Avoiding More Common Mistakes

Last week, we took a look at Gene Marks’s article for The Hartford, wherein he explained many of the common pitfalls that small-business owners fall into. This week, let’s take a deeper look at a few more critical mistakes you should avoid. Don’t Overwork Yourself Marks admits that “running a…
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Avoiding Common Mistakes

Gene Marks, writing for The Hartford, has posted a great list covering many of the common traps small-business owners fall into, especially when they first get started. Many of these observations are important even for veteran business owners, so let’s look at a few today. Don’t Ignore Your Customers As…
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Why Employees Should Care About Net Profit

Anyone who has ever looked at a business’s financials will quickly understand the difference between gross and net profit. But for clarity sake, let’s define them. Gross profit equates to how much money is made on a sale after deducting its production costs, while net profit is what’s left over…
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Watching the Tape

When most business owners think about mystery shopping, they picture an average consumer entering a store to evaluate the customer experience. This includes everything from the impressions they form when approaching the store’s exterior to how the employees treat them once they’re inside. Additionally, they’ll usually have feedback regarding store…
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Caveat Emptor – Let the Buyer Beware

As the proverb instructs us, buyers should always be vigilant when making purchases, even going so far as to say that it’s a buyer’s responsibility to evaluate a product before agreeing to part with his money. You’d be right to think this principle is a bit unfair; after all, sellers…
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Creating Your Company Culture

The late Peter Drucker—regarded by many as the founder of modern business management—used to say that, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” In other words, the collective expression of values is more important than plans of action. As The Management Centre explains, Drucker “didn’t mean that strategy was unimportant—rather that a…
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Encouraging Positive Reviews

We’ve long stressed the importance of maintaining your business’s reputation, as public opinion is slow to change and so crucial to your ongoing success. There are many factors that can influence that reputation, but one major concern is the reality that negative customer experiences are far more likely to result…
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Mystery Shopping During a Pandemic

Whether you’re a longtime mystery shopper, a dabbler, or a first-timer, you’ve probably wondered how this process works in light of the coronavirus pandemic. After all, restricted occupancy, social distancing, and facial coverings are sure to make any customer experience awkward and your task as an evaluator challenging—to say the…
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Are You Losing Customers to Bad Customer Service?

The customer experience is the most crucial aspect of your business, beating out even your products and service offerings in the hierarchy of whether customers choose to shop with you or with a competitor. This was confirmed again by Shep Hyken, who recently put out a “special report on customer…
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