Without your customers, you have no business. It’s their engagement, loyalty and sales that power your cashflow and drive the business to new heights. But when was the last time you reviewed your customer service levels? And how often are you talking to your customers to find out if they’re happy, satisfied and still true advocates for the business? Let’s dive into the power of great customer service and asking for honest feedback. Why is customer service so important? We live in a hybrid world, where customer interactions are as likely to take place online as they are in person. Customers follow you on social media and advertising can help you target specific customer demographics with almost forensic levels of detail. But people buy from people, and that’s why treating your customers in an open, honest and welcoming way is so vital to the success of your small business. What do customers want from your business? Customer needs drive your business strategy (and if they don’t, then it’s time to review your strategy!). But what does the average customer want from your business? On the whole, customers want: Reliability : Customers want your small business to consistently deliver on its promises, and to deliver your products/service on time, every time, without excuses. Personalised service : Customers want to feel known and valued as individuals. They like tailored solutions and responsive communication that’s aimed specifically at their needs. High quality : Customers expect your products and/or services to consistently meet or exceed their expected standards. They want their problem understood and solved, quickly. Clear communication : Customers like your communication to be clear, transparent and as simple as possible. They want to contact you easily and get prompt responses to all enquiries. Great value : Customers expect a good balance between price and quality. They want a product that adds value, but at a competitive price that they feel is fair. Key ways to find out what your customers are thinking Building relationships, understanding your customers and learning their basic needs sits at the heart of tailoring and updating your business strategy. So, how do you find out what’s going on in your customers’ minds? Here are a few ways to gather customer feedback and insights: Post-interaction surveys Once you’ve made a sale, send the customer a short, targeted survey. Use this as a chance to ask why they chose your product/service and how they rated the interaction. Keep it short and concise, but look for the service pain points and highlight any areas that could be improved. Engage on social media Actively monitor and engage with customer comments, mentions, and direct messages on your social media platforms. It’s a good idea to use polls or direct questions to gather opinions and collate more customer data. This shows customers their feedback is valued and acted on. Direct feedback forms/buttons Put easy-to-use feedback forms or feedback buttons on your website, app and e-commerce store. This gives customers a convenient, non-intrusive way to share their suggestions or report issues. It’s quick, simple and gives you instant direct feedback from your customer base. Incentivised feedback programs Offer small incentives (discount codes, loyalty points) for completing surveys or providing detailed feedback. This boosts your response rates and encourages customers to invest some of their time in offering constructive criticism. Personalised follow-ups For more complex services or larger projects, make sure you have post-project meetings or personalised email/phone follow-ups with the customer. This is a great forum for customers to give feedback and get the snags, frustrations, high points and wins off their chest. You’ll get deeper qualitative insights and it demonstrates a commitment to open communication. Start talking with your valued customers Get in touch Your customer base is one of the most valuable assets in your business. So, make sure you’re using every channel possible to talk to your customers and meet their expectations. If you’re looking for more advice on relationship building, please give our team a call on 01904 787 973. We’ll help you improve your customer strategy and nurture your relationships.

Making good business decisions is easier to do when you have excellent information at your fingertips – and that’s the value of having great reporting at the heart of your startup. Any cloud accounting software worth its salt will offer you straightforward ways to run your financial reports and track your important metrics. That’s standard in the new digital world. And this level of reporting gives you real, tangible data on which to base your decision-making. But good decision-making isn’t just about the numbers. As well as having an effective understanding of your finances, you need a sense of what's good for the business, how decisions will impact on your growth and what your future path looks like. Run management information at least once a month Modern cloud accounting software makes it easier than ever to run detailed, up-to-date reporting on your financial position. With the click of a button, you can run numerous in-depth reports and statements that show your past and future position. Doing this regularly gives you a wealth of financial information on which to base your decision-making and strategic thinking. At each stage in your startup’s growth, you’ll have to make important decisions about your next step – so, it’s important to think about the financial implications of any new projects, the amount of cash in the business and the availability of new sources of funding. Use metrics and projections to inform your decision-making Setting up a custom dashboard to monitor the most important metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) is definitely a good idea. Most accounting apps will let you tailor your dashboard, so you can pick and choose from KPIs that are most relevant to your startup. Set clear and democratic targets for all of your main KPIs and track them on a weekly basis, so you’re monitoring the financial heartbeat of the business. If cashflow is looking poor, look at freeing up some cash, or borrowing money to fill the gap. If sales revenues are dropping, put some renewed vigour into your sales activity, or get a new marketing campaign underway to raise awareness of your most profitable products and services. Talk to your board and executive team when scenario-planning You may be the sole founder of your startup, or you may be part of a bigger team of co-founders. But the reality is that no one person can make all the decisions in a busy startup. To get the best overview of a challenge, or to come up with an effective way to grab a potential opportunity, you need to talk to your team – that’s the only way to get an effective consensus. Talk through the current threats and opportunities and run through as many different potential scenarios as possible. What’s the best-case scenario, and how can you achieve it? What’s the worst-case scenario, and how do you plan for it, if things don’t go according to plan? Work closely with an experienced external adviser When you’re working in the business 24/7, it’s hard to see the business in an objective way. Your judgement on some issues can be overly emotional and clouded by internal or political factors. Working with an experienced accountant, business adviser or business coach brings a fresh perspective to the business – both financially, strategically and emotionally. Having a trusted external accountant on the team definitely helps you get your numbers straight. But they can also bring their knowledge and experience to bear on your strategic thinking, your decision-making and the impact of the business on your own mental health and wellbeing. You can open up to them about your worries, share your aspirations for the business and bounce strategic ideas off them – taking some of the pressure off your shoulders. Track how you’re measuring against your goals To meet your goals and make good business decisions, it’s helpful to monitor and track your progress against these targets. If you refer back to your reporting and KPI metrics, you can easily measure your performance over time – and take action if progress is starting to slip. Areas to keep an eye can include your: Cashflow position – to make sure there’s enough cash in the business to keep your project moving forward and heading towards the agreed end goal. Sales figures and revenue – so you can see how you’re tracking against your sales targets and if the intended revenue from the project is being achieved. Budgets and expenses – to check that you’re not overspending on your project and that the team is being sensible with costs, expenses and essential overheads. Gross margin percentage – so you can keep the business profitable and aim to meet your profit targets for the period, or year-end. Growth against targets – to keep the business performing well and growing at the rate you predicted to meet your growth target for the period. Making a few bad decisions along the way is all part of the learning process. But by monitoring your performance and talking to the best advisers, it’s easier to keep the business on track. If you’re at the early stages of planning out your business idea, give us a call or book a call with Donald Inglis . We’ll help you set up the best possible management information, to help guide your decision-making.