In business, you need to be shrewd to succeed and keep an eye on the competition, because there is a lot of competitors out there that will gladly jump into your shoes if you can’t deliver or get something wrong. However, as well as watching what your peers are doing, you also need to keep an eye on what is happening within your company internally as well. This is because you may be self-sabotaging your own business and not even realize it! Luckily, in the post below you will find some detail on the most common ways of doing this and what actions you can take to avoid or prevent these situations ruining your company’s success.
Ignoring the value of your online presence
It could be argued that as a business your online presence is even more important that the impression you give in person, or in your brick and mortar stores. Why? Well, its because you may not have any face to face or real-world contact with your customers, and end up dealing with them entirely through your website and other online platforms. With this being the case your online presence has tremendous value in term of the success of your business, and you undervalue it at your peril.
In fact, an effective online presence needs to be many things. Firstly, it needs to be professional and look the part. To that end, it’s best not to get your mate down the pub to cobble it together for you in your spare time but go with a professional design company that makes a living at this sort of thing.
It also needs to be on brand, which means that the images, interactions, actions, and content that you put out need to meet the style, tone, and values of your business. Something that can help establish your company in your customers’ mind and encourage them to think of you as consistent and trustworthy.
Also, your online presence needs to be user-friendly. At the very base level, this means you need to use a reliable business internet provider that will ensure any downtime your site has is kept to a minimum. After all, your customers cannot connect with you and purchase if they can’t even get onto your site!
Lastly, your online presence also needs to have a humanized edge as well. This is vital because customers don’t tend to respond well to automation when it is customer facing, especially online because they already feel that there is too little interaction with real people in this space and that no one is looking after their interest personally.
With that in mind, provide real people for customers to speak to over the phone, by email, or even over instant chat. The value of this being that it can make them feel much more secure in their purchase decisions and help to raise your conversions online.
Spending on the wrong things
Another way that you may be sabotaging your business without even realizing is that you are investing in the wrong things. Now, I’m not saying that investing in your business isn’t a good idea because it is if you do it the right way.
In fact, to be sure that you are investing correctly you need to consider two factors. The first is will the money you are spending have a positive effect on your customer’s experience? If the answer is yes, as it will be when it comes to things like customer service training, improved UX and UI on your website, or shorter delivery time, then it is usually a good idea.
Secondly, before you part with your money for business investment, you need to be sure that it will positively affect your revenue. Something you will need to perform a cost/benefit analysis to find out.
What this means is that by doing a simple analysis you can easily see which things should be invested in first and which should be left, no matter how good an idea they might seem to be. Something that can stop you getting carried away with investing concept that seems fantastic on paper, but won’t make any difference to the bottom line of your business when it comes down to it.
Wasting time on unnecessary tasks
Next, it is effortless to unconsciously sabotage the success of your business by wasting time on unnecessary tasks and working in an unproductive manner. Of course, this is a quit complex issue that needs to be approached in several different ways to be completely rectified.
First of all, it’s vital that you have your own system for productivity, something like the Pomodoro technique can work well, and that you stick to it. What this does it to allow you to set a good example to the rest of your staff in term so balancing work and breaks and ensuring that you maintain short and effective focus while you are working.
In addition to this, it is vital that you understand that hours at your desk does not productively make. An attitude that will reinforce to your staff that you do not wish them to waste time, energy, and morale on busy work because they don’t want to leave their desks until 8 p.m.
Next, as a leader in your company, you need to be able to recognize the value of delegating and outsourcing work. Luckily, this isn’t such a difficult thing to do once you have got the hang of it, even if you are someone that likes to be naturally in control.
In fact, all you have to do is look at the task you are doing and ask two questions. The first is, “Can someone else do this task for me?” While the second is “Would I happily pay my salary to someone to do this task?”. Of course, the answers you are looking for are yes, and no respectively, and once you have these, it is quite apparent that the task should be delegated or outsourced.
Happily, even if you are a smaller company or startup and have no one to delegate your tasks to within the business, many things can now be done by outside providers. In fact, you can find companies like this cheapest 1800 numbers provider with just a simple search, who will be able to provide a number that is not only free of charge for your customers to use, but is answered professionally and can field you call as well. Something that is perfect for small companies who staff’s time would be better spent on other tasks that are vital to the running of the business.
Giving off an unprofessional image
Lastly, a way that many otherwise well run companies self-sabotage is that they do not pay enough attention to creating a professional image for their business. Of course, without this potential customers are unlikely to take you seriously, or want to use you when it comes to making that all-important purchase.
Don’t fret though, because there are some simple hacks that you can do to ensure that your business looks as professional as possible. The first is to ensure that you have a well-designed logo and that this is on all of your paper correspondence, business cards, and emails.
Secondly, don’t forget that genuinely professional companies have more than a good image. They have an excellent reputation as well, something that is gained by delivering on promises made to customer big and small, and by encouraging positive reviews on external sites like Feefo, and Trust pilot, or Trip Advisor for those in the leisure and restaurant industry.
Positive reviews are essential for business success.
After all, there is nothing that will sabotage your business quicker than promising the world to everyone you come across and then not being able to deliver!
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