In 2015 there seems to be many small businesses out there running their businesses as if we live in 1995.. or 1997.. or 1999.
If you own or work for a SME then please take the time to read through this post. It really does provide some great hints and tips on how to adapt to running a business in the year in which we live.
It's been an interesting week here at thebestofleicester. We've been to 3 networking events, had calls & meetings with a number of new prospects and we continue to work on our very own networking event.
Reflecting back on the week I had some interesting conversations with a couple of established and successful Leicester businesses too. Although I do not wish to share the names of these businesses I do want to share the gist of the conversations...
Conversation 1
Me: "Hi XXX... I'm searching Google to find your company website but can not seem to find it"
Client 1: "You can't find it Shamir because we don't have a website we rely on word of mouth"
Me: "Can you tell me how your business has grown over the past 12 - 18 months"
Client 1: "We haven't seen any growth over this period.. business has remained about the same"
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Conversation 2
Me: "Which Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system do you use to keep in contact with your existing customers & new prospects"
Client 2: "Well we don't really have a CRM....(pointing to his head) all my contacts are in here".
Me: "So how often do you stay in touch with your clients and prospects"?
Client 2: "I email prospects and customers when I have a few minutes of spare time".
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These conversations got me thinking... I wonder how many businesses do not have the basics in place? It's 2015 so surely there can't be that many businesses who do not have an online presence or any systematic way of managing their clients, prospects & sales funnel and pipeline can there? I am concerned the number maybe considerably higher than I expect so I thought I should share an article which I found on www.socialmediatoday.co.uk which provides a list of 20 things a small business owner should have in place to help market their own business...
Remember if you are a business based in Leicester we are more than happy to sit down with you and help you with a free one-to-one marketing review.
BOOK YOUR SLOT NOW
http://leicester.freebizmot.co.uk/free-mot
See ya soon!
thebestofleicester
