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Letter from the CEO
"As a business owner, if there's one thing I've learned
about successfully competing in the small business market it's the
importance of the customer experience. Of course providing reliable
service and building relationships are essential to that end, but
there are many smaller aspects that often get overlooked as
well.
I'll use a website as an example. As more of us begin to do
the bulk of our business online through contact portals, email,
invoicing, etc., we have to realize that most of our customers are
spending more time interacting with our website than they are
interacting with us! If we want to exude the qualities of our brand
in our relationship with our clients, we must make sure that those
qualities are evident in our website, from a welcoming aesthetic to
ease of use and functionality.
Apply this to all points of customer interaction, and you'll
constantly remind your customers why they chose to do business with
you in the first place."
Best Regards,
Matt
Upcoming Events
Webinar: Switchfast as Your IT Department
Novermber 23, 2009
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Switchfast will demonstrate the cost-saving and
downtime-reducing benefits of outsourcing your IT support functions
to Switchfast's MaxPro system.
Register Here
Webinar: Empowering In-House IT Support
November 24, 2009
11:00am - 12:00pm
This webinar will demonstrate how empowering your IT staff with
MaxPro's Remote Support software will increase efficiency and
reduce downtime.
Register Here
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Get Deals on Holiday Gifts from Switchfast
As our time gets more stretched and prices get more inflated, it
seems like holiday shopping gets more stressful every year. Who has
time to keep up with all of the latest gadgets? Moreover, who has
time to find the best prices on those gadgets?
As an IT company, our relationships with wholesale vendors and
general experience in purchasing puts us in a unique position to
easily find (and, in some cases, be exclusively able to provide)
the best deals on technology-related products. As a way to make
things a little easier on our clients this holiday season, we'd
like to help you by finding the best prices on some of the hotter
gift items this season so you don't have to worry about it.
Below are some good deals we've come across recently. If you're
interested in purchasing or learning more about the items we've
listed (or any other item), feel free to contact us at TheFutureOfIT@switchfast.com
or 773.241.3007.
Keep in mind that most of these offers will be limited time or
limited stock, so if you see something you like, act soon!
READ MORE/VIEW
DEALS >>>
Google Maps Launches Flu Shot Finder
In an attempt to encourage Flu/H1N1 vaccination, Google has
added "Flu Shot Finder" to Google Maps, allowing users to type in
their address and find nearby locations that have seasonal flu
shots, H1N1 flu shots, or both.
Google has stated that it is still waiting to receive
availability information from many areas, as is evident in the
Chicago-area results, but will be adding locations as it receives
them. So make sure you check back often!
Check it out here: Google Maps Flu Shot Finder
READ MORE
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Attention eCommerce: Reliable Search can Aid Conversion
Rates
The key to online conversion optimization, no matter what the
goal of the website may be, is removing all barriers between the
user and whatever the user wants to find. This is especially true
for ecommerce websites, where things like customer reviews are more
likely to influence buyer behavior than your copy, and
exponentially more so if your product is a commodity. Why? Because
if you cannot differentiate yourself with product features or
price, all you have left is the customer experience.
One thing that can vastly improve the customer experience is a
reliable, effective search tool. Ideally, your customer finds what
he or she wants to buy in a single click from the search engine.
But since this is often not the case, the amount of effort required
to get from the first click to the final click must be minimized.
Otherwise, your customer will simply hit the back button and click
your next competitor.
Google, a leader in "simple but effective," has recently
released Google Commerce Search, which looks to be a good
application for small business given Google's reputation for
providing inexpensive but robust cloud-based solutions. The tool
boasts effective filtering tools, high scalability, ease of
deployment, and the ability to weight your customers' search
results. Pricing is not available on the site, but you can make a
general inquiry by clicking on the big blue button marked "contact
sales."
READ MORE >>>
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