Your customers are the most important part of your business. Think about it, without customers, you’d have no business. Customers are the lifeline to your business, which is why the Customer Experience (CX) you provide needs to be outstanding. There’s no denying the world of business is competitive, so if you can stand out with excellent CX, you’ll not only satisfy and retain customers, you’ll also be able to continue to grow your business. So, how do you provide a good customer experience? Chances are you already wear almost all the hats in your business, and constantly feel pulled in every direction. And now, here I am telling you to add another focus into the mix. Trust me when I say, providing excellent customer experience doesn’t have to be hard and it doesn’t have to take up all of your precious time. That’s what technology is for. The right tech will do the hard work for you, you just need to know what to invest in. That’s why I’ve put together this blog to highlight some of the best tech for helping improve the operations of your small business and more importantly, the customer experience you provide.
When it comes to what makes or breaks a business, there are a lot of factors that come into play. Arguably, however, one of the most important factors that contributes to the success of small business (and bigger companies, too) is the customer experience (CX). Even if your customer experience is okay, it could be what’s stopping you from entering new realms of success for your business. Customer experience is vital for long term business success, and there are many ways to improve it. One of the most effective ways to make your customer experience infinitely better is automation. Now, many small businesses believe investing in automation is for larger companies and they can’t afford it. However, if you’re trying to do everything yourself or with limited staff, it can add unnecessary stress and pressure, which will be passed onto your customers. Or, it can be costing you revenue because opportunities are falling through the cracks. So, in this article, I’ll be discussing why your small business needs automation to improve the customer experience, and how you can implement automation into your strategy today.
Topics: Marketing Automation, Sales Automation, Customer Experience
Think back to a time when you had an amazing experience with a business. Now think of a time where the experience you had was not so great. The experience customers have with your company can make or break their decision to buy. For this very reason, as a small business owner it is absolutely crucial you think about the customer experience you’re offering because a positive customer experience is vital to the success and growth of your business. HubSpot research shows more than 80% of companies who prioritize customer experience are reporting an increase in revenue. Not to mention these stats which highlight the importance of a positive customer experience: $1.6 trillion is lost each year due to poor customer service; customers will spend 17% more for a good experience; and customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable than companies that aren't.
Topics: Get Customers, Customer Experience, Customer Surveys
Having the right tools and resources to convert leads and close customers is vital to any business, including small business. Converting leads into customers drives revenue and ultimately, it helps continue to grow your business. But how do you make sure your sales process has the right tools and resources to convert leads and move consumers through the buyer’s journey? The answer is sales enablement, and sales enablement should be part of your marketing strategy no matter how small your business is. In this article, you will learn what sales enablement is, and how you can include it in your marketing strategy to do more than just generate leads, but also assist the sales process to boost conversions, increase revenue, and grow your business.
Topics: Marketing Strategies, Sales Enablement
As a small business owner, anything that can help make your business run more efficiently is the holy grail, especially when it comes to selling (because that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day). That is why, no matter how small you are, every small business should have a sales process. A sales process, according to Hubspot, refers to a repeatable set of steps a sales person takes to move a prospect from an early-stage lead to a closed customer. An efficient sales process will assist in closing more deals by providing a framework to follow. It will boost conversions, close deals, and make sure your sales process is providing customers with a positive and consistent experience each and every time. If you already have a sales process in place, great! However, if you don’t have one or haven’t updated yours in a while, you will find this article helpful. Below you will find a guide to building a framework for an effective sales process that you can then personalise to suit your business and customers.
Topics: CRM, Sales Technology, Sales Process
No matter what kind of business you run, generating leads is an important part of creating an effective content strategy. In last week’s article, we discussed how to use lead generation in your market strategy. In this article, we will be looking at specific methods you can use to begin generating leads. The reality is there are actually many ways to generate leads and when you’re just starting out, it can be overwhelming. The important thing to remember is not all leads are the same, and the way you generate leads needs to reflect the different lifecycle stages.
Topics: Lead Generation
The modern consumer isn’t what it once was. As a small business owner you now have to earn a customer’s attention, it’s not enough to simply buy it. How do you earn their attention? The first step is relevant, helpful content. Over the past few weeks, we’ve looked at the importance of content and how to effectively repurpose it to target a wider audience. We’ve also looked at the importance of buyer personas and the buyer’s journey, and how all three of these elements combine to give you a winning marketing strategy.
Topics: Lead Generation, Marketing Strategies
Content is one of the most important foundations of your marketing strategy, if not the most important. An effective marketing strategy is built on publishing valuable content, content that meets the wants and needs of your buyers. People are looking for content that is specific to them and answers the very questions they seek answers to. But how do you know what those questions are? How do you know what your content should be about? While it might seem like a big task, there are methods that can help you. For example, content mapping.
Topics: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Content Mapping
Creating content can be a daunting task. However, content is key when it comes to the buyer’s journey, and ultimately, the success of your marketing. An effective content strategy starts with knowing the purpose of your marketing, understanding your customers, and how they buy. Once you understand your buyers, the questions they’re asking and the type of information they’re looking for, you can begin to build out a list of topics and questions your content needs to answer. The next step is to plan how that content will take shape – that is – the format. Perhaps one of the best tips I can give you when it comes to creating content is start by creating one piece of content, and repurpose it in different ways.
Topics: Content Marketing, Content Strategy
If you take a look back over the TIMCo blog, you’ll see we talk a lot about the buyer’s journey. Why? Because understanding the buyer’s journey is key to a successful marketing strategy. The truth is, the buyer’s journey needs to underpin every aspect of your marketing strategy. In good times and challenging times, businesses need to be able to pivot and adapt to the world around them. After all, marketing is focused on what buyers are doing, and the journey they take to become a lifelong customer. If you’re unfamiliar with the buyer’s journey and how it will benefit your overall marketing strategy, fear not. In this article, we are going to be dissecting the buyer’s journey and how to align your marketing to each stage.
Topics: Buyers' Journey, buyer jouney