Great Customer Service will always win the day
No matter what is going on in the world, people always will respond positively when they have a good customer service experience. When it comes to my business that comes in the form of responsiveness. When one of our clients requests a change to their website, we always respond the same day. Now, this seems like something everyone would do, but you would be shocked that some firms take weeks to respond to a request to simply make a small text change to a website. So no matter what is going on in the world, whether it’s a pandemic or good times, people will always respond to good service and will recommend you to their friends and colleagues. I know of what I speak, as I have been doing this since 1996 and we are still experiencing tremendous growth, even during the pandemic.
BS will never get you very far
We’ve all dealt with people who had a great line of bullsh*t, but in the end that’s all they offer, fast talk and nothing to back it up. I have never considered myself to be a great salesman, although I have a closing rate of around 98%. I don’t tell people things just because it’s what they want to hear. I would rather be honest and set proper expectations. That way people are happier in the long run versus someone who sells them a bill of goods and then doesn’t come through. This is true now more than ever before as people are very careful of who they will do business with. They need to feel comfortable and sure that you’re there to help them, and that your actions speak much louder than your words. Talk as they say is cheap!
Thinking long-term rather than short term
A lot of people get into business and have a short term plan as to how they will approach their business. This is almost always a mistake as you have to plan into the future and set goals to get there. This has always been the case and it will not change due to the pandemic or any other disaster which may confront you. In fact, long-term planning is more important than ever. Now you need to plan for a possible re-occurrence of a horrible virus. That way you can survive, and even flourish in the event of another pandemic. Listen, no one thought this would ever happen, as we haven’t had a pandemic like this since the Spanish flu. Now that it has happened we need to be ready, and the best way to do that is the plan for any eventuality.
Substance over Style
We run into a lot of companies who are pushing very glossy solutions. But most of the time they’re missing out on the true mission of the company they are working for. That is to explore what problems we are solving for them. Taking my business as an example, anyone that looks at our portfolio will see that our sites are all easy to navigate, pleasing to look at and accomplish our clients goals. As I take over a lot of sites to manage I ran into many which have serious engineering issues. As Steve Jobs one said design is not only what something looks like, it is how it works. And you can see this in most Apple products, they are not on the good looking, they are functionally near perfect.As Duct Tape Marketing says:
“Your website is the heart of your online marketing efforts. All other channels should drive users back to your website, so it’s critical that you build the most effective one that you can. Good website design is way bigger than just building a site that looks appealing. Truly effective website design is about the substance underlying the style.”
Buying a product is more important than buying a price
You may recall a blog post we had about this very topic, You Buy a Product or You Buy A Price. I used to work with a web developer who was a former finish carpenter and a brilliant musician. He told me that people either shop for price or they shop for a product. If they’re shopping for price then you’ll never be happy no matter how good the product you offer may be. And in the long run they almost never succeed with their company goals as they only care about who gives them the lowest price. Now I am not telling you not to consider price, just consider what are you getting for your money. The proposal that may be a bit more expensive may also net you a much better end result. One other thing to consider is what the company will be doing for you after you build and launch your website. We believe that the management of your website is every bit as important as the design and development phases. So when we make a proposal, it also includes a management plan. This is so important as we not only backup your site daily, we also keep your website plugins and themes up to date. This is critical for Content Management Sites, such as WordPress which require constant attention.
Bottom Line: So just as the last post we had talked about five things that will change forever, these are the 5 Five things that will never change for small business websites, no matter what the world is going through at a given point in time. If you need help with your website design or the management of your site, please feel free to contact us anytime. And please let us know what you think will never changes, we’d love your feedback.
I went for a walk the other day and went by a few houses for sale. Some of them even had URLs on their signs. But none had a simple QR code. Someone driving by could just click on it go right to the webpage and learn more about the property. I figured maybe this was just an anomaly, but over the last week I’ve been driving around and I did not see a single QR code on any signs.
Let me take a step back. For those of you who are not aware of what a QR code is, I will explain. QR codes are Quick Response codes. These are barcodes, that can be read by free apps on your smartphone. The barcode example on this page takes you to my website. They can send someone to a website, and perform many more functions. Here is a list of the functions a QR code can do.
Website URL
YouTube Video
Google Maps Location
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Instagram
FourSquare
App Store Download
iTunes Link
Dropbox
Plain Text
Telephone Number
Skype Call
SMS Message
Email Address
Email Message
Contact Details
Digital Business Card
Event (VCALENDAR)
Wifi Login (Android Only)
Paypal Buy Now Link
Bitcoin
So why would a real estate company not put a QR code on their signs? I can’t really answer that, truthfully it boggles the mind. My guess is when real estate markets are strong, they get a bit lazy. The problem is this isn’t hard, you generate a code in seconds. You can go to free sites like: http://www.qrstuff.com/ or http://www.qr-code-generator.com/.
In business, there are few things that are free. So when something free and beneficial comes your way, take advantage of it. And this just doesn’t apply to Realtors. Here are some examples:
I put a barcode on my business cards. I know other people that link to a vCard so somebody not only gets their cards, but they automatically add this person to their address book. That is a valuable commodity. With a business card you keep them for a while and typically throw them away. But if you’ve added that person to your address book chances are it’s going stay there for a while.
Are you a business that sends snail mail or hands out paper flyers? Then consider this: You can send somebody your flyer with the picture and all the information about your product and then have a barcode which takes them to PayPal to buy your product (see image).
Do you do email marketing? Say you are having a sale. Use a barcode with a google map. They can then take their phone and grab map and navigate to your sale.
Bottom Line: Real Estate companies absolutely need to use QR codes on signs and marketing collateral. But your business, no matter what it is, can benefit as well. If you have any questions, you can always contact us for assistance.
I went for a walk the other day and went by a few houses for sale. Some of them even had URLs on their signs. But none had a simple QR code. Someone driving by could just click on it go right to the webpage and learn more about the property. I figured maybe this was just an anomaly, but over the last week I’ve been driving around and I did not see a single QR code on any signs.
Are you a business that sends snail mail or hands out paper flyers? Then consider this: You can send somebody your flyer with the picture and all the information about your product and then have a barcode which takes them to PayPal to buy your product (see image).