Business Partner Magazine

Tips and advice for entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs

How is ‘Social Shopping’ Reshaping Online Retail?

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The future of retail might seem pretty dismal. Malls are losing major anchor stores and everyone is asking, “where are all the shoppers?” The truth is, it is a tough time for retailers and fashion apparel brands across the world but retail is far from being obsolete. In fact, WWD reported that in 2017 restaurants and retailers were poised to grow anywhere between 4 to 4.5 percent as consumers continue to pour their shopping dollars in the “experience economy.” So how does social shopping fit into all of this?

What is ‘Social Shopping’?

A rising trend that integrates the power of social media into online and offline shopping. It’s currently revolutionizing the business world and shaking things up for retailers and consumers alike. Social shopping has completely transformed the average shopper’s behavior, which in part has changed the way retailers set up and sell their products. For retailers, social shopping is more than just about maintaining a physical brick-and-mortar store, it’s also about maintaining an online presence where consumers from all around the world can look, explore, and shop. Social shopping is where social networking and comparison shopping merge into one and it’s having a massive impact on the way consumers shop and the way retailers sell.

Giving Consumers the Upper Hand

Today’s shoppers are savvy and smart. They know that if they are willing to invest some of their time in researching a product before buying that they are going to get the right product at the right price. Consumers can now instantly consult friends, family, and followers about prospective purchases. Now that consumers can collaborate on purchases it allows for the consumer to have 100% control over their buying and shopping experiences. Now brands are forced to think about what they’re putting out and how their brand is being perceived by the consumer.

How to Be Successful in the Social Shopping Age

Now that consumers hold most, if not all, of the power, can retailers still be successful in the same ways they once were? The answer is yes. Yes, online retailers can and will continue to be successful in this digital age. However, online retailers need to remember that for every product option they offer, there are hundreds of thousands of other smaller retailers platform that offer the same thing. So how can these retailers set themselves apart from the rest in order to see success? First, easy to use website interfaces are key. A messy, hard to use website is the fastest way to get a consumer to leave your website and check someone else out. Bonus points for mobile friendly sites. Second, just because there is no face to face interactions happening doesn’t mean that your customer service shouldn’t be on point. Many online retailers are option for 24/7 instant chat. Why? Because when a consumer has a question, they don’t want to sit and wait for 2-5 business days until an email is answered. The world of shopping is happening so fast and instant chat helps online retailers avoid bouncing consumers. Finally, constantly updating your website and avoiding any broken links or out of stock items will ensure that customers can shop with confidence and continue to come back to your online store.

Social shopping is just one of the exciting ways that the face of retail is changing. Brands should look forward to all the different and new ways to connect and interact with consumers. Online shopping is so close to becoming a full experience in the same way brick-and-mortar retail shaped the offline shopping experience. Don’t be afraid to embrace the new frontier of retailer. Instead, dive in head first and you’ll see firsthand why social shopping is the wave of the future.

About the Author

Carolyn Clarke is a freelance writer and fashion enthusiast based in Los Angeles, CA. In addition to her full time job as a buying consultant for small boutiques, she also writes fashion advice blogs that have been published across a number of digital platforms. In her free time, she takes her dog running along the Malibu coastline.

Images by rawpixel.com on Unsplash

Building a Solid Business Strategy

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Do you have to build a business strategy and do not know what to include? Do you want to have a step by step script to cover all the aspects to get results? In this article, you will read the main factors of business strategy. Useful information that can provide many benefits in your business.

The best business strategy is a set of marketing tools that the company combines to produce the desired response in the market. Managing everything is the best option to achieve the objectives set. We are going to offer you a series of solutions to improve your business strategy.

The best way for your business to succeed is by getting more and better sales. But how can you do it without spending a penny? The answer is following the business strategies that I propose below, and they serve both if you have a business online, as a physical one.

All these strategies are much simpler to execute than you think and, if you put them into practice every day, you will see that you do not have to be an expert so that your business generates new revenues and you can retain better customers.

  1. Spy on your competition!

Why does the business on the other side of the street sell more than yours? At least once a week, walk near the shops of your rivals (or visit their online stores) and analyze these issues:

  • What products do they offer?
  • What different products do they sell?
  • How they deliver products? (Valid only for online stores)
  • What sales strategy they use (discounts gifts to regular customers, type of posters)?

Make this a habit and record your observations; in this way, surely you learn some trick of your competition to increase your sales.

  1. Gives Access to a Group

This is a psychological marketing strategy widely used in marketing: it is about making the client see that, if he buys your product, he will be part of an important group of people who also enjoy it.

Apple for example uses this strategy constantly: buy an iPhone, and you will be part of the popular people who have an iPhone. Buy an iPad, and you will be one of those with the most advanced technology.

Buy this, and you will be part of those who get X thing in life. If you manage to get people, buying your items, to feel part of a special group, you will create an irresistible desire for those products (and you will increase sales).

  1. Talk to a Customer:

By this I mean that you have an honest conversation with at least one client each day where you are willing to listen. Ask your honest opinion about your store , what your articles look like, what would it improve, what things you need in your day to day, or what aspects you want to improve in your life.

So, in addition to creating a long-term relationship with your client, you will discover opportunities to improve your business that you otherwise could not. Record each comment in detail by writing them down in an agenda, and write the ideas that come up to increase your sales.

Do you have an online store? Send a small questionnaire by email after each sale to register your answers, or make surveys on your page or social networks.

  1. Think of Promotions:

Analyze the needs of your customers and your products, and think about what promotion could increase your sales while making your customers happy.

If they buy something, ask them what other product they would like to take with them; or see what items they usually buy together to make a discount offer. Use the information you get to make offers that customers find impossible to refuse.

  1. Products Quality:

As soon as you enter your store, give your customers an image in their mind of how they could be taking advantage of your product to get the results they want, and what it would feel like to get it, to solve the problem they have, or the pleasure that it would provide them to get where they want.

For example, if you have an appliance store, make them feel the thrill of having the TV that you sell by making them imagine how much they would enjoy watching their favorite football team at a game, or a good movie with their partner, without worrying about whether the device will break down or fail at any time.

If you can paint them an image saying “imagine what it would be like if you could have this already in your life” talking about the result of your article, you will have a very powerful sales tool. For more updates click here.

 

What It Takes to Understand Your Customers Today

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It is a well-known fact among business owners that modern shopping trends all point to the Internet as the epicenter of customer growth. When it comes to attracting and retaining customers, the Internet has provided ample opportunity for businesses both large and small. Google alone handles 3.5 billion searches a day, and a large portion of those searches provides all sorts of conversion opportunities for businesses.

However, business owners need to be aware that customers are mere seconds away from clicking over to a competitor if their experience is unsatisfactory. With that in mind, it’s vital to understand the modern customer in order to succeed in the online marketplace. Here are a few tips on maximizing that success.

Respect (And Understand) The Data

Thanks to the Internet, there is more actionable data at your fingertips than you may know what to do with. Take advantage of it! Research competitors’ sites, services, and products, and take a look at what people are actually talking about in your target market. Browse forums and comment sections, and craft email campaigns and surveys for your own customers. Sharpen your focus on what customers are looking for, and what experiences they expect to have.

A wealth of data is available through customer interactions on your website too. What do your analytics and reporting tools say about customer activity? Is your shopping experience generating conversions? Are customers seeking out the services that you offer? High bounce rates on various web pages may indicate that you need to tinker with your site a little bit to improve the experience.

Reach Out

If you really want to learn more about your customers, you need to interact with them and understand their needs as they occur. Many customers want the instant gratification of person-to-person interaction, without having to walk into a brick and mortar store. How do you do that?

Leading online businesses set up dedicated customer service and technical support channels, so their customers can get the help they need when they need it. Services like live chat systems are excellent for this purpose. Chat systems are available on store pages whenever customers have questions or need help, just like talking to a customer service rep in a store. Customers can solicit personalized help instantly, and on their terms.

If you interact with your customers on a personalized basis, you can provide instant service to improve the customer experience, and then gather essential data for future interactions, which allows you to improve customer experience even more. Through these techniques and services, you will have an important advantage when you compete in the online marketplace.

The longer you wait to do serious research on your customers, and build chat and customer service systems to reach out to them, the easier it is for your competitors to attract their mouse clicks. Get started with a live chat system today!

Lance Waterly is an experienced web marketer, writer, and consultant who loves to share his knowledge with readers across the internet. Jeff is always after the next big trends in marketing and eCommerce technology from innovative live chat software to the latest CRO and SEO strategies.

6 Costly Lead Management Mistakes Derailing Your Sales Efforts

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How the lead management process is handled influences how sales are made — or even if they are made.

An established process should not only increase the company’s bottom line but also produce the most appropriate solutions for a customer’s needs.

Without effective lead management processes and practices in place, a company’s ability to increase opportunities for both customers and sales is limited.

A sales team can’t simply sit back and wait for prospects to come to them. Their efforts need to focus on generating leads, qualifying leads, and nurturing them.

If leads are handled incorrectly and without an understanding of how the management process works, neither side will get what they want. The lead will most likely seek solutions elsewhere. The sales team will suffer from a lack of leads and low conversion rates.

That said, here are six costly lead management mistakes that can be easily avoided.

Not having a lead handling process in place

What happens when a lead comes in? What happens after the initial contact?

A lack of clarity in the lead management process gives rise to confusion and loses a potential customer in the shuffle.

What happens to a lead after initial contact and who handles the lead at different points in the process needs to be established and well-defined. Otherwise, no one will know when to funnel the contact to the proper person or department, and the lead will lose interest and seek solutions elsewhere.

Not prioritizing leads

The sales process can be long, but failing to prioritize leads can make it even longer and unfruitful.

Although the scenario is not common, some leads know exactly what they need and are ready to buy immediately.

More commonly, a lead requires more information on a product before deciding it’s the right solution.

A keen understanding of a lead’s needs and where they are in the sales process helps a business determine the most strategic way to deal with them. A lead needing more information should probably be funneled to marketing while more decisive ones can go to sales. Actively trying to sell when a lead is not ready is an inefficient use of time and resources.

Waiting too long to follow up on a lead

The chances of making contact with a lead and making the sale increase the sooner someone follows up.

A Harvard Business Review study has revealed that responding to leads within an hour generates seven times more conversions. The study audited 2,241 U.S. firms and found that leads lose interest when there is too much time between initial contacts and follow up.

Within five minutes of a prospect’s contact is the ideal time to make direct contact and have an impact. A computer telephony interaction–like a CTI integrating MS Dynamics and Avaya–allows a sales team to react to lead interest immediately by using a computer to track inquiries and make return calls in seconds.

Giving up too soon

According to Business Insider, a potential customer needs some form of contact at least seven times within a period of 18 months to make an impact.

Through time, a business can convert someone with just an interest into a lead and eventually a sale. It starts with advertising, then the marketing and sales process.

It would be great to close the sale on the first contact, but this scenario doesn’t often happen because many leads are not ready to buy immediately.

Does this mean forget about them? If they are qualified, they will mostly buy at some point. The customer needs to build trust with the business. By nurturing the leads through marketing and periodic contact, the trust will grow over time.

Not creating engaging content

Ours is the Internet Age. Many leads will reach a business via the internet.

Whether a potential customer heard of the business through word of mouth or a web search, they will perform some internet research to learn more about the company and their products.

Quality content — both online and offline — is needed to obtain and nurture leads. This content may consist of web pages, blog posts, eBooks, marketing material, and whitepapers, which speak to the problems potential customers may have. Good content is the difference between engaging a prospect and having them look elsewhere.

Not updating lead databases

Any information obtained on a lead will help in discerning their level of interest and make it easier to sell to them. With the utilization of CRM integration like an MS Dynamics – Avaya CTI integration in the lead management process, it is easy to track if, when, and how many times leads have been contacted. Knowing this vital information gives insight into the best way to address the lead’s needs. Developing a profile of the prospect includes content they have been exposed to or what part of the website prompted the lead to show interest in the company. Whether the lead is funneled to another person or department, the efforts to engage are better targeted.

Final thoughts

Leads are crucial to a business’s sales cycle. An efficient handle on lead management brings effective conversion of a prospect to first a lead and then to a customer. Avoiding the mistakes mentioned above will allow a sales team to acquire more qualified leads and create more effective sales opportunities. The result? The business will thrive.

About the Author

Brooke Harper is a seasoned writer and sales consultant, and has written hundreds of articles and white papers covering all aspects of B2B sales, phone marketing, and advanced sales strategy. Brooke is one of the top writers on Quora in B2B and her answers get over 100K views a month, and growing.

 

5 Easy Ways to Improve Customer Experience

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Customer satisfaction plays an incredibly important role in any business. Naturally, every company wants to have happy customers, the ones who are always more than ready to tell their friends about their magnificent experience with a company. Word-of-mouth marketing is incredibly important, and it should not be underestimated. Only by pleasing your customers will you make a name for yourself in the surprisingly cutthroat business world.

What can you do to make your customers happy besides putting a smile on your face? Well, there are many different and easy ways to make a customer happy, so let’s take a look at some of them.

Identify your customers

Before doing anything rash, you need to identify your potential customers. Characteristics such as location, age, marital status, income, and others are important, and they will help you find the perfect way to interact with them. Doesn’t matter if you’re just setting up shop, or if you’re looking for new ways to improve customer experience, you can find out a lot about your customers by researching the market.

Train your employees

Enhancing your employees’ skills and educating them about your company’s products is a must. The more your employees know, the more they will be able to help your customers. Give incentives such as bonuses and days off to those who provide top-notch customer service and by doing that motivate your workers to work even harder.

Get personal

People love working with companies who seem to understand their needs. Remember your customers’ preferences and send them e-mails notifying them when something that might interest them is on sale. Always take your customers’ needs in consideration and wish them happy birthdays too. By doing that you’ll get under their skin so to speak, and they’ll buy your products more often.

Always sign e-mails with your name. People love doing business with other people, not companies or brands. By simply adding your name at the end of an e-mail, you’ll make your customer feel more appreciated.

Use social media

Even though e-mail marketing is still one of the most successful methods of getting customers, cell phones are the preferred method of customer service contact. Chat with your customers on Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and other social networks. Hire a team of professionals to manage your business’s page and make sure they’re always ready to respond to complaints and broadcast important announcements.

Private hospitals and doctors who undertook private practice are not advised to use social media for contacting their patients, simply because of privacy issues. Because of that, many practices use SMS appointment reminder system. This service is simple to use, and it allows practices to send messages to their patients to inform them about any changes to their appointments, and even to receive text-back messages from their patients.

Live Chat

Adding a live chat to your website is a very good idea because it allows your current and potential customers to ask questions and receive a response without leaving your site. Software Advice did a survey and found out that 56 percent of Americans aged 18 to 34 prefer using live chat over other means of communication with company representatives.

Your live chat support agents should be incredibly talented and friendly communicators. Hire agents that have a lot of common sense and who are patient. You don’t want to make your potential customer angry.

Don’t be afraid to be innovative. Try new things now and then, and see how your customers react. Engage your customers and make them feel appreciated at all times. Find new uses for your products or invent new ones by using customer feedback. Get close, get personal, and get new clients by showing them that you care about them.

About the Author

Diana Smith is a full time mom of two beautiful girls interested in topics related to business and technology. In her free time she enjoys exploring new low cost advertising opportunities.