Showing all posts tagged business

In General

3 Ways Your Business Can Protect Its Customers

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

As anyone in business knows, keeping customer and contact details safe and secure is a big thing. This isn’t a top-heavy guide to GDPR but a few things to consider when it comes to protecting your customers. This is important whether you are a freelancer like myself or run a brick and mortar business.

What Does it Mean to Protect Your Customers?

customers, business

Protecting your customers basically means that you ensure they’re never in danger of being put in harmful situations. For example, you protect their information, so other people don’t see it and use it against them. Unfortunately, there are examples of businesses that failed to protect customers and ended up giving away lots of sensitive information that led to acts of fraud.

If you want to keep your customers, you need to protect them, and here are a few things you should do:

Provide Identity Verification Services

An identity verification service is something that allows you to check that a person is exactly who they say they are. As it shows on jumio.com/trusted-identity/netverify, this type of technology can be used to verify customer ID. How will this protect them? Well, it ensures that they are who they say they are and that their ID matches up with the bank card they’re using to make a purchase. It can help stop incidents where someone’s card details may be stolen, and another person tries to pose as them to buy something. If they can’t provide a valid ID that gets verified, then you can flag it up and protect your customer from losing money. This type of technology is very beneficial for retail businesses.

I haven’t used it myself but it is something that would likely be advantageous to some of my clients.

Host Your Website on a Dedicated Server

There are many server options when it comes to setting up your business website. Often, we opt for a shared one as it’s the most convenient option. However, this is the least secure option as loads of people can easily access the server and potentially look at all the data your site collects. Instead, set up your website on a dedicated server – it takes more time, costs a bit more money, but your customers will benefit, which keeps them happy.

Make Sure You Encrypt Data Files for Customers

Encrypting a data file is where you give it some added security measures. For example, instead of someone being able to click on a file and open it, they now have to type in a security password. This is one of the easiest ways you can keep customer information safe and secure across all of your devices. Even if someone manages to gain access to your files, they’ll have to go through the encryption security before seeing all the info.

If a customer ever gets put in a troublesome situation because your security measures were too relaxed, then it reflects poorly on your business. Not only is this bad for your reputation, it could have legal and financial implications. 

Don’t take this advice as an alternative to GDPR but a good starting point while you are researching what you need to do legally in order to protect your customers and yourself.

 

In Business & Blogging

Savvy SME Business Tips

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

businessSmall to medium businesses often have it tough in today’s commercial market. There always seems to be a more prominent player that has access to extra resources to contend with. It is possible though for smaller businesses to not only survive but thrive if they are savvy and go the extra mile.

Take Care of Your Staff

First of all, when it comes to small businesses the satisfaction of your staff is absolutely crucial. Therefore it’s essential to take care of them in as many ways as you can. Such care may include having a strict policy about bullying and enforcing this, as well as offering additional bonuses for work well done and targets that are reached.

You can show your staff that they are appreciated by making a necessary activity such a training a bit more of an enjoyable experience. This is something you can do by using an outside catering company to provide delicious snacks and treats come training day. Alternatively, you may even try taking them off-site for a day to a convention centre, or even a hotel where you can combine fun and work, a strategy that is a sure-fire way to get you some kudos with your team.

Make Use of Tech and Social Media

Next, to survive in the world of SMEs, it’s vital that you keep your costs as low as possible while ensuring that you connect with and successfully market your brand and product to your target demographic. Luckily, you can do this quickly and cheaply by using social media and various IT tech to your advantage.

If you choose to promote items on your social media platforms, it’s free to set up, and you can reach a broad audience. You will always add a human element to your brand and create a positive reputation.

There are also some fab apps that you can use to create visually exciting and dynamic content to feature on your social media accounts. Something that will help your SME grab the attention of the demographic you are hoping to connect with.

Treat Your Business Customers Well

Lastly, it’s pretty significant to remember that the customer is the lifeblood of the SME. What this means is that the focus of your service, and product should be on what the customer experiences and gains by using it.

With that in mind, rigorous product testing, as well as AB testing for your online presence is a smart move. You will be able to see what options your customers will be most pleased with, and respond to most effectively.

Also, providing top level customer service at not just the point of sale but also before and after can help to create a positive relationship that can be leveraged for repeat sales and even promotion by superfans later on.

It is vitally important that your business be easily contactable and available at all times, something you can use social media to facilitate. Although, it’s always a smart idea to provide alternative methods as well such as email, helpline phone numbers, written addresses, and even website chat boxes if you want your SME to thrive in the long term.

Be transparent and consistent in how you run your business, be true to your brand values, go above and beyond for customers and treat your staff well. That is how you run a thriving small business.

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