Your vote counts! Vote for PaySimple to be Customer Service Department of the Year
PaySimple is delighted to announce that it is one of the finalists in two categories under the Stevie Awards for Sales and Service: Customer Service Department of the Year – Computer Software and an individual service award for Young Customer Service Professional of the Year.
The Stevie Awards is a global competition that recognizes the efforts, accomplishments and positive contributions of companies and business people worldwide. The New York Post called it “The business world’s own Oscar Awards.”
More than 1,000 entries from organizations worldwide were submitted to this year’s competition – 30 percent more than last year. Finalists were determined based on scores of 93 preliminary judges worldwide. Cameron Hurst, Chair of the final judging committee, indicated that innovation, motivation and avoiding outsourcing to other counties were the three of the main criteria on which companies were nominated. Now the Customer Service Department of the Year Award is up to the people.
How to create a solid business card
Nothing conveys professionalism like a solid business card. And if you run a small business and plan to engage in any sort of in-person networking, you better have one to trade.
As a graphic designer I have designed my own fair share of business cards, and have traded more than I can count with prospective business clients and contacts. Below are some tips to help your business card have an impact:
How to go Straight to Voicemail & Leave a Message Without Calling Someone
There are some business situations where you want to talk to someone, but not necessarily with them. Of course there is email and texting, but sometimes there is no replacement for the emotion, inflection, and sincerity of your voice. You may want to provide your elevator pitch without interruption, leave a detailed price quote, fire a troublesome customer, or relay bad news that could benefit from allowing the recipient to reflect prior to responding.
An easy out is to call during the late evening or other off-business hours when you’re sure that the other person will not be there to answer the phone. When everyone had landlines for their businesses, that was a pretty good solution. However, now that just about everyone has gone mobile, it’s much harder to pick a time when the phone is off or unattended.
8 steps to launch an email marketing newsletter
Executing an effective communication strategy is vital in today’s connected world. Sure, you want to communicate special promotions and other marketing messages that will increase your customers’ interest in your product or service. But to be successful, you should also provide objective, interesting content they can enjoy and put to use.
An email newsletter is a great form of communication because it allows you take off the sales hat for a moment and talk to your audience in a different way. Not only does it help your brand, but crafting a newsletter is a soothing drill for YOU as well. But where do you start?
What’s in a logo
I see a lot of logos and brand personalities in my job. Heading up the partner management team, I not only get to work with the brands of major corporations, but also get to see them apply those brands to new products and create new logos for them. These companies have spent a lot of time and resources perfecting their logo, which are seen internationally and represent the core of their brand.
But what are small businesses to do about a logo? You obviously care about how your company is viewed and remembered by customers. So do you hire an expensive brand agency to craft your all-supreme logo? Throw something together in Paint just so you have one? Not quite. Here are a few guidelines to go by.
Get a professional. In general, yes you should absolutely get a professional person or service, but there are many inexpensive options out there. You can also use some free do-it-yourself tools to try a look out. Here are a few:
Will working from home become the new norm?
Everything these days seems to have gone online: marketing, meetings, online billing, customer service, networking and even invoicing. But a new trend is emerging that may someday evolve into the new norm: working online from home.
According to the Employment Review from Elance reports, the number of businesses seeking to hire independent contractors who work remotely doubled in 2011. And 83 percent of businesses surveyed said they plan to let half their employees work from home over the next 12 months.
Do you use ACH processing? The National ACH Association wants your feedback.
If you’re a business or agency that uses ACH Processing to send or receive payments, then the National ACH Association (NACHA) would like your input.
(PaySimple ACH users – this is you!)
NACHA, the governing body for the ACH Network, wants to ensure that it is responsive to the needs of its users, so the input provided in this survey will guide its strategic planning for the association into the 2013 to 2015 period. If you’re an ACH user unfamiliar with NACHA, it is the organization that makes and enforces most of the rules and regulations around ACH payments, including authorization procedures and chargeback reconciliation. Learn more about NACHA and how ACH works here.
Entrepreneurship explodes across the planet
More entrepreneurs now exist across the globe than the entire population of the United States.
According to the latest annual survey from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) from Babson College, 388 million entrepreneurs have sprouted up across the planet. The survey also estimated that 165 million are between the ages of 18 and 35 years old. And 163 million are young women.
GEM projects that 65 million of these entrepreneurs will each create 20 jobs, for a grand contribution of 1.3 billion jobs to the planet. It also estimates that 69 million will offer innovative products and services never-before-seen in the market.
Donna Kelly, Babson College professor who authored the study, said that these growing numbers make a healthy addition to the global economy because they stimulate new ideas and innovation.
“In an economy, you want to have some elements of stability, where firms maintain their businesses, despite facing ups and downs in their industry, their businesses or in the economy over time,” Kelley explained. “At the same time, there needs to be some dynamism, where new ideas and new firms sprout up and replace in part those that have run their course.”
One of the study’s most significant findings was that entrepreneurship actually grew in many of the economies surveyed, despite the economic hardships in the past few years.
Webinar to help CPA’s get paid faster
Today’s uncertain economic environment presents countless challenges for accountants, but managing clients and getting paid are two of the most difficult and stressful. The time it takes to send out invoices and manage current and late payments can really eat into margins, which is why PaySimple is launching a webinar tomorrow at 2:00 PM MST dedicated to teaching CPAs some of the best strategies for encouraging and enabling customers to pay faster, all while being efficient and organized.
The webinar will be hosted by PaySimple’s VP of Customer Acquisition and Experience, Kevin Brown.
“In this 60 minute session, I’ll show you how to win customers and keep them, save time in your day to increase your productivity, improve your profitability, stand out from your competition and get paid on time – every time,” Brown said.
Advice from PaySimple and the BBB for Avoiding Business Scams
Many small businesses are still struggling in this economy, and even a small loss, or a business disruption caused by an infected computer, can be devastating. With all the news about email scams, phishing scams, phone scams, social media scams, and identity theft, it seems like everywhere you turn these days someone is trying to deceive you. The best way to defend yourself is to stay informed, and to use common sense—if it sounds too good to be true it probably is, and if it smells fishy it probably really stinks.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is dedicated to protecting consumers from all predatory business, and has made monitoring and reporting on scams part of its mission. It recently published the Top Ten Scams of 2011 list. The list includes the top scam in each of nine categories: Jobs Scams, Sweepstakes & Lottery Scams, Social Media/Online Dating Scams, Home Improvement Scams, Check Cashing Scams, Phishing Scams, Identity Theft Scams, Financial Scams, and Sales Scams. Each scam is described in detail along with tips for protecting yourself.
