PMI Online Business

Business Success Tip – Never Stop Learning

By Courtney Buell

Business owners sometimes have a hard time with change. Setting up a business takes a ton of work to begin with and changing the way you’ve decided to do business means even more work. Chances are, when you set out to start a business, you didn’t do it because you were interested in making your life as tedious and laborious as possible. On the contrary, you wanted to do something you loved and were good at and make some money from it. Unfortunately, change is the only thing anyone can count on in the future. The good news is that the more open you are to changes, the better your business will ultimately be and the easier it will become both to do business and to keep adapting. Cultivating a love of learning and a willingness to apply it is the single best thing you can do for your business.

Learning new things everyday and staying on the forefront of technological and business trends will help you keep your business relevant and competitive. Learning as much as you can about your industry, business in general, and your customer’s wants may inspire you to make changes in your business, and making these changes might not be fun or easy, but every time you make a change and learn from the outcome, your business becomes sleeker and stronger. Also, many of the technological innovations that appear every day are created to make business easier. So, if you can summon the motivation to make a change now, you can potentially save yourself a lot of time and effort in the long run.

Many of the largest companies in the world are able to remain viable because they are willing to make necessary and sometimes painful changes to their structure and business model. Bill Gates is the CEO of one of the largest and most successful companies in the world and he is a self-proclaimed lifelong learner. He attributes his success to his desire to learn new things all the time and his willingness to make changes based on his learning.

If you stop learning, innovating, and advancing, you fall behind; because the rest of the world is thundering on like a juggernaut and they have no problem leaving you and your silly little company in the dust – more cake for them.

If you can learn to love learning, your responsibility to stay on top of business trends will be met with ease. Then, you need to be humble enough to open your mind to the possibility of changing the way you live and work for the better. Easier said than done, I know, but not only is it helpful to your business to keep learning, it’s absolutely vital.

Success Tip: Never Stop Learning (employees)

We’ve been admonished our entire lives to learn. From the time we enter kindergarten to the time we graduate from college, our main purpose in life is to consume information and regurgitate it on demand. The practice is admittedly beneficial, but exhausting. By the time we reach our early twenties and leave the hallowed halls of education (some of us for good), we are kind of burnt out on learning. A shocking number of college graduates seem to avoid books altogether once they aren’t being graded on their knowledge of them. It seems fair, right? We pay our dues to the educational system for our developmental years and when we finish, we lay that part of our lives aside in order to (hopefully) put our learning to action, make money, and contribute to society.

This system works fine for the average Joe. But you are not this average Joe – this mediocre schmuck willing to skate through life unnoticed and perpetually replaceable. You crave success. Unfortunately, the only way to achieve success is to get back on those books, figuratively speaking. You don’t necessarily have to re-enroll in school for an advanced degree (though it couldn’t hurt) but you do have to cultivate in yourself a passion for learning.

Whether you want to land your dream job, get promoted, or break out and start your own business, your success depends on your willingness to learn. Learn from your mistakes, learn from the people around you, find a mentor, and seek out as much information as you can about your industry, your ideal career, and how to get what you want.

The next step is to use what you learn to change the way you act. We’ve all heard the proverb “Insanity is doing the same thing in the same way and expecting a different outcome”. To change, we have to admit that we don’t have it all figured out and that there may be a better way of doing things. Once you can take the information you learn and apply it to your life effectively, you will be able to adapt well to any new demands your career will put on you, and you will be able to figure out a way to succeed at anything you want to.

Not sure where to start in your new journey of lifelong learning? Start small – set a goal to pick up a new hobby or learn a new job skill. Chances are you’ll catch the learning bug and want to keep going for your own enjoyment. Along the way, make sure you set realistic, quantifiable goals to help you get closer to your dream. Also, take a moment every day to remind yourself of your end goal when the going gets tough and the changes hurt. Making the choice to be a lifelong learner isn’t easy, but it’s definitely worth the trouble.

Courtney Buell is a writer at Professional Marketing International. Prior to joining PMI, Courtney obtained a bachelors degree in Humanities and wrote for various print and online publications in Salt Lake City. Professional Marketing International helps people achieve their dreams.

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Recent survey results from the American Express Global Customer Service Barometer have shed new light on the importance of customer service. While 91% of Americans are more likely to do business with a company with great customer service, an astonishing 75% believe that companies don’t value their business and wouldn’t go the extra mile to keep it. The survey also revealed that consumers are willing to spend significantly more with companies they feel take care of them. This is particularly relevant in today’s economy, where over 60% of the consumers surveyed said that high quality customer service is more important to them than in the past. 

Online businesses aren’t immune to the importance of customer service. In fact, it’s even more important online, because there are so many online options that if you disappoint a customer, they only have to visit a different site and they are free of you forever. Here are five customer service tips from PMI to help you boost your customer service: 

1. Treat customers with respect. Great customer service starts here. Always treat your customers politely and with respect. Let them know how much you appreciate their business. Show trust in them by taking their word when there may be misunderstandings. Never argue with a customer.
2. Assist customers promptly. One of the greatest ways to gain your customers’ trust is by responding to emails, calls and complaints as quickly as possible. Don’t leave them hanging, or they will find someone who treats them better.
3. Deliver what you promise. Nothing kills customer relations faster than dishonesty or incompetence. Never make a promise you can’t back up. In the rare cases where circumstances prevent you from fulfilling a promise, always offer some sort of compensation.
4. Know your product. Establish your product details and company policies early and make sure that every employee understands them. Make your answers to customers comprehensive and articulate. Keep your FAQ updated and relevant.
5. Meet your customers’ needs. Make sure you know who your customers are and how to best serve them. Seek their input as often as you can. When they know you are striving to meet their needs, they’ll give you their loyalty.

So you just wrote a fantastic article, designed an eye-grabbing flyer, or sent out your weekly newsletter but for some reason, you’re not seeing any response. You don’t seem to be getting more visitors to your website or more subscribers to your e-mail list. The reason might be because you failed to tell your potential customers what to do with the information you just gave them.

Everything you send out should have a call to action. It can be something as simple as “Call Now” or “Visit [website] to Sign Up Today” to motivate the reader, or something specific like using the coupon code included on the flyer or in the e-mail. Regardless of the medium you’re using, here are some things to consider when writing a call to action:

• Use Good Verbs A good active word – like call, sign up, buy, subscribe, visit – can make a big difference. This makes it very clear what they need to do in order to follow through.
• Make It Prominent Whether in an e-mail, on a webpage, or in a flyer you should make the call to action stand out in some way. This may be through using bold text, a different color, making it bigger, or giving it a border. There shouldn’t be any question what the call to action is.
• Always, Always Use One You should have a call to action on every single page of your website, in every e-mail you send, and on all your marketing. Otherwise, people may just think you’re giving them some nice information they can simply store away for a later date.
• Tell Them How Even if you say “Call Today,” it doesn’t do any good if you don’t include a phone number. You don’t have to have the call to action right next to the website, e-mail address, or phone number, but they should both be easily found. When writing some think of your call to action (e.g. “Call Today”) and then ask “How?” (e.g. “by dialing 800-555-5555).

It can be an easy mistake to make; you might be surprised – if you take the time to look through your junk mail – how many ads don’t include phone numbers or websites, let alone a specific call to action. But there’s no reason you should ever make that mistake now. Make your websites, newsletters, e-mails, and advertising more effective by implementing these call-to-action tips!

The evolution of technology in recent years has meant more people are using their mobile phones to access the internet. Accordingly in 2005, the .mobi domain – a domain designed specifically for access by mobile devices – was approved. So what does this mean for your business? What exactly is a .mobi domain? And do you need one?

            The idea behind a .mobi domain is to create a website that can be easily accessed and viewed by a mobile device. If you already own a phone with internet access, you know that you can already view pretty much any website on your phone (.com, .net, .org, etc.) regardless of the domain. A properly-designed .mobi site simply makes the site easier to use and navigate; the site is intended to be viewed on a smaller screen with a mobile connection.

Once advantage to .mobi sites is that search engines know if you’re searching on a mobile phone, and will give preference to sites using the .mobi domain. This means the search results are more likely to include a .mobi site than a non-.mobi site.

So do you need a .mobi site? It depends on your current website and your business, and will take some research to figure out.

First, try visiting your current website from a mobile device. How is the experience? Is it difficult to navigate? Are you able to see things clearly enough? If it’s an awkward experience (and feel free to enlist friends to do the same thing) you have a few different options.

1. Maybe you don’t do anything. Look at your target demographic; are a significant portion of them using mobile devices to access your website? How much revenue do you think you’re losing by not having a mobile-friendly site? If you’re not alienating a key demographic, you probably shouldn’t worry about it.
2. Maybe you try to improve your current site. Like was mentioned, mobile devices can already access your .com site, but maybe it’s just a little cluttered. Try some design changes, or have contact information prevalent so they can call you (you know, use the “talky” part of their phone) if they have questions. But keep track of the data; if the changes don’t bring greater revenue, you may want to stick with what you had before.
3. Maybe you invest in a good .mobi site. If your customers need a better experience when visiting your site on their mobile devices, and your current site is hurting the bottom line, you should probably make the investment. Plus, this may give you an advantage on your competition when people search for your product on their phones.

Weigh the pros and cons, then make an educated decision about creating a .mobi site. If it’s not going to directly help build your business, there’s likely not a pressing need to create one.

All companies know how expensive it is to market themselves to new customers.  TV spots, print ads, web space, and radio ads are some of the most popular, effective, and expensive ways to get the word out about a new company.  Retaining customers once they are found, however, is an inexpensive and proven way to build business.  One of the best ways to market a business to existing customers is through email marketing.

Many companies that have email lists use a voluntary double opt-in system that allows customers to sign up for email newsletters.  This way, companies can be sure that they aren’t pestering customers when they send email messages.  Also, by making email newsletters an opt-in feature, companies develop a list of engaged and interested customers that will be receptive to email marketing and could potentially become their most valued and loyal patrons.

With a focused list of interested customers, email newsletters are a great reminder in a personal venue (their inbox) to valued customers that the company is still there, still offering great products.  Newsletters are great places to announce sales and provide links to new products or special offers.  Companies that reach out to their customers build trust and brand loyalty. 

Email marketing is extremely cheap and very easy to gather information from.  There are programs that companies can download for free or for a small fee that allow marketers to track how many of their delivered emails were opened, which links were clicked, and ultimately how many sales were made from the email.  With this kind of information, sales campaigns can be focused and strategized with ease.

If you aren’t taking advantage of the inexpensive and focused marketing opportunity that is email, you are doing your company a disservice.  Start designing, sending, and tracking marketing emails now and reap the benefits of building relationships with your valued customers.