Running an international business is incredibly hard work as you have so many factors to keep track of—all of which seem to have an effect on your bottom line. For a start, there are a lot of time-consuming tasks that you need to do to ensure that the business is running smoothly, and these long processes might be detrimental to the customer experience. 

This can mean that you are more likely to have a much smaller loyal customer base than you’d like, which is pretty much the last problem you need on top of everything else you have to handle. Fickle customers should be the least of your worries, so you need to look at ways to improve how they interact with your business. Therefore, here are four ways in which you can boost your customers’ experience with your business.

1. Ensure ease of use

Put simply, you are going to need to make your business easy to use for your customers. This doesn’t just mean your local market—but includes those in other countries as well. Getting accurate translators to translate your website into a range of languages; having your customer service team learn another language to accommodate those calling from a different country; and having shifts covering from early morning to late evening for universal communication can be vital. 

You should also make sure that you have a currency API, to ensure that people paying with different currencies can still buy easily from your business, and to cut out a lot of extra accounting and time-wasting on your side of the exchange. 

2. Offer custom swag 

Offering custom swag is one of the many ways that you can improve the customer experience. It can help you to improve your customer’s overall shopping experience, from first look all the way through to receiving their parcel. Giving free gifts to them is a proven way to help you to build a stronger rapport, to keep your customers happy, and to have a higher chance of them buying from your company again. This can be simply down to the fact they are getting a little extra when they buy from your business, which they might not get elsewhere. 

3. Provide customer service training 

It was mentioned earlier that your staff should be more able to deal with international trade by making sure that they either already know another language, or that they have in-house training to help them learn. This can be vital—along with getting them professionally trained in customer service, which can help them to become far more confident and therefore will help your customers to have a better overall experience with your business. Done correctly, it can have a huge effect on how well your business runs overall and can increase trust between yourself and your customers. 

4. Use surveys 

Customer surveys can be an excellent addition to your business, as they can be used to make sure that there is nothing about the customer experience that you are missing. Providing customer surveys that they can fill out can help you to build a better relationship with your customers, and you should certainly keep their advice in mind when it comes to running your business around them. It can be invaluable knowledge, and you would be foolish to overlook it. 

Human resources departments are a valuable part of a company, but is it worth it for small business owners? The answer depends on various criteria like how many employees work for the team and whether there are performance factors at play too. HR is useful for onboarding, engagement, and supporting well-being within an organisation so there are clear benefits. The question is, how necessary it is for the individual circumstance? Should small business owners do their own HR, or should it be outsourced? This post explores the topic below. 

The Benefits of HR Services

It is hard to argue with the validity of supportive HR departments. They are useful for everything to do with an employee and the wider organisation. The real debate is in regard to whether to keep these services in-house or outsource them. HR is useful for all the following reasons:

• Organising employees
• Successful onboarding
• Training and development 
• Payroll
• Holiday arrangements
• Internal conflict resolution
• Termination
• Legal adherence
• Gaining insight 
• Improved productivity

The list goes on and on. There are almost too many to discuss all at once, but when HR works, it really brings great things to the table for every corner of the business. 

Why Might You Have In-House HR?

There are a few reasons why keeping things all under the same roof looks like the optimal choice. These are factors like ease of access, a more personalised experience, and an increase in control over your internal operations. While these points are all valid, there are arguably further benefits to extending your HR protocol to an outsourced company. 

The Benefits of Outsourcing HR Agendas

Outsourcing is arguably more cost-effective and efficient because it allows you to access a wider range of services. If you are sitting on the fence in either direction, consider the following advantages to inform your decision in the best possible way. Professional and established companies like The HR Dept in Doncaster work with you to create a fully involved approach as to what you want and what you could access in the context of what fits with your company structure. Here are four benefits to think about. 

Cost-Effective

Having an internal, dedicated person that controls the HR department within your company walls means that you have another employee to compensate. The HR manager role is a higher paying position, and that would be a further demand on your budget. Whereas, a package from an external company would be a much lower, more accessible cost that would be beneficial for a smaller business budget. It creates flexibility in this sense. It also helps that the outsourced branch would bring cost-saving solutions to the table to increase the efficacy of your operations too. 

A Range of Services

With expert models like this, you have access to a higher tier of services. There are things you might not have even considered incorporating into your structure before, for instance, engagement rituals for employees to improve and encourage higher retention rates. Everything has to be put into the context of the bigger picture, and it is all relevant when thinking about the future viability of the company. Some things you could access include innovative training and development agendas, professional termination policies, optimised productivity strategies, and highly efficient payroll interventions. These four things alone will improve your reputation, motivation, and general workday procedures. 

More Time for Internal Practices

It also means there will be more space in the day to focus on your area of expertise, as opposed to having to manage other departments as well. As a business leader, it is entirely plausible that your plate is full enough. When you add jobs on top of this, your already stretched agenda becomes even thinner still. This is not ideal, because it means there is less energy and space for the tasks that demand your attention. Through outsourcing, there is an accepted peace of mind that comes as a natural consequence. Why? Because professionalism is all but guaranteed, and this means you don’t have to manage it anywhere near as deeply as you would with the alternate approach. 

Optimal Insights

The last point to think about is the advantage to optimising the insights into your employees. External HR teams are better able to take a wide approach to evaluate KPI data and bringing positive, constructive action plans to the table for each and every employee. 

So, should small business owners do their own HR? The answer is sometimes yes, but most of the time, no. If this process can be outsourced, the benefits speak as to why it absolutely should be.

‘Tis the season to be jolly! As Christmas is getting nearer and nearer as time goes by, we, as loving human beings, are already planning and thinking of what to give our loved ones this holiday season. But ultimately, the true essence of holidays is with the people we love, spending time with them, and catching up. And giving gifts to our loved ones is at the top of the list. Giving them gifts can be a little grand and luxurious. As we always say, “it’s the thought that counts.” 

When it comes to gift-giving, age is not always a determining factor. Regardless of who the recipient is, one can easily find a nice and festive present, such as Christmas candles online in Australia. For our women loved ones, there is plenty to think of; there are many options. But usually, they love squishy and stuffed toys more. Giving them stuffed toys that are very handy and easy to wash is a plus! Just like Squishmallow washable and other stuff like skincare products, cosmetics, and more.  

The Essence of Giving Gifts

It’s that time of year when everyone’s attention is drawn to the holiday tradition of gift-giving. Shoppers are frantically searching for the perfect gift for the significant people in their lives. Gift-giving is an essential aspect of the holiday season, but are you aware that the conduct of gift-giving can provide psychological impacts? 

It gives a sense of both loving and being loved. According to reports, offering a present is a global approach to expressing interest, appreciation, admiration, and thanks while strengthening ties with others. Giving gifts is a significant act of altruism. It upholds the meaningful statement that “it is better to give than to receive.

The true essence of giving gifts is not expecting something in return. It is being happy and content with seeing our loved ones get all jolly with the things we share. Giving gifts does not always necessarily mean sharing material things. Sometimes, someone’s presence is already a massive gift for someone else. Time and effort are also one of those priceless gifts a person can give, something that can’t be bought and bribed by anything else. 

Simple ways you can come up with a better present for a loved one

• Look for the best offers: One of the most important factors we consider when shopping for Christmas is our budget. A limited budget can restrict your alternatives for a present. However, presents or gifts should be relatively inexpensive. 

Mainly during the holiday period, there are countless sales and promotions on every corner, notably holiday discounts at exceptional prices. You might also check for package or bundle discounts, which can give you even more discounts and help you save a ton for more holiday delights!

• Give gifts that you thought well: When shopping for Christmas presents, search for products that do not just add clutter to the household and are not just for decoration. Choose practical, convenient, and valuable gifts for the people you want to give them to; it could be at work, in their passions and interests, or at their house.

You wouldn’t want to waste your money, right? There is no such thing as wasting money as long as it is for a loved one, but you might as well spend it practically. We wouldn’t want to make things go to waste, so we might as well think of things thoroughly. It would be more meaningful that way. This way, it could also benefit you in saving money.

• Give gifts for a cause: Allow Christmas to be a bit more special than it already is by giving gifts that will bring joy to many people and be of a great cause. One can accomplish this by selecting presents that benefit a social purpose, such as contributing and planting a tree in your “Monito or Monita’s” or Kris Kringle’s name, purchasing face masks and clothing weaved by local craftsmen, or purchasing handcrafted products created by our local convicts. 

There are also for sale accessories such as watches that are sold for a budget-friendly price. And half of the revenue is dedicated to and saved for cancer patients and other related charities, just like in the Philippines, where Unilever and Watsons also have created the opportunity to enable you to give everyone’s favorite hygiene and care items while simultaneously making a significant effect.

A percentage of the sales will benefit Watsons’ recycling associate Plastic Bank, an eco-organization that employs over 1,500 Filipinos as plastic recyclers.

Giving gifts is made more special by not just being able to help and make your family, friends, and partner happy but also the people who are in need of help. May we strive to make the holiday season true to its essence and definition, and may we strive to help and give back not just to the people around us but also to our community and our planet, mother Earth.