Category: Business Blog

Probably the most essential marketing tip for small businesses is how to appear larger. SMEs suffer from the fact that their size equates to untrustworthiness in the eyes of consumers. They see a residential address or a tiny office and think they are better suited to a reputable firm which has a solid standing in the community.

So, appearing bigger is vital for sales, traffic and profit-purposes. However, going ultra professional can often take the fun out the job, which is dangerous. When it gets boring, productivity and output levels will drop.

The question is, how do you go pro without eliminating the enjoyment factor? Here are a few thoughts.

Keep It Clean

Nothing says “unprofessional” more than an office space which is messy and dirty. Sadly, guests see it as a reflection on your services and they will bounce. And, workers let it affect their concentration levels and act as a distraction. Removing clutter can show the business in a new light and enhance employee’s powers of attentiveness. How do you make it fun, though? The answer is with CARRdiamond and their products. Nothing is as novel as polishing a concrete floor with a diamond abrasive tool. Alternatively, you can turn it into a competition. Anyone who keeps their desk the cleanest gets to leave ten minutes early, or something along those lines.

Utilise Personal Items

Personal items were once seen as indulgent and unnecessary. Bosses thought they needed the workplace to be entirely sanitised to be as professional as possible. The worm has turned in 2018 because personal effects are signs you care about employees. It means you invest in their wellbeing, whether it’s mental or physical. Only the most professional companies do things which make the lives of their workers better. After all, it takes a lot to forget about profits and focus on their happiness.

Create An Inspirational Theme

A theme which runs throughout the company will set the tone for professionalism. You can’t fail to look qualified and proficient as the philosophy will cover every base. One of the best themes to adopt is “inspiration.” That way, you’re encouraging the entire company to be better and to push forward without being overbearing. It’s an easy goal to achieve with quotes on the walls. Let the team choose their favourites and then find artwork that you can adorn on the walls. Better yet, their task can be to cut out and put the montages together. Use Inc for as a resource.

Replenish The Bookshelf

Firstly, let’s start by saying you need a bookshelf before you can fill it with classics. Once there is one in the office, make sure you keep the cabinet packed with literature. For starters, a bookcase with plenty of materials exudes class. There’s something about the layout which is elegant. Plus, it’s an excellent opportunity for workers to read up on gaps in their knowledge. Not only do they get to have fun reading, but you can enhance their skills without saying a word

Remember that being a professional outfit doesn’t mean being boring. Books, quotes, even cleaning supplies, can be exciting and productive.

If you have a construction business, then saving money may be a difficulty for you. Cutting back on supplies and staff simply isn’t an option, especially if it could compromise the safety of your employees, and the building itself. However, there are many ways to cut back and save money without putting anybody (or your business itself) at risk, and you’ll come out with a great profit. Have a look into these options if you’re looking to save some cash in your construction business, without compromising on quality!

Plan properly

The main way that you will lose out on money as a construction business owner is by not planning properly. If you don’t think about all of the costs for equipment and materials, you’ll have costs coming in at times that you just didn’t anticipate. This can make your building costs a lot higher, and you won’t be organized enough to see where you’re actually spending. Plan properly in the first place, get a few different quotes so that you know all of the costs beforehand, and don’t leave anything until the last minute, as you’ll be unorganized and out of pocket, too.

Make sure you’re not paying unnecessary costs

There are many ways to save money within construction, and if you’re not clued up on all of the costs that you don’t actually have to pay, you’ll be kicking yourself later. Red diesel, for example, is a specific type of diesel used for construction vehicles, like cranes and other building machinery. What’s so good about this? You don’t pay as much tax as you do if you buy regular diesel, so why pay out if you can get a sweet tax cut for being a construction business? Research into the cuts you can get to tax and other costs if you’re a construction company, and you won’t regret it!

Buy the materials yourself

If you’re getting contractors in to do the work, don’t just accept the costs that they give you for materials. The market is competitive, and you’ll be able to be in full control over your costs if you do it yourself, so that you can see how much money has gone on each individual part of the build. This can also work out in your favor if there are any disputes with the contractor, and he decides to leave you high and dry without any materials at all. Keep a watchful eye on costs, and if you can source it yourself, then make sure that you do. You’ll thank yourself when you’ve saved a big sum!

So, there are many ways to save money if you have a construction business, and one of them is to ensure that you plan properly. Not only should you plan the build and the materials needed, but try and anticipate every cost that could arise, so you’re never left with a huge bill that you just weren’t prepared for. Don’t pay unnecessary costs on things like diesel, either, and make sure you buy the materials yourself if you can. Happy saving!

Today, we all have huge amounts of data at our fingertips.  In business, this contextually rich insight can help us make business decisions in addition to ensuring our marketing messages are more relevant.  Indeed, in the age of personalisation, the ability to deliver content that is tailored to the unique interests and preferences of each individual customer is starting to be seen as a vital component of marketing rather than something that is a ‘nice to have’.

The internet can be used for many business purposes yet it can also be overwhelming, as with all this data, it can be hard to make sense of it and use the data to fuel key business decisions and functions.

This is where companies like gartner master data management can help, though there are a few top tips almost all people can start to use, for making the most of their customer data to drive their business forwards.  In this article, we are going to uncover a few of these top tips.

1. SELL MORE VIA PERSONALISATION

By effectively utilising customer data, you can make more personalised recommendations in a similar way to how Amazon recommends related products that clearly has a huge positive effect on increasing average order value and the purchase of add-on products.

If you’re looking to maximise your cross-sell and up-sell opportunities then you need to be using the rich customer data you have access to.  The challenge can be obtaining contextually relevant data, however, this can be as simple as asking people a few questions upon signing up to your mailing list – this way, you can create segmented lists and tailor your communication to these more targeted lists.

2. BUILD CUSTOMER LOYALTY

The simplicity of leveraging a customer’s date of birth to glean when there birthday is can boost customer loyalty significantly.  Unfortunately, the majority of companies use this as an opportunity to sell them something – offering a special discount can be a nice incentive, yet, a more uncommon approach is to simply send a birthday card wishing them a great year; with no promotional content.

This way, you will stand out a little more, and be viewed as a company with integrity that cares about its customers rather than seeing what it can sell its customers.

3. INFORM NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

With so much data available, you can use this to inform new product development – of course, it would be handy if you could just ask your customers some direct questions and have them fill in a questionnaire about what products they would like you to develop, but such direct insight is hard to elicit as most customers won’t be incentivised or motivated to provide this data.

Therefore, you need to look to implicit data sources to reveal contextual factors that are relevant to  creating new products. For instance, if you found that 80% of your customers used a particular search term on your website you could develop a product based around that search term.