I apologize for not posting in awhile. My humans decided to take a vacation to Disney World and left me at my cousin Nicky’s, she’s a Portuguese waterdog who is forbidden to use the computer. Anyway, as I sat on my fleece blanket watching yet another winter snowstorm bear down on us, I started to think of how small business owners stay connected to their businesses when they are away for an extended period of time.
If you’re a one person team, then how do you:
- Check voicemail or receive important phone calls?
- Respond to email?
- Provide customer support?
- Fulfill orders?
As most people have cell phones these days, calling to check voicemail messages left on your business phone is easy. You can also have your business phone forwarded to your cell phone or purchase a cell phone as your primary business phone so that you can receive and attend to calls anytime and anywhere.
As far as checking email, many hotels have business centers with internet access. But what if yours doesn’t? One solution is to get a cell phone that allows internet and email access. While this could be an additional monthly, and costly, service, it does allow you to easily keep in touch by answering questions through email to sales reps, retailers, and customers. This builds confidence as companies are not only judged by the quality of their product, but by the quality and timeliness of their customer service.
So, what about fulfilling orders from sales reps, retailers, or direct sales through your web site? I don’t think that many business owners want to pack an extra suitcase full of product and shipping materials just in case they get an order. While this could work if your product is small enough, such as CoolZips® zipper pulls, if you’re selling something larger, this is not really feasible. Therefore, your options are either to role the dice and hope that nobody wants to buy your product while you’re away (negativity that is not in your best interest), or alert your sales reps, retailers, and web site customers that any new orders will not ship for a specified period of time, or train a backup such as a trusted family member or friend to help out in a pinch.
Once again, effective communication is the most important aspect of business. Letting a customer know that there will be a delay in fulfilling an order is better than leaving that customer in the dark, feeling the need to repeatedly call and email to see if you received their order. Building trust between you and all of the people that you do business with will help to bring repeat sales and brand your company and name with a quality product and quality service.
Remember, building a successful company can be a wild ride and takes a lot of hard work, requiring many concessions, especially when you’re waiting in line at Space Mountain.
Where did all of these cats come from? I mean, I had no idea they all lived in my neighborhood! For the past week, there has been a steady stream of Calicos, Tabbies, and Siamese cats entering and exiting Rusty’s house. Wait a second. Rusty must be conducting some sort of market test for the cat toilet seat that he invented.
I remember how we approached our market test for CoolZips® zipper pulls. After perfecting our prototype, we handmade the zipper pulls, coming up with all sorts of colorful and unique styles. We then showed our friends and neighbors, who loved them and were excited to buy them for gifts. Next, we created a web site, started to sell them online, and received repeat business. After that, we participated in local art fairs where we sold 100 CoolZips at one and 300 at another. Human Lauren and Human Rick were convinced that there was a demand for our product; people were zipping them up! And this, as it turned out, was our market test.So, no matter what your product is, the question always comes down to, “Will people buy it?” The answer that initially runs through our mind is, “Hell yes! This is going to revolutionize the industry, why wouldn’t people buy it? I’m going to be rich!” However, once we bring our head in from the car window and our ears stop flapping in the cool breeze, we realize that, somehow, we need to conduct some sort of market test to see if people will actually buy our idea.How you carry out your market test may be, and probably will be, completely different from the next person’s. But, once you prove there is a market for your product, then you will be well on your way to getting that gold plated water dish that you’ve always wanted.
