Using social media is a fun way to stay in touch with the customers who love your company and the products you offer. Many people are very willing to “like” or “follow” businesses they’ve had good experiences with. It’s also a great way to advertise big sales or specials to your devoted fans. Millions of people log into their social media accounts every day, sometimes even multiple times a day, and the more you are able to put your company out there, the better chance you’ll have of people remembering you when they need a product you have.

Social media is also a great way to improve customer service. If someone is offended by your company, they’ll most likely want to tell all their friends about it so their friends don’t have the same experience. Therefore, many people complain about companies on social media where they’ll be heard loud and clear. This can really hurt a company if they don’t have a good social media presence and can catch these comments early on. If you apologize to your customer and try to make amends on social media as well, the people you may have offended will realize that you are listening to them and really do appreciate their business.

These are just a few reasons why having a strong social media presence can improve your business. There are many options you could use to improve your social media, including: offering contests online, updating your social media pages at least once a day, and answering any questions or concerns people may write on your social media accounts.

Computer geeks and software developers often use the term “GIGO” which means garbage in (negative words, bad news of the day) equals garbage out (unfulfilled objectives, missed goals). This basically means when you input wrong code into the program then the system will not output what you desire. The same is true when you’re following up with a target account by phone. If you start your conversation with target account mentioning the financial fiscal cliff, you are wasting precious time with your contact and most likely losing credibility.

To prevent from being derailed during your follow-up call, stay focused and use positive words which can help achieve your overall goal.

Remember that it is all about your customer and what’s in it for them. Your contact at target account is not eager to hear about the world’s problems . Your small business’s role is to serve which involves eliminating your target account’s pain plus helping to solve their problems. And using words of defeat and sharing fiscal cliff news adds no value to you or to your target account.

Following up by phone is the next best thing to being present with your customers. When you decide to use positive words and phrases that support your overall objective then you will see your small business benefit.