The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing
February 26, 2008
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Have you considered outsourcing some tasks in your business? Outsourcing has become popular, but like all great ideas, there’s some pros and cons. Check them out to decide whether outsourcing is right for your business.
The Pros Of Outsourcing
It Frees Up Your Time: Outsourcing mundane and routine tasks frees up your time, so you can concentrate on building your business.
You Save On Labour Costs: Outsourcing to countries where labour is cheaper means you cut costs.
No More Payroll: Payroll can be pain and outsourcing instead of employing people saves you having to do it.
Plug The Skills Gap: If there’s a lack of potential staff with particular skills in the area you live in, you can overcome the problem by outsourcing.
No More Costly Office Space: Outsourcing saves you having to spend a fortune on renting an expensive office.
You Won’t Be Left In The Lurch: If you use an agency that provides adequate cover, you won’t need to worry about covering holidays, sickness etc.
Lower Equipment Costs: You won’t need to worry about the costs of equipment, computers etc, or repairs and maintenance.
Convenience: If you outsource virtually everything, you can work from home, or anywhere else you choose.
The Cons of Outsourcing
Communication Problems: Language or cultural barriers can cause misunderstandings.
Time Difference: It’s more difficult to keep in touch with a Virtual Assistant if they’re from a different time zone. Also, they could wind up waking you up in the middle of the night if they forget (this once happened to me at 3am).
Lack of Team Spirit: It’s more difficult to build a successful team and create a feeling of belonging, if you outsource, instead of employing people.
Your Local Economy Won’t Benefit: Outsourcing everything prevents you from providing work to local people.
Security Issues: The security of your business may be at risk if VA has access to your computer system, business credit card etc.
I’ve outsourced some things before - such as call answering, site design and a bit of writing. And I must admit, I’m tempted to take on a VA on a regular basis if I can find a good one.
Have you outsourced any business tasks before? How did it work out? Would you be tempted to outsource and if so, what tasks would you outsource first? Or do you feel that the cons of outsourcing outweigh the pros?
Related Reading
The Pros And Cons Of Outsourcing Your Life
6 Ways To Make More Money With Less Time
10 Interview Tips To Avoid Hiring An Idiot
11 Star Quality Customer Service Tips
February 25, 2008
It’s really not that difficult to provide good quality customer service, because so few businesses actually do it. The trouble is, they concentrate all their efforts on making the sale, then once it’s made the customer doesn’t hear from them again.
This is a shame, because the chances are, they won’t come back, even if they were happy with what they bought from you. And often, this is because they simply don’t remember your name. So, don’t let this happen to your business. Check out the following tips and keep your customers happy after the sale.
Star Quality Customer Service Tips
1) Keep In Touch: If you’re carrying out a project that will take a while, or they’ve bought something that won’t be delivered straight away – keep in touch and keep them up to date, so your customer doesn’t feel as though they’ve been forgotten.
2) Make Sure They’re Happy: After you’ve made the sale, call or email to make sure they were happy with your product or service. Don’t try to sell during this contact, as you won’t come across as genuine.
3) Get Permission: Ask if it’s ok to keep in touch with them from time to time, when you have special offers etc. Getting permission makes all the difference in the world to the way your communications are received by them.
4) Thank Them: Send a thank you email or postcard and make sure it’s personally addressed and signed by a real person.
5) Send A Card: Send cards at different times a year, but don’t do the tired old impersonal Christmas card. Your customers will take more notice of a card that comes when nobody else is sending them.
6) Keeping in Touch Doesn’t Mean Selling: Keep in touch to remind them you’re there – don’t try to sell each time. This enables you to find out more about your customers so you can give them what they want.
7) Send Small Gifts: A small gift can sometimes be as cheap as a mailing or brochure. Remember it’s the thought that counts. Things like candy, key rings or fridge magnets are good. Pens are ok, but if you’re going to send these make sure they look half decent - don’t send the really cheap plastic ones.
Don’t Go Overboard: Don’t go overboard with gifts. And make sure they are happy with your service before you send them or they’re liable to feel insulted.
For example - three years ago, I rented tens of thousands of pounds of equipment during Carlisle floods from HSS Hire - one of our regular suppliers.
I’d heard they offered extended credit of 90 days to their best customers, instead of 30 day terms. So, I asked them to extend this to me and they declined. A couple of months later, they told me I was their customer of the year and presented me with 2 DVD TV’s.
I was left wondering why I didn’t get extended credit when I was their customer of the year and whether they’d actually overcharged me, since they were able to give me such a generous gift. It left a bad taste in my mouth. Be careful not to treat your customers the same way.
9) Get Their Opinion: Ask for your customer’s opinion when you’re doing research. Most people are flattered that you value their input and they’re glad to help. And you can also use this opportunity to gather further information about your customer.
If you prefer to contact your customers by email, check out this useful post by Ian Denny on how to organise the information you collect from customers and use it in email campaigns.
10) Don’t Expect Your Customers To Be Mind Readers: Make sure you keep them informed of all the products or services you offer. They’ll appreciate it because people prefer to deal with businesses they already know and trust, so they’re more likely to buy from you.
11) Stay Organised: Keep your customer details organised and make sure you have a future contact date in your diary for each customer. Customer Relationship Management software is the easiest way to do this. I use Salesforce, because it’s reasonably priced and you can customise it.
If you follow these practical star quality customer service steps, your customers will come back to you again and again.
Do you have any customer service tips to share? What have you tried that has had good or bad results?
How Much Is Your Blog Worth?
February 23, 2008
Many businesses don’t make a huge amount of money for the owner until they come to sell them. And with millions of blogs online, I wonder if it’s possible to build a blog then sell it for a decent amount of money. After all, AOL are rumoured to have paid somewhere in the region of $40 million for Weblogs Inc. And many people already buy and sell blogs on Digital Point.
I found this neat blog valuer on Steve Pavlina’s site: How Much Is Your Blog Worth.
The valuer is based on research by Tristan Louis. And I don’t know how accurate it is but it claims that this blog is worth: $108,956.22. Not bad - but chickenfeed in comparison to some of the top blogs on the Internet. I typed in a few domains at random from my feedreader and here’s what it came up with:
Itty Biz is worth $126,456.96
Skelliewag is worth $606,880.50
Shoemoney is worth $2,349,615.48
Steve Pavlina is worth: $1,674,990.18
Entrepreneurs Journey is worth $509,215.08
Vegan Momma is worth $177,265.56
Successful Blog is worth: $735,595.62
Bloggrrl is worth: $167,103.84
Mrs Micah is worth $153,554.88
Chance Favors is worth: $37,259.64
Dosh Dosh is worth $2,377,842.48
E-Moms At Home Blog is worth: $97,665.42
Terence Chang’s Entrepreneur Diary is worth: $98,229.96
Problogger is worth worth $5,368,210.86
How much is your blog worth? Would you sell it for the valuation price? And as big businesses begin to recognise the power of blogs, do you think many of them will be bought up as a result?
Spammy Link Chains And Stupid Bloggers
February 23, 2008
Break The Spam Chain
I can’t stand spam, so, I wasn’t happy to learn that Dawn from Iowahippiechick had tagged me as part of some spammy link chain recently.
Dawn soon realised this was a pretty dumb move and took her tags off her blog, but others haven’t followed suit. And now it looks like I’m part of a spam chain that I didn’t choose to join and I’m getting a ton of worthless inbound links.
Sorry people, but this is a business blog and I’m not prepared to waste my readers time by adding posts that are merely spam links to other blogs. And I don’t want to be penalised by Google for being part of some spam chain either. So please remove my name from your spam posts. Thank you.
Are Most Bloggers Stupid?
Maybe the Internet is being overtaken by splogs because most bloggers are just not so smart. Ian Denny claims that right handed people are bad bloggers because they’re just not as creative as left handed people. If you’re a right handed blogger, you may want to check out his post and flame him in the comments section.
