Does the furniture you provide to your customers or patients really matter? When a person steps into your office, you want that individual to feel comfortable. You want them to relax. You also want them to avoid falling asleep. Finding the right balance is not always easy, but high-quality furniture is a must in every situation. Take the time to consider what elements really impact your business furnishings, including what types of furniture your customers expect to find and what really does not make them happy.
Convey the Right Message When choosing any type of office furniture, remember that it is a reflection of your business and your company's brand. As a result, consider what type of message you want to convey to your guests when they step inside your office space. For example, as an attorney or a consultant, you want a person to feel as though you've done well for yourself and that your skills have obviously been good. Your furniture needs to match this professionalism. Use Design That Reflects Your Brand Consider, for example, the Apple offices. The company is known for creating employee-centric spaces that promote wellbeing and innovation. To do this, they use color, unique chairs, and various structures. This creates the innovative brand image that people have. Their workspace reflects the type of work they do, but also the type of brand image they want you to have. This may include upscale and upbeat, young and hip, or seasoned and professional. Use design features like this – including color, material choices, and design trends, to define your business's space. Keep It Organized and Neat The furnishings in your business need to be "just enough." You do not want to crowd the space and make people uncomfortable or stressed. Instead, aim for furniture that fits your space well – choose pieces that compliment the length of the walls and the overall design of the room. Choose rounded pieces only when you have areas that they fit well into. And, when it comes to space concerns, choose thinner more angular pieces that allow you to squeeze a bit more into the space. Know What Your Customers Expect If you have customers coming into your space to meet with you – and you have a very full schedule – provide seating. Of course, scheduling makes people mad when they wait, but having a comfortable place to sit and perhaps watch TV makes it a bit easier. You'll frustrate your visitors, on the other hand, if you create a boring room with uncomfortable furniture and make them wait for more than 20 minutes. Take some time to consider your furniture. Does it really meet the needs of those who will come into the space? Could you make it more disability-friendly? Does it offer the vibrancy that your business does or is it outdated and dull, an impression you do not want your guests to have? Investing in quality furniture can be an excellent way to upgrade the way your company meets the community's needs.
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In today's connected world, social media and online content plays a powerful role in how your business is perceived. With the right strategies, you can transform your current customers, followers, and fans into a powerful, low-cost army of online marketers who are ready and willing to promote your business to friends, family members, and beyond.
Start By Delivering Exceptional Customer Service If you've ever received less-than-impressive service from a company, chances are good you may not have bothered to write a negative review about your experience - that is, unless you were directly asked to share your experiences. Before you begin soliciting positive reviews from your customers, make sure that they're happy with you and your products or services. According to Simon Casuto, co-founder and president of eLearning Mind, "If you want an NPS (Net Promoter Score - a measure of customer loyalty) that tells you your customers feel great about the experience they're having with your business, you have to go beyond simply meeting their needs....it's about constantly getting to know and understand your customer, and nurture that relationship continuously." Build Your Social Media Base Promoters are the movers and shakers of the social media world - that's why you need to engage with them frequently by providing meaningful content that they'll be inclined to like and share with their own followers. Be sure to stay active on your social media accounts, respond quickly to any questions or concerns, and use a social media automation system that lets you actively monitor for any mentions. Thank Your Followers Providing special shout-outs, promotions, and subscriber-only deals is a great way to boost your brand and encourage promoters to share your content. Be sure to thank your followers frequently, and avoid the urge to constantly ask for positive reviews, otherwise, your audience will quickly convert from fans to cynics. You might be surprised at the business resources that can be found at our local library. Small business owners and entrepreneurs have access to an often untapped resource that can provide a wealth of information. You will probably want to find that library card or apply for a new one when you finish.
While you may not have even thought of the library since finishing high school or college, they have been a thriving resource over the past decade, providing resources to help small businesses get started and expand. Entrepreneurs and startup companies are a major factor in the U.S. economy, providing the largest segment of new jobs in the U.S.. These businesses need information compilations including demographics and business planning even though they don't have the resources that are available to larger companies. This is where the library provides help. Working from home offers many advantages, but one of the disadvantages includes a lack of space for meetings. The library conference room resolves that problem. Computers, printers, fax machines, and scanners are available for use, as well as projection screens. You can reserve the room to host a private meeting. You might find workshops and classes designed to help learn how to best utilize technology, learn graphic skills, or create a business plan. A variety of software and online resources are available at the library that provide businesses with the tools they need to research and obtain data such as demographics, industry analyses, directories, and technical manuals. These free resources help struggling companies find the information they need to succeed. The librarian is an often overlooked wealth of knowledge. They can often help you identify what you need, point you in the right direction, and even provide information on outside services that may help including SCORE, which was designed to help new businesses. You can easily access templates of successful business plans that can be copied or modified to meet your needs and goals. Most SBA programs and commercial lenders require a solid business plan when applying for funding. Business, consumer and government databases, government databases, statistics, and various trade magazines, are available through various programs at the library. Most libraries are connected online not only to national databases, but often to other libraries, expanding their power and your ability to find the information you need, including references for networking with others in your field. If you have ever had a computer crash, or a touchy printer give up entirely, you will be pleasantly surprised by the ease with which you can access the internet and print off the papers you need at little cost. The Chamber encourages everyone in the community to utilize the library's resources. We recommend going in and introducing yourself, getting a card, and discussing your needs with the librarian who can point you in the right direction and help you get started. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2012/08/13/how-public-libraries-are-a-boon-to-small-business/ They say that you only get one chance to make a first impression, and nowhere is that more important than in the retail industry. You'll need to draw customers into your store from the moment they step foot inside, and this requires care and attention to detail when planning the entrance to your shop. Here's what you'll need to consider.
Cleanliness Of course, you want to keep your entire store clean, but you should pay particular attention to the entrance. If prospective customers see dust and dirt when they first walk into your store, they'll likely turn around and walk back out again. From their perspective, how can they expect you to offer quality wares when you can't even care for your store? Dust the shelves and sweep or vacuum the floors daily, and clean any permanent fixtures, like lighting and ongoing displays, at least weekly. Depending on your location and the local weather conditions, you may need to clean more often. Window Displays Your store's front windows are your most powerful tools for drawing in prospective customers. Aim to display your best offerings right at the front so that customers will want to come in to see more. When placing those products inside your store, though, you'll want to place them near the back so that customers have to walk by all your other wares to find what they are looking for. This encourages impulse purchases, making it more likely that customers will buy more than just the single item they originally sought. Product Placement You'll need to carefully consider the placement of the rest of your products as well. The front of your store should show off some of your most desirable items, but you don't want the best things to be up front. Aim for a mix of popular items and those that don't sell as frequently. By dispersing your best products throughout the store, you can guide customers through the aisles so that they'll see as much as possible. Be Prepared to Make Changes Over time, you'll likely discover that some products do better in particular areas of your store. Try to identify any patterns that emerge so that you can make adjustments to your displays as needed. Take note of customer feedback in this area as well. After all, it is your customers who matter most when it comes to making decisions about purchasing your products. Listen to what they are telling you. Of course, none of this matters if you don't offer the products your customers are looking to buy, so take care in choosing the products you offer. Look to strike a balance between quality and affordability. If you notice that the quality of the products from a particular supplier seems to be diminishing over time, it may be time to find a new supplier. Design your store to draw in customers in the first place, and keep up the quality of your products to keep those customers coming back again and again. Spas are well-known for pampering their clients - and charging a premium for their services. Despite the high prices that come with massages, scrubs, and treatments, the world's leading spas have been able to turn a tidy profit by focusing on delivering exceptional customer service.
Here's what your business can learn from these high-end service-orientated enterprises: Focus On Personalized Service The hallmark of any great spa is their attention to personal detail - they make a point of knowing each customer by name, and learning as much as they can about their clients' personal likes, dislikes, and preferences. Simple things like remembering how they like their coffee, the names of their kids and pets, and even what times they like to book appointments go a long way towards creating loyal customers. Pay Attention To Details Another technique that leading spas use is continual customer engagement - making their clients feel special, even when they're not getting a pedicure, manicure, or hot stone massage. Spas do this by sending out personalized, hand-written birthday cards and holiday notes with messages targeted to each one of their clients. This reminds their clients of that pampered feeling their customers get at their spa, helping to keep a personal connection alive. Create A Loyalty Program The owners at Willow Spa in Santo Monica, California knew that they needed to up their game when it came to pampering their clients - after all, the spa business is highly competitive on the West Coast. In order to encourage their clients to return to their spa, the owners created a points-based loyalty program that provided incentives to encourage both repeat visits and the use of some of the spas' less popular treatments. While their initial program needed some adjustments, overall the owners report that their loyalty program is a success. According to co-owner Coco Iv, "We've been able to gain and retain repeat clients with no additional work put into the process". Say Thank You Ask any successful spa owner what the single most effective thing is that they do to retain customers and chances are good they'll mention thank you notes - simple, old-fashioned, hand-written notes or cards that make clients feel appreciated. In fact, the idea of sending a hand-written note as part of an overall relationship management strategy isn't unique to spas - many big-name companies like Land's End have also embraced the idea of mailing out personalized cards as a way to thank their clients and create a positive, lasting impression. The average American spends over 90,000 hours at work , or more than 10 years over the course of their lifetime, which can be seen as either a blessing or a jail sentence, depending on your perspective.
Whether you love your job or dread it could be a matter of science - neuroscience that is. Can You 'Choose Happiness'? Scott Crabtree Thinks So Scott Crabtree has dedicated his entire 25-year career helping employees from small start-ups, mid-size companies, and even big multi-national organizations like Microsoft, Nike, and Boeing achieve happiness at work through science-based techniques. It should come as no surprise that the founder and Chief Happiness Officer (or CHO for short) of a company called "Happy Brain Science" believes there's a solid connection between neuroscience and job satisfaction. Crabtree holds a B.A. in Cognitive Science from Vassar College, and he balances his time between public speaking engagements, data analysis, and corporate training. According to Crabtree, happiness is by and large a choice - one that begins with gratitude. He points out that science shows that the common belief that hard work leads to happiness is flawed - in fact, the key to success is to be happy with your current status, since happiness frees up critical space in the brain that's needed to achieve results. Increasing Productivity Through Brain Science Crabtree asserts that happier people are more productive, healthier, and even live longer - claims that have been confirmed by numerous scientific studies, including one from the University of Warwick that concluded happy worker were 12 percent more productive than their counterparts. In addition to having a sunny disposition, Crabtree believes that happy workers are more creative, sociable, and intuitive - qualities that can be of real value in the average workplace. He claims that a key part of achieving happiness is to focus less on people and things that we don't enjoy, and spend time focusing on the positive. He also emphasizes that happiness comes from being social, that "we need each other to be happy" - and we do that by "spreading happiness at work".
Here are a few real-life attacks we’ve seen recently, and how we knew they were phishing: The attack: An employee in the payroll department received an email from “Mike,” another employee, saying he wanted to change his direct deposit information. The giveaway: While the phishing email had the full name of the employee correct, the “from” email was wrong, and the person signed the email “Michael” when the actual employee only goes by “Mike.” The attack: An employee received an email that appeared to be from his boss asking, “Are you available for a quick task?” We’ve seen these before, and because they do not ask for or refer to any sensitive or financial information, people tend to engage with the sender, which then leads to the scam. The giveaway: When the email recipient responded, he received strangely worded instructions to obtain 10 $100 iTunes gift cards. The scammer asked the employee to scratch off the silver portion to reveal the PINs and send a picture of all the codes. If the red flags weren’t up before, that sent them all the way up the pole. However, when the employee asked what client they were for, the scammer provided the name of an actual client of the company. During a construction or renovation, the contractor you choose will have a significant impact on not only the end result but every step of the process. For this reason, it's important to find a contractor that you will enjoy working with and who will provide you with the quality and professionalism you're looking for. Most homeowners aren't surprised to discover that they need to interview a few contractors before choosing one for the job. However, knowing what questions to ask is a little trickier. Here are some questions you should ask a potential contractor before making a commitment.
How Long Have You Been in Business? Just because a business is young doesn't mean that they can't provide high quality results, but it can mean that they're still working out the kinks in their systems. A mature contracting business likely has systems and controls to ensure that they meet deadlines, work within the budget, and provide high quality work. While this isn't a make-or-break question, it can provide insight into what you can expect from the project. Are You Licensed? Licensing requirements vary widely from one state to another (or sometimes even from one city to another), so it's important not to assume that a contractor is bonded, licensed, and insured. Make sure your contractor has the relevant certifications for their field; a business license alone isn't enough, as it only means they can operate a business and doesn't necessarily mean they are a credentialed contractor. How Do You Handle Permits and Inspections? Not every renovation project will require permits and inspections, but if any changes are made to your home's structure, then these will probably be required. Most contractors will obtain the proper permits and set up the necessary inspections on your behalf. What Is the Timeline? While unexpected circumstances can crop up and alter the timeline over the course of the project, you should have a general timeframe of when your project will start and when it will be completed. Find out if your contractor is currently or is expecting to be working on other projects that could affect your own project, and ask how changes to the timeline will be addressed. What Is the Payment Schedule? You should never pay for the entire project upfront, and if a contractor asks for the full amount before the project even begins, that's a red flag. Before the project begins, it's important to talk to your contractor to find out how much is due and when. What Can I Expect on a Daily Basis? What time will work begin each day, and what time will the work end? How will they clean up at the end of a work day, and where will tools and materials be stored? Knowing how a contractor orders their day will help you know if their schedule is compatible with yours. These are just a few of the questions you should discuss with your contractor before hiring them. By fostering open communication right from the start, you can ensure that the whole process is as smooth and enjoyable as possible. When it comes to contentious topics, few can beat the debate about whether or not alcohol has any place in today's workplace. There's a wide range of opinions on the subject ranging from zero tolerance for alcohol consumption on the job right through to the other end of the spectrum.
While alcohol use on the job has been a long-standing tradition among many white-collar professions like bankers, lawyers, and stock brokers, most workplaces have banned alcohol useout of concern for the safety of their employees and the public at large. Industries that involve operating machinery, transportation, or performing medical procedures are strict no-alcohol zones for obvious reasons. Beer As A Workplace Perk? Tech companies like Facebook, Yelp, Zillow, and Twitter have built their businesses by 'looking outside the box', and that includes their approach to how employees are treated at work. In an effort to recruit and retain the best and brightest tech experts, these companies offer unique perks like free beer at the office as a way to encourage employees to work longer hours, socialize with their colleagues, and blur the lines between home and work. Advocates of low-alcohol content beverages like beer in the workplace love studies that support the notion that moderate alcohol use boosts creativity, which isn't surprising, given that alcohol has long been known to reduce inhibitions. Moderate drinking has also been linked to lower rates of Type 2 Diabetes, improved cardiovascular health, and even prevention of the common cold, supporting the stance that alcohol isn't just about intoxication. Alcohol And Addiction According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, over 15 million adults aged 18 and older, or 6.2 percent, suffer from Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Formerly known as alcoholism, AUD includes any use of alcohol that causes problems with health, safety, and daily living, including negative impacts on interpersonal relationships, finances, and work. Employers are legally obliged to provide their employees with a safe workplace, and for people living with AUD, the presence of alcohol on the job could certainly be seen as an unsafe situation. In fact, the Americans with Disabilities Act protects employees who have been diagnosed with AUD, which puts the onus on the employer to both accommodate and protect the addicted employee. The Takeaway? Abstinence Is The Safest Bet So while it's entirely possible to create a workplace culture where moderate, controlled drinking is an integral part of performance, employee retention, and even client recruitment, it's important for employers to recognize the risks that come with allowing on-the-job drinking. In today's environment, the safest bet for employers is to simply ban alcohol use at work, although with the right policies and procedures in place (including access to public transit, and a way to self-exclude from alcohol use) alcohol can have a role in your enterprise. Thanks to the internet, consumer behavior has dramatically shifted over the past decade - especially when it comes to searching for local businesses.
According to a recent survey by BrightLocal, 97 percent of consumers searched online for a local business in 2017, with 54 percent searching at least once per month, and 12 percent searching daily for local services, shops, and suppliers. A key aspect of this growth in online searches for local businesses is the widespread ownership of 'smart' mobile devices like smartphones and tablets that allow users to connect to the internet anywhere, at any time. The Pew Research Center reports that 77 percent of Americans now own a smartphone, up from 35 percent in 2011. Location-Based Search Results Drive Local Traffic Because smart mobile devices have built-in GPS trackers, Google and other search engines have adapted their algorithms to ensure that consumers who search for a business on their phone or tablet are automatically directed to verified companies that are located nearby. If you've ever used the 'near me' feature on Google's search engine or Google Maps, you've already discovered how an online search can help drive traffic towards local businesses, and chances are good you actually visited one of the businesses you searched for - and made a purchase. According to Google, "76 percent of people who search for something nearby on their smartphone visit a related business within a day, and 29 percent of those searches result in a purchase." The Most Searched-For Local Businesses on Google Consumers tend to turn to localized searches when they need a product or service right away - categories like restaurants, coffee shops, and bars rank among the top local searches, while real estate agents, contractors, and gyms are also popular. Other businesses that benefit from local search traffic include farms, dog walkers, and food trucks, as well as daycare services, clothing retailers, lawyers, dentists, and doctors. Simply put, the same kinds of businesses that used to see significant traffic from ads in the Yellow Pages and local newspapers 25 years ago are now benefiting from location-based internet searches. If your business caters to consumers and clients in your neighborhood, focusing your marketing efforts on local online search could provide a great return-on-investment for your company. |
The Durango Chamber of Commerce
The Durango Chamber of Commerce is a membership-based organization that promotes and supports the local business community through communication, advocacy, education, leadership and financial viability. Archives
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