S3 Blog

During a credit crunch it can be very tempting for a business to almost refuse to spend money on investments and these can be seen as quite risky. No business want to lose money and during a credit crunch businesses bottom line is the key to the business succeeding. As a result many businesses will not invest and this can actually be to their detriment as it is possible to invest your way out of trouble.

Whilst it may seem quite foolhardy to invest money during a credit crunch investing your way out of trouble can sometimes be the most sensible move for a business. This can be for several reasons, such as:

1. Often making investments in small, up and coming new businesses which have massive potential, can be a very wise decision during a credit crunch - if the business can afford it. Investing money during a credit crunch usually works out cheaper than investing during a time of financial stability. So in effect a business can invest less money and still benefit in the same way once a credit crunch is over.

2. Making wise investment during the credit crunch can be a lifesaver for many businesses. Just make sure that if you choose to invest in the business capital that you have done a great deal of research on your potential investment before parting with any money.

3. Some businesses find that by investing money in a certain way they can actually offer customers more options. So instead of weakening the business by spending money, investing money works out as a preferred method of strengthening the business.

4. Investing should always make the business money in the long run, if your investment has this potential then you should take it with both hands.

5. Maybe your business actually needs to invest to survive a credit crunch. If this is the case and that is all that is standing between your business succeeding or failing then investment is the obvious choice for any smart business owner.

6. Investing doesn’t necessarily have to involve money - your business may need to invest time in a project to succeed. As a business owner if you can see that some of your employees time could be invested and could produce healthy profits then this is an option that you should certainly consider.

7. Look at the long-term when thinking about making investments - to make sure that your business can survive a credit crunch you need to look into the future. If you can see that an investment could stand to make a massive return in two or three years this should be appealing. However before you invest make sure that your business can stand to be without this money for a set period of time, otherwise your investment would be in vain

Investing your way out of trouble certainly is possible but it is essential that a business owner knows that the business can afford to invest any money before any transactions go ahead.

As the song goes “The times they are a changing” and never more so than in the current economic climate of the UK. Over the past 12 months or so the recession has hit thousands of businesses – both large and small, hard and as a result many have now gone bust. The times are changing and there has been a huge shift from the financially frivolous times of the 1990s and early 2000s to a time where millions are out of work and many cannot even afford to pay their mortgages. During the 1990s spending large amounts of money and actually being prod of this was very much the order of the day. Move forward 15 years and the UK is now experiences a credit crunch and those people who had racked up massive amounts of credit are now feeling the strain.

So, how are the times changing for businesses?

- Businesses are also suffering and many are now feeling the pinch as customers are now looking for cheaper deals on the internet and on the high street.

- Spending money recklessly is not seen as something to aspire to and this is forcing many retailers to drastically rethink their pricing plans.

- Business need to see the value of using good CRM (customer relationship management) software tools. Using such software can make all the difference to businesses that want to make the most out of every single customer contact that they have.

- Businesses need to recognise that they have to engage their customers to keep them returning to them time and time again. It is now no good to just market and sell goods or services, customers need to feel as though their thoughts and ideas are valid for a business and identify with the business. Feedback sections on websites and blogs are really useful for this to happen.

- Businesses now need to focus on new ways of reaching their customers. The internet has virtually limitless potential for businesses and there are plenty of methods that a business can choose to advertise which are diverse and attention grabbing.

- The recession has also taught business owners that nothing lasts forever and it will always pay to have a strategy in place for tough times. This can provide a business with the cushion that they need if the economic climate of their country changes.

- Businesses need to be flexible in their approach to their customers and their means of contacting them. With the advent of freely available mobile technology there is more scope to contact customers through email marketing, SMS messages and social networking sites. Smart businesses take notice of this and move with the times.

- No business can ever afford to rest on its laurels and assume that they will always have a strong customer base. This is foolhardy to say the least and all business owners should be constantly looking for ways in which to improve the service that they provide.

One of the main reasons that businesses fail today is that they do not stay in touch with what their customers want and begin to appear dated in the way that they advertise, conduct business and contact their customers. What might have worked well for a business 20 or so years ago will not cut it in the consumer world of today and businesses are realising they need to reinvent themselves to keep up to date. Initially it can seem like a costly venture for any business owner to reinvent their business, but thanks to S3 CRM it is much more cost effective than you might think.

S3 CRM can help businesses to reinvent themselves by streamlining their procedures and process through:

1. Providing the means to create easy to access and add to customer and employee contact databases.
Creating invoices and quotes quickly and easily and attaching them to customer contact details.
Plan projects and assign them to employees using S3 CRM, business owners are also able to see who has the most projects, which projects are open and which are approaching their deadlines.
Set alerts for when projects and tasks are nearing completion dates.

2. Create email marketing campaigns using an easy to follow structure which means that even a novice can successfully create email marketing campaigns in minutes. Email marketing is one area that many business owners are wary of as they believe that it takes certain expertise to do so and as a result shy away from attempting to produce them. With S3 CRM a business can move forward and reinvent themselves adding email marketing to their methods of contacting customers. Once an email marketing campaign has been sent users can check on its effectiveness using the reporting tools available through S3 CRM.

3. Send SMS messages using S3 CRM – this is another great way for businesses to stay in touch with customers.

4. S3 CRM also has additional reporting tools which can allow business owners to see the conversion rate for quotes, which customers have the most outstanding invoices, which customers have the placed the most orders and so on. In fact using S3 CRM can help a business to get the best from reporting so that it can increase profits and reduce outstanding invoices.

5. Each individual user is able to customise their own dashboard upon which they can place widgets of the features they use most often, this helps to cut down on the time spent opening different features and scrolling through screens.

6. As S3 CRM is web based users can access their account from anywhere in the world with internet access, this allows a business to provide the same service from anywhere – a total reinvention if users previously all had to be based in the same office.

These are just a few of the ways that S3 CRM can help businesses to reinvent themselves and there are many more to choose from.

Today the number of people with internet access in their homes is staggering when compared to even 15 years ago. Mobile communication has meant that even when a person is on the move it is possible to communicate with people all over the world at a fraction of the cost and it is all due to the fact that new technology is becoming cheaper. Desktop computers, laptops, notebooks, mobile phones etc are all getting cheaper by the day and this is increasing the potential for businesses to reach more customers than ever before via the internet and mobile communications.

Traditionally, new technology was only available to those in business or people who were wealthy enough to afford it as it was so costly. Now everyone is basking the glow of the internet at home, at school and even when travelling. With the advent of social networking sites keeping in touch has never been so popular or so easy. In order for people to connect to such sites electronics companies have realised they needed to make new technology cheaper and therefore more accessible for everyone. They realised that doing this would increase their profits tenfold and keep customers wanting the latest technology at low prices.

Gone are the days when only a handful of people had mobile phones and laptop computers, and instead in their place are people of all ages and abilities who are all wanting to have new technology for themselves. This increased demand for new technology means that more items are being sold, so more are being manufactured, bringing down the cost of new technology for the consumer. So now there is no reason why anyone who wants to keep up to date with new technology can’t do so for a very reasonable price.

As well new electrical technology getting cheaper software applications etc are also getting much cheaper as companies can design and implement new technology cheaper and faster than ever before. CRM (customer relationship management) software for instance used to be incredibility expensive for a business to buy and run and now the smart businesses are recognising that many companies are providing this cheaper than ever. To put this into perspective it now means that there is no reason why a small to medium sized business should not benefit from using CRM software to assist them.

Using a good CRM software solution is not only cost effective (especially since new technology is getting cheaper) it can also increase a businesses profits substantially. Making these savings for a business means that new technology can be seen as even cheaper as it can pay for itself in just a few months, rather than being seen as expensive and unattainable. New technology is constantly being developed and as it is now so cheap and so widely available there is no logical reason why consumers and businesses can’t embrace this new technology and enjoy it.

An ISP or Internet service provider is the name that is given to a company that gives its customers access to the Internet. Some of the ISPs will also offer e-mail accounts as standard as part of their pricing plan and some may offer other services such as data storage. Choosing an ISP for your business can be quite tricky, obviously businesses want to have the best deal from their Internet service provider which is both cost-effective yet gives the business the Internet access they require.

One good way of choosing an ISP business is to take a look at some of the ISPs that are around on the Internet. BT offers a very good packages for business which can include broadband Internet connections and phone lines for one very reasonable price. In addition to this businesses can also have support from business broadband experts at any time of the day night - something which a business may need if they run into difficulties online which need to be sorted out immediately. BT also offers business e-mailing, a data backup service web hosting and even VoIP so that making and taking calls from all over the world is a breeze. You might even want to take advantage of the web hosted conference calls and video options that BT offer its business customers.

Smaller businesses who are wanting to choose an Internet service provider should look towards a provider such as PlusNet who are an excellent ISP for small to medium-sized businesses. Many of the packages which this provider offers are tailored towards a smaller business, which is perfect if you only have a handful of employees yet still want your business to be connected to the Internet and to have all the advantages and features that are larger business would have online.

It may be a wise idea to note down what your business needs are when you are looking to choose an ISP to your business. Doing this will enable you to see which of the ISP providers are unable to best meet the needs of your business. There is nothing worse than choosing an Internet service provider and then a month or so down the line of realising that they are not providing exactly what your business needs for its Internet connection.

When you have chosen your ISP for your business you to get in contact with them and arrange to set up an account with them. By speaking to one of the online advisers you might even be able to arrange for a package which will meet your needs exactly which is a mixture of two or more different plans. Internet service providers want to go the extra mile so you may find that speaking to provider directly is more beneficial than just using the information that is contained on their website. So choose your Internet service provider and start to make the most of using the Internet to your business and branch out into new markets.

The internal infrastructure of a business is basically how that business is structured internally – who does what, the various processes used to ensure the day to day running of the business, software applications used etc. All businesses should have an internal infrastructure regardless of size and here are the top 10 things a small business should do with their internal infrastructure:-

1. Organise your internal infrastructure from the ground up – start with the basics of the business and work upwards, this will ensure that all procedures and processes work for the benefit of the business and nothing gets overlooked.

2. Have internal email – this is useful for any business as it is great for internal communication and it provides a secure way to send and receive information.

3. Think about creating an intranet for your staff– this is an internal internet on which things relating to the business are posted such as job vacancies and news.

4. Have a professional from outside the business come in and evaluate how you work – this can often seem as though it is someone ‘poking their nose in’ but sometimes an outsider can see areas within the infrastructure that can be altered and improved upon.

5. Use a dedicated software solution – such as S3 CRM. Using a dedicated software solution is one of the easiest and most productive ways of streamlining the internal infrastructure of a small business. Having all employees working through one application upon which everything, from holidays and contacts to ongoing projects and invoices can be recorded and worked on means greater efficiency and increased profits.

6. Implement any ideas that you have that could bring about improvements – too many business owners worry about rocking the boat by implementing changes, but this is the wrong attitude to have. By not changing certain procedures and processes just because it is what has always happened shows a lack of progress. Anything that can be altered and will create positive changes should be done, regardless of how long this has been part of the internal infrastructure of a small business.

7. Find ways to increase efficiency – any small business owner that wants to develop their business should routinely look at the internal infrastructure to see if there any ways to increase efficiency.

8. Lower costs – this is one way in which the internal infrastructure of a business can have dramatic impacts on the revenue of a business. See if there are any areas in which costs can be lowered – one way of doing this is to use one software application to run the business through, such as S3 CRM.

9. Expand areas if needed – if an area of the business is doing well and continues to look into expanding it, but make sure you plan the expansion so that other areas of the business are not neglected by this.

10. Make a business plan – this can highlight areas of the internal infrastructure which could be developed further or reduced and therefore improve the running of the business from within.

Email is one of the most well used and recognisable forms of communication today, it is fast, efficient and when using many online email accounts – free. Add to this the fact that using an online email account means that you can access your own personal email account from anywhere in the world that has an internet connection and it is easy to see why so many people have them.

Many small businesses find that using online email accounts is a better option for them as it saves a great deal of money rather than having to pay for a dedicated in-house email solution. As with any type of service there are advantages and disadvantages to using online email accounts:-

Advantages
Accessibility – as you are able to access your own personal email account from anywhere in the world you are able to stay in touch with the office and friends where ever you are. This means that you do not have to take your own laptop with you on business trips so you can log into the network just to read your emails.

Cheap – many of the online email accounts are free, or very cheap to use.
Features – many of the online email accounts today offer advanced features such as unlimited storage (something which many users of email accounts such as Outlook will tell you is a massive bonus), virus protection, spam protection, unique graphics and fonts.

Extra capabilities – many online email account providers are also offering free instant messaging or software alongside their main product to encourage users to sign up.

Disadvantages

Privacy – as you are not contributing to the running costs of your online email account the owner must make up revenue somehow. This can be through ads on the site or through selling information – primarily yours. Read the small print of the terms of use to make sure that your provider will not sell things such as your name, email address, contents of your address book and so on.

Security – sending passwords and usernames in plain text means that they pose a security risk. Check to see that your provider has SSL encryption as this will protect your sensitive login information.

Reliability – if you rely heavily on your email account you need to make sure that it is always up and running. If you use an online email account you could find that unplanned maintenance disrupts our routine. Or do you know what would happen if the provider closed down their email facility – how would you retrieve your messages?

Online email accounts are very useful and can provide you with a reliable and secure method of accessing your emails from any PC anywhere in the world (with an internet connection). However if you need to have access to your emails and do not want to run the risk of the provider’s maintenance plans or security throwing a spanner in the works you could be better off paying for your email account.

Online communities are one of the most popular ways to get connected with people and businesses that all share certain things in common. Building an online community is a very difficult and very time consuming task, and one which is constant, you can’t just begin an online community and expect it to flourish, you need to put in some very hard work. If you feel you are up to the challenge here are some steps that might help you on your way:-

1. Do you have the time needed to devote to building your online community? In order to answer this question you need to know that you will have to constantly watch it, spend countless hours re-coding various parts of the site if someone hacks into it and most importantly do you want to especially if you don’t see any real results for months?

2. Do you have a good idea and plenty of good ideas for content? If you are unclear about your aims and goals you will find it difficult to build an online community that people will want to be a part of.

3. Make sure that the rules and guidelines for you community are as clear and reasonable as possible and stick to them! Make sure that you set the example for others to follow and if you see any comments or behaviours that you feel is not adhering to the ethics of the site do something about it.

4. If someone does make a mistake point it out to them privately, you don’t want to engage in a public dressing down of someone if it is their first mistake – use your judgement and you will gain the respect of the community members.

5. Have somewhere that members of the site can talk about the site. It is a good idea to have this somewhere prominent on the site so that visitors can read it and join in. It also gives you a clear insight into what members think of the site which is always important.

6. Try and get friends involved – do you know someone who would make a great moderator? If so ask them to help you, that way you will get people who have you best interests helping you to run the site.

7. Make a point of highlighting certain members when they contribute something that you and other visitors to the site love. That way you will be encouraging more people to do the same. How you decide to do this is up to you, you might like to have a points system and have weekly stats or how about their profile pic being on the homepage for a week?

8. Have fun – whilst you will have to spend plenty of hours performing mind numbing tasks to get your community up and running you should still make it enjoyable. If it becomes a labour of love you might start to loathe it and not give it the time and attention it deserves, so keep a sense of humour and remember that all good things come to those who wait.

Marketing is a method that businesses the world over use to advertise their services, products and the business and brand itself. With a growing number of businesses having their own websites email marketing is big business with new customers subscribing to newsletters, updates, press releases and promotional emails with their favourite companies. Using email marketing is a cheap, fast and effective way of delivering news and other information to customers directly with none of the usual marketing costs associated. This makes it the ideal marketing tool for any business that is looking to reach a wide audience almost instantly directly into their customer’s inboxes. Not only that but email marketing is the preferred option for businesses who want to be seen as Green and thinking of their impact on the environment.

For email marketing campaigns to be successful they must target people who are likely to a) read the email, and b) likely to respond to it. Here are a few hints and tips to make sure that you are maintaining your email marketing list so that you are getting the most from it;

1. Get your customer’s email addresses on your contacts list – this might seem straightforward and common sense but it is surprising how many businesses fail to ask for this information during a phone call. Obviously if a customer contacts you by email their email address can be collected easily – but make sure you add it to your contact list.

2. Make sure that you don’t send too many email marketing campaigns out each month – repeatedly getting emails from a business is a sure fire way to annoy your customers and potential customers. No one likes their inbox being flooded with marketing emails so make sure each one you send has something worth reading.

3. Use S3 CRM to create and send your email campaigns then you can check on the reports to see which emails have bounced back. By doing this you can delete any email addresses that are no longer valid, this will give you a better indication as to how successful each campaign you send is.

4. Delete any subscribers from your list who wish to unsubscribe, once again doing this will give you a clearer view of how many subscribers are reading their emails and clicking through. After all if you send an email to 1,000 people and 100 of these expressed a wish to unsubscribe you are losing out on 10% of your potential unique reads before you have sent a single email.

By adhering to these few hints and tips you will be able to successfully maintain an email marketing list that works with you and presents statistics that are more valid than one that is filled of bounced back emails and people wishing to unsubscribe. If you get into the habit of maintaining your list you will find that it takes less and less time each week or month as you will only be adding new contacts and deleting old / expired ones as you find them.

When an individual starts up in business it is easy for them to underestimate the scope of the work that they will need to undertake that are not always apparent when they begin. For example if you run a business that sells products you will not only need to have employees that take calls, answer emails, send out goods and so on, you will also need people creating your website, designing advertising, creating and implementing email marketing campaigns – the list goes on.

As a result you might find that you have something of a talent shortfall when you are looking for certain tasks to be completed, but often these tasks do not need to be done on a weekly or even monthly basis, so do not require a full time member or members of staff doing this for you. And this is where subcontractors are so useful for you as they can provide the services that you need and you only pay them for that service as it is done. This means that you will save on wages for permanent full time staff and you know that you are paying a professional for a service that you can rely on.

Subcontracting parts of your business to others is the ideal way for you to get certain tasks done without having to employ someone specifically to do them. Subcontractors work on a per job basis so you can hire them to do a specific piece of work and agree on a price before the work starts. This means that you and the subcontractor know where you both stand before any work is entered into. Some people like to pay part of the fee to a subcontractor when half of the work is done as gesture of goodwill, although if you have a person or people who regularly subcontract for you this might not have to be the case as both parties know that the work will be completed and paid for without any problems.

If you are looking for a subcontractor to help your business there are different ways in which you can do this. Some people ask around to other business owners to see if they have subcontractors that they can recommend. Or you could go online to some of the freelancing sites that are around and put up an advert for a subcontractor that will be able to help you with what you have in mind. Another way of finding subcontractors is to either do an online search or use something like the Yellow Pages to find someone who can help you with outstanding tasks.

One thing is certain if you find yourself in a situation where you need something doing for your business but don’t have the talent in house – don’t worry. By subcontracting parts of your business to others you can easily solve this problem and get the very best talent working for you without having to put them on the payroll permanently.