Whether you sell clothing, hair products or chicken and waffles, stellar customer service will help your business grow.  Great customer service can be the difference between being able to compete and survive and failing for small businesses. 

A company’s reputation is only as good as the customer service it provides.  “The experience that individuals have with a company and then what they hear from friends and family influence their perception of and likelihood to do business with a company,” says Megan Burns, a senior analyst at Forrester Research, a Massachusetts-based research firm that specializes in customer service.  It’s “absolutely an essential moment of truth for companies.”
 
Here are 4 small business tips for delivering a world class customer experience.
 
1.Start with Staff
The most critical person to hire in the customer service scheme of things is the manager. 
As the business owner, you want someone who plans to stick around and aligns with the mission and vision of the business. 
 
2.Use online tools to personalize assistance
Many customers have their first exposure to your business by visiting your website.  The homepage of your website should be welcoming, user friendly and even a bit personal.  Customers like to read bios or social media feed as they take time to decide about making a purchase of product or service.  Online tools such as FAQs are key to connecting with customers and making the best of their experience. 
 
3.Provide local support
Businesses may choose to outsource their customer service calls to call centers for efficiency and to save time but the business owners should not lose sight of the expectations of the customer service experience.  The outsource employees should be trained to communicate with all types of clients.
 
4.Be Willing to find the answer
A customer always deserves an answer and it’s important to always be honest, but never say “I don’t know” unless you follow it with “However, I will find out for you.” – The Balance
 
Company's can do various quick fixes to improve customer service but why not start simple?  Implement new policies and train staff on how to meet company expectations.  This will provide additional clarity to the components of delivering the “WOW” factor in customer service.

​As a small to mid-size business the relationships you cultivate with customers are a key aspect to differentiating you from your competitors.  From the beginning, customers should know the culture you are building is designed to build long-term relationships with them.  This not only builds trusting relationships but it also lets them know you are not out for the quick sale, your professionalism and experience is prepared to solve their problems.
 
As you well know and have heard repeatedly, customers by from who they like and trust.  If you are a solopreneur this to you being responsible for building the customer relationships but if you have a support team and/or staff, it is your responsibility to train and prepare them for solving customer problems.

A small business can take advantage of its smallness to service the customer at exceptionally high levels.  Customer service is one of the key aspects, which when done right, can take your business to the top. 
 
Service them in the best way possible by starting with these three great tips.

    1.  Build a system
The customer service delivered should be consistent amongst all customers every time not just one.  For this to happen you need the right systems and processes in place.  
     
     2.  Employees with the right attitude 
A vital element of great customer service starts with having the proper skill set to interact with customers on a consistent basis.  This interaction can be via email, face to face or on the telephone and either way should not matter because the attitude of management and staff should create the positive impression.
 
       3.  Strive to offer the best customer service 
To achieve goals for being known as a business who puts their customer needs forefront starts by example.  As a business owner, the support team or staff will follow suit with what they see and is expected.  Create a customer service guide for your business that outlines the deliverables and expectations when engaging with customers.  This will show new staff what type of business they have joined and how much commitment and willingness to go the extra mile is expected.
 
Align your mission and brand with service and stay consistent, customers will reward you with loyalty and referrals. 

Schedule your free consultation with our firm today, your new and existing customers will benefit from the change and growth in your business guidelines.

Planning is a key tool to any business when just getting started and when planning to grow.  It becomes essential to review your business plan to ensure business activities are meeting business needs.
 
A business plan is a guide – a roadmap for your business that outlines goals and details of how you plan to achieve those goals.  Developing a business plan may seem scary and overwhelming but keep in mind that it does not have to be a long and formal document, like a college thesis.  This process is much less daunting than it used to be.  When getting started be prepared to keep it concise and short.  By keeping it short than you are more than likely to reference back to the document when it comes time to make changes and refine it over time. 
 
If you know your business and are passionate about it, writing a business plan and then leveraging your plan for growth will be easy breezy.  Think about it like this, if you have ever jotted down a business idea on a napkin, in a journal or as a research paper with a few task to be accomplished, then you have written a business plan, or at least a very basic one.

As a new business, a business plan can help you clarify meaningful pieces, like expense budges and tasks.  Existing businesses will use a plan to help manage and steer the business.  Business owners may use a plan to reinforce strategy, manage responsibilities and goals or plan resources including cash flow.
 
Now it is time for you to jump start your plan:
 
1. Executive Summary
This is an over of your business and your plans.
 
2.Company Overview
This provides a quick review of the company’s legal structure and location, as well as some background on the company’s history.
 
3.Products and services
This will bring clarity to what you will be selling and how are you solving a problem.
 
4.Target market
This will outline who you are selling to. 
 
5.Marketing and sales plan
This will describe how you are going to reach your target market.
 
6.Financial Plan
This will provide a financial forecast to your business.  Will include monthly projections for the first 12 months and then annual projections for the remaining three to five years.
 
If you do not plan in your business, you are planning to fail!  Our firm can support your business with the initial development or revision of your business plan.  Let us know when you are ready to get started!

You can schedule your no obligation consultation with us today.

Maybe the time has come and your decision be a multi-tasker, creative developer and profit creator is no longer your plan for future growth.  Have you considered outsourcing?  Outsourcing can be defined as “the strategic use of outside resources to perform activities traditionally handled by internal staff and resources.”  As you develop your business strategic plan for remainder of this quarter, ask yourself, what processes are you contemplating to be more beneficial to your time and efforts as an outsourced process?
 
Did you know? More small businesses are outsourcing task these days technology has advanced to the point of professionals being able to work virtually from anywhere in the world by extremely qualified professionals who have decided or been forced to leave corporate America, such as virtual assistants, graphic designers, paralegals, bookkeepers, operational policy developers and the list goes on.  The right time to outsource can be different for each business but the key reasons of why cannot be ignored.  

Here are 4 reasons you should consider outsourcing to help maximize your business:
 
1.  Customer satisfaction
It will show to be an amazing benefit to your business when efficiency has increased and the positive impact on the satisfaction of your customers.  You will be able to learn more about what your clients need and produce your products and services faster.  You don’t need to be in the weeds of the administrative task such as accounting, these tasks can be outsourced which then allows you the ability to focus more on central functions of the business. 

2.  Labor Costs
One of the main reasons businesses began outsourcing is because it is an effective way to decrease labor costs.  This is because, rather than employing several full-time staff who are on the payroll even when their services may not be required, outsourcing provides you with a flexible workforce.  You will also save money on expenses such as training, sick leave and vacation. 
 
3.  Resources 
Making the decision to outsource some of your business functions can give your business access to new resources and frees up resources that would otherwise be devoted to those back-end functions.  When you decide to outsource, you can focus on what you’re good at and let experienced professional take care of support functions.
 
4.  Efficiency 
Outsourcing also leads to increased efficiency, because you are entrusting business functions to third-party experts.  Since these parties are specialists in their area, they are intimately familiar with ins and outs in a way that members of your staff couldn’t be without extensive investment and training.
 
If any of these reasons ignite the fire for you to finally see the advantageous to outsourcing for your business, don’t hesitate another day.  It’s now time to develop a plan of action.  Decide which areas of your business would be best outsourced to a third party and execute. 
 
Our firm, Fontenot & Associates Solutions, LLC, specializes in developing key operational policies and procedures that will not only protect your business but also streamline and financially maximize your bottom line.  You can learn more about our list of services by visiting us on the web.

Clarity is defined as “the quality of being clear, in particular.”  As a business owner, how clear are you about the future of your business and how clear is the plan to share that message with staff and customers?  Most business owners in the small to medium market are identified as owners who spend more time working in their business than working on it, in comparison to their counterparts.  Counterparts in bigger businesses, the owners are not working in the business, but they tend to lack resources and professional development.

The goal that is not clearly defined will not be clearly achieved as expected.  Believe it or not, clarity allows passion and purpose for business owners to align and it becomes a means of overcoming obstacles.  In a perfect world, business owners have the resources and means to develop clarity from day one.   Since we do not live in such a perfect world, we strongly suggest that business owners start with self.  Start with self-awareness, self-purpose, self-goals, self-strength and weakness and self-values.  These will give business owners a head start on answering the “why” about the business.  These will help you determine why a goal or vision is important and how it will help you achieve your overall business goal.

​When taking on a challenge like this, the best recommendation is to start with simple steps.  For example, have you ever come across a business who says “We offer GREAT customer service”?  Any business can say it but do you know what it means?  How do you strive for “something” if it’s not clear what that “something” is? You must give it some clarity and strive to put a definition to GREAT.
 
Here are 4 tips of how clarity can work for your business:

• It can help reduce stress and improves efficiency
• It gives focus to the company's future
• It can help get clear on where you are today
• It can help develop a plan

We encourage everyone to take a step back and think about your answers to these questions.  Get very clear about what you want to accomplish in your business in the next 60 days and then act.  By acting, you are then allowing yourself to meet up with success.
 
As a support to your business, Fontenot & Associates Solutions, LLC can develop your management policies and procedures that can not only bring clarity to your business, but also enhance business performance.  Working with our team of professionals will help you define what your company does and where the company is going.
 
Visit us on the web, www.FontenotSolutionsBlog.com or join our community by emailing us [email protected].  We look forward to hearing from you!  

Let’s make it happen!