When it comes to business, it is easy to go down the wrong path when you taste a little success. The truth is, while many of us are good at taking an idea to the profitable level, it is the next level that can be the most difficult. You now have a staff. You have customers. You have more product being produced. You have a full-fledged operation. So what’s next?

Learn to disseminate between good and bad employees.

This one is huge. You need to learn to let go of employees who simply don’t do work or give any effort. This isn’t just a burden on your finances, but it also contributes to the company’s spirit. Other employees see laziness, and they become bitter and feel there is no reason to work harder. In the same light, you need to reward the good employees. A system of meritocracy is the essence of motivating people. You want all employees to see that hard work pays off. Remember, passion and hard work are what builds your product and acquire more clients and customers. So promote it within.

Learn to Train

One of the biggest issues I see with businesses today is that they seemingly are poor at training employees. I am not just talking to new employees; I am also referring to current employees learning new skills. The ability to teach people new things is critical to success. You need someone who can explain things in an easy way, with clarity. You don’t want people just “figuring it out.” A good manager can use on-screen videos and screen captures to train employees. If an employee is confused, a great manager will easily unconfuse them. When you hire new employees, they should immediately be trained up on how your product or service works. They are on the front-lines, they should be experts at your business.

Customer Service should be over the top friendly

Don’t fail at this. It is too critical to fail at. Calling or emailing or live chatting your company should be nothing short of the pleasure, even if I’m mad. If I am mad, calm me down. If I am happy, don’t ruin that. Be nice. Always be moving us in a positive direction. This goes a lot deeper than just hiring customer service agents with the right mindset; this also comes down to your company motto. Be nice to your customer service or client relations staff and let them know that you expect them to treat the company’s customers the same way in return (even when they are mad).

Business tip of the day

Need more tips? Call Check Issuing today. Let’s talk about your business and how we can play a role in improving your company’s efficiency.

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Check Issuing’s Small Business Tips for Success (These Are Awesome)

Running a small business isn’t child’s play. If it were, everyone would be doing it. But the fact is, most people aren’t opening their own business and profiting. Your business is a unique butterfly and you are the boss, the leader, the respected entrepreneur who is directing the ship across even the most treacherous of waters could use lots of business tips for success.

To me, running a business comes down to executing the basics. Just like anything you do in life, take sports, for example, you need to always count on the basics to get yours through the good and the bad. But often times, we over complicate things because sometimes overcomplicating sure feels like an opportunity at something bigger and better. But the reality is, the basics are the bread and butter.

Here are a few good solids that should help get you through tougher times.

Make Your Customer Service Count.

Businesses overlook customer service more than any other component of their business. And it is understandable why this happens. The reality is, in order to grow, we must focus on new sales. This can cause us to get hyper-focused on finding ways to increase sales, which in turn, causes us to lose sight of our current customer portfolio. But here’s the thing: Those people who have bought from our products or services have proven their viability and profitability. These people will likely buy again….unless of course, they have a bad experience.

The key is making sure they DON’T have a bad experience. And that means sitting down and focusing on customer service. Are you responding to their emails as fast as you respond to new product or service inquisitions? The worst is when a current customer figures out that in order to get faster service, they can contact you as if they are a new lead. Be on it. Be responsive. Try to answer the phone.

Price Matching May Not Be The Best Option.

As a small business, price matching simply may not be in the cards for you. Large corporations base a huge part of their business on “lowest prices.” But you aren’t big and bulky and detached. And you should let your customers know that.

Remember, small businesses can justify the higher cost by giving amazing customer service, answering the phone and being more custom. Large companies can’t just customize for every person out there, they’d come to a standstill.

Encourage Loyalty.

As mentioned above, current customers are where the money is at. They are proven, spenders. Encouraging them to stay should be a priority. This is why loyalty programs are so huge. Even if you aren’t the size and scope of Target, it doesn’t mean you can’t put together loyalty attributes. Maybe lowering the cost of the service after X years of use, or even giving yearly rebates on future purchases could work. Encouraging customers to want to remain your customer doesn’t have to be an extravagant experience on your part. You can dress almost anything up to feel really nice!

Small Business Tip: Let’s Talk About Your Passwords

Don’t actually share your password(s) with anybody. We just really think it is time to face the facts about passwords. You are at risk of having somebody hack into your information. Even worse than someone hacking your facebook and spamming your friends about weight loss products, is the awful chance of your bank information or credit card accounts getting wiped out from stolen passwords.

It happens again and again and a lot of this is because of weak passwords. You are not invisible, it can just as easily happen to you. So, why not protect yourself by changing passwords and making them stronger? I know, it is much easier to remember a numeric sequence or your boyfriend’s name as your passwords. Sadly it is much easier for a thief to remember a numeric sequence or figure out a loved one’s name too and steal your passwords. Some other popular passwords have been names of movie characters and sports. These are also bad to use as passwords.

It’s best to make all of your passwords different. If at all possible use a password generator and manager. They are incredibly helpful and user-friendly. But user-friendly for you and nobody else. There have been so many cyber attacks and data breaches in the recent years. We should all learn from this. Your information should not be spelled out for the world to see. It is YOUR information. So take care of it and often check your accounts. In addition, if any of your accounts offer 2-step authentication; use this and do it immediately. At the very least you are making it close to impossible for somebody to log into an account if they do not have access to not only your password but your mobile phone as well.

There is nothing worse than having somebody steal your passwords from you, no matter if it is money or information. Either way, it is your passwords and should be well protected. Do not make it easy for your personal information to be stolen just because you are comfortable with the passwords you already have. Use strong and impossible to guess passwords. The sooner you make these changes, the better off you are.

Are Password Managers Safe?

A question we are often asked. Are password managers safe, and if so should I be using one to store my passwords? You definitely don’t want to store passwords in files on your computer that anyone can access. Or even worse, on pieces of paper near other important items that anyone can see. It’s a tough one for sure. Everyone has a habit and it is hard to break out of it. Not going to lie, when I started using a password manager, it took a lot for me to get a grip. Now I could not be happier. I feel more organized as well. Here’s why.

Who wants to remember a humongous list of passwords? Why would anyone want to use their brain power to keep track of passwords? The truth is that more than ever we forget a password and have to retrieve it and sometimes we forget the answers to our security questions. It makes me crazy even thinking about it. When you use a password manager, you log in to your manager website and poof your life becomes easier than before. You use your master password to log in instead of typing your password into the particular website. The password manager will automatically fill your login information into the website. I can’t stress enough how nice it is to no longer have to think about the username and password that you used for each and every website. Get this, when you are signing into a new account, the password manager gives you the option to generate a password. These are secure and very strong passwords.

In addition to URLs, logins and passwords, you have the ability to store other important information in each form. For example, you want to create a login for your high-speed internet and there are all sorts of security questions and pins you need when you call for assistance. These can all be inserted into your password manager, as well as your account number, type, etc. This is all in a secure form. Everything you add is part of your manager and only accessible through your master password.

I recommend using a password manager. I personally use LastPass, but there are others you can investigate. With all of the fraud and hacking it gives you a sense of safety. So yes, they are safe, but nothing is 100%. Although I am certain I am better off now than my old way of saving passwords and logins.

Here’s a good business tip for you, use our check printing service to save time, money and hassles.