Month: October 2014

When you run a small business, you want to focus on following your passion. Unfortunately, all of those pesky back-office tasks still need to be done.   All of the steps below take less than five minutes — and you can do all of these things and more at WaveApps.com.

1 minute: Capture that Receipt

You get a receipt for a key business expense, and you keep it in your bag, wallet, or binder to file later, right? Wrong!

Use a receipts tool to immediately store your receipt online. Even better, use a receipt tool that pairs with an accounting tool, and you can have impeccable records in seconds.

2 minutes: Give your Accounting a Jumpstart

If your accounting system relies on hours pouring over a spreadsheet, or getting frustrated with your accountant at the end of the year when he asks questions about your post-it notes, bags of receipts and bank statements, there’s a better way.

Connect your bank account to an online accounting system. Then, watch as the magic happens. All of your expenses will load automatically, meaning you’re well on your way to organized accounting — in only two minutes.

3 minutes: Create Track-able Invoices

So you’ve taken the first step, and started creating invoices for your customers instead of just asking for a check. Good? Absolutely, but you can do more.

Instead of using a free template builder, use proper invoicing software. You’ll suddenly be able to keep track of those invoices, and get better insights into who’s paid, what invoices are overdue, and even if your customer has viewed the invoice.

4 minutes: Start Accepting Credit Cards

A few years ago, high fees and stressful set-up processes barred small businesses from accepting credit cards. Now, it’s never been easier.

With clear no-nonsense fees that are lower than ever, and simple set-up processes, you can be accepting credit cards in under four minutes!

5 minutes: Organize your Transactions

One step left — organize your transactions. Jump into that online software you connected your bank account to, and organize your expenses.

Do this every few weeks, and you’ll save yourself hours of time and frustration come tax time.

For free software that does all of this and more, check out our partner Wave at WaveApps.com.

Today marks the second annual CX (customer experience) Day created by the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA). While it’s great that a day is being dedicated to this important topic, the truth is that business professionals should be thinking about customer experience daily. After all, happiness within a customer base should be measured by satisfaction. Below are a few tips on how you can create an organization where the customer service and experience is the number one priority.

Listen to and Learn about your Customers

Not every customer is the same so there is no one-size-fits-all customer experience. Take the time to learn about your customers, ask them questions and listen to their answers. Let them tell you about their obstacles, needs, learning and communications preferences, and more so that you can relate to their responses and tailor the customer experiences accordingly.  

Personalize the Experience as Much as Possible

After you’ve taken the time to listen to and learn about your customers, take what you learned and put it into action. If you know your customer prefers to be contacted at a specific time then try your best to accommodate his schedule.  For example, if you know he has kids to bring to school in the morning and he asks to schedule a meeting, don’t schedule it for 8 a.m. Recognizing and adhering to preferences, even in a small way, can go a long way in building a better customer relationship and experience.

Learn from Your Mistakes

No one is perfect, and not every customer experience will be either. In order to make the best of a bad situation, learn from it and when something goes wrong, address it head-on. Ask the customer what happened and how you can make it better going forward. Otherwise, it is a missed opportunity to make your customer service better. In fact, Dimensional Research found that poor customer service obstructs revenue growth and marketing effectiveness. The 2013 study found that 66 percent of B2B and 52 percent of B2C customers surveyed stopped making purchases from companies after a bad customer service experience. You don’t want this statistic to define your business. Ask for feedback and act on it; it will help you understand your customers better and avoid losing customers in the future.

So as you go about your business today on CX Day, and every day for that matter, try to keep these tips in mind. For more advice, check out the interview with our own Lynn Tsoflias, VP Customer Success at Insightly, in Direct Marketing News on how to keep customers satisfied.