When embarking upon a new small enterprise or startup money tends to be on the tight side. But a lean budget doesn’t have to mean unprofessional looking. Clients don’t need to know if you’re operating out of your basement or not – you can still maintain a very high quality front without wasting too much cash on the appearance.
Here we explore some of the ways you can present professionalism without the high end price tag.
The virtues of virtual offices
If your business is not quite at a stage where offices are viable the virtual option can be useful. It puts a professional face on your business by providing you with a prestigious address, such as 100 St Paul’s Churchyard in central London, but without the huge fee of renting or buying space there.
Depending on your chosen package, virtual office services will provide you with a mail forwarding service alongside a secretary to answer the phone and forward your calls or on the lower tier, an automated forwarding service.
This option can give you the appearance of being established while your business is still ironing out the creases. It means your team can grow as and when it needs to without looking too small for its office – or even too large. Alongside this you can hire meeting rooms in the venue of your virtual office in order to meet with clients when needed.
Get tech and social media savvy
Working on a good online presence can be a cheap and simple way of making your business look better. Social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus are free so putting in the time and effort to make them vibrant can be a very worthwhile investment.
Using platforms that work through the cloud or other digital software will help give your business that forward thinking edge that is so essential to modern business. Leaders in the digital document distribution industry highlight how useful electronic billing services can be to business. They highlight the improvement e-billing can have on efficiency, security, prominence and document safety.
Using e-billing services like PayPal can be a great tool in keeping up to date records and sending out invoices. Often clients are more likely to pay promptly if they are given an e-payment option.
Both cloud-based software and an online presence offer your customers accessibility which can make all the difference in whether people will want to work with you.
Receptive customer service
A polite manner does not cost a thing except maybe a little of your time. Going the extra mile for your potential clients will make a lot of difference when you’re starting out. If you cannot help somebody, recommend someone who can. When you’re sending out invoices be friendly and polite and your clients will be far more inclined to pay you promptly.
It sounds simple but when business can be cut throat and time is ever an issue this kind of in-depth and helpful customer service can get lost along the way. Being polite may not land you business every time but it can be a very effective tool in getting your companies name out there for the right reasons.
When you’re competing with big businesses who are renowned for outsourcing their customer service a helpful attitude can make all the difference.
This sponsored post was provided by i2 Office, serviced office specialists operating an expanding number of business centres in prime city centre locations across the UK.
