takepayments blog.
Monday, 27 January 2020
How to build loyalty with your customers
Customer loyalty is when a consumer chooses your business over your competitor’s time after time and it’s absolutely key to your business’ success. In fact, studies show that once a customer has developed loyalty to a particular company, they won’t break that bond for price or stock availability - look at Apple, for example, 87% of its customer base are brand loyal despite the higher cost of their products. Why? Because they put substantial investment into creating brand advocacy.
Monday, 27 January 2020
7 tips to improve profits for food businesses
The food industry is arguably one of the most competitive in today’s marketplace. It’s something nearly all of us spend our hard-earned cash on daily, weekly or at the very least monthly, and as a consequence, it’s a multi-billion pound a year sector. Unsurprisingly then for those working in the food business, it can be a cut-throat world, and some of the figures surrounding successes and failures can make for alarming reading. But forget all that, we’re not here to promote negativity or pessimism, we want to do our bit to ensure your food business doesn’t become a statistic. Enter our seven top tips.
Monday, 20 January 2020
How to deal with angry customers
The prospect of dealing with an angry customer is tantamount to sticking pins in your eyes, we totally get it, it’s everyone’s worst nightmare. That being said, it’s part and parcel of working in a customer-facing role and unfortunately, it’ll happen to all of us at one point or another. Handle the situation wrong and chances are you’ve lost a customer and their future purchases, get it right and you’ll boost their loyalty to you. And remember, loyal customers are worth their weight in gold; they’re happy to pay more for your products or services, they’ll tell their friends and family about you, and they’ll ultimately help you grow and boost your bottom line.
Monday, 13 January 2020
How to boost employee morale on Blue Monday
While the start of a new year can spell optimism and opportunity for some, for many it’s a difficult time to manoeuvre. The excitement of the holidays is over, we might have loaded ourselves up with overwhelming resolutions, and it can feel like there’s not much to look forward to. Although some disregard the concept of Blue Monday as a gimmick, for others it’s a very real problem and can come with unpleasant side-effects for mental health and productivity at work.
Monday, 13 January 2020
10 tips to boost your cafe sales
If you ask us, cafe owners are the unsung heroes of the high street, keeping us all fueled and ready for whatever our day-to-day lives throw at us. So, to pay back the favour, we’ve put together a nifty guide on 10 ways you can boost your cafe’s sales. So, let’s start eating away at them (pun 100% intended).
Friday, 10 January 2020
10 free apps to help you run your independent business
Running your own independent business can be stressful and time-consuming but ultimately, it’s your dream role and super rewarding. You’re your own boss but alongside that freedom comes the responsibility of organising staff, maintaining premises, not to mention all the paperwork involved - financial or otherwise. So, you’ll no doubt want all the help you can get, and who could blame you?
Monday, 30 December 2019
How to prepare for January sales
Amidst the chaos of the festive season, it’s easy as a business to overlook what comes next, the January sales. In fact, it’s not even January, the discounts usually start by Boxing Day so while you might just want to get in your comfies and hoover up the leftover pigs in blankets, as a business owner there’s money to be made. Last year, experts predicted UK shoppers would spend $4.75 billion in their post-Christmas bargain hunting, with the keenest amongst them queuing up outside stores from midnight to nab the best deals. You probably want a slice of that pie, right?
Monday, 30 December 2019
How to get your website to rank on Google
Having a good ranking on Google and appearing on their first page of search results is the holy grail for any business. Why? Because according to research, 90% of search traffic never goes beyond page one of results. A lot of the time in business, more money will buy you more clout when it comes to your marketing efforts, but that’s not the case when it comes to ranking on Google. Time and a well-defined strategy, on the other hand, will boost your position on the search engine’s results pages - and the best news is you won’t have to spend a penny.
Monday, 30 December 2019
Top tech trend predictions for 2020 (that'll help independent businesses)
We’re currently living through the fourth technological revolution and things are changing at a mind-boggling rate. Over the last year or two, we’ve seen technology such as smartwatches, wireless headphones, contactless payments and voice recognition devices flood and dominate the market, and at the end of 2019, it’s now hard to imagine life without them. Whether you consider yourself a bit of a ‘tech nerd’ and love keeping your finger on the pulse or all this is getting your head in a spin, the reality is that independent business owners need to keep up with the latest trends and technologies to keep their customers happy.