No matter how good you are as the caretaker of your small business, you will sometimes face circumstances beyond your control.  Occasionally, those circumstances can be disruptive, whether long-term or a brief period.

From devastating natural disasters to manmade catastrophes, you should be prepared for the unexpected and its aftermath.  According to the Insurance Institute for Home and Business Safety, 25 to 40 percent of small businesses forced to close because of a disaster never reopen.  However, businesses that have a disaster plan in place – and use it during and after disaster strikes – typically experience less damage, loss and downtime than businesses without a plan.

A written disaster plan is a must.  Consider the following to help keep your business operating and meeting your customers’ needs:

Creating a Team

First, you need to select the people who will form your contingency planning committee for how long it takes to put your plan together.

Employee Safety

Develop escape plans and external gathering areas, making sure each of your employees understands what the plan is before the emergency strikes.

Create a Company Roster

Create a list of all employees, including alternate ways that people can communicate with each other. Include all phone numbers and non-work email addresses.  Obviously, the more ways you have to keep in touch, the better.  Set up a formal phone tree that can be activated to get in touch with your employees quickly.

Mission Critical

This is your core plan and the critical portion of all contingencies.  Here you will identify the flow of each operational, financial and administrative system and process that is needed to run your business, and who will be responsible for bringing those systems “on-line.”

Inventory and Equipment

Document your inventory and equipment that is required to keep your business operable.  Maintain insurance policies, warranty information and manufacturer and service contact information with your disaster documentation.  Document the processes that help your business run, such as answering phones, tracking financing and distribution.  Also, consider your supplier information and how it will contact and deliver to you during a disaster.

Determine a Chain of Command.

You need to consider a clear chain of command and authority in case key members of your business simply couldn’t be contacted for a period of time.  If key personnel are missing, who’s in charge and who makes critical decisions?

Designate Disaster Authorities

Certain pre-chosen individuals should know the steps to take during the crisis, and how to reach all employees and other essential contacts (clients, customers, etc.).  Also, your employees should know who to take direction from in the chaos that frequently follows a disaster.

Work Space Alternatives

Think about what location alternatives you have if you couldn’t operate from your main space, such as a temporary location and employees working out of their homes.

Data Backup

It almost goes without saying, but you need your vital data – both print and electronic – backed up offsite.  Ideally, you should already be backing up all of your important data at a location that isn’t in the same vicinity.  Backup things like:  tax, payroll and accounting records as well as the customer and vendor data you’ve stored on your hard drive.  Use safe deposit boxes for important hard copies.

It’s easy to put off business disaster contingency planning, but taking the time to prepare a business contingency plan will deliver a huge payoff if business disaster strikes.
Thinking positive in itself is always a good thing, but it isn’t enough here.  You need solid disaster planning to avert or lessen a catastrophe and protect your business and employees… not to mention giving you a sense of security and peace of mind.

You know that difficult customers are part of the business landscape.  Dealing with them can be fraught with mistakes, faux pas and frustration.  However, there are ways to turn that headache client into a satisfied, lifetime customer.

Here are some things to review when dealing with the difficult:

Defuse It – Acting just like the customer will get you nowhere.  Acting professional throughout is the commendable way to go.

Clarify It – Listen and get clear on why your customer is upset.  Take notes then use those notes to review with them what they said.  It shows you understand and that you’re giving them a voice.

Acknowledge It – Sometimes commenting to your customer saying they have a right to be upset makes them less defensive and close-minded.

Help It – If customer feedback degenerates to pointless blather, step in and simply ask what you can do to help improve everything for them.  More often than not, being upfront and reasonable is enough to make most people settle down a bit and think about how you can help.  That’s all you need.

Control It – Sometimes it’s easier said then done but don’t argue back, as you’ll lose the customer if you show them your temper.  Not doing so is what they’ll remember.

Time It – Within reason, give your customer the time they need to express themselves.  You care about them, so show it by not rushing them.  They’ll notice.

Tone It – The worse thing you can do is take on a condescending tone.  Now you’ll have that issue to deal with as well.

Earn It – If you do lose your customer, staying in touch is worth trying.  Following up over time with a phone call or email, might earn them back.  Especially if they can’t find a better product or service elsewhere.

Follow It – You need to follow up with thecustomer to ensure they’re still satisfied with the agreed-upon solution.  What was the point if you don’t?

Remember – becoming difficult yourself only adds to the bad situation.  You can control your behavior.  Ensure that the mishap will not happen again and perhaps offer a discount, coupons, lunch or dinner, or something else for free.  It’s a small price to pay for a happy ending.

Goal: To increase security and improve communication and information sharing by using SharePoint 2010

NNG, a national company that provides housekeeping, laundry and food service to a variety of health establishments, contacted 3wC in 2010 with the hopes of creating a system that would improve communication and efficiency with the help of a more secure document sharing program.  Due to its user-friendly interface, customizable options, and security features, 3wC selected SharePoint 2010, a document management system by Microsoft, as the best fit for the NNG project.

In order to best configure SharePoint to meet NNG’s needs, 3wC first created a digital library of documents that allowed individuals at NNG to choose the level of security for each document and select specific individuals who would have access to each file.  By using SharePoint as the platform, 3wC was able to set up configurations that sorted documents into security levels based on the preferences set by the company.  Documents marked as “common” could be read by almost anyone, whereas, other documents were either selectively shared or confidential.  While 3wC helped create these more secure levels based on custom requirements set by NNG, the developers at 3wC also trained members of the IT department at NNG to configure those levels and set up security features for future documents.

In order to utilize the security features and identify select document sharing, 3wC and NNG needed to identify teams within the company and structure access features to meet the requirements of that team.  Once NNG identified groups of individuals, 3wC would configure the settings in SharePoint to accommodate the needs and access levels of that specific team.  For example, NNG might select a series of account managers responsible for employee records in the laundry division so 3wC would configure the team settings within SharePoint to allow those individuals to access and share specific sets of records and data related to their position.

3wC and NNG also wanted to use the SharePoint 2010 platform to create easier navigation for employees using a login system with opportunities to explore information and benefits of each department within the NNG system.

SharePoint also gave NNG the ability to customize libraries for specific departments and gave them even easier navigation using drop-down boxes to manage and organize forms and documents.

Results: Now that NNG has SharePoint, they can take advantage of the entire SharePoint system.  SharePoint 2010 is an improvement over the 2007 version with lots of customizable options that are easier to configure for each individual company.  The platform is also easier for individuals to use than its predecessor and is becoming increasingly more popular due to its improved flexibility.  And with this new system, NNG and its employees can communicate more efficiently and maximize productivity with streamlined document sharing and information exchange giving them even greater flexibility as the company grows over the coming years.

Client: No Name Given  (NNG): Client requests anonymity.

Goal: To create an Employee Directory in order to facilitate information exchange and improve organization and to create a Budgeting Application to minimize information loss and maximize productivity.

NNG, a national health services organization specializing in providing laundry, housekeeping, and food service to healthcare facilities, approached World Wide Web Communications (3wC) with the need to improve information exchange between employees and administration and create a more efficient system for monthly budget reports.

In order to better manage staff, NNG had created a hierarchy system to organize groups of employees and managers into divisional and regional districts.  Although each division had a list of employees, NNG needed a more efficient method to view data for each group, search for individuals within the hierarchal system, or access simple information like addresses and emails.  They needed an Employee Directory that provided quick access to basic information and secure access to departments that required more sensitive personal data.

First 3wC created a system that collected all emails, contacts, and login activity of every employee into a centralized location.  Once all information was collected and stored, the NNG administrators were then able to view the online activity of each employee.

3wC then set up an employee directory within SharePoint that gave certain groups access to select information.  With this directory in place, NNG groups such payroll could view sensitive information for each employee while others were restricted to only names or contacts.  This meant that the IT department could configure the Employee Directory to give different groups access to different information and could change the configurations depending on the requirements and security level of individual departments.

To make the Employee Directory even user-friendlier, 3wC created an interactive organizational chart that presented employee hierarchy in a visual format.  By combining the visual element with the Directory, users could click on a name on the chart and view select information about the selected employee.

Furthermore, by utilizing the SharePoint system, NNG can sync information between programs in order to streamline data processing.  Promotions, title changes, or address changes (for example) need only be entered into one system instead of manually entered into multiple programs.  The information is then updated across all programs, minimizing confusion and human error.

NNG wanted to carry this efficiency over to its budgeting platform as well.  In the past, NNG used a VB6 (Visual Basics) application in which district managers personally collected budgets from each facility to submit them to corporate every month where two individuals would then process the budgets into the existing system.  In order to create a more efficient system, 3wC determined which individuals were actively involved in the budgeting process and created a financial budgeting system that streamlined information exchange.  With the help of NNG, 3wC created an application that allows each site manager to enter budget information directly into a system where district managers can then view information as it is updated.  Once all the information is logged, it is then transferred and translated into the proper reporting standards for the corporate office.  Not only does this system minimize human error, but it also saves time and makes it easier for staff to search and identify the budgets of each facility and update fees and other components within the same system.

By creating an Employee Directory and Budgeting Application, 3wC helped NNG not only improve communication and organization within their company, but also created efficiency tools that will help save time and money far into the future.

Professional web designers do more than just improve the look of your website, they provide a balance of media, interaction, navigation, presentation, and marketing strategies that help your business compete in an over-crowded digital marketplace.

So why hire a professional to create your website? For three (big) reasons:  Appearance, Competition, and Loyalty.  Web designers specialize in building and establishing online storefronts that uphold the high quality standards that consumers expect.  In addition to designing creative backgrounds, logos and navigation tools, web design teams also create content and marketing strategies that help your company’s website maintain search engine rankings.  Using a variety of tools and techniques, web designers are able to build websites that appeal to consumers as well as search engines and promote the future growth of your business.

Appearance

• Online Branding/Face
• First Impression
• Presentation – represents a level of pride and commitment to your customers

Most people spend less than five seconds on a website before determining if it fits their needs.  That’s five seconds to glance at your logo, look at a picture or two, and skim the home page.  That means that your business has five seconds to make a glowing first impression.

Your website is the online face of your business and establishes the “feel” for your company.  Much like books, businesses are judged based on their website, and you only have a few seconds to grab the viewer’s attention and deliver the information they are looking for.  This is exactly what professional web designers do.  They not only understand how to design a brand for your business, but they can also build a website that will appeal to your audience and maintain their attention beyond the first page.

Competition

• Marketing
• SEO
• Content Management

In order for potential customers to fall in love with your business, they need to find it. The hurdle? Competition. The solution? Marketing, SEO and Content Management.

Without an online marketing strategy, even the most well designed websites can get lost in the infinite sea of the Internet.  In order to compete with similar companies, your website needs specifically designed content that appeals to organic searches.  Professional web designers can help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to appeal to major search engines by creating targeted content.

This is more than just keywords and bullets.  Proper SEO attracts both search engines and consumers.  Remember those five seconds?  Regardless of how highly your website ranks in major searches, your customers still expect a certain level of professionalism.  Professional web designers such as 3wC incorporate a variety of interactive tools and media to appeal to both search engines and consumers, giving you every opportunity to share relevant information while simultaneously competing in the vast Internet marketplace.

And by appealing to a variety of senses, you give your customers even more reasons to stay on your site and consider giving you their business.

Loyalty

• Ease of Navigation
• Balance of Marketing and Customer Service
• Email Marketing Campaigns

Every consumer wants a company that understands his or her needs.  By building a website with multi-media tools that promote information exchange, you present yourself as a business that not only understands the marketplace, but also one that appeals to the individual.

Your site needs to attract new customers as much as maintain the customer base you’ve worked hard to build.  Professional web designers make it easy for visitors to find information about you and your services and assist returning customers with updates and contact information for your company.  Your small business website needs to balance creative appearance and marketing with outstanding customer service in order to build loyalty. This of course can be augmented with email marketing campaigns – another strategy web designers use to combine customer satisfaction with viral marketing.

Your website should represent your standards of professionalism and pride and your commitment to customer satisfaction.  By hiring professionals to build and maintain your site, your customers will receive the quality they expect from your business.