ARMA is pleased to announce that our own President and CEO, Tomi Bannister, has been identified by the Minority Enterprise Advocate as one of their “Distinguished Women — Movers and Shakers” and profiled in their 2012 January/February issue:
For the full issue, please visit MEA’s website and click the issue’s cover to open the PDF:
The “right way” to go about business best practices is scarcely undisputed. And finding the “sweet spot” between two different schools of thought is often the way to go for many of us.
Josh Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing takes the time today to extol the value of “analog experiences,” and explores them in a podcast with Ramon Ray, creator of Small Business Summit. What’s an analog experience? They range from connecting customers to each other and facilitating the discussion there in that point of contact to stakeholder meetings to networking events. Person to person connections.
In contrast, Alice Bredin at OPEN Forum wants you to “go digital.” That means being cogniscant of the growing trends towards utilizing mobile technology and being hyperaware of your online presence. But not just that, but planning and tracking the ways that your online platforms are utilized so that you can continue to optimize those pathways.
The two perspectives aren’t impossible to marry — what’s your sweet spot look like?
Little is more terrifying to a small business come April than the dreaded audit. Let this infographic clear your mind of (some) worries:
(via the Jane Dough)
Customer loyalty is being touched on in a number of ARMA’s favorite business forums in the last few days.
Full Frontal ROI gives some thought to the possible pros and cons of making customers into brand ambassadors. This ties in nicely with Tipping Point Labs’ post on the benefits to establishing more significant links with bloggers, creating complementary relations and aligning customer bases.
Nina Segura offers some insights into a mode of operations she terms “leanness” over at OPEN Forum and how it can increase customer loyalty. Nina’s post is excellent because it goes well above the level of just buzz words. Look at the ways to achieve what she calls loyalty intelligence:
- What the customer typically orders
- What the customer typically complains about
- The customer’s interests and important dates
- Names of the customer’s family/friends
1to1media has some more abstract tips about customer loyalty, including this important reminder:
The most valuable customer information is often the most sensitive. Organizations have to balance what’s best for company with what’s best for their customers.
John Jatsch at Duct Tape Marketing wrote a pretty compelling article on the process by which he Gets Things Done. At the core of the process:
I divide each week up into days with a specific type of work plan. Each type of day plan has a unique emphasis that is biased towards a certain type of work. I have Intention Days, Attention Days and Ascension Days.
-John Jantsch
He pairs the process with a refreshing simply graphic (which yes, we did smile at for incorporating many recent design trends mentioned by Smashing Magazine … nice textures and muted colors John!):
Today’s an Ascension Day here at ARMA. What sort of day are you having?
Sarah Bundy at Small Business Trends recently liveblogged a keynote speak from John Greathouse at the Affilitate Management Days conference.
His first series of talking points revolved around the idea of “Reciprocity,” and are well worth incorporating into your customer service ethos. Below are some of the points Bundy took away from the speech. Click through to her original post to read the rst.
- People do business with people they like, who show authority, have social proof, and install a sense of fear (of loss)
- Quid pro quo – sustained survival
- Pay it back, pay it forward
- Offer a “our gift to you” – they will pay it forward or pay it back
- The characteristics of effective gifts are significant, unexpected and personalized
- Recipients value favors less over time, where as the giver values the favor more over time.
- Give a gift, coupon, bonus and commission before the affiliate asks
- Never be shy to ask for a favour if you need to
- Create obligations by giving favours freely but return the favour quickly
- Remind a person of past favours, before asking for one
- Offer something “extra” to start the program
Finding the right way to respond to a customer’s concerns, including potentially in difficult times like in a heated moment or when your business has failed to meet their expectations, isn’t always easy.
Susan Ward makes the case here for your initial customer service skills. Some of them are straight forward instructions, like answering your phone and listening to your customers. But some also get to the meat of what really resonates with customers, like her suggestion to help customers even when there’s no financial gain!
How does customer service evolve in light of the social media customer service revolution? Duke Chung at Mashable picks apart the ways that the traditional channels of customer service are changed by the interactions brands have through Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Particularly the trending practice of “cutting the line” by going directly to company top brass through tweets and emails. He also talks about the power of customer service metrics that can be drawn from the data created by those social networks. He’s a little vague on this last piece, but it dovetailed well with a post by Karine del Moro, guest blogging at 1to1 Media, about identifying the “voice of the consumer” and how to introduce that voice to your other feedback loops. Well worth the read if you’re looking to capitalize on all the information you’ve garnered through social media channels.
A few different posts around the web have caught our eye in relation to money of late:
OPEN Forum gives us two pertinent links. The first runs down a link of the top expenses that entrepeneurs and small business owners should think of writing off on their taxes. One we always forget? A portion of your cell phone bill. Another list from OPEN Forum reviews programs that can be helpful for contractors when determining building costs.
From the Jane Dough, some wisdom and an infographic. The wisdom comes via the mother of Agapi Stassinopoulos and Arianna Huffington:
“Having intelligence is wealth. Being curious about life is wealth. Ethics is wealth–it is the integrity you have in all your relationships. Having friends who care for you and love you, and whom you care for and love, that is wealth. Taking care of yourself and being healthy is wealth, and so is having respect for yourself and your fellow human beings. Being educated, having a thirst for learning, being able to go to good schools with inspiring teachers who will help you cultivate your talents, is wealth too–the most important kind, because without that, it really doesn’t matter what else you have.”
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And then here’s an infographic about the distribution of more concrete wealth:
Kenneth Larson spotted a great article at Washington Technology that looks at the possible ramifications of a forthcoming squeeze on contracting dollars. The article features predictions from John Cooney, former general counsel at the Office of Management and Budget. Among Cooney’s predictions:
Click through to the end of Larson’s post for some of his advice for how to weather the squeeze. OPEN Forum has given some similar advice of late, so tread carefully.