Happy Small Business Month Canada!

Did you know October is the official small business month in Canada?

Whether you knew or not, we should all take the time and show our appreciation for every contributor, organization and person involved in small business. Small businesses account for 98% of all employer business Canada and approximately 48% of Canadians work in a small business environment (stats via CBC).

Those are truly spectacular numbers! So what is it exactly that makes Canadian small business such a huge success? There are a number of things:

Customer Support

Canadians shop and do business with small businesses as they are able to have a much more personal connection than they do with big conglomerates. According to Rogers, 85% of Canadians agreed that convenience and personal service are the reasons they support small business. And as I outlined in my previous post, personal offline and online customer service is crucial for retaining long-term customers. People enjoy having a connection beyond just monetary exchanges, and Canadian small businesses hold a huge advantage in that department!

Government Support

Starting or running a small business can be a daunting task. People who do not have a business background find it hard to procure funding, maintain accurate financial records or simply promote their business effectively. Enter local government and small business support organizations: from financing to coaching there are a plethora of resources available. Below you will find a few of examples (may be somewhat biased for the Waterloo Region):
- Small Business Centre Waterloo (available in majority of cities across Canada)
- Action Plan Canada
- Government of Canada - Small Business Financing Program
- Canada Business Network

Entrepreneurial Spirit

Growing up and living in Kitchener-Waterloo, also known as the tech sector, it was easy to get inspired by all of the local small business (at least what started as a small businesses) success stories:
- Vidyard
- BlackBerry (formerly Research In Motion)
- OpenText
- PEER Group
- D2L (Desire2Learn)
- Quarry Integrated Communications
- Thalmic Labs
- Plum
- Communitech

That is just to name a few in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Entrepreneurial spirit lives strong all across Canada and is embraced by the entire nation. It has become the staple of Canadian economics - people are encouraged to explore great ideas and turn them into a viable businesses eh!


Some are even changing the world as we know it: have you heard about Myo?

Youth Encouragement

Giving confidence to young Canadians and their business ideas is critical for continued success of small business. Future generations need to have access to not only resources but knowledge and support which helps nurture long-term success.

Organizations such as Futurpreneur Canada provide mentoring, resources and knowledge that allows young Canadians to turn their ideas into future businesses. Local schools, universities and colleges are also implementing services beyond degrees to help students pursue their business dreams. Three such local Kitchener-Waterloo examples come from post-secondary institutions:

- Wilfrid Laurier University: Innovation + Entrepreneurship
- University of Waterloo: Velocity Garage
- Conestoga College: Centre for Entrepreneurship

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What does small business in Canada mean to you? Any helpful resources that you want to share?

Keep working hard and HAPPY SMALL BUSINESS MONTH to all of you!

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Unknown Thursday, October 23, 2014  

3 Online Customer Service Examples Every Small Business Should Follow

I am sure by now that your business has been involved in some sort of online customer service via social media channels, review portals, online chats or email. A lot of small businesses present on the web have, so what is it that truly leaves a memorable impression for customers?

Much like any other branding effort - it has to be personal, resonate close to what the customer engages with...and if possible, it has to be fun! Well that all sounds great on paper, but what would it look like in real (or digital) life?

Here are 3 examples of companies (some known, some a little less) doing a fantastic job of their customer service:

1. Netflix

Alright - unless you are a Star Trek fan this one will not make much sense to you as far as Cpt. Mike and Lt. Norm go - but just take a look at the screenshots of the customer support transcript between a Netflix support member and a Netflix customer having an issue with a season of Parks and Recreation episode getting stuck 5 minutes into the show:

(click to enlarge)

There are a couple of things to take away from this EPIC online interaction:

• Netflix customers are clearly calm (at least this one is) compared to how we expect someone to react when they're having technical difficulties.
• It pays to be geeky in some cases, this being one of them (I have not seen Star Trek myself).
• Netflix has hired the right person for the job, one who is familiar/passionate about their industry (movies and shows: hence the great Star Trek character).
• Michael (customer service rep from Netflix) is totally in character and loving it. How often do you expect an employee to have a blast when dealing with a customer who has a technical issue?
• If you look at the end of the transcript, the customer says "I almost wish there were." regarding anymore problems to report! How many customers did you experience WANTING to keep talking to your customer service reps after experiencing a problem?

This goes to show that if you have fun, especially during a customer service interaction where no one is expecting to have fun, that customer satisfaction (and probably retention) is very likely. Why you may ask? We'll this customer went out of their way to share their experience online, and confirmed it in their own words at the end of the transcript.

2. Liberty Bottle Works

Ok - the first example shows a well-mannered customer looking for support, but what happens when customers aren't as friendly? Usually business schooling tries to teach us that the customer is always right, especially in the age of social sharing. Not so much in this case; this was handled with a passionate public response from one of the co-founders rejecting to do any further business with the customer based on their negative behaviour. While you may think this may hurt their sales, according to the Daily Mirror this type of response has nearly DOUBLED their sales!

Here is a drinks bottle company from Washington receiving a nasty post on their Facebook wall:

Liberty Bottle Works response? Just take a look for yourself:

Why was this customer experience AWESOME?

• It may not have been awesome for the customer in the example, but it was awesome to the rest of the customers because it shows They did everything possible to resolve the issue and respond to the customer. 
• No business is too small, or too big, to have its owners/founders/CEOs involved in customer disputes - it is an organization-wide effort.
• Contrary to popular belief: the customer is not always right. There is a fine line between contacting a company to resolve an issue versus harassing the people who are trying to help.
• The co-owner cares NOT only about the company but the employees and has no problem expressing that publicly. How great would it be to work for this company?

3. Bodyform (Maxipad)

Content marketing is no longer a well-hidden secret among the best of marketing gurus. Could content customer service be the latest best-kept secret? I hope not, if your small business has the means and time to respond to an internet troll comment like Bodyform did below...or answer any type of question with a video, please do not hesitate!

Take a look at this rant comment by a customer trying to be funny on Bodyform's Facebook page:

That's not all, according to Mashable several other men have copied and pasted the comment on their product page as well.

Now - this comment is focused on a fairly personal subject: the female menstrual cycle. While it may be a joke to some, to others it can be perceived as a painful and uncomfortable experience. An experience perception this company (like others) is trying to shift towards the positive.

So, how to respond to these types of online comments? Bodyform went a step beyond just replying to the comment on the Facebook page, they made an actual video - have a look:



This is the description of the YouTube video:

How is this video a GREAT response to this mocking comment?

• Honesty: the "would be" CEO explains that their marketing research has shown that this is the best way to portray the menstrual cycle based on focus groups (hilarious reactions by the men there!)
• Reality: women fart? really? Of course they do - even the CEO of a company, we are all human at the end of the day regardless of our age, gender, race, corporate title, etc.
• Personal: mention the person's name directly in the video and actually show a computer screen with an actual comment. Talk about H2H (human 2 human) customer service!

So what are you waiting for? Don't be afraid to make customer service a personal, fun experience for both customers and employees alike. Lt. Norm out!

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Unknown Saturday, September 13, 2014  

Lead Generation: You're Ready to Sell, They're Not Ready to Buy. What Now?

Lead generation is what it's all about at the end of the day: all business owners and marketing professionals essentially want to increase leads or opportunities for creating repeat customers or new business.

However, what happens when you are ready to sell the product and/or service but the lead (potential/returning customer) is not ready to make a purchase just yet? I recently had unpleasant experiences both offline and online with organizations forcing sales when I wasn't ready to purchase. It was these experiences which motivated me to dig deep into this topic by writing this post, hopefully shedding light on the new lead nurturing etiquette which seems to be gaining higher relevancy in our ever evolving B2B, B2C and P2P (person to person) interactions.

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A Bit of Context

In-Store XP
About a month or so ago, I visited a furniture retail store with my girlfriend to look at potential pieces for my long-overdue transition into home ownership. As soon we stepped into the store we were greeted by a sales associate - asking if we required any assistance, informing us of the current sales promotions and to come see him should we have any questions. Great - we had a person for all my answers. We thanked him for the introduction and told him that at this point we are just looking around and getting ideas, not purchasing anything.

Unfortunately, as we began to walk through the furniture show room we noticed that we were being shadowed by that same person - every section we went to, he was creepily walking behind us. When we would look over our shoulder he would pretend to be looking at, or fixing up the arrangement of some nearby furniture products. As I began to have discussions with my girlfriend about what would look good - he would jump in our personal conversations and try to tell us what would work.

As we were leaving the store, the sales associate told us that if we left a deposit NOW we could get it back even if we change our mind later on. No thank you - our response. Yet, he kept selling: if we left our deposit now he would try to get free shipping if we spent $450 or more dollars. No thank you - our response yet again. Both of us left the store feeling creeped out, uncomfortable and unsatisfied.

As a matter of fact we found dinning furniture which we thought would work - but decided later on to buy from another store with a similar style that actually cost more in price. Why? Their sales associate's introduced themselves - let us figure out what we want, and essentially we came back to them to make the purchase. They did not try to force it on us, they were there when they needed to be...and gave us space when we needed it. As a matter of fact, we tried to get free shipping or a price discount - which were pleasantly denied by the furniture store. We still bought the furniture!

Online Store XP
Free stuff - who doesn't like to receive it? Particularly when its downloading stock photography, for 7 days. That's right - there was an offer to download ANY of the images of a certain stock image website for 7 days, at absolutely no cost. Great sales tool - I sign up, give my personal information and join there lead funnel...I on the other hand, get to check out their photography, try it out on a trial period and see if it would work as a long-term solution. Sounds like a match made in heaven right? Not so much...

After the 2nd day, I found that the images were decent - but not exactly up to par of some of the other popular stock photography websites. I downloaded images for about 2 days and decided to unsubscribe and remove myself not only from the free offer, but from the email promotions and newsletters which they started to send me. To my surprise, the emails still kept coming - I unsubscribed again and went to my "online profile" where I removed myself from ALL email communications. Yet the emails kept coming. I had to block the address in my email account, yet again that was not the end of it!

A day after blocking the messages, I had a sales associate email me directly asking if I would take a 75% discount on an annual membership...a "special offer" just for me. I blocked that email address as well. My inbox was full of spam messages and I have been completely turned off from downloading any images from their web store - whether free or at a significant discount.

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Sell Smarter: Help, Inform and Educate

So, what does any of this actually have to do with this lead generation? Everything. These are not just rants of an unsatisfied prospect; these experiences are far too common in the age of personalized communication, customer knowledge and social interactions.

Having the right tools or interactions at a specific time in the buyer process will be the determining factor in actualizing a transaction (or whatever the ultimate goal may be). As someone who has unsubscribed from a FREE offer and the email communication, would I have really fit the criteria of a qualified sales prospect? I have indicated my lack of interest - which should eliminate me from the funnel, helping the company focus on other leads which exhibit higher potential.

Here are alternative options that can and should be utilized as opposed to forcing promotions and hard sales offers down prospect's attention span:

Newsletter Sign Up

If done correctly (example of what NOT to do illustrated in the story above), email newsletters can be a great way to keep potential leads informed and engaged while they build up to a purchase. If a prospect willingly opts into your email communications it means that they are interested in learning more - keep your newsletters informative with customer reviews, success stories, newest developments, etc. Going beyond just promotional pricing and discount specials can increase the level of engagement. The more you teach the prospect, the more likely they are to stick with your brand.

Download Our _______________ for Free

How I would have preferred for the furniture sales associate to suggest downloading a "Design Guide" based on their latest furniture items instead of trying to force discounts to close the sale. Much, much more!

The blank can be filled in with any educational or informative materials useful to the prospect:
- Customer Success Stories
- Guides
- Infographics
- EBooks (like this one we've created for improving small business SEO)
- Whitepapers
- Presentations
- Checklists

Depending what your organization specializes in and what prospect interests are, these downloadable materials can vary. Could consist of a combination of more than one, an in-depth ebook or even a simple template to make their decision process easier.

Encourage Event Participation

Majority of the world is in some way active on social media - they can be connected to your brand if you give them reason to do so. Are you currently running a contest? Giveaway? Do you reward people who actively engage with your social media outlets?

How awesome would it be if users got perks for sharing stuff on a brand's Facebook page? Not only would the engagement increase for the brand, but the audience would be more connected, increasing the likelihood of achieving set goals...and most importantly establishing long-term interactions. Again, the difference is centered around the user experience NOT sales rep salesmanship.

Have Fun

This is a hard one for small business owners who are not comfortable with social interactions and newer ways of interacting with prospects. I was recently working on a social media overview webinar with a small business marketer and after mentioning that social media should be fun, even in B2B organizations their response was surprising: "That scares me - I always think of men and women in business suites at a meeting table. How do you have have fun when you're trying to close business?"

Easy: how do you have fun outside of work? Post funny stuff, center your campaigns around humorous content, instead of pricing promotions - include funny content as part of your email communications. Believe it or not, business owners or "upper management" are people too. They enjoy the same types of laughs as the rest of the world - of course you have to be careful not to step over the line with certain material. Keep it friendly, fun and share-able! Good example below from Stone Temple Consulting using cats for their SEO round-up news called "Caturday" on Google+ (cats, puns and SEO information = great combo):

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You may be asking yourself: that is a lot of effort to just nurture a lead that MIGHT buy something...is it really worth it? It absolutely is, the same argument can be made for sales associates: they are not guarantee to close a sale. Similarly, this content and new way of lead generation does not necessarily replaces a sales person - they can work together to provide the right assistance at the right time. This ensures that your brand is always present for the prospect, not in a sense of sales messages but informative engagement where they are learning something new, useful and helpful.

Shift the focus from TELLING someone why to buy and HELP them make a decision on their own. The landscape has already shifted to a customer-centric interactions, has your brand?

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Unknown Tuesday, August 05, 2014