Trying to find a profitable online business niche may sound a bit complicated because everybody wants to succeed, but not all succeed in reality. The great news is that the secret is available to everyone.
We just need to stop procrastinating and let us guide you smartly throughout the process. There is not a specific guide we have to follow to find a profitable online business niche, but there are some ideas that have demonstrated high efficiency in finding it.
1. Brainstorming
Brainstorming ideas about topics you may be interested. In such a way you will not have too many things to think over and you will stay more focused.
2. Smart Research Even though it sounds great to do what we love the most, we need to also do research to see if that niche, we are thinking about, will be profitable. As there are some topics that may be interesting for us, however, does not have the impact we wish on the market. By doing the research, we will find out real statistics that gives us an idea of how many people are interested in that.
3. Using Social Media and Social Networks
Use social voice to decide what will have a hype on the market. Create a social media account, create polls, contests and other activities to engage most of your target audience. Ask questions and collect opinions. This all in complex can be one of the main sources of useful information when choosing your online market niche.
4. Willing to be Up-To-Date As all the good stuff have its cost, we have to work hard to go with time and audience requirements. If the service or products we’d like to offer are outdated, they won’t probably be profitable in the long run.
5. Study the Competitors In most cases it’s important to stay unique about what we offer, however it is also true that in most cases we won’t be the only one offering such a product/service. The niche will probably contain more or less competitors and we need to study and analyze them. The idea of studying the competitors is not to copy what they are doing but getting positive and negative experience and trying to distinguish from them.
Conclusion Finding a profitable business niche may not be easy, but the secret is on you. If you require a secure hosting solution or have any queries on how to launch your project online and what could be the best option in your specific case, just contact us at [email protected] or +1-862.214.2255 (x203) and we will guide you through available options.
Kindness is the key to approaching anyone, hence when it comes to the words ‘upsell’ and ‘cross-sell’ we imagine pushing people, trying to convince someone to purchase more than they intend.
We will overview both upselling and cross-selling strategies, how they can help us to boost revenue in our business as while ignoring them we are missing a big opportunity to increase our revenue. However, before getting started we should define in short what is the difference between both, so we can completely understand their functionality.
Upselling: Persuade buying a product with a higher price than the customer has primarily selected.
Cross-Selling: Persuade getting an additional product to the primary order.
To accomplish any of those great opportunities, here are some tips that can help us.
Commitment
People must engage in the well-being of the company and look for opportunities where the idea is not only to sell products just because, but to give solutions to customers’ needs.
Probing Question / Active Listening
This is one of the most assertive strategies: customers may already know about what they need/want, however, based on the probing question we are going to land to cover what they really need. They will also appreciate it if we are sincere in explaining why they will benefit from such a product. If we achieve that, we are not only boosting our revenue but also ensuring long-term customer relationships. And if we would like to see the employees’ well-being, we can do that because if we ensure long-term customers, we are bringing more revenue to the company, and we have the possibility to enlarge our team and have people motivated.
Use Customer’s Words Timely
When costumes have already expressed all that they require, we can use their own words in a straightforward way, so they won’t feel the pushing feeling you are trying to sell. Some examples of this could be “As you mention you would need to have….. Based on that, we can offer you…” or “You are missing to have……. So, we can help you to get this………” Those are simple phrases but if customers listen once again, they need it, or they are required to have it, this will put the sense of getting the product or service.
Be Opportune
To be opportune when offering a cross-sell or upsell will be much appreciated by customers. Normally this practice is used at the end of the purchase agreements, so in the middle of the conversation, we should say the benefits of the product or service, so customers understand why they should be paying more or add more products/services to their order. Also, there is a possibility that some customers do not need to be driven to this type of offer, when this happens it is better to neither offer a cross-sell nor upselling.
Come Natural
Nothing resists the power of love! Try to sound natural in the whole conversation with customers because if they feel you change the mood just when you are trying to cross-sell or upsell, for sure this customer will be rejecting your offer.
Personalize the Conversation
Provide your name, phone number, email if possible, or any contact information. Also, try to use the customer’s name and refer by the name in the entire conversation. Use Mr/Mrs. and the last name or ask the customer how they prefer to be called. Do not ask for all customer information at first, just the basics that will allow flowing the conversation. This will create a nice and positive environment required to cross-sell or upsell.
Also, it is imperative to stay with a company that does not push customers just because, but really meets their needs and expectations. SoftSys Hosting has been working for many years using the customer-first approach: this means offering clients what they need and always more.
If you need quality dedicated, VPS, or eCommerce hosting, SoftSys Hosting is here to provide you with the most extensive choice of reliable plans. Moreover, if you have some special queries on how to host your own projects, you can contact us at [email protected] or +1-862.214.2255 (x203) and we will guide you through available options.
When talking about sales, people become creative to sell, be it either service or product. The pandemic has changed the world and our lifestyle: some businesses have migrated to work remotely, others integrated automatic business processes, etc. In the end, everyone has one single goal – to drive more sales and profitability in the long run.
At present, we have many options to sell services or products: however, the question is which will be the best one for our business? We will take a look at the most common options and which one could be the most beneficial for our business.
Before talking about sources and mediums to sell, it is important to highlight that there are various types of businesses, and depending on that people can go with the option that better fits their needs. Nevertheless, this should be chosen as smartly as possible. As far as sales are concerned, the main channels that come to peoples’ minds are social media, marketplace, or own website, but what will be the one you need in your particular case? We will outline the main pros and cons of them so as you’ll be able to make your own conclusions.
Social Media
Everybody has access to social media, for instance, this could seem easy, because people can post what they offer, even on the go. However, it is not easy to engage followers just because in order to build reputation, it is necessary to follow the process with marketing otherwise business will be just a fan page like any other around. If people like what the business sells, they will be expanding the word, the branding grows to the word of mouth and this will help to let people know about your products and services. However, if people are not 100% happy with the products or services that you offer and/or the customer service is terrible, this will harm your social media reputation right away and affect sales negatively.
Marketplace
There are a few marketplace options around which have become extremely popular during recent years: this is the fast way to build an audience and drive sales without huge initial investments. Nevertheless, selling on the marketplace delivers more competitors as due to the low initial costs more and more businesses may enter them. Also, another issue when using the marketplace is that people rarely realize from whom exactly they are buying: they are just looking for something and make their choice depending on price, delivery options, and reviews. And the same as with social media, you need to get a positive reputation and reviews in order to stay afloat.
Own Website
Compared to having a physical store, we can say that the website is cheaper for businesses that want to expand their business nationwide or around the world, no matter where they are located. Also, people can use different payment gateway options, so clients can purchase from the website without leaving a home or on the go. However, to be successful it must be user-friendly and catch people’s attention. Moreover, marketing expenses for running your own website will also be higher if compared to marketplace sales and social media (in general).
In conclusion, every option choice depends on the type of business you run, sales plans, and marketing budgets you have. Also, you can combine several of these sources to make your channels more diverse and not depend on a single option.
If you need quality dedicated, VPS, or eCommerce hosting, SoftSys Hosting is here to provide you with the most extensive choice of reliable plans. Moreover, if you have some special queries on how to host your own projects, you can contact us at [email protected] or +1-862.214.2255 (x203) and we will guide you through available options.
Software as a Service which is better known as SaaS and on-premise eCommerce options are a great topic to think over before launching an online business – many depend on the skills and resources you possess as well as on your budget.
When talking about SaaS the first thing that should come to our minds is that this is all about virtual services. This sounds a little bit weird, but it is the way this works: if we want to better describe it, we need to say that this is a cloud-based service in which people do not have to download anything on the physical computer or server, but are able to access the application in the remote cloud.
On the other hand, when we talk about the on-promise eCommerce option, it’s locally installed on your PC or server and requires proper management by your IT staff.
Software as a Service or SaaS Pros
There are a bunch of advantages to using SaaS, however, we just want to highlight 5 of them which we consider are the most important.
1. Saving Money
Saving money will always be well accepted for both well-established businesses and startups. This is one of the main characteristics of SaaS because people do not have to invest money in physical places and infrastructure: the main costs will be for the SaaS service itself, internet access, and cloud hosting to store your data. In other words, you’ll pay as you go and for the resources you use.
2. Scalability
SaaS is scalable as per your needs. In case you require more databases or resources right away, this can be done easily. The user just needs to choose the next SaaS plan or option and resources (usually) will be allocated on the fly.
3. Security
This is important because this is your business and your client’s sensitive data. Sometimes it’s better to entrust this task to the team of certified experts unless you have enough experience and resources to do this in-house. Very often your eCommerce SaaS platform is able to handle any issues with server infrastructure (firewalls, instruction prevention systems, antivirus software, etc.) and makes your online venture less vulnerable and more reliable.
4. High-Availability
It is unlikely that the server goes down. But even if this happens a reliable SaaS eCommerce solution will failover in a way your clients will not even realize what happened.
5. Accessible from anywhere
This is amazing that you can manage and be on top of your stuff from anywhere because everything you need is stored in the cloud. So, you can be here or there without thinking that it will be necessary to leave someone in charge of your infrastructure.
Software as a Service or SaaS Cons
After reviewing the most significant benefits, we should also look at the cons someone may face with SaaS.
1. Security
It is possible that you will get a little bit confused because we mentioned previously in the pros that it is “secure”, however, the user must understand that not all cloud providers comply with the highest standards to store the information, so if you have doubts, it is better not to proceed.
2. Lack of Control
The user stays an owner of the whole eCommerce infrastructure while paying for the service. When you cease paying for it, you’ll have to move everything to somewhere else, to stay afloat and accessible.
3. Performance
This is a critical matter because, unfortunately, not all SaaS services and cloud providers have abundant resources, so users realize that the service is not enough until they start seeing failures.
4. Integration
Technology is changing every single day: updates, new configurations, etc. This means that if the company is up-to-date and users have obsolete versions, things will not work out. Or vice versa, if the cloud provider is not updated and the user is, that will be chaos.
5. Awkward process
Users are free to decide what to do or not to do with their data, however, at the end of the day, the SaaS provider is the one that proceeds with any request. If users decide to move and the SaaS provider is not enough prepared to let the users go and do not handle the situation correctly on settings or data transfer, users may lose important data and time.
On-Premises eCommerce Pros
On-premises eCommerce platforms and more suitable for mid and large online businesses, with a diverse range of products and those who require abundant resources. Let’s take a look at the primary cons.
1. Operate locally
Even though this is a great advantage because you have full control over your server performance, this is not a great option for those who don’t have enough resources for managing related servers.
2. Control
By having the server locally, users can be absolutely sure of full data control. In the case something happens they can act immediately in the most convenient way, besides, they can decide how to dedicate the server to specific data.
3. Security
Users can have their own people to take care of sensitive data. Besides, users ensure compliance that sticks to what their needs are, and users will always be sure the data will be there intact.
4. Fully customizable
Since this is their own hardware, users can decide the way of configuration and they can manage all the applications they acquire and integrate them into their own configuration.
5. Fast and efficient processes
When deciding to make any change, this can be done at their own convenience with no waiting until any third party is available to handle the situation.
On-Premises eCommerce platforms cons
1. Price
This implies renting servers or even data center space. Still, there are more bills to pay such as electricity bills, water bills, Internet bills, software licenses, maintenance fees, etc.
2. Maintenance cost
Even though the data center is well configured and professionally managed, it still needs to have self-accommodation for proper functioning.
3. Not easily scalable
When businesses grow this is a real headache because business owners have to invest more and more to replace hardware and purchase new software.
4. High-level support
As we’ve already mentioned it could be rather costly to have high-level pros in-house. And IT outsourcing is not always a viable option for high-level support.
5. Flexibility
If you decide to add something or reconfigure your current on-premises eCommerce platform, it may require much more effort and IT resources than any other SaaS.
About SoftSys Hosting
SoftSys Hosting has been working hard to comply not only with customer requests but also with the highest standards that make any business grow. So, whenever you decide to go for a cloud or eCommerce hosting provider (nopCommerce, WooCommerce, or Magento) and you are still not sure what to choose, we’re here to assist.
The digital era is evolving – the same goes for services offered online as well. Today everything is in tough competition between companies: the way in which they offer their services, the type of payments they accept to promote their services/products, the way in which those services/products are accepted by people has become a challenge because the type of payments that companies accept has an impact on customer behavior. However, this evolution has shown us the diversity of online payment methods that exist so far. Let’s dive into the most popular and trending ways to accept payments in 2022.
Credit Card Tokenization
Credit card tokenization that already exists is becoming more and more popular today. This works the way that instead of providing all card information to whoever the services or products are purchased from, you’re offering a token number that will replace the full card details so that people do not have to deal with the protection issues of any sensitive information. The use of credit cards for online purchases is very common, so, tokenization is an equivalent way the only difference is that this works by using a token number which is a number that will replace the card details, making it more secure. So this online payment method will not go out of the trend soon: it also allows you to set up automatic charges on credit cards depending on the recurrence of time that your clients choose.
Payment Gateways and Recurring Charges
This is an extremely popular method. There are a bunch of options for payment gateways, however, one of the most popular which is used worldwide is PayPal since this is a payment gateway that allows saving credits card information securely. As the years go by, this payment method has earned the trust of people in almost any country around the Globe. So, you may be asking, why credit card tokenization and payment gateways, and recurring charges are in a separate description? This is because the option of making payments directly with a credit card will be still the way it is right now, the only difference is that the service provider will send a token instead of the full CC details. On the other hand, a payment gateway stores the information of your credit card as is, though sends and receives payments on the virtual wallet by default.
Cryptocurrency Wallets
Undoubtedly this is where we are migrating to: this is one of the payment methods which is becoming more popular these days. Of course, it is not something that all the companies or most of the companies accept, but as everyone uses it, it will make more and more companies accept crypto.
Despite the diverse ways to make payments online now or in the future, one of the goals that companies do not have to lose is to focus on what will be the best and more secure for their customers. As one thing is that some online payments are becoming more popular, and the other – whether they’re convenient for company clients.
Undoubtedly this is where we are migrating to: this is one of the payment methods which is becoming more popular these days. Of course, it is not something that all the companies or most of the companies accept, but as everyone uses it, it will make more and more companies accept crypto.
Despite the diverse ways to make payments online now or in the future, one of the goals that companies do not have to lose is to focus on what will be the best and more secure for their customers. As one thing is that some online payments are becoming more popular, and the other – whether they’re convenient for company clients.
Softsys Hosting is responsible for offering a secure hosting environment for your business and clients. This means that even though there are many online payment options, Softsys Hosting uses all those that comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), so customers can be sure that their financial data is safe and protected. You can address any concerns you may have to our responsive support experts who are online 24/7 at [email protected] or +1-862 214 2255.
There are some common slogans most businesses use to catch people’s attention, but not all of them are what the company’s culture preaches. Clients should know if this is the way the company works even before doing business with them. What is the approach the company uses, what are their values, and whether are they in harmony with its targeted audience?
The main objective for every single company is to gain profit, but is the company disposed to take care of the customers and the processes to make the business grow sustainably? These are some questions that we will answer below and that will be the best way to stand out from competitors.
1. Listen to customer needs and focus on pain points
The key to business success is to listen to what the customer needs are, and pay attention to details. By doing so, it will allow us to take ownership with responsibility and give a frame of reference if our company has the skills to take that specific request and how we can overcome any pains customers have.
2. Build a trustworthy company
Listening to customer needs is not enough to show that we care about people. Being honest is highly appreciated. Although honestly does not pay money by exchanging information honestly is the way to advertise your company culture from mouth-to-mouth. In the long run, people will recognize it, they will prefer to stay next to a company that does not put false hopes on them.
3. Customer service
This is something that every single business wants to provide and most of the businesses use this slogan as a competitive advantage, however, this is not enough just to say that. Once you interact with clients, they will realize the type of business you are in, and if they don’t feel you treat them with respect and kindness, they will move even if you provide the best of the product ever. Hence, correctly evaluate the quality of the customer service you offer.
4. Concentrate your attention on a specific niche
Even though during the growth process of our company we realized that there are some products that give more money than others, or even worse there are products that become hyping up and everybody wants them, we must take our strategic company’s vision as the main point. The company has to be known for having something word class. As a common quote says, we cannot mix pears with apples.
5. Create communication channels for your customers
For example, the official business blog is a good way to build trust. People will know that your company is not all about selling a product, but also you care about providing useful information, so this will allow interacting with your audience, customers, and others interested in what you write and do.
6. Use clear term and condition policies
This is something not that common however really important because when something happens company is supported by those terms and conditions which most of the time people don’t read. Even though we cannot push them to read before getting our products/services, we can advise taking a look at them at least in general terms.
7. Set right expectations
We can’t offer to drive customers to Saturn if we can drive them to Mars only, that’s why your customers should have the right expectations on the products or services that your business offers.
8. Follow up
Follow up even if customer requests are not urgent. You should show that your business cares about any issues your customers have and it is just a matter of time when their issue will be solved. Stay caring all the time.
9. Deploy promotion for the current customers
One of the biggest mistakes is to promote offers to acquire new customers only. In order to keep the current ones for the long term, we cannot leave aside those that already make us money. We need to keep them loyal and engaged in company processes all the time with the proper loyalty program and special offers.
SoftSys Hosting is one of a few hosting companies that use a customer-first approach. So if you wish to have a reliable platform for your online presence with responsive and caring 24/7 support, order any ecommerce, VPS, or dedicated hosting solutions and we’ll take your online business to the next level of performance.
There are some common mistakes entrepreneurs make. Most of them make those mistakes because they want to follow the correct procedure and try to imitate others, or they just do not know how to do it the correct way and perform those mistakes without intention. Either way, we will focus on the most common ones so they can be handled in a better way, or at least you can have them in mind to avoid when starting out your new business venture.
1. Don’t be fearful of failing
Since we’re born, we have learned that fear is part of the process of our life, when we’ve just made our first steps, we fell, and we tried repeatedly until we knew how to do it properly. The same happens when we decide to start a business. We take some decisions that make us muddy and some others that drive us to the moon, so we succeed.
2. Streamline your ideas
Due to the excitement we have when starting a business, we usually want to cover everything at once, however, it is important to prioritize main tasks to avoid overwhelming ourselves and having disappointment when something will go wrong.
3. Create a plan
You can start with short-term planning, medium-term planning, and long-term planning. This is important because this allows us to accomplish the work accurately and the actions being done in a particular sequence, avoiding costly mistakes.
4. Delegate in a timely manner
According to some research entrepreneur success vastly depends on how effectively you can delegate tasks to others. But this should be done only if you also participate in the process from the very beginning as some entrepreneurs start delegating before they even start or before they even have a clear idea about the plan. The main problem of delegating before having a clear idea about the plan is that others will handle the plan in the way they think should be and the idea or the main objective may fail.
5. Finances and marketing must go hand to hand
Proper financial planning will help us to make a good decision about the money to spend and marketing – to forecast prospective financial gains. Even though those are 2 strategic keys, some decide to consider this after they start selling, but it is necessary to start building these from the beginning and avoid waste of money.
6. Clear reporting
To have a wide view about everything that is going on in the company, the reporting is essential even though some of those won’t be like we want them to be, however, those will help you to understand and know what are the goals we couldn’t accomplish or what are the ones we can and continue or improve working on them.
7. Be a listener
Taking a piece of wise advice is always the key to our success. It will contribute to the balance of the main objective and help in prioritizing tasks and resources. So not only manage and generate ideas but also listen to other team members, who are experts in their work.
8. Value people around
Despite we have great ideas or we know exactly how to handle business, it is fundamental to have empathetic people skills. Try to understand how it feels to be in your customer’s shoes as well. Having this in mind, you’ll be able to create a pleasant environment that will be transmitted to everybody involved in the process, so we will have happy employees and loyal clients.
9. Hire wisely
Hire people with a desire to learn to become long-term employees instead of hiring genius people who have attitude issues. What is not known could be learned, but attitude problems cannot be fixed.
10. Legal registration
This process not only guarantees that nobody will steal your name or idea but also helps you to have a good reputation on the market and protect your business from serious legal issues.
11. Stay tech-savvy
Nowadays it is quite common that everything we want is more or less bound with the Internet. And when people can easily find your business and reviews, this automatically builds trust in them. Build your positive business reputation, host websites and web apps in a reliable hosting space, and create brand awareness among your existing and prospective clients – this all in the complex will ensure your online success.
How can SoftSys Hosting help you when starting a business?
SoftSys Hosting offers a wide selection of web hosting plans at affordable prices including scalable cloud hosting, top-notch Windows and Linux VPS, and powerful dedicated servers. We use a customer-first approach, so you can address any questions you have when choosing a web hosting environment for your business to our responsive support experts who are online 24/7 at [email protected] or +1-862.214.2255.
The internet provides many opportunities to be successful, andstarting an online business has never been easier. However, the competition can be stiff!
As a business owner, you have to work hard to stay on top of your game and grow your business!
This post will talk about five useful tips for developing an online business into something that will generate sustainable revenue for years (or even decades) to come!
The Basics of Online Business
First, let’s start with the basics and talk about making sure your online business is well-known. If you have a website that no one knows about or never gets any traffic, it won’t matter how hard you work because no one will know about it.
You need to be out there telling people about your business and what you have to offer!
This can be achieved by being active on social media, sending out press releases, and reaching out to local news stations.
You may also want to be sure that the design of your website is professional-looking, clean, and easy to navigate.
If your website is not meeting your expectations, consider hiring a professional web designer and content writer. They can help boost online business growth by creating a site that people want to visit and share.
Once you have a website that gets a fair number of visitors, follow these five tips for online business growth and development.
A business strategy is a formal plan that outlines the goals of an organization and how to achieve them. Business strategies are based on thorough investigation, market research, competitor analysis, and more!
Business strategy is key to online business growth and development! Without a well-defined plan, businesses may fail or won’t be able to meet the needs of their customers.
If you want your small company to succeed long term, then make sure you work on defining:
Clear short and medium-term goals.
Monthly expenses associated with running the company.
The estimated income from sales.
Remember a well-defined business strategy can help you: define critical goals, measure success, and get the support you need from your team.
Do Your Homework! Perform a Competitor Analysis
Competitors are a great source of information. Learn from them!
Here are some important questions to ask and things to keep an eye on when analyzing your competitors:
What sales and marketing strategies do your competitors use?
What products or services are they selling?
What are their strengths and weaknesses?
How they are marketing themselves?
What they are selling more of?
How they are bundling services?
Who they are catering to?
This information is important as you can set yourself apart from the competition by providing something different, having a unique approach, or catering to untapped markets. The business opportunities are endless!
Invest in Customer Service
Customer service can either make you or break a business, particularly a small business.
Make sure you have a well-defined customer service plan that is effective and efficient. This includes:
Hiring the right people.
Finding out if there are any services your customers are not taking advantage of.
Getting customer feedback on their experience with your company and services.
Remember! A happy client who comes back time and time again will keep bringing new business too.
You don’t want to be spamming, but you need people to know what your business is about and how it can help them. Here’s what you can do to promote your brand the right way:
Incorporate a call-to-action into all of the content you produce so that readers are encouraged to take action (e.g., purchase or sign up for something) after reading the content.
Have a social media presence as you can use it to share information on new products/services, upsell existing offerings, etc.
Network with other businesses and groups to establish new business opportunities.
Remember, all these strategies are great, but they won’t work unless your website can convert that traffic into paying clients or sales. Invest in a good website design and a premium web hosting service.
Finally, keep an eye on what’s trending in your niche.
You can get many good ideas for new products and services that you may want to offer and stay relevant with customers when they are looking for options similar to yours.
Don’t be afraid to invest in new products or business approaches!
Companies that have been in business for many years have often had to redefine themselves or pivot their business model. You can stay ahead of the curve by being open to new opportunities and ideas.
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Now that we’ve covered the basics for how to grow your online business, we want to hear from you! How are you planning on growing your business this year? What other tips do you have?
Building a relationship with your clients is key to long-term success. One of the best ways to build a strong relationship with your clients is by anticipating their expectations and then delivering on them.
Don’t be mistaken! There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to keeping clients happy – but there are some general guidelines to follow.
This blog post is for you if you want to provide your clients with a stellar experience that will keep them coming back for more.
Here are six tips on anticipating customer needs and creating a win-win situation for both you and your clients.
6 Clever Tips To Anticipate Customer Needs and Gain Their Loyalty
Pro Tip #1: Put Yourself in the Clients’ Shoes
The best way to anticipate customer needs is by understanding their business and what they are looking to achieve.
Whenever possible, have a conversation with your new customers to learn more about their needs.
Top Questions To Ask Your Customers:
What are your goals? TIP: make sure these are measurable goals.
How can our service/ our company, contribute to your success?
What would make you feel like a success story?
Pro Tip #2: Create a Customer Journey Map
Creating a customer journey map will give you a clear idea of the customer buying journey and help you predict potential client questions and issues before they arise.
A well-defined customer journey map will allow you to proactively address pain points before they arise or become significant roadblocks in the customer relationship.
Anticipating your customers’ needs and expectations when purchasing a product from your company could be the difference between gaining new customers or losing them.
What’s included in a customer journey map?
The buying journey.
Expectations and goals.
Pain points.
Proactive solutions.
Step-by-Step Process To Create a Customer Journey Map
Define your buyer personas. Create a customer journey map for each buyer persona.
Research how your clients find your company (organic search, paid ads, referrals, etc.)
What do they do once they get to your website? What pages do they visit, do they ask for support (via live chat, email, phone), what is the average purchase time? What steps do they need to follow to become a client?
Identify obstacles that may deter customers from purchasing and how those might be addressed (slow website, complex sign-up process, unclear website content, etc.).
Map out potential client pain points.
Brainstorm solutions to help clients reach their desired outcomes with ease.
Understand what your clients are looking to achieve with the use of your service and set expectations.
Pro Tip #3: Allow Customers to Influence Company Decisions
If you want to anticipate your clients’ needs, it only makes sense to ask for their input and let them have a say on how the business should evolve.
How to make customers part of the decision-making process:
Get their input on what new products or services you should offer next. What’s missing from the mix, what would make them achieve their goals easier, what could make the client experience better than before?
Be accountable! Share your company roadmap with your clients – let them know what’s coming next and how soon they can expect to see new features/services.
When launching a new product or service, make customers early beta testers – get their feedback before making your new service available to the general public. What could say “I value my customers’ input!” more than this?
Pro Tip #4: Make Customer Feedback More Accessible
There are many ways for clients to provide feedback through social media or email. However, a process is only effective if it’s efficient; therefore, you need an organized and timely approach when collecting customer feedback.
How To Collect Customer Feedback the Right Way
Create a dedicated customer feedback email address, for example, [email protected], where customers can submit feedback or feature requests.
Create a customer feedback form on your website, in-app notifications, and social media platforms. You can link this feedback form to the email address you have previously created to gather all feedback in a centralized place.
Let clients know when they should expect a change. Customers need to know how much time it will take for their feedback to be acted upon and which department will review their comments.
Don’t forget to thank your customers for taking the time to share their feedback and valuable insights.
Implementing these steps will encourage more people to provide their honest opinion and help you identify any service gaps that need to be addressed as soon as possible.
Pro Tip #5: Conduct Regular Customer Surveys
Customer surveys help companies identify customer expectations and learn how to serve their needs better. Businesses that measure customer satisfaction often find they have increased customer retention and loyalty.
There are a variety of ways to measure customer experience. Here are the most common types used by businesses.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
NPS is a way of measuring customer loyalty by asking customers to rate on a scale of 0-10 how likely are they to recommend your company.
Client Satisfaction Surveys
consist of questions about the quality of service received from the company. The company then uses this information to identify client expectations and learn how to better serve its clientele.
Customer Effort Score (CES) surveys
CES measures how much effort the client had to put in for any given interaction. The CES rating ranges from 0-100, where 100 means extremely easy, and 0 means very difficult.
Examples of CES Questions Are:
Rate the ease of use of feature X.
Rate how easy it was to find information about service Y on our website.
How To Create Customer Surveys That Will Get Results
Conduct client satisfaction surveys regularly.
Keep surveys sweet and short. No one likes 30-minute surveys.
Include a mix of open-ended questions and “yes or no” questions.
Share the survey results with everyone on the team.
Keep track of feedback so that you can identify repeated issues.
This one is golden! Always and I always follow up with customers that provided feedback.
Pro Tip #6: Offer 24/7 Stellar Technical Support
Providing 24/7 customer support shows that your customers are your top priority.
Offering 24/7 customer support will help your business improve customer satisfaction and build customer loyalty. You will also have the opportunity to identify customer expectations better and learn how to serve your customers better.
To provide 24/7 excellent Technical Support, try these best practices.
Technical Support Best Practices
Offer a dedicated support email address ([email protected]) and/or phone number where your clients can always reach the technical team.
Use customer support software that enables your team to prioritize support tickets, collaborate easily, and keep track of customer interactions.
Implement an SLA (Service Level Agreement) – an SLA sets client expectations for an agreed-upon level of service.
Answer client questions promptly.
Know what you don’t know! – “I don’t know” is an acceptable answer as long as it’s followed by “but I will find out.”
Always follow up with customers if you are unable to answer their questions right away.
Learn how your clients use your services so that you can proactively offer support.
Offer an FAQ page or Knowledgebase where they can find answers themselves on-demand.
Conclusion
Customers are an essential part of every business, but ensuring high-quality customer service can be challenging.
In this blog post, we’ve listed six pro tips on how to anticipate client needs. These six tips will help you deliver an exceptional customer experience and gain your customer’s loyalty.
About SoftSys Hosting
At SoftSys Hosting, we take pride in providing stellar customer support 24/7. Our team is here to help you with every part of your online business journey: from getting your project or website successfully launched to scaling large traffic mission-critical websites.
With a team of in-house experienced sysadmins, we’ll do all the heavy lifting so you can focus on what’s important – growing your business.
Social media marketing is a great way to promote your business and grow your customer base. Through social media, you can engage your existing customers while also bringing your brand in front of new users. According to a report from April 2021 by DataReportal, an estimated 4.33 billion people are on social networks. That’s over 55% of the entire population. 🤯
It’s no surprise that marketers are noticing the benefits of social media marketing and allocating more resources to it.
In this article, our team at SoftSys Hosting will share some of the benefits we’ve seen from social media marketing. Additionally, we’ll also share a few examples to help you get inspired and achieve success with your strategy!
What Is Social Media Marketing and Why Is It Important For Business?
Social media marketing (SMM) is a marketing strategy that uses social networks to promote a brand, product, or service – all while building relationships that will turn your followers into loyal customers.
We get inundated with emails, texts, and spam phone calls every day.
Quick! How many unwanted emails have you deleted today?
Unlike other marketing strategies that clutter your inbox, social media gives a chance to be seen by potential customers who are interested in what we’re offering at our business.
Let’s look at some of the ways you can use social media to grow your customer base.
How To Use Social Media To Grow Your Business
Nurture Leads
Your leads might not be ready to sign-up for your service yet, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a future opportunity. It’s been proven that people are more likely to buy from brands they follow on social media channels.
Use social media to keep in touch with new leads and old ones alike by staying top of mind through targeted posts. This makes it easier for your leads to recognize your company as a trusted source of information and reach out to you when there’s a need for what you offer.
Increase Website Traffic
Social media is a quick and effective way to drive site traffic without spending money on ads, as you’re able to share content with your followers. A common form of driving traffic to your website is by linking to your blog posts, support articles, and product pages.
Create Hype and Encourage Conversations
The quickest way to generate hype and encourage conversations on social media is through contests, promotions, and exclusive announcements that will get people talking.
Another excellent way for you to interact with your fans would be by commenting on their posts, asking questions, and making sure you respond when they comment back.
Build Brand Awareness
Get your followers to know you by sharing your company’s story, events, milestones, mission, and values.
When you share stories about the people behind a business or the values behind a brand, you create an emotional connection between your followers and your company. And guess what? People are more likely to buy from companies that they identify with on an emotional level.
Reach Your Target Audience
Before social media and the internet, people used to advertise in newspapers. But the ad reach was limited by how many readers were getting a copy of that newspaper.
Fast forward to today, you can reach targeted audiences outside your geographical location easily through social media paid ads.
You can target audiences based on location, demographics, interests, behavior, keywords, and more. Then place an ad tailored for your audience so that you can get your message in front of the right people.
Access Real-Time Data Through Social Listening
Social media platforms provide a great way to stay on top of current trends, but it can be challenging sifting through all the noise. That’s where “social listening” comes in!
Social listening is the process of monitoring and analyzing what’s being said about your website or brand online.
It can help a business identify customer needs and keep track of new trends.
Social listening has become an essential tool for understanding what people are talking about online and how their opinions may impact your business or marketing strategy.
Popular social listening tools include Hootsuite, Brandwatch, and Mention.
Create Loyal Customers
Social Media Marketing is a great way to make your customers feel like they are part of the conversation. They’re more likely to be invested and engaged if you let them know that their input matters!
Here are some ways to build trust and increase loyalty within your existing customer base on social media:
Create content relevant to their interests or industry.
Share product announcements.
Highlight customer successes.
Address community questions.
Share customer testimonials.
Learn more about your customers through polls and surveys.
Create conversation-starter posts.
Get them involved in launching new products by asking for feedback.
Want even more tips for creating loyal customers? Check out our “7 Ways To Improve Customer Loyalty and Retention” guide to learn how you can make your customer base a more profitable one.
The popular fitness clothing company Gymshark creates not only functional products but also creative, fun games for its Facebook community.
One question they posed to their followers was, “Would you rather have an endless supply of the best coffee in the world or best snacks in the world, at your office?”
The post got over 18K likes and nearly 500 comments from the fans on social media.
Microsoft took us on a trip down memory lane with this image about Clippie. So many Microsoft users loved the now-discontinued office assistant. No wonder their post got 6K likes!
There are many other examples of successful social media campaigns that you can get inspired by. But the bottom line is, don’t do what everyone else does – find what works for you and your followers!
Conclusion
As we’ve seen in this article, social media can be a powerful tool for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
Whether you’re looking to generate buzz, reach new potential customers or just keep your current ones interested in what’s going on with the company, social media can be an invaluable resource for your marketing strategy.
