Digital Business

Finder founder found figures favoured five flounders

ONLINE success favours businesses that focus on the basics - great customer service - according to the experience and research of finder.com.au co-founder, Fred Schebesta.

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Fred Schebesta.

Mr Schebesta, who spends a lot of his time these days mentoring Australian start-up technology businesses, warned that Australian online businesses risk permanently damaging their brand reputations and financial bottom lines because of poor customer service standards.

"By ignoring what customers say - that's a fast road to financial ruin," Mr Schebesta said. "Without face-to-face contact, digital businesses need to work extra hard to establish loyalty and trust with their users."

Mr Schebesta believes it is important to build a lasting relationship with customers and companies that fail at this "won't be in business for too long".

Mr Schebesta discovered early that one of the most important metrics for any business to monitor was whether users recommend a service.

"It costs a lot to drive people to your website, so you want to hang on to them when they land on your page," he said.

"When you do get a customer - the aim is for them to like it so much they want to share it. That way, you generate a sense of ‘virality' to the experience so that you're only paying for that initial contact.

"Connecting with customers doesn't just happen overnight. Businesses need to put in the legwork all the time.

"Always think of the long-term benefits. Our service is free, and we spend up to one and a half hours on each call, a huge investment of man hours with no guarantee of financial return," Mr Schebesta said.

"As a believer in the concept of ‘manufacturing serendipity', I'm always confident that we'll receive something in return."

Now one of Australia's biggest comparison websites, Mr Schebesta said finder.com.au has figures to show it has helped more than 4.8 million Australians find better credit cards, home loans, life insurance, shopping deals and other comparative advantages since 2006. According to Google Analytics figures, on average one Australian every five minutes is using finder.com.au or one of its network sites, creditcardfinder.com.au and lifeinsurancefinder.com.au, to find better financial solutions.

Mr Schebesta has outlined five reasons that stop customers from liking a business.

Fred Schebesta's Online Business Warning Signs

1. Your customer service team doesn't embrace your brand values. Your employees are the face of your brand. Confirm that they share your company's values and understand its goals before communicating with customers. Hold regular meetings to discuss these goals and ensure that everyone is moving in the same direction.

2. Using enquiries as an opportunity to sell. It can be hard to resist going into sales mode when talking to a customer, but you should treat all enquiries as a trust exercise. Listen carefully, provide quality feedback and helpful information to exceed the customers' expectations to ensure they come back. When they do, it's time to sell.

3. You've failed to test the product. If you haven't trialled your product or website with a test audience prior to launch, then you can expect to receive disgruntled or confused customers. Careful testing will uncover potential hiccups before they go public which gives you time to find solutions or procedures to deal with any complaints or inquiries you may receive.

4. You're unwilling to go outside of your job description. Empathy will take you far in business. Always remember you're a human being first. If you find a person that is having a difficult time, even if their issue has nothing to do with you - help them. We once had a customer who desperately required dental surgery. She had been living in pain for nine months due to issues with her credit file. We ended up searching for a dentist that would provide treatment without any background check. We had no direct gain and this certainly isn't part of our services at finder.com.au, but we wanted to help. You can't buy that kind of referral.

5. You've created barriers to customer communication. If a customer has to search for more than 15 seconds for your contact information, they're not likely to contact you for anything nice. And there should always be more than one way of providing feedback or making an enquiry. We made a bold move in the beginning to be available via phone 24/7. We knew that none of our competitors were offering this type of service, giving us an advantage. We also operate with Live Chat, email and online posts answering around 1,000 user questions per month.

http://www.finder.com.au/

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Two-thirds of SMEs win by utilising teleworking says MYOB Monitor research

THE rise in teleworking - often out of economic necessity - is having a positive impact on small-to-medium enterprises in Australia, according research by business management solutions provider, MYOB. Image

Almost two in three SMEs - 64 percent - now have employees who telework to some extent, up from 57 percent in the March 2013 MYOB survey.

Released for last week's National Telework Week, the results of the MYOB Monitor survey of 1,022 Australian SMEs showed 27 percent have staff who work partly from home and partly from the business premises while 37 percent have staff who work mainly from a location other than on-premises. Staff of the remaining 38 percent work on-site only.

MYOB chief technology officer Simon Raik-Allen, who delivered the results to last week's Telework Congress, said teleworking and digital technologies were having a dramatic and mostly positive effect on the business sector.

"Teleworking is an increasingly attractive proposition as more business operators become comfortable with using advanced hardware, software and online services," Mr Raik-Allen said.

" They're more comfortable with how technology transforms the way we work and how we communicate with each other. A greater number of operators are realising the bottom line benefits, and a wider range of cost-effective telework-enabling technologies are entering the marketplace.

"Our research shows teleworking can play a vital role in business success, providing benefits including increased efficiencies and productivity, reduced overheads and happier employees," he said.

"It's about implementing the right technology and learning to make the most of it to maximise your and your team's effectiveness. A well-structured and tailored teleworking program can ensure more businesses reap the rewards and attract and retain the best staff who can deliver from anywhere."

The MYOB survey found, businesses with teleworkers felt less pressure from common SME pain points such as cash flow (30% versus 34% of non-teleworkers) and price margins and/or profitability (27% versus 37%), though they slightly felt more pressure from fuel prices (46% versus 45%).

Fuel cost was the top pressure point for SMEs overall, and has been since March 2011, while cash flow and price margins and/or profitability tied for second.

SMEs  had a greater chance of more sales/work than usual in their short-term pipeline (30% versus 27%) and were slightly more likely to both expect annual revenue to increase (23% versus 22%) and be satisfied with their work/life balance (51% versus 49%).

Delving deeper into SMEs that take advantage of teleworking, MYOB asked about the locations their workers operated from. One in two respondents said ‘mainly on the road' while two in five (39%) said ‘mainly from home'.

The survey also asked SMEs without teleworkers why they did not leverage the now-commonplace practice.

Two in five (41%) said their business wasn't suited to it because employees needed to be onsite at all times, over one in five (21%) said they didn't know, one in five (20%) said they had other reasons, while close to one in 10 said it was too disruptive and another one in 10 said they haven't assessed and managed the risks associated (8% each).

Established in 2004, the MYOB Business Monitor is a national survey of small and medium business owners and managers, commissioned to independent market research firm Colmar Brunton. The most recent study ran in July and August 2013, surveying 1,022 operators from sole traders to mid-sized companies, representing the major industry sectors.

The Monitor researches business performance and attitudes around areas such as profitability, cash flow, pipeline work, technology usage and government. As part of the survey's methodology, it weights MYOB client and non-client respondents in a way that reflects overall market proportions.

http://www.myob.com/

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Digital farming: Willunga Farmers Market bears fruit through Internode and NBN

WILLUNGA Farmers Market has embraced an Internode-delivered National Broadband Network (NBN) service to show how great produce, hard work and creative communication can rejuvenate a sidelined country town.

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Willunga Farmers Market 'spreads the love' through broadband.

 

Through astute and adaptive e-newsletters and Facebook marketing, plus a new ‘virtual tour' on its high-speed website, the markets have grown a strong following and deeper relationships with regular visitors.

When the highway from Adelaide to Victor Harbor bypassed Willunga in the 1990s, the South Australian Southern Vales town suffered enormously, with some shops closing their doors because of the drop-off in trade.

Launched in 2002 to re-attract people to the town, Willunga Farmers Market generated more than $100 million in economic value for the local area over the following nine years. Today, Willunga flourishes each Saturday morning, with artisan stores, craft shops and cafes along High Street filled with visitors.

Since late 2011, Willunga Farmers Market has used an Internode-delivered NBN fibre service to boost its visibility through more regular newsletters, a ‘virtual tour' and real-time call-to-action marketing.

Willunga Farmers Market chair Steve Scown said the NBN had made it easier for the market to communicate with its community.

"We have 1600 active members on our database and 3500 subscribers to whom we email a quarterly newsletter to promote the market," Mr Scown said.

"Before the NBN came along, that newsletter used to take half a day to set up and send out while our website was difficult to maintain. Our slow broadband service meant we couldn't make the progress we wanted. Now, even when our newsletters have an attached PDF, we just hit 'send' and it goes."

Each Saturday morning, Willunga Farmers Market attracts scores of stallholders and thousands of shoppers to the picturesque town in the heart of the Fleurieu Peninsula.

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Willunga Farmers Market visitors can discover more about produce and suppliers through online contact. Some have developed direct customer relationships as a result.

 

In 2011, a Flinders University study identified that more than 800,000 people had visited the market during its first nine years of operation, spending more than $40 million. Based on a conservative three-fold economic multiplier, this contributed more than $100 million in economic activity to the Willunga region.

In late 2011, Willunga Farmers Market became one of the first businesses in South Australia to connect to the NBN. The market uses an entry-level Internode NBN Bronze 12/1 service.

Since Internode connected it to the NBN, Willunga Farmers Market has experienced major benefits. An immediate advantage was distributing electronic newsletters.

The quarterly e-newsletter is now so quick to produce, that the market publishes interim editions with latest news and seasonal highlights.

Mr Scown said the biggest benefits of the NBN were its speed and immediacy.

"With only three staff on deck and an average of 2500 to 3500 visitors on a Saturday morning, we're always busy," he said.

"The Willunga Farmers Market Facebook page has 3800 followers. Each Saturday morning, one of our staff uploads a photo and story about an interesting product for that week. The call to action is incredible. Whatever's featured sells out.

"The NBN has changed the way we promote the market. Now it takes just seconds to upload a photo to our Facebook page whereas before we could spend 10 minutes in the office uploading just one. The NBN has definitely helped us get more in touch with our customers."

The improved broadband speed has also allowed Willunga Farmers Market to enhance the capabilities of its website with an interactive virtual tour of the market. The tour lets online visitors ‘walk' through the market, search for a supplier by name or stall number or just click on their location to view photos of the stall, its products and the farm that produced them.

Mr Scown said the market's virtual tour helped consumers learn more about the farmers.

"The key to this is that we're not selling a product, but a lifestyle and a relationship," he said.

"It's about getting to know your grower and your farmer. We also use it to educate people about food seasonality.

"Websites are good for in-depth information, but to develop a relationship with a customer, it has to be interactive, which needs speed and bandwidth. That's what the NBN gives us."

http://willungafarmersmarket.com.au/

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Digital Business insights: A little row of shops

THERE IS a small row of shops on the way to the nearby shopping centre in an awkward position by the side of the main road. There is limited parking and it is hard for cars to stop easily, unless they already know what's there.

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John Sheridan,Digital Business insights CEO.

 

I have watched over the years as new tenants have tried their luck with the location.

Most have failed. 

The remainder have established themselves with customers who visit regardless of the awkward position.

There is an air conditioning and solar retailer that has now relocated to Darra, so this shop is empty.

A small travel centre is right next door with three desks to pick up passing trade. It surprises me that it is still there, but it is.

Then a fish and chip shop, that has changed hands a few times.

Each new owner brings a different approach to quality, content, and charm or otherwise.

Next, a hair and beauty supply wholesaler.

And next door to that, is a formal dress hire shop. It has been there a long time.

Then a teaching centre for Maths and English.

A football shop with collectibles for football enthusiasts.

Another formal wear hire shop. Two in the same row.

An Asian grocery store. And a computer repair shop, "break fix and box drop" as they are known in the industry. The owner looks after the problems of the local residents and small businesses in the area and probably picks up a bit of passing trade.

What do they all have in common? They all specialise in something. They have been there long enough that occasional customers expect to find them when they next visit. And they do.

None of them are going to be the next Woolworths or Myers.

One or two are part of a chain, and most are making enough money to pay the mortgage. Maybe more.

Do any of them have a website?

They all have a website except the Asian grocer. 9 out of 10.

Will they survive the digital revolution? Probably.

They don't have the same overheads as the larger retailers. They are not in a prime position. They don't have the same competitors from anywhere as the mid range commodity retailers.

There is a lot of passing traffic, though little in the row of shops to attract attention, beyond the sign above the door.

But specialisation has given them a niche to hide in. And the pickings are relatively thin and don't justify full on competition.

There are little rows of shops across the nation. They all face different challenges depending on what they sell, where they are, and the volume of local traffic.

But between the big guys - Woolworths and Coles, and the little rows of shops lies the real danger zone.

Territory that is hard to defend successfully. Where the business model has to be reviewed and reviewed again.

Territory where value can be leveraged by anybody, anywhere getting the business model exactly right - whether pure digital and/or bricks and mortar.

And territory where the effort of trying and succeeding might just deliver enormous return on investment. So you can bet that somebody is trying right now.

Welcome to the danger zone.

 - John Sheridan, September, 2013.

John Sheridan is CEO of Digital Business insights, an organisation based in Brisbane, Australia, which focuses on helping organisations and communities adapt to, and flourish in, the new digital world. He is the author of Connecting the Dots and getting more out of the digital revolution. Digital Business insights has been researching and analysing the digital revolution for more than 12 years and has surveyed more than 50,000 businesses, conducting in-depth case study analysis on more than 350 organisations and digital entrepreneurs.

www.db-insights.com

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Lord Mayor Graham Quirk explains Digital Brisbane at CIO Forum

BRISBANE Lord Mayor Graham Quirk will explain Brisbane City's energetic approach to the new digital economy at a gathering of chief information officers and digital business leaders at the Brisbane CIO Forum on October 1.

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Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk will speak on 'Digital Brisbane' at the CIO Forum on October 1.

 

This week Brisbane launched the transofrmative website, www.digitalbrisbane.com.au which features a digital business directory, case studies and links for businesses seeking help in adapting their businesses to take advantage of the opportunities 'digital' provides.

Following his appointment as Lord Mayor in May 2011, Cr Quirk has been driving a strong agenda of innovation and economic growth, with a focus on maximising Brisbane opportunities in the digital economy.

Key initiatives by Brisbane have also included the appointment of a Chief Digital Officer -- the second int he world after New York City - and the launch of Digital Brisbane, a five-year plan to kick start Brisbane's digital economy.

Brisbane's Digital Audit found that, irrespective of industry sector and business size, there is a need for Brisbane businesses to transform and lift their digital business capability if they want to compete in the digital economy.

The CIO Forum is regarded as a must-attend event for all senior IT leaders in Brisbane and attendees will be able to hear first-hand the Lord Mayor's thoughts and vision for Brisbane, and how he plans to seed innovation, incubate ideas and see the city become the technical hub for South East Asia.

Created by co-founder of Recon Solutions Steve Scanlan, the CIO Forum has been operating for more than five years, and brings together senior ICT managers from all industries.

Operating in both Brisbane and Sydney, the forums provide valuable insights and networking opportunities for members.  The events  are an opportunity for ICT leaders to meet their peers in a relaxed atmosphere, share experiences, and get to know and understand what others are doing across industry sectors. 

Mr Scanlan said Recon Solutions was formed to address a growing need in the market - "the provision of an end-to-end business solutions, focussing on providing the right resource solutions and the delivery of quality business outcomes". 

Recon Solutions runs both a recruitment practice and a business consulting practice, both of which are receiving positive reviews based on their ability to provide value-add solutions to its customers.

The Brisbane CIO Forum opens at 7am for a 7.30am start on Tuesday, October 1, at the Hilton Brisbane Queen's Ballroom. The event will finish at 9am.

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

www.reconsolutions.com.au

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Digital Business insights: No future for commercial property

I RARELY read the Primespace section in The Australian, but I have been of late.  What captured my attention and intrigued me is the ongoing commentary about the bad or “soft” state of the commercial property market.

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John Sheridan, Digital Business insights CEO.

Week after week, office vacancy rates are published for the major cities – Melbourne 10% empty, Brisbane 14% empty, Sydney 10%, Perth 8% and so on.

The general view is that things are unlikely to improve soon.

It seems that the weak Australian dollar, the GFC, rising bond rates and the rising vacancy rates themselves are all leading to flat and falling rental income and resulting in a “challenging outlook” in the short to medium term.

Each week I now search in vain for some reference to the impact on commercial property of the digital revolution.

There is no mention.

In article after article, and interview after interview with industry experts not one of them raises the issue at all. Maybe they are frightened of lifting it onto the radar.

I would have thought it was obvious.

The digital revolution is having an enormous impact on commercial property and its prospects for recovery.

A “challenging outlook” is much too kind a description for a situation that is far worse than that.

In all the articles I have read over the past month or so I have never seen Teleworking mentioned – not once.

The Federal Government has been promoting Teleworking over the last year and there will be another Telework Week this November.

But that isn’t the point.

Businesses and organisations are teleworking already. Forget the Telework Week. It is happening right now.

In all of our recent surveys roughly half of organisations have one or more members of staff that work from home for some part of the week. Some for all of the week.

That's 58% of professional services, 67% of public administration, 72% of rental, hiring and real estate, 51% of wholesale, 50% of Information media and so on.

Which means less demand for office space.

And as more and more organisations become comfortable with teleworking, what possible evidence is there that vacancy rates are going to drop some time in the future?

They won’t. Vacancy rates will soar and the situation will get much worse. And businesses will become increasingly selective as a result.

Fast broadband. WiFi. Comfortable meeting spaces, variable sizes and lots of them.

Every organisation we speak with is reducing their demand for office space and in some cases getting rid of it completely.

And what businesses and other organisations will want from a commercial office in the future is very different to today.

It’s the same thing with retail space.

I’ll keep looking at Primespace every week, and hope to see an article about teleworking soon.

 - John Sheridan, August, 2013.

John Sheridan is CEO of Digital Business insights, an organisation based in Brisbane, Australia, which focuses on helping organisations and communities adapt to, and flourish in, the new digital world. He is the author of Connecting the Dots and getting more out of the digital revolution. Digital Business insights has been researching and analysing the digital revolution for more than 12 years and has surveyed more than 50,000 businesses, conducting in-depth case study analysis on more than 350 organisations and digital entrepreneurs.

www.db-insights.com

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