A key factor at the start of any new business is choosing the right communication channels.
What does your business want to achieve?
Identifying this can point you in the right direction so you can establish a strong, flexible communications network between your team and your customers. Keeping everyone connected.
Social Media
Over the past decade social media has become almost the very fabric of the internet. The concept of producing, sharing and commenting on content online is now considered the norm for the 21st century. We as consumers now barely ever think back to the times where we couldn’t just start up a conversation online with someone a hundred miles away from us.
With platforms such as Facebook boasting roughly 2.23 billion users worldwide and Twitter having roughly 336 million users as of 2018. There is a phenomenal amount of audience to reach.
So why do businesses use social media? To cut a long story short, the reason is because social media is fast, instantaneous and for the most part free to use. With the introduction of various platforms such as Twitter and Facebook customers can now reach out to businesses and an appointed specialist team can also reach back.
So, what does this mean for your startup? Essentially it means that with the right management plan and dedication your business could really benefit from the use of social media. Looking back to the original title, Social media opens up various doors of flexibility for your business. Being able to communicate with customers and fellow employees wherever you may be.
This instantaneous form of customer service can be the very make or break for any starting new business. Taking the time to learn the way different social media platforms work and optimising on this can equal to sales and positive customer experiences. Creating word of mouth about how you are as a business.
However, it is important to understand that Social Media is time consuming and requires constant maintenance so if you choose social media as your communications channel you should create a solid team and use the right tools. This way customers are not ignored and your business has a strong communications system customers can rely on, boosting the reputation of your business.
Telecommunications
Although Social Media is an excellent tool for communicating with customers. Many businesses also prefer to take a more professional approach and so turn to installing a Telephone system in their business. With the introduction of VoIP, telecommunications now have a lot more to offer than just the standard, answering, directing and voice mail services.
So what is VoIP? Standing for voice over internet protocol, VoIP systems make calls over the internet, they are a cloud based phone system. They offer much more flexibility than a more traditional phone system.
One of the ways in which VoIP can benefit small businesses is how users can now take business calls on the go, removing the restriction of out of office calls and ensuring that important phone calls don’t get missed.
Most VoIP systems host an online portal, this allows users to access data and make changes online such as voicemails and changing the on-hold music to whatever preference they like. With systems like this running through the internet, businesses can keep connected much easier, with some systems being able to handle hundreds of phone lines. This also makes the systems easy to upgrade, so as your business grows you can change your telecommunications to suit your needs within hours and without the major expense of more traditional systems.
Many customers prefer to have a human conversation when it comes to customer service. So, providing an excellent telecommunications system could benefit both your customers but also members of your team too.
Written
Written communications are still very much a big part of any business, but as the world is becoming more conscious of their carbon footprint, people are now trying to reduce the amount of paper they use, however many written processes are now going digital. The art of letter writing may still be important to some businesses, but when considering a startup you should always first and foremost establish an email database.
Writing and distributing an email is quicker and more efficient than writing a letter and posting it. When writing an email, they are usually short, sweet and to the point, the same information can be sent out to a great number of different people and also this information can be disposed of in a way that is less damaging on the environment. Documents, images, videos all of which can be attached to an email and sent on its way to thousands of people.
Emails can be essential when it comes to communicating with other members of your business. Creating a flexible shared network, where you can send information from A to B easily and cheaply. Team members can be reached on the go, from home, in a different country with the click of a few buttons.
From a marketing standpoint, emails are an excellent tool when trying to boost sales or customer revenue. Offers, discounts and new stock information can be sent out to all possible customers ‘Dangling the carrot’ as some may say. Establishing a good email customer service team can make a positive impact to your business and how your customers perceive you. A customer dealt with professionally will more than likely recommend you to a friend, the best form of marketing going.
Rounded Up
Before any start up, you need to decide which direction you want to take your business especially in regards to communication. Establish a solid communications plan and move forward from there. As your business grows, so should your communications opening more doors of opportunity to reach out to customers and to communicate effectively with them. In the end a lack of conversation between a business and a customer can be the break of a business. Don’t let this be your business. Consider all these points and happy communicating.
Video – All About Startups
Most of us know that startups are young or new businesses that show enormous promise and attract the attention of venture capitalist. But how are they different from other young companies that we do not class as startups? This video we produced explains.