When you own a small business, investing in your enterprise is the only way to take your venture from a local entity to a national or global one. You have to enhance everything from your approach to customer service to altering your best practices so that you yield better products or services and improve customer satisfaction.
Even though you have to infuse cash into your small business to make it a success, you can’t use improv as a business services procurement strategy. If you want to get the best return on your investment and invest in resources that will help your company flourish, you have to be a shrewd but willing investor. Continue reading to learn how to find out which business services are truly worth their coin.
Watch video presentations of product use cases.
Social media has become a favorite marketing tool of many businesses, and they often create explainer videos to show consumers how to use their products. They even pay influencers to create a video production where they use and review a particular brand’s products, giving viewers the chance to see for themselves how well a product works before making a purchase.
With product videography becoming such a popular way to launch, market, and review new products, watching product videos is one of the best ways to get a sense of a product’s efficacy. Whether you’re looking for VOIP phones for your virtual contact center or inventory management for the eCommerce marketplace, watching product videos is an effective way to find the right products and services for your business.
Hire a consulting firm.
Finding the right products and services is a challenge many small businesses face. The good news is that there are business consulting firms all over the country that specialize in helping business owners with everything from organizing their corporate structure to attracting investors and getting capital for projects.
For instance, if you were a real estate developer and looking for hard money loans in Oregon, a great consulting firm could point you in the right direction. As a business owner, you know how hard it can be to get a loan if you have a poor credit report or your business is struggling, but hiring an outsourced business consultant gives you instant access to their insider information and connections.
Get insight from your investors.
If you’re running a call center and looking for tools to enhance your customer service, whether you need new headsets or customer relationship management (CRM) software, your lenders and investors may be able to help. Often, borrowers and small business owners only see lenders and stakeholders as sources of capital, but they also have a knack for having a wealth of industry insight, which could be one of the reasons they invested in your small business.
Ask for a demonstration.
As mentioned in the previous section, getting an opportunity to see a product or service operating in real-time is one of the best ways to get a feel for how it can help your enterprise. However, an in-person product demonstration is even better than video content for gaining product knowledge. Depending on the type of product or service you’re looking to purchase, you might be able to get a specific product presentation and demonstration.
If someone has a product or service they claim can revolutionize your small business, there’s nothing wrong with asking them to show you how. If a salesperson tells you they have all the equipment you’ll ever need to run a call center and provide top-notch customer service, you owe it to yourself to make sure they’re for real before you start spending money. After all, if their services provide you with a positive customer experience, it will no doubt do the same for your customers.
