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Build a Customer Feedback Loop

In our continuing series on how to Prepare for the Upswing, we discuss several low cost options for inclusion in a customer feedback loop. Recession or not, gathering customer feedback is always a great idea as the best companies are distinguished by exceptional customer service. During a recession when there are fewer disposable dollars, small business owners may question whether general economic trends or business specific issues are keeping customers away from spending. Here are a few suggestions to adopt which can answer your questions as well as help you prepare for the coming growth cycle:

1. Customer Surveys: While you can ask as many questions as you like, ultimately the questions you want answered are: How was your experience? Would you buy from us again? Would you recommend us to a friend?
Web-based survey tools such as www.surverymonkey.com and www.surverygizmo.com offer you the ability to create a survey, distribute it via email and analyze results. Most web-based tools provide excellent resources to help you design effective survey questions for actionable results.

2. Initiate a Customer Experience Team: Invite a sample of customers to map your business from the customer’s perspective and look for ways to create a remarkable customer experience. Customer Experience Teams do not have to meet in person as you can use web conferencing technologies to collaborate and meet while minimizing the time commitment requirements from participants. Your customers will love the opportunity to help you design an exceptional customer experience, investing them even further in the success of your business.

3. Do you have a project that needs customer feedback such as the introduction of a new product or a new website? Provide an incentive and ask target customers to participate in a Project Team. Again, web conferencing technology such as www.gotomeetting.com and www.webex.com are among the leaders but there are a host of other options that may suit your needs, with affordable packages available on a per use or subscription basis. I have created “practice teams” to review classes before I offer them to the general public. Usability Teams are teams which are often created to evaluate the intuitiveness and navigational ease of websites from the customer experience.

4. Do you want to modernize the customer suggestion box? Create an Innovation Community using social networking platforms. Using a platform such as Ning or Facebook, create a closed forum where you can share product concepts and gather reactions. Similarly, you can ask customers to contribute product development ideas. I have used Ning to create private communities and find it takes an afternoon to create a branded community with custom content such as documents, websites, recorded video and audio, message boards, private messaging, connection and community capability. For inspiration, check out Dell’s IdeaStorm where, since 2007, Dell customers have contributed over 13,000 ideas and Dell has implemented over 400 suggestions.

Connecting with your customers in a new way, especially during the low economic periods, lets them know you care. Provide your customers with some kind of incentive for their participation and show your appreciation for their time. Follow up on the feedback you receive and demonstrate how you give serious consideration to their suggestions. A well executed customer feedback loop will not only enhance customer loyalty but inspire ambassadors who spread positive word of mouth about your business.

What tactics have you used to gather customer feedback? What has worked for you and what hasn’t worked for you?

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PREPARE FOR THE RECOVERY: RESEARCH COMPETITORS

Competitive IntelligenceThis is the fourth post in a monthly series dedicated to preparing your business for the upcoming economic recovery. Today, I discuss gathering competitive intelligence, one form of market research which can easily be performed by the small business owner in preparation for business growth.

Market research is the foundation of business strategy. Good market research validates assumptions, informs strategy, and inspires business vision.

What do you want to know about your competitors?

1. Product assortment
2. Services and how they are delivered
3. Locations and Distribution methods
4. Company reputation among suppliers and partners
5. Marketing plans and strategy
6. Management strategies
7. Executive changes
8. Promotion and pricing strategies
9. Customer service strengths and weaknesses
10. Positive or negative public relations
11. Customer buzz: Identify advocates and naysayers
12. Financial position
13. Credit policies
14. Advertising : Appearance and content
15. Website analytics

This is just a starting point for your research as each business will have different list – the imperative is to begin your research with purpose. Create a spreadsheet to make notes of your observations and analysis for each key factor.

Where can you find competitive intelligence?

A competitor’s website is the natural starting point for research. Web presence (or lack thereof) points to opportunities and threats based upon the products and services defined and the marketing message encapsulating the company brand. However, the competitor’s website does not tell the full story so use the following websites to gather more intelligence on your rivals:

1. Do a Google search on your target and see where your competitor has an active online presence. Do they have a Facebook page? A Twitter presence? A branded community? Check out where your competition is most active and assess the engagement level of their customers.

2. Compete.com and Alexa.com can be used to evaluate web traffic to your competitors’ site vis-à-vis your website and can also determine the search keywords visitors use to locate their site.

3. Have your competitors recently changed their website? Are you interested in seeing the web archives of their website? Check out http://web.archive.org to see all archived web pages of your competitors. A product such as Copernic Tracker is worth the nominal fee as a way to gather timely future content changes on your competitor’s website – all you need to know from new products to promotions to new customer recommendations.

4. Where do customers and experts in your industry add ratings and reviews? If you are a restaurant, check Yelp and Urban Spoon to see what is being said about your rival. If you are a contractor, check Angie’s List. Are you looking for consumer product reviews? Check epinions.com or pissedconsumer.com. Consumers are increasing their participation both as critics and brand ambassadors so you will likely find real consumer feedback about most businesses.

5. PRNewswire.com provides a history of news releases relevant to a company or products in the business of creating press releases over a period of time.

6. Check the buzz about your competitors on social networking sights using www.search.twitter.com, www.boardtracker.com , www.boardreader.com , and www.socialmention.com. You will be able to read comments, assess sentiment about your competitors, and identify their issues which can become your opportunities. Using social networking intelligence, you can also determine who your competitors critics and evangelists are and why.

Who should you include in your competitive intelligence search? Obviously direct competitors in your target market are included but don’t stop there. Broaden your research to include similar businesses in other markets – you may gain inspiration from their marketing practices. Don’t forget related businesses that may be expanding product lines in response to the recession. For example, many home construction companies are now actively pursuing the remodeling market as the new home market declines.

Combining competitive intelligence with customer research and market trends will help you craft business strategy to propel you out of the recession and into growth. Using inexpensive web-based tools, there is no excuse for the small business owner not to have access to high quality research that used to be the sole bastion of large organizations. In the next few posts, we will discuss tools and methods for researching customers and trends.

What are you using to keep track of your competitors?

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USE 4 D’S TO DEAL WITH UNFINISHED PROJECTS

unfinishedprojectsThis is the third post in a monthly series dedicated to preparing your business for the upcoming economic recovery.

We all have them. Many times, they sit in stacks of papers in our office, the “someday I will get to that pile.” Not addressing this pile of projects before business growth is like trying to run a marathon with an extra 40 pounds on your hips, knees and ankles – it can be done but it takes longer and it hurts a lot more. Everyone has their own system but for me, I like to follow the 4D’s approach:

Do It! These are the projects that support strategic objectives, have high payback and cannot be delayed. They were a great idea before the recession and they are an even better idea now.

Delegate It! Do you have employees looking for more challenging assignments? During a recession when money is tight, performance development projects without restrictive schedules can be delegated to employees who are trying to develop new skills. In a tight market, if you cannot offer raises or other financial incentives, providing employees with enhanced duties and opportunities to develop new skills helps foster positive morale.

Consider smartsourcing the work to a freelancer. Besides the traditional online jobbers such as Monster.com or Hotjobs.com, check out Craigslist.com, elance.com, guru.com or odesk.com as terrific resources to locate highly credentialed professionals. Ask for referrals on your social networks such as LinkedIn. There are many unemployed or underemployed professionals on the market willing to freelance while between jobs. If the projects require administrative or computer skills, you can use web-based productivity tools such as Google Docs or Zoho for virtual collaboration.

Dump It! In my experience, at least 50% of the projects in the “someday” pile should simply be dumped. If you haven’t made it a priority by now, what has changed? Why wasn’t it critical enough to rise to the level of importance before? Was it lack of staff? If so, why didn’t you outsource the work while the business was stronger and money available? Was it because no one can do it like you? I hope not – those kinds of projects will kill your business whether we are in a recession or on the upswing.

Delay It! These are great ideas that have positive impact on the business but are not as high a priority as “Do It Now” items. They are not essential enough to pay someone else to do (or they are difficult to delegate or outsource) but they are worth getting done. For example, you may have a list of blog changes you want to make but they don’t raise to the level of critical enough to hire a webmaster to complete. Avoid putting everything you cannot do immediately into the Delay It category – you will simply end up right where you started with a big pile of unfinished projects. If you designate a project for delay, be sure to put these projects on your plan and schedule time to accomplish them within a short period of time. Any project that continues to miss its planned start and finish over and over again must be questioned as a possible “Dump It” project.

Please schedule regular reviews on a monthly or quarterly basis – mark it on your calendar. Use the opportunity of a business downturn to establish the practices and disciplines that keep you organized and focused upon profitable activities and projects.

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MAKE ROOM FOR THE RECOVERY

filing boxes on dollyThis is the second post in a monthly series dedicated to preparing your business for the upcoming economic recovery. Yesterday, we discussed how you need to clear out your thinking and today we talk about how we must clean up and make room in our office space to prepare for growth.

* Are your files over stretched to the max?
* Are your computers running out of space?
* Is your facility/office running out of files space?
* Do you have stacks of unfinished projects?
* Lists of to-do’s are everywhere?
* Daily email traffic filled with subscriptions and newsletters you never read?
* Daily snail mail filled with postcards and sales letters, magazines you never read?
* Books on your shelf?
* Is your office furniture laid out in such a way as to be highly productive?
* Old supplies in your drawers?
* Are you so disorganized that you buy new supplies because you cannot find the old supplies?

Isn’t it time to clean out your workspace? The process of cleaning up serves several purposes:

* Cleaning up allows you to symbolically remove past mistakes.
* Cleaning up and making room allow you to acknowledge your past accomplishments. You will run across old to-do lists, goals, projects, customer letters and other items that remind what an excellent job you do at what you do! Cleaning up your office can be like looking through an old picture album.
* Cleaning up inspires your future. Old projects and customer files may spark an idea that has been latent for a long time. Start making a list of your inspired thoughts.
* Cleaning up creates space for new customers, new sales, new processes, and new product innovation ideas.
* No one can do their best thinking when surrounded by disorganization. Just think how pleasant it will be to work in an organized space.

For some great ideas on how to organize your filing systems, here are some books for further study:

Organizing from the Inside Out, second edition: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life by Julie Morgenstern

Getting Organized: Improving Focus, Organization and Productivity by Chris Crouch

You can also browse the web for “office organization” or “home office organization” and you will find many resources available from professional organizers.

As you go through the process, put aside all “unfinished projects” which we will review tomorrow. Are you ready to make room for the economic upswing?

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THE RECOVERY IS COMING

ready setEvery economic recession comes to an end and this one is no different. Will you be ready? Today I begin a new blog series to outline smart moves you can make now to prepare you for the upswing when it comes.

Innovation does not take a break during a recession as witnessed by the success of the following companies started during recessions: General Electric, Microsoft, CNN, Hewlett Packard, IHOP, Burger King, and Hyatt among many others. DuPont, Sears, and Merrill Lynch are great examples of companies who repositioned themselves and emerged even stronger from the Great Depression. Products such as the chocolate chip cookie, the car radio and supermarket were invented in the Great Depression among a long list of innovations which have become part of our everyday lives. Capital sources may not be plentiful during periods of slow economic growth, but no one can put a limit on the human imagination.

The first step in preparing for the upswing is to shift your thinking and accept a few new truths:
1. Somebody is spending money.
2. Money is being made right now. Just as not every business thrives in a booming market, some profit in a downtown.
3. Businesses are acquiring new customers.
4. Businesses are listening to their customers and inspiring loyalty.
5. New partnerships are being developed.
6. New computer applications are being implemented to eliminate inefficiencies and increase productivity.
7. Company cultures are being revitalized and employees energized.
8. Ineffective staff and suppliers are rising to new levels of expectation or their services are no longer required.
9. Innovative new trends are springing forth every day. Smart companies are on the watch and are either responding to the trends or creating their own.
10. The economic downturn will end and a new cycle of prosperity will begin but the start of the cycle is rarely recognized until it can be seen in our rearview mirror.

While some are focused upon the chaos and wallowing in their misery, others see only opportunity. Which do you want to be?

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