.
- When you meet a customer in public or outside of your normal place of business.
- When a customer brings in a referral.
If you recognise and act on these moments when they happen, and ask your customers to give you referrals whenever the opportunity arises, you will not only be cementing a lifetime relationship - you will also be establishing your system for creating an endless stream of new customers generated by referrals.
The UK Small Business Marketing Bible has more practical information about how to make it rain referrals in Chapter 5, and is jam-packed with hundreds more cheap, easy to implement ideas and techniques for promoting your business.
Marketing
tip
Using the Internet for marketing
The Internet can provide a variety of opportunities to market your business or service, and can help you to reach a wider range of potential customers and business partners who may not be based in your local area.
Some of the options for marketing your business online include:
-
Sending out mailshots via e-mail - check out this guide to the law regarding spam e-mails to make sure you don't breach the UK's e-mail marketing regulations.
-
Getting listed in search engines and web directories - see our factsheet providing an explanation of how search engines work, plus tips for registering your website.
The following resources offer more tips and advice on how to market your business online, and explain some frequently used terms and jargon.
Legal
tip
How not to be a neighbour from hell
Good fences make good neighbours, the poet Robert Frost once said. But then he didn't live next door to a car repair workshop, or a kipper smokery, or a 24-hour courier firm, and in some cases a fence isn't enough.
If you run a business that might annoy nearby residents or people in other offices, your local authority is likely to be interested for environmental and planning reasons. It will have strict rules on noise, smell, the environment and any activity at unusual hours.
You'll need to take this into account if you're planning to start up a business, or if you intend to change how you run things or introduce new machinery.
The best place to start for information about the environment is the Government's regional environment service, which regulates this area through pieces of law like the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
If you're starting a business it's always a good idea to get in touch with your local authority, but this is particularly important if your work might be noisy, create traffic, give off smoke or create any other problems that people might complain about. You can find contact details for your local authority at Direct.gov.
Finally, the Planning Portal is a useful site for background information on planning permission and related regulations, and Envirowise offers a wealth of information about the environmental regulations applicable to businesses.
And the UK Red Tape Buster has hundreds of factsheets, scenarios and frequently asked questions for every small business legal situation.
IT
tip
Getting up to speed with shortcuts for your web browser
Although most people use their mouse for almost everything they do when surfing the web, it's worth knowing that there are dozens of keyboard shortcuts that you can use for Internet Explorer. These shortcuts can speed things up when you're in a hurry, and many of them work on other browsers such as Firefox and Opera.
Here are some of the most useful:
There's no easy shortcut for adjusting the text size in Internet Explorer, although you can do this by clicking the 'View' menu and selecting the relevant option. This is useful for people with impaired vision, or when you're browsing a site with very small text. The Firefox browser, however, does offer a shortcut for text size adjustment - just press Ctrl and +.
There's a page with all the shortcuts for both the Microsoft and Firefox browsers at the Mozilla website.
New business idea
Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK.
Here is this week's idea:
Just one word
Regularly improving your vocabulary is not just about learning a new word and its meaning. It will improve your general knowledge and make you feel and act smarter in all sorts of personal and business situations.
Do you know what 'homogenous' means?
a) unique
b) all the same or very similar
c) specific to a particular local area
d) from the same source or origin
Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
Website review
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS - www.thelocalshop.com)
The trade association for small, independent local shops, this body is heavily involved in lobbying the Government over key small business issues like Sunday trading hours and the red tape affecting retailers. But how user-friendly and accessible is its website?
- Navigation and presentation - split into two sections, the homepage includes both daily news updates and a directory of the site's other resources. This is simple to navigate, and the site's search function works well, but the homepage appears cluttered, has a poor colour scheme and doesn't use space as effectively as it might.
 
- Accessibility - there are no options on this site for users with disabilities - the text size can't be changed, images can't be switched off and there aren't any guidelines or advice for users of browsers other than Internet Explorer. Some foreign language options would be useful additions, too.
- Content and usefulness - there are some excellent resources for small shop owners on this site. An 'Ask ACS' section offers an enquiry service and legal updates, and there are dedicated sections for issues such as crime and security, industry data and finding suppliers. The section of useful links is also jam-packed with resources for different types of retailers.
- Relevance - the homepage is kept looking fresh by the inclusion of news and events updates, and the site's press office lists more in-depth features, as well as providing a bi-monthly newsletter.
This site features some resources and tools for small shop owners that are definitely worth bookmarking. Improvements to the site's design, plus the introduction of at least some basic accessibility options, would make it even more useful.
Our rating - 13/20
Did you know?
Fire safety change deadline has been extended
Last week's legal tip reported the changes that will take effect under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which was due to come into force in England and Wales on 1 April. Now the Government has said it will delay the implementation date to give businesses more time to prepare. It had been concerned that there wouldn't be enough time between the publication of guidance documents and the law coming into force. The new date is likely to be 1 October but has not yet been announced.
There's a new interest rate for late payment chasers
The Better Payment Practice Group (BPPG) has announced that the interest rate for businesses wishing to apply late payment legislation to chase debts will be 12.5% for the period between 1 January and 30 June this year. Late payment law allows your business to claim interest and compensation on invoices that have passed their due date. The BPPG has an online calculator to help you work out what interest your business is due.
Worth
a visit
Detox tips and tricks for firms
Small firms are being urged to implement business versions of popular New Year 'detox' plans to help streamline and improve their performance for the coming year. To this end, Investors in People (IiP) has developed a free online quiz to help firms identify areas for improvement, along with five tips about preparing for a successful 2006.
Guidance on handling references
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published new guidance for businesses about staying within the law when requesting and providing employee references. If you've written a reference for an ex-employee, you don't have to give it to them if they ask to see it, but there are differences if you are dealing with references covered by the Data Protection Act 1998.
Ten tips from the taxman
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has published 'Ten Top Tips' to help self-employed people complete their self-assessment tax returns before the deadline of 31 January. If you miss the deadline you face a £100 penalty, and the tips aim to highlight some of the most common mistakes people make, which include failure to sign the return. HMRC figures show that 998,000 penalty fines were issued in the last tax year.
New suite of free Google software
In an effort to boost sales of advertisements on its web portal, Google has released a package of new, free software tools aimed at business users. The Google Pack includes a subscription to Norton antivirus software, the open-source Firefox browser, the Adobe reader for viewing PDF files, an anti-spyware application, a media player and an instant messaging program. Tools to install and update the applications are also included.
Worth
a read
Written by two experts on one-to-one marketing and customer-focused activities, this book takes as its theme the concept that a small business' 'return on customer' is a combination of both current cash flow and the 'long-term equity' of its array of customers. This relates to how long you keep your customers, how much they buy from you, how often, and how much you have to spend to win and continue to impress them. Check out:
Just one word answer
The answer is b).
Homogenous is used to refer to things that are all the same or very similar in appearance.
For example, the homogenous nature of chain restaurants and bars can result in customers perceiving that there is a lack of choice. |
Visit www.enterprisequest.com to access all back issues of the EnterQuest bulletin.
If
you have any feedback or suggestions for us to make this service
more relevant please e-mail your comments to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.
If
you wish to discontinue your subscription to EnterQuest please click on the 'SafeUnsubscribe' link at the bottom of the bulletin.
Remember
that we guarantee never to sell or give your e-mail address to anyone
else.
Good
luck
The EnterQuest Team
This information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable
efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the
information is accurate and up-to-date and will not be responsible
for any errors or omissions in the information nor any consequences
of any errors or omissions. Professional advice should be sought
where appropriate. |
