If you’re looking for the most cost-effective way to raise company profits, try raising employee morale. We’ve all heard that satisfied employees are more productive but new research by the University of Warwick proves it – a study of over 700 participants found that happiness boosted productivity by 12%. While happy employees help businesses perform…
Have you considered making a special offer or discounting your prices to try and drive extra sales? If you have, or are considering doing so in the future, let me ask you to pause for a second and consider something….. Imagine you are researching, browsing or shopping for something new. Also, let’s say you are…
Research released earlier this year by Sabio and the Customer Contact Association that showed that anywhere between 25% and 40% of the calls made to UK contact centers are unnecessary or avoidable. The research highlighted that the most common causes of calls to businesses were to do with: Customers chasing information about deliveries, how to…
Establishing a small business can be difficult, but keeping it successful and expanding it is the real challenge. An enormous number of new businesses are struggling to turn a profit at any given time and only a small minority will survive to attempt to become something a little bigger and more successful. So what can…
Yesterday I posted the 199th “Top 5 Tips” article on The Small Business Blog. These tips are written on a weekly basis (except for a few breaks for Christmas etc.) and the very first one was published on July 29th 2009, meaning the series has been ongoing for nearly four years now. They remain one…
There have been reports recently that Facebook’s popularity is waning in the UK, with one report suggesting that “a 9 per cent drop in Facebook usage since April 2012” because users are: “fed up with social marketing promotions” and “nervous their personal info would be handed over to third parties” The report goes on to…
Recently, a new study on SME marketing conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) – reported here – was released. In the study, they found that the average SME is only achieving 39 per cent of its planned marketing activity. According to the study, whilst 77 per cent of SMEs recognise that…
One of the keys to the success of any small business is how good it is at generating loyalty and repeat purchases from its existing customers ie. it’s customer loyalty or its customer retention. In recent months, I have been conducting a series of interviews with authors and business leaders that are doing great things…
There are a lot of reasons why a small business owner might be fearful, whether it is because of the economy or due to other circumstances that are beyond their control – such as losing a key member of staff or not making enough money to pay the bills. They might even be afraid of…
The art of articulation I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- being able to articulate what you do personally or in business is just about the most important skill you can develop. Sounds obvious huh? Well I am constantly being shocked just how bad people are at it. The age of the ‘Shrinking…
