Well, that was me. HHWD office phone lines run off of T-mobile. Not good. Worse was that the cells were out as well. We could call out, but no one could call in. Thankfully it was the end of the day.
never good for business to be down.
AT&T DSL broadband has been migrating customers to their "new", "improved" mail servers... 3rd party, Yahoo. While Yahoo is a fine company, this move was another terrible step in AT&T's continuing downward spiral of not being in-tuned with their customers.
My business, while growing tremendously, has a home office. I want to be able to send emails with my business email account name, regardless of the ISP I use to connect. Up until my account was migrated, this was easy. AT&T (formerly Bellsouth) used my ISP email account to transparently verify the account as legitimate and allow mail to be sent. My "to", "from" and "reply to"'s could be anything I wanted... honeyhousedesigns.com, hotmail.com, yahoo.com, etc.
So when a recipient got an email from me, they saw my business email address in the from and reply to fields and could reply through that business account.
NO LONGER! NOW... Any AND EVERY email sent must have my AT&T email address as the from AND the reply to. So, the recipient will receive email branded with AT&T's email address (note, one I don't use at all...ever). If the recipient just hit reply, the email goes to that account, not my business account. And according to AT&T, that is just the way it will be. Tough noogies on me for using a home office with "residential" DSL.
GET THIS THOUGH! For triple the monthly DSL fee I pay now, my DSL can be "upgraded" internally at the office to allow me to have the functionality I want. No line changes, no new installations, just pay them more money and they will come through with the goods. But for how long until the next "gotcha"? Seems more like extortion to me than a "new improved" service.
As a small business, we at Honey House Web Designs consider telecommuting and home offices an excellent resource to keeping overhead low and being able to pass that savings along to customers and be able to employ more people. But our business is important enough that we want to brand it with OUR name, not Ma Bell's.
So, we begin the process of finding a provider who will provide us with what we need at a reasonable price. Bye-bye Bell
In this economy we are all focusing on growing our business and maintaining an adequate revenue stream. Many consultants and web designers are lowering prices to better serve clients. And clients are more than ever shopping around for the "best deal".
However, remember, "you will always get what you pay for". Focusing on price alone as the indicator of which Web Design company receives your project ignores your own business needs. You want a professional site that reflects your business style and saavy. You want a site that peaks your customer's interest. You want value.
Value, is your business's total worth. It is the intangible benefits your business receives by having a great website and it is the potential for that site to bring customers to you. Value does supersede price. Always be willing to pay a fair price for quality work. You will get more than you pay for when price is not the sole consideration for a website.
This is the time to get back to the basics of running a business. Value, service, integrity, and quality are basic to your business success.
I have read that for every $100 spent "buying local" puts $46 back into the community, whereas spending $100 in a big chain location only returns $13 to the community. I am not so sure how these numbers were derived at, but the employees of both big and local locations need paychecks, which your $100 provides. Those employees still need to purchase good and items as well.
If you are a small business, what you should recognize is your potential for future business that can be developed by doing getting your goods and services "locallY". Developing a reputation as a pleasant person and building relationships with other small businesses and knowing each other by name can go a long way to helping your business.
Here are some 1 minute or less ways to meet, greet, and begin building that relationship with other small businesses in your community:
1) Spend 1 extra minute to learn the person's name you are dealing with. Introduce yourself with a smile and a handshake. Tell them what you do and that it was a pleasure to do business with them. (even if it is just the after-school cashier). Do this for every business you encounter and you'll become a welcome guest in your community.
2) Spend 30 seconds to Thank them for their service, especially if it was good. Write an extra thank you on your meal receipt and note if you received exceptional service at a restaurant. The server will see it, and probably the manager on duty. If you are a regular at that restaurant, your service will improve as a result of your "reputation".
3) Put notes of thanks and encouragement to your mail carrier... especially on really nasty days. (this won't necessarily help your business with the mail service, but it might get you occasional front door delivery which does help YOUR business).
You never know how the impact of a handshake, smile, and 30 seconds of "I appreciate your efforts" or "Thank you for your help today" can go a long way in building your business. People who have no direct ability to add to your bottom line have friends and relatives who do that the impression you make will get around to others.
In our tight downturn of an economy, when stakes and tensions run high, make sure you never have a shortage of smiles.
