New Business Year Resolutions?

Hi all,

Happy New Year...I hope that you had a wonderful festive season! The end of one year and the start of another inevitably leads to thoughts on the year ahead...and the creation of new years resolutions. Like a lot of people I have made resolutions in the hope of making 2011 my best year yet, and as I write this on the 6th January - I am doing pretty well so far! Like most people though, resolutions begin to falter as we get caught up in our day to day lives. So how do we ensure these resolutions do not get left by the wayside? It would seem the key is to set goals and make plans for how we are going to maintain the pacts we make with ourselves.
Its all well and good for me to say that I am going to get fit...but how do I do that? Said on its own, it sounds so overwhelming and a little bit too hard, and what do you know - resolution broken. Instead I have set myself a goal to work towards. In May there is a 6km fun run that I would like to be able to run...run not walk! So each day I set out to better the length of time that I ran the day before, I have been monitoring the distance I am running, watching what I eat, setting running paths and setting a weekly goal to achieve so that I can blitz the 6kms.
I have also set resolutions for my business...and made plans to achieve my goals. As a new business, I understand these tasks can be difficult. Having a plan for the year, and steps to ensure this plan can be carried to fruition, is vital not only to the health of your business, but in keeping yourself motivated and hungry to achieve more than what you had before.
So...what are your new business year resolutions?

The Best Marketing of All

I had a reminder this weekend about the importance of good customer service. I know this isn't a ground breaking marketing technique, but when you get it right its invaluable! And when you get it wrong its utterly detrimental!

I went to have my hair cut on Saturday, feeling all excited about walking out with fabulous, shiny hair. I walked into the salon, the staff knew who I was and offered me a drink straight away - good start! Even better was that I picked up a CURRENT magazine and caught up with some gossip! I was feeling pretty comfortable about the whole experience when the stylist came to get me, I had not met her before but she did not introduce herself...this alone was enough for me to start feeling unsettled. She sat me down and vaguely asked me what I wanted done. We selected a colour together & off she went. Once the colour was done she wasted no time in cutting my hair...without really telling me what she was going to do...not feeling so confident now. Once she had finished cutting, she dried my hair and went to send me on my way. I looked at myself in the mirror, the horrified image that stared back at me surely didn't belong to me, but to a goth with a fringe sticking up like Tin Tin! I decided to mention the colour was way darker than expected. To this she replied, 'yeah sometimes that can happen, see if it fades after a few washes'. I followed this up by asking why my fringe was sticking up (which certainly wasn't the look I was going for)...to which she replied 'yeah sometimes that can happen when you blow dry it'. This lady really wasn't listening to what I was trying to say! She didn't ask if I was happy, she either didn't look at me, or care to gauge my reaction. Not being a very confrontational person, I left and headed home, feeling very upset and angry that I just paid to have my hair ruined!

So what did I do about this? The first thing I did was complain to my flatmates, who asked where I got it done, and I told them. I updated my Facebook status to tell everyone I was sad that my pampering hair appointment turned into a disaster. I seethed about it for hours before I decided to call and speak to the owner. I could only leave a message so I spent the whole weekend feeling angry. When I got to work I told people at work! After spending years trying my utmost to go above and beyond what my clients and patients expected of me, I was upset that I wasn't heard, or cared for as a customer.

So what does this one encounter mean for the hair salon I attended? Well they lost a customer, they lost potential referrals and even though it was one stylist in a salon of many, it gave the whole business a very tarnished image. Does bad word spread faster than good? Of course it does!

It is essential that you and your staff remember why you come to work...to serve your clients. A fantastic experience will ensure that you have good word of mouth, will reinforce to other clients their loyalty to you & increase the all important internal referrals! A bad experience will have the totally opposite effect...can your business afford to lose any clients?

Constant Learning

Hi all,

I have been thinking today about how much time and effort can go into running a business. As a new business owner, I have had moments of being overwhelmed and frustrated, and lots of moments where I have felt inspired at the incredible possibilities. Above all else, starting a business has been a learning journey. With each new project I tackle I learn something new, valuable information that helps me to give a better service to my clients and to help my own business.

Most overwhelming of all is that there are so many aspects of running a business! In addition to the primary focus of the business, be it practising dentistry, physiotherapy or dispensing pharmaceuticals, there are the bills & wages to pay, professional development, endless paperwork etc. Its so easy to forget about the simple things that we can do to promote our businesses. I spend my days telling people about the importance of social networking and coming up with ways for businesses to reach both existing and potential clients, that I can easily forget to do it myself. So here I am, updating my blog, my Twitter and Facebook account and joining Linkedin...all to improve my online presence, and create a network of people that I can learn from and help to promote my business. These are some of the simplest, but incredibly effective forms of getting your business name out there! Two of my very good friends are social networking queens, each promoting their respective businesses. In a relatively short period of time their businesses have grown hugely thanks to the time they put into having an online presence. I look to them for inspiration and so I will ask you to do the same, and think about how social networking can help your business!
Check out:
www.debsivelja.blogspot.com and www.kelliechristie.blogspot.com

How Well Is Your Website Working For You?

I recently had a meeting with a client who wanted to discuss making some changes to his website. He told me he was happy with the design of the website but wanted to be able to update the photos as they were a few years old; some of the staff had left and he had gotten new uniforms for his team. He also wanted to add in some information about Invisalign, a new service he is offering his patients. The most urgent matter was the email address...it was wrong! I asked my client if there was a content management system within the website so that he could make those changes. He wasn't sure and the company who designed and launched the site stopped answering his calls months ago!

Following the meeting I sat down to have a look at this particular website, I realised the website was definitely NOT working as well as it could be. The home page was blank with the exception of the company logo and an 'enter' button. Search Engines take information from this page, and if your home page is blank...guess what that will do to your Google rankings! I was alarmed by simple spelling mistakes...dental practise? The photos were sterile, randomly placed and had little relevance to the text, the font was tiny and so hard to read, there was no enquiries form, no content management system to make simple changes, no analytics program to track the traffic on the site, links that didn't work...the list goes on.

I created a proposal for my client that suggested the following:
- Restructuring the pages to make better use of the home page e.g. Information about Invisalign and other new services.
- Edit index tabs: having both an index that runs horizontally and vertically takes up space and is confusing to prospective clients.
- Increase text size for ease of readability.
- Edit text to update information and to ensure spelling and grammar is correct.
- Update images to create a different theme will compliment text and add a warmer feel to the site.
- Update images of staff so clients will know who they will be seeing.
- Implement a content management system so that images and information can be updated on a regular basis.
- Implement an analytics program to track usage of the site.
- Edit the writing of the site to enhance visibility in search engines.
- Add enquiries form so that it is easier for prospective clients to make contact.
- Add map to contact page.

If you have a website you may as well make sure that it is functioning to its highest capacity, or it could be hindering your business - not helping. I know that as health practitioners, your main focus is on your patients and ensuring you provide quality treatment and you don't always have time to spend on your website. My advise would be to ask yourself how well you think your website is working of you, and you have any doubts...give me a call!

Welcome to Unique Practice Concepts

Unique Practice Concepts operates to devise and create marketing materials for practices in order to enhance their public image, and ultimately their productivity.

Services can range from adverts, to revamping your patient correspondence systems, showcase books about your practice, or to a brand new website. I have ten years experience in the dental industry and understand that practitioners and staff have to concentrate their efforts on running their practice, which may leave little time for marketing and revising current correspondence systems.

Having taken it upon myself to create and complete these materials when employed as a dental receptionist, I saw an opportunity to help other businesses with their marketing and image needs. The combination of my dental and visual arts backgrounds allows me to create unique, personalised marketing materials and strategies while demonstrating an accurate and thorough knowledge of dentistry that can be conveyed to the public in a simplistic, yet interesting manner.