There are so many ways that you need to elevate your competition, not only with businesses that are the same size as you but also those that are much bigger than your company is. Take the internet, for example: People reading a well-done landing page may not have any idea that your company is smaller than the big guns, especially if you put the work into optimizing it and designing something that’s beautiful and useful. Same goes for other marketing efforts such as email: Effort can help you compete with a bigger company.
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8 Travel Design Trends for Making the Sale
From our friends at Reservations.com
If you’re a sales or marketing professional in the travel industry – whether B2B or B2C – you know how critical branding and design is for a travel company’s website.
In 2018, 71% of U.S. travelers researched their travel plans online and 83% used digital platforms to book tickets and accommodations. Furthermore, just over half of consumers (51%) admitted that the visual content and imagery of the travel sites they visit can influence their trip decisions.
Furthermore, with over $1 trillion being spent by U.S. travelers, there’s a lot of opportunity in the space for smart operators.
Should I start a side hustle? (infographic)
From our friends at Self Lender…
As of 2016, the average student loan debt neared $40,000. With the increased difficulty of landing a well-paid, full-time job straight out of college, graduates are struggling to earn a living.
In order to better manage the cost of living with shackling debt, grads have started working side hustles to make ends meet.
A side hustle is an additional, flexible job that allows you to earn supplemental income while taking classes or working a full-time job.
Self Lender provides 7 reasons why people need side hustles in this economic climate. To help you get some ideas, they put together 51 side hustle options for recent grads. Check out the infographic below to discover if you should start a side hustle.
Should a gift to my client have our company logo?
This article below was written by our friends at ParkPow. ParkPow provides parking enforcement software to help property owners, hotels, universities, and municipalities enforce their parking policies.
Gift giving serves a vital purpose in the business world. So whether it’s Christmas, a big launch celebration, a promotion, or even a client’s birthday, there’s a reason to give. There’s a lot to consider in this gift-giving exercise. Who should we give to? What do we give? How should we give it?
For this post, I want to explore a more subtle, but important topic: should our client gift contain our company’s logo?
Why We Give
Let’s take a step back and remind ourselves of the ultimate goal: to drive revenue. Revenue comes from customers and customers buy (to a good extent) from trusted relationships.
So gift-giving to the client is the opportune chance to build the relationship, to show that we care. After all, without the relationship, there’s really not much left over.
Let’s be clear: if we think that we’re giving purely out of the goodness of our heart—then we should really be investing our time and money to a charity. Giving a thoughtful gift to a client is not charity work.
Give with Logo or Not?
Talk to anyone in marketing and they would instinctively say that any corporate gift should contain the company’s logo. This is really inferior thinking. Moreover, it’s really selfish.
Why? Because if our goal is to build on the personal relationship–not our corporate relationship–then we should not tie the gift with our company logo. We want to give with the perception that we want nothing else in return.
Giving a gift with our logo makes the gift only a half-present. We want the client to take the gift so that we can outlandishly remind them that we exist.
We don’t have to stoop so low. We in sales should take the high-road.
Imagine for a minute we gave the client a nice, titanium fidget spinner to help them destress. I’d prefer the client’s friend or colleague to ask, “Hey, that’s a cool stress reliever. Where did you get it?” than for that client to outright see my company logo. Why? Because then it allows the client—the person whom I want to build a relationship—to acknowledge me and my company for the gift. Acknowledgment is the first sign of appreciation.
Give for the Sake of the Relationship
It’s easy to just sit back and forget about giving. But I’d encourage you to give a simple gift with the goal of fostering the relationship. Just make sure not to stamp the company logo on it!
How to Handle an Imperfect Customer
To really put a great company head and shoulders above the rest of the competition, customer service must be of a high standard. Your customers must have a shopping experience that will keep them coming back for more and even better, bringing new customers to your door via word of mouth.
The “Know it all hero” will always be first in a line of the less than pleasant customers. Just one example that proves not everyone makes a great customer.
Your competitors may send a “Nosey Ninja” to keep you on your toes, but an actual mystery shopper should be a welcome sight.
When the “Penny Pincher” walks in they will do their best to bargain you down to the ground. You don’t want them to leave empty-handed, but you also don’t want to undersell your service or product.
That bellowing sound you hear when “Langry” bursts through the doors can really put you on your back foot. They are simply annoyed at life!
Not everyone makes a perfect customer, so read on this infographic by The Website Group to discover more about the 4 most common awkward personalities and the solutions to help you deal with them as best you can.
Courtesy of: The Website Group