Customer Consulting Group - Blog #Mobilise

Your Online Presence

Thu, 02 Apr 2020 09:35:02 +1100

We've been thrust into a new world of working, where do we start?

We have all, in some way or another, felt the effects of COVID-19. Whether it be on our families, our businesses, our finance or our mental health, every person on the planet has dealt with the pandemic’s adversity.

However, there has also been some hope to rise through to everchanging struggles.

People are banding together to assist those more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19. The environment has had a chance to breathe from the endless effects of population growth. We’re looking out for one another’s health as well as our own. Our dogs are getting so many walks!

Though we are in the thick of what could be months confined to ‘lock down’ living, I’d like to think more about how we will come out the other side, with an economy that survived hardship and learnt a few lessons about smart business.

It is a time where we can reflect on our preparation, diversification and our ability to adapt to change as smaller companies. Ask yourself ‘Have I done everything in my power to stay in business during this economic crisis?’

The reality is, not all of us will make it. But we will all have new opportunities to build from so long as we take the time to wise up and take an attitude of ‘what we can do, we will’.

I have compiled some thoughts and ideas built from experience and market research that may help you to come out of this challenge having learnt what your business can cope with, where to save time and resources and ultimately how to work smarter, not harder.

Today we focus on online presence.

So, you’re online, now what?
Are your customers able to reach you easily? Is your booking/checkout system too cumbersome to be a competitor? Are you customers experiencing the same level of care online as they were in store?

Many people believe that ‘going online’ takes away the personal customer experience. Many feel they’ve been forced into a world they don’t feel comfortable with.

What they don’t understand is that the online experience, when done well, can be as important as a first impression. An easy-to-navigate webstore, simple filtering functions, seamless checkout process and several payment options means you have truly considered the customer experience within your online presence, making them feel valued simply because it was easy to buy from you.

Now we have time to focus more on our online presence, we should be considering what mattered to your customers in store and transferring this to your online shopfront.

Did your bright, fun window displays draw people in?

Your website should reflect that same colourful flair.

Did the free tea or coffee in the waiting area give you an edge over competition?

Throw in a free treat in your shopping cart that has similar financial impact to you as that hot cuppa did in store.

Maybe it was the homely familiarity of seeing your face that gave you loyal customers?

So, fill your online presence with photos and language you would greet them with so they can still feel connected.

The most important takeaway here is don’t let yourself be forgotten.
But this means you need to adapt.

There is also many great tech options that can make this process really easy for you. My favourite is Zoho, it is by far the most comprehensive and well-rounded suite and has a range of apps that can help you to build up an ecommerce website, easily manage inventory and help you to market your brand on all social channels from one page. You don’t need to know how to code to use it, just how to market to your target (and don’t forget CCG can provide the expert touch if you need to go the extra mile or your just feeling stuck).
For the full range of products go here: https://www.zoho.com/

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How to effectively work from home

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 17:29:30 +1100

Stay safe and continue working...

In addition to helping our customers mobilise their workforce, at Customer Consulting Group, we "drink our own champagne" so to speak, by having several employees who have been successfully working from home most days since they joined the organisation, and as such have become somewhat experts on 'telework'.

Here are our top tips to help you work from home amidst the current situation to help do your part in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and helping our Aussie economy stay afloat.

1. Develop a good routine.

Get up early, like you normally would to head into the office. Have your breakfast, make a coffee, then head down the hall into your office. Set yourself up, fire up the laptop and get stuck in.

Creating a good morning routine for yourself that is similar to that of working in an office will help you to maintain solid working habits and motivation as you get used to seperating your home life from your work life within the same environment.

2. Manage yourself.

Set up your day like you normally would. Check your calendar, schedule your meetings and write a to-do list using an app like Microsoft Planner or Zoho Connect. By micro-managing yourself, you will learn to become accustom to completing your tasks efficiently. Making sure you use the best technology to do this will also help you to focus on how to make the most of being more mobile.

You'll also need to give yourself some ground rules to prevent the quick Facebook check up from becoming an hour of mindless scrolling because noone is there to look over your shoulder. Consider promoting productivity by rewarding yourself with a quick walk around the block or five minutes in the kitchen to grab a snack on completion of a task or after 20 minutes of solid effort.

3. Communicate frequently.

Make sure you and your team have an effective comunication platform such as Microsoft Teams, Zoho Cliq or even WhatsApp to be able to communicate regularly and as quickly as needed. You won't be able to quickly duck by a colleagues desk to ask questions from home, so you need to ensure you have an effective means of communication.

It's also a good way for those socialites among us to continue getting the positive human connection that working from home can lack in.

Remember you will need to practice extra courtesy as you can't see what others are doing and want to prevent interrupting others work.

As a side note, CCG can help you to set up your communication systems right from the beginning. We also have partnerships with telecommunications companies that can ensure you have accessible phone systems that connect to your home office.

4. Take regular breaks.

Many people forget self care when working from home and will work from dawn til dusk everyday just because they are in the comfort of their own home. Burning out is possible to do even if you are working at home, so you need to ensure you take your lunch break and you finish on time. The boundaries of work life balance are easier to cross when you're home, so set alarms or reminders to take breaks or finish working by 5pm if that's what it takes to give you a routined work day.

5. Set up your space.

One of the major upsides to working from home is your actual office/working space. Often we aren't able to express ourselves in our working space, but freedom of expression can be quite motivating to people as they tend to feel more comfortable and confident surrounded by things that make them happy. Put up some artwork, hang some cool curtains, plaster your wall in photos of your children and dog... Make your space your own, inviting and warm, full of your favourite colours and textures that make you feel energised and enthused to be in your home office.

Just remember to keep a professional space for when you've got those corporate meetings with the CEO or VIP clients...

Quick Tip: With Microsoft Teams you can even blur your background to give that extra professionalism and tech-savvy feel to your home office meetings.

6. Plan.

Finally, create a plan for each day and commit to getting it done.

If you can say it aloud, as though you are reporting into your manager, 'I will be getting XYZ completed today', then you are making a silent goal for yourself. You know you can do it, you've told yourself you will do it, now do it.

All in all, it takes a little discipline and a lot more focus to work from home. Heed the above advice and you will have a much better experience working from home during the COVID-19 situation.

If you want some help optimising your technology to work from home more effectively, send us an email to find out how we can help:

info@customerconsulting.com.au.

We are putting together some training and information sessions for anyone to attend to help you navigate the current economic climate. Take our survey to tell us what you would like to learn about most: https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/54CN8J