Thursday, August 31, 2017
5 Foolproof Ways to Build Customer Trust in Your Website
By Zachary Paruch
The internet is filled with anonymity, as anyone can start a website and post content or sell things. New websites and online stores pop up every single day, but there is no one that can verify their legitimacy or their claims.
Trust is a scarce—but extremely valuable—commodity. Your favorite brands are just that because they have earned your trust. No one really questions whether to provide personal or payment information to Google, Amazon, or Apple. You don’t even think twice. Of course, these are extreme examples, but they continue to be successful because they have your trust.
So how do you build this kind of trust in your website?
1. Make a good first impression
The old adage advises against judging a book by its cover, but that’s exactly what visitors to your website are doing. It’s said that you have seven seconds to make a first impression—that applies to your website, too. In those seven seconds, your visitors won’t have enough time to get into your content—however great it may be. They will see what you have above the fold:
Ads—One thing that absolutely kills trust in websites is the presence of big or excessive advertisements. If you must have ads on your website, keep them to a minimum. Small, tasteful ads in the sidebar, or generally away from the areas of focus are okay, but don’t get carried away.
Layout—Your website should look clean, with a logical, easy-to-navigate layout. Too many websites these days are overly reliant on aesthetics—they look great, but it’s hard to determine what they are actually about and users don’t know exactly where to go to get the information they want.
The website should also not divide attention. There should be a purposeful layout that directs visitors’ focus. If there is too much going on, users will be confused and thus, less trusting of your site.
Colors—Believe it or not, the colors of your website affect the level of trust users have in it. Stick with mostly neutral colors like black, gray, and blue, along with a white background. The color blue has been shown to elicit trust and security in websites.
RELATED: 10 of the Best-Kept Web Design Secrets
Media—Having media like images and videos on your site is great, as it looks professional and gives your site personality. However, having too much can be a problem as it affects the load time of your site. Users will become impatient and leave, without you ever having the chance to gain their support.
Stock images are often a problem as well. People don’t want to see the same stock photos on every site they visit. They can make a site feel very corporate, and thus, untrustworthy. Take your own photos and include employees from your company in them. This will show your visitors that you’re not hiding behind the anonymity of the internet, and that you’re willing to put your face behind your product.
Videos are another great tool you can use to draw in visitors and build trust. However, you can immediately destroy that trust by having those videos set to autoplay.
Certification—Certifications can go a long way toward securing the trust of your users. If people see a certification logo, they will feel assured that their information is secure.
- SSL. The first step is to get an SSL certificate. SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificates allow for the encryption of data, and are essential for securing HTTPS protocol on your site. Basically, once you have an SSL certificate, the URL bar will show a lock and say that the website secure. Users will see this and feel more confident about your site. An additional benefit of SSL certification is that Google will start using SSL certification as a ranking signal—so this certification will help you rank higher in the SERPs.
- Trust badges. The presence of well-known trust badges on your website can give the impression that your site is one that is secure and can be trusted with sensitive information. (For example, eBay proudly displays a Norton security badge in the footer of its website.) Displaying the badges of familiar brands like Visa, Mastercard, Google, Norton, and PayPal has been shown to increase customer trust in websites. Consider adding a few to your site—but be careful, as you don’t want to divide user attention with too many options.
2. Be transparent
It’s easy to put your trust in brick-and-mortar stores, as you can see the people working there, shake their hands, and know that if you have a problem, the store will still be there tomorrow. One of the biggest reasons people don’t trust some websites is that they seem faceless. New websites pop up every day, and many others shut down. Customers can’t see who they are doing business with, and have no guarantee that the website will still be there if there is a problem.
The best way to combat this problem is to be as transparent as possible on your website. You can achieve a strong level of transparency a number of ways:
Company pages—The company pages on your website are important for building customer trust. They are just about as close as a website can get to a real-life handshake.
Your About Us page is an opportunity to show visitors your human side with some humor, photos of yourself and your team, and some honest truths about who you are and why you do what you do. Show your face—and show your visitors that you are not hiding behind the anonymity of the internet.
Your Contact page is another opportunity to show that you are real, human, and trustworthy. Include a toll-free phone number and an email address that will reach a person—not an automated response—and isn’t something like “info@example.com.”
RELATED: 10 Small Business Website Errors That Drive Customers Away
It’s also important to be available. Don’t make your customers wait for days before they get a response. It’s a lot more difficult to trust and rely on someone who takes ages to get back to you. Some websites even implement live chat features, so that visitors are able to chat with a company representative whenever they need.
Company policies—The legal policies posted on your company’s website are essential for building trust, avoiding confusion, and keeping customers happy. Your site should include a comprehensive terms and conditions, privacy policy, and refund policy.
Posting these policies in a conspicuous place on your website will make visitors feel secure, knowing that no matter what situation arises, you have a plan for it. Their presence also elicits trust, as users can view your policies and understand the rules that you play by.
The numbers—People love transparency. We love when something is exactly what it seems. This is especially true when it comes to the companies we do business with. You can achieve a great level of transparency by posting company statistics on your website. These can include number of visitors to your site, your company’s revenues, and even your employees’ salaries—if you are brave. If you are comfortable enough to share your salary and company revenue, customers will have no trouble trusting you or providing you with sensitive information.
Successes and failures—Trust is ultimately the belief that someone or something is honest. Thus, to establish trust, you need to be honest—even when it comes to your mistakes. The ability to admit your mistakes, and make them right again, is an invaluable quality for online businesses and websites.
In the same vein, it’s important to admit your successes as well. If you’ve had some successes or reached some goals, share it on your site. Visitors will be impressed by your honesty and forthcomingness.
3. Leverage social proof
In this era of ubiquitous likes, tweets, reviews, hashtags, and shares, social proof has never been more vital. The idea is to gain more trust and conversions by showing that you are accepted and trusted by others.
Reviews—Reviews are the purest form of social proof, as they allow customers to voice their opinions about products and services. Allowing for reviews on your site will increase the trust of prospective customers, as they can see that other customers have used and approve of your business. It’s extremely important, however, that you don’t edit or delete reviews. In fact, it’s been shown that 68% of customers trust reviews more when there is a healthy mix of positive and negative reviews.
Testimonials—Testimonials are extremely powerful in developing customer trust. They exist in that middle ground between reviews and comments—and that is why they are so powerful. They are honest and given in the customer’s words, but also serve as a review of some aspect of the company.
Studies have shown that testimonials are trusted more than words from the company itself. This is especially true if a photo of the person who gave the review accompanies the testimonial. Adding testimonials to your site is a great idea that will almost certainly increase trust and conversions—just don’t create a dedicated testimonials page.
RELATED: In Strangers We Trust: The Power of Online Customer Reviews
Social media links—Social media is the present and the future, so it is necessary to have some sort of social media presence. In fact, simply having that presence will breed trust in your brand. Affixing social media links to your pages and articles is a great way to show visitors to your site that you have a social media presence, and they will be more inclined to share your content than if you had none at all.
Including these links can be great, but having too many can be a distraction; they can make your site look cluttered, spammy, and as a result, untrustworthy. There also is the issue of whether your content is getting shared. If, after a time, your content has few or no shares, it may be best to remove the links. One company found that conversions went up after it removed its social media links.
Accreditation—There are several accreditation bureaus that can help verify the legitimacy of your online business. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is the most notable, but there are other alternatives like TrustArc, Verisign, and Angie’s List. Attaining accreditation from any of these bureaus and placing their seals on your website can increase customer trust and improve conversion rates, as customers will feel that your site has been inspected and found to be legitimate.
4. Stay current
Keeping your website up-to-date is integral for building and maintaining the trust of your visitors. Content, policies, and social media that are regularly updated give the impression that the company tries hard to satisfy its customers and will be available and willing to resolve any issues that arise. Compare a frequently updated site to one that hasn’t been noticeably updated in years, and the difference in perceived trustworthiness is clear.
Blog—A blog is an important tool for almost every business. If you don’t have one, you should start one. It is a way to reach more potential customers; feed them information about you, your products, and things related to your products; and demonstrate your value.
While simply having a blog will increase the level of trust visitors have in your company, keeping it current with relevant content is vital. Through this avenue, you can also demonstrate your status as an authority. Visitors will see that you know your stuff and can provide sound advice, products, and services.
Finally, a regularly updated blog has the added benefit of improving your website’s placement in the search engine results pages.
Social media presence—As a small business, you have to go where your customers want to meet you. In the past, this meant simply placing an ad in the Yellow Pages. Today, it has become a necessity to have a regularly updated social media presence. Users want to see and follow what the companies they buy from are up to online. They also view the lack of a social media presence as an effort to hide something.
Don’t get carried away, but a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and a Google+ account will get you on the right track.
Policies—Keeping your legal policies up-to-date is not only important for building customer trust, but doing so will also keep you on the right side of current laws and regulations. Regularly updating your policies—especially your privacy policy—with new information will keep you ahead of any legal problems that may arise. By also updating the effective date on those policies, visitors will see that you are active in all aspects of your business, and that you are doing your best to ensure everything remains copacetic.
Staying current with frequently evolving laws and regulations is not always easy and can be time-consuming. Luckily there are services that will automatically update your legal policies so you don’t have to.
Links—If you strive to provide the best content, experience, and services for your visitors (and care about your SEO), you undoubtedly have some links on your site—both internal and external. To garner and maintain customer trust in your business, it is imperative that you regularly check these links for errors.
Reaching a “404 Not Found” page doesn’t do a lot for customer trust and satisfaction. Of course, it’s not your fault if a site to which one of your external links points to a 404s but it implies a negligence to keep your site maintained; it also implies that if some of the links on your site are broken, maybe other aspects of your site will be broken as well—this does not do a lot for building trust in your website.
Fortunately, there are services like Ahrefs and SEMrush that keep an eye on your links for you. However, these services only inform you of your link status. If they are broken, you will still need to fix them yourself.
RELATED: Do Customers Secretly Hate Your E-Commerce Site?
5. Exude confidence and selflessness
It is much easier to trust someone who is confident and selfless than it is to trust someone who is the opposite. It’s why used car salesmen have such a negative stigma. The stereotypical used car salesman (however inaccurate that may be) is a person who will lie, connive, and scheme just to sell you a vehicle.
You do not want to come across this way through your website. Yes, you want to sell your product or services. Yes, the reasons are most likely self-serving. And people are not stupid, they know that you want to make money and that you stand to make a profit from their business. The hard part is convincing them that you are confident in your products, and up front and open about the way you do business.
The saying goes, “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, the other gold.” In business, the same applies. It is five times more expensive to acquire new customers than to retain old ones. Thus, we must build customer trust, but also maintain that trust after the sale.
Warranties and guarantees—The best way to show confidence and gain trust in your products and your business is to offer comprehensive warranties and guarantees. Their conspicuous presence allows visitors to your site to feel at ease when making a purchase, knowing that the decision to purchase your products is ultimately risk-free.
You can court the visitors to your site all you want with attractive wording, content, and visuals, but in the end they will want to know that they can trust you and your company. A warranty and/or money-back guarantee will go a long way toward achieving that.
There are many different kinds of warranties and guarantees to choose from; each of which will help to promote trust in your business and increase conversion rates.
Return/refund policy—In the same vein as a guarantee, a return/refund policy will provide visitors to your site with a sense of confidence and trust. They will be more likely to purchase your products knowing that, in the event that they don’t get what they wanted, they can make a return hassle-free.
Not only should you have a thorough return/refund policy posted somewhere conspicuously on your website, you should also make mention of it on your product pages and at the checkout. Doing so will remind customers that they are in good hands and that the risk they are taking is minimal.
Many websites and small businesses today use online builders for their return/refund policies. The important thing is that they are thorough, airtight, and ultimately favor the customer.
Good, free content—Everyone wants to make money, but you can build customer trust and goodwill in your site by making helpful, thoughtful content that users can access for free. Doing so will make them more likely to buy from you, as opposed to a competitor.
Additionally, give visitors the option for a free trial. This not only demonstrates your own confidence in your product, but also allows customers the opportunity to try your products or services risk-free.
Further, do not gate your content. This means forcing visitors to sign up for something, provide personal information, or pay a small fee to access your content. This, needless to say, erodes any trust you may have built, and quite frankly, annoys visitors.
“We’re hiring!”—People trust companies that are successful. With success comes a degree of implied reliability and trustworthiness. You can imply your company’s success without actually stating it outright by advertising on your website that you are hiring. Provide a link to a page with your open positions listed.
Companies that are struggling financially will not be bringing new people on board. Visitors will see that you are hiring new people and are thus, achieving some success. They will be more likely to trust you and your company because of it.
Take the high road regarding competitors—How you address the issue of competition says a lot about you and your company. It will also go a long way toward developing trust in your customer base. Ultimately, it is best to conduct your business as if you have no competition—at least from the outside. Any attempt to remark on your competitors will come off as petty, and in the end begin to erode the trust you have built with your customers, as it will demonstrate that you aren’t serving them—only yourself.
Do what you have to do: be it price matching, some level of imitation, or similar product/ad designs, but stay above the pettiness of squabbling about your competitors. You never see Nike talk badly about Adidas, do you?
Trust: Your most powerful currency
Trust is the most powerful currency in business, and like anything worthwhile, it does not come easily. Luckily there are some things you can do to build that currency and make your website more successful in the long run.
Warren Buffet has said “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” Whatever you do, be consistent and try to put your customers first. This is ultimately the best way to develop and maintain their trust.
RELATED: Is Trust Dead? Here’s How to Build Authentic Customer Trust in a Digital World
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The 4 Steps that Helped Me Build My Personal Brand From Scratch
By Amanda Athuraliya
Remember when a CV was all it took to impress a potential employer? Those were simpler times, indeed. But somehow it feels limited when I look back now.
When I applied to my first job, all I had to forward to my then-employer was a resume listing my qualifications and a cover letter. However, by the time I was applying to my third job, things had changed, somewhat drastically. In the face of the increasing popularity of social media networks and digital marketing, the good old CV became inadequate, like it’s the least “cool” way to get a job.
Last time I checked, there were a plethora of ways one can use to build his or her own personal brand, both online and offline. And what is personal branding? In its simplest terms, personal branding is a way to become a recognized person or a person of authority in your industry/niche or among your customers or peers. It’s not necessarily about selling yourself or your talent, but creating an identity based on what you are capable of (your expertise). It’s about making yourself available to those who can use your help.
Following are the steps I took to build my personal brand when all I had was a PDF of my CV. Note: These methods are not limited to job seekers—entrepreneurs can also incorporate them to build their brand, increase their credibility among customers, and earn a well-recognized status within the industry.
Step 1: I started with a personal blog…
I am a content marketer, so a blog seemed like the most natural platform for me, but by no means is a blog only fitting for a writer. Whatever your profession or business, a blog or a website is an indispensable platform on which to build your personal brand.
Setting up a blog or a website is only the first step. Next comes promoting it to the right crowd: your potential clients or employers. But in between, you need to work on what you are going to offer your audience.
I started with writing and publishing blog posts based on my experience as a writer. Every post I wrote, I shared via my personal Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ accounts. At first it did not bring immediate results, but I persisted until I was able to generate traffic, and my posts started getting shared across social media channels. (Refer to steps 3 and 4 to see how I built a considerable social media following.)
Step 2: Then I reached out to other blogs
Once my blog was substantially established, I started reaching out to blogs where I could become a contributor and share my knowledge and expertise with their audiences. With this strategy I had two goals in mind:
- To expand my online presence and grow my network as a writer
- To increase the rank of my blog and generate traffic to it
To accomplish these goals I created a four-step plan:
1. Google and list blogs relevant to my field along with their domain authority. Reaching out to blogs with a higher domain authority than mine accomplished my second goal.
2. Select a certain blog (especially ones that allow do-follow links to one’s own site or blog) and research suitable topics to write about. I reached out to blogs with a custom email stating who I was, why I was reaching out, and a list of topic suggestions.
3. Once accepted, write the blog post and submit it for review. I always took care to submit quality pieces that commended myself as a writer, and respected the guidelines of each blog. Any links back to my blog were reserved for the author bio instead of the body of the article.
4. Once published, I shared it via my social channels. Guest blogging can be time-consuming, but done right it can be totally rewarding. It also can significantly increase your (or your business’s) online presence and credibility, and put you in front of your ideal audience. I am now a regular contributor to a number of high-authority blogs, and I need not emphasize what the positive impact it’s had on my personal brand as a writer.
Step 3: Joining LinkedIn helped me get my third job
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, and being part of it changed my professional life. Recruiters turn to LinkedIn as a source for potential job candidates, and most recruiters will run the names of potential employees through the network to form an initial opinion of them. Growing my network on LinkedIn took some time, but with LinkedIn it’s not the size of the network that matters, but rather who your connections are.
To find the right connections, you first need to complete your LinkedIn profile: List your professional experience, education, qualifications, skills and accomplishments, and interests. Also share links to your website or blog.
Join LinkedIn Groups and actively engage with other members; within LinkedIn you can join communities of like-minded professionals and expand your network further. Also, share your knowledge by writing and publishing articles on the platform. This is an effective way to get noticed by the right kind of people (like recruiters or clients).
RELATED: LinkedIn Dos and Don’ts: 10 Influencers Share Their Best Advice
Step 4: I created profiles on other social networks
Today it’s difficult to talk about branding without bringing up social media. Any marketing campaign for a product or service has a separate social media marketing strategy, and your personal brand should too. Social media provides a great outlet to showcase your expertise and build a following (of potential clients).
Similar to LinkedIn, social media platforms have their own unique ways to build a brand:
- Facebook. On Facebook, in addition to your personal account, you have the ability to create a page (this could be based on your website, your blog, or on your business). Through Facebook marketing tactics, such as ads, shareable posts, contests, Q&As, etc. you can increase your following quite easily. Plus, via Facebook Community Pages, you can further expand your reach.
- Google+. Just like Facebook, you can share content that best reflects you and your skills via Google+. And by becoming an active member in relevant communities, you will become known to a wider audience.
- Twitter. With the right followers and the right hashtags, Twitter can be one of the most effective social media channels for your personal branding efforts. Not only can you make connections with top influencers in your industry, but you can attract an audience that will value your opinions and knowledge.
- YouTube. Video has become one of the most effective means of communication today. With a YouTube channel, you can make a greater impact on your audience than with any other platform.
Remember to maintain a current profile on all your social media channels, and link to all the channels from your blog and site. Also, if you write guest posts, be sure to include links to your social media profiles in your author’s bio.
And I continue to learn…
Whatever your field of expertise, it is bound to change and evolve. As someone trying to build a strong personal brand, keeping in touch with new trends and techniques is of utmost importance to stay relevant.
I’m constantly reading articles and books written by experts in my industry. I try out new things that I learn and share things with my audience through my blog and social media channels. Learning new things and constantly evolving is how I maintain and tend to my personal brand.
RELATED: Build Your Business Brand by Writing a Book—It’s Easier Than You Think!
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14 Startup Tips From Small Business Pros
If you want to start your small business right and reduce your chances of failing, you’re in luck. All across the country, there are experts who have seen firsthand what business owners often do wrong—and right—and can help you avoid similar mistakes.
Experts from the nation’s 63 Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) are more than happy to share their advice for starting and growing a business successfully. They work with entrepreneurs every day, providing free and low-cost consulting. Collectively, SBDCs help a new business launch every 31 minutes, and provide more than 1.3 million hours of consulting services to entrepreneurs annually.
To get you started, we’ve asked some of these advisors to share their best tips for new businesses.
Startup basics
“Know your customer,” advises Lee Lambert, director of the Alameda County SBDC in Oakland, California. “To succeed as an entrepreneur, you must know your customer and what they want; it’s the key to success. Spend time doing some grassroots marketing, and go out to talk to your customers before you start the business, and continuously solicit their feedback after that,” he suggests. “Doing this will help you build stronger, longer-lasting customer relationships.”
While you are doing your research, make sure you analyze the competition, says Tamela Darnell, management consultant for the Kentucky Small Business Development Center. “Many entrepreneurs think they don’t have any competitors and that is not the case,” she says. “You have direct and indirect competitors.”
Some business owners will launch with a distinct vision of their unique niche, but for others the path to success may not be so clear. If you’re in the latter group, remain open-minded and cast a wider net, suggests Enrique Romero, regional director of the University of Texas of the Permian Basin SBDC. “You will eventually find your niche market by working through as many customers as possible, and find a certain customer base that will stick.”
Do your homework before you launch, recommends Robert Bahn, lead business consultant with the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center. He sometimes sees clients who think that they can launch a business as long as they have enough money to cover rent and opening costs. “Then they wonder where are all the customers?” he says. Whether it’s market research or information on how to prepare for and get business financing, there are plenty of resources available to help you prepare before you start your business.
What if your problem is that you have too many good ideas? Beware of spreading yourself too thin, says Marelena Sandy, program manager for the Illinois SBDC at College of DuPage. “Trying to make all of your business ideas effectively work at one time is simply not attainable,” she says. She recommends you use a feasibility checklist to figure out which one works best for you. “What’s the market like? Your competitors? Do you have experience?” These are just some of the questions you need to ask. “Make one idea successfully work, and then decide whether you want to take on another venture,” she recommends.
RELATED: The Secret Behind One Small Business’s Success—Hint: It’s Free!
Money matters
Start with as clean a financial slate as possible before you launch, urges Romero. “Begin to get your ducks in a row,” he says. That includes reviewing and working on your credit, “saving money and [getting] up-to-date on your finances, including your taxes,” he says. “Why? Because as a new business owner, it will be tough road ahead and you don’t need a lot of baggage holding you back.”
And speaking of money, you need to start with enough funds to cover expenses until you break even, and you’ll want to make smart decisions to protect your finances and your business credit.
If you get financing, whether from a credit card, bank, or family member, be careful warns Bahn. Being “stupid with your own money” is one thing, he says, “but when you have members of your family giving you money to start a business, then treat it as someone else’s money.” It’s the same as getting a loan, he explains. It needs to be paid back.
He also says it’s important to project the path to profitability. “Most business owners want to make money, but you need to know when you expect to break even,” he says. “This way when you do not meet the timeline, you have to make some big decisions, one of which is to shut down.”
“Spreadsheets are your friends,” says Sandy. “Make a list of startup and operational costs, keep track of what you are spending, organize your contacts, and by all means, keep them up-to-date,” she urges.
As you market your business, remember everything you do has a cost. An example: social media. It’s not free, warns Darnell. “You pay with either your time or money,” she says. “It takes time to build a social media presence as a startup.”
Ask for help
Know when to get help. Too many entrepreneurs try to do everything themselves. “You will have a tremendous amount of responsibilities” warns Sandy. “Time management will be key to accomplishing majority of your tasks, (but also) take a step back and determine if it is time to hire someone and/or individuals onboard to assist.”
Find mentors who can “help you to navigate the myriad challenges that come with being a business owner,” advises Lambert. Research from the Small Firms Economic Development Initiative found that 70% of small businesses that receive mentoring survive more than five years–double the rate of non-mentored businesses.”
A great place to start is with your state and local SBDCs, which offer free and low-cost training and consulting on a variety of business issues. And this 14-step checklist can also help you set up your business the right way.
And above all, “Be open to learning, learning and learning,” Romero says. “You will make mistakes, lots of them. Learn from those mistakes, move forward and improve on those mistakes.”
RELATED: 3 Big Ways the SBA Helps Small Businesses (That You Might Not Know About)
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Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Adjustable-Rate Mortgages: The Pros and Cons
An adjustable-rate mortgage is a home loan that has an initial period with a fixed interest rate followed by periodic rate adjustments. An adjustable-rate mortgage, or ARM, may sound risky. After all, your payments can increase or decrease based on interest-rate changes that are out of your control. But in some cases, choosing an ARM...
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2 Simple But Effective Strategies to Ramp Up Your Selling
You will not succeed in sales if you believe a time will come in your career when you can stop learning. The best salespeople are always looking for new ideas on how to become better at selling.
I used to say that too many salespeople don’t read enough about how to improve their selling skills and strategies—and I would jokingly point out that golf magazines don’t count. Since you are reading this, you are the exception.
Here are two simple but effective ways to sell more:
1. Don’t confuse what you want to say with what a prospect should hear
Some salespeople are so enthusiastic about their products and services that they want their prospects to hear everything about the products. These salespeople talk with their prospects about product specifications, what the products will do, and how the products work. Some people would call this a “data dump.”
Let me give you an example. An industrial products salesperson will talk about a gear oil’s specs. He might mention why the specs are important, then he’ll discuss how the product works in a machine. What’s the problem? The salesperson didn’t ask the prospect what they cared about. The salesperson didn’t ask if the prospect was having a gear problem that related to the need for a particular gear-oil specification. Why would a prospect care about how the product works if that wasn’t the problem in the first place?
Ask about gear performance if you suspect your prospect might have gear problems, and be sure to find out what your prospect’s performance problem is that relates to your products. Then you can talk about your products and what they can do for the customer.
RELATED: 4 Flavors of Sales Lessons From the Ice Cream Truck
Some technical sales professionals forget that not all prospects are as technical as they are. Let’s say you do uncover a prospect’s gear problem. They are experiencing premature differential wear that’s costing their maintenance department excessive amounts of money. Would you explain the merits of your product to a purchasing agent the same way you would to the plant engineer? I’ve seen some technical professionals go into way too much detail. You can see their prospect’s eyes glaze over.
Some people only want to know what time it is; they don’t want to know how to build a watch. Even you understand it all, spare them the details of how to build the watch and just tell them the time.
2. Adopt the policy “Don’t tell, do ask”
You might remember the old military policy of “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” It may be gone in the military, but it’s half-right for sales.
Too many salespeople tell their prospects the problems they believe the prospects are experiencing. The salesperson thinks that once the prospect hears the problem, they will understand how important it is to act quickly and address it.
What’s wrong with that? The salesperson has logically presented an issue to their prospect, but didn’t present it emotionally. The result is the prospect isn’t emotionally invested in solving the problem—even if it’s negatively affecting them. Rather than telling, it’s much more effective when a salesperson is asking. When a prospect answers a question they are asked, it motivates them to act. So the official policy for salespeople should probably be “Don’t tell, do ask.”
A salesperson should think about what they want their prospect to understand, and then ask the right questions that will generate that answer.
For example, you might want your prospect to understand that working with a financial advisor who is paid on commission does not produce fiduciary benefits. You would not say, “Your current financial advisor is not looking out for your best interests.” Instead, you would ask a series of questions, such as “Is it important for you to work with someone who puts your interests before his or her company’s interests?” When your prospect answers “yes” or “why do you ask,” you can explain how fiduciary responsibilities apply to a fee-based financial advisor.
Your prospect has now told you what is important to them. It’s now their “data” and customers never argue with their own data. You have avoided possible objections.
These two strategies are just a couple of ways that you can improve your sales results. Start trying them out and see if you notice a positive change in your selling.
RELATED: Why Aren’t There More Women in Sales? (And What to Do About It)
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Entrepreneurs: Make Sure Your Professional Development Plan Focuses on Building These 3 Crucial Skills
Why is a professional development plan important for entrepreneurs? Because without one, it’s difficult to grow a business. No entrepreneur has a ready-built skill set that provides all the answers to continuously changing situations.
Most likely, you are more competent in certain business functions than others. However, to successfully expand a business that’s changing as new team members join requires embracing different leadership and management skills. Here are three skills that will help you be more successful:
1. Embrace a leadership mind-set
Leaders have certain attitudes toward success that are reflected in their behavior. Embracing a leadership mind-set will help when you add new staff to your organization as people will be looking to you for guidance.
Start by focusing on how your contributions, and those of your staff, connect to a larger sense of purpose. As an entrepreneur, you should have the big picture in mind. Sharing this vision will elevate your energy level and serve as a motivator to reach new business growth levels.
Having a leadership mind-set can be contagious to others in your company and will be foundational in solidifying a can-do attitude within your company’s culture. A leadership mindset displays confidence in yourself and the people you work with.
RELATED: 5 Essential Qualities of a Successful Leader
2. Be willing to delegate
When you first started your business, you most likely assumed many roles. To move the company forward, you probably worked in multiple areas until you were able to hire a team. However, for entrepreneurs, what often becomes a barrier to achieve broad levels of success is themselves.
You need to let go. Maybe you are an expert in marketing, or sales, or program creation; however, at some point you will need to delegate some of your responsibilities if you truly want to scale your business. You will reach your capacity at some point, and if you want to expand your business, you will need to delegate.
By delegating responsibilities, you are modeling that you have trust in your team members and that you are willing to share the glory of success. Part of the delegating process is communicating desired results and what these results look like; the other part is getting out of the way of your subordinates and letting them accomplish their tasks. Realize that team members may not do things the same way that you do, and this is also part of the delegation learning curve.
Learning to delegate is an essential ingredient in building a business, and it takes practice to learn this skill—but it’s well worth it.
3. Learn outside your comfort zone
The only way to grow is to step outside your comfort zone. No entrepreneur is going to start a business and possess all the skills, knowledge, and abilities to single-handedly grow a new enterprise. Situations will arise that you’ll need to learn how to handle; there will be changes in technology that will impact the business. New competitors will enter the market. New marketing strategies will be introduced. You get the picture: Societal changes will constantly affect your business.
An important reminder: Your business is your most important client. Taking care of number one assures that you are being proactive with the business and attending to changes as they occur. As an entrepreneur, think about your own professional development strategy. Review what skills, knowledge, or abilities you could acquire that would best serve the growth of your business.
You may find as you add team members that you need to improve your leadership skills—including communication, delegation, and monitoring skills. You may also find that you need to learn more about financial forecasting and operational planning, and as your company becomes more well-known, you may find that you need to brush up on public speaking skills.
Our best advice is for you to create an annual plan for your own self-improvement—not simply to acquire more knowledge, but to acquire additional implementation skills. To transform your innovative ideas into lasting success takes purposeful and continuous professional development.
RELATED: 5 Business Experts Share Their Favorite Growth Strategies
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Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Entrepreneurs: Make Sure Your Professional Development Plan Focuses on Building These 3 Crucial Skills
Why is a professional development plan important for entrepreneurs? Because without one, it’s difficult to grow a business. No entrepreneur has a ready-built skill set that provides all the answers to continuously changing situations.
Most likely, you are more competent in certain business functions than others. However, to successfully expand a business that’s changing as new team members join requires embracing different leadership and management skills. Here are three skills that will help you be more successful:
1. Embrace a leadership mind-set
Leaders have certain attitudes toward success that are reflected in their behavior. Embracing a leadership mind-set will help when you add new staff to your organization as people will be looking to you for guidance.
Start by focusing on how your contributions, and those of your staff, connect to a larger sense of purpose. As an entrepreneur, you should have the big picture in mind. Sharing this vision will elevate your energy level and serve as a motivator to reach new business growth levels.
Having a leadership mind-set can be contagious to others in your company and will be foundational in solidifying a can-do attitude within your company’s culture. A leadership mindset displays confidence in yourself and the people you work with.
RELATED: 5 Essential Qualities of a Successful Leader
2. Be willing to delegate
When you first started your business, you most likely assumed many roles. To move the company forward, you probably worked in multiple areas until you were able to hire a team. However, for entrepreneurs, what often becomes a barrier to achieve broad levels of success is themselves.
You need to let go. Maybe you are an expert in marketing, or sales, or program creation; however, at some point you will need to delegate some of your responsibilities if you truly want to scale your business. You will reach your capacity at some point, and if you want to expand your business, you will need to delegate.
By delegating responsibilities, you are modeling that you have trust in your team members and that you are willing to share the glory of success. Part of the delegating process is communicating desired results and what these results look like; the other part is getting out of the way of your subordinates and letting them accomplish their tasks. Realize that team members may not do things the same way that you do, and this is also part of the delegation learning curve.
Learning to delegate is an essential ingredient in building a business, and it takes practice to learn this skill—but it’s well worth it.
3. Learn outside your comfort zone
The only way to grow is to step outside your comfort zone. No entrepreneur is going to start a business and possess all the skills, knowledge, and abilities to single-handedly grow a new enterprise. Situations will arise that you’ll need to learn how to handle; there will be changes in technology that will impact the business. New competitors will enter the market. New marketing strategies will be introduced. You get the picture: Societal changes will constantly affect your business.
An important reminder: Your business is your most important client. Taking care of number one assures that you are being proactive with the business and attending to changes as they occur. As an entrepreneur, think about your own professional development strategy. Review what skills, knowledge, or abilities you could acquire that would best serve the growth of your business.
You may find as you add team members that you need to improve your leadership skills—including communication, delegation, and monitoring skills. You may also find that you need to learn more about financial forecasting and operational planning, and as your company becomes more well-known, you may find that you need to brush up on public speaking skills.
Our best advice is for you to create an annual plan for your own self-improvement—not simply to acquire more knowledge, but to acquire additional implementation skills. To transform your innovative ideas into lasting success takes purposeful and continuous professional development.
RELATED: 5 Business Experts Share Their Favorite Growth Strategies
The post Entrepreneurs: Make Sure Your Professional Development Plan Focuses on Building These 3 Crucial Skills appeared first on AllBusiness.com
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2 Simple But Effective Strategies to Ramp Up Your Selling
You will not succeed in sales if you believe a time will come in your career when you can stop learning. The best salespeople are always looking for new ideas on how to become better at selling.
I used to say that too many salespeople don’t read enough about how to improve their selling skills and strategies—and I would jokingly point out that golf magazines don’t count. Since you are reading this, you are the exception.
Here are two simple but effective ways to sell more:
1. Don’t confuse what you want to say with what a prospect should hear
Some salespeople are so enthusiastic about their products and services that they want their prospects to hear everything about the products. These salespeople talk with their prospects about product specifications, what the products will do, and how the products work. Some people would call this a “data dump.”
Let me give you an example. An industrial products salesperson will talk about a gear oil’s specs. He might mention why the specs are important, then he’ll discuss how the product works in a machine. What’s the problem? The salesperson didn’t ask the prospect what they cared about. The salesperson didn’t ask if the prospect was having a gear problem that related to the need for a particular gear-oil specification. Why would a prospect care about how the product works if that wasn’t the problem in the first place?
Ask about gear performance if you suspect your prospect might have gear problems, and be sure to find out what your prospect’s performance problem is that relates to your products. Then you can talk about your products and what they can do for the customer.
RELATED: 4 Flavors of Sales Lessons From the Ice Cream Truck
Some technical sales professionals forget that not all prospects are as technical as they are. Let’s say you do uncover a prospect’s gear problem. They are experiencing premature differential wear that’s costing their maintenance department excessive amounts of money. Would you explain the merits of your product to a purchasing agent the same way you would to the plant engineer? I’ve seen some technical professionals go into way too much detail. You can see their prospect’s eyes glaze over.
Some people only want to know what time it is; they don’t want to know how to build a watch. Even you understand it all, spare them the details of how to build the watch and just tell them the time.
2. Adopt the policy “Don’t tell, do ask”
You might remember the old military policy of “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” It may be gone in the military, but it’s half-right for sales.
Too many salespeople tell their prospects the problems they believe the prospects are experiencing. The salesperson thinks that once the prospect hears the problem, they will understand how important it is to act quickly and address it.
What’s wrong with that? The salesperson has logically presented an issue to their prospect, but didn’t present it emotionally. The result is the prospect isn’t emotionally invested in solving the problem—even if it’s negatively affecting them. Rather than telling, it’s much more effective when a salesperson is asking. When a prospect answers a question they are asked, it motivates them to act. So the official policy for salespeople should probably be “Don’t tell, do ask.”
A salesperson should think about what they want their prospect to understand, and then ask the right questions that will generate that answer.
For example, you might want your prospect to understand that working with a financial advisor who is paid on commission does not produce fiduciary benefits. You would not say, “Your current financial advisor is not looking out for your best interests.” Instead, you would ask a series of questions, such as “Is it important for you to work with someone who puts your interests before his or her company’s interests?” When your prospect answers “yes” or “why do you ask,” you can explain how fiduciary responsibilities apply to a fee-based financial advisor.
Your prospect has now told you what is important to them. It’s now their “data” and customers never argue with their own data. You have avoided possible objections.
These two strategies are just a couple of ways that you can improve your sales results. Start trying them out and see if you notice a positive change in your selling.
RELATED: Why Aren’t There More Women in Sales? (And What to Do About It)
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Where to Find a Small-Dollar Loan
A small personal loan can be a quick, convenient option to pay an immediate expense, like a medical bill or car repair. While many lenders usually offer personal loans above a certain threshold, typically $2,000, you’ll find options for smaller loans at several online lenders and most credit unions. Unlike an auto or home loan,...
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Differences Between Conforming Loans and Nonconforming
This will be a little peek into the inner workings of a home loan. It’s kind of like looking under the hood of a car. Lots of belts, hoses, metal and plastic — and who knows what all that’s about? But knowing what conforming and nonconforming loans are, and how they differ, will help you...
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13 Techniques to Make New Employees Feel Welcome
Q. What’s one thing your company does after onboarding to help a new employee feel welcome?
Their best answers are below:
1. Add to the wall of inspirations
2. Invite them and their family to a meal
3. Test their pop culture knowledge
4. Provide a welcome box
5. Give them a small, company-branded cake
6. Have them meet other departments, one on one
7. Introduce remote workers to the entire team
8. Meet over lunch, dinner and a BBQ
9. Have every team member greet them on day one
For small and medium-sized companies, one of the most effective ways to get a new hire to feel included is to hear from every team member. They will be happy to know that everyone is aware of their presence and will begin opening a dialog for them to feel like they can reach out for help. Even if it is a short email, getting a message from everyone will make a happy start. – Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors
10. Ask: Coffee or Tea?
11. Talk about interests and why we work here
12. Meet during an optional, all-hands coffee break
13. Hold monthly follow-up one-on-one’s
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4 Ways You Look Good by Making Your Staff Look Good
As a manager, your success isn’t measured by what you accomplish alone—it’s about what you make happen with the resources you have.
And the most important resource you have is your staff.
Here are four ways that making your staff look good helps you look good, and helps you advance yourself within your organization:
1. Get your staff involved
Whenever there are new projects or initiatives, give your staff an opportunity to be involved so they can contribute their knowledge and experience and develop themselves for future opportunities.
This includes putting them on committees and getting them involved in special projects, both within your own department and in other areas of the company, including corporate initiatives.
You will provide your staff members with opportunities for growth while at the same time gaining better insight and possibly a better channel for influence within those initiatives.
2. Give your staff exposure
Invite your staff to senior management meetings or presentations where they will be seen by other decision makers in the company. Instead of speaking or presenting about things in your area of responsibility at those meetings, have the relevant staff member deliver the presentation.
Even if they are not allowed to stay for the entire meeting for confidentiality reasons, making an appearance will be valuable to them professionally even while it demonstrate the strength of your department’s resources.
RELATED: The Seven Types of Managers—Where Do You Stand?
3. Always give your staff credit
Yes, you are the manager and the person who is ultimately responsible for success in your group, but keeping credit to yourself isn’t the way to look good.
Your best bet is to give credit to the staff members who did the work with your support and guidance.
Letting your staff get credit for the great work they do allows you to take the credit for being a great leader and manager who enables their employees to succeed.
This not only is an authentic and fair way to manage, it shows your own senior managers that you are good at hiring, developing, and nurturing great talent and getting things done.
You will also gain loyalty from your staff, who will appreciate being recognized for their contributions.
4. Advocate for your staff’s promotion or development
It is hard to let a great staff member go, and while it always means more effort on your part to replace them, you are doing both your staff and your organization a favor.
Instead of holding back staff because they make you more successful, work to develop and promote your staff into other areas in the company. This includes advocating for them to be promoted or to get temporary assignments, even lateral ones, that help the employee develop their career.
This practice shows your leadership skills as well as your support for both your own staff and your organization as a whole. You will end up with loyal staff members in your group who see you as an champion for their career growth. You will also cultivate allies within your organization as your staff take on other higher responsibilities, and you will gain respect from senior management and the HR Department who will see you as a team player who supports the company’s success.
RELATED: 3 Negative Messages You Send Your Boss When You Don’t Disconnect While on Vacation
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Monday, August 28, 2017
My week on Twitter : 15 New Followers, 1 Favorited, 1 Tweet. See yours with https://sumall.com/performancetweet/text_and_media …pic.twitter.com/vliqKUxU2J
My week on Twitter : 15 New Followers, 1 Favorited, 1 Tweet. See yours with http://ift.tt/2wIaKMr; http://pic.twitter.com/vliqKUxU2J
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Why Every Business Owner Needs Access to a Revolving Line of Credit
Running a business is expensive. Beyond the large costs you need to cover every month or every few weeks—your office space and employee payroll, for example—there are always small things that need to be taken care of daily. Therefore, as a business owner, you know how important your cash flow is to keep things running smoothly.
But cash flow challenges are pretty much inevitable; all businesses have ups and downs, and even if your revenue remains high, there might come a point when you have little access to cash. So, what do you do?
When you need a short-term funding solution, having a revolving line of credit on the back burner can help immensely. Let’s take a deeper look at why every business owner needs access to a revolving line of credit.
What is a revolving line of credit?
A revolving line of credit is simply a pool of funds that you have approved access to. After qualifying for a credit line through a bank or other institution, you can borrow from this amount whenever the need arises. When you repay the funds you’ve borrowed from your line of credit, you’ll pay interest on only the amount that you borrowed, and once you repay those funds, your credit available goes back to the original amount.
Unlike other business funding, a revolving line of credit doesn’t come with a set repayment plan, because the amount you end up borrowing is up to you. Plus, you can continue borrowing and repaying funds over and over as your needs demand.
Here are some of the biggest benefits of having a revolving line of credit:
- Flexible repayment terms: Unlike a term loan, there is no set amount you need to pay each month if you’ve borrowed from your revolving line of credit. If you have a slow month, you have the option to simply pay the minimum amount due. (Of course, keep in mind that the amount you borrow will continue accruing interest until you’ve repaid all of it.)
- Flexible usage: With other types of business funding, the money you borrow can be used for only one specific, preapproved purpose; however, with a revolving line of credit, you can use the cash for whatever business expense you need covered.
- Build business credit: Building credit is crucial for any new business owner because many lenders won’t approve you for a business loan unless you have a proven history of creditworthiness and a few years of experience. This may seem like a catch-22: You must make some money before you can borrow it. Borrowing and responsibly repaying money from your revolving line of credit is a great way to build your business credit history and will help you gain approval from other lenders in the future.
RELATED: How to Get a Business Loan If Your Credit’s Not So Hot
- Quick access to cash: Sometimes things happen that we just can’t prepare for. For example, maybe you received a big order from a new client, but you don’t have the inventory on hand to fill it, or enough liquid cash to purchase new inventory. A revolving line of credit is an excellent backup plan to cover the inventory you need so you can fill the order on time and secure a potential long-term client.
The difference between a revolving credit and credit cards
There are a few differences between a revolving line of credit and a business credit card. First, you don’t need an actual card to access your line of credit. Second, you don’t need to make a specific purchase to get access to the funds, the money can be transferred into a bank account for any reason, before an actual transaction has been made. One way to think about it is that a business credit card is a type of revolving credit it. But there are other options.
What to know about applying for a revolving line of credit
Of course, not every line of credit functions the same way. There are many different types of revolving lines of credit, from short-term and long-term lines of credit to business credit cards.
In the past, banks would have been one of your only options for applying for a revolving line of credit. But thanks to the internet, there are plenty of alternative lending sources available for business owners of all different credit backgrounds, and at different stages in the business cycle.
Banks will, for the most part, still be your most financially-sound source of funding when it comes to applying for a revolving line of credit. However, just as many business owners won’t be approved for term loans through a bank, many also won’t be approved for revolving lines of credit through a bank.
If you have a poor credit history and little business experience, it’s harder to secure a business loan with a desirable low-interest rate and long loan term. The same basic rule applies to a revolving line of credit: Business owners who don’t meet the revenue, credit score, or business history requirements of long-term business loans are likely to only be approved for a revolving line of credit with lower funds available and higher interest rates and APRs.
On the other hand, if you have several years in business, a good credit score, and strong revenue, you are more likely to be approved for a “better” revolving line of credit. If you’re more likely to qualify for a medium- or long-term business loan, you’re also more likely to be approved for a revolving line of credit with more available funds and a lower interest rate.
It’s also important to note that some revolving lines of credit will require you to put up some sort of collateral or guarantee against the amount you borrow. While there are revolving lines of credit that are unsecured by collateral, these tend to have stricter qualification standards (much like traditional bank loans).
Should you apply for a revolving line of credit?
In the simplest terms, a revolving line of credit is an excellent backup plan, especially if your business has inconsistent cash flow. It is also typically easier to qualify for a revolving line of credit than other business funding.
However, remember that the interest rates on what you borrow from a revolving line of credit are often higher than other business loan options. It also may require collateral, which may not be an option for some business owners. But if you know you will be responsible in repaying what you borrow, a revolving line of credit is a great way to set your business up for a successful future.
RELATED: 10 Key Steps to Getting a Small Business Loan
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The 4 Keys to Boosting Your Customer Retention
We’ve all been in situations where we’ve felt like we were “taking two steps forward and one step back.” That’s exactly what’s happening when you work hard to optimize your advertising and marketing programs, but then realize your customer lifetime value isn’t what it should be.
Your hope is that your great product or service will create loyalty and devotion. While this is sometimes the case, the truth is that it’s not always an effective strategy. If you don’t focus on your customers and make them feel valued, they’ll eventually leave—and the cost is high.
According to Bain & Company, attracting a new customer costs your business six to seven times more than retaining an existing one. You need to do what you can to earn your customers’ loyalty—continuously; never underestimate the value of retention. Here are four keys to achieving the level of customer retention you need to boost your top line.
1. Know your customers better than they know themselves
People have a strong, natural desire to be known and understood. If they sense that you’re meeting this need, they will strongly prefer your business over one where they are merely another customer or client. We know that customer service ratings plummet when customers feel they are being ignored; the same is true when they feel rushed.
There’s a huge clue in that second item: A winning tactic may be as simple as investing a bit more time with each customer. This simple strategy should be included on any list of ways to boost your business. Exactly how this looks in your business is up to you, but take some time to create real relationships with your customers.
Do you remember the theme song from the long-running sitcom Cheers? Its title—and most memorable lyric—was “Where everyone knows your name.” That reflects the kind of relationship that keeps people coming back.
2. Implement feedback systems
We said that customers don’t want to be ignored or rushed. One thing they want to feel is heard. Allowing customers to speak for themselves plays a critical role in creating a positive customer experience.
Systems like surveys or just asking your loyal customers for feedback will help you know how they feel about your business and its products and services. Your customers can offer great insights to what would keep them coming back and supporting your business. Put their suggestions into effect and revise them as needed.
Haven’t done business recently with a long-time client? Get on the phone and find out what’s up. Don’t make it a sales call. This can also be a powerful tool when you know that you’ve lost someone’s business. If necessary, incentivize follow-up calls to former customers with a (third-party) gift card or some other small token that proves you value their time and comments.
RELATED: How to Reconcile Customer Feedback With Your Business Vision
3. Go beyond nice and polite
Thank yous are nice, but an unexpected surprise is even more effective: People don’t forget when pleasant, unexpected things come their way—a random act of kindness will leave a lasting impression.
There’s an old saying: It’s never crowded on the extra mile. Customer experience guru Shep Hyken has a term he uses for these acts that set you apart from those who conduct “business as usual.” He calls them “Moments of Magic.” Further, expressing gratitude for your customers is an area that is specifically ripe for Moments of Magic, according to Hyken.
For some businesses, these could be as big as providing a private jet charter flight, a backstage pass to a major concert, or tickets to a playoff game. However, they can also be as small as a birthday greeting that includes a special freebie.
4. Provide anticipatory service
If you understand that customer service is the most important thing you can do to help your business grow, you’re correct. There are customer service lessons every business should learn, and one is to practice anticipatory service. Anticipatory service is the style of customer service when your business anticipates problems that may occur and stops them before they can happen.
You can do something as simple as calling a customer to see if they have any questions before they call you to seek help. Being proactive and establishing dialogue will show awareness from your company and prove that you have respect for your customers’ time. No one wants to waste precious time having to repeatedly call a business for help.
One-time customers won’t fuel the growth of your business. In fact, they tend to be a net drain on your bottom line by costing more to acquire than is gained by a single sale. Retaining customers is vital for sustained business success. Learn how to actively engage your customers and put a strong customer retention plan in place with extensive systemization and training. Do not leave it to chance! It’s a necessary investment for generating the future revenue that will ensure your business thrives.
RELATED: 5 Ways to Turn Your Customer Service Team Into a Secondary Sales Force
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Flood Insurance Comes With a Waiting Period
As massive floods from Tropical Storm Harvey sweep Texas, you might be wondering how fast you can buy flood insurance. Home insurance doesn’t pay to repair damage caused by flooding. You’ll need to buy separate flood insurance to cover tropical storms, torrential rain and overflowing rivers. It’s smart to buy flood insurance before flooding becomes imminent, as there’s...
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How Even the Busiest Business Owner Can Make Vacation Happen This Year
Hard to believe, but summer is nearly over. Did you take a vacation from your small business this year? If you’re like many entrepreneurs, the answer is no. Just 57% of small business owners in a recent survey by OnDeck Capital say they are vacationing this year, and only 32% say they generally make vacation a priority.
Getting away from it all for a vacation is challenging for many Americans, but especially for small business owners who often lack the staff to delegate to while they’re away. But taking a vacation—even a short one—can make a huge difference in your productivity, motivation, and energy levels after your return. And it might be easier to do than you think.
Just what the doctor ordered
Consider this: According to the OnDeck Capital survey, the group most likely to make vacation a priority is doctors—people who literally deal with life-and-death situations every day. Sixty-seven percent of doctors in the survey said they take vacations, compared to just half of restaurateurs. If doctors can manage to take time off, certainly you can.
The longer entrepreneurs have been in business, and the more employees they have, the more likely they are to take a vacation, the survey found. That could be because these veteran entrepreneurs have learned how important it is to take time off, or because they generally have more people to delegate to. Seven out of 10 small business owners who have been in business for 11 to 20 years are taking vacations, compared to 47% of those in business 1 to 10 years; 57% of those with 1 to 5 employees take vacations, as do 63% of those with 6 to 10 employees. Not surprisingly, self-employed people (with no employees) are the least likely demographic to take vacations: just 42% of them do.
Unplug and delegate
Even taking a vacation doesn’t mean entrepreneurs are actually unplugging from their businesses, however. Sixty-seven percent of business owners surveyed say they check in with their business at least once a day; just 15% are able to disconnect altogether during a trip.
RELATED: 10 Ways to Keep Your Business Running Smoothly While You’re on Vacation
Checking in with your business may not be ideal, but sometimes it’s essential to make a vacation work. (No wonder 75% of doctors who take vacations check in every day.) You can try to maximize your downtime by limiting work check-ins to once or twice a day—say, in the morning before you head out on that day’s adventure, or in the evening before dinner. Or, take a lesson from how doctors do it: Delegate one of your staff to handle your phone calls, voice mails and emails, and alert you when anything urgent arises. That way, you can be confident you’re not missing anything important, but you don’t have to keep checking your phone.
Also let go of the idea that vacation has to be a lengthy affair. Of the business owners who do vacation, 61% take one week off, 26% take a few days, and 9% take two weeks. One week off seems to be the sweet spot where you get the benefit of time off without missing too much that’s going on at your business.
To maximize relaxation, try choosing a location relatively close to home so you’re not spending entire days traveling. Of course, even a few days off is better than nothing, and almost every entrepreneur can make this work. For example, try tacking a couple of personal days on to your next business trip.
Seasonal considerations
Summer may not be your ideal time to take a break—for instance, if your business is seasonal and relies on summer tourists. If that’s the case, look on the bright side: Traveling during off seasons can save you money and be more relaxing, with fewer crowds.
But whenever your business’s off-season is, find a way to take some time off. If you don’t feel like your business has an off-season, consider when your customers slow down. Do they shut their offices down for the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day? Then take your break then. You get the idea.
RELATED: Time Out! How Taking a Vacation Will Make You a Better Entrepreneur
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Can You Buy Last-Minute Hurricane Insurance?
As Tropical Storm Harvey continues to dump water on Texas and Louisiana, you may be wondering what kind of insurance can provide financial rescue in these situations — and how far ahead you need to buy it. Insurance for hurricane damage can involve more than one insurance policy. Waiting periods often make it tough to...
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Saturday, August 26, 2017
4 Ways You Look Good by Making Your Staff Look Good
As a manager, your success isn’t measured by what you accomplish alone—it’s about what you make happen with the resources you have.
And the most important resource you have is your staff.
Here are four ways that making your staff look good helps you look good, and helps you advance yourself within your organization:
1. Get your staff involved
Whenever there are new projects or initiatives, give your staff an opportunity to be involved so they can contribute their knowledge and experience and develop themselves for future opportunities.
This includes putting them on committees and getting them involved in special projects, both within your own department and in other areas of the company, including corporate initiatives.
You will provide your staff members with opportunities for growth while at the same time gaining better insight and possibly a better channel for influence within those initiatives.
2. Give your staff exposure
Invite your staff to senior management meetings or presentations where they will be seen by other decision makers in the company. Instead of speaking or presenting about things in your area of responsibility at those meetings, have the relevant staff member deliver the presentation.
Even if they are not allowed to stay for the entire meeting for confidentiality reasons, making an appearance will be valuable to them professionally even while it demonstrate the strength of your department’s resources.
RELATED: The Seven Types of Managers—Where Do You Stand?
3. Always give your staff credit
Yes, you are the manager and the person who is ultimately responsible for success in your group, but keeping credit to yourself isn’t the way to look good.
Your best bet is to give credit to the staff members who did the work with your support and guidance.
Letting your staff get credit for the great work they do allows you to take the credit for being a great leader and manager who enables their employees to succeed.
This not only is an authentic and fair way to manage, it shows your own senior managers that you are good at hiring, developing, and nurturing great talent and getting things done.
You will also gain loyalty from your staff, who will appreciate being recognized for their contributions.
4. Advocate for your staff’s promotion or development
It is hard to let a great staff member go, and while it always means more effort on your part to replace them, you are doing both your staff and your organization a favor.
Instead of holding back staff because they make you more successful, work to develop and promote your staff into other areas in the company. This includes advocating for them to be promoted or to get temporary assignments, even lateral ones, that help the employee develop their career.
This practice shows your leadership skills as well as your support for both your own staff and your organization as a whole. You will end up with loyal staff members in your group who see you as an champion for their career growth. You will also cultivate allies within your organization as your staff take on other higher responsibilities, and you will gain respect from senior management and the HR Department who will see you as a team player who supports the company’s success.
RELATED: 3 Negative Messages You Send Your Boss When You Don’t Disconnect While on Vacation
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