Lessons Learned Archives - Page 22 of 78

Who Do You Help First?

06.11.2015 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

I was chatting with a friend today about poor customer service. We all know it when we see it, and we’ve all had it. I mentioned that at my vision center if I called to order something and a certain sales rep answered, I’d just hangup and try again later. And if he was working when I walked in, I’d turn around and come back later. It was that bad. One time while he was “helping” me he answered the phone and then spent the next 10 minutes helping that person and leaving me hanging. Which brings up the question: who’s your priority?

The Client in Front of You

This is the priority. The person you’re talking to in real life deserves your undivided attention. Now, if you work in a location and you need to answer the phones (like at a vision center) do it quickly and call that person back. But better yet, send it to voicemail. The person in front of you is the person most likely to give you their money if they haven’t already. And if they HAVE, don’t touch that phone or email, this person deserves your undivided attention.

The Person on the Phone

If they can’t get off their butt and come to you then they can wait. Now, if you work in a situation like me where people don’t come to my office, then the phone caller is the top priority right? YES. If I don’t recognize a phone number I won’t usually answer it. It can go to voicemail and I’ll call them back when I have a minute. But I will call them back, or take care of any request they leave for me.

The Person in your Inbox

You should respond to emails within 1 business day if you ask me (and I know you wish you hadn’t). When I get to my desk in the morning I do a quick run through my emails to see what clients I need to work on for the day, and clean out all the other “stuff,” (newsletters, spam, meetings, personal stuff) quickly so I can focus on the clients who need me. Figure out how to prioritize your inbox. If it’s an emergency they’ll usually call or show up.

5 Things You Should Do Regularly On Your Website

06.09.2015 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

Over the past couple of weeks I talked about how to hire a great web developer, and how to build a website without killing anyone. So once your website is up and running then what? Leave it and walk away? Probably not…Here’s 5 things I suggest (okay, my web developer and others have told me to do) you do on a regular basis.

Keep it up to date – If you’re using WordPress it’s really easy to update your website. Login, and you’ll see a little circle at the top with a number next to it. That’s the update box, do it. My SEO pal Jon suggests you update weekly. Updates keep your site safe and up to speed. If you don’t update regularly you’re more prone to hackers and a slow site that no one wants to visit. If you don’t have WordPress talk to your web developer and see what they suggest about keeping the site up to date and safe.
Setup Analytics – Google Analytics are a great tool (although recently packed with a lot of spam bots) where you can track traffic to your website and see how people are finding you. Set it up and start playing. This is one of the first things I look at with clients to find out how people are finding them and making sure that all their info is correct and up to speed on these sites.
Write Stuff – I understand (and am grateful) that a blog is not for everyone. That’s okay. But you won’t continue to be found online if you don’t update content on a regular basis. Often that’s a blog. Maybe you just need to add and update services or resources or about us information on a regular basis. But you need to write stuff on your website regularly so the search engines don’t think you died.
Update Images – Yikes, how old is that photo of Hank & I on our about page? The answer is over 4 years old. Probably time for a new one – we don’t live in Issaquah where that picture was taken and we may not look quite the same, it’s probably time for an updated picture here. Make sure your headshots and images reflect who you are so when you show up to meet someone they can recognize you!
Change it up! – Hate the content on a page? Write something new! Your website isn’t a one and done piece of your brand. Your website is a living and editable piece you can fix. Don’t feel trapped or boxed in to what’s on your website, you can fix it!