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Your EnterQuest Bulletin - 24 August 2005
| Thought for the week:
"Opportunity lies in the man and
not in the job." Zig Ziglar |
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 keep your customers happy and loyal
One
of the key failings of many business support agencies and business
information services provided by the public sector is that they
don't provide the practical know-how that's really needed by small
business owners.
In
fact, they generally just make rather obvious statements about what
a small business should do but completely fail to explain to them
or give them practical ideas about how to do it. And that's mainly
because they don't have the experience or just don't understand
what a small business really needs in the first place.
An
example of this is in the case of customer loyalty. Every small
business owner knows they need to create customer loyalty but few
of them actually achieve it. They believe, or are mistakenly advised,
that it's simply a case of offering a quality product or service
and bingo… lots of happy customers.
But
happy customers don't all become loyal customers. Loyal customers
not only buy from you over and over again, but rave about you to
everyone they know.
The
real key to achieving loyal customers is not about meeting expectations
with a quality product or service, because you'll have lots of competitors
who are also doing that. It's about exceeding them.
And
to create a customer experience that is noticeably different to
anything else on offer, you will often have to find a surprising
way to go over and above what your customer is expecting.
Here
are some suggestions that most small businesses can try which could
take your customers completely by surprise, and help create a loyalty-building
experience.
1)
Talk to your customers. A phone call or personal visit from a business
owner might be an unexpected surprise that will tell them they are
important to your business. Especially if this is very soon after
the sale or transaction took place. Alternatively, make time for
one hour every week to randomly call some customers and ask them
how things are going.
2)
Make one-time only exceptions. The next time a customer asks for
something that is not normally part of your business policy, tell
them you'll break that policy just for them because they're a special
customer.
3)
Seek out customer complaints. You'll be appreciated more by your
customers if you welcome any negative as well as positive feedback.
Sending out a complaints form or putting one on your website will
help you build lots of trust and credibility. And for heaven's sake,
don't forget to thank your customers for their complaints.
4)
Make your customers famous. Write a customer spotlight article and
publish this in your local newspaper, on your website or in your
newsletter.
5)
Confess to and apologise for your mistakes. Don't kid yourself that
you're not going to make mistakes. Always own up to your mistakes
or flaws in your product. Your customers will care less about the
mistake or flaw and more about how you handle the situation.
6)
Always provide updates and follow up customer suggestions. It's
one thing to seek out suggestions but something else to let everyone
know how a suggestion has been used to improve your business or
service.
7)
Make the final moment of the sale memorable. Many studies have shown
that it's the final moment of a customer's experience in doing business
with you that will be remembered the most. So you need to work on
ways to make this as positive and memorable as possible. And if
you plan to give away a free gift or bonus item with the sale, save
doing this until right at the end of your customer encounter.
Check
out Chapter 7, How to Thrill Your Customers, of the UK
Small Business Marketing Bible for more simple, low-cost ideas
to boost sales, no matter what sector you're in.
Understanding
customer needs and also the needs and issues that are important
to small business owners is very important to the team here at EnterQuest.
We are also working on a national project with some of the Sector
Skills Councils to help them gain a better understanding of the
issues and needs that will make a difference to new and existing
small firms in the UK.
So
we would like to establish a panel of small business owners, including
soon-to-be business owners as well, who will be willing to occasionally
provide us with their opinions, on a no-holds-barred basis, about
the issues, frustrations and needs that affect and matter directly
to them.
If
you would like to join this opinion panel then please e-mail us
at enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.
Marketing
tip
Quick
tips to encourage customers to opt in
If
you've been paying avid attention to our legal tips, you should
know that if you want to send promotional e-mails or newsletters
to customers, you must make sure those customers have first 'opted
in' to receive marketing materials from you. If you don't do this,
you'll fall foul of the Privacy
and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, and could be
accused of spamming. If you missed our coverage of this important
topic, here's a link to a previous EnterQuest bulletin covering
the
law regarding unsolicited marketing e-mails.
Here
are five more tips to encourage more people to opt in to your promotional
e-mails or newsletters.
1)
Make your newsletter prominent. If you have a website, include a
sign-up form or a link to a registration page on every page of the
site.
2)
Be honest. Explain clearly what you will, and won't, do with people's
personal details. If they're convinced that you won't pass on or
sell them, they'll be more likely to sign up with their minds at
rest.
3)
Offer incentives to sign up. Enter signed-up customers into a competition,
give them a discount on their next purchase, or offer them a free
report on an issue relevant to your business.
4)
Validate personal details. Ask customers to type their e-mail addresses
twice, or consider using a double opt-in (get new sign-ups to respond
to an 'Are you sure you want to sign up?' e-mail).
5)
Make it easy for people to unsubscribe, and provide clear instructions
for how to do this.
You
can read more practical ideas for marketing via e-mail in our practical
factsheet on building and using a mailing list.
Legal
tip
Changes
to the Disability Discrimination Act - what they mean for landlords
and clubs
Residential landlords and business owners running private clubs
need to be aware of changes to the Disability Discrimination Act
2005 (also known as the DDA) which are to be implemented in December
throughout the UK.
The new measures are minor adjustments to the Act rather than major
changes, but they include the following points:
- Landlords
or property managers letting houses and flats will have to make
reasonable adjustments for disabled people where requested, although
this does not necessarily mean physical alterations.
- Landlords
will not be allowed to unreasonably refuse consent should a disabled
tenant ask to adapt a property themselves.
- Private
members' clubs with 25 or more members will now be covered by
all the measures in the Act.
There's
a good explanation of the new law on the Government's Disability
website, and if you're concerned that it might affect your business
or organisation you can read the whole text of the Disability
Discrimination Act 2005.
You'll find plenty more about the law affecting small businesses
on the UK
Red Tape BUSTER, which offers hundreds of legal factsheets,
scenarios and answers to frequently asked questions.
IT
tip
Shortcuts
for Windows users
Tech wizards will tell you anything you can do with a mouse can
be done better and faster using your keyboard. For example, press
the Windows button (the one with the Windows logo) and the 'M' key
at the same time and all your open Windows will be minimised so
you can see the desktop.
You may not have time to learn the dozens of possible shortcuts
but here's a brief list of some of the most useful and descriptions
of what they do.
- Windows
+ E opens Windows Explorer.
- Windows
+ F lets you search for files.
- Windows
+ F1 opens up the Help program.
- Alt
+ tab lets you scroll through the various programs you have open
at the moment.
Shortcuts
for Word
When you're working in Word, the following might be handy:
- F1
brings up the Help menu.
- Ctrl
+ C lets you copy selected text.
- Ctrl
+ V will paste the text you've previously copied.
- Finally,
Ctrl + S will save the document, something best done before you
press Alt + F4, which will close the document and then close Word.
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.
Each
of the following words was added to the Oxford Dictionary of English
last week. Do you know what each word means?
a)
geocaching
b) phishing
c) podcast
d) wiki
Answer
at the end of the Bulletin.
Website review
The
Disability Policy Division (www.disability.gov.uk)
This
is the online Government resource for news and explanation about
the Disability Discrimination Act, as well as details about other
aspects of disability policy. But how useful - and accessible -
is the website?
- Navigation
- the homepage is easy enough to find your way around, with clear
signposting to key parts of the site dealing with disability law,
and plenty of links to relevant sources of further information,
but it lacks anything topical or engaging and could be much more
appealingly designed.
 
- Accessibility
- unlike with some of its other sites, the Government has got
accessibility right with this one. The site is compliant with
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines for minimum accessibility,
and features access keys, instructions for users of different
browsers, and even a feedback form for users' views about how
easy the site is to use. There are no foreign language options,
however.
An
ordinary score of half marks for the Disability Division - although
it performs well on accessibility options (as you would expect!),
the effort to keep things simple has been at the expense of interesting,
dynamic content.
Our
rating - 10/20
Did
you know?
Post
charges are due to change
The
Royal Mail has announced changes
to the way post is charged. From 4 September 2006, post will
be charged by size and shape as well as weight, which will affect
prices on around 30% of business mail. Items such as catalogues,
brochures, books and magazines will become cheaper to post, while
bulky or odd-shaped items will become more expensive.
The
eBay effect
Around 50,000 UK web users are making some sort of income from online
auction site eBay, according to the Centre
for Economics and Business Research Ltd (CEBR), and trading
on the site during 2005 is likely to top £4 billion in the
UK alone. CEBR's figures also show that the value of second-hand
goods is rising, that online sales are helping to keep inflation
low, and that national retail activity may be underestimated by
around 0.3%.
Worth
a visit
Cheap
online ad space
Blankspace.co.uk
offers fast, easy access to available advertising space, both on
and offline. You can also use the site to sell ad space in your
own publications or on your website. The service is free to use
- you only pay a small commission when an ad is sold.
Practical
guide to keywords
One
of our favourite online keyword-finding resources, Wordtracker,
has produced a keyword research guide entitled 'Vegetarian
Dog Food - Does it Stand a Pup's Chance?'. The guide aims to
explain how any type of business with a website can find the right
keywords to help boost its search engine ranking, and features contributions
from nine leading experts in the world of search engine optimisation.
Worth
a read
Based
on interviews, case studies and practical examples, this book explores
the key issues at the heart of effective management and leadership
for business owners with little experience. The style is easy to
follow and takes care to focus on a few core topics, rather than
getting lost in the jargon and management theory of some other books
on this subject. Check out:
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Just one word answer
Word a) - geocaching - is a new type
of treasure hunt using GPS technology, where an item is hidden
somewhere in the world and its co-ordinates posted online.
Word
b) - phishing - is the fraudulent practice of sending e-mails
that appear to be from legitimate financial organisations
in order to dupe users into revealing personal information
and passwords.
Word
c) - podcast - is a digital recording of a news broadcast
or item, which users can download to a personal audio player.
Word
d) - wiki - is a website or database developed collaboratively
by a community of users, allowing anyone to edit or add content.
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www.enterprisequest.com
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that we guarantee never to sell or give your e-mail address to anyone
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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
where appropriate.
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