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Your EnterQuest Bulletin - 19 October 2005
| Thought for the week:
"You may be disappointed if you
fail, but you are doomed if you don't try." Beverly Sills |
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 
How
to turn unhappy customers into loyal ones
One
of the biggest fears faced by new small business owners and people
aspiring to start a business is having to handle customer complaints,
often from people who might even be angry and obstreperous. It's
something that nobody particularly wants to deal with or to happen
to them.
But
like it or not, if you own a business you'll definitely get complaints
at some point. And likewise, you'll get your fair share of returns
and requests for refunds. It's a fact of business life, and you
won't be able to escape it, because it's impossible to please all
of the people all of the time.
You
can find a practical factsheet about dealing
with customer complaints on our Scavenger research website.
But
there is something about getting customer complaints and requests
for returns that can be a blessing in disguise. That is because
the vast majority of unsatisfied customers don't complain at all.
Now
before you start breathing a sigh of relief, you must realise that
having unsatisfied customers who don't complain to you is actually
bad news for your business. Because what these people do instead
is pack their bags and take their custom somewhere else, and you
won't have the foggiest idea why they've done it.
What
every business needs is customers who complain. Yes, that's right,
you should be grateful when they do, and it should be viewed as
an invaluable gift to your enterprise. Customers who complain help
you to find weaknesses in your products and in your standards of
service. And these are weaknesses that you need to fix.
Customer
complaints give you the raw, honest feedback about real things and
real problems that are happening out at the coalface of your business.
A lot of firms will even hire expensive consultants to find out
about these weaknesses, while your complaining customers will do
it for free.
And
this is where you can find a real key to breeding ultra-loyal customers,
because unhappy customers are ideally positioned to become the most
loyal of all. Why is this?
Because
their expectations are at their lowest.
At
the point when someone complains to you, they probably already view
you as the lowest form of life on the planet. They won't be expecting
any extra-special treatment from you, but when you do give them
this treatment, you'll actually take the wind right out of their
sails and surprise them. In the most pleasant way possible.
Grabbing
the opportunity to find a way to go the extra mile for a complaining
customer is one of the most important loyalty-building strategies
you can ever use.
You
see, it's not product defects that destroy customer satisfaction.
It's how you react to and deal with defects and complaints that
will ultimately define your customers' satisfaction levels.
Your
standard of customer service is only as good as the way you react
when your back is against the wall and facing an unhappy, dissatisfied
or even angry customer.
In
fact, studies have been carried out that have shown that the most
loyal customers of all are not the ones who have never experienced
a problem with a business they buy from, but the ones who have experienced
a problem with a product or service that they bought, and then received
fantastic customer service as a result.
That
is something that every small business owner should seriously think
about.
For
hundreds more practical tips and tactics to improve your sales and
marketing efforts and results, read the UK
Small Business Marketing Bible.
Marketing
tip
Practical
tips for using the telephone effectively
It
goes without saying that the telephone can provide a vital communication
line with your customers, suppliers and partners. But communicating
with people effectively over the phone is a key business skill,
whether you're dealing with a customer query or complaint, liaising
with suppliers or making cold sales calls.
Important
things to consider when using the phone include the following issues:
- Planning
what to say in advance to avoid getting flustered or distracted.
- Being
confident and clear when speaking over the phone.
- Improving
your selling skills.
- Looking
at how to end calls efficiently.
- Following
up your calls with further contact.
- Making
sure you're aware of the law covering using the phone for marketing
purposes.
There
are a number of low-cost courses providing professional training
in telephone techniques for everyday business use. For example,
the Chartered Institute of Marketing offers a one-day workshop on
telephone
selling techniques, and the Practical
Training for Professionals portal runs a workshop on telephone
techniques for incoming and outgoing calls.
Step-by-step,
scripted advice on how to undertake a business telephone call is
also available at the Homeworking.com
tips and tools site.
Finally,
if you're considering using the telephone to make unsolicited sales
calls, you need to be aware of the relevant regulations - this
comprehensive guide outlines how to stay within the law regarding
the Telephone
Preference Service.
Legal
tip
Does
your home-based business need planning permission?
Many new businesses start up from home, and one of their first puzzles
is whether or not they need planning permission. There are plenty
of regulations relating to changing what a building's used for and
what it looks like from the outside.
But if you convert your living room into an office, are you 'changing
a building's use', for example, and if you paint the outside of
your house to match your business colours are you 'changing the
external appearance of the building'?
If you're not sure, the best way to get an answer is to ask your
local authority for an informal opinion.
Finally,
the UK
Red Tape Buster offers plenty of information about the law surrounding
business premises and starting up from home.
IT
tip
Watch
out for bluesnarfers
Mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) that can be
used to transfer information to your PC or laptop (in other words,
Bluetooth-enabled devices) are at risk from a new kind of data thief,
according to a survey carried out by Orthus.
Its advice is particularly important if you use your Bluetooth mobile
or PDA while you're travelling.
Essentially, Orthus' warning boils down to this: don't leave the
default security settings on when you buy your phone, and make sure
you change the password regularly, because there are 'bluesnarfers'
around, looking for insecure mobile Internet connections.
When the alternative could be a hijacked phone and the loss of e-mails
or SMS messages, that sounds like good advice. There's more on Bluetooth
security at the official
Bluetooth 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 the word 'emolument' means?
a)
a bonus or benefit paid to staff
b) the soothing or defusing of a difficult situation
c) the dissolution of a contract
d) payment or gain as a result of work carried out
Answer
at the end of the Bulletin.
Website review
eBay
(www.ebay.co.uk)
Research
shows that more small business owners are using the eBay site to
buy and sell goods - but how easy to use and accessible is the site
in practical terms?
- Navigation
and presentation - although there's a lot going on when you
arrive at eBay's homepage, the information is well presented and
usefully categorised by sector and country. Things are kept simple,
with 'buy', 'sell' and 'register' instructions presented clearly,
and the sections explaining how to use eBay and its PayPal payment
system are logical and helpful.
 
- Accessibility
- little consideration appears to have been given to the requirements
of users with disabilities. We trawled the site map, A-Z index
and help categories relentlessly and eventually located a hidden
accessibility page. It offers the option to change text size,
view a text-only version (of just the homepage) and asks for suggestions
for improving accessibility - making the options more obvious
would be one!
- Content
and usefulness - many of our subscribers will be familiar
with the basic structure of eBay, but there are some exceptionally
useful tools hidden within the site. Try visiting the eBay
university, for example, which offers training courses in
becoming a trader; in addition to this, there is a wealth of practical,
step-by-step information on buying and selling via the site, including
how to keep payments secure and how to sell internationally.
- Relevance
- although the purpose of the site doesn't really lend itself
to offering news, there are a few up-to-the-minute resources here
which are useful tools for business traders. eBay
Pulse is a rolling index of what's currently hot on the site,
and there are regularly updated, entertaining and enlightening
discussion boards and feedback forums, too.
Overall,
an extremely useful site for small businesses looking for an easy
option for selling to new customers online, but the lack of awareness
of accessibility issues is profoundly surprising.
Our
rating - 14/20
Did
you know?
New
security flaws for Google and Microsoft
Microsoft
has released nine patches as part of its latest
monthly security update, with three of the fixes described as
'critical'. The patches address problems in the Windows operating
system. The announcement coincides with Google's efforts to fix
serious
security vulnerabilities on its AdWords advertising programme,
which could potentially leave users exposed to identity theft and
phishing scams.
Dot-EU
to launch in December
The launch of the new top-level domain for European businesses and
individuals will take place on 7 December, the European
registry EURid has announced. During the first phase, registration
of .eu domain names will be open to organisations that want to register
their trade marks, and 7 April will see registration open to everybody
else.
And
if you're looking to develop your own business website, why not
check out the Small
Business Builder, a unique tool to enable a complete novice
to set up a website or online store.
Worth
a visit
How
to create a model workplace - Acas
The
arbitration and conciliation body, Acas, has launched a new 'key
points' plan to help businesses understand how to manage staff effectively.
The 'Model
Workplace' is presented as a one-stop reference booklet which
identifies the key features of effective management and provides
tips and guidance for business owners on how to achieve these points.
Acas is running a series of free training sessions to complement
the booklet, which is also free for single copies for a period of
three months.
Worth
a read
Written
by employment law expert and Radio 4 presenter Liz Barclay, this
practical manual focuses on helping small firms to understand and
comply with their legal obligations towards employees. Covering
topics such as avoiding common problems in the workplace, recruitment,
disciplinary procedures, tackling discrimination, and setting job
descriptions and staff duties, the book is written in jargon-free,
accessible language. Check out:
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Just one word answer
The answer is d).
An
emolument is a payment or gain resulting from work carried
out.
If
you recruit staff, you will need to reward them with emoluments
for their work.
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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
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