Virtual Assistance

Steps For Effective Lead Generation For Business Development

At GetFriday, one in five inquiries is about lead generation. Entrepreneurs and business owners are always seeking ways to generate leads. It could be perplexing to go through this phase of marketing operations. Though this sounds like the simplest of things in a business, this could in fact, be tricky to handle. A constant doubt lingers about the success of efforts and money being spent on lead generation activities. Click on the image below to see this blog in SlideShare presentation format. GetFriday has been assisting businesses for over 10 years now and we have seen our fair share of lead generation tasks that we have done for our clients – mostly small business owners. From our experiences with lead generation, here we list a few facts – Define Your Target Customers To begin with, you may ask is this not common sense? How is it even possible to generate a list without defining your target customers? Well yes, it is true most business owners define their target customers at the outset, but there are some who don’t. For instance, the common mistakes that could take place are – you may have asked for business development manager but instead, received an application from a marketing manager. The list may not distinguish the difference. Or instead of listing all dental surgeons in your area, you may have listed all the general surgeons in your area. Defining the target customer while generating leads must include a clear point-wise description of leads required and a list of points that state “don’ts”. A list with email address generic to firms eg: info@useless.com will not serve any purpose for you. Ensure you give clear instructions to search for alternate contact points. A good and clear definition of leads would look something like this – 1. Law firms within radius of 100 km of Greenville 2. Law firms must have employee strength of 10 – 15 people. 3. 1st preferred contact point is senior attorney. 4. 2nd preferred contact is junior attorney. 5. 3rd preferred contact is procurement officer. It Is A Hard-Work To Collect These Lists – Gather The Right Tools GetFriday has been in this business for 10 years now. And we can vouch that lead generation is hard work. But there are smart ways to handle this. There are ways through which, one can verify email addresses collected and tools that can help verify zip code authenticity. Databases could also be carefully mined for lists and tools like MS Excel can be employed to predict and source the most probable email ids. In case you delve into this without experience, you will surely learn it over time. But the cost of expensive time spent on this activity will not be worthwhile for your business. Instead, you would be doing a better job designing the marketing campaign details and fixing the operations for new customers that could be acquired through these lists. Is It Possible To Buy Your Way Through? Yes, you could buy your way through. If your business is a B2B, then you are lucky. The list may after all work. But if your list is B2C then you could end up annoying a lot of unknown people. All it does is exasperate people for having received one more mail from you, trying to sell something. If you are a business owner, you might relate to the analogy we have used here. How do you feel when you receive another mail about “best SEO service” or to source your products from some rural province in China? You would probably hire a virtual assistant right away to delete those e-mails even before you see them. Some GetFriday clients actually hire us for this! To delete those annoying, spam mails. So, why would the recipients of your mailing list feel any different? It fits Albert Einstein’s definition for insanity “doing the same thing again and again expecting a different result”. Generate A Long List It is mandatory that you generate a long list. The longer the prospect client’s list, the better the chances of success. Let us explain. Email campaigns and social media campaigns are about reaching your target audience at the right moment with the right offer. You can get your product offering right, but cannot predict the right moment. For example how do you predict the need for “buying shoes” or “buying handbags”? It is true there are seasonal increases in the sales of products. An example would be table ware sales before thanksgiving as people prepare to entertain family and friends. But the right moment cannot be predicted for most products and services. A larger leads/email list could increase chances of success by increasing the probability of reaching the right people at the right moment. Hire Virtual Assistants To Do The Work If you are a business owner or entrepreneur attempting to research and generate leads, the cost of lost time will be much higher for you. It is better to hire professionals to do this work. In case you still feel you must do it yourself, spend at least 10 minutes listening to this podcast “9 habits to stop now”, by Tim Ferris –http://fourhourworkweek.com/2014/06/16/not-to-do-lists-drugs-and-other-productivity-tricks/ .

Steps For Effective Lead Generation For Business Development Read More »

At GetFriday, one in five inquiries is about lead generation. Entrepreneurs and business owners are always seeking ways to generate leads. It could be perplexing to go through this phase of marketing operations. Though this sounds like the simplest of things in a business, this could in fact, be tricky to handle. A constant doubt lingers about the success of efforts and money being spent on lead generation activities. Click on the image below to see this blog in SlideShare presentation format. GetFriday has been assisting businesses for over 10 years now and we have seen our fair share of lead generation tasks that we have done for our clients – mostly small business owners. From our experiences with lead generation, here we list a few facts – Define Your Target Customers To begin with, you may ask is this not common sense? How is it even possible to generate a list without defining your target customers? Well yes, it is true most business owners define their target customers at the outset, but there are some who don’t. For instance, the common mistakes that could take place are – you may have asked for business development manager but instead, received an application from a marketing manager. The list may not distinguish the difference. Or instead of listing all dental surgeons in your area, you may have listed all the general surgeons in your area. Defining the target customer while generating leads must include a clear point-wise description of leads required and a list of points that state “don’ts”. A list with email address generic to firms eg: info@useless.com will not serve any purpose for you. Ensure you give clear instructions to search for alternate contact points. A good and clear definition of leads would look something like this – 1. Law firms within radius of 100 km of Greenville 2. Law firms must have employee strength of 10 – 15 people. 3. 1st preferred contact point is senior attorney. 4. 2nd preferred contact is junior attorney. 5. 3rd preferred contact is procurement officer. It Is A Hard-Work To Collect These Lists – Gather The Right Tools GetFriday has been in this business for 10 years now. And we can vouch that lead generation is hard work. But there are smart ways to handle this. There are ways through which, one can verify email addresses collected and tools that can help verify zip code authenticity. Databases could also be carefully mined for lists and tools like MS Excel can be employed to predict and source the most probable email ids. In case you delve into this without experience, you will surely learn it over time. But the cost of expensive time spent on this activity will not be worthwhile for your business. Instead, you would be doing a better job designing the marketing campaign details and fixing the operations for new customers that could be acquired through these lists. Is It Possible To Buy Your Way Through? Yes, you could buy your way through. If your business is a B2B, then you are lucky. The list may after all work. But if your list is B2C then you could end up annoying a lot of unknown people. All it does is exasperate people for having received one more mail from you, trying to sell something. If you are a business owner, you might relate to the analogy we have used here. How do you feel when you receive another mail about “best SEO service” or to source your products from some rural province in China? You would probably hire a virtual assistant right away to delete those e-mails even before you see them. Some GetFriday clients actually hire us for this! To delete those annoying, spam mails. So, why would the recipients of your mailing list feel any different? It fits Albert Einstein’s definition for insanity “doing the same thing again and again expecting a different result”. Generate A Long List It is mandatory that you generate a long list. The longer the prospect client’s list, the better the chances of success. Let us explain. Email campaigns and social media campaigns are about reaching your target audience at the right moment with the right offer. You can get your product offering right, but cannot predict the right moment. For example how do you predict the need for “buying shoes” or “buying handbags”? It is true there are seasonal increases in the sales of products. An example would be table ware sales before thanksgiving as people prepare to entertain family and friends. But the right moment cannot be predicted for most products and services. A larger leads/email list could increase chances of success by increasing the probability of reaching the right people at the right moment. Hire Virtual Assistants To Do The Work If you are a business owner or entrepreneur attempting to research and generate leads, the cost of lost time will be much higher for you. It is better to hire professionals to do this work. In case you still feel you must do it yourself, spend at least 10 minutes listening to this podcast “9 habits to stop now”, by Tim Ferris –http://fourhourworkweek.com/2014/06/16/not-to-do-lists-drugs-and-other-productivity-tricks/ .

‘Kaizen’ – How It Is Helping Us… And You!

In the 10 successful years of virtual assistance operations, GetFriday’s client base has been growing at an exponential rate and benchmarks itself on efficiency. With 14 dedicated virtual assistant teams handling clients from across 60+ countries, GetFriday’s VA’s are working round the clock to make sure that all tasks outsourced by clients are executed with unfailing precision and deadlines are strictly adhered to. Being the longest running VA company in the world, comes with its share of perils. Operational effectiveness is paramount to maintain the satisfaction levels of clients. And with competition looming, it has become even more important to become effective operationally and turn it into a competitive advantage, which cannot not be replicated easily. With this in mind, the term “continuous improvement” started to resonate within teams at GetFriday. This is the story of two such teams, GMT (UK) virtual assistance team and FE (Australia) small business team. Both these teams managed to bring and implement a globally recognized quality tool at GetFriday. What Is Kaizen? For the benefit of those of you who are unaware about Kaizen, here is a brief explanation of the philosophy – It is a Japanese philosophy that aims at ‘eliminating waste’ in the organization, without large capital investments. The word literally translates to ‘change’ (kai) ‘good’ (zen).” Any activity that does not add value to customer is a waste and needs to be eliminated. The overall objective being continuous small improvements. Identification of Non Value Added Activities: Every Wednesday, the teams meet to identify the Non-value added activities that stops them from delivering quality results on time to clients. Some example of Non value added activities identified and eliminated are listed below. This added to small continuous improvements within the teams and results began to show. The pending emails were identified as waiting inventory. It was decided to generate a daily report on the number of emails to be responded to. These emails usually are customer interactions. Elimination of this waste had immediate positive effect on the satisfaction level and responsiveness within the team. The tasks were taken up as per queue by associates irrespective of time required for each task. Therefore adding to waiting time for small tasks, which could easily be completed in less than an hour. It was decided to complete any task taking less than an hour before closing hours of the day and any task taking more than 1 hour to be completed in a single business day. This significantly reduced wait time for small tasks. It was found that clients need to be reached through right communication channels, otherwise any clarification with regard to work would have to wait till the next business day. Therefore associates were encouraged to explore Skype, phone calls and Gtalk as additional mediums of communication. Kaizen practice at GetFriday Document the current situation Visualize the ideal situation Define measurement targets Brainstorm solutions to the problem Develop Kaizen Plan Implement plan Measure, record and compare results to targets Prepare summary documents Define the problem Standardization To elucidate further, here are two small case studies of the problems and the solutions that the GMT and the FE teams came up with:- Case Study 1   Define the Problem: When a Virtual Assistant has completed a task for the client, the QC tracker has to be updated by the team-in-charge, after which the task will undergo quality checks by the Quality Team. There could be instances wherein the Team Lead is not at the desk or is in a meeting and if in that case, the QC tracker is not updated on time, there could be delays in getting the task approved by the QC and the VA could ultimately miss the deadline for the task. Document the current situation: The problem as mentioned above is documented on a board and also in an excel sheet. Visualize the Ideal Solution: The ideal solution for the problem is the situation where TL is always present to update the tracker. Define Measurement Targets: The numbers of tasks which are being delayed due to this tracker update problem are noted down, and targets were set to bring them down to zero. Brainstorm solutions to the problem: Once every week, all the team members gather in a meeting room to discuss all the problems and brainstorm on the ideas and feasibilities of the room for improvement. For this particular problem also, all the team members gathered together and brainstormed ideas for a feasible solution. Develop Kaizen Plan: The solution that was decided was that now, the QC tracker will be shared with two senior VA’s in the team and if in case, the Team Leader is not available, the tracker can be updated by either of the VA’s immediately. Implement plan: The decided solution was then implemented in the next week, and improvements were noted. Measure, record and compare results to targets: Results (delays/ missing deadlines due to the QC tracker issue after implementing solution) were noted and compared with the targets set (zero delay) in the earlier Kaizen meeting. Prepare summary documents: Results and improvements were noted for the complete Kaizen activity for this particular problem. Standardization: The solution was regularly implemented, and results were noted every week to bring in standardization. Following these simple methods, GetFriday’s GMT team was able to find the solution to many other similar problems. The following case study summarizes the solution found and implemented using above mentioned 10 simple steps.   Case Study 2   Problem: There is an urgent task that needs to go by the end of the day and there are no resources available in the team to handle the task because the VA’s already have a lot of tasks to do for themselves. In such a situation, there is a resource crunch. Solution: The Virtual Assistant who has received the task request should check with the shift in-charge who is present on the floor and find out if any Virtual Assistant is free in his/her team

‘Kaizen’ – How It Is Helping Us… And You! Read More »

In the 10 successful years of virtual assistance operations, GetFriday’s client base has been growing at an exponential rate and benchmarks itself on efficiency. With 14 dedicated virtual assistant teams handling clients from across 60+ countries, GetFriday’s VA’s are working round the clock to make sure that all tasks outsourced by clients are executed with unfailing precision and deadlines are strictly adhered to. Being the longest running VA company in the world, comes with its share of perils. Operational effectiveness is paramount to maintain the satisfaction levels of clients. And with competition looming, it has become even more important to become effective operationally and turn it into a competitive advantage, which cannot not be replicated easily. With this in mind, the term “continuous improvement” started to resonate within teams at GetFriday. This is the story of two such teams, GMT (UK) virtual assistance team and FE (Australia) small business team. Both these teams managed to bring and implement a globally recognized quality tool at GetFriday. What Is Kaizen? For the benefit of those of you who are unaware about Kaizen, here is a brief explanation of the philosophy – It is a Japanese philosophy that aims at ‘eliminating waste’ in the organization, without large capital investments. The word literally translates to ‘change’ (kai) ‘good’ (zen).” Any activity that does not add value to customer is a waste and needs to be eliminated. The overall objective being continuous small improvements. Identification of Non Value Added Activities: Every Wednesday, the teams meet to identify the Non-value added activities that stops them from delivering quality results on time to clients. Some example of Non value added activities identified and eliminated are listed below. This added to small continuous improvements within the teams and results began to show. The pending emails were identified as waiting inventory. It was decided to generate a daily report on the number of emails to be responded to. These emails usually are customer interactions. Elimination of this waste had immediate positive effect on the satisfaction level and responsiveness within the team. The tasks were taken up as per queue by associates irrespective of time required for each task. Therefore adding to waiting time for small tasks, which could easily be completed in less than an hour. It was decided to complete any task taking less than an hour before closing hours of the day and any task taking more than 1 hour to be completed in a single business day. This significantly reduced wait time for small tasks. It was found that clients need to be reached through right communication channels, otherwise any clarification with regard to work would have to wait till the next business day. Therefore associates were encouraged to explore Skype, phone calls and Gtalk as additional mediums of communication. Kaizen practice at GetFriday Document the current situation Visualize the ideal situation Define measurement targets Brainstorm solutions to the problem Develop Kaizen Plan Implement plan Measure, record and compare results to targets Prepare summary documents Define the problem Standardization To elucidate further, here are two small case studies of the problems and the solutions that the GMT and the FE teams came up with:- Case Study 1   Define the Problem: When a Virtual Assistant has completed a task for the client, the QC tracker has to be updated by the team-in-charge, after which the task will undergo quality checks by the Quality Team. There could be instances wherein the Team Lead is not at the desk or is in a meeting and if in that case, the QC tracker is not updated on time, there could be delays in getting the task approved by the QC and the VA could ultimately miss the deadline for the task. Document the current situation: The problem as mentioned above is documented on a board and also in an excel sheet. Visualize the Ideal Solution: The ideal solution for the problem is the situation where TL is always present to update the tracker. Define Measurement Targets: The numbers of tasks which are being delayed due to this tracker update problem are noted down, and targets were set to bring them down to zero. Brainstorm solutions to the problem: Once every week, all the team members gather in a meeting room to discuss all the problems and brainstorm on the ideas and feasibilities of the room for improvement. For this particular problem also, all the team members gathered together and brainstormed ideas for a feasible solution. Develop Kaizen Plan: The solution that was decided was that now, the QC tracker will be shared with two senior VA’s in the team and if in case, the Team Leader is not available, the tracker can be updated by either of the VA’s immediately. Implement plan: The decided solution was then implemented in the next week, and improvements were noted. Measure, record and compare results to targets: Results (delays/ missing deadlines due to the QC tracker issue after implementing solution) were noted and compared with the targets set (zero delay) in the earlier Kaizen meeting. Prepare summary documents: Results and improvements were noted for the complete Kaizen activity for this particular problem. Standardization: The solution was regularly implemented, and results were noted every week to bring in standardization. Following these simple methods, GetFriday’s GMT team was able to find the solution to many other similar problems. The following case study summarizes the solution found and implemented using above mentioned 10 simple steps.   Case Study 2   Problem: There is an urgent task that needs to go by the end of the day and there are no resources available in the team to handle the task because the VA’s already have a lot of tasks to do for themselves. In such a situation, there is a resource crunch. Solution: The Virtual Assistant who has received the task request should check with the shift in-charge who is present on the floor and find out if any Virtual Assistant is free in his/her team

E-Commerce Store – Holiday Season Check List For Increasing Sales

Holiday season is near and this is the time online stores see a surge in sales. But like all things in life you need to be prepared. GetFriday has been around for 10 years now and we have come to understand and learn from our ecommerce clients, the essentials that are required to increase sales during the holiday season. Click on the picture below to see this blog in a slideshare format. Here is a checklist for your quick consumption:   1. This is the best time to launch new products This is the time of the year GetFriday associates get busy with remodeling e-commerce stores, resizing and editing the product images, proof reading the content, uploading products on amazon and rearranging the website display. Most e-commerce firms would consider this as the best time to launch a new product. The chances of succeeding now are far higher than any time later. The known factor about customers is that they are willing to spend more during this season. US retail sales for December 2014 was $442.9 billion – this was an increase of 3.2% over December 2013.   2. Start early with promotions and campaigns A recent study conducted by Oracle Marketing Cloud and Edison Research shows that consumers are doing their holiday shopping early, spending as much as $900 more in the month of October than in December. Start early with planning holiday promotions and campaigns. Our data shows that e-commerce stores start preparing for the holiday season as early as September – October and are ready to launch their campaigns. This give enough time for e-commerce stores to conduct experimental marketing and figure out ways to succeed with customers. With consumers, too willing to take advantage of early shopping discounts and promotions, the timing of promotions and campaigns has gained relevance in recent times. Remember you are competing for the customer wallet. If you are not ready for launching promotions for all your visitors in October, it is advisable to start campaigns with your existing database of clients. Give them the opportunity to take advantage of promotions before your new visitors. It is a known fact that cost of acquiring a new customer is higher than retaining an existing customer. 3. Increase your advertisement budget Let us simplify advertising for you – As you reach more customers with relevant offers, chances of sales increases proportionally. Holiday season is the best time to increase your spending on marketing, as you know for sure customers are looking for your products. If not yours they will land on a competitor’s website. Research shows that social media has a major impact on purchasing choices made by holiday shoppers. “More than half of users (52 percent) say they learned about a product they later purchased because of Twitter, and it’s so convenient to find gift ideas on Twitter that 39 percent say Twitter serves as their new holiday shopping list,” a 2014 Twitter study found. 4. Is your operations ready for holiday season? Make sure operational capabilities are ready for the holiday season. This is the time new customers would be experiencing your product and service, and chances of making them your loyal customer rests with the experience they will gain. It is a common practice with large retailers to hire employees during holiday season to manage customer operations. Learning from this industry practice, you could hire virtual assistants to help manage operations during the holiday season. 5. Is your website spreading the joy – with analytics? Your website needs to reflect the holiday season spirit and create the festive effect. Happy customers tend to buy more. You probably already know that the website is your store front. Look at data generated from your campaigns to optimize your pages. Let the best sellers be visible to your customers. 6. Be ready for customers purchasing from their phones UPS compass in its recent article How America will shop in 2015 quoted IBM data to reveal that mobiles accounted for 45 percent of all 2014 online holiday traffic and for 22.6 percent of online sales, a 27.2 percent gain over the 2013 total More than 50 percent of online shopping traffic came from mobiles during the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday. These numbers drive home the point of need to be prepared with providing customers options of shopping through their mobiles and making their experiences pleasant and user-friendly.

E-Commerce Store – Holiday Season Check List For Increasing Sales Read More »

Holiday season is near and this is the time online stores see a surge in sales. But like all things in life you need to be prepared. GetFriday has been around for 10 years now and we have come to understand and learn from our ecommerce clients, the essentials that are required to increase sales during the holiday season. Click on the picture below to see this blog in a slideshare format. Here is a checklist for your quick consumption:   1. This is the best time to launch new products This is the time of the year GetFriday associates get busy with remodeling e-commerce stores, resizing and editing the product images, proof reading the content, uploading products on amazon and rearranging the website display. Most e-commerce firms would consider this as the best time to launch a new product. The chances of succeeding now are far higher than any time later. The known factor about customers is that they are willing to spend more during this season. US retail sales for December 2014 was $442.9 billion – this was an increase of 3.2% over December 2013.   2. Start early with promotions and campaigns A recent study conducted by Oracle Marketing Cloud and Edison Research shows that consumers are doing their holiday shopping early, spending as much as $900 more in the month of October than in December. Start early with planning holiday promotions and campaigns. Our data shows that e-commerce stores start preparing for the holiday season as early as September – October and are ready to launch their campaigns. This give enough time for e-commerce stores to conduct experimental marketing and figure out ways to succeed with customers. With consumers, too willing to take advantage of early shopping discounts and promotions, the timing of promotions and campaigns has gained relevance in recent times. Remember you are competing for the customer wallet. If you are not ready for launching promotions for all your visitors in October, it is advisable to start campaigns with your existing database of clients. Give them the opportunity to take advantage of promotions before your new visitors. It is a known fact that cost of acquiring a new customer is higher than retaining an existing customer. 3. Increase your advertisement budget Let us simplify advertising for you – As you reach more customers with relevant offers, chances of sales increases proportionally. Holiday season is the best time to increase your spending on marketing, as you know for sure customers are looking for your products. If not yours they will land on a competitor’s website. Research shows that social media has a major impact on purchasing choices made by holiday shoppers. “More than half of users (52 percent) say they learned about a product they later purchased because of Twitter, and it’s so convenient to find gift ideas on Twitter that 39 percent say Twitter serves as their new holiday shopping list,” a 2014 Twitter study found. 4. Is your operations ready for holiday season? Make sure operational capabilities are ready for the holiday season. This is the time new customers would be experiencing your product and service, and chances of making them your loyal customer rests with the experience they will gain. It is a common practice with large retailers to hire employees during holiday season to manage customer operations. Learning from this industry practice, you could hire virtual assistants to help manage operations during the holiday season. 5. Is your website spreading the joy – with analytics? Your website needs to reflect the holiday season spirit and create the festive effect. Happy customers tend to buy more. You probably already know that the website is your store front. Look at data generated from your campaigns to optimize your pages. Let the best sellers be visible to your customers. 6. Be ready for customers purchasing from their phones UPS compass in its recent article How America will shop in 2015 quoted IBM data to reveal that mobiles accounted for 45 percent of all 2014 online holiday traffic and for 22.6 percent of online sales, a 27.2 percent gain over the 2013 total More than 50 percent of online shopping traffic came from mobiles during the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday. These numbers drive home the point of need to be prepared with providing customers options of shopping through their mobiles and making their experiences pleasant and user-friendly.

CRM Investments Failure

Five Reasons Why CRM Investments Fail In E-Commerce Space

In 10 years of GetFriday’s existence, we have handled a lot of CRMs! Our insights for this blog are derived from this experience. Our clients have been at times, early adopters of these tools. We also happen to have a huge client base of entrepreneurs and small businesses. This has enabled us to have a 360 degree view of CRM usage or its lack of usage. Without doubt CRMS are useful tools for e-commerce It is true that CRM software can help e-commerce businesses provide excellent customer support by managing and storing all data related to customers and transactions. Though all this can be achieved through other online tools, the beauty of buying CRM software is to be able to utilize it in such a manner that it can take care of your business needs automatically while allowing you to focus on improving your sales conversion rates considerably. Nevertheless, majority of companies fail to benefit from CRMs and end up losing huge amounts of money. We have identified 5 reasons for the failure of CRMs in the e-commerce industry through our longstanding experience of serving e-commerce clients. This blog is also summarized in the form of Slideshare presentation. Please click on the below image for the presentation. 5 Reasons for CRM Investments Failure   1. Not utilizing full capacity of CRMs Imagine you hired an employee for your small e-commerce business, and are unable to use 40% of this person’s skill. A smart business owner should ideally be worried. But somehow, business professionals do not worry about the unused capacities of assets. Our internal data shows many entrepreneurs do not utilize as much as 40 % of CRMs capability. This is not because there is a problem with the CRM software, but because e-commerce businesses often miss out on critically analyzing the requirements of the CRM within the business at the outset. These CRMs generally have limited or no use in the business and are dead resources. This renders the CRM a misfit within the e-commerce business if not employed correctly. 2. Buying a CRM too early Define the CRM requirements first before jumping into which CRM to buy. If you are just starting out as an e-commerce company, your focus ideally be targeted towards expanding your client base, attracting as many customers as possible and achieving breakeven sales with your products online. Managing customer relations and records in an organized database is also, extremely important. But Google drives and other free tools do an equally good job. Therefore, if you are starting out, it would be wise to analyze if using a CRM at this stage can prove to be fruitful. We suggest you to start lean. 3. Not setting objectives, goals and targets for CRM One way to derive maximum from your CRM is to set a clear objective, goal and target. Treat your CRM as an asset that needs to justify its costs. With CRMs being implemented in businesses across industries in today’s world, SMEs and upcoming e-commerce companies may find it necessary to implement CRMs in their own businesses, without understanding how the features can be fully utilized to boost business efficiency. The requirement for a CRM is the result of much deliberation over difficult business truths such as dwindling sales, strained customer relations, service woes or escalating marketing issues. The mistake takes place with the first step when businesses implement CRMs without understanding its features, the metrics it has to offer and how in turn a CRM can help your e-commerce business grow. 4. Owning a CRM only as a social norm Over these years, we have seen entrepreneurs rushing to buy a CRM as a part of their initial start up infrastructure. They utilize it to supplement their daily meetings with prospects and networks and end up buying CRMs only because others in the industry have implemented them and because they assume it is necessary. Though the assumption may not be entirely wrong, we strongly suggest you ask yourself these 4 simple questions before you buy a CRM – Can it solve the problems in my business? Does it suit by budget? Can it integrate seamlessly with my existing software and systems? Is it necessary at this point of my company’s operations? CRMs should not be implemented just for the heck of it and just because every other company in the block is using a Salesforce or a Zoho. It should only be employed if an e-commerce business has the resources for it, has the ability to answer these questions and be able to present solutions for it. 5. Inefficiency in uploading the data in CRM The data you capture from your customers need to be updated in a timely manner into your CRMs. This requires your time and devotion. Typically our study shows, that the lack of time to enter data into CRMs remains the single most problem for entrepreneurs and e-commerce store owners alike. We suggest you hire a virtual assistant to handle this work seamlessly. If you want to avoid the possibility of failures, your first step should be to take care of these 5 reasons. Since investing in a CRM is a big deal, make sure you have your goals defined and its needs/requirements for the business sorted before you take the plunge. After all, CRMs are assets and like any other asset, need to be justified for its costs and employed properly for maximum benefits.

Five Reasons Why CRM Investments Fail In E-Commerce Space Read More »

In 10 years of GetFriday’s existence, we have handled a lot of CRMs! Our insights for this blog are derived from this experience. Our clients have been at times, early adopters of these tools. We also happen to have a huge client base of entrepreneurs and small businesses. This has enabled us to have a 360 degree view of CRM usage or its lack of usage. Without doubt CRMS are useful tools for e-commerce It is true that CRM software can help e-commerce businesses provide excellent customer support by managing and storing all data related to customers and transactions. Though all this can be achieved through other online tools, the beauty of buying CRM software is to be able to utilize it in such a manner that it can take care of your business needs automatically while allowing you to focus on improving your sales conversion rates considerably. Nevertheless, majority of companies fail to benefit from CRMs and end up losing huge amounts of money. We have identified 5 reasons for the failure of CRMs in the e-commerce industry through our longstanding experience of serving e-commerce clients. This blog is also summarized in the form of Slideshare presentation. Please click on the below image for the presentation. 5 Reasons for CRM Investments Failure   1. Not utilizing full capacity of CRMs Imagine you hired an employee for your small e-commerce business, and are unable to use 40% of this person’s skill. A smart business owner should ideally be worried. But somehow, business professionals do not worry about the unused capacities of assets. Our internal data shows many entrepreneurs do not utilize as much as 40 % of CRMs capability. This is not because there is a problem with the CRM software, but because e-commerce businesses often miss out on critically analyzing the requirements of the CRM within the business at the outset. These CRMs generally have limited or no use in the business and are dead resources. This renders the CRM a misfit within the e-commerce business if not employed correctly. 2. Buying a CRM too early Define the CRM requirements first before jumping into which CRM to buy. If you are just starting out as an e-commerce company, your focus ideally be targeted towards expanding your client base, attracting as many customers as possible and achieving breakeven sales with your products online. Managing customer relations and records in an organized database is also, extremely important. But Google drives and other free tools do an equally good job. Therefore, if you are starting out, it would be wise to analyze if using a CRM at this stage can prove to be fruitful. We suggest you to start lean. 3. Not setting objectives, goals and targets for CRM One way to derive maximum from your CRM is to set a clear objective, goal and target. Treat your CRM as an asset that needs to justify its costs. With CRMs being implemented in businesses across industries in today’s world, SMEs and upcoming e-commerce companies may find it necessary to implement CRMs in their own businesses, without understanding how the features can be fully utilized to boost business efficiency. The requirement for a CRM is the result of much deliberation over difficult business truths such as dwindling sales, strained customer relations, service woes or escalating marketing issues. The mistake takes place with the first step when businesses implement CRMs without understanding its features, the metrics it has to offer and how in turn a CRM can help your e-commerce business grow. 4. Owning a CRM only as a social norm Over these years, we have seen entrepreneurs rushing to buy a CRM as a part of their initial start up infrastructure. They utilize it to supplement their daily meetings with prospects and networks and end up buying CRMs only because others in the industry have implemented them and because they assume it is necessary. Though the assumption may not be entirely wrong, we strongly suggest you ask yourself these 4 simple questions before you buy a CRM – Can it solve the problems in my business? Does it suit by budget? Can it integrate seamlessly with my existing software and systems? Is it necessary at this point of my company’s operations? CRMs should not be implemented just for the heck of it and just because every other company in the block is using a Salesforce or a Zoho. It should only be employed if an e-commerce business has the resources for it, has the ability to answer these questions and be able to present solutions for it. 5. Inefficiency in uploading the data in CRM The data you capture from your customers need to be updated in a timely manner into your CRMs. This requires your time and devotion. Typically our study shows, that the lack of time to enter data into CRMs remains the single most problem for entrepreneurs and e-commerce store owners alike. We suggest you hire a virtual assistant to handle this work seamlessly. If you want to avoid the possibility of failures, your first step should be to take care of these 5 reasons. Since investing in a CRM is a big deal, make sure you have your goals defined and its needs/requirements for the business sorted before you take the plunge. After all, CRMs are assets and like any other asset, need to be justified for its costs and employed properly for maximum benefits.

Simple Guide To E-Commerce Product Taxonomy

What is taxonomy? When you think of ‘Taxonomy’, you immediately associate the term with the classification of organisms into hierarchical groups as per what you studied in your biology class. Quite right, except that in this case, the word is used to describe not the classifications of organisms, but the classification and organization of ‘unstructured information’ on e-commerce websites for the benefit of users and the business. Why taxonomy? Taxonomy is an extremely crucial component because it helps users navigate through e-commerce websites in a more user-friendly manner, enhances their search experience and thus increases the prospects of a higher ROI for the business. Instead of sifting through the haystack in the wild web, the application of taxonomy helps with search navigation and leads to a more manageable experience – one that is less time-consuming, organized and leads to the ‘right’. Here we provide you a guide to understand ‘e-commerce taxonomy’ better, its benefits and how a business can implement it effectively. Content Strategies & Taxonomy There’s a lot more to taxonomy than just mere categorizing. Just as librarians would sift and arrange books according to title, labels, author and call numbers, this would also apply to e-commerce websites, except that the content can be subdivided, using ‘taxonomy structure’. Taxonomy categorizes unorganized information while the metadata describes the category. Metadata will help with better categorization and more recognizable content from the e-commerce website design perspective. Website Design & Taxonomy A website with unstructured content could lead to difficulties when it comes to navigation and searches. Taxonomy directly corresponds with website design in the form of ‘taxonomy view’ and helps create a positive user-navigation experience, with the neatly arranged categories. Here is a screenshot of an Australian e-commerce website and their distinct categories of footwear, clothing, bags and accessories etc., making navigation through the page an easy, comprehensible one. The highlighted boxes in red in above image shows the categorization of the different footwear for women on this website for easy user navigation and quick searches. What Are The Common Problems Of E-Commerce Sites With No Taxonomy? Let us take the simple example of a taxonomy tree and see what problems could arise from not planning out e-commerce websites taxonomy efficiently:- Categories: -Men -Women -Kids Men: -Babywear -Boys -Adults Women: -Babywear -Girls -Adults The next category after men and women is kids. Now under kids, you can either have the combination of:- Kids -Baby-Boys-Girls Or Baby-Boys Baby-Girls   If you go back to the original taxonomy tree, you will notice that babywear, boys and girls are already listed out under men and women separately. So, by creating another sub-category for ‘kids’, there is an ‘overlap’ or a ‘duplication’ of categories. At this stage, as an e-commerce website, you could either continue to work with the same structure or go back and start and remove the category of ‘kids’ from the parent category. By doing so, you will need to rebuild another taxonomy design from scratch. That leads us to the next part of understanding how to go about building an effective taxonomy. How Do You Build An Effective Taxonomy? Now that you know and understand that taxonomy is crucial for an e-commerce website, you need to build one. With the right direction and information, you can go on to build an effective taxonomy for your e-commerce site. Here’s how you can do it:- 1. Detailed Planning With A Team Taxonomy creation cannot be handled by one member at the work place. A special, multidisciplinary team working across a wide-range of domains is required. The team should have in-depth knowledge in the field of taxonomy, content creation/management, website design and development and SEO in order to do full justice to technical, managerial and business angles. 2. What Is The Scope? Once the team has been formed, find out what the scope is for the project and ask/answer these questions jointly as a team. Is it a small one or a large-scale project? What is the purpose of creating the taxonomy? What is the context in which it will be used? What is the ultimate goal we are trying to achieve? What will the design of the e-commerce website look like? What is the content scope? And who is ultimately the end user? 3. Check Inventory, Make A Draft To start with, begin by jotting down the inventory. Build a taxonomy based on only what you can sell. Once you have done that, make a draft of the taxonomy. Have your hierarchies and categories clearly listed out and divided based on utility, price, size, type, color and make etc. and make sure that the content created adheres to and falls within the functions of each category. 4. Implement & Test It Now is the stage for the implementation of the taxonomy that can be achieved through website design. This will initially take the form of skeleton wire-frames, navigation maps and interface. The second step would be to ‘populate’ the taxonomy with content and integrate it with the existing content management process. The final step and the most crucial step to the implementation process is to check if the taxonomy is corresponding with the onsite search results. Once the implementation stage is complete, it would be wise to test it thoroughly to identify any loopholes and flaws in the design. Check for ambiguity of categories, navigation and whether it takes more than ‘3-clicks’ for customers to find what they are looking for. 5. Maintenance The final and the most crucial step is to maintain the taxonomy structure. As the organization grows and the requirements change, the basic taxonomy model can be modified or amended, adding newer concepts, information, context, content and vocabulary. This will not only ensure that the e-commerce website is consistent in its performance but will also draw in more returns for the company. Benefits of E-commerce taxonomy: -Better e-commerce website navigation and design -Effective retrieval of information -Less time wasted in searches -Improves brand image and the reputation of the

Simple Guide To E-Commerce Product Taxonomy Read More »

What is taxonomy? When you think of ‘Taxonomy’, you immediately associate the term with the classification of organisms into hierarchical groups as per what you studied in your biology class. Quite right, except that in this case, the word is used to describe not the classifications of organisms, but the classification and organization of ‘unstructured information’ on e-commerce websites for the benefit of users and the business. Why taxonomy? Taxonomy is an extremely crucial component because it helps users navigate through e-commerce websites in a more user-friendly manner, enhances their search experience and thus increases the prospects of a higher ROI for the business. Instead of sifting through the haystack in the wild web, the application of taxonomy helps with search navigation and leads to a more manageable experience – one that is less time-consuming, organized and leads to the ‘right’. Here we provide you a guide to understand ‘e-commerce taxonomy’ better, its benefits and how a business can implement it effectively. Content Strategies & Taxonomy There’s a lot more to taxonomy than just mere categorizing. Just as librarians would sift and arrange books according to title, labels, author and call numbers, this would also apply to e-commerce websites, except that the content can be subdivided, using ‘taxonomy structure’. Taxonomy categorizes unorganized information while the metadata describes the category. Metadata will help with better categorization and more recognizable content from the e-commerce website design perspective. Website Design & Taxonomy A website with unstructured content could lead to difficulties when it comes to navigation and searches. Taxonomy directly corresponds with website design in the form of ‘taxonomy view’ and helps create a positive user-navigation experience, with the neatly arranged categories. Here is a screenshot of an Australian e-commerce website and their distinct categories of footwear, clothing, bags and accessories etc., making navigation through the page an easy, comprehensible one. The highlighted boxes in red in above image shows the categorization of the different footwear for women on this website for easy user navigation and quick searches. What Are The Common Problems Of E-Commerce Sites With No Taxonomy? Let us take the simple example of a taxonomy tree and see what problems could arise from not planning out e-commerce websites taxonomy efficiently:- Categories: -Men -Women -Kids Men: -Babywear -Boys -Adults Women: -Babywear -Girls -Adults The next category after men and women is kids. Now under kids, you can either have the combination of:- Kids -Baby-Boys-Girls Or Baby-Boys Baby-Girls   If you go back to the original taxonomy tree, you will notice that babywear, boys and girls are already listed out under men and women separately. So, by creating another sub-category for ‘kids’, there is an ‘overlap’ or a ‘duplication’ of categories. At this stage, as an e-commerce website, you could either continue to work with the same structure or go back and start and remove the category of ‘kids’ from the parent category. By doing so, you will need to rebuild another taxonomy design from scratch. That leads us to the next part of understanding how to go about building an effective taxonomy. How Do You Build An Effective Taxonomy? Now that you know and understand that taxonomy is crucial for an e-commerce website, you need to build one. With the right direction and information, you can go on to build an effective taxonomy for your e-commerce site. Here’s how you can do it:- 1. Detailed Planning With A Team Taxonomy creation cannot be handled by one member at the work place. A special, multidisciplinary team working across a wide-range of domains is required. The team should have in-depth knowledge in the field of taxonomy, content creation/management, website design and development and SEO in order to do full justice to technical, managerial and business angles. 2. What Is The Scope? Once the team has been formed, find out what the scope is for the project and ask/answer these questions jointly as a team. Is it a small one or a large-scale project? What is the purpose of creating the taxonomy? What is the context in which it will be used? What is the ultimate goal we are trying to achieve? What will the design of the e-commerce website look like? What is the content scope? And who is ultimately the end user? 3. Check Inventory, Make A Draft To start with, begin by jotting down the inventory. Build a taxonomy based on only what you can sell. Once you have done that, make a draft of the taxonomy. Have your hierarchies and categories clearly listed out and divided based on utility, price, size, type, color and make etc. and make sure that the content created adheres to and falls within the functions of each category. 4. Implement & Test It Now is the stage for the implementation of the taxonomy that can be achieved through website design. This will initially take the form of skeleton wire-frames, navigation maps and interface. The second step would be to ‘populate’ the taxonomy with content and integrate it with the existing content management process. The final step and the most crucial step to the implementation process is to check if the taxonomy is corresponding with the onsite search results. Once the implementation stage is complete, it would be wise to test it thoroughly to identify any loopholes and flaws in the design. Check for ambiguity of categories, navigation and whether it takes more than ‘3-clicks’ for customers to find what they are looking for. 5. Maintenance The final and the most crucial step is to maintain the taxonomy structure. As the organization grows and the requirements change, the basic taxonomy model can be modified or amended, adding newer concepts, information, context, content and vocabulary. This will not only ensure that the e-commerce website is consistent in its performance but will also draw in more returns for the company. Benefits of E-commerce taxonomy: -Better e-commerce website navigation and design -Effective retrieval of information -Less time wasted in searches -Improves brand image and the reputation of the

A Study of the Online Shoe Retailer Industry – Australia

Since 2005, GetFriday has been assisting many online footwear stores from Australia to manage their businesses. This got us curious about the state of affairs in the online shoes industry in Australia. We conducted primary research with some 50 online footwear stores from the Australian region to assess the competitive landscape and analyze the industry in general. The results of this survey could be of interest to shoe e-tailers and online retailers, in general. The Online Footwear Industry in Australia Overview: With revenue generation worth $416 million and an annual growth of 14%, the industry remains fragmented with players with low levels of market share according to a June 2015 market research report. The struggle for market share is reflected in discount wars to garner customers. Our primary research data shows that 73% of online shoe retailers offer discounts on products. Why the online shoe industry is tough: The online shoes industry is a tough environment to survive in. The entry barriers to set up an online shoe store are low and the numbers of online shoe stores are increasing. This affects the revenues of these stores, making them weak players in a large industry. Some market research data indicates, no single player holds more than 5% of the market share. For smaller online retailers, this could mean that more efforts need to be put into their marketing processes. 6 Tactics to Standout in the Online Shoes Industry: 1) Recognize What to Sell: About 30% of the stores sell only women’s shoes. On an average, these stores have collections of 300 products for customers to choose from. The stores selling both men and women’s shoes have an average collection of 550 products. Ankle boots, long boots, heels, flats, wedges, sandals, sneakers, pumps, peep toes, casuals are widely available and are the commonly listed products across online shoe stores for women. The men’s collection seems to be limited to athletic shoes, boots and work shoes – these being the most commonly available products. Add value to design, material, branding, customer service and relations to differentiate your product offerings and increase your sales. 2) Push inefficiencies out of the sales and admin: Our study shows that E-commerce stores generating 10 to 15 orders per day reach a threshold point that requires rethinking the sales and admin design of the store. The focus must shift towards increasing the efficiency of sales and admin, from a “manageable” state of mind. A good CRM and project management tool could help with the collection and generation of data and could also help manage your projects with clarity. One among the best practices is to outsource activities that could be done remotely. This allows you to focus on data and customer relations. Hiring a good Virtual Assistance company for these back-end admin tasks could be the best way to improve efficiency. 3) Leverage through Cross-Selling: Most retailers assume that customers know their needs and wait for the purchase decisions to stem from this knowledge. A McKinsey report “Rediscovering the art of selling” in 2010 showed, 40% of customers are open to persuasion when they walk into a brick and mortar store. E-commerce is driven by choices and the discretion it allows to its customers. One can safely assume that E-commerce customers are willing to be persuaded even more with the right offerings at the right time. Strategize about the products you wish to cross-sell and their placement on the website. A good starting point could be to analyze the sales data to understand the patterns. This will help you identify attitudinal preferences of customers. Our study shows, on an average stores cross-sell 31 products across multiple categories. For stores selling ladies footwear, the most popular accessory to be cross-sold are handbags (37% of stores sell handbags along with footwear). Other items that are being sold along with footwear are heel stoppers, heel grips, hosiery, compression foot sleeve, gel cushion, feet blister plasters, heel cushions, shoe care cream, shoe care sponge, shoehorn, socks, sunglasses and wallets. Cross-selling can be a good revenue stream for e-commerce online shoe stores. You should focus on the products mentioned above to increase your revenues. Again find your own niche and create that differentiator if you plan to stand out from the crowd. 4) Provide Discounts for higher Revenue: A customer’s purchase decision now significantly consists of opportunities to compare prices and reviews. This has dramatically altered the purchase decisions. An ever-growing list of online retailers have added to the competition and fragmented the market. In this scenario, it can be a difficult proposition to sell footwear, which must compete for space using design and appeal as the main differentiator. Our study indicates online footwear retailers in Australia provide discounts through all seasons to attract customers. Our survey conducted in July 2015 shows, 73% stores discounted their select footwear products. 6% of stores have discounts on their available footwear collection. It is clear that discounts are being used as a tool to generate sales. It could also be used as a tool to clear stocks on a continuous basis before the next season’s products arrive. 5) Create space for niche products: Our survey shows less than 2% of stores sell niche products such as orthotic shoes and wedding shoes among many others. We recommend you to make space for these kinds of niche complementary products for higher ROI and differentiation as a part of your red ocean strategy. 6) Do not forget Social Media: Almost every store we surveyed has a social media presence. Social media marketing is cost- effective and is therefore attractive to online retailers. The online shoe industry is no exception. We conducted a survey to assess the activities of online shoe stores on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and various blogs. We found that 17% of stores have presence on all these social media forums. This means, online shoe stores look to engage customers’ across multiple platforms and forums. 72% have presence on Twitter, 54% have presence on Pinterest,

A Study of the Online Shoe Retailer Industry – Australia Read More »

Since 2005, GetFriday has been assisting many online footwear stores from Australia to manage their businesses. This got us curious about the state of affairs in the online shoes industry in Australia. We conducted primary research with some 50 online footwear stores from the Australian region to assess the competitive landscape and analyze the industry in general. The results of this survey could be of interest to shoe e-tailers and online retailers, in general. The Online Footwear Industry in Australia Overview: With revenue generation worth $416 million and an annual growth of 14%, the industry remains fragmented with players with low levels of market share according to a June 2015 market research report. The struggle for market share is reflected in discount wars to garner customers. Our primary research data shows that 73% of online shoe retailers offer discounts on products. Why the online shoe industry is tough: The online shoes industry is a tough environment to survive in. The entry barriers to set up an online shoe store are low and the numbers of online shoe stores are increasing. This affects the revenues of these stores, making them weak players in a large industry. Some market research data indicates, no single player holds more than 5% of the market share. For smaller online retailers, this could mean that more efforts need to be put into their marketing processes. 6 Tactics to Standout in the Online Shoes Industry: 1) Recognize What to Sell: About 30% of the stores sell only women’s shoes. On an average, these stores have collections of 300 products for customers to choose from. The stores selling both men and women’s shoes have an average collection of 550 products. Ankle boots, long boots, heels, flats, wedges, sandals, sneakers, pumps, peep toes, casuals are widely available and are the commonly listed products across online shoe stores for women. The men’s collection seems to be limited to athletic shoes, boots and work shoes – these being the most commonly available products. Add value to design, material, branding, customer service and relations to differentiate your product offerings and increase your sales. 2) Push inefficiencies out of the sales and admin: Our study shows that E-commerce stores generating 10 to 15 orders per day reach a threshold point that requires rethinking the sales and admin design of the store. The focus must shift towards increasing the efficiency of sales and admin, from a “manageable” state of mind. A good CRM and project management tool could help with the collection and generation of data and could also help manage your projects with clarity. One among the best practices is to outsource activities that could be done remotely. This allows you to focus on data and customer relations. Hiring a good Virtual Assistance company for these back-end admin tasks could be the best way to improve efficiency. 3) Leverage through Cross-Selling: Most retailers assume that customers know their needs and wait for the purchase decisions to stem from this knowledge. A McKinsey report “Rediscovering the art of selling” in 2010 showed, 40% of customers are open to persuasion when they walk into a brick and mortar store. E-commerce is driven by choices and the discretion it allows to its customers. One can safely assume that E-commerce customers are willing to be persuaded even more with the right offerings at the right time. Strategize about the products you wish to cross-sell and their placement on the website. A good starting point could be to analyze the sales data to understand the patterns. This will help you identify attitudinal preferences of customers. Our study shows, on an average stores cross-sell 31 products across multiple categories. For stores selling ladies footwear, the most popular accessory to be cross-sold are handbags (37% of stores sell handbags along with footwear). Other items that are being sold along with footwear are heel stoppers, heel grips, hosiery, compression foot sleeve, gel cushion, feet blister plasters, heel cushions, shoe care cream, shoe care sponge, shoehorn, socks, sunglasses and wallets. Cross-selling can be a good revenue stream for e-commerce online shoe stores. You should focus on the products mentioned above to increase your revenues. Again find your own niche and create that differentiator if you plan to stand out from the crowd. 4) Provide Discounts for higher Revenue: A customer’s purchase decision now significantly consists of opportunities to compare prices and reviews. This has dramatically altered the purchase decisions. An ever-growing list of online retailers have added to the competition and fragmented the market. In this scenario, it can be a difficult proposition to sell footwear, which must compete for space using design and appeal as the main differentiator. Our study indicates online footwear retailers in Australia provide discounts through all seasons to attract customers. Our survey conducted in July 2015 shows, 73% stores discounted their select footwear products. 6% of stores have discounts on their available footwear collection. It is clear that discounts are being used as a tool to generate sales. It could also be used as a tool to clear stocks on a continuous basis before the next season’s products arrive. 5) Create space for niche products: Our survey shows less than 2% of stores sell niche products such as orthotic shoes and wedding shoes among many others. We recommend you to make space for these kinds of niche complementary products for higher ROI and differentiation as a part of your red ocean strategy. 6) Do not forget Social Media: Almost every store we surveyed has a social media presence. Social media marketing is cost- effective and is therefore attractive to online retailers. The online shoe industry is no exception. We conducted a survey to assess the activities of online shoe stores on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and various blogs. We found that 17% of stores have presence on all these social media forums. This means, online shoe stores look to engage customers’ across multiple platforms and forums. 72% have presence on Twitter, 54% have presence on Pinterest,

A Guide To Maximize Output With Your Virtual Assistant

Once you have decided to work with a virtual assistant, the next step is to talk to the virtual assistant or the organization that they work for, in order to find out what they have in store. With GetFriday’s decade long experience in virtual assistance services, we wish to deconstruct for you the successful formula behind hiring a fantastic and effective virtual assistant. A 2001 HBR study conducted with 70 virtual teams found that 82% fell short of their goals and 33% rated themselves as largely unsuccessful. And a 2005 Deloitte study of projects outsourced to virtual work groups found that 66% failed to satisfy clients’ requirements. This data goes to show that hiring virtual assistants is a serious business. It combines two complex functions of management – team work and communication. 3 Desirable Qualities Of A Virtual Assistant We decided to identify the most desirable qualities in a virtual assistant. Analysis of the data available with us shows communication, attention to details and ability to work independently top the list when it comes to outsourcing work to virtual assistants. Our view is that the key to a happy ‘outsourcing’ experience is to understand how to get the best out of your virtual assistant. 3 Expectations From Virtual Assistant That Need To Be Managed- 1. Virtual assistants must have great Communication skills The most mentioned and sought-after attribute while hiring a virtual assistant is communication. Virtual communication is often devoid of face to face interaction which provides information on emotional states or non-verbal cues. This, combined with lack of frequent communication, can risk your entire outsourcing success. The only way to avoid any pitfalls is to be extremely clear and disciplined about how you and your assistant will communicate. Establish standard norms for communication, modes of communication, frequency of communication etc. The details could include situations where just a simple email would do, and other circumstances when a phone call would be required. Encourage questions whenever messages are not clear. The performance of a virtual assistant / team can be expected to increase substantially whenever communication is clear. 2. Virtual assistants must pay careful attention to detail The second attribute that is considered desirable, is the ability to pay attention to detail. Most small business are concerned about the work that is being outsourced and are keen on preserving and building a reputation that hinges on providing great services / products. We have all heard of Apple products and the amount of detail that goes beyond its physical product. Small businesses want to emulate the same. And rightly so, they seek attention to detail from virtual assistants as a standard criterion. Establishing clear processes for work outsourced could resolve the problem of attention to detail. Clear processes bring clarity and logic to work, therefore ensure attention to detail is incorporated in the process rather than being dependent on human memory and skill. Feedback is another important aspect. When you provide precise feedback about your expectations and how their attention to detail will impact your work, either positively or negatively, people tend to take notice and inculcate it into their regimen. Broad based feedback that attention to detail is missing is not going to help your virtual assistant improve. On the contrary, objective feedback and an awareness of the impact of their work definitely brings in good results.. 3. Virtual assistants must have the Ability to work independently The third most sought-after attribute is the ability to work independently. We frequently hear small business owners complaining about their virtual assistants and how they do not think for themselves. As a first step towards achieving this, shift the responsibility of work from process to person. Standardize what good work must look like, with opportunities to take independent decisions. For a start, specify the elements of process that could be handled by independent thinking and then slowly elaborate to include other parts of the process. However, note that this will be time consuming and requires patience to eventually achieve ‘quality’. Also, when you are outsourcing work to your virtual assistant, define the areas where you do not want them to take independent decisions very clearly so that even if a decision happens to be not right, it doesn’t impact your business too badly. 4 Essentials To Get The Best Experience With Virtual Assistant 1. Clarify and track commitments The problem with working remotely as seen by business owners, is the difficulty to monitor engagement and productivity. The solution could be, to carefully spell the outcome expected from the tasks. Regular meetings with virtual assistants could be held to understand the status of tasks. Most virtual assistants are ‘generalists’. By this it means that they have ample knowledge on a wide range of domains and don’t specialize in just one field unless specified. Therefore, when you are offloading work, make sure you have jotted down exactly what you want and how you want it done, by breaking down the task instructions in a step-by-step fashion. Avoid vague instructions at all costs. Don’t expect the virtual assistant to infer what you ‘intended’ to say. Instead, make your work and your virtual assistant’s work easier by clearly specifying all the details down to the ‘T’ and even asking if the instructions are understood. If the task is a technical one or the virtual assistant is handling it for the first time, you could even add tutorial videos, sample documents and screenshots of how it can be handled or done. Going all out to explain in detail what you want will only guarantee 100% results. 2. Positive Teams are more productive In most cases it is forgotten that though virtual assistants work remotely for your business, they still require a sense of team spirit. Well defined objectives, deliverables and tracking commitments helps the virtual assistants/teams remain focused. The additional element of engagement in your business goals is fostered when a positive environment of shared accountability and responsibility is imbibed. A happy and a comfortable working relationship

A Guide To Maximize Output With Your Virtual Assistant Read More »

Once you have decided to work with a virtual assistant, the next step is to talk to the virtual assistant or the organization that they work for, in order to find out what they have in store. With GetFriday’s decade long experience in virtual assistance services, we wish to deconstruct for you the successful formula behind hiring a fantastic and effective virtual assistant. A 2001 HBR study conducted with 70 virtual teams found that 82% fell short of their goals and 33% rated themselves as largely unsuccessful. And a 2005 Deloitte study of projects outsourced to virtual work groups found that 66% failed to satisfy clients’ requirements. This data goes to show that hiring virtual assistants is a serious business. It combines two complex functions of management – team work and communication. 3 Desirable Qualities Of A Virtual Assistant We decided to identify the most desirable qualities in a virtual assistant. Analysis of the data available with us shows communication, attention to details and ability to work independently top the list when it comes to outsourcing work to virtual assistants. Our view is that the key to a happy ‘outsourcing’ experience is to understand how to get the best out of your virtual assistant. 3 Expectations From Virtual Assistant That Need To Be Managed- 1. Virtual assistants must have great Communication skills The most mentioned and sought-after attribute while hiring a virtual assistant is communication. Virtual communication is often devoid of face to face interaction which provides information on emotional states or non-verbal cues. This, combined with lack of frequent communication, can risk your entire outsourcing success. The only way to avoid any pitfalls is to be extremely clear and disciplined about how you and your assistant will communicate. Establish standard norms for communication, modes of communication, frequency of communication etc. The details could include situations where just a simple email would do, and other circumstances when a phone call would be required. Encourage questions whenever messages are not clear. The performance of a virtual assistant / team can be expected to increase substantially whenever communication is clear. 2. Virtual assistants must pay careful attention to detail The second attribute that is considered desirable, is the ability to pay attention to detail. Most small business are concerned about the work that is being outsourced and are keen on preserving and building a reputation that hinges on providing great services / products. We have all heard of Apple products and the amount of detail that goes beyond its physical product. Small businesses want to emulate the same. And rightly so, they seek attention to detail from virtual assistants as a standard criterion. Establishing clear processes for work outsourced could resolve the problem of attention to detail. Clear processes bring clarity and logic to work, therefore ensure attention to detail is incorporated in the process rather than being dependent on human memory and skill. Feedback is another important aspect. When you provide precise feedback about your expectations and how their attention to detail will impact your work, either positively or negatively, people tend to take notice and inculcate it into their regimen. Broad based feedback that attention to detail is missing is not going to help your virtual assistant improve. On the contrary, objective feedback and an awareness of the impact of their work definitely brings in good results.. 3. Virtual assistants must have the Ability to work independently The third most sought-after attribute is the ability to work independently. We frequently hear small business owners complaining about their virtual assistants and how they do not think for themselves. As a first step towards achieving this, shift the responsibility of work from process to person. Standardize what good work must look like, with opportunities to take independent decisions. For a start, specify the elements of process that could be handled by independent thinking and then slowly elaborate to include other parts of the process. However, note that this will be time consuming and requires patience to eventually achieve ‘quality’. Also, when you are outsourcing work to your virtual assistant, define the areas where you do not want them to take independent decisions very clearly so that even if a decision happens to be not right, it doesn’t impact your business too badly. 4 Essentials To Get The Best Experience With Virtual Assistant 1. Clarify and track commitments The problem with working remotely as seen by business owners, is the difficulty to monitor engagement and productivity. The solution could be, to carefully spell the outcome expected from the tasks. Regular meetings with virtual assistants could be held to understand the status of tasks. Most virtual assistants are ‘generalists’. By this it means that they have ample knowledge on a wide range of domains and don’t specialize in just one field unless specified. Therefore, when you are offloading work, make sure you have jotted down exactly what you want and how you want it done, by breaking down the task instructions in a step-by-step fashion. Avoid vague instructions at all costs. Don’t expect the virtual assistant to infer what you ‘intended’ to say. Instead, make your work and your virtual assistant’s work easier by clearly specifying all the details down to the ‘T’ and even asking if the instructions are understood. If the task is a technical one or the virtual assistant is handling it for the first time, you could even add tutorial videos, sample documents and screenshots of how it can be handled or done. Going all out to explain in detail what you want will only guarantee 100% results. 2. Positive Teams are more productive In most cases it is forgotten that though virtual assistants work remotely for your business, they still require a sense of team spirit. Well defined objectives, deliverables and tracking commitments helps the virtual assistants/teams remain focused. The additional element of engagement in your business goals is fostered when a positive environment of shared accountability and responsibility is imbibed. A happy and a comfortable working relationship

Short Tail Key Word

Step Up Your Vacation Rentals ‘Marketing’ Before It’s Too Late!

Travel Industry – At The Cusp Of Change The $144 billion vacation rental industry with over million listings, has taken the travel industry by storm. According to Vacation Rental Managers Association, 24% of leisure travelers are now choosing vacation rental homes over hotels and resorts. While this affords considerable opportunity to vacation home owners, not everyone is reaping the benefits of this industry. Vacation rental owners often grapple with questions related to receiving more customers/ guests. The answer seems to lie with smart marketing practices. We have listed a few basic ideas that vacation rental owners could use. Is Your Vacation Rental Lost In The Crowd? Getting found in major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing, is important. Your potential guests are looking for vacation rentals and if your website shows in the top 10 search results, you are bound to have a competitive edge over the others and it will also make it easier for people to find you. With your website on top of search results, there are higher chances of increases in bookings and boosts in occupancy. Three Reasons To Begin Marketing Your Vacation Rental Now 1)According to a Google post, it takes a mere 3 to 7 seconds for a shopper to decide on a buying a product/service. Known as the ZMOT, this is the most critical phase in the marketing cycle and is far more critical than the actual advertising itself. As vacation rental owners, you will need to understand how to capitalize on this period known as the ZMOT, correctly. 2)Google is the greatest source of traffic (70%) for websites and there are no two ways about it. Vacation rental owners need to understand how to a) be featured on top sites on Google, b) have all the SEO marketing done and in place in order to be traced by the search engine. 3)In the US alone, 87% of the population depended on the internet for majority of the travelling that took place through the year 2014. This information alone is vital for vacation rental owners, because in today’s time and age it is important to understand how to scale your online presence and market your services effectively in order to rank on Google or be chosen by customers. The 8 Stepping Stones To Vacation Rental Marketing Success 1. Keywords are Important: The most important step in optimising your website is to finalise the keywords you intend to target. You must decide on the keyword for which you want to be found. Opting for short tail and long tail keywords needs comprehensive research to filter out the best ones. Long tail keywords will give you an extra edge, making you more visible and will significantly boost your bookings. Gauge your competition thoroughly before you select your keywords because it is one of the most crucial steps. Here is an example just for your reference:- Short tail Keyword – Vacation Rental Long tail Keyword: Clearwater beach Vacation Rentals With the above example you can see the difference in search volume results. The advantage of the long tail keyword is that you have lesser search volume and your visibility in getting found for such keywords are high. It is better to be a big fish in a small pond rather being a little fish in a big pond. It is wise to choose the keywords that make you visible to your niche audience with specific needs. 2. Meta Data: Another key factor to build online presence is to optimise your Meta tags with proper keywords. This is important because your audience will identify you by these tags. Give an attractive two-liner to catch the eye of your potential guests and make sure that the keywords are inserted into the descriptions. Here is a snippet of what Meta tags will look like on a search engine result:- Capture the attention of viewers with an appealing story that describes the vacation rental aptly within 160 characters (as per Google’s meta data guidelines). 3. Website Design & Aesthetics A websites’ aesthetics also affects the bookings for your vacation. Keep a tab on the website design and both, the quality and quantity of pictures. For example, replacing low quality photographs with quality pictures was the first step towards success for AirBnb. Thus, more quality pictures mean higher the chances of conversions. Keeping a 360 view video of your vacation home also gives prospective clients real-time views of your location. All these factors in combination will definitely add more value to your vacation rental and will attract more customers. 4. Call to Action: Overall, the “call to action” buttons are meant to garner some action on your website. Highlight important buttons/tabs or position it in such a manner on the website that it attracts maximum attention. Some of the “call to action” buttons on your vacation rental website can be, – Toll-free numbers – “Book Now” button – “Check Calendar” to see the availability of the rentals – Chat options – Social media links to share/ like/post tweets on your page. GetFriday, the virtual assistance company in Bangalore, India, conducted an in-depth analysis on 3000 bookings for vacation rentals. The results revealed that checking “calendars” and dates were of top interest to potential guests. You can also see the Slideshare presentation for Vacation Rental Marketing by clicking on the picture given below. 5. Push for an Ad Campaign: Google says your potential clients decide in 3-7secs whether they want to buy a product or service. If your ads shoot up in Google, your chances of being chosen are high. Go for a display campaign with pictures of your beautiful vacation rental with appropriate “call to action” buttons and other relevant details. Alternatively try out Remarketing campaigns that are even more cost effective, this would remind your visitors about your rentals. By marketing your offers and deals in your ads, you have better chances of increasing ROI. 6. Rave reviews: Customers’ decisions are greatly influenced by reviews. Guests spend

Step Up Your Vacation Rentals ‘Marketing’ Before It’s Too Late! Read More »

Travel Industry – At The Cusp Of Change The $144 billion vacation rental industry with over million listings, has taken the travel industry by storm. According to Vacation Rental Managers Association, 24% of leisure travelers are now choosing vacation rental homes over hotels and resorts. While this affords considerable opportunity to vacation home owners, not everyone is reaping the benefits of this industry. Vacation rental owners often grapple with questions related to receiving more customers/ guests. The answer seems to lie with smart marketing practices. We have listed a few basic ideas that vacation rental owners could use. Is Your Vacation Rental Lost In The Crowd? Getting found in major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing, is important. Your potential guests are looking for vacation rentals and if your website shows in the top 10 search results, you are bound to have a competitive edge over the others and it will also make it easier for people to find you. With your website on top of search results, there are higher chances of increases in bookings and boosts in occupancy. Three Reasons To Begin Marketing Your Vacation Rental Now 1)According to a Google post, it takes a mere 3 to 7 seconds for a shopper to decide on a buying a product/service. Known as the ZMOT, this is the most critical phase in the marketing cycle and is far more critical than the actual advertising itself. As vacation rental owners, you will need to understand how to capitalize on this period known as the ZMOT, correctly. 2)Google is the greatest source of traffic (70%) for websites and there are no two ways about it. Vacation rental owners need to understand how to a) be featured on top sites on Google, b) have all the SEO marketing done and in place in order to be traced by the search engine. 3)In the US alone, 87% of the population depended on the internet for majority of the travelling that took place through the year 2014. This information alone is vital for vacation rental owners, because in today’s time and age it is important to understand how to scale your online presence and market your services effectively in order to rank on Google or be chosen by customers. The 8 Stepping Stones To Vacation Rental Marketing Success 1. Keywords are Important: The most important step in optimising your website is to finalise the keywords you intend to target. You must decide on the keyword for which you want to be found. Opting for short tail and long tail keywords needs comprehensive research to filter out the best ones. Long tail keywords will give you an extra edge, making you more visible and will significantly boost your bookings. Gauge your competition thoroughly before you select your keywords because it is one of the most crucial steps. Here is an example just for your reference:- Short tail Keyword – Vacation Rental Long tail Keyword: Clearwater beach Vacation Rentals With the above example you can see the difference in search volume results. The advantage of the long tail keyword is that you have lesser search volume and your visibility in getting found for such keywords are high. It is better to be a big fish in a small pond rather being a little fish in a big pond. It is wise to choose the keywords that make you visible to your niche audience with specific needs. 2. Meta Data: Another key factor to build online presence is to optimise your Meta tags with proper keywords. This is important because your audience will identify you by these tags. Give an attractive two-liner to catch the eye of your potential guests and make sure that the keywords are inserted into the descriptions. Here is a snippet of what Meta tags will look like on a search engine result:- Capture the attention of viewers with an appealing story that describes the vacation rental aptly within 160 characters (as per Google’s meta data guidelines). 3. Website Design & Aesthetics A websites’ aesthetics also affects the bookings for your vacation. Keep a tab on the website design and both, the quality and quantity of pictures. For example, replacing low quality photographs with quality pictures was the first step towards success for AirBnb. Thus, more quality pictures mean higher the chances of conversions. Keeping a 360 view video of your vacation home also gives prospective clients real-time views of your location. All these factors in combination will definitely add more value to your vacation rental and will attract more customers. 4. Call to Action: Overall, the “call to action” buttons are meant to garner some action on your website. Highlight important buttons/tabs or position it in such a manner on the website that it attracts maximum attention. Some of the “call to action” buttons on your vacation rental website can be, – Toll-free numbers – “Book Now” button – “Check Calendar” to see the availability of the rentals – Chat options – Social media links to share/ like/post tweets on your page. GetFriday, the virtual assistance company in Bangalore, India, conducted an in-depth analysis on 3000 bookings for vacation rentals. The results revealed that checking “calendars” and dates were of top interest to potential guests. You can also see the Slideshare presentation for Vacation Rental Marketing by clicking on the picture given below. 5. Push for an Ad Campaign: Google says your potential clients decide in 3-7secs whether they want to buy a product or service. If your ads shoot up in Google, your chances of being chosen are high. Go for a display campaign with pictures of your beautiful vacation rental with appropriate “call to action” buttons and other relevant details. Alternatively try out Remarketing campaigns that are even more cost effective, this would remind your visitors about your rentals. By marketing your offers and deals in your ads, you have better chances of increasing ROI. 6. Rave reviews: Customers’ decisions are greatly influenced by reviews. Guests spend

Vacation Rentals: Increase occupancy through Customer Reviews - GetFriday

Vacation Rentals – Increasing Occupancy Through Customer Reviews

Customer reviews influence the purchase decisions of a potential consumer to a very large extent. Validation and confirmation of a decision is a human need, which psychologists describe as social proof. When a customer is at the 3rd level of the purchase decision process i.e. evaluation of alternatives; customer reviews about a company’s offering can sway a consumers’ decision to either side. A “Think with Google” consumer report, analyzing a traveler’s road to decision making, states that 36% of leisure travelers and 42% of business travelers are influenced by travel reviews. GetFriday’s study was conducted on the basis of over 3000 customer interactions for vacation rentals and has thrown some light on some prevalent and interesting facts. It has been known for a while that positive customer reviews can tilt a potential guests’ decision in your favor. But the extent to which it influences the swing is largely unknown to individual vacation property owners. Please click on the below image to see the SlideShare presentation as well.   So here are our insights based on this survey Guests Consciously Seek Out Reviews: Our study shows that more than 20% of guests consciously cite past customers or their reviews while taking a decision about a property and even during their initial communication with the Rental Owners. The actual numbers of guests getting influenced by reviews and taking a final call on a booking based on that is much higher than we initially thought. We have also observed guests picking on the experiences of previous visitors while they seek confirmation about specific amenities like swimming pools, Wi-Fi, barbecues, shower facilities etc. Customer reviews clearly generate interest and engage potential guests. And if certain vacation rentals are more successful and more sought after than the others; customers reviews would definitely be pointed out as one of the major reasons behind it. Guests Are Wary About The Authenticity Of The Reviews: While working with vacation properties around the world virtually, our experiences have taught us that many potential customers are also wary about the authenticity of customer reviews. Hence, it is of prime importance that Vacation Rental Owners display genuine and authentic comments and provide proactive feedback to reviews keeping their target audience in mind. Hence, managing customer reviews has become even more important now, as positive/negative reviews are directly linked to the overall rating of a property. It acts as a prime decisive factor for the customers while deciding to go on a vacation. Negative comments are a part of regular reviews from customers and one should not worry about hiding negative reviews. Rental owners generally panic at the sight of negative reviews and instinctively seek methods to either confront the guest on the review forum or sometimes, seek to purge the negative comments. Instead, Rental owners should address these negative reviews as soon as possible and try to resolve the issue at hand. The smart, professional manner in which a negative comment is handled on a public forum, can convert a dissatisfied customer into an advocate for your business. Based on long-standing experiences with Vacation Rental Owners, we would suggest the following approaches to tackle negative reviews: Address The Root Cause: Most travelers are genuine and do not wish to make unwarranted comments. Address the concerns they might have had during their stay and convince the reviewer that it will not happen again. This will assure prospective guests of your trustworthiness and your willingness to solve problems. Responding to a complaint or negative review in a genuine manner is the first sign of a good business. Gather More Positive Reviews: If there is Yin, there is Yang as well. There is generally a good balance of positive reviews to offset the negative ones. A “HomeAway.com” survey states, 93% of guest reviews are positive (meaning a rating of 4 stars and above). This should assure you that a one-off negative review will not cause you harm; that is, if it is promptly addressed. Addressing the root cause in the first place and making sure that the same problem does not occur again will ensure that the quality of the service remains on the higher side and will also allow an owner to gather more positive reviews for the vacation rental house on an ongoing basis. There Is Always A Bright Side: A few negative comments peppered among positive reviews gives a more authentic look and feel to the review page. Though we do not have scientific data to prove this phenomenon, simple social logic seems to confirm it. If you had all but positive reviews, then the data looks suspect for the first time viewer, even if your service were impeccable. How Do You Get More Guests To Write Review For Your Property? 1. E-mail each guest after they leave, thanking them for their stay and inviting them to leave a review. 2. While refunding the deposit, send your guests a note, asking them for reviews. 3. Most guests are kind enough to write reviews. If they enjoyed their stay, they most probably will write one anyway. To be on the safer side, just send them gentle reminders, do not hound or spam them. 4. If possible, be there for a personal good-bye when your guests check out. This adds a more personal touch to the experience and makes it a memorable one for your guest. Vacation property owners need to treat customer reviews as another opportunity to market their property. When customer reviews are handled deftly with a clear strategy and objective, they could cause a positive impact on your business and its profits. To sum up, vacation rental businesses can significantly benefit from the power of customer reviews in increasing their online presence and driving more bookings. As a leading virtual assistant and remote support provider, GetFriday offers vacation rental owners and managers a range of services to help them collect and showcase customer reviews effectively. By leveraging GetFriday’s expertise in managing customer reviews, vacation rental businesses can not only

Vacation Rentals – Increasing Occupancy Through Customer Reviews Read More »

Customer reviews influence the purchase decisions of a potential consumer to a very large extent. Validation and confirmation of a decision is a human need, which psychologists describe as social proof. When a customer is at the 3rd level of the purchase decision process i.e. evaluation of alternatives; customer reviews about a company’s offering can sway a consumers’ decision to either side. A “Think with Google” consumer report, analyzing a traveler’s road to decision making, states that 36% of leisure travelers and 42% of business travelers are influenced by travel reviews. GetFriday’s study was conducted on the basis of over 3000 customer interactions for vacation rentals and has thrown some light on some prevalent and interesting facts. It has been known for a while that positive customer reviews can tilt a potential guests’ decision in your favor. But the extent to which it influences the swing is largely unknown to individual vacation property owners. Please click on the below image to see the SlideShare presentation as well.   So here are our insights based on this survey Guests Consciously Seek Out Reviews: Our study shows that more than 20% of guests consciously cite past customers or their reviews while taking a decision about a property and even during their initial communication with the Rental Owners. The actual numbers of guests getting influenced by reviews and taking a final call on a booking based on that is much higher than we initially thought. We have also observed guests picking on the experiences of previous visitors while they seek confirmation about specific amenities like swimming pools, Wi-Fi, barbecues, shower facilities etc. Customer reviews clearly generate interest and engage potential guests. And if certain vacation rentals are more successful and more sought after than the others; customers reviews would definitely be pointed out as one of the major reasons behind it. Guests Are Wary About The Authenticity Of The Reviews: While working with vacation properties around the world virtually, our experiences have taught us that many potential customers are also wary about the authenticity of customer reviews. Hence, it is of prime importance that Vacation Rental Owners display genuine and authentic comments and provide proactive feedback to reviews keeping their target audience in mind. Hence, managing customer reviews has become even more important now, as positive/negative reviews are directly linked to the overall rating of a property. It acts as a prime decisive factor for the customers while deciding to go on a vacation. Negative comments are a part of regular reviews from customers and one should not worry about hiding negative reviews. Rental owners generally panic at the sight of negative reviews and instinctively seek methods to either confront the guest on the review forum or sometimes, seek to purge the negative comments. Instead, Rental owners should address these negative reviews as soon as possible and try to resolve the issue at hand. The smart, professional manner in which a negative comment is handled on a public forum, can convert a dissatisfied customer into an advocate for your business. Based on long-standing experiences with Vacation Rental Owners, we would suggest the following approaches to tackle negative reviews: Address The Root Cause: Most travelers are genuine and do not wish to make unwarranted comments. Address the concerns they might have had during their stay and convince the reviewer that it will not happen again. This will assure prospective guests of your trustworthiness and your willingness to solve problems. Responding to a complaint or negative review in a genuine manner is the first sign of a good business. Gather More Positive Reviews: If there is Yin, there is Yang as well. There is generally a good balance of positive reviews to offset the negative ones. A “HomeAway.com” survey states, 93% of guest reviews are positive (meaning a rating of 4 stars and above). This should assure you that a one-off negative review will not cause you harm; that is, if it is promptly addressed. Addressing the root cause in the first place and making sure that the same problem does not occur again will ensure that the quality of the service remains on the higher side and will also allow an owner to gather more positive reviews for the vacation rental house on an ongoing basis. There Is Always A Bright Side: A few negative comments peppered among positive reviews gives a more authentic look and feel to the review page. Though we do not have scientific data to prove this phenomenon, simple social logic seems to confirm it. If you had all but positive reviews, then the data looks suspect for the first time viewer, even if your service were impeccable. How Do You Get More Guests To Write Review For Your Property? 1. E-mail each guest after they leave, thanking them for their stay and inviting them to leave a review. 2. While refunding the deposit, send your guests a note, asking them for reviews. 3. Most guests are kind enough to write reviews. If they enjoyed their stay, they most probably will write one anyway. To be on the safer side, just send them gentle reminders, do not hound or spam them. 4. If possible, be there for a personal good-bye when your guests check out. This adds a more personal touch to the experience and makes it a memorable one for your guest. Vacation property owners need to treat customer reviews as another opportunity to market their property. When customer reviews are handled deftly with a clear strategy and objective, they could cause a positive impact on your business and its profits. To sum up, vacation rental businesses can significantly benefit from the power of customer reviews in increasing their online presence and driving more bookings. As a leading virtual assistant and remote support provider, GetFriday offers vacation rental owners and managers a range of services to help them collect and showcase customer reviews effectively. By leveraging GetFriday’s expertise in managing customer reviews, vacation rental businesses can not only

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