Compare Business Costs

The Business Knowledge Centre

 

Welcome to The Business Knowledge Centre, our hub for solving common business questions and problems.

Here at Compare Business Costs, we want to keep it simple, remain impartial and save your business time and money.

Part of this promise means we are on hand to provide answers to queries you may have about the business landscape.

By knowing about some of the hurdles that businesses may face during their development, you will be better equipped to save time and money over the longer term.

Do you know your business purpose?

 

One of the most common problems that businesses face is not knowing their core purpose. If your business ever feels adrift, or if you are regularly changing your values or mission statement, you may need to re-evaluate your business’ direction.

By setting out a clear reason for your business’ existence, you will be able to reach a target set of customers with more accuracy and provide them with more value.

Do you have a clear brand identity?

 

Businesses need to have a personality. By this, we mean that your offering must feel human to customers; they need to feel like they know you when they interact with you.

Many businesses fall short because they don’t establish a clear brand identity – this key feature is what drives customers to have an emotional connection with your business, and to feel valued when they interact with you.

Customers need to feel inspired by the values of your business – otherwise, they may not be motivated to return in the future.

How do I build strong customer relationships?

 

Harvesting a genuine relationship with your customers is key to the successful growth of your business. People are most likely to engage with your service when they believe that you actually care about solving their needs. To build this relationship, businesses need to convey a tangible, human and conversational personality through their services.

The key to succeeding in this domain is to refrain from using a “one size fits all” approach. Treating each consumer as an individual will contribute to them feeling special and cared for. A simple way to do this is through customising your interactions – calling customers by their name, responding differently to new customers vs. older customers, offering them feedback opportunities and regularly responding to queries are some examples.

Is my business providing value?

 

When push comes to shove, you want your business to be one step ahead of competitors. If customers are choosing others over your service, it means that your business is likely not providing adequate value to them.

To retain your position as a leading valuable business, you must consistently engage in strategic business innovation. That is, you need to determine your Unique Selling Point. What makes your business different to the others? Why should customers choose your service over others? Answering these questions is vital to ensuring your business is providing value.

 

How can I ensure customers get the best results from our service?

 

The key here is understanding your customer’s needs and problems. Without this knowledge, you will have no way of knowing that your service is providing customers with the best results possible.

By speaking to other businesses with similar target audiences, surveying your existing customers and being transparent as a business, you will set yourself up to provide a more complete offering.

A key strategy that many businesses adopt when searching for how to offer the best and most appropriate service possible is The Pratfall Effect. This strategy implies that brands who are able to concede their flaws and actively learn from past mistakes are more likely to succeed in the future.

Ultimately, businesses that listen to their customers’ feedback, develop their offering and keep their customer central in their planning are going to give customers the best results possible.

How do I make my business more efficient?

 

Focusing on improving the smooth-running of your business will directly affect your savings of money and time. By ironing out issues that slow down business processes, you will be more likely to give the customer what they need on time and ultimately obtain more leads in the same time frame.

Automation is a key topic to consider when searching for ways to improve efficiency. By isolating repetitive tasks in your business workflow, you can identify what has potential to be automated. By removing arduous manual tasks from employees’ working hours, you are freeing up more time for them to focus on important, productive work. Business management tools such as Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure contain a range of automation services that can contribute towards scaling your business efficiency.

Encourage face-to-face employee interaction. If your workforce engages in regular in-person conversations, it will improve the fluidity of the workflow in your business. Many problems that could take days to solve through email may be resolved in five minutes when speaking face-to-face.

Using a task-management software enables businesses to have a hub for communication and work progress. By using a program such as Trello, you can save considerable time and money by having a place to track progress, collaborate and make amends to existing projects.

What is digital transformation and how important is it for business growth?

 

New technologies are arriving in the workplace at a rapid rate, and this has been accelerated by the pandemic. In our increasingly digital world, businesses are exposed to a plethora of digital offerings that can help them innovate at an exponential level.

Some of these new advancements include agile work tools, bolstered security and robust IT systems – all with the end goal of improving the customer experience. One of the catalysts for this improved customer experience model is cloud computing.

 

Cloud computing gives people access to data whenever they have an internet connection – if you are looking to speed up your operational processes, adopting a cloud system into your business might be for you. Features of a cloud service include storage, backup, Software as a Service and more.

To integrate a cloud system into your business successfully, you need to consider which areas of the business it is needed in, familiarise your employees on how to use it, acknowledge the risks associated with it, engage in a migration process and more. The key to a successful integration of such a vast system is being fully aware of the landscape of the product.