What has been a long time in the making, and needed for even longer, is now ready for public consumption and dissipation. The new bigahha.com is now up and running!

You can now see a little bit of the work we’ve done and get a better insight into what it is that we do. Hopefully most of the kinks have been ironed out, but it’s possible you might run into one or two. Let us know what you think of the new site.

Thanks!

Auto Tuning from Casey Donahue on Vimeo.

It’s just that paper drives me crazy! It’s one of the reasons I used to work in the online division of newspapers and not the print side. Computers and web based applications make it easier than ever to reduce the use of paper in your personal and business life. We recently built a web application to help an organization that has multiple locations and multiple lists of volunteers, donors, sponsors and members. Anyone who has ever worked with spreadsheets knows the frustration that can arise from printing out multiple spreadsheets with missing data, duplicate data etc. What we did was build a one stop shop via a web based application where data could be entered in a consistent manner. The people who need this information can now go to one place to get the information they need and they know it is up to date. No need to wade through multiple spreadsheets spread out on a desk trying to decide which is the most recent, which is correct, this one has a phone number that one does not. The web will make your business more efficient and more profitable while also helping the environment. You just need to be willing to take the steps necessary to fully engage the web and the power it provides.

Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo

A couple of weeks ago I needed to buy a hat for an event I would be participating in. It is a rather special hat in that it is an 18th century colonial pattern workers cap. By doing a search on the internet I was able to find a small, mom and pop business who makes them by hand. They live a state away from where I am but after an email and a phone call there was a hat in my size on its way to me. I received the hat, in the mail, two days later and in time for my event.

This small business caters to reenactors and living history folks. They definitely have a niche that they serve and the internet has allowed them to serve that community like they never could before. As a consumer, the online community helped me connect with a small business I never would have heard of had it not been for a search on Google. It is a win / win for the business and customer.

What niche do you serve and what IS your community? If you think about those questions in non traditional ways you could find new revenue streams never before imagined.

1. What is the value of having a design unique to your site that matches your branding and your business?
2. What is the value of having not just a website creator but a business partner work with you to build a true solution to the needs of your business and the visitors to your site?
3. What is the value of working with someone who works with you to identify future online initiatives in order to incorporate elements into your initial site that will allow for future enhancements and growth without having to start from scratch?
4. What is the value of working with a company who knows you and your business vs. working with a company that identifies you by a number or a username?
5. What is the cost if your website was not built in a way for search engines to find you? How many times do you use Google to find a business? What if your potential customers can’t find you?
6. What do you pay for other forms of advertising? Now compare that to your website which is your online opportunity to connect with new or existing customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year? Compare the initial cost to what you pay for other advertising over time.

If you would like to find out more about the true cost of going with a low cost solution vs. a business partner committed to your success, give me a call for a free consultation.

A recent trip to the grocery store reminded me of some of the key points behind great customer service.

1. Call the customer by name - in this case the cashier got the name off the rewards card info
2. Always have a smile on your face
3. Engage in small talk about current events ie. the Academy Awards and who some of the winners were
4. Make sure you have covered EVERY category from the Academy Awards that you remember
5. Take the time to help your customer remember names of actors or actresses they can not remember
6. Provide your personal opinion of who and what films should and should not have won and why
7. Make recommendations on movies that your customer should watch
8. Provide the total amount of the customers groceries
9. Ask if they saw “that wrestler movie” with Mickey Rourke
10. Swipe the customers credit card
11. Tell them how proud you are that were able to stay up so late to see all of the awards
12. Laugh when the customer says that though they stayed up they will now be asleep before dinner tonight
13. Provide a receipt to your customer
14. Tell them thank you and have a nice day

Maybe the person engaged with the cashier felt like they were getting great customer service. The rest of us in line however were having a much different experience.

I might just suggest this DVD to the local store manager … Cashier training video from 1965