Every business needs to know what’s going on around it. Information about competitors’ prices, new products coming out, customer attitudes and even emerging trends in the marketplace, can be useful to know. Much of this essential information can be easily collected by just using your phone.

The process involves gathering information from a sample (portion) of a market and then predicting what the whole market thinks or wants. A typical approach is this:

1.           Decide precisely what it is you want to find out
2.           Prepare your list of questions
3.           Select your sample of research subjects
4.           Conduct the research
5.           Collate and analyse your results

What do you want to know and what do you ask?

The first task in any research is to decide exactly what it is you need to know. Define the target information as closely as possible. Say you are interested in how effective your current advertising is and wondering if setting up a website would be a good idea. Then you want to know such things as; if your current ads are getting noticed, and if so, where; the number of hours people spend on the Internet each week; do they use it to locate suppliers of products such as yours, and so on. Now prepare questions that will give you this information.  Keep the list as short as possible.  A good questionnaire is easy for respondents to understand and doesn't ‘lead’ them towards a particular answer.  Try it out on a friend or family member first.

Choosing your sample

A ‘sample’ is a group drawn at random from all those people who are in your chosen market. The bigger the sample, the more likely you are to get answers that represent the feelings of the group as a whole. How you identify people to interview depends a lot on the purpose of the survey. Often it’s enough to just draw a list from the telephone book; other times a trade directory may provide a more targeted or relevant list. Or you can buy lists of people who meet your customer profile specifications from a marketing firm.

Conducting telephone research

The way you conduct the interview can make the difference between getting useful answers, poor answers or even a rejection. A good interviewer always:

•           Introduces himself and states the purpose of the call
•           Gives the respondent an opportunity to choose a more convenient time
•           Speaks courteously, positively and is  empathetic
•           Shows appreciation that the respondent is giving their time
•           Patiently persists until they get the information they want
•           Completes the call by thanking the respondent

Stay focused only on the question(s) you need answered. Record all information of value on a separate questionnaire for each subject. Include the name of the subject, their company (if applicable), telephone number, and time and date of the interview.  Review your notes at the end of each telephone call to discover any points that were unclear or that you failed to cover.

Analysing the results

Now you have some data it’s up to you to interpret the findings. Start by creating a table into which you can insert all the answers for each question. Relate these answers back to what it is you wanted to find out, and you should have the information you need.  If you can’t draw a conclusion from your research, review your questionnaire and look for the reasons why the research hasn’t worked. You may have to conduct more than one research project to get exactly what you want.

Whether it’s written or unwritten, there is a contract of employment between you and every member of your team. Some elements of it are legal such as those dealing with employee rights and your obligations as a business owner, while others are culture or workplace related. These all become the rules of your workplace – ‘the way we do things here’.

Most people don’t mind having a set of rules to live by and work under; it’s the way our society functions. Rules are also an important part of good business management. If you clearly state the rules of your workplace in writing and make sure they’re understood by everyone on your team, you will greatly reduce the chance for disputes or disagreements eventuating.

If you haven’t already got a basic set of rules for your business this is a good time to start putting them together. The set of rules should tell your people what they are expected to do in relation to their jobs and to the business. It’s not about the duties in their position descriptions - it needs to cover those aspects of workplace behaviour and culture that apply to everybody in the organisation. Your rules should be clearly stated, directly related to the business, reasonable and lawful, and impartially enforced. Rules that are ambiguous, discriminatory or that are inadequately enforced will only lead to problems and disputes.

Follow applicable legislation

Every workplace is covered by legislation, ranging from laws concerning workplace safety to basic rates of pay. These vary somewhat from one jurisdiction to another, but whatever rules you want to institute in your workplace must comply with all other overriding legislation.

Protect yourself and the business

Rules can help protect a business from legal and financial liabilities by providing a code that defines what’s acceptable and what isn’t. If an employee willfully disobeys a rule that’s intended to protect them from harming themselves or others, the employer’s liability may be reduced or eliminated if the employee’s actions cause an injury.  In the same way, an employee who is dismissed for bullying or threatening others at work may not be seen by a court to have been treated unfairly if they had been made aware that such behaviour was against the rules of the business.

The way rules are enforced can directly affect a business and its owner. An employer who is aware of violations to either applicable workplace legislation or the rules set by the business, yet does nothing about the situation, may be held liable for any consequences of the rules being broken.

Create a better workplace

Applying appropriate rules can create a better atmosphere at work. Having rules that promote safety, security and mutual respect between members of the team can go a long way toward making your workplace safer and happier. Removing the possibility of confusion or conflict is always beneficial to the work environment.

Where to put rules in place

There are three areas that are especially important when establishing rules in any business:

1.    Socially unacceptable behaviour – rules should cover the prohibition of, and possible disciplinary consequences for, unacceptable behaviour such as bullying and the use of profanity.

2.     Illegal behaviour – rules should restate applicable legislation, such as that which prohibits racial vilification, mistreatment of religious minorities, unsafe actions and theft. Illegal behaviour should always be reported to the appropriate authorities for your own protection.

3.    Behaviour that affects the business – rules need to cover the business’ specific requirements for workplace behaviour, including areas like your smoking policy, as well as policies regarding sick leave, non-disclosure of intellectual property and acceptable use of company property. 

An unstructured workplace environment is not good for productivity. As an employer you may have complete confidence that every member of your team will behave themselves and do exactly as they should while at work, but only a set of written rules will offer you some protection should things ever go wrong.

Many small businesses now have their own website. They’ve become a common feature of the marketing landscape. But all too frequently they are designed, set up – and forgotten.

Websites are now capable of doing much more than they were just a few years ago. Websites now permit customer feedback and allow for products and services to be sold online. They can contain comprehensive product catalogues and instructions on how to select the most suitable product, even advice on how to use and maintain it.

But a lot of websites haven’t graduated to taking advantage of these possibilities. They were designed as little more than online brochures and there they remain – brochureware.

This sort of static site is looking pretty tired in today’s increasingly sophisticated marketplace. If yours is one of them it’s time for a tune-up. Start by taking a good look at the sites of your competitors and you’ll quickly see what’s possible.  Now go back to your own site and ask a few questions:

•           Does it communicate an accurate and positive image of my business?
•           Will it impress customers considering a purchase from my firm?
•           Does it mention all our products and services?
•           Is it easy for visitors to place an order or make a purchase from the site?
•           Will visitors find it easy to navigate and locate what they’re looking for?
•           Is it kept up-to-date and checked regularly for obsolete content?
•           Does it have a tracking facility that gives details about the source of visitors and which sections of the site they viewed?
•           Does it allow my customers and prospects to communicate with me?
•           Does it tell visitors our location, hours of business and how they can get in touch with us?

Consumers are increasingly using the web as a source for suppliers and checking websites for price comparisons. This is why you want your site to communicate an image of reliability and quality along with providing information.  And if it offers a shopping cart and online payment, then so much the better.

But in addition to bringing your site up to date in terms of functionality and looks, make a commitment to an ongoing programme of keeping the content fresh. Nobody visits an unchanging site more than twice, and they don’t stay long the second time! Highlighting your special offers is just one way to do this. They can be regularly changed and become the reason for repeat visits to the site. Give the site a personal touch by featuring all the key members of your team on it, complete with photos and brief backgrounds that might be of interest to customers.  Include the latest news from your firm.

Highlighting the expertise of your team members, introducing new products, and providing information about how to use them – just a few ideas that can turn a visit to your website into an opportunity to gain a new customer.

It’s important that you know how to make the most of networking opportunities.  If you’ve just received an invitation to attend an event where there’ll be a lot of networking going on, here are some useful tips that can help you get much greater and longer lasting business value from it.

Get to know the organisers

Every networking event has been organised by somebody who knows the attendees and their backgrounds. Find out who it is and speak to them before the event. They can identify the ‘movers and shakers’ in the crowd and help you meet them.

Look for groups

Most networking events have their groups, people who know each other and meet regularly at these gatherings. It may seem hard to break into one of these groups but think of the advantages – meet one and you’ve met them all! If you know that someone’s a member of one of these groups you can have an informal chat and ask them to provide an introduction to the other members.

Have something to say

Be ready with something to say when you’re introduced to someone new. They’ll want to know a bit about your business and how it’s performing. Prepare a brief ‘elevator’ speech – about 30 seconds long, which presents your details and is both informative and interesting. Rehearse it so it sounds natural when you deliver it.

Show interest in others

If you’re talking with a potential customer, try and keep the conversation on them and gather information you can use after the event. Show interest in them and offer to send them some information about your business. Even if they’re not immediately interested they’ll usually accept out of politeness.

Don’t forget your business cards

One of the most important networking tools is the business card. You literally can’t afford to be without one at these events, so come prepared with a quantity of well designed cards. For instance, have them printed in a second language if you’ll be meeting people who speak a different language.  You might want to have some cards printed especially for the event with more details about your products or services than your standard card.

Do your best to be helpful

One thing that you can always do at networking functions is to help someone find what they’re looking for. They might say they’re looking for a supplier of office furnishings or a new source of plumbing products. If you can help them make a connection you’ll be favourably remembered.

Look for the ‘loners’

Not everyone’s gregarious and outgoing and there will always be people at networking events who look lost. It’s a good chance for you to introduce yourself and see if they might want to have a conversation. You can be doubly supportive and introduce them to others you know in the room. Be enthusiastic and you’ll be seen as someone who gets things done.

The follow-up

You meet a lot of people at networking events and it’s sometimes hard a week later to remember exactly what was said to any particular person. Collect business cards from everyone you meet and if you’ve made a commitment to do something after the event, make a note on that person’s business card as soon as your conversation’s over. Never rely on memory alone, and be sure to follow up within a couple of days before the lead gets stale – or you’ve been forgotten.

Susan RoAne, who writes books on networking, including How To Work A Room and The Secrets Of Savvy Networking, estimates that up to seventy percent of the population are ‘situationally shy’ when it comes to networking events.  Attending an event with strangers is our number one most uncomfortable situation (public speaking is number two).   Just remember that the other networkers are there to meet you, even if you’re new and they’ve been doing it for years.  These events are your opportunity to meet people who can help you in your business, so don’t hold back just because you don’t know anybody. Be prepared and you’ll enjoy yourself as well as increasing business revenue.

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." – George Washington Carver (1864-1943)