Images Digital Edition DEC 2018

www.images-magazine.com DECEMBER 2018 images 23 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Get it right online Make sure you give your customers multiple opportunities to review your business. Whether it is a pop-up box, a fixed bar or a dedicated page on-site, give them more than one opportunity to review their experience of your business. Leading sites such as Trustpilot and Yelp offer several tools in a range of styles to embed on your website; just pick which suits your business the best. It is all well and good having these on your website, but the next challenge is getting your customers to use them. Encourage them to leave feedback with special offers, bonuses and discounts in return. Managing reviews Not all the reviews will be 100% positive. There will be the odd negative review, and it is important how you deal with these. There are hundreds of courses aimed at how to deal with online reviews. But the solution is simple – manage reviews in the same way you deal with customers in store: be polite, professional and balanced, and offer a solution for that customer. Quality customer service goes a long way both in person and online. Andrew Langridge is from ETrader, one of the industry’s leading suppliers of websites to garment decorators across the UK. www.etraderwebsites.co.uk W hatever business you are in, taking time to look back and assess what has and hasn‘t worked in the past year is always a useful exercise. There is more to it than how much profit have we made or what sales have you achieved. Although they are important questions, they are merely indicators in any point in time. What is the trend? How does it compare with previous years? How are your customers feeling? Answering “Have I added to my client list?“ and “Have I retained all of my customers?“ should give a good indicator of the service you are delivering. A straightforward approach I’d always recommend a straightforward approach through a phone call or meeting rather than asking customers to complete a questionnaire. “What have we done well and what can we improve?“ is a good start. If a theme emerges from several customers on what needs to be improved then that will help you make changes to your business. It will also give you an opportunity to demonstrate good communication with your customer when you have the ‘you said, we did‘ conversation further down the line when you have implemented any improvements. By analysing the business year we can use that data and those experiences to make strategic improvements for the future rather than ploughing on in the same way. The world is changing quickly and so must our businesses. O nline reviews can make or break how your business appears online. It gives your customers the chance to leave information in a public space about you, your business and its products and services, and their experience. With customers having more information and knowledge on the internet than ever before they are prepared to shop around for a quality product and service. We have probably all used review sites in some capacity – Google reviews, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Revoo and Trustpilot are a few of the most popular ones. Online consumers expect a quality, reliable service and over 70% of consumers search through review sites to assess their options before purchasing with an online business. You may feel apprehensive about using review sites as the power is in your customers’ hands, but the rewards are worth it. Here are three key reasons why reviews can work for your business: Increased sales Online reviews act as marketing and help your customers with their decision-making. More than 75% of new customers are happier to purchase online following reading recommendations and positive reviews from existing customers. Customer insight Online reviews will give you an insight into what your business is or is not doing right. This will allow you to address any internal issues, create a more positive shopping experience for your customers and increase sales. Improved SEO rankings The more quality content that is written about your website, the higher it ranks. It also shows Google your business is authentic, getting clicked on and actively engaging with customers. How to create a five-star online presence for your business Ed Griggs is the general manager of the Professional Clothing Industry Association Worldwide (PCIAW), the first sector-specific trade body for the professional clothing industry. If you have a question for PCIAW, please ema il editorial@images-magazine. com with PCIAW in the subject line. PCIAW: LOOKING BACK TO LOOK FORWARD